ELLEN CLIFFORD explains why disabled people see assisted dying as an existential threat — yet there has not been proper consultation with those most affected by potential changes as the legislation is rushed through Parliament
Racist Rwanda plan and Sunak’s shock detention raids operation breach human rights and must be opposed
Former chair of the all-party parliamentary group for special educational needs TOM HUNT examines some tragic cases from countries which have legalised assisted death
The fawning tributes from the Establishment have painted Prescott as a fighter for Old Labour leftism and treated his background and accent as unique eccentricities — two utterly bogus postulations, writes STEVE PARRY
JOHN McINALLY argues trade unions and socialists must demand properly funded healthcare instead of a change that, combined with neoliberal capitalism, will see working-class people pushed towards suicide
As the massive debt burden continues to bite and the climate emergency worsens, the world’s developing countries must escape the abusive relationship of debt enslavement that is holding them back, says ROGER McKENZIE
Without challenging the neoliberal framework of our economy or seeking more powers for Scotland, the Scottish Labour leader’s seeming break with Westminster policy rings hollow, writes VINCE MILLS
Anti-imperialist organisation Liberation conducts a Q&A with German MP SEVIM DAGDELEN on the attitudes of the ‘war-drunk’ main German political parties, Nato policy-makers’ detachment from reality and the prospect of bringing about a common platform for de-escalation
WE THE undersigned wholeheartedly oppose the so-called Safety of Rwanda Act and the inhumane way it is currently being implemented.
We object to people who are exercising their internationally recognised human right to seek asylum being detained for deportation to Rwanda without prior warning.
Simply declaring Rwanda safe does not make it safe. Britain is still currently granting refugee status to asylum-seekers from Rwanda.
The US State Department said regarding Rwanda that “significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government.”
The Rwanda policy is also costly and unworkable. There are only 300 places for asylum-seekers in Rwanda and costs more than £0.5 billion. The human cost is catastrophic and immeasurable.
We strongly oppose the inhumane Rwanda policy, which is cynically designed to stir up racism and division prior to the general election, to distract from the government’s appalling record on the cost of living and NHS.
Thousands of people seeking asylum have died crossing the Channel. These deaths can be avoided. The only solution to stopping people risking their lives crossing the Channel is the implementation of safe routes for asylum-seekers to Britain, like the Ukrainian refugee policy.
We pledge to campaign against the Rwanda Act and call on everyone who values human rights, a humane approach to asylum rights and opposes racism to join us on Saturday June 29 2024 in London to say “Stop Rwanda.”
Signed,
Steve Smith, Care4Calais CEO
Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary
Gary Younge
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Diane Abbott MP
Kim Johnson MP
Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP
John McDonnell MP
Chris Stephens MP
Daniel Kebede, NEU general secretary
Sabby Dhalu & Weyman Bennett, Stand Up To Racism co conveners
Kudsia Batool, TUC head of equalities
Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary
Sarah Woolley, BFAWU general secretary
Mick Whelan, Aslef general secretary
Jo Bird, Usdaw equalities officer
Wilf Sullivan, Stand Up To Racism national officer
Mohammad Asif, Afghan Human Rights Foundation
Laura Cumming, Student Action for Refugees (STAR) campaigns & advocacy manager
Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition
David Rosenberg, Jewish Socialists Group
Ben Sellers, People’s Assembly national secretary
Zita Holbourne, Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts (BARAC)
Mohammed Shafiq, PCS chair of black members committee and NEC
Ameen Hadu, Unison chair, North West TUC black workers committee
Jess Edwards, NEU NEC
More from this author
ROS SITWELL reports from a conference held in light of the closure of the Gender Identity and Development Service for children and young people, which explored what went wrong at the service and the evidence base for care
ROS SITWELL reports from the three-day FiLiA conference in Glasgow
ROS SITWELL reports on a communist-initiated event aimed at building unity amid a revived women’s movement
London conference hears women speak out on the consequences of self-ID in sport
Similar stories
Children die in Channel hours after Rwanda act passes
Lords slam 'legal fiction' as they inflict first defeat on cruel Tory plan for asylum-seekers, decision comes day after seven-year-old girl tragically drowns in Channel