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In today’s newsletter: Why David Neal lost his job, and what he had to say about the faltering immigration system
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Good morning. When then-home secretary Priti Patel appointed David Neal as the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration in 2021, the Commons home affairs committee refused to endorse the decision. They were worried that the recruitment process had been inadequate and said they had seen no evidence that he was “confident to challenge performance publicly”. Well, they’ve seen it now.
Last week, David Neal was sacked from his job by James Cleverly, now the home secretary, just a month before he was due to stand down. Neal’s crime was to disclose unauthorised information to the media – a tactic that he appears to have resorted to after 15 reports he wrote uncovering problems with the immigration system went unpublished, instead gathering dust on a Home Office shelf. Now Neal has told the same parliamentary committee of “shocking leadership” at the Home Office and said he was “sacked for doing my job” – and his testimony paints a grim picture of the state of the accommodation centres where the government houses asylum seekers.
Conservatives | An alleged victim of a serious sexual assault by a Conservative MP has accused the central party of being more concerned with protecting its own reputation than her welfare after it failed to formally investigate her complaint. After her mental health deteriorated, the party’s headquarters paid £15,000 for her to receive treatment at a private hospital, the alleged victim told the Guardian.
US politics | Joe Biden has won the Democratic primary in Michigan – but a concerted effort by protest voters angry at his stance on the Israel-Gaza war could overshadow his win. With only 31% of votes tallied, 40,000 people had voted “uncommitted” – four times his margin of victory over Donald Trump in 2020.
Post Office | The former chair of the Post Office has claimed he was the victim of a “smear campaign” led by the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, and turned on his chief executive in a dramatic day of evidence to a parliamentary committee. Henry Staunton stunned MPs when he told them that Post Office chief executive Nick Read was facing an internal investigation.
Politics | Rishi Sunak is braced for another byelection after former Tory MP Scott Benton was suspended from the Commons for 35 days over his role in a lobbying sting. If 10% of the Blackpool South MP’s constituents now sign a recall petition, a byelection will be triggered in his seat.
Social affairs | Jonathan Dimbleby has described the criminalisation of assisted dying in the UK as “increasingly unbearable” after his younger brother, Nicholas, died this month with debilitating motor neurone disease (MND). The broadcaster spoke as MPs prepare to publish a report showing that three-quarters of the public support legalisation within strict guidelines.
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