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Green Party pledges to end immigration detention at women's manifesto launch at Yarl's Wood

13 May 2017

*Greens launch manifesto for gender equality at Yarl’s Wood detention centre ahead of major demonstration [1]

*Pledges to shut down detention centres, protect sex workers through decriminalisation, and save women’s healthcare

*Deputy leader Amelia Womack: “The detention of asylum seekers in centres such as Yarl’s Wood is inhumane, costly and totally unnecessary”

The Green Party will launch its women’s manifesto at 11am today (May 13) outside Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire. The manifesto’s three key policies all relate to providing safety for all, regardless of gender. 

The party is calling for an end to immigration detention, leading to the closing of Yarl’s Wood where the majority of female asylum seekers are held while their claims are being processed. In the short term, the Green Party are calling for the release of women who have experienced sexual violence so that their claim can be processed in the community, and would ban male staff from coming into contact with female detainees, who currently supervise detainees while showering, dressing and using the toilet. Hundreds of complaints about sexual abuse and mistreatment have been raised by Yarl’s Wood detainees over the last decade [2].

The Greens are also promising to provide safety for sex workers through decriminalisation of both the sale and purchase of sex. This comes after UN [3] and Amnesty International [4] recommendations over the last year, showing that making sex work illegal only reduces safety.

The Green Party has also pledged to reverse the cuts to health care that that have disproportionately affected women and other marginalised groups [5] [6].

The full pledges are to:

End immigration detention

  • Immediately act to protect the most vulnerable asylum seekers who have experienced rape, sexual abuse or torture, by allowing their clams to be processed in the community
  • Implement a three month maximum processing time for asylum applications 
  • Funding for integrated support for asylum seekers
  • In the long term work to abolish immigration detention centres to enable all claims to be processed in the community

Keep sex workers safe

  • Decriminalise sex work, in line with research from Amnesty International and the UN
  • Amend existing criminal records held by sex workers
  • Zero tolerance of coercion, violence or sexual abuse

Save women’s healthcare

  • End pay freezes for public sector workers
  • Introduce safe levels of staffing across the NHS
  • Reinstate sexual health services

The Green Party’s other pledges to stand up for safety also include the role roll out a UK-wide strategy to tackle domestic violence, scrapping the “rape clause” for those wishing to claim child benefit, and restoring legal aid to prevent victims being forced to represent themselves against their abusers in court.

The women’s manifesto goes on to announce measures to improve mental health services, close the gender pay gap and support unpaid carers, those who are disabled and older women, and policies to increase gender parity in government. 

Amelia Womack, Green Party deputy leader, said:

“Detaining asylum seekers is inhumane, costly and totally unnecessary. Women who are coming to the UK seeking refuge are being detained in appalling conditions in centres like Yarl’s Wood, often for years with no end to their incarceration in sight. We can be so much better than this, a confident and caring country that welcomes people in need instead of closing our borders, building walls and locking up vulnerable people who need help. The bold policies we’re announcing today show that the Green Party is committed to standing up for everyone, and we are not afraid to speak out about issues other parties would rather shy away from. From asylum seekers to sex workers, as well as all of us who use the NHS, these policies set us on the path to building a tolerant, inclusive society.”

Notes:

  1. Amelia Womack, Green Party deputy leader, will launch the women’s manifesto at 11am on May 13 at the entrance of Twinwoods Business Park, Thurleigh Rd, Milton Ernest MK44 1FD. Movement for Justice is organising a demonstration at Yarl’s Wood on the same day from 1pm to 4pm. More information is available here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1397760473581688/
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/15/yarls-wood-report-calling-for-closure-decade-abuse-complaints
  3. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hiv-aids/sex-work-and-the-law-in-asia-and-the-pacific.html
  4. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/amnesty-international-publishes-policy-and-research-on-protection-of-sex-workers-rights/
  5. https://www.unison.org.uk/about/what-we-do/fairness-equality/women/key-issues/women-and-public-spending-cuts/
  6. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/19/austerity-women-men-low-income
  7. Green Party Women is a subgroup of the Green Party of England and Wales and welcomes both women, including trans women, as well as gender variant members.
  8. The full women’s manifesto will be available after the launch.

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Labour calls for action over NHS cyber-attack

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, has today written to Jeremy Hunt condemning “the cyber criminals whose flagrant disregard for our health service has placed patient wellbeing at risk”.

Jonathan Ashworth said:

“The incident highlights the risk to data security within our modern health service and reinforces the need for cyber security to be at the heart of government planning.

“As Secretary of State, I urge you to publicly outline the immediate steps you’ll be taking to significantly improve cyber security in our NHS. The public has a right to know exactly what the Government will do to ensure that such an attack is never repeated again.”

The letter from Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, calls on the Government to set out:

·         Why NHS organisations failed to act on a critical note from Microsoft two months ago?

·         What additional resources are being given to the NHS to bring the situation under control as soon as possible?

·         What arrangements are currently in place to protect our NHS, and its sensitive data, against cyber-attacks?

·         Whether the Government will launch a full, independent inquiry into the events of yesterday?

