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With the Governments announcement of a new points-based immigration system, James Melville considers how peoples fears of those entering the country have been fuelled by political decision-making.

The Government has announced its plans to introduce a post-Brexit points-based immigration system, under which overseas citizens would have to reach 70 points to be able to work in the UK.

Speaking English and having the offer of a skilled job with an approved sponsor would give them 50 points. More points would be awarded for qualifications, the salary on offer and working in a sector with shortages. The salary threshold for skilled workers has been put at 25,600.

In effect, the Government has announced a hostile environment for unskilled and non-English speaking migrant workers and are is aiming to create a discriminatory system that undervalues the often essential need of lower-paid migrant workers. It has said that it would not introduce a route for lower-skilled or lower-paid workers, urging businesses to adapt and adjust to the end of free movement between EU countries and the UK.

But bodies representing farming, catering and nursing are warning that it will be hard to recruit staff under the new system. The Royal College of Nursing said the proposals would not meet the health and care needs of the population. The Food and Drink Federation has raised concerns about bakers, meat processors, packagers and workers making food such as cheese and pasta not qualifying under the new system. The National Farmers Union stated that this raises serious concerns about the failure to recognise British food and farmings needs.

In effect, Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced a set of immigration rules that may have meant that her own immigrant parents would not have been admitted to the UK.

This tightening up of immigration rules can be traced back to 2016s EU Referendum. Immigration concerns were one of the main reasons given by voters who voted to leave the EU. According to a 2018 Kantar poll, the reason to leave the EU that scored the highest average rank (39% of Leave voters) was to regain control over EU immigration. But Leave voters arguably wrongly attributed their concerns about uncontrolled immigration by blaming the EU and freedom of movement. This was fuelled by the constant manipulative dog whistling of the right-wing media and the likes of Nigel Farage and his odious Breaking Point campaign poster.

Immigration is a force for the good that reflects liberal and internationalist values. A country that embraces immigration embraces an outward-looking confidence in itself.Those who have a problem with it should at least blame the correct sources of their perceived problem. Blame shouldnt be attached to the EU, but instead towards successive UK Governments which have failed to implement EU directives on immigration since the EU freedom of movement directives were instigated in 2004. The EU laws on immigration are the very essence of structured and controlled immigration.

The freedom of movement EU directive allows for older EU member states to restrict the rights of migrants from newer EU member states (those in eastern Europe) for up to seven years.The powers vary from stopping migration completely to allowing only for selected categories of work on a work permit basis. The UK was one of only three of the original EU members (along with Sweden and the Republic of Ireland) not to enforce transitional restrictions on EU migrants. By not implementing these restrictions, the UK invited a huge increase in migration from new eastern European EU member states, with a xenophobic tabloid backlash following.

UK Governments since 2004 also failed to adhere to the EUs freedom of movement directives on welfare and benefits for migrants. The directive enables EU member states to adopt the necessary measures to refuse, terminate or withdraw any right conferred in the event of abuse of rights or fraud, such as marriages of convenience.

Article 35 of the directive grants member states the power, in the event of abuse or fraud, to withdraw any right conferred by the directive as well as the power to remove migrants from member states and having the ability to prosecute for fraud. Once again, UK Governments have not used this power. The UK does not even fully track or know how many migrants are using the welfare system and therefore is unable to enforce the EU directive on this.

Other EU members insist on migrants proving that they can support themselves. For example, Belgium requires all migrants to prove that they have sufficient funds, health insurance and suitable housing.

Under EU law, after three months, EU migrants need to be working, have official registration or have funds to live. If not, they can be returned to their home country. The UK doesnt do this, nor does it register migrants as they arrive.

The EU has a set of rules that regulates controlled migration across member states, but the UK doesnt apply them. Other EU countries use the EU controlled immigration directives. The UK fails to do so.

It is entirely likely that millions of people voted for Brexit because successive UK Governments were unwilling to use these significant existing powers of controlled immigration that were created by the EU under freedom of movement. And, due to a lack of knowledge about who to blame, Leave voters blamed the EU despite the fact that the EU actually provided a set of solutions for this.

As Prime Minister and Home Secretary at the time of the EU Referendum, David Cameron and Theresa May should have been articulating all of this but failed to do so because if they had, they would have been opening up their own culpability for ignoring EU laws on immigration.

Confidence in welcoming immigrants is sign of a confident nation which recognises the need to fulfill employment gaps and opportunities with overseas workers. Controlled immigration rules are already in place via the EU. Britain chose to ignore them. Misplaced concerns about uncontrolled immigration? Dont blame the EU, blame the UK Government instead.

