One baby died at HMP Bronzefield in September 2019 and another at HMP Styal in June 2020. In both cases the mother gave birth in a prison cell rather than at hospital. The prisons and the Ministry of Justice have refused to release information publicly about why the mothers were not taken to hospital, despite being in labour. These deaths, and the resulting trauma for the families of the babies, could have been prevented with appropriate support and access to health care. This issue is now even more urgent due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Pregnant women have been included on the government’s list of those clinically vulnerable to COVID-19. In addition to this, prisons have responded to the pandemic by keeping prisoners locked in cells for 22 - 24 hours per day, increasing the risk of pregnant people going into labour in cells or being unable to access maternity care. The government acknowledged this with a promise in March 2020 to release pregnant women and women with babies in prison Mother and Baby Units, in order to allow them to safely self-isolate in the community. Despite this promise, according to the last figures stated by the government on 18th June, only six pregnant people and 16 new mothers have been released. We call on the Ministry of Justice to act immediately on this promise and release all pregnant people and mothers with babies in Mother and Baby Units, in order to prevent further harm and deaths.

Monkbretton cemetery has been a target of thefts from loved ones graves, including one of my family members. It’s clearly distressing to even understand why someone would steal from a sacred place.

It is a fundamental human right to have access to a fair and representative trial. But right now in the UK, there is a risk that the suspension of trial by juries will create avoidable stress for those of us waiting to get justice. Virtual trial juries would help to tackle the backlog of cases and make sure that people are given a fair and representative trial. Not having trials can have huge implications on those of us who face oppression and discrimination. The diversity of jurors helps ensure the justice system is fair and efficient by having more experiences and voices in the room. The risk of not having jury trials could have lasting impacts and hit certain groups who experience discrimination - like Black, Asian or other people of colour - harder.

This is an essential matter of road safety, public order and public health. The pandemic has reminded us of the necessity to protect the NHS. A crucial part of protecting the NHS is to prevent injuries and harm from happening in the first place. The proliferating noise nuisances resulting from the lack of law enforcement, in particular of section 59, are blighting lives and causing long term damage to public health in many communities.

Eight race hate crimes are reported every day in Northern Ireland. Black Lives Matter protesters last month took a huge stand against racism, and now the PSNI is punishing them for it. The news is full of reports and controversy on illegal gatherings, which are again threatening the chance of a stable government here. However it’s clear that the only group being punished through the hastily approved enforcement powers under Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 are those standing up for racial justice. The law they are being punished for was given enforcement powers at 11pm the night before the Black Lives Matter protests on the 6th June. Amnesty International have called it 'bad law' which effectively criminalises any protest the PSNI wish to target. https://caj.org.uk/2020/06/16/amnesty-and-caj-raise-concerns-over-laws-restricting-protest-ahead-of-assembly-debate/

This government has shamed our country , we should have no part in Genoside or making a profit from a state that has no respect for life, we should be protecting the people of Yemen not taking money from the Saudi who has no respect for human rights

I was given an IPP sentence on the day they made changes that to the sentence so you could not receive small tariffs. I have been out of prison since Oct 2013, but not everyone has Bren lucky to get parole and since all of this the sentence has been abolished. It is important to me as an IPP released prisoner, the sentence messes with people mentally and people are suffering and being forget about in prison.

It is all of our human right to have access to a fair trial. But right now there is a risk that trial by juries could be scrapped, to try to deal with the backlog of court cases because of coronavirus. It could mean those of us waiting to get justice, won’t get a fair trial. Removing jurors from court hearings can have huge implications on those of us who face oppression and discrimination. The diversity and variety of jurors helps ensure the justice system is fair and efficient by having more experiences and voices in the room. The risk of taking juries away and leaving a decision on a trial to just one person could have lasting impacts and hit certain groups in our society harder.

The right to trial by jury is an ancient and essential part of the English Legal System and to remove it or erode it in any form would be a disaster for the common people. Once rights are eroded it is almost impossible to win them back. We don't won't to start sliding down that slope.

