The latest minutes are available thanks to group member Lesley for the work in preparing them. More than just minutes, they contain a lot of interesting material on the death penalty, the increasingly worrying state of rights in the UK, immigration matters and statistics concerning our website and other social media activity.
We shall be in the Cheese market this Saturday 20th June from 9 am with our refugee quiz. This is Refugee Week and the whole topic of refugees, immigration and asylum seekers raises more heat than light with considerable mis and disinformation. So if you are in the Salisbury area, pop along and see how you get on.
Immigration has shot to the top of the political agenda again with a vengence
June 2026
Riots in Belfast with houses lived in by immigrant families burned out, a massive police presence with water canons being used and civil disturbances in Southampton, have filled out screens in the past few days. A fierce debate in parliament and what some might term inflammatory statements by politicians have added to a sense that there is a crisis at the centre of which is immigration.
The violent knife attack by a Sudanese man who had entered Northern Ireland via the Republic, and before that France, has inflamed tensions with mobs directing their ire at all immigrants even those who have lived here for years and are a key part of the NHS for example. Posters in Southampton said things like ‘Enough is Enough’ and ‘Illegal migration is destroying our civilisation’. They claimed solidarity with those in Belfast. There were also counter protests (see image).
As with so many things to do with immigration, there is a great deal of misinformation fuelled by social media in particular although print media is not too far behind. Elon Musk has been widely criticised for his remarks on X and the promotion of comments by Tommy Robinson and Rupert Lowe (Restore Party).
Immigration: some of the facts
To get a global perspective on the trends in migration, a recent article in the Journal of Refugee Studies has found that most “forced migration”(its preferred term) in recent years has taken place in the Global South (76%), most of that being into neighbouring countries (in Africa and Asia primarily). Turkey and Iran have been the biggest recipients. At the same time, the UNHCR say that 10% of global refugees (some 11 million) have lost funding from the Commission in the last year.
In Europe, the Chisinau conference on dealing with the immigration issue ended without a decisive result. Last year 7 Council of Europe countries declared that the ECHR had “gone too far” and “protects the wrong people.” The Secretary-General convened this meeting of European justice ministers, which issued a joint statement (not including France, Germany, Spain or Turkey, who take 60% of refugees to the continent), reaffirming their commitment to the ECHR, but allowing some movement in removing claimants and using offshore hubs. The declaration is not legally binding, so local laws override it. It is worth pointing out that only 0.7% of foreign offenders have won appeals against the UK at the Court (and a recent case at the UK Court of Appeal has shown how hard it is to use the infamous Article 3 argument).
Are the figures up or down?
Latest (2025) figures on irregular immigration to Europe showed Spain as the main host, followed by Italy and France (UK was 5th, but only 9th on a per head basis). It is worth noting, though, that the number of arrivals on the European borders is down this year (by 40%), as it is in Britain.
In Britain, the latest British Future survey of public opinion noted that 49% of respondents believed that immigration is rising, when it is falling rapidly. They also believed that asylum seekers make up 33% of immigrants (the actual figure is 9%). The latest figures on small boats (to late May) indicate that, at 8,565, they are down by 37% on 2025. Pending asylum applications in Q1 were at 93,000, 12,000 down on last year.
Down, but you would not know it from the media or from politicians.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has published a very critical report on the workings of the asylum system, which it says lacks direction and is given to short-term fixes. Particular criticism was directed at the failings of the system of monitoring failed asylum seekers and the lack of a clear strategy for the move away from hotel accommodation for new claimants. One aspect of the failing system is that research has shown that, of persons held in immigration detention, only 27% had a lawyer and half were having to do their own legal representation.
The ongoing debate about indefinite leave to remain rumbles on. Plans have been mooted to make the 5-year time requirement retrospective, which would affect 2 million people, including 300,000 children. The Institute of Government has declared against such a scheme. There is also an ongoing issue about classifying children as adults (with the Home Office attempting to use AI to help decide.) The Helen Bamber Foundation claim that 755 children were classified as adults in the last year. They have also a report out, interviewing some children on the stress of the proposed new restrictions.
