Linda Gillatt ✝ 🇬🇧

Now sold by Waterstones waterstones.com/book/release-t…

@AllisonPearson @Katie_Lam_MP Sunak was sneakly more dangerous than realised - this news must go viral Allison. No wonder Labour has had the confidence to attack the Tories.

@Katie_Lam_MP Senior asylum caseworker told me that, in order to hit Rishi Sunak target of reducing backlog, they were told to suspend police and terrorist checks. Only person who TRIED to improve things was Suella Braverman. How is this Tory Cabinet going to do better on asylum?

This week, the BBC uncovered that migrants are pretending to be gay, or inventing stories of abuse, in order to cheat our immigration system. And lawyers are being paid thousands of pounds to help them tell these lies. They should be struck off, and prosecuted. But the problem of people lying in order to seek asylum here runs much deeper. Last year, just over half – 52% – of asylum seekers arrived in the UK through illegal entry routes, usually on small boats crossing the Channel. In fact, since 2018, nearly everybody who’s entered the country illegally via small boat – 95% – has gone on to claim asylum. When those people arrive here, unsurprisingly, they often have no documentation whatsoever. They often can’t prove who they are, or where they’re from. They might claim to be from a country which is more dangerous than their real home country, in order to make their asylum claim more sympathetic. They might also lie about their age, since our asylum system is more generous to children under the age of 18. This can lead to completely ridiculous outcomes. There are scientific tests that we can use to work out a person’s real age – such as by testing their hair, or teeth. The previous Government tried to make these tests mandatory, but after winning the election, the Labour Party scrapped those tests altogether. In March, an immigration judge ruled that a Sudanese migrant was a child – despite the fact that he had a beard and wrinkles, and despite the fact that assessors concluded that he was likely to be between 23 and 25 years old. Instead of conducting a proper scientific assessment, the judge referred to the fact that the man’s Facebook account claimed that he was born in 2008. When this kind of evidence is being accepted by judges, some people are obviously going to exploit the system. The people coming here illegally have already demonstrated that they are willing to break the rules, by entering illegally in the first place. It’s not hard to imagine that they might also be willing to lie about their nationality, or their age, to be able to stay. The other 48 percent of asylum seekers arrive here legally, with a legitimate visa, and then later claim asylum. We tend to know a little bit more about those people, but there’s still huge scope for fraud here too. For example, somebody might work with a business in the UK to lie about their expected income, in order to get a work visa. They might lie about what qualifications they have, in order to get a study visa. Once they’re here, they can then apply for asylum. And once again, if somebody is travelling to the UK with the explicit intention of seeking asylum here, they have every incentive to lie. Because once they seek asylum, they simply need to say that they consider themselves destitute and they’ll be put up in taxpayer-funded accommodation, and receive a weekly cash allowance. If their initial claim is unsuccessful, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to appeal again and again – meaning that they can stay in the UK for months or years at a time. And even if their claim is finally rejected, they might not be removed. So why wouldn’t people take the chance, and lie, in order to stay in the UK? And the incentives to lie don’t stop there. At the moment, our system allows people to claim asylum for a whole host of reasons. Many of the claims that people make in order to get asylum here are almost impossible to prove properly. For example, the BBC’s report found that some migrants are falsely claiming to be gay. If somebody from, say, Pakistan really were gay, it’s true that they might face violence or persecution at home. This is contemptible. But it’s incredibly difficult to prove somebody’s sexual orientation. People can argue that they were hiding their sexuality for fear of persecution, which can explain away the lack of evidence. If they need to, people can pretend to be in a relationship while their asylum claim is being processed – and there are a whole bunch of lawyers willing to help people fabricate evidence in order to ‘prove’ that they really are gay. Another common claim is that people belong to a persecuted religious minority. Christians in Afghanistan, for example, might expect to be persecuted by the Taliban. But how can somebody prove that they’re really, in their heart of hearts, a Christian? Again, they might say that they’ve hidden their faith in order to avoid persecution. They might say that they’ve converted since arriving in the UK, and that it would now be dangerous to return home. They might go to church once a week now they’re here in Britain. But if they are doing so fraudulently, how can we know? In a similar vein, people often pretend to belong to a persecuted political group. They’ll often arrive in the UK and suddenly start making social media posts, or attending protests, in support of that group. How can we know that they were at all interested in this cause before? When so many of the available grounds for asylum rely on claims that can never be definitively, objectively proven or disproven, people are obviously going to try to cheat the system. The result is that people get to break into the country illegally, or come here on false pretences, and stay. Billions of pounds of taxpayer money is spent on housing and supporting these people. Far too often, these people pose a risk to the British public, particularly to women and children. There are plenty of things that we can do to make it harder for people to cheat our immigration system. We can, and should, bring back scientific age assessments, to stop people from lying about their age. We can, and should, strike off and prosecute the dodgy lawyers who are helping people to cheat the system. We can, and should, tighten the rules about what grounds people can use to seek asylum in the UK. We must stop people who arrive here illegally from ever getting asylum. People who have shown contempt for our borders are incredibly likely to try everything that they possibly can to stay here. We should not expect them to behave in good faith. And we must leave the ECHR, so that when people have their claims rejected, they can be removed – either to their home country, or to a safe third country. The BBC’s report is shocking, but not surprising. As things stand, our migration system provides every incentive for people to lie in order to stay here. We cannot keep letting people cheat the system.

