Jonathon Porritt: Britain should have ‘zero net immigration’ policy Sunday, Jun 8 2008

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Britain should set an example to the world by reversing its steeply-rising population growth and allowing no more people into the country than leave, the Government’s chief “green” adviser has said. Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, said it was entirely possible to be “very progressive” on immigration while still having a policy of “zero net immigration” and no further population growth. Mr Porritt told an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival, he would like to see Britain’s population on a declining trend, instead of increasing to 65 million in ten years and to 70 million by 2031. Mr Porritt, who is a patron of the charity, the Optimum Population Trust, warned that globally spending on family planning was “massively” lower than the £8 billion spent on HIV/Aids.

Yet it should be around £12.5 billion to £15 billion if the world was to avoid a population of more than 9 billion or more by 2050. Mr Porritt warned that in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, population trends were increasing “disastrously” because of low spending on family planning. In Kenya and Ethiopia, spending on family planning was now running at 2 per cent of spending on HIV/Aids. As a result the population of Kenya, which had been thought to be around 40 million by the mid-century was now expected to be 80 million. “We are guaranteeing an unstoppable flow of problems like HIV and Aids into the future,” he said. Mr Porritt said there were “complex cultural and religious reasons” why globally family planning had such a low priority. “I’ve highlighted the malign combination of a Catholic church which sees contraception as a wicked sin, a religious, ideological approach to family planning in the United States, politically correct and ignorant environmentalists and development economists.”

He said it was “incomprehensible” why environmentalists and development economists would not acknowledge the significance of family planning and population policies. In fact, if one looked at the amount of carbon it would be possible to emit in 2050, without contributing to dangerous climate change, it was 10 billion tons of carbon, around one ton per person. The larger the world’s population was the more uncomfortable that would be, but if the right policies were adopted 30 years earlier it would be possible to keep the world’s population at around 8 billion. Mr Porritt said people were uneasy talking about family planning as a means of reducing population growth. “Politicians won’t touch it because they think it will get them into trouble on immigration policy.” Others thought “it takes you into China’s one child per family and other authoritarian policies.” But he highlighted the example of Iran, where population growth had been halted simply through education, backed by religious leaders. Around the world, he said, it was a universal truth that the longer girls remained in education, the fewer children they had. Mr Porritt said that the prevailing assumption of UN economists that population growth would fall as the world got richer was out of sync with the need for the human race to live within environmental limits. “We can’t wait for Bangladesh to get rich enough to do something about it. It will be game over for human kind at that point.”

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It’s NOT racist to tell the truth about immigration and crime, says leading police chief Sunday, Jun 8 2008

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Chief Constable Julie Spence is singing the praises of one of the most ‘crucial’ members of her Cambridgeshire policing team. Not a brilliant detective or a resourceful community liaison officer, instead she goes by the title of Translation Services Manager. ‘She speaks five languages, and used to work as a translator for us,’ Mrs Spence explains. ‘When everything started running away with us, I got her in to help recruit community support officers with language skills. She has been invaluable. In fact, I gave her an award the other day. ‘At one point, when we were buying in the vast majority of our translation services, I realised the bill was going to reach £1 million, but she managed it down, mostly by making sure we can handle 20 languages in-house. We still have to buy in translation services for the other 70-odd languages, but the bill isn’t as crippling as it could have been.’ Hold on a minute. A near £1million translation budget? The need to ‘handle’ 90-plus languages? But Mrs Spence is a senior officer in a largely rural county, who should surely be dealing with the business of, er, policing, not translating. What is she talking about? Mrs Spence gives a wry smile. ‘Four years ago, I wouldn’t have had a clue about any of this either. I wouldn’t even have been able to tell you what a translation services manager was, much less why we would need one. Now we just couldn’t manage without her.’

