Illegal migrants

Express
Britain has not deported a single Channel migrant to France under its post-Brexit returns policy.
Rules mean people can be turned away if they came through a safe third country where they could have applied for asylum. However, in the 21 months since the rules were introduced, only 83 have been deemed “inadmissible”.
Of those, the Home Office says just 21 have been returned and none to France, from where most of the 70,000 Channel migrants have crossed in that time.
The inadmissibility rules were meant to replace EU laws governing who is responsible for applications.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is said to be considering how asylum claims from “safe” countries such as Albania could be fast-tracked. Ministers also want to do deals with countries to accept “rapid returns”.

Mail
The number of asylum seekers receiving taxpayer-funded support has topped 100,000 for the first time.
Home Office data showed 100,547 were getting Government aid at the end of September – up from less than 69,000 a year earlier.
Most receive free accommodation and a subsistence allowance of £40.85 a week for each person in their household, unless they get meals provided by the taxpayer.
Figures also showed the number of new asylum applications rose to 72,027, covering 85,902 people when dependants such as children and spouses are included.
The total, driven by small boat arrivals from northern France, was nearly double the previous year’s total and the highest since 2003.
Meanwhile, the Home Office’s asylum backlog has soared by more than 21,000 in three months to 148,533.
Of those, 143,377 cases were awaiting an initial decision, and more than 5,000 were ‘pending review’.
Three years earlier the overall total stood at just 48,000.
Albanians accounted for just over a third of people detected crossing the English Channel in small boats in the first nine months of the year, new figures have shown.

Morning Star
ANOTHER local council has lost a bid for a High Court injunction temporarily banning the use of a hotel to accommodate asylum-seekers.
Fenland District Council brought the legal action following plans to use the Rose and Crown Hotel in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, to temporarily house asylum-seekers.
The Tory-led council had argued that the area was an inappropriate place for people seeking asylum, due to “recognised problems” in Wisbech, including “migrant exploitation,” human-trafficking and gangs.
However, in a ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Holgate rejected the council’s application for an injunction, saying there was “very little detail” given regarding the risk of migrant exploitation.
He told the High Court in London: “It is not said that the hotel is unsuitable, the point made by the claimant is that the town is.
“No real link has been put forward between a problem that exists on a national scale and the accommodation of asylum-seekers in a hotel.”
Fenland District Council leader Chris Boden said he was disappointed by the ruling.

Express
Senior Home Office sources revealed a proposal could lead to 500 military homes being used to help the Government fight the wider logjam of asylum seekers awaiting decisions on their claims.
Hundreds of military homes have been set aside for migrants, while ­at least 2,500 British veterans do not have a roof over their heads. The Government has been forced to look at the accommodation amid ­growing resistance to the use of hotels, B&Bs and holiday camps to house the backlog of 143,000 asylum seekers.
One proposal allegedly being actively considered is to utilise homes kept vacant for forces’ families as they move between bases.
Last night, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that 550 homes were earmarked for people who moved to the UK after the withdrawal from Afghan­­istan forced them from their homeland.
They arrived under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy scheme, and their right to stay in this country has already been approved.

Sun
THIS is the Amazon-style warehouse that helped one in five migrants cross the Channel last summer.
Gangsters who used the rusting green hangar to store boats and fuel made an estimated £6million from a mail order-type supply service helping to ship migrants to England.
Still at large, they are said to have arranged transportation for thousands of migrants that have reached the UK this year.
The Sun on Sunday found the gang’s warehouse in a pot-holed road on the outskirts of Quesnoy-sur-Deûle, in northern France.
Twelve boats, 12 outboard motors, 700 life jackets, 108 air pumps and 700 litres of fuel were confiscated by police, who called it the “largest seizure of nautical equipment ever.”

Tory Party

Mail
Panicking Tory MPs in the so-called ‘Red Wall’ seats of the North and Midlands have held discussions about forming a breakaway party, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
With Labour now consistently more than 20 points ahead in the polls – and an increasing number of Tory MPs announcing plans to quit before the next general election – the ‘wallers’ have discussed forming a new party that would be tougher than Rishi Sunak‘s Government on issues such as immigration, crime and Brexit.
The MPs fear that unless they act they will become ‘one-termers’ after being elected in former Labour strongholds in 2019.
They have also discussed devising a ‘backbench immigration policy’ which they can present to Downing Street in an attempt to force the Government to act: small-boat migration across the Channel is an issue mentioned frequently on their constituencies’ doorsteps, they say.
Last night, one Red Wall source said: ‘There have been discussions about forming a separate Northern group along the lines of the Scottish Tories. A couple of senior figures from the Northern Research Group [set up by Red Wall MPs in 2019 to campaign for greater investment] were told off for mooting the idea, but it hasn’t really gone away. They had a meeting with Rishi and there’s a conference next year.’

