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Priti Patel, Britain's new interior minister, is a right-wing, hardcore Brexiteer who was previously sacked from the cabinet for secret meetings with the Israeli government. Home Secretary Patel, 47, impressed Britain's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson when she campaigned beside him for "Vote Leave" in the 2016 EU membership referendum. Patel is a social conservative who has voted against introducing same-sex marriage and has expressed support for restoring the death penalty -- although she has since rowed back. On taking office, Johnson promoted her to one of the chief ministries. She was the most senior woman around the new cabinet...

Last week, Britain's Home Office denied an Iranian Christian's application for asylum, claiming the man's conversion was based on a lie and his faith was "half-hearted." Specifically, the office said the asylum-seeker's claim that he converted to Christianity because it is a peaceful religion in contrast to Islam is false, and that because Christianity is violent, the Home Office questioned the legitimacy of his conversion. In its denial letter, the Home Office cited verses from Leviticus, Exodus, Matthew, and Revelation, which supposedly endorse violence. "These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is...

Jacqui Smith has admitted she was not up to being Home Secretary - and should have been given some proper training before she was handed the job. Ms Smith, who is likely to be remembered for claiming expenses for a porn film watched by her husband, said any success she had was down to luck rather than skill. She added: "When I became Home Secretary I'd never run a major organisation. I hope I did a good job but if I did it was more by luck than by any kind of development of skills.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, is to stand down from the Cabinet to focus her efforts on saving her Commons seat after bruising revelations over her parliamentary expenses. A source close to Ms Smith said that she told Gordon Brown of her intention to resign two months ago amid a controversy over her second home claims. The source said that she had "hurt" by the controversy, which included the humiliation of having to refund taxpayers for two blue movies watched by her husband.

A WOMAN who was dragged from the street and raped at knifepoint by a foreign criminal freed from jail has called on Charles Clarke, the home secretary, to resign. Her attacker was allowed to go free by immigration officials who could have deported him after he finished serving a three-year jail term for robbery. The 40-year-old mother, who has been mentally scarred by the ordeal and has undergone intensive counselling, said her attacker "did not deserve to be alive". She said: "It has taken me a long time to get beyond this. It is something that will always be there....

Blunkett takes aim at crime to outflank the Tories By Philip Webster, Political Editor   Mr Blunkett has put security from outside threats at the heart of the next election campaign. (LEON NEAL) CRIME and drugs will become a key battleground tomorrow for next year’s general election as the Government promises a range of measures that are aimed at making people feel safer in their homes and neighbourhoods. David Blunkett has won places for at least six separate Bills in the final Queen’s Speech before the election in a move agreed by the Cabinet to prevent Labour being outflanked...

Labour's anti-terror pledge21 November 2004Home Secretary David Blunkett has signalled that a third term Labour government would impose sweeping new anti-terror laws amid fears of an al Qaida attack on Britain.Mr Blunkett said officials were looking at a range of measures - from jury-less anti-terror courts to allowing wiretap evidence in trials - which could be implemented if Labour was re-elected at the General Election.He said that civil orders - similar to anti-social behaviour orders - could be imposed against individuals who had not committed an offence but were suspected of "acts preparatory to terrorism".  In an interview with...

Home Secretary David Blunkett provoked indignation from the Muslim community in the UK once again by warning that extremist imams were increasing the threat of terrorism by preying upon impressionable young members of the community. In his speech at York University he also stressed the importance of ensuring that Muslim Imams and other teachers from the community learn English to avoid "clash of cultures." He reiterated that the Imams who could speak English had a key role in helping to shape the world view of young Muslims. "We have to understand what is happening in a world where young men...

Well into the war that was supposed to rid Iraq of its alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, a senior British official admitted on Saturday that no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons of mass destruction may after all be found. Making the startling confession in a radio interview, British Home Secretary, David Blunkett, added in the same breath that he would in any case rejoice the “fall” of Saddam Hussein and his regime —regardless of whether any weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq or not. The British home secretary’s confession reconfirms the worst fears of the opponents...