@Nikki87679054 Praying for relief for you and strength to endure it. Breathe deeply 🙏

PLEASE NEED PRAYER Nerves in stomach trapped in scar tissue. Unexplainable pain for 2 weeks. Been sleeping in my bathtub and on bathroom floor. 14 days 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 need a miracle or my mental health is in jeopardy

@according2_taz You need to understand there is an Aussie snob factor involved and spoken as a dual National.

I thought I’d just poke fun at this tour but the hospital stunt has really disgusted me. Nothing about this is ok. Leave children out of your publicity stunts. You hide your children to protect them, but happily use other people’s children to try and repair your image. Vultures.

@waitrose By the way - please don't hide this customer service in a dm - I have nothing to hide but I certainly understand damage control!

@LCGillatt Thanks, Linda - if you could get back to us via DM that would be great, just so I know you're happy with our response and to keep our conversation in one place 🙂 ^Steph

@Waitrose Pathetic to the point of dangerous stupidity!!! First a couple of weeks ago I was newly returned home on an end of life diagnosis. I had ordered home delivery of organice milk - vital to my medication. It wasn't delivered and your response was careless and useless con

@waitrose No, 'happy' isn't a word I'd use re the dire Waitrose. Your attention is appreciated but I can no longer trust you to keep your promises so it will be Ocado for me. I have explained both cases to you and there appears to be unacceptable loss of communication within the biz.

@waitrose Thank you Steph - Ocado delivered my organic butter which Waitrose badly failed today. The flowers they delivered the butter with was a lovely surprise.

@LCGillatt Hi Linda, we're so sorry to hear this, especially given your situation. This isn't the level of care we'd expect and understand how important that delivery was. So we can help further, please DM us with your order/case number, full name, address, postcode and email. ^Steph twitter.com/messages/compo…

Could everyone please repost and share this tweet. I don’t normally ask, but this corner of Norfolk is going to be covered by solar panels and infrastructure the equivalent of 43,200 tennis courts. This insanity must be stopped. Thank you blockeastpyesolar.co.uk @AllisonPearson @TiceRichard @KayMasonBillig

Phillipe Sands - Starmer's mate, great buddy, and fellow 'Yuman Rites' lawyer who has represented Mauritius in the Chagos sell out has reportedly received £8 million. Just how much have Starmer AND Hermer received from this dodgy and now disintegrating deal though? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

The Chagos Islands will remain British. How ironic that it took an American President to force a suicidal Britain to hold on to the remnants of its Empire.

Today you have substituted Organic butter for Essential Waitrose ordinary butter when not only were there substitutes but another of equal price - you disgust me!

Comment🇺🇸🇬🇧: UK VISAS To Mauritius Fraudster PM For Chagos: In light of the 'Chagos Deal' implosion, UK PM Starmer and the Attorney General for England and Wales Lord Hermer have a plethora of serious questions to answer, or face international reprisals. Republican Senator for Louisiana John Kennedy, exposes a suspected 'payoff' to disgraced' former Mauritius PM and convicted money launderer Pravind Jugnauth. Amongst the ill-gotten gains discovered during a Mauritius police raid were, UK visas, a bevy of Rolex watches and £25 million in used bank notes divided into various currencies. Who from the Home Office and Foreign Office issued the visas to Jugnauth, when and why? The timeline and signatories will help both the Trump Administration and UK taxpayers discover the true aspirations of Starmer, Hermer and their CCP controlled handlers. Source: @SenJohnKennedy

@sharrond62 This whole thing is questionable?

Pleased to see the Chagos deal ( for this session anyway ) is off the table, saving British tax payers 36 billion we absolutely can’t afford to give away for important strategic territory! And against the wishes of the locals.

@BROKENBRITAIN0 Border people could have shown some spine?

🚨BREAKING: SHOCKING footage shows British police, marines, and customs, all who have been FLOWN IN, harassing chagossians - denying them emergency water makers, mosquito nets, and other necessities❗️ This is absolutely disgusting, all organised by Keir Starmer and Co.

@Fox_Claire And why am I not surprised? lol

Funny film from the past. The heckler at the end shouting at Penny "You started it" was...ME

@pastorlocke But the people aren't sleeping at all! Hallelujah! 🙏

We are watching the Bible unfold before our eyes and the Church is sleeping through class.

@lib_thinks And those partners get leaned on

Just to clarify, as I mute fools: we all have a choice to boycott a shop we think behaves badly. And to say so, and ask for clarification. Esp if we were once proud that “The John Lewis Partnership is founded on the principle of industrial democracy where employees are Partners”

@CamillaTominey Waitrose never recovered from the highly unsuitable Sharon White.

Utterly ridiculous - give this hero his job back! Waitrose sacks employee who stopped shoplifter from stealing Easter eggs telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/0…

@PatrickChristys @waitrose All this rubbish started when Sharon White took over - rapid decline in good partners.

So a bloke who worked for @waitrose for 17 years tackled a shoplifter in Clapham, the same area we’ve seen rampant lawlessness … and Waitrose FIRED him?! Disgraceful. They should thank him & give him a pay rise. What message is Waitrose sending to employees…and shoplifters?!

@mattvanswol Going to church also allows for singing (opening the lungs - healthy), meditation time - brilliant therapy - and of course, all the rest in a forgiving environment. People tend to forget that!

Our pastor grabbed my shoulder this morning and reminded me that exactly 1 year ago today, we brought our family to church for the first time. Today, I can’t imagine not going.