This throwaway reference to constabulary admin is a graphic illustration of the demands of modern policing. In short, the Cambridgeshire force needs to be able to police in nearly 100 languages, because – for better or worse – the county’s residents today speak nearly 100 languages. Since the EU gates effectively opened in 2004, the population of Cambridgeshire alone has swelled by at least a million. And the figures, as well as just about every other aspect of this seismic social change, are a matter of much debate. On the frontline, as ever, was the local police service. Practically overnight, Mrs Spence’s officers experienced a surge in crime – as you would expect, she is at pains to point out, whenever a huge mass of people, of whatever nationality, arrive within a short space of time. Then, curious patterns began to emerge. Drink driving was up, and officers noticed that more and more of those they arrested were of Eastern European descent. Knife crime became a huge issue, with knives being pulled to settle almost feudal arguments. Brothels started to appear, with all the associated unpleasantries, such as people-trafficking and kidnapping. Exploitation of workers was next, running alongside the sort of antisocial behaviour that comes with ghettoised areas, cramped living conditions and transient communities. As a sociological study, Mrs Spence notes, it is fascinating stuff. But she was having to deal with it all on a daily basis, and with one massive and expensive complication: she and her officers could not communicate with many of those committing the crimes, or their victims.

‘In some ways it sounds so trivial, going on and on about the language issue, but it was stopping us from doing our job. I’m sure there have been things we missed. There were times when inequalities of service did come about. ‘I am thinking of things like stop and search operations. How do you do that with Polish youths, when your officers don’t speak Polish and getting hold of translators is such a time-consuming business. ‘I know some of my officers will have thought: “It’s easier not to stop this one.” ‘I know for a fact that we nearly messed up on one serious case, a rape, because of translation issues. It was only by chance, when a translator arrived as the victim was about to leave the station, that we realised the seriousness of the situation. ‘I have simply no idea how many other things might have slipped through the net.’ Who could blame her officers for being frustrated, both by the need to stop and call for translation back-up at every turn and by the realisation that those translators were being paid more than them? ‘That money was diverted from daily management of the force, and was at the expense of staff and organisational flexibility,’ says Mrs Spence, matter-of-factly. ‘Our resources were already stretched to the point where we simply weren’t able to do our job. And the figures for translation just kept going up and up.’ Even she balked at the prospect of £1million. I ask her what she would traditionally expect to get for that sort of money.

‘Twenty or 30 extra officers,’ she says. ‘That is the reality of the sort of choices we have been forced to make.’ And are still being forced to make. ‘Recently, we stopped a lorry containing illegal immigrants, including two minors among them. You can just imagine the sort of workload that created, having to get translators in, sorting out child protection issues. And even the most straightforward parts of policing – what I call the noncrime parts, which actually make up two-thirds of our work – are hugely complicated by the language issue. ‘Things like briefing a parent on their responsibilities under the law, or even knocking on a door to see if a little old lady is OK, are made very difficult if your officers cannot communicate.’ Today, Mrs Spence admits she doesn’t speak any languages other than English. ‘And gobbledegook,’ she adds, with an arched eyebrow and a wry smile. ‘Some would say I talk that.’ By ’some’ she means Left-wing politicians, most recently Barbara Follett, government minister with responsibility for the East of England, Mrs Spence’s patch. The two have clashed over the immigration issue. Mrs Spence believes it is her duty to highlight how her officers have struggled to cope with the demands placed on them and has, for some time, been vocal with her concerns. She has accused the Government of burying its head in the sand over the issues posed by the migrant population explosion, of patronising those who dare voice concern, and of downplaying the true numbers involved.

This week, she was called to give evidence to a Commons Select Committee and spoke candidly, and controversially, about issues such as knife crime, singling out specific nationalities involved, in a terribly un-PC way. On a recent visit to Peterborough, however, Mrs Follett suggested the chief constable was talking through her hat, and that the Government was on top of the situation. ‘We have a pretty good idea exactly how many migrants there are, and what we tell the public is the truth,’ Mrs Follett said. She went on to call Mrs Spence’s stance ‘outdated’. All of which Mrs Spence takes as another governmental ‘pat on the head’. ‘They keep saying the situation is settling down. My experience is not showing that. Our evidence is that the number of Poles being arrested is up 50 per cent on last year. The situation might be changing, but I’m not sure we can say it is improving. ‘Each new development brings new issues, new languages, new problems. At the minute we are seeing young men who pass themselves off as Poles – and therefore entitled to be here – but they are speaking Russian. ‘The latest wave are the Czechs and Slovaks, and we have been seeing a lot of Albanians over the past six to nine months. We are also seeing a completely new Egyptian influx. ‘Every day we are discovering new challenges. This is the age of supermobility, and we are on the frontline. It’s not all a problem – in fact, the vast majority of it is very positive – but in policing terms, it is a massive challenge, and I think that should be recognised.’