The Migration Observatory report that the share of asylum seekers in hotel accommodation has halved since 2023 to 21%. The North West has the highest incidence. They also report the 3 in 10asylum seekers with active claims were not receiving any government support at the end of 2025.
The Rwanda deportation plan, now abandoned, cost the UK £270 million, to remove 4 people. The Rwandan government’s claim for compensation was turned down this month by the International Court at The Hague.
Refugee Week
The Salisbury Group will have a presence in the Cheese Market in the City centre on Saturday 20th June from 09:00 till noon. Details in a later post.
We are pleased to attach our latest report on the death penalty around the world thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling it. Although there is mention of a case in China, that country does not appear despite executing more or its citizens than the rest of the world combined.
Research by Queen Mary University of London and the protest group Defend our Juries says that custodial sentences for acts of direct action or civil disobedience were once rare. They are now being imposed with increasing length and frequency in the UK, creating ‘a new breed of political prisoners’ through the systemic incarceration of people acting to prevent climate breakdown and the annihilation of Gaza.
Rules on Transgender
The ECHR has offered clarification on the application of the law on transgender status, confirming that since the legal definition of sex is based on sex at birth, single sex toilets must exclude transgender people for whom the provision of separate facilities is recommended.
Palantir Challenge
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has blocked the use of Palantir platforms for the Metropolitan Police Force. Despite its record for assisting anti-immigration police in the US and aiding Israeli surveillance in Gaza, it is alleged that the police failed seriously to consider any other company for the contract. The lack of process is seriously concerning, since Palantir has been allowed to gain a foothold in public services to the extent that it has now amassed more than 30 contracts with the UK state. Critics also dispute its superior performance.
Discussion around the murder of Henry Nowak has centred around whether the Public Sector Equality Duty section of the Equality Act 2010 led the police in question to mistakenly prioritise a false allegation of racism over an actual stabbing attack, as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch argued. However, critics say the case was a failure of police procedure rather than a pointer to review the section on institutional guidance on racism. The murder has generated a great deal of political heat.
The Public Sector Equality Duty states that public authorities should ‘advance equality of opportunity between people who share and people who do not share a relevant protected characteristic’. Protected characteristics include age, disability, pregnancy, sex and sexual orientation. Government guidance says the duty should ‘always be applied in a proportionate way’ depending on the circumstances of the case.
The duty was introduced in 2010 as part of the Equality Act which merged previous anti-discrimination laws such as the Equal Pay Act and the Disability Discrimination Act.
Since its introduction, organisations and individuals have been able to take public bodies to court for failing to abide by the duty, for example when councils withdrew library funding, set unequal fees for council funding to private care homes, or when the Home Office had not complied with the duty in relation to how its ‘hostile environment ‘ policies would impact members of the Windrush generation.
While Reform would abolish the entire act, the Conservatives criticise only the public sector section. The Labour Government, however, is promising further anti-discriminatory legislation, a new equality and diversity strategy, with a primary focus on getting working class people joining and progressing in the Civil Service.
Vigil No. 130 held in the wet. High level of support
June 2026
It was a damp and windy evening so we retreated to the steps of the Library for our vigil this week attended by around 25. Notable this time was the high level of support from passers by one even presenting us with a box of chocolates. Others gave us the thumbs up, took a photo on their phone or smiled in recognition of our efforts. It has been some weeks now since we have experienced a negative reaction.
It would be good to report progress with a ceasefire or some kind of improvement in the political climate. Of this there
is no sign. The situation in Gaza remains dire. The death toll (there are various estimates) is at over 73,107; of which 12,500 are women and there have been 173,000 injuries, some serious. A harrowing interview was aired on Channel 4 last week of a boy who was paralysed by shrapnel from the waist down from a tank shell. He is no longer able to play football with his friends. Harrowing footage was also aired on the BBC of an infant shot dead by Israeli soldiers in Hebron.
Wes Streeting, one of the possible contenders to become the new prime minister, has been forceful about the failure of the Labour party to call out what is happening in the region. He has been particularly critical of Sir Keir Starmer’s infamous interview on LBC in which he said Israel had the right to cut off water and power to Gaza. Attempts to deny this at the time were unconvincing.
