Troubled Communities - Selected news stories on the Birmingham riots, and the situation of minorities in the UK

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A rumour, outrage and then a riot. How tension in a Birmingham suburb erupted
2005/10/24 · The Guardian
It began as a whisper, an inflammatory rumour: it was said that after being caught shoplifting, a Jamaican girl of 13 or 14 had been raped by between three and 25 Pakistani men. Six days after the rumour was given wider circulation by a pirate radio DJ, it was being blamed for much of Saturday night's rioting in Birmingham, which left one dead and up to 35 others in hospital. Shops were attacked, cars set on fire; four people were stabbed, a police officer shot.

Pirate stations face inquiry over race riots
2005/11/01 · The Guardian
Pirate radio stations accused of spreading the rape allegations that sparked race riots in Birmingham are being investigated by police under incitement to racial hatred laws. Five of the pirate radio stations under suspicion have closed down since the riots just over a week ago resulted in the murder of 23-year-old Isiah Young-Sam.

Views on Immigration Differ in Eight Countries
2006/06/08 · Angus Reid Global Scan
Canadians, Australians and Americans are more likely to say immigrants are having a good influence in their respective countries, according to an eight-country poll by Ipsos. 75% of respondents in Canada, and more than half of respondents in Australia and the United States, say so. Conversely, the responses in five European nations—Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain—varied from a high of 47% to a low of 43%.

'Trust at risk' after terror raid
2006/06/06 · The Guardian
The leader of Britain's biggest Muslim organisation warned that the recent London terror raid could severely damage the relationship between the Muslim community and the police. Mohammed Abdul Kahar was shot and wounded during the operation. Kahar and his brother were arrested on suspicion of being involved in a terrorist chemical plot. However, counter-terrorism officials now believe the intelligence that led to the raid was wrong. Kahar's solicitor said police had shot him without any warning.

Brown tells all migrants to learn English
2006/06/06 · The Times
Immigrants to Britain who have refused to learn English should be required to do so, Gordon Brown said yesterday. The Chancellor said that immigrants should also gain an understanding of British history to learn the values of freedom, liberty and tolerance: “People who come into this country, who are part of our community, should play by the rules.”

Inquiry into illegal immigrant cleaners at Home Office
2006/05/19 · The Guardian
An inquiry is under way after it emerged that five illegal immigrants had been arrested at one of the immigration service's central London offices. Conservatives claimed the arrests were proof that the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) was in "chaos". But home secretary John Reid said the IND had acted effectively in spotting and detaining the Nigerians when they turned up to work as cleaners.

MPs shocked by fresh immigration revelations
2006/05/17 · The Guardian
A senior immigration official told MPs it wasn't known how many people ordered to leave the country had actually been removed. Dave Roberts also admitted that he had no idea how many of the 50,000 people supposed to report regularly to immigration officials actually did so. He denied that Tony Blair's order to concentrate on asylum seekers had distracted the immigration officials from their other work.

Lord chancellor defends Britain's commitment to human rights
2006/05/17 · The Guardian
The lord chancellor insisted that Britain will not leave the European convention on human rights or repeal the Human Rights Act. His remarks come after Blair called a high court judge's ruling that Afghans who hijacked a plane should be allowed to stay "an abuse of common sense". Lord Falconer pointed out that the decision that the Afghans could not be sent back to face torture in their home country was based on case law from the European court of human rights and warned against undermining judicial independence.

Cameron calls for repeal of Human Rights Act
2006/05/12 · The Guardian
Cameron said the British Conservatives would "scrap, reform or replace" the Human Rights Act unless the government can reach a memorandum of understanding to enable foreign criminals to be deported. Responding to the court ruling that nine Afghans who claimed asylum after hijacking a plane had the right to remain in Britain, he said it was wrong to allow "the human rights of dangerous criminals to fly in the face of common sense".

