Starmer Faces Fresh Crisis After Court Ruling on Asylum Hotel
The Home Office is now looking at alternatives for housing asylum seekers, Security Minister Dan Jarvis said Wednesday in a round of broadcast interviews. He repeatedly declined to elucidate when asked in a BBC radio interview what those options might include.
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Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Defamation case against Fox News highlights role of its hosts in promoting 2020 election falsehoods
In short: Fox let Trump aides spread conspiracy theories despite knowing they were false because it was what their viewers wanted to hear. Fox was trying to hold on to viewers who were angry at the network for saying Biden had won the election. Fox said it was covering a newsworthy story. It accuses the London-based company, which had only Los Angeles County as a client for the 2020 election, of exaggerating its claims of damages in the hope of receiving a financial windfall. Pirro now working in the second Trump administration The focus on Pirro is noteworthy because the former Fox personality Smartmatic, relying on emails and text messages revealed as part of the case, said Pirro was using her position as a Fox host in 2020 to help Trump and persuade him to pardon her ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who was convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion. Trump pardoned him before leaving office in 2021. Advertisement In a text to then-Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in September 2020, Pirro said, 'I'm the No. 1 watched show on news cable all weekend. I work so hard for the President and the party,' Smartmatic said in court papers. One of her own producers, Jerry Andrews, called Pirro a 'reckless maniac,' Smartmatic said. He texted after one of her shows in November that it was 'rife (with) conspiracy theories and bs and is yet another example of why this woman should never be on live television.' FOX Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo, right, arrived at the White House, on March 6. Alex Brandon/Associated Press The court papers said Pirro also suggested 'evidence' of supposed fraud to Trump lawyer Sidney Powell that she could use on a television appearance — material that also was spread by Bartiromo. Bartiromo still works at Fox, and in 2020 had shows on both the news channel and Fox Business Network. The court papers uncovered messages showing her desire to help Trump: 'I am very worried. Please please please overturn this. Bring the evidence, I know you can,' she texted to Powell. Dobbs, whose business show was canceled by Fox in February 2021, texted to Powell four days after the election, saying 'I'm going to do what I can to help stop what is now a coup d'etat in (its) final days — perhaps moments,' a reference to Biden's victory. Dobbs A central figure in Fox's 'pivot' Smartmatic portrayed Pirro as a central figure in Fox's 'pivot' to deemphasize Biden's victory because it angered Trump fans. Instead, the network found that ratings jumped whenever claims of election fraud were discussed, it said. Advertisement As in the Dominion case, the discovery process helped Smartmatic find messages and statements that seem embarrassing in retrospect. For example, in early December, Fox's Jesse Watters texted colleague Greg Gutfeld that 'Think of how incredible our ratings would be if Fox went ALL in on STOP THE STEAL.' Fox, in a response to the newly-revealed court papers, pointed to an ongoing corruption case involving Smartmatic and its executives, including a claim by federal prosecutors that it used money from the sale of voting machines to set up a 'slush fund' for bribing foreign officials. 'The evidence shows that Smartmatic's business and reputation were badly suffering long before any claims by President Trump's lawyers on Fox News and that Smartmatic grossly inflated its damage claims to generate headlines and chill free speech,' Fox said. 'Now, in the aftermath of Smartmatic's executives getting indicted for bribery charges, we are eager and ready to continue defending our press freedoms.' Smartmatic has already settled similar defamation claims
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Judge Orders That ‘Alligator Alcatraz' Detention Center Be Shut Down for Now
A federal judge on Thursday ordered that no more immigrant detainees be sent to a center in the Florida Everglades, and that much of the facility be dismantled. The ruling rebuked the state and federal governments for failing to consider potential environmental harms before building the facility, known as Alligator Alcatraz. The judge gave both branches of the government 60 days to move out existing detainees and begin to remove fencing, lighting, power generators and other materials. The order also prohibits any new construction at the site. The decision is a major legal setback for the detention center, the nation's first state-run facility for federal immigration detainees, which has faced several lawsuits and numerous complaints about poor conditions and other problems. The state is expected to appeal. Judge Kathleen M. Williams of the Federal District Court in Miami found that the state and federal governments had violated a federal law that requires an environmental review before any major federal construction project. Judge Williams partly granted a preliminary injunction sought by environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe, whose members live in the area. The detention center is surrounded by protected lands that form part of the sensitive Everglades ecological system. The detention center presents risks to wetlands and to communities that depend on the Everglades for their water supply, including the Miccosukee, Judge Williams found. 'The project creates irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area,' she wrote. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fresh wave of asylum hotel protests expected after Epping ruling
A wave of protests outside hotels used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers is expected in the coming days. It comes as the latest figures showed there were more than 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels, marking a rise of 8% during Labour's first year in office. Stand Up To Racism is preparing to hold counter-protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers on Friday, including in Bournemouth, Cardiff and Leeds, with further demonstrations expected on Saturday. Meanwhile, councils across the country controlled by Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK are investigating whether they could pursue legal challenges against asylum hotels. This follows a judge granting Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction on Tuesday that blocked asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in Essex. The council had argued the injunction was needed amid 'unprecedented levels of protest and disruption' in connection with asylum seeker accommodation. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the people of Epping who protested and its council have 'led the way', writing in The Telegraph that 'our country's patience has snapped'. His Conservative colleague Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said on Thursday that people have 'every right' to protest over asylum hotels in their areas. Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament in 2029. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insisted Labour had taken 'crucial steps' in the past year towards this by cutting the asylum backlog and money spent on the asylum system, increasing returns of failed asylum seekers and overhauling appeals. While the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has risen, Government spending on asylum in the UK is down 12%, data published on Thursday showed. The number waiting on an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June dropped below 100,000 for the first time in four years. Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation, known as contingency accommodation, if they are awaiting assessment of their claim or have had a claim approved and there is not enough longer-term accommodation available. When there is not enough housing, the Home Office – which has a legal obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute – can move people to alternatives such as hotels and large sites, like former military bases. Amid hotel protests, campaigners including Rape Crisis and Refuge have warned conversations about violence against women and girls are being 'hijacked by an anti-migrant agenda' which they argued fuels divisions and harms survivors.