The attacks on Lebanon are following a similar pattern with the demolition of villages and the destruction of entire blocks of flats in Tyre and elsewhere. The Times of Israel reports that over 3,000 have died in the current conflict. There is supposed to be a ‘ceasefire’. Hezbollah continue to fire rockets into Israel.
A difference with this conflict however is that there is coverage from outside media which contrasts with Gaza where they are banned. There is first hand footage and interviews with residents not possible in Gaza. This might make a difference as it enables images to be shown of the devastation which was not possible in Gaza.
A resolution to the conflict between Iran, the US and Israel is not yet in view.
Picture taken at start of the vigil – more came during the vigil.
Once again we note the continued absence of the local MP Mr John Glen from the vigils together with any mention of them in his weekly Salisbury Journal column. He along with – shamefully – a large number of MPs from all of the main parties, is a member of one of the Friends of Israel groups, believed to be the largest and best funded of all the Parliamentary lobby organisations.
A new feature on the site which will appear from time to time, is podcasts. The first is below. Note they are produced by AI but from texts written and researched by us not using any AI. It is an amalgamation of more than one text post. Feedback is welcome. We hope you enjoy listening! If you are not used to these, click on the heading and you will see a sound bar with the text displayed below it.
Pip: Nearly three decades behind bars, nine execution dates, three last meals — and the first thing Richard Glossip does on the outside is go to an Italian restaurant. There's something both devastating and deeply human about that.
Mara: welland2 has been covering the territory where criminal justice, human rights, and detention conditions intersect — and this episode moves through wrongful conviction and release, then into what imprisonment can look like at its most extreme.
Pip: Let's start with Richard Glossip and what it means to walk out after all of that.
Richard Glossip: Nine Dates, One Release
Pip: The Glossip case sits at the intersection of wrongful conviction, prosecutorial misconduct, and the death penalty — and his release in May 2026 raises the question of what justice even looks like after nearly thirty years on death row.
Mara: The interview with The Intercept captures the disorientation of that transition directly. Glossip says: "I tried never to let myself become institutionalized… But I mean it's hard. You go through all these horrible things and all these different dates … and last meals and everything. And then it doesn't look like this day will ever get here. But you always hope that it will."
Pip: That's someone who kept himself psychologically intact across nine execution dates — which is an almost incomprehensible act of endurance — and is now readjusting to sleeping without prison noise and eating pasta in a neighborhood restaurant.
Mara: The Supreme Court vacated his conviction in February 2025, finding prosecutors allowed a key witness to lie in court and withheld crucial information from the defense. Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai ordered his release on a five-hundred-thousand-dollar bond, stating the court hopes "a new trial, free of error, will provide all interested parties, and the citizens of Oklahoma, the closure they deserve."
Pip: The Attorney General who previously confessed error in the prosecution has now said his office won't seek the death penalty in any retrial. That's a significant shift in posture from the state.
Mara: Glossip himself seems to be holding that carefully. He says: "Once you're out here and you see all the things that was taken away from you — and all the times they almost took everything away from me, my life and everything — you see all of it now… And it kind of still makes me angry at times because none of this should have ever happened."
Pip: Anger seems like the precise and correct response.
Mara: He also describes being recognized in public — a barber refused payment, telling him it was "an honor" to cut his hair. And he's reunited with his wife Lea, whom he first corresponded with and later married while incarcerated.
Pip: His closing note in the interview is striking — he says he's going to trust the process and "just enjoy life." After everything, that reads less like naivety and more like a deliberate choice.
Mara: The retrial date hasn't been set. The case that put him on death row — alleged involvement in a 1997 murder-for-hire — still has to be resolved. The release is real, but it isn't the end.
Pip: Which raises a harder question about what systems produce these situations in the first place — and what happens when those systems operate without any oversight at all.
CECOT: When the Prison Is the Punishment
Mara: The post on CECOT — El Salvador's Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo — documents what Channel 5 filmed when Richard Madeley was granted access: cells of a hundred men, steel racks three tiers high, lights on twenty-four hours a day, no reading materials, no contact with family or lawyers.
