Windrush pledges ‘should be in law’
Newport, south Wales, at 5.30am yesterday to reports of an incident involving a vehicle and four pedestrians – three women and a man. Two of the women suffered life-changing injuries, it is understood. THE competition watchdog is being urged to investigate the possible merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda amid concerns over consumer choice.
The creation of a supermarket giant as part of a £10 billion deal, which could be announced as soon as today, has also raised fears over the impact it may have on jobs.
If Sainsbury’s and Asda are to merge, together they would have a bigger share in the grocery market than Tesco. THE BBC has waived the licence fee for local communities wanting to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.
The dispensation means communities will be able to watch the royal nuptials at special events and parties in town halls, community centres and streets across Britain, where TV is not usually watched.
They will be able to screen the event live without having to buy a licence. It will also apply to shops and events such as agricultural shows.
Pipa Doubtfire, the BBC’s head of revenue management, said: “I’m delighted to announce that we have MORE than 200 MPs have written to Theresa May urging her to enshrine promises made to Windrush generation migrants in law.
The letter, which is predominately backed by Labour MPs, also accuses Amber Rudd of making up immigration policy “on the hoof” in a bid to overcome the scandal.
The Home Secretary is facing a barrage of calls to resign, with critics blasting her handling of the Windrush row and apparently being unaware of the Home Office’s use of targets for removing illegal immigrants.
The letter has also been signed by politicians from the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party. Calling for the pledges to be written into law “without delay”, the letter also carries the signature of a Conservative MP, the BBC reports.
Addressed to the Prime Minister, it says: “We are calling on you to do this by bringing a statutory instrument before Parliament to ensure that the measures are implemented as quickly as possible.”
Some of the so-called Windrush generation have been threatened with deportation, refused access to public services such as healthcare or lost their jobs as a decided to offer a one-off dispensation for the royal wedding on May 19.
“This will allow the public to enjoy live coverage of the occasion at special events like street parties, where TV is not usually watched, without needing to buy a licence.
“By law, if live television or iPlayer is viewed on any result of “hostile environment” immigration policies.
The Government has offered free citizenship to people from all Commonwealth countries who arrived in the UK before 1973, including individuals who have no current documentation.
Children of the Windrush generation are also included, as well as Commonwealth migrants who already have leave to remain and want to advance their status.
The letter emerged as a senior Conservative minister appealed to ethnic minority voters not to abandon the party in this week’s local elections over the Windrush scandal. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, whose parents emigrated from Pakistan premises, those premises must be covered by a valid TV licence.”
In exceptional circumstances, the BBC can grant a dispensation for the temporary viewing of television, so long as the viewing is for the sole purpose of screening an event which is of national importance. in the 1960s, said his first reaction when he heard people were being wrongly threatened with deportation was that it could have been his family.
“I thought that could be my mum ... my dad ... my uncle ... it could be me,” he said.
However, he praised the way Mrs May and Ms Rudd had acted “decisively”, setting up a taskforce to ensure those people affected had their cases resolved quickly.
Labour, however, made clear that there would be no let up on the pressure on Ms Rudd who apologised on Friday for not knowing the Home Office did use immigration targets, when she had previously said it did not. She said she had not seen a memo referring to the targets even though it was copied to her office.
In a separate letter to Mrs May, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said Ms Rudd had “lost control of her department and lost the trust of the public” and should either resign or the Prime Minister should sack her.
Labour mayor of London Sadiq Khan also joined the calls for Ms Rudd to go, saying it “beggars belief” she did not know what was going on in her own department.