Chai Patel
@chaipatel.net
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📥 1151
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Migration, human rights, public law. He/him.
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Chai Patel
Asylum Matters
about 7 hours ago
Hussein Haseeb Ahmed sought safety here. Instead, he was held at 'squalid' Manston, where he contracted diphtheria. He died aged 31. Hussein is one of far too many who've lost their lives to our hostile asylum system. We have to do better.
#KnowTheirNames
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Manston asylum centre was ‘overcrowded, squalid and insanitary’, inquiry hears
Extent to which conditions deteriorated at Kent detention centre in 2022 is being investigated in public hearing
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jan/15/manston-asylum-seeker-detention-centre-kent-public-inquiry-conditions
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Chai Patel
nilay patel
about 6 hours ago
I’m just doing my best to say things clearly guys (Decoder with the CEO of Razer ->
www.theverge.com/podcast/8633...
)
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Zoe Gardner
about 7 hours ago
Interesting: Home Office officials tell PAC today they are introducing an 'asylum system board' with participants from DHCLG & DoJ to enable joined-up working I recommended this approach in my report for
@carladenyer.bsky.social
so it's good to see some progress
zoegardner.net/assets/no_wa...
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https://zoegardner.net/assets/no_way_home.pdf
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nilay patel
1 day ago
lol the NYT didn’t have to wait until the goons took to the streets, The Verge ran this package in 2022
www.theverge.com/c/23055922/h...
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Ministers and PM are choosing to lie about this and adopting the conspiracy based language of far right and openly nazi web forums in doing so. They're not just paving the way for a Reform win, they are rolling the pitch for mass deportations of ethnic minorities.
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4 days ago
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Claire Willett
4 days ago
a non-zero number of pasty-faced ICE goons who are fully ancestry dot com-pilled about being like .0002% Irish will have their day sincerely, authentically ruined by this knowledge, and that makes it so beautiful to me
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Ben Whitham
4 days ago
Video was leaked today of UK police setting dogs on and using CS spray on people seeking asylum, protesting their detention under the "one in, one out" policy, inside a detention centre (in case you thought the UK immune from what ICE is doing in the US):
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
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More than 100 asylum seekers stage ‘one in, one out’ protests at detention centres
Officers with riot shields, dogs and teargas called in to quell action at Harmondsworth and Brook House facilities
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jan/15/asylum-seekers-one-in-one-out-protest-immigration-detention-centres
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Minnie Rahman
4 days ago
The PM refers to an experiment in "open borders" by a Govt. that LEFT THE EU. It can only mean "there are still too many black and brown people in this country, we need to get rid of them". And the best person to do that is Nigel Farage. PM might as well run a "don't vote me" campaign.
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Alasdair Mackenzie
5 days ago
I’m concerned the government may be trying to nobble a court it doesn’t like. Here are a few thoughts on the proposed reorganisation of immigration appeals, in addition to Colin’s very useful thread below. 1/ (All screenshots in this thread from the letter posted by Colin.)
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Chai Patel
Gfrancie (Benevolent Siren)
5 days ago
I have a question for MPs. How old were they when they first got on the internets. Be it forums, social media, etc.. My second question would be, what did you do as a teenager for fun? In terms of places to hang out with other youth. What was available to them. (especially the MPs who are under 40.)
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Ben Knight
5 days ago
Yep. This is what we work in. And you'll note the jury system didn't cause a delay here. Or, in reality, practically ever. Crap buildings, lack of courtrooms, sitting judges, legal professionals, CPS staff, police staff and training...
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Minnie Rahman
6 days ago
So the best way to make the British public feel the asylum system is under control is to overnight create a visible increase in homeless/rough sleeping asylum seekers. That will work really well politically I'm sure. And not dangerous given the rise in violent fascism.
news.sky.com/story/asylum...
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Asylum hotel migrant evictions set to begin in the spring
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is about to start stripping accommodation and other support from thousands of asylum seekers.
https://news.sky.com/story/asylum-hotel-migrant-evictions-set-to-begin-in-the-spring-13492654
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Chai Patel
Jon Featonby
6 days ago
The latest tribunal stats showed that between July and Sep last year a third of appeals were disposed of because the Home Office were withdrawing their initial decision ahead of a hearing, presumably because it wouldn't have been defendable
www.gov.uk/government/s...
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Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2025
Type and volume of tribunal cases received, disposed of or outstanding. This also includes statistics on the Gender Recognition Certificate applied for and granted by HMCTS Gender Recognition Panel.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2025
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Sonia L
6 days ago
"continue" to have access to justice indicates that people currently have this. Which I can very much assure you is not the case.
committees.parliament.uk/publications...
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Zoe Gardner
6 days ago
The informal economy where undocumented migrants & asylum seekers find work despite idiotic restrictions is larger in France than the UK. It is larger in every other European country that also have ID than the UK. The idea you can work more easily in the UK is a lie.