Labour Party

Mail
Sir Keir Starmer today ruled out a Swiss-style post-Brexit relationship with Brussels if Labour takes power as he vowed to fight the next election on the economy.
The Opposition leader, who backed Remain in 2016, said he had looked into a closer relationship with Brussels but had decided it would not work for the UK.
He made the remarks to a politics podcast, also saying that his MPs should not be on picket lines as the country braces for sweeping public sector strikes over the festive period.
He has warned his shadow cabinet against ‘complacency’ as the party enjoys a substantial lead in the polls, insisting ‘every single vote has to be earned’.
At the weekend reports suggested the Conservative Government was mulling a relationship with the EU similar to that enjoyed by Switzerland over the next decade, prompting Brexiteer fury.
While not a member of the bloc, Switzerland has access to the single market and is part of the visa-free Schengen zone under a series of bilateral agreements.
It also makes billion-pound ‘cohesion’ payments to Brussels and accepts freedom of movement.

NHS

Express
A record number of people are waiting more than 28 days to see a GP. The latest figures show that in September in England nearly two million people had to wait more than 28 days for an appointment – the highest number since records began in 2017.
A further 4.3million had to wait more than two weeks. The findings come as worries grow about the difficulty of securing medical attention in England today. There is further concern that GPs on England’s local medical committees have voted to reduce core hours to 9am to 5pm instead of 8am to 6:30pm.
This could now be a key demand when new contracts are negotiated with NHS England.
Carers UK said its own research found “one in five unpaid carers providing care to disabled, ill and older people had waited longer than a month to get a GP appointment”.
Emily Holzhausen, the charity’s director of policy, said it was “deeply concerning” that people were waiting longer to access health services.

Telegraph
About 4,000 patients a day are spending more than 12 hours in A&E as the emergency care system “collapses”, Britain’s top accident and emergency doctor has said.
The head of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) issued the warning as nurses prepare for their first national strike in history, with two days of action planned before Christmas.
Hospitals are already under unprecedented pressure, with record numbers at A&E departments and a quarter of ambulance time lost to delays caused by queuing.
Dr Adrian Boyle, the president of the RCEM, said he was “very worried”
about the numbers dying for want of prompt care, with hospitals increasingly too overcrowded to cope with the amount of people coming in.
Regulators have warned of “gridlock” across the system, meaning that many of those in need of emergency treatment are waiting far too long.

Mirror
Lifesaving ambulance crews tell of chaos as new paramedics quit because of the strain of the job, and sick and injured patients face waiting hours for help in emergencies
Exhausted ambulance workers say crippling staff shortages and hours-long delays will send patient deaths rocketing this winter.
Blue light teams are working 14-hour days yet are only managing to deal with half the number of call-outs they did before the pandemic because of time spent in queues outside hospitals.
It means stricken patients and their families can face agonising waits stretching up to 12 hours for ambulances to arrive.
Alarming NHS figures released this week reveal crews in England could not respond to almost a quarter of 999 calls last month as so many were stuck outside A&E waiting to hand over patients.
And nearly a third of patients in England waited at least half an hour before being handed over.
There were 860 patients in England who waited more than 10 hours to be admitted to A&E.
The figure is an all-time high.

Telegraph
A flagship programme intended to bring down NHS waiting backlogs is to be delayed after becoming mired in bureaucracy.
The £360 million federated data platform is seen as critical to reducing waiting lists, with a record 7.1 million people now waiting for treatment.
When the plans were announced in the spring, health chiefs said that the system would be an “essential enabler to transformational improvements” across the NHS.
Experts have warned that progress in clearing the lists has been set back by chaotic recording systems.
While NHS data was found to be littered with errors, such as duplicate entries and dead patients, many patients in need of follow-up care are not recorded once they have had their first slot.

Independent
People suffering from mental illness are increasingly struggling to access help at every level of the NHS – from record numbers facing “unacceptable” delays in referrals to patients waiting up to eight days in A&E for a hospital bed.
Figures seen by The Independent show almost four times as many people are waiting more than 12 hours in emergency departments as two years ago.
In the community, more than 16,000 adults and 20,000 children who should receive NHS care are unable to access vital services each month.
Nearly 80 per cent of those eligible for counselling on the health service are left waiting more than three months for a second appointment, which is when treatment usually begins.

London Fire Brigade

Express
Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade (LFB) Andy Roe has said firefighters will be fired if they have been found to be bigoted after a report found the LFB was “institutionally misogynist and racist”.
An independent review of the culture within the LFB was released this week, and the shocking report recorded incidents of a black firefighter finding a noose put beside his locker and a female firefighter finding urine in her helmet. The review was conducted by the former Chief Crown Prosecutor for northwest England, Nazir Afzal who said the report made for “grim reading”.
Commissioner Andy Roe called the report “horrifying” and said that “public confidence and trust” has been “betrayed”.
Speaking to reporters, the commissioner said the LFB would take a “zero tolerance” approach, and promised: “Where we find that people have behaved appallingly, we will dismiss them.”
He said there was no place for discrimination, harassment or bullying within the fire brigade.
Mr Roe said: “From today it will be completely clear to all staff what behaviour isn’t acceptable and what the consequences will be.”

