A bishop has defended the clergy’s role in helping asylum seekers with their claims after politicians linked their assistance to abuses in the asylum system, following the case of chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi.
Bishop of Chelmsford, Guli Francis-Dehqani, said it was “saddening” to hear such comments, as religious leaders are “supporting people who are often deeply vulnerable and traumatised”.
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CCTV of suspected chemical attacker emerges
Following the attack, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick referred to “spurious” claims by people in the asylum system that they have converted to Christianity “aided and abetted by often well-meaning but naive vicars and priests”.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, said during her time in office she “became aware of churches around the country facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims”.
Ezedi, believed to be from Afghanistan, convinced officials to allow him to stay in the UK in 2020, understood in part thanks to a priest who vouched for his commitment to Christianity, following conversion.
He had twice been rejected for asylum by the Home Office, according to reports, once shortly after he came to the UK in 2016, and again in the wake of his prosecution in 2018.
Bishop Guli, who came to the UK aged just 13 in the wake of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, called the Clapham attack “shocking and brutal”.
She wrote in the Telegraph: “Because the alleged perpetrator has been reported as someone seeking asylum in the UK on grounds of conversion to Christianity, some, including senior politicians, have questioned the role of churches and other faiths in supporting those who seek our help and protection here.”
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As a Christian leader, she said she makes “no apology for our involvement in supporting people who are often deeply vulnerable and traumatised.
“But churches have no power to circumvent the government’s duty to vet and approve applications – the responsibility for this rests with the Home Office.”
Religious ministers from all denominations occasionally provide statements of support to people seeking asylum, “but it is wrong to think of this as some sort of magic ticket”.
She added: “The notion that a person may be fast-tracked through the asylum system, aided and abetted by the Church is simply inaccurate.”
A British man is one of 14 people who were killed when an alleged Islamic State supporter drove a truck into crowds celebrating the New Year in New Orleans.
The city’s coroner said the preliminary cause of death for the British citizen was blunt force injuries.
Their identity has been temporarily withheld at the request of the family “pending finalisation of international arrangements”.
Dozens of people were also injured when 42-year-old army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s rented truck rammed into people in New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
A senior Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) official has said the attack was “premeditated” and an “evil” act of terrorism, and said Jabbar was “100% inspired by ISIS”, also known as Islamic State.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told Sky News: “We are supporting the family of a British national who has died in New Orleans and are in contact with local authorities.”
The coroner has also identified the majority of the victims in the attack.
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They are:
Andrew Dauphin, 26, from Montgomery, Alabama
Kareem Badawi, 23, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Brandon Taylor, 43, from Harvey, Louisiana
Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, from Gretna, Louisiana
Matthew Tenedorio, 25, from Picayune, Mississippi
Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, from Gulfport, Mississippi
Nicole Perez, 27, from Metairie, Louisiana
Reggie Hunter, 37, from Prairieville, Louisiana
Martin Bech, 27, from New York City, New York
Terrence Kennedy, 63, from New Orleans, Louisiana
Elliot Wilkinson, 40, from Slidell, Louisiana
William Dimaio, 25, from Holmdel, New Jersey
The identity of one other victim is unknown, with efforts to identity the person continuing.
The preliminary cause of death for all the victims is blunt force injuries, according to the New Orleans coroner.
The FBI has also revealed that before his attack, Jabbar set fire to a house he had rented in an effort to destroy evidence.
He had placed accelerants throughout the house in his effort to destroy it, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms.
But the fire, which was started in the hallway, had extinguished itself before spreading to other rooms.
Bomb-making materials were found both at the rented accommodation in New Orleans and Jabbar’s home in Houston, Texas.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
But Littler became the youngest-ever world darts champion – winning a £500,000 prize – in front of a raucous London crowd.
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Temperatures are expected to plunge to minus 8C as weather warnings for snow and ice are set to remain in place over the weekend.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued cold weather health alerts for all of England ahead of a week of low temperatures.
Amber alerts were issued from 12pm on Thursday until next Wednesday, meaning a rise in deaths is likely, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions.
Temperatures of between minus 4C and 5C were expected in parts of Wales and southern England on Thursday night, plunging to minus 8C in northern England and Scotland.
Dan Stroud, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “There’ll be widespread frost across the country from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
“It will be comfortably below where we should be for this time of year and I would expect temperatures to hit minus 8C in parts of Scotland.”
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Mr Stroud confirmed conditions should become warmer by the end of this weekend before cold weather strikes again early next week.
He said: “The second half of the weekend should be in the high singles or low doubles.
“But temperatures will dive again next week, particularly on Monday and Tuesday.
“They should start to improve towards the latter end of the week. But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge until then.”
The NHS Black Country integrated care board has warned the public to “avoid going out early when the frost is thick or late at night when it’s dark”, adding people should keep their hands free and wear shoes with a good grip.
In Herefordshire, the Wye Valley NHS Trust told people to “have sufficient food and medicine and take measures to reduce draughts in your home”.
London councils activated an emergency accommodation protocol on Thursday for people sleeping rough in freezing conditions.
The emergency measures, which see extra beds made available, have been active for three nights so far this winter.
Meanwhile, several weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office ahead of a blast of snow over the weekend.
The yellow warning indicates there could be icy surfaces in northern and western Scotland, the northwest of England and Northern Ireland.
It will remain in place until 10am on Friday morning, and could make for difficult travelling conditions, the forecaster warned.
A snow and ice warning is also in place covering parts of northern Scotland until 10am on Friday.
A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place from noon on Saturday until late on Sunday night and covers all regions of England, other than the South West, Wales and parts of southern Scotland.
About 5cm of snow is expected widely across the Midlands, Wales and northern England, with as much as 20cm to 30cm over high ground in Wales and the Pennines, the Met Office said.
Strong winds could lead to snow drifts in some areas, and freezing rain as temperatures creep up could add to the risk of ice.
A separate warning for snow is in place for most of Scotland from midnight on Sunday until 12pm on Monday.
The cold snap comes as a major incident was declared in Greater Manchester by police on Wednesday after flooding forced homes to be evacuated and closed train lines and roads following heavy rain.