Pip: Madeley's own summary lands the dilemma squarely: "It's obvious that CECOT breaches human rights as we currently understand. It's a shocking, extreme corner of humanity, but El Salvadorians were writhing under the thumb of psychotic, psychopathic sadists. I wonder if sacrificing civil liberties for the common good is something others would ever be prepared to embrace."
Mara: The post doesn't resolve that question — it holds it open. San Salvador's murder rate was around sixteen a day before President Bukele's crackdown. That rate has dropped dramatically. The post notes the prison has a capacity for forty thousand, and that trials happen on screen with up to a hundred defendants at a time.
Pip: The question of what detention is actually for doesn't get easier the closer you look.
Mara: From Glossip rebuilding a life outside to the conditions inside CECOT — both stories are really asking what accountability and punishment are supposed to achieve.
Pip: And whether the systems designed to deliver justice are capable of honest answers to that. More from Salisbury and South Wiltshire next time.
Glossip is interviewed after his release from prison
June 2026
After facing nine execution dates, and being given three last meals, Richard Glossip was released on bail on May 14, 2026 and set foot outside of prison walls for the first time in nearly three decades. In an interview with The Intercept, Mr. Glossip discusses adjusting physically and emotionally to his new life as he awaits a possible retrial for the 1997 crime that sent him to death row, despite his longstanding claims of innocence. Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai ordered his release on a $500,000 bond, stating “The Court hopes that a new trial, free of error, will provide all interested parties, and the citizens of Oklahoma, the closure they deserve.”
“I tried never to let myself become institutionalized… But I mean it’s hard. You go through all these horrible things and all these different dates … and last meals and everything. And then it doesn’t look like this day will ever get here. But you always hope that it will“.
Mr. Glossip said of the widespread attention on his case, “It’s overwhelming but it’s amazing at the same time.” Since his release, he has been able to reunite with his wife Lea, with whom he first corresponded and later married while in prison. In a conversation with The Intercept, Mr. Glossip described initially having difficulty sleeping without the constant noise of prison, eating at a neighborhood Italian restaurant with his wife, and going food shopping. He also discussed feeling supported by his community in Oklahoma. He recounted several stories of being recognized, including by a barber who refused payment for his haircut, telling Mr. Glossip it was “an honor” to cut his hair.
“Once you’re out here and you see all the things that was taken away from you — and all the times they almost took everything away from me, my life and everything — you see all of it now… And it kind of still makes me angry at times because none of this should have ever happened. And this should have never been taken from me in the first place”.
Mr. Glossip is now awaiting a possible retrial for his alleged involvement in the 1997 “murder-for-hire” of Barry Van Trees, his boss at an Oklahoma City Motel. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who previously confessed error in the prosecutions that ended in Mr. Glossip’s death sentence, announced that his office will not seek the death penalty in his new trial. The Supreme Court vacated Mr. Glossip’s conviction and death sentence in February 2025, finding that prosecutors allowed a key witness to lie in court and withheld crucial information from the defense about the same witness. AG Drummond, who supported Mr. Glossip’s appeal to the United States Supreme Court, now says “…my office will make sure Mr. Glossip receives a fair trial based on hard facts, solid evidence and truthful testimony.”
They’ll make the right decisions. I know they will. I wouldn’t be out here today if they wasn’t… So I’m just going to let them handle it. … I’m just gonna enjoy life.
Channel 5 is allowed into CECOT – a prison from hell
June 2026
Richard Madeley was allowed to film inside the most awful prison called CECOT – Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo – in San Salvador and the results were transmitted last week. Despite the restrictions placed on the programme makers, it showed a prison that might have come straight out of some dystopian horror film (movie). The prison is vast and to get about it, he had to travel on a shuttle bus. It has a capacity for 40,000.
Words cannot fully describe the state in which the men are held. Think battery farm for chickens and you get close. Men are effectively warehoused in cells of 100 which contain steel racks three tiers high on which they spend their days. They are not allowed any reading materials and there is no TV. The lights stay on 24 hours a day every day. They have no contact with relatives or lawyers. Trials such as they are, take place on screen with up to 100 defendants at a time. The men will never leave the prison. Further insight is by Human Rights Watch who reported on American nationals held there. They eat the same food each day.