·         Reassurance for patients that no patient data has been accessed or compromised in yesterday’s attack?

Ends

Notes to editors:

·         Please see below for full text of the letter:

Dear Secretary of State,

I am writing to ask for urgent clarification regarding yesterday’s major ransomware attack on our NHS. I hope you’ll join me in condemning the actions of the cyber criminals whose flagrant disregard for our health service has placed patient wellbeing at risk.

As you know, the attack has had a serious impact on services, with some hospitals diverting emergency ambulances and cancelling elective operations. A large range of IT services have been affected, including pathology test results, x-ray imaging systems, phone and bleep systems, and patient administration systems.

In total more than a third of NHS Trusts have been impacted, and NHS England has consequently declared a Major Incident. This is terrible news and a real worry for vulnerable patients and our hardworking staff.

The incident highlights the risk to data security within our modern health service and reinforces the need for cyber security to be at the heart of government planning.

As Secretary of State, I therefore urge you to publicly outline the immediate steps you’ll be taking to significantly improve cyber security in our NHS. The public has a right to know exactly what the Government will do to ensure that such an attack is never repeated again.

However, this is not the first time NHS Trusts have been attacked. In February, Freedom of Information Requests found that 79 English Trusts, more than 33 per cent, had suffered ransomware attacks since June 2015.[1]

For example, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust was attacked 19 times in 2016, and the Leeds Teaching Hospital faced five attacks in the past year.[2] In November, a major ransomware attack on the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Trust affected three hospitals, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of routine operations and outpatient appointments.[3]

As recently as in January, the largest NHS Trust in England, Barts Health Trust, was infected with a ransomware virus affecting thousands of sensitive files.[4]

I am therefore extremely concerned that extensive warning signs appear to have been ignored by yourself and your department.

Moreover, your own colleague Ben Gummer, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, warned in October that “large quantities of sensitive data” held by the NHS and the Government were being targeted by hackers, with the potential for significant disruption.[5]

Speaking about the threat to the health service, Mr Gummer stated: “The Government has a clear responsibility to ensure its own systems are cyber secure. We hold and the rest of the public sector- including the NHS- hold large quantities of sensitive data and provide online services relied on by the whole country.”[6]

Furthermore, in March a joint report from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) warned that cyber-criminals could increasingly lock computers, phones and watches to run cyber extortion and blackmail rackets.

At the time, Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC, warned that the best defence against ransomware was to ensure software on devices was up to date.[7]

However, it appears that many of those hospitals affected by yesterday’s attack had not updated their Windows operating systems to include a security patch. This unacceptable cybersecurity neglect has clearly made the NHS extremely vulnerable to an attack.

NHS Trusts have been running thousands of outdated and unsupported Windows XP machines despite the Government ending its annual £5.5 million deal with Microsoft, which provided ongoing security support for Windows XP, in May 2015.[8]

It effectively means that unless individual Trusts were willing to pay Microsoft for an extended support deal, since May 2015 their Operating Systems have been extremely vulnerable to being hacked.

Given your Government’s sustained underfunding of our NHS it is of little surprise that many Trusts have reported taking minimum action. Indeed, research through previous FOIs has found that at least seven NHS Trusts, which treat more than two million Britons, spent nothing at all on cyber security infrastructure in 2015.[9]

This is extremely serious and as Shadow Secretary of State of Health I share the public’s concern at these revelations.

Yesterday’s attack is unprecedented in scale, but it is abundantly clear that our NHS should have been better prepared for ransomware attacks.

Therefore, will you firstly explain why NHS organisations failed to act on a critical note from Microsoft two months ago?

Secondly, what additional resources are you giving the NHS to bring the situation under control as soon as possible?

Moreover, will you clarify publicly what arrangements are currently in place to protect our NHS, and its sensitive data, against cyber-attacks? Will you ensure that every single NHS organisation receives an on-site assessment from CareCERT to improve security?

Will you additionally launch a full, independent inquiry into the events of yesterday?

Finally, will you reassure patients that no patient data has been accessed or compromised in yesterday’s attack?

Secretary of State, the prevalence and sophistication of cyber-attacks on our NHS is only set to increase. I therefore urge you to take immediate action so that a crisis on this scale is never repeated again.

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Ashworth

Shadow Secretary of State for Health

[1] https://www.ft.com/content/e96924f0-3722-11e7-99bd-13beb0903fa3

[2] https://www.ft.com/content/b9abf11e-e945-11e6-967b-c88452263daf

[3] https://www.ft.com/content/b9abf11e-e945-11e6-967b-c88452263daf

[4] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/13/largest-nhs-trust-hit-cyber-attack/

[5] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/31/nhs-at-risk-of-cyber-attacks-minister-says-as-he-warns-hackers-a/

[6] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/31/nhs-at-risk-of-cyber-attacks-minister-says-as-he-warns-hackers-a/

[7] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/14/smartphones-tvs-watches-could-held-ransom-hackers-cyber-security/

[8] http://www.silicon.co.uk/security/nhs-hospitals-data-risk-outdated-windows-xp-201761

[9] https://www.ft.com/content/b9abf11e-e945-11e6-967b-c88452263daf

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