She has no problem singling out nationalities and explaining how they fit into the crime picture in her area, but is angry at being condemned for that. ‘I was specifically asked at the Select Committee what nationalities were carrying knives. I don’t have a problem with discussing it. It is something we had to look at, as a police force, in order to do something about it.’ It was the Iraqi Kurds who were first highlighted as a group with a tendency to carry knives. ‘In Iraq they carry a knife for self-protection, so we found that many of the young Iraqi men did the same here, and if there was a feudal dispute the knife was pulled. ‘Then we started seeing the same thing with the Lithuanians and the Poles, again because it was something they did back home for protection. ‘But we did a lot of work with all these communities. We produced leaflets and we have seen a huge reduction in the levels of knife crime. We tackled the problem, but to do that we had to recognise that there was a problem in the first place.’ And she’s not na’ve enough to think that the problem has fully gone away. ‘We are seeing the circle of racism come back round again, and with it anti-social behaviour, name-calling. The intelligence is that some of the new communities are now rearming themselves because of this perceived threat from racism, so we have to be very alive to it and we need to get back in there. ‘That’s why I have my officers collecting intelligence and telling us, so we can stop it escalating into something worse.’

So it is, too, she says, with the other big migrant crime ‘issue’ – drink driving. Mrs Spence says it may not be politically correct to say that this is a huge problem among the new communities, but the fact is that it is. ‘It’s something we are largely on top of in the British population, Eastern Europeans, however, think it is their right to drink copious amounts of vodka, then drive. ‘I don’t accept that there is a huge issue with people coming over here to deliberately flout our laws, but there is a problem with ignorance.’ You can see why all this is contentious stuff, designed to have the Barbara Folletts of this world fleeing the TV studio. Knife-wielding Slovaks? Vodka-slugging Poles? It’s all terribly easily exploitable. The BNP has already tried to hijack some of Mrs Spence’s concerns and dress them up as their own. Isn’t she anxious about speaking out on the hottest political subject in Britain? ‘No, I don’t think so. For so long it was the big elephant in the room. But eventually I had to voice my concerns. ‘At first, I think it was seen as simply a plea for more money. It was, of course, we were woefully underfunded, but it was also about the principle. We were simply not prepared for inward migration on this scale, and the Government needs to learn lessons from that. ‘For goodness sake, it’s not a case of saying “let’s send them home”. The fact is we need migrants here. Our big hospital, Addenbrooke’s, wouldn’t survive without them.

‘But it’s precisely because we don’t talk about this that we are in trouble. The debates we have about the whole issue in this country are very superficial. People don’t understand that it is a very complex matter. It isn’t just: Migrants – good or bad? Or Crime – yes or no? ‘The whole way we police is at issue here. Of ten people we hold in our cells, generally four will be from another country. ‘That’s the reality.’ Of course, the migrant population itself is only part of the problem. The inevitable clashes with native Brits, many of whom are of immigrant origin themselves, she points out, create more headaches. ‘It’s not necessarily racism, as such, but a general intolerance of newcomers. The head of my Afro-Caribbean section said to me: “I can hear it in my own community. They are making comments about the new communities that were being made about us.”‘ Again, she can understand the frustrations, on all sides. ‘There is a particular house that one of our senior officers knew used to be occupied by a family of four. Now there are 17 people living there, with seven cars between them. It is noisy and cramped. ‘Some of those living there decamp outside, and you get antisocial behaviour, drunkenness. There is resentment and tensions simmer. It’s our job to be aware of all that.’

What about her, though? When she stands in Sainsbury’s of an afternoon, realising that she is barely hearing an English voice, does she feel uneasy? ‘No, I don’t. Because I’ve become used to hearing lots of different nationalities through my work, I’m quite comfortable with it and, in some ways, it’s very exciting to have all these professional challenges. ‘My latest police community support officer is a Mandarin Chinese speaker because that is a whole untapped community that we didn’t really know or understand.’ Does that mean there is a problem with crime in the Chinese community? ‘Actually, it is as much about them being abused or exploited. The whole point is to get into these communities and understand what is going on in them, to make sure that you spot potential trouble before it flares up.’ An expensive business, then, this modern policing. And how ironic that so many people are going to so much trouble to understand each other, yet those who speak with the same native tongue are failing to communicate. There has been a noticeable lack of one-to-one debate between Mrs Spence and Mrs Follett. ‘I actually asked to see her to talk through some of the issues that have been identified,’ says Mrs Spence, pointedly. ‘But she hasn’t quite got round to seeing me yet.’