Madeley makes it clear that the men are members of various gangs and have committed a vast number of murders. Some inmates are alleged to have murdered 30 people. San Salvador had a high murder rate with around 16 a day. The drastic measures taken by the president Nayib Bukele has seen this rate drop dramatically. This poses a profound question: that in a state where gangs operate and murder is at a very high level, can the drastic measures and the methods used in CECOT be justified?
Madeley admitted feeling ‘shaken’ by the experience and film of some of the terrible murders could not be shown on British TV. He continued: “It’s obvious that CECOT breaches human rights as we currently understand. It’s a shocking, extreme corner of humanity, but El Salvadorians were writhing under the thumb of psychotic, psychopathic sadists.I wonder if sacrificing civil liberties for the common good is something others would ever be prepared to embrace”. The approach by the President is popular among many in El Salvador who are free of the threat posed by the murderous gang members.
The prison has proved to be controversial in the US and a CBS film was pulled before transmission because allegedly, political pressure was applied. President Trump is reported to be keen on the prison and USA Today revealed a financial deal in which prisoners were sent there.
It is a dilemma. Human rights groups condemn the regime but it has delivered a measure of normality for Salvadorians. Richard Madeley poses this question at the end of his programme. Can such inhumane methods ever be justified?
Sources: The Sun, Cornwall Live, Guardian, Independent, USA Today, CBS
The steady destruction of Lebanon continues while the world looks on
May 2026
The systematic destruction of large parts of southern Lebanon continues apace and on Wednesday, Israel ordered the evacuation of the city of Tyre a city of 200,000 inhabitants. Beirut has be hit by multiple missile and drone strikes which the IDF claim are targeted. It is interesting to note that news media are putting the word ‘targeted’ in inverted commas: progress of sorts.
It is a tragedy that shows no sign of an end. Death and destruction in Gaza with Netanyahu now saying they want to annex 70% of the territory from the 50% they control now. Nearly 73,000 have died there and many thousands more injured. The tragedy of the West Bank where settlers are attacking Arab and Palestinian homes, attacking people and destroying trees and crops. It is a tragedy in south Lebanon where more killing is taking place, white phosphorous is being used and entire villages erased from the map. The attack on Iran is a tragedy with much destruction and many deaths.
The West’s response has been feeble, the UK’s particularly so. Weapons are still being provided to Israel and RAF flights continue. The appalling treatment of the flotilla and those on board drew only a muted response from our government. Israel continues to act with impunity and seems if anything to be ratcheting up the violence. They have successfully put the US in an extremely difficult position. Trump is desperate to secure a deal with Iran which many believe Israel does not want. The lack of a concerted response by the UK and a willingness to follow in the wake of the US and President Trump is a tragedy all of itself.
Part of the UK’s pusillanimous response is because so many of the government’s MPs and many other MPs from other parties are members of the Friends of Israel groups, the best funded of lobby organisations in parliament. If you read the link to the Canary you will see the comment: ‘Finally, this raises serious questions about whose interests these officials actually work for. In turn, a serious long-felt concern is brought to the forefront: is the UK government occupied by Israel? This is precisely the question we asked of the Salisbury MP, Mr John Glen, who is a ‘proud member’ of the Conservative Friends of Israel. Who are you representing, many people in Salisbury who find the violence to be abhorrent and counter productive, or, the Israeli government? He said he would not dignify the question with an answer.
Another tragedy is that it will not, in the long run, improve Israel’s security. By simply bombing, destroying villages and parts of towns, incarcerating thousands of Palestinians in appalling conditions – it is merely creating resentments and hatreds for the future. This has to be the ultimate tragedy for the country. Of particular concern is that violence has become embedded into the psyche of the country – a kind of first response to problems is to send for the military and bomb somewhere. Perhaps John Steinbeck’s quote is apposite: ‘All war is a symptom of man failure as a thinking animal‘.
Vigil 130
Which is why the vigils in Salisbury continue but with no sight of the local MP. The public responses are now uniformly positive with thumbs up and a few stopping by. The rights of almost all those living in the region have been compromised.
