Suella Braverman takes her seat as the Supreme Court examines the legality of the government’s deal to forcibly send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Several humanitarian groups have called on the new government to seize the opportunity to scrap the deal, which has not yet been implemented and is not legally enforceable, but new Prime Minister Liz Truss has signaled her support. Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said that with record waiting times for asylum decisions and the government spending millions on hotel rooms due to inadequate accommodation, Ms Patel’s successor should focus on creating a “system which is orderly, humane and fair”. . “What we’ve seen in recent years is the opposite,” he told the Independent. “Rather than repeating the mistakes of the past time and time again, we urge our next Home Secretary to address the major failings of an asylum system that is in desperate need of reform.” Ms Braverman also faces significant challenges in other important Home Office areas of responsibility, including crime and policing. Despite Boris Johnson’s push to recruit 20,000 extra police officers and Ms Patel’s introduction of plans for a new criminal law and police powers, the number of crimes recorded is at an all-time high, while the proportion prosecuted is at a record low. Relations between the government and the police have soured in recent years due to the handling of the Covid pandemic and the recently lifted pay freeze, but with growth below inflation. The Police Federation, which represents officers, said they had suffered a real pay cut of 25 per cent over the past 12 years and were now being hit by the cost of living crisis. “Demands on police continue to rise and they are stretched thin trying to fill the gaps left by other depleted public services,” chairman Steve Hartshorn told the Independent. “We don’t just want warm words and political platitudes from the new interior minister. must take action to support police officers by ensuring effective welfare and fair pay and conditions of service that reflect the risks faced by police officers and take into account the fact that they do not have access to industrial rights.” The Association of Chief Inspectors of Police has invited a “senior cabinet member” to address its annual conference next week in what could be the new home secretary’s first major public engagement. Chairman Paul Fotheringham said he would “outline my main concerns on behalf of the service”. Priti Patel: Key moments during her tenure as home secretary “Policing excels at delivering where others often cannot, with an ongoing commitment to keeping people safe and protecting communities, no matter what,” he added. “The system we are being asked to operate within is becoming increasingly difficult, however, and the new Home Secretary has to take it up a notch.” Ms Braverman will take charge of implementing a raft of controversial new protest laws championed by Ms Patel, despite being defeated by the House of Lords in January. The Public Order Bill will empower police to electronically tag disruptive protesters and restrict where they go, who they meet and what they do in person or online, even if they have not committed a crime. It would also make “lock-in” – where protesters lock themselves into parts of buildings – a criminal offense and allow protesters to be stopped and searched without suspicion for items that could be used for that purpose. Human rights group Liberty urged the Home Secretary to “abandon the Public Order Bill” as her first act. Head of policy and campaigns Sam Grant said: “Protest is a right, not a gift from the state, but the measures in this bill are designed to stop ordinary people from making their voices heard. MPs and the general public have already rejected these dangerous measures when they were first rushed into the police act, but the government has so far refused to listen.” Mr Grant warned the Home Office needed to “really engage with the communities it serves” amid deteriorating public trust in the police over violence against women, racism and misogyny. Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said the Home Secretary must “protect the right to protest and reject Patel’s ridiculously extreme proposals”. British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved British politics Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved He added: “We will urge the new Home Secretary to give the country better leadership on technology, make sure the police use new technology wisely and say no to arbitrary ends like live facial recognition.” The Criminal Justice Alliance said the priority should be improving trust in the police, particularly among black people. Members called on Ms. Braverman to reverse the recent expansion of racially disproportionate police powers, such as suspicious stop and search. The Justice organization said Ms Patel’s departure was an “opportunity to start fresh and abandon the discriminatory and divisive policies that have been introduced over the last three years”. Solicitor Tyrone Steele added: “The new Home Secretary urgently needs to tackle the misogynistic, racist and homophobic cultures that exist in police forces across the country, which have destroyed people’s trust in the police, especially ethnic minorities and of the women. We call on the new Home Secretary to adopt evidence-based policies that will make a difference.” The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales also called for policing culture to be a priority. Dame Vera Baird QC called on the new home secretary to “lead the charge” for change, adding: “We need to see a zero tolerance approach to abusive, racist and misogynistic behavior around the world. The police must serve the public, not their own interests – victims’ trust in policing depends on it. “The Home Secretary must also finally make tackling violence against women and girls a national policing priority.” Ms Braverman was previously attorney general but came under fire for alleged “serious constitutional impropriety” after she appeared to pre-empt the results of a police investigation into Dominic Cummings’ breach of Covid laws. He has denied wrongdoing and rejected calls to resign. Her website says she practiced as a solicitor for 10 years before becoming an MP, “specialising in planning law and judicial review”. In 2010, he was appointed to the lower echelon of the attorney general’s task force of Treasury advisers, and is not understood to have led high-profile cases. Ms Braverman’s constituency website says she has defended the Home Office in immigration cases and the Parole Board in legal challenges from prisoners. “I was also involved in the lengthy Guantanamo Inquiry into the treatment of detainees by US and UK forces,” he adds. The Independent sought further details from the attorney-general’s office and the Ministry of Defense on the project in question, but its queries were not answered. A government spokesman said that Ms. Braverman “did work related to Guantanamo for the government, but, for a number of legal reasons (including legal professional privilege), we are unable to provide further details.”