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1,400 foreign inmates freed but not deported – despite PM’s promise Friday, Jun 6 2008

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Almost 1,400 foreign criminals have been released early from prison and allowed to stay in this country – despite a promise from Gordon Brown that they would all be deported. The inmates were allowed to walk free under a controversial scheme to reduce prison overcrowding. But immigration officials have been told not to bother trying to deport any overseas convict sentenced to less than a year behind bars. The prisoners let out early include 767 EU nationals – whom European laws make it harder to remove – and 617 from the rest of the world.

Their release flies in the face of a pledge made by the Prime Minister last July that ‘if you commit a crime, you will be deported from our country’. Not only are the ex-prisoners not being removed, but they are being freed 18 days before their sentence reaches the halfway point – the usual point of release. They are also paid around £170 each to compensate them for the loss of bed and board in jail. Tory justice spokesman Nick Herbert said: ‘Far from removing foreign national prisoners from the country as Gordon Brown pledged, the Government has actually released nearly 1,400 of them early on to our streets in less than a year. For every two prisoners which ministers claim to have removed, another one has been released early. ‘Gordon Brown said the message to foreign criminals was that “you play by the rules or you face the consequences”. ‘The message he has actually sent is that if you break the law you have a good chance of being released from prison before serving even half of your sentence and you’ll then be free to remain in the UK.’ The disclosure follows the revelation that there is ‘no interest’ in deporting many foreign criminals.

An internal Prison Service note said: ‘The Criminal Casework Directorate of the Border and Immigration Agency have confirmed to us that as a rule they have no interest in pursuing foreign national prisoners serving sentences of less than 12 months for deportation.’ An exception is made if criminals were recommended for deportation by the courts, or if they have a string of convictions within the last five years. Criminals from outside the EU who have lived here for a long time can argue that deportation would be a breach of their human right to a family life. Convicts from the European Economic Area – members of the EU, plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland – can be removed only if they are highly likely to re-offend and if they present a ‘present, genuine and sufficiently serious threat’. The early release scheme, know as End of Custody Licence, was introduced on June 29 last year, as prison overcrowding reached crisis levels. Despite the policy, prison numbers remain at a record high of 83,000. The Ministry of Justice said foreign nationals were only eligible for the End of Custody Licence scheme after a decision had been made that they would not be deported.

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Mass immigration to blame for knife culture, chief constable warns Wednesday, Jun 4 2008

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A chief constable gave a stark public warning yesterday of ‘immense’ pressure placed on resources by the unprecedented influx of immigrants. Julie Spence, who heads Cambridgeshire Police, took the highly unusual step of singling out Poles, Lithuanians and Iraqi Kurds who are carrying knives on the streets. The comments of such a senior officer in an Parliamentary evidence session will spark widespread alarm at a time when the UK is struggling to control knife crime. Mrs Spence said: ‘We have had the Iraqi Kurds who carry knives and the Poles and the Lithuanians who carry knives. If it is normal to carry them where you come from, you need to educate them pretty quickly. We have done a lot of work to tell them not to, and we have seen it go down.’ The chief constable – who first sparked a nationwide debate on migrant crime last year – also said there were problems related to violent debt recovery among Eastern Europeans.

‘There is an assaults pattern going on in relation to debt recovery. There is an issue of confidence in the police.’ Mrs Spence also described as ‘very worrying’ growing labour and sexual exploitation within former Communist communities whose nations have joined the EU since 2004. In the same evidence session, Local Government Association chairman Sir Simon Milton reported a series of ’spikes’ in crime as a result of mass immigration. He told the Home Affairs Select Committee there had been an issue with largely Romanian pick-pocketing gangs in the Westminster area. ‘Nationally there has been no crime wave but there are instances where there have been spikes in certain types of criminal activity. Much of it is low-level – driving offences, and so on.’ Mrs Spence has given previous warnings of the link between migrants and certain types of crime. Last September she highlighted a surge in drinkdriving, for example, by migrants with ‘different’ cultures and standards. But it is highly unusual for a police chief to single out certain nationalities as posing a specific crime problem. Simply carrying a knife in public is a criminal offence, punishable by up to four years in jail. Mrs Spence, however, is establishing a reputation as an officer prepared to confront uncomfortable truths.