On the 18th June 2020, Cambridge Police published news that a dispersal order has been issued for the Mill Road area, “in a bid to reduce anti-social behaviour’. This is apparently in response to ’persistent and aggressive begging’, people ‘sleeping in the middle of pavements’, and ‘disrupting local businesses while under the influence of alcohol’, as well as fights in the area and an increase in littering. PC Adam Price said, “the behaviour is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of residents, visitors and business owners in the area. The dispersal order gives us the power to make those causing the anti-social behaviour leave the area with immediate effect and not to return within a specified period.” We appreciate that Cambridge Police are attempting to keep the residents of the Mill Road Area safe. However, many of those accused of “anti-social behaviour” are residents, including those without a fixed address. While they are residing in the area, they are residents too and deserve to be protected. If this dispersal order has been made in the name of “residents’ quality of life”, surely the local residents in most urgent need of support to maintain a decent quality of life are those experiencing homelessness? We fail to see how compelling them to leave the area under threat of arrest offers any solution to the problems which have led to their having to sleep on the pavements of Mill Road. The dispersal order also cited public alcohol abuse and drunkenness. Again, we fail to see how criminalising those experiencing addiction offers any kind of solution to the structural social problems which may have resulted in individuals behaving in this way. We are aware that the dispersal order was made under Section 35 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which has come under widespread criticism for stigmatising vulnerable members of society. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that dispersal orders brought in under ABCPA’s predecessor act, the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, was as much about providing an “important symbolic response that something concrete is being done to address local concerns about anti-social behaviour and perceptions of incivility [...] as such, the power is potentially less concerned with the agency of individuals than the assumptions that are made about what they might do.” Section 35 powers allow police officers to order people to leave an area under threat of arrest in order to prevent members of the public feeling “harassed, alarmed or distressed”. As residents of the Mill Road area, we would like to state publicly that we are not alarmed or distressed by individuals experiencing homelessness; we are, on the contrary, alarmed and distressed by this dispersal order’s criminalisation of homelessness, which stigmatises and displaces our area’s most vulnerable residents, further perpetuating the problems they face. The current pandemic has exacerbated the issues faced by people experiencing homelessness - both by impacting services available to them, and by increasing feelings of anxiety and isolation. At the same time, it has shown all of us the importance of community, and supporting the most vulnerable in our society. This dispersal order therefore feels like particularly bad timing, and in contradiction to what is most needed at this time. A commitment to address the underlying needs instead of relying on dispersal orders will benefit the Mill Road community, not only now but in the future. We are aware that the order expires on the morning of Saturday 20th June. We demand that no such order is ever issued again in our area by Cambridge police. Instead, we call on Cambridge City Council to hold an urgent consultation with people rough sleeping on Mill Road, as well as any relevant support workers, to identify what support is needed to address these issues in a compassionate, sustainable and long-term way. We call for a budget to provide any support needs which are identified in the course of the consultation. The consultation must be run in a way that is accessible for all stakeholders. It must not rely on people having access to the internet, coming into inaccessible premises, or making themselves vulnerable to arrest by coming into contact with police. The needs and “quality of life” of everyone in the Mill Road community must be supported in a way which prioritises the most vulnerable and does not make being homeless a crime.

The system needs to evolve with every decision we make to make it suited to our time. This is not happening.

BECAUSE THIS COUTRY WE NEVER HAVE PACE AND JUSTICE OF THE EVENTS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD. #BLACK LIVES MATTER WE US IN A BLACK COMMUNITY WE FELT LIKE THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT DOING ANY THING ABOUT THE SITUATION. I FOUND THIS DISGRACEFUL AND UNDEREXTABLE THAT HE IS ALLOWED PEOPLE WALK PASS EVERY AND SEE THE STATURE REMIND US WHAT BLACK PEOPLE GO THROUGH THIS NEED TO BE TAKING DOWN.