Kelly pledges more homes to counter BNP
2006/05/09 · The Guardian
The government admitted that it must provide more affordable homes to stop disgruntled, white, working class communities turning to the British National Party. Ruth Kelly, the new communities secretary, also suggested that some new homes should be reserved for long-term residents, rather than going to those most in need.

Will BNP election gains last?
2006/05/05 · BBC News
The BNP has more than doubled its number of council seats in England from 20 to 44. Historically, gains by the far-right have tended to be short-lived. But the BNP appears to be learning to hold on to its gains. In the 2005 general elections, it got just 0.7%, but retained its deposit in 40 seats, winning 17% in the constituency of Barking. In 2004, it got 4.9% of the vote in the European elections. A poll suggested that nearly one in four voters have seriously considered voting BNP.

BNP: We're on our way
2006/05/05 · The Independent
Supporters of the far-right British National Party claimed the party was "on its way" after picking up extra council seats across England. The BNP's gains were most dramatic in Barking and Dagenham in east London where it became the second biggest party, seizing 11 of the 13 seats it fought. Across England, it picked up 31 seats - a net gain of 26. Last month Barking Labour MP - and Employment Minister - Margaret Hodge had warned that eight out of 10 white families in her constituency were " tempted" to vote BNP.

God is the God of all
2006/05/03 · The Guardian
Over the past few months there has been growing evidence of a developing alliance between the British National party and fundamentalist evangelicals. What's interesting is that their passionate liaison has ended in tears. "[P]eople are worried at the political correctness of the Church of England," BNP spokesman Phil Edwards had said. In response, BNP members helped to set up the "Christian Council of Britain". But within weeks, the alliance was in tatters.

Second man dies after arson attack on London shop
2006/05/03 · The Times
A second man has died following an arson attack on a convenience store in Kennington, South London. Police believe the attack and two other firebomb attacks on Asian corner shops may be racially motivated.

Police arrest man over "racist" arson attacks
2006/05/02 · Reuters (via Ezilon)
Police arrested a man in connection with three arson attacks on Asian-run shops in south London that have left one man dead. On Sunday, police said they wanted to speak to a black man in his early thirties. Scotland Yard has said they considered the three attacks to be linked and that they were thought to be racially motivated.

The battle for Bradford
2006/04/26 · The Guardian
Having lost seats to the BNP last time, Labour and the Tories in Bradford have their work cut out in the local elections. Matt Collins, a former National Front organiser, blames the BNP's gains on their failure to engage demoralised working class voters. BNP candidates don't appear to do much with their role once elected. The first BNP motion in council chambers was to ban the local paper from all council premises on the grounds that it was a "Stalinist, Zionist rag".

Big parties get blame for expected BNP surge|http://politics.guardian.co.uk/localgovernment/story/0,,1755859,00.html
2006/04/18 · The Guardian
Labour and Tory leaderships were warned that a predicted surge in BNP support in the British local elections is fuelled by their obsession with a small number of swing voters in middle England. Labour MP's in east London said Labour seemed to believe that the working class in traditional Labour heartlands no longer exists, or is electorally irrelevant. John Cryer said: "An awful lot of working class people feel they have lost control of their own destiny in a way that was not true 20 to 30 years ago".

BNP 'needs 5% swing to win 70 council seats'
2006/04/17 · The Guardian
The British National party is within a 3% swing of winning an extra 40 council seats, according to Searchlight. It has 20 now. Employment minister Hodge warned that white working class voters in her east London constituency are tempted to vote BNP en masse, partly because they believe "no one else is listening to them". They are angry at the lack of housing since immigrants arrived, and the BNP has increased its anti-Muslim rhetoric in the wake of the July 7 bombings and the Danish cartoon row.

