Humiliation for Patel as crowds block immigration officials from removing Muslim immigrants

If anybody was still in doubt that Priti Patel is an insensitive bully, then those doubts should be dispelled now.

She has just tried to detain – in order to deport – two Muslim immigrants who had settled in Scotland, during a Muslim Festival: Eid al Fitr.

Some on the social media consider it an attempt to bully the Scottish people after they returned another SNP government to the Scottish Parliament and leader Nicola Sturgeon immediately announced that there will be another referendum on Scottish independence from the UK:

If it was, then it has backfired badly because Patel’s immigration officials were forced to release the men after hundreds of residents of Pollokshields in Glasgow surrounded the Border Agency van in Kenmure Street and refused to let it leave.

Officers said they were freeing the men for the safety of everyone involved following a stand-off in Glasgow that lasted for nearly eight hours.

The pair, both Indians, [had been] detained on suspicion of immigration offences and were released on bail pending further investigation.

Video clips on the social media show how public feeling against Priti Patel’s heavy-handed bullying grew, from this…

… to this, as the men were released:

And opponents of Patel and her continuation of the Tory government’s illegal “hostile environment” policy have made their feelings clear:

Sadly, we know Patel will not learn from her mistake. This message strikes as being all-too-accurate:

One other person will be regretting the incident, despite the fact that his heart was in the right place: Howard Beckett, candidate for leadership of the UK’s biggest trade union, Unite.

Mr Beckett tweeted in anger when the situation in Glasgow became clear, and his words were ill-chosen, for the reasons described in Owen Jones’s tweet:

But the Unite leadership candidate recognised this, acknowledged it, deleted his tweet and apologised:

He then (rightly) published further messages attacking Patel’s shockingly inappropriate and oppressive behaviour:

While his initial message was wrong in the language and concepts it used, it would have been equally wrong for him to back away from the issue after realising his mistake.

By the same token, it would also be wrong for anybody watching and commenting on what happened (Owen Jones take notice) to side with Patel against Beckett because of it:

If either of them is a racist, it could only be Priti Patel.

Source: Immigration officials release two men after crowds block van | The Independent

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4 thoughts on “Humiliation for Patel as crowds block immigration officials from removing Muslim immigrants

    1. Mike Sivier Post author

      Her parents did. She was born in the UK and is therefore a Brit… unless she has changed that definition (see Windrush Scandal).

  1. El Dee

    If Beckett is so hotheaded as to ‘accidentally’ tweet something racist then I think he may be to hotheaded to lead the union. Cool, calm & collected is needed to overcome the vileness of this government and how it treats the people.

    I have worked in the area shown in the clip. There’s a REALLY strong sense of community here. It’s a welcoming place to anyone, whoever and whatever you are. They protested with dignity and peacefully. That was how they achieved their aims. I am so glad that not only it went that way but that it is all caught on film and SHOWN to be that way. Proper protest and Civil Disobedience in the style of the Rent Strikes and Clyde Sit-ins. The police were able to simply form a cordon and there was no interactions. Patel would have LOVED to have said there was violence, I am sure she is furious there was none.

    I am sure that on future occasions she will try to pressure the Police by the backdoor to ensure that there IS violence. Luckily she is not responsible for them, that’s the Scottish Government – which is probably why it did remain peaceful. As far as I know the touted bill controlling protests is not competent in Scotland so we can expect to see more of these dignified protests at which neither protestor nor police have any issues

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