ITV News
People who work in the NHS, BBC, Navy, Army and numerous police forces have raised “serious concerns” about the way they are treated, a lawyer has said.
An independent culture review of London Fire Brigade (LFB), led by Nazir Afzal – a former chief crown prosecutor for the North West, found “dangerous levels of ingrained prejudice against women”, while colleagues from minority backgrounds are “frequently the target of racist abuse”.
Mr Afzal has called for a “national inquiry” into other public bodies, saying he has been approached in the past 24 hours by several people who work for them.
Speaking at a briefing at the LFB headquarters in central London on Saturday, he said: “There are members of five different police forces who have approached me and said similar concerns about their own forces, I won’t name them.
“I’ve had approaches, it may shock, from the BBC and I’ve had approaches from the National Health Service. “They are pivotal to the British society, these organisations, and yet there are people within them that are seriously concerned about the way they’re being treated within their organisations. “I don’t know what to do, the BBC won’t ask me, the NHS won’t ask me, somebody needs to ask the people who work in these organisations and policing.

Mirror
Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal branded London Fire Brigade institutionally racist and misogynistic and now is calling for further probes into other public bodies.
The top lawyer who found the London Fire Brigade institutionally racist and misogynistic has called for a similar investigation into other public bodies.
Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal said failings uncovered in an independent review into the service could be widespread across dozens of organisations nationwide.
His probe highlighted women being groped and their helmets filled with urine, and a Black man having a noose put over his locker.
Female staff were sent explicit photos by male colleagues and Muslims were taunted about their faith and had bacon put in their food.
Now Mr Afzal says he has been approached by employees within the police, the BBC and the NHS calling for similar investigations. He warned: “My personal view is there ought to be a national inquiry across the board in terms of misogyny particularly and racism in workforces and institutions we all pay for.”
London Fire Brigade Chief Commissioner Andy Roe said he accepts “in totality” Mr Azfal’s findings in the report detailing accounts from 2,000 firefighters.
He said the findings were “heartbreaking”, adding: “The examples of bullying, harassment, sexism, racism and general behaviour are undeniable and frankly shocking.”

BBC News
Firefighters face the sack if they are found to have bullied or been racist, misogynistic or homophobic, London Fire Brigade’s boss said.
Commissioner Andy Roe made the comments after an independent review found the brigade was “institutionally misogynist and racist”.
The review detailed accounts ranging from women being groped to people having their helmets filled with urine.
The review was ordered after a fireman took his own life in August 2020.
Led by Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, the report found the fire service had “dangerous levels of ingrained prejudice against women”, while colleagues from minority backgrounds were “frequently the target of racist abuse”.
The report, which makes 23 recommendations, was based on the experiences of hundreds of staff members.

Times
The head of the country’s biggest fire brigade says he expects to sack staff after a damning report concluded the organisation was “institutionally misogynistic and racist”.
Andy Roe said the findings of an independent review of the London Fire Brigade were “horrifying” and that “public confidence and trust” had been “betrayed”.
Speaking at a press conference, the commissioner of the brigade promised to take a “zero tolerance” approach. “Where we find that people have behaved appallingly, we will dismiss them,” he said.
From Monday, scores of “stomach-turning” allegations will be handed over to an independent body, and historical cases going back five years combed over again.

Police

Guardian
Half the English police forces inspected since last year are failing to meet required standards at investigating crime, according to analysis by the Observer that raises questions over whether policing is fit for purpose.
The findings will pile renewed pressure on the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who has told police leaders she “expects” them to cut crimes including murder by 20%, without detailing how, as part of her “back to basics approach”.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “These findings are a damning indictment of 12 years of Conservative mismanagement of the Home Office.
“Their failed policies have left policing overstretched and undermined, with still 6,000 fewer neighbourhood police, shortages of detectives, and record low charging rates, so more criminals are being let off, while victims and communities are let down.”
Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, added: “Billions are being spent on a public service that appears to be underperforming badly.”
Of the 39 police forces in England, 29 have so far been inspected by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) under the new assessment regime. When it came to investigating crime, three forces were assessed as inadequate, 11 as requiring improvement and eight as adequate. Just seven were rated good.
In terms of responding to the public, five were judged inadequate and 12 as requiring improvement, with only four classed as good.

Property

Independent
Rental sector inquiries have jumped as some would-be home buyers take a pause, according to a property website.
The number of people inquiring about homes to rent was 23 per cent higher in October compared with the same month in 2021, Rightmove said.
Mortgage rates jumped following the mini-budget in September, but there have been some signs of rates edging back down recently.
Earlier this week, Moneyfacts.co.uk reported that the average five-year fixed mortgage rate had dropped below 6 per cent for the first time in seven weeks.
Bank of England base rate hikes are also pushing borrowing costs up and rising prices generally may also make it harder for people to raise enough cash for a deposit to buy a home.

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