#r4today
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Jonathan Kingham
6 days ago
‘However, sources familiar with internal discussions have told PoliticsHome that one change under consideration within government is introducing the Right To Work element of the scheme as optional in 2029, before potentially making it mandatory later down the line.’
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Georgina Sturge
7 days ago
People often assume there's a right and wrong way to present data in a chart or graphic. But there are many legitimate choices that can mean a telling different stories with the same data. Data viz guru Andy Kirk
@visualisingdata.com
shared more wisdom with me this week on the podcast this week 📊🔊
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Border Criminologies
7 days ago
Editorial assistant job going with
@freemovement.bsky.social
⤵️
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Zoe Gardner
8 days ago
The narrative about London crime is truly so BORING to Londoners. Those of us who walk & travel around our city safely every day, every night. The likeliest daily risk to Londoners is of being ripped off by our landlord or somewhere charging us £4.50 for a coffee.
#r4today
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functional moron
8 days ago
cannot stress enough that they are abducting legal observers left and right and people are hearing about this happening to other people and still immediately going “alright where can i go to help now”
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Hell de Jour
8 days ago
95% of my television diet is Anthony Bourdain, whose journey from jaded cynic to slightly less jaded world citizen happened entirely in public
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It won't, because delays aren't caused by juries and the proposals won't fix a crumbling criminal justice system. But who are they speaking to?! What imaginary voter wants to give up a core civic right, held for centuries, for the promise of jam in a decade?
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
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Slashing jury trials could clear courts backlog within a decade, says Lammy
Exclusive: Lord chancellor urges MPs to back judge-only trials in thousands of criminal cases in England and Wales
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jan/11/slashing-jury-trials-could-clear-courts-backlog-within-a-decade-says-lammy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
8 days ago
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Chai Patel
Natalie Sedacca
9 days ago
The EAT has allowed an appeal by Latin American seasonal farm workers to proceed, after it was struck out for missing a tribunal deadline. The workers, supported by
@uvwunion.bsky.social
, argued it is unjust and irrational to expect undocumented workers in crisis to navigate complex legal systems
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Zoe Gardner
9 days ago
I BEG every smug commentator who praised Mahmood for doing the “tough but necessary thing” to read this. All the disadvantages of plummeting immigration for the economy & public services, for NO POLITICAL GAIN. Labour in DESPERATE need of a 180 change of course on immigration
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Tim Onion
9 days ago
well well well
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AI layoffs are looking more and more like corporate fiction that's masking a darker reality, Oxford Economics suggests | Fortune
"Firms don't appear to be replacing workers with AI on a significant scale," the firm said. It suspects some are trying to "dress up layoffs" as good news.
https://fortune.com/2026/01/07/ai-layoffs-convenient-corporate-fiction-true-false-oxford-economics-productivity/
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Colin Yeo
9 days ago
Some musing from me on AI and publishing. I’m surprised our page views have gone up not down over the last year. There’s surely going to be huge upheaval in the online content space and in how potential customers find lawyers - if they still do…
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Chai Patel
Colin Yeo
11 days ago
Anecdotally, I feel like the quality of Home Office country reports has shifted since the notorious Rwanda one back in 2022, when there was obvious political interference. The executive summaries increasingly look political and unjustified by the evidence.
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Elizabeth Lopatto
10 days ago
ENOUGH
www.theverge.com/policy/85990...
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Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards
Once you’ve traded your principles for proximity to power, do you even run your own company?
https://www.theverge.com/policy/859902/apple-google-run-by-cowards
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Alasdair Mackenzie
11 days ago
If you wonder why so many people get refused asylum and have to appeal, one reason is that the Home Office do weaselly things like this with the evidence about risks on return, with the apparent intention of encouraging its staff to refuse entirely meritorious claims
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Colin Yeo
11 days ago
New from Free Movement: Free Movement review of 2025 | Colin Yeo
freemovement.org.uk/free-movemen...
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Free Movement review of 2025 - Free Movement
It has become an end-of-year tradition, for good or ill, for me to review what’s been going on in the immigration law world, look ahead and share a little of
https://freemovement.org.uk/free-movement-review-of-2025/
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Adam Bienkov
12 days ago
British woman left stranded in Hungary after the Home Office refuse to let her bring 13-year-old niece to the UK. The girl, who was abandoned by her parents, could now end up in state care, following the Home Office's decision
bylinetimes.com/2026/01/08/b...
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British Woman Left 'Stranded' in Hungary After Home Office Refuse to Let Her Bring Niece to the UK
The 13-year-old girl, who she was given parental responsibility over after being abandoned by her parents, could be sent into state care because of the Home Office's decision
https://bylinetimes.com/2026/01/08/british-woman-left-stranded-in-hungary-after-home-office-refuse-to-let-her-bring-niece-to-the-uk/
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Chai Patel
Ilona Pinter 🧡
12 days ago
Strong stuff from the Chancellor 💪🏻 One slight prob: her gov's NRPF policy (which restricts access to MOST benefits not just UC & which they're planning to extend to those w/ ILR) does precisely this: discriminates between children based on where parents are from
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
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Chai Patel
Minnie Rahman
12 days ago
So sad to hear about this. Richard was one of the first people I met and worked with on migration and he was such a lovely person. Donate to Hummingbird Project in his memory, they are a brilliant organisation.