Original post:
The Great British Immigration Myth - Byline Times

New Orleans news outlets were set to argue Thursday for an open hearing on the confidentiality of emails between Catholic officials and the citys NFL franchise concerning clergy sex-abuse scandals.

As The Associated Press reported last month, victims lawyers allege that hundreds of Saints emails show team executives did behind-the-scenes public relations damage control amid the Archdiocese of New Orleanss clergy abuse crisis. The team has gone to court to keep the emails from being made public, saying court rules would ordinarily keep them under seal and that the plaintiffs lawyers want them released for publicity purposes.

A state court hearing is scheduled in New Orleans next week before a court-appointed special master to determine whether they may be released.

The AP has been allowed to intervene in the effort to get the emails released and lawyers for the news cooperative are being allowed to participate in arguments for release of the emails. However, the Feb. 20 hearing before the special master was to be closed to the public.

The owners of The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, WVUE-TV, WWL-TV and WDSU-TV have filed a motion for access to the hearing.

Judge Ellen Hazeur was set to hear arguments at Civil District Court in New Orleans.

The Saints, whose devoutly Catholic owner Gayle Benson is close friends with the local archbishop, have disputed as outrageous any suggestion that the team helped cover up crimes. They have accused plaintiffs attorneys of mischaracterizing what is in the emails.

Benson said in a news release Monday that the NFL team played no role in determining which priests would be named in the list of credibly accused clergy published by the archdiocese.

Attorneys for about two dozen men suing the Church allege in court filings that the confidential emails show executives joined in the Churchs pattern and practice of concealing its crimes. The attorneys contend that included taking an active role in helping to shape the archdioceses list of 57 credibly accused clergy, a roster an AP analysis found was undercounted by at least 20 names.

Crux is dedicated to smart, wired and independent reporting on the Vatican and worldwide Catholic Church. That kind of reporting doesnt come cheap, and we need your support. You can help Crux by giving a small amount monthly, or with a onetime gift. Please remember, Crux is a for-profit organization, so contributions are not tax-deductible.

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Media seek open hearing on NFL teams emails with Church - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

The companys advisers said at the hearing that a rapid decline in cash made a fast sale process necessary, but some creditors expressed concern about the pace.

Had the court given the other buyer even a few more days to secure financing, there may have been a true auction that could have paid some post-petition claims, a group of vendors from Hong Kong, mainland China and Korea said in an objection filed Tuesday. Vendors have suffered literally hundreds of millions of dollars of unpaid claims they said as part of a request that approval of the sale agreement be denied.

Court papers show the buyers have the right to close stores, and it wasnt immediately clear how many would remain open. The beleaguered retailer once operated about 800 stores in more than 40 countries.

Ahead of the bankruptcy, the founders insistence onmaintaining controlhad spooked potential buyers and lenders, Bloomberg has previously reported. During the court supervised reorganization, several potential buyers looked into making bids to keep all or part of the retailer going. None except the landlord group ultimately showed up, leading to the suspension of an auction scheduled Monday.

Read more from the original source:
Judge to approve Forever 21 sale that ends founders' control - Crain's New York Business

There's a lot of scraping taking place across the KVOE listening area after a snowy Wednesday turned into an icy Thursday.

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Air temperatures have dipped into the single digits, but northerly winds above 30 mph have pushed our wind chills down to -13 at times. TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers says you'll need to be bundled up, especially during the morning hours.

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With the cold conditions and isolated to scattered slick spots that redeveloped after Wednesday's heavy, wet snowfall, there are a lot of schedule adjustments for Thursday. Click here for the latest updated list.

The biting cold kept area streets and roads slick after roughly 2-5 inches of snowfall across the KVOE listening area.

*KVOE studios: 3 inches*Emporia: 3.3 inches*Bazaar: 2 inches*Burlington: 2 inches*Eureka: 1 inch*Lake Kahola: 2.5 inches*Lebo: 4 inches*LeRoy: 1 inch*Lyndon: 4.5 inches

Crews have been out treating streets since shortly after midnight.

The Wednesday snowfall made for hazardous travel conditions -- as evidenced by a bus crash and an ambulance crash, both in Chase County.

A USD 259 Wichita school bus crashed on the Kansas Turnpike near the Flint Hills cattle pens exit, about 15 miles southwest of Emporia, around 9:40 am. In audio from KWCH, Kansas Highway Patrol Lt. John Lehnherr says the bus was taking 36 students from Park Elementary to Topeka when the driver lost control and the bus left the highway, overturning on the driver side.