Addressing the Police Federation Conference last month, she warned that the economic downturn could spark tensions among ethnic groups. Violence has already erupted between immigrant populations in the past. And she warned that the looming financial crisis could trigger unrest as competition for jobs increases. She also claimed that the Government had greatly underestimated the soaring numbers of Eastern Europeans entering the UK. Mrs Spence said as many as 1.4million had arrived since the borders were opened to them four years ago – half a million more than the official figure. She called for a European-wide police database so officers can easily check whether immigrants they arrest have any previous convictions in their home country. Mrs Spence cited one example of a violent Polish man arrested by her officers who came up as clear on the police national computer. They contacted the Polish authorities and had to wait 24 hours to find out he was a convicted murderer. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said last night: ‘Under Labour, fatal stabbings are up by almost a third and the Government’s lax approach means people carry knives in the street with impunity. We need more effective action to tackle knife possession – regardless of who is carrying them. ‘This means taking a zero-tolerance approach – including action to confiscate such weapons and punish those carrying them. Only this will send a clear message that we are serious about tackling a problem, which one senior judge has labelled an epidemic.’

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The vast majority of foreign nationals entering or living in the UK play by our rules. However, we will not accommodate those that abuse our hospitality by becoming involved in crime. ‘In 2007 we removed over one person every eight minutes, including the highest-ever number of foreign lawbreakers, up by a huge 80 per cent to 4,200. ‘The new UK Border Agency has put in place a national network of crime partnerships so that we stand shoulder to shoulder with police forces and systematically target foreign lawbreakers for expulsion from Britain.’

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How working classes are betrayed by labour’s lunatic immigration policy Thursday, May 29 2008

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NOTHING exposes the hypocrisy of Left-wing politics more graphically than the issue of immigration.  Labour ideologues constantly tell us how much our society benefits from a mass influx of foreigners, both by strengthening the economy and adding to the richness of our culture.  But this is just empty propaganda. In reality mass immigration has deepened poverty, driven down living standards, pushed up taxes, promoted social dislocation, exacerbated crime and stretched public services to breaking point.

The winners from immigration are the corporate employers and the affluent, nanny-employing class who are insulated by their wealth from the breakdown in social cohesion. The losers are the very people whom Labour used to represent – the traditional British working class who find their communities dissolved, their jobs taken and their support networks shattered. Far from heralding a new era of prosperity, as the Labour Party claims, mass immigration has actually worsened the economic prospects of a large section of our society.  This is partly because wage bills have been forced down by ruthless competition at the bottom end of the employment market, where British citizens with family responsibilities and mortgages struggle against foreign newcomers who are able to accept far lower pay rates.   For all the Government’s boasting about record levels of employment, more than 80 per cent of new jobs go to immigrants while the number of Britons in work has declined since Labour came to power.

But there is another way in which immigration has entrenched poverty and unemployment. Just as the destruction of our borders has served the purposes of an unpatriotic, irresponsible brand of cut-throat capitalism so it has also reinforced the culture of dep­endency on the welfare state. While migrants fill most of the vacancies in our economy an army of benefits claimants has been allowed to remain on the economic scrapheap, devoid of ambition or skills. Labour came to power with a promise to “think the unthinkable” about the welfare state. Yet as the Cons­ervatives’ Work and Pensions spokesman Chris Grayling pointed out in a tough speech yesterday, immigration has been used by the Govern­ment as a substitute for benefits reform.  All Labour’s big promises about radical change of the benefits have proved hollow. Instead there has been only an extension of state bureaucracy through schemes like the New Deal or Sure Start. No scroung­ers have ever had their handouts withdrawn because of their refusal to take a job. 

Instead of reinforcing a system that encourages idleness, Labour should have copied the reforms of Bill Clinton’s administration in the Nineties in America which have meant that benefit claims are strictly limited to two years in succession or five years in total during a working lifetime. Contrary to predictions that Clinton’s plan would result in mass poverty, the measures have led to a dramatic increase in employment and fall in welfare rolls. That is what we needed in Britain but we have ended up with the worst of all worlds. Rather than being tightened the welfare system has been expanded remorselessly, with its annual cost now reaching £170billion. As a result, millions of claimants have been under no pressure to enter the world of work. Meanwhile, levels of migration have soared in response to demand from employers. Acc­ording to the Govern­ment’s own statistics, at least 500,000 foreigners are arriving here annually and that figure does not include illegal migrants and bogus refugees. It is the economics of the lunatic asylum to import millions of foreigners to carry out the work which could be done by the 5.5 million Britons who are paid by the State to remain unemployed. But it suits the institutional self-loathing of the anti-British metropolitan elite to maintain this perverse, almost schizophrenic approach.