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It is very simple. One has simply to attain balance between the five humours: blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile, and slop.
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12 days ago
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Georgina Sturge
13 days ago
A longer post from me to start the year: the Dutch are panicking. Their digital ID system will soon fall under the control of an American company and far-reaching US government powers. Why is that such a problem? And what does it mean for the UK?
open.substack.com/pub/georgina...
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Digital ID, big tech and the Dutch dilemma
A planned US takeover of critical infrastructure raises troubling questions
https://open.substack.com/pub/georginasturge/p/digital-id-big-tech-and-the-dutch?r=2ut0af&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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Donald Campbell
14 days ago
Last year I FOI -d the UK Govt to ask if they'd assessed whether continued use of X as a formal communications channel was appropriate. Responding in Oct, DSIT said: no, try asking the Cabinet Office. Responding in Nov, the Cabinet Office said: no, try asking DSIT.
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Border Criminologies
14 days ago
From today, new immigration offences give the UK government even more power to criminalise and imprison people crossing the Channel in dinghies. Read an overview of the changes from
@vickytaylor.bsky.social
⤵️
blogs.law.ox.ac.uk/border-crimi...
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Daniel Villar
15 days ago
I know RUK ignores NI, but surely there should be more public horror and indignation about the fact that not 6 months ago part of the UK saw a pogrom that drove an ethnic group (the Roma) out of a sizeable town
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henry ✷
18 days ago
you’re right! it feels mostly awful to Go Online™, these days. the internet in a sad state, for reason after reason after reason. but there is a way to fix it; to trade the voidful howling for a quiet & joyful song. here’s how to win the war for the soul of the internet, and build the Web We Want.
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A Website To End All Websites | Henry From Online
How to win the war for the soul of the internet, and build the Web We Want.
https://henry.codes/writing/a-website-to-destroy-all-websites/
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Alasdair Mackenzie
21 days ago
2025 in the UK in a nutshell, folks: some of the country's most odious racists, who also never shut up about free speech & the right to offend, calling for a man from a racialised minority to have his citizenship cancelled over alleged racist speech, while the media dutifully jots it all down
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Home secretary urged to strip activist of British citizenship
Shabana Mahmood is facing growing calls to revoke the citizenship of British-Egyptian dual national Alaa Abdel Fattah after the emergence of social media posts.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l93lx1rx3o
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Charlotte Lydia Riley
22 days ago
Not enough people are paying attention to the schisms in Anglicanism, a religion that largely hides in plain sight in the UK. But the ugliness exposed by the appointment of the new Archbish — the hostility of parishes who were previously still opting out of women priests — will only get worse.
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HK
22 days ago
Tommy Robinson carol service is really just the beginning of the CoE’s coming crisis, in which they’re going to have to figure out what to do about their former congregations becoming radicalised into a version of the faith that is aggressive, disavows empathy and has contempt for the weak
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Zoe Gardner
28 days ago
🎺🎺The @CalaisAppeal fundraiser just hit £20,000!!!!!🥳🤩🤩 This is amazing! They’re so close to reaching their goal 😭🙏🥰 Thank you so much everyone, let’s make it happen for them!
www.justgiving.com/campaign/tog...
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌
28 days ago
Everyone sat around talking about how these people were incredibly stupid and then they managed to successfully implement large swathes of the plan that they all told us they were going to execute and you really have to wonder who is the stupid in this equation
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Jacob Gifford Head
29 days ago
This is wholly unsurprising but absolutely appalling. This is like concluding a coin always lands on heads because every time it lands on tails you discard the result. And, I am afraid, yet again, this is a symptom of volunteer Magistrates just not getting it.
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Colin Yeo
29 days ago
The immigration hostile environment encourages overzealous over enforcement because there is no penalty in that direction. But there are severe penalties for under enforcement.
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Zoe Gardner
30 days ago
🤩More than £16,000 raised now for
@calaisappeal.bsky.social
!! You guys are so amazing! Please do share the link with anybody who might be able to donate this Christmas to help the people freezing at our border 🥰🥰🥰🥰
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They are really doing a fantastic job at an awful time.
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about 1 month ago
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Chai Patel
Dan Sohege
about 1 month ago
"May"? Helpful reminder that this is the country which Labour is touting as an example for its own anti-immigration policies.
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
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EU court says Denmark's ethnic-based 'ghetto law' may be discriminatory
The EU's top court ruled on Thursday that Denmark's 2018 "ghetto law," which relocates residents from minority-heavy areas, could amount to ethnic discrimination, dealing a blow to the country's integ...
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-court-says-denmarks-ethnic-based-ghetto-law-may-be-discriminatory-2025-12-18/
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HK
about 1 month ago
Genuinely one of the worst articles ive ever read. I had to walk out of the room after I read this part
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