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The rest, including four adults, came to Emporia High School afterward.Emporia Fire saysseven more kids went to Newman Regional Health after a secondary checkup at the school. USD 253 Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Kelly Bolin credited the community response for easing the situation, including USD 253's Food Service and Spartan Stop.

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Units from the Highway Patrol, Lyon County Sheriff's Office, Emporia Fire, Butler County Fire & EMS and CrossWinds Counseling and Wellness were among the response team. CrossWinds CEO Amanda Cunningham says the agency was ready to help through existing partnerships with the Lyon County Emergency Communications Center, Lyon County Sheriff's Office and Emporia School District.

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About an hour after the bus crash, a Butler County ambulance crashed on the Turnpike about two miles northeast of the Matfield Green service exit. The Turnpike Authority says the driver of the northbound ambulance, 37-year-old Lacy Volz of Wichita, lost control on the slushy highway. The ambulance then hit the center barrier wall and a nearby guardrail. She went to an unspecified hospital by private vehicle afterward. A semi was listed as involved but is not part of the actual crash narrative.

There were numerous fender-benders and non-injury slide-offs across the area. The Lyon County Sheriff's Office reported almost 30 noninjury crashes between 7 am and noon Wednesday.

Thankfully, conditions improve after Thursday. Temperatures climb to the mid-30s Friday, with upper 40s in Saturday's forecast and 50s for Sunday.

We'll keep you updated on KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media. Join KVOEs social media accounts on Facebook@kvoenews and Twitter@kvoeam1400 for weather, travel and schedule adjustment information if youre not already connected. If you need to report a schedule adjustment, call KVOE at 620-342-1400 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Click here for Wednesday's KVOE News coverage.

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Thursday starting with wind chills under -10; EFD confirms 24 to NRH after bus wreck; ambulance driver hospitalized after separate wreck - KVOE

With less than a month to go before the budget that is meant to draw a line under a decade of austerity and unleash Britains potential, Boris Johnson has taken back control of the Treasury.

No 10 cannot have known how Johnsons former leadership rival, Sajid Javid, would respond to the demand that he sack his key policy advisers and instead accept guidance from the PMs team.

But they knew there was a strong possibility he would decide to walk: and they had a ready-made, super-loyal successor on hand just in case, in the form of Rishi Sunak, already chief secretary to the Treasury.

Downing Street described the plan that was put to Javid, of a joint No 10-No 11 team of advisers from which almost all of his current team would be left out as a way of ensuring chancellor and PM rise and fall together. But it would also have been read as a humiliation.

Clashes between Javid and Johnsons advisers had been whispered about at Westminster for weeks.

Allies had insisted the two men themselves got on well at a personal level, and Javid also has close links to the PMs influential partner, Carrie Symonds, who once worked for him.

But Johnson and his team were irked at a series of briefings about Javids role in big decisions including pre-empting the announcement on HS2 by revealing the Treasury would back it.

And there have been some policy differences, too though Downing Street insists these formed no part of the conversation on Thursday morning.

Johnson wants to take the opportunity of a chunky majority to take some potentially controversial decisions, including on tax and spending and Javids instincts, insiders say, were more cautious.

He had made clear his willingness to be considerably more flexible in sanctioning big-ticket spending than his predecessor, Spreadsheet Phil Hammond.

In his one set-piece speech during the election campaign, he set out something like Gordon Browns golden rule, allowing long-term investment spending including the PMs beloved infrastructure projects to be funded by borrowing. That in itself is a revolution in Conservative thinking.

But Javid also stressed that he was determined to balance the current budget, as it is known funding day-to-day spending through tax receipts which would constrain how much Johnson has available for upfront spending pledges, unless the government is willing to raise more tax.

Radical plans have been floated in recent weeks: even including a mansion tax on the most expensive homes and perhaps more likely, a revaluation of council tax to ensure the wealthier pay a higher rate.

But perhaps remembering George Osbornes pasty tax omnishambles budget and more recently, Hammond being forced to ditch a modest increase in national insurance after a backbench backlash Javid, friends say, is more cautious.

His departure underlines the determination of No 10 to hold all the levers of power over economic policy, and will be seen as a coup by his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.

But it may also suggest economic and tax policy is pointed in a more radical direction, as Johnson tries to make good on his promise to level up Britain.

More here:
Sajid Javid's exit leaves Boris Johnson in control of Treasury - The Guardian