For in this way the indigenous working-class can be portrayed as lazy slobs while immigrants are hailed as industrious heroes, full of self-sacrifice and diligence who take on jobs the feckless British will not. Such imagery fulfils the determination of the politically correct brigade to brainwash the public into accepting our trans­­formation into a multi-cultural land of immigrants. This manipulative agenda is, how­ever, shot through with holes.  The truth is that immigrants are far more likely to be unemployed than Britons. Indeed, many come here precisely because of the generosity of our welfare state, as demonstrated by the hordes of aggressive young men claiming to be refugees who gather in northern France in the hope of reach­ing the land of the cash payout.  In practice our benefits system is encouraging the import of poverty from the Third World. Moreover, the institutionalised obsession with anti-racism and diversity means that public-sector employers operate a deliberate bias against British applicants.  This is all too apparent in the NHS, for instance, where vast numbers of foreign staff are recruited and British-trained doctors and nurses often ­struggle to find work.

It is sickening that the British working-class, once the backbone of our country, should be derided as bigots simply because they object to the way immigration is dest­roying their livelihoods and neighbourhoods.  Living in the areas of high migration they are the ones who are really paying the price for social upheaval, not the smug affluent liberals who enjoy the benefits of cheap labour without having to worry about the consequences. In effect the British working class are being asked to celebrate the betrayal they have endured at the hands of the political elite.

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Cops told: Don’t arrest illegals Tuesday, May 27 2008

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ONE in three police forces tells cops not to arrest illegal immigrants – despite Government assurances they ARE locked up. Instead, officers are told to give them directions to an immigration office. Only last month, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne slammed the old system of giving illegals a map to the asylum unit at Croydon, South London. He declared: “That was nonsense. Now we detain people immediately.” Days later, The Sun revealed Bedfordshire Police had issued a “do not arrest” order to cops.

Officials branded the guidance out-of-date. Now new research by the Tories reveals that nine out of 27 forces they contacted have a no-detain policy. Bedfordshire cops are STILL being told not to arrest illegals – as are officers in Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, East Midlands, Thames Valley, Suffolk, Hampshire, Derbyshire, and South Yorks. Among advice to police is: “If asylum seekers make off from officers, no attempt should be made to detain them.” Last night, Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green stepped up calls for a tough new border police force to tackle illegals. He said: “It’s alarming how out of touch the Immigration Minister is.

He says the system’s changed, but in many parts of the country there’s the same old inability to enforce the law.” The Home Office insisted the new UK border agency is already giving back-up to police. A spokesman said: “When a lorry drop is reported we take the migrants to a detention centre for questioning.”

Meanwhile, bosses group the CBI warned of “strong opposition” if the Government tries to force firms to help foot a £300million bill for teaching English to migrant workers. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears threatened new laws if firms do not take a “significantly bigger role”. The row came as it emerged that a massive ONE in FOUR people in one English town – Boston, Lincs – are now Eastern European.

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illegal immigrant who murdered student with a cricket bat Tuesday, May 27 2008

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An illegal immigrant has been convicted of brutally murdering a student with a cricket bat just weeks after being released by police. Disturbed Dawood Khan, who claimed he was cursed by black magic, rained up to eight heavy blows on student Nazeer Ahmed as he sat eating a curry. The ferocious and apparently motiveless attack shattered unsuspecting Mr Ahmed’s skull and knocked him immediately unconscious.

Murder: Dawood Khan (left) beat Nazeer Ahmed to death with a cricket bat

Mr Ahmed, 22, an international business administration student at Yorkshire College, in Bradford, West Yorks, had been working on his computer and eating a bowl of curry, before his body was discovered with a half-eaten chappati still on his lap. Afghan national Khan, whose age is not known, was arrested by police in the capital on March 22, last year after his behaviour caused concern and he was detained for suspected immigration breaches. But after just 24 hours he was released by the immigration authorities. On May 31 he battered the innocent student with a cricket bat, at the house both were lodging at. Flanked by hospital staff Khan, believed to be in his 20’s was found guilty of murder by an 11-1 majority jury at Bradford Crown Court on Friday. The jury rejected a possible verdict of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Mr Justice Grigson told Khan, who was Sectioned under the Mental Health Act and had been detained in a mental hospital near York since his arrest, that the only sentence was life in jail.