Cities 'better' but behind Europe
2006/03/07 · BBC News
England's cities are "recovering after years of decline", according to the report "State of the Cities". The gap between poorer neighbourhoods and the rest of England in educational achievement and teenage pregnancy is narrowing, and in 48 of 56 areas, racial integration has improved since the early 1990s. But only three English cities are among the 50 European cities with the highest GDP, with London in 23rd place. The study covered 56 towns and cities, and is considered the most comprehensive study ever undertaken on the topic.

Retrial ordered after Griffin walks free
2006/02/03 · The Guardian
The British National Party rejoiced when its leader and one of his lieutenants walked free from a race hatred trial, cleared on half the charges by a jury which was irreconcilably divided on the others. A retrial was confirmed by the Crown Prosecution Service. Both men argued that their views, including comparing asylum seekers to cockroaches, were a matter of free speech. Griffin: "Millions .. will be able to hold their heads higher .. tonight. I was speaking the truth to an audience of decent working people [who] are facing terrible problems, including the grooming of their children by racist paedophiles from part of the Muslim community."

Student 'killed over skin colour'
2005/11/16 · BBC News
An 18-year-old student was murdered with an axe as he walked through a park simply because he was black, a court has heard. "On 29 July Paul Taylor, Michael Barton and others decided to pursue Anthony Walker and Marcus Binns for no reason other than the colour of their skin," stated the Prosecutor. Anthony, his girlfriend and Marcus were on their way to a bus stop when racial abuse was shouted at them. Despite walking away they were followed, allegedly by Taylor and Barton.

Minorities break 'class barrier'
2005/11/14 · BBC News
Young people from working class ethnic minorities tend to out-perform their white counterparts. Research into 140,000 children over 30 years found that half of children from Indian working class families went into professional or managerial posts, compared with 45% of those from Caribbean backgrounds and 43% of white working class children. Those from Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities under-performed, however. Jews and Hindus had more chance of upward mobility than Christians; Muslims and Sikhs less.

Britain's first black Archbishop to be confirmed
2005/10/05 · Yahoo! News
The appointment of Britain's first black Archbishop is due to be confirmed at a service on Wednesday. Ugandan-born John Sentamu, who is currently Bishop of Birmingham and trained as a lawyer before coming to Britain, is to take over as Archbishop of York. Sentamu has built up a reputation for fighting racism. He has worked with two inquiries probing notorious London murders - the 1993 racist killing of teenager Stephen Lawrence and the stabbing of Nigerian schoolboy Damilola Taylor in 2000.

British imams to tackle radicals in mosques
2005/09/23 · The Guardian
The first national council of imams and mosques is to be set up to prevent them from being used by extremists, to set standards and to reduce reliance on foreign clerics. The council will bring together every Muslim tradition and be independent of the government. Lord Ahmed, who unveiled the proposal as part of the government's programme of tackling extremism, said there were 2,000 imams, of whom only 300 were "homegrown". Too often sermons were delivered only in Arabic and women and young people were excluded from the mosque committees. In some cases imams were illiterate or even had criminal records.

Multiculturalism is not the culprit
2005/08/30 · International Herald Tribune
The July bombings in London have prompted a wave of criticism of the supposedly sinister role of multiculturalism in alienating - and rendering susceptible to terrorist violence - young male members of Britain's Muslim immigrant communities. Some of the suggestions made are sensible. Others, however, are divisively counterproductive. If the impoverishment and alienation of immigrant youth constitute a security risk, this may reflect not too much multiculturalism, but rather not enough antidiscrimination measures.

U.K.: Government's New Deportation Rules To Combat 'Hate Speech' Get Mixed Reception
2005/08/29 · RFE/RL
In the wake of last month's deadly London bombings, the British government has unveiled new rules for the barring or deportation of foreigners whose behavior it considers fosters hatred or promotes terrorism. The rules will enable the government to detain and deport extremist preachers, activists, or teachers. Many politicians and members of the public have welcomed the measures in the wake of the terrorist attacks in London. Some civil and human rights organizations and Muslim leaders, however, fear the criteria are too broad and that freedom of speech could be threatened.