He adjourned the case until June 27 when he will decide how long Khan must stay behind bars. Speaking after the two week trial Mr Ahmed’s grieving father Abdul Sattar, who had travelled from Pakistan to see justice for his son, slammed the system which had allowed his son’s killer to be free despite entering the country illegally. Mr Sattar said through friends that his son had done everything by the rules, applying for a education visa to be in the UK and showing his passport and other documents regularly to remain here. “He has seen how hard it is to get through strict immigration rules in Pakistan and has been stunned to come here and realise how easy it is for illegal immigrants to move around,” said Keighley town councillor Mohammed Nazam, who has been helping Mr Sattar during his stay in the UK. “He feels had the authorities held Khan in March, his son would still be alive.” During a two-week trial the jury heard Khan believed someone had put a black magic curse on him. He used a charm and religious ritual to drive out the evil spell.

Khan told the jury he was not at home when Mr Ahmed was killed. After the murder, Khan propped the cricket bat against the fridge, wiped his blood-stained hands on a kitchen towel and left the house, locking the front door. He begged two Keighley men to take him to Cardiff, telling them he wanted to find work there. He was on his way when Ajay Rajput, a semi-professional cricketer also sharing the house, discovered Mr Ahmed’s body. Cheshire police arrested Khan hiding in a cubicle in the ladies’ toilet at Sandbach motorway services.

After the case, Detective Superintendent Tim Forber said: “Nazeer Ahmed was a young man with a bright future who had his whole life in front of him. “His family continue to feel a huge loss as a result of his death and they have my deepest sympathy. “Dawood Khan is clearly a dangerous individual who presents a real threat to the safety of the general public and it is right they are protected from him.” Mr Ahmed’s heartbroken father Mr Sattar, said: “I am happy with the verdict and that the jury weren’t fooled by Khan’s efforts to manipulate the system. “Nothing can replace my son but at least justice has been done.”

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Britons suffer as brown ‘uses migrant labour’ Tuesday, May 27 2008

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GORDON Brown has been accused of relying on an influx of migrant workers to fill British jobs. The Tories claim the Prime Minister has used the policy as an “easy” alternative to proper welfare reform that would get many unemployed Britons back into work. In a hard-hitting speech today, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Chris Grayling will attack Gordon Brown for leaving millions of Britons stranded in poverty while using immigration as a “safety net”.

Mr Brown last year promised “British jobs for British workers”. But his controversial pledge has proved to be hollow rhetoric after latest figures showed nearly nine in every 10 jobs created under Labour have gone to foreign workers. Mr Grayling will point to London as an example where economic growth and prosperity should have ensured jobs for all but where there remain “serious pockets of unemployment and welfare dependency”. “It’s not that the work hasn’t been there,” he will say. “Thousands of people have moved into all areas of London from overseas to find jobs. That is part of what makes this city so successful. “It also demonstrates how badly this Government has let down those excluded from the labour market. Why on earth are we paying out vast amounts of money to keep people out of work, when jobs are there and being filled by people from overseas?

“Why has the Government stood idly by while such an absurd situation develops?” Mr Grayling will add: “Gordon Brown has used migrant labour as the easy policy option. Migrant workers have helped boost economic growth and his reputation as Chancellor at a time when the economic picture would have been somewhat less rosy without the financial impact of people moving into Britain from overseas. “Gordon Brown has used the influx of migrant workers as a way of ducking the issue of welfare reform. After all his rhetoric on poverty, he has failed to deliver the sea change he promised.” The Government boasts of record employment but the number of UK-born workers has fallen to its lowest level since 1997 as the proportion of foreigners with jobs has increased.

Figures also indicate that almost 2,000 foreigners a day are being given National Insurance numbers, enabling them to work. Elsewhere in his speech, Mr Grayling will urge extra help for British ethnic minorities who struggle to find jobs because their English is not good enough. Under the Tories, new back-to-work centres will be expected to offer English language coaching to particular groups of job-seekers.

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