EXCLUSIVE: Policing “is not an eye for an eye”, says Neil Basu
Former top Asian cop calls our Greater Manchester Police officer as a ‘coward'
By Barnie ChoudhuryJul 30, 2024
THE police officer who kicked and stamped on the head of a Muslim man while he was on the ground after being tasered was a “coward”, Britain’s former top south Asian cop has told Eastern Eye.
Neil Basu, the UK’s former head of counter terrorism, also warned that that incident last week (24), filmed by travellers at Manchester Airport could harm confidence in policing.
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), confirmed it had begun a criminal investigation into a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) constable for assault.
The footage went viral on social media, and it was shown on mainstream news channels including Sky News.
GMP eventually suspended the unnamed officer after initially merely relieving him of his duties.
“Coward runs through my mind, I have to be honest,” said Basu when asked what he thought about the police officer’s actions, “and don't forget, I was the head of armed policing in the Met, so I have massive respect for armed officers and what they do.
“They know that I stood up for them many, many times, and I've deployed them many times.
“I was one of the most experienced strategic firearms commanders and CT (counter terrorism) commanders in the United Kingdom, so I have great respect for them, and almost every firearms officer that I have ever deployed, or I ever worked with or have ever seen trained has been more professional than that.
“The other thing is, I've faced life threatening situations myself as a police officer, I understand what it feels like to be fighting for your life.”
Confidence in policing
The IOPC served the officer with what it described as “a disciplinary notice”.
This is usual in such investigations, and in this case it informs the constable that he is being investigated for potential gross misconduct for several claims of breaches of police professional standards.
That includes his use of force during the arrest.
“I don't know all the circumstances that incident,” Basu continued, “and clearly the biggest problem young and currently serving police officers go up against is citizen journalism, editing stuff to make it look as bad as it can possibly look.
“But it's difficult to make that scene look any worse than it actually is, because even if the context is correct, and we've heard a lot of it today, that they were viciously assaulted, that three officers were hospitalised, the female officer had a nose broken, that they were attacked first, it doesn't matter.
“Our job is not an eye for an eye, we have to be better than that, we have to be more professional than that.
“It isn't just our job to fight back, as hard as we can, and more brutally after the event is finished, that cannot be our job.
“We are never going to win the trust and confidence in the public, win it back, because we did have it for a while.
“We're never going to win it back, if that's the way we react, and the person who knew that best was a guy called Robert Peel [the prime minister and home secretary who created the modern police force] who wrote in 1829 that you will get less trust and confidence for more force you use.”
Disproportionate action
On the day, Greater Manchester Police said they were called to an “altercation” in Terminal 2 of Manchester Airport.
They said tried to arrest a suspect when three of their officers were violently assaulted.
The attack left a female officer with a broken nose, said the statement.
Critics took to social media complaining that the reaction by the police was disproportionate.
But the Reform MP, Lee Anderson, who has a track record for accusing the police of being “soft”, leapt to GMP’s defence.
He told the media that he would give a medal to the officer.
Credit: Greater Manchester Police on X
The solicitor for the family of the man who was kicked in the head, Akhmed Yakoob, revealed that a CT scan showed his client, Muhammad Fahir Amaaz, had "a cyst on his brain".
Yakoob is also representing Amaaz’s brother, Amaad.
It emerged that another brother, who was not involved in the incident, is a serving GMP officer.
On Saturday (27), the Manchester Evening News obtained footage which Eastern Eye has not been able to verify.
It appeared to show the moments leading to the fight between the police and south Asian men.
This was not the first critical event for Greater Manchester Police in the past fortnight.
A report, commissioned by the Greater Manchester mayor and police and crime commissioner, Andy Burnham, criticised the force of “humiliating” people in custody.
Responding to the latest incident, GMP’s chief constable, Stephen Watson, said he regretted the upset it caused and appealed for calm.
Credit: Greater Manchester Police on X
Community relations
Basu, the former Met assistant commissioner, told Eastern Eye that the GMP officer’s actions would damage community relations.
“I write about this a lot, my entire career is about dealing with gangsters, murder, homicide, corrupt cops, counter terrorism, deaths in police custody.
“And the most famous ones were, in recent living memory, are obviously Mark Duggan, [who was shot dead by a police marksman] which saw the world set alight.
“But if you know your history like I do, you can go back to the [accidental] shooting of Cherry Gross [which precipitated the Brixton riots in 1985].
“You can go back to Broadwater Farm [1985 riots], you can talk about those incidents that sparked those riots in the past.
“The reason those riots are sparked is because you have no trust and confidence from the very community that feels over policed and under protected.
“And whenever a video like that goes out, because you don't have that confidence, their first thought is, is not well, you were under attack, so you're trying to defend yourself, it's you’re a racist, brutal cop.
“Now, that feeling hasn't changed since probably the 50s and 60s, and we have got to start looking at ourselves and say, why hasn't that feeling changed?
“That might be in the past to us, because we say we're new, and progressive.
“We're mostly not like that, and we go, why hasn't that feeling changed?
“What is it that we haven't done to win that trust and confidence back?
“And I think it starts with admitting you are what you are.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during a meeting in Moscow, Russia August 21, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS
INDIA and Russia agreed to boost trade ties on Thursday (21) as their foreign ministers met in Moscow, giving little indication that US president Donald Trump's hefty tariffs on India for buying Russian oil would disrupt their relations.
Indian goods face additional US tariffs of up to 50 per cent, among the highest imposed by Washington, due to New Delhi's increased purchases of Russian oil.
Western countries boycotting Russian crude say India's purchases are helping to fund Moscow's war in Ukraine. But New Delhi says its purchases are purely commercial transactions, and accuses the US and European Union of double standards, noting that they continue significant trade with Moscow themselves.
"We have good results in cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, in the supply of Russian oil to the Indian market. And we have a mutual interest in implementing joint projects for the extraction of energy resources, including in the Russian Federation - in the Far East and on the Arctic shelf," Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said at a joint news conference with Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Jaishankar said that relations between the two countries had been among the steadiest of major nations in the world since World War Two, referring to a close friendship going back to the days of the Soviet Union.
The two countries reaffirmed their ambition to expand bilateral trade, including by increasing India's exports to Russia, Jaishankar said, according to a statement from India's foreign ministry.
"This (trade expansion) requires swiftly addressing non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments," Jaishankar said. "Enhancing Indian exports to Russia in sectors like pharmaceuticals, agriculture and textiles will certainly help to correct the current imbalance."
Russia was able to divert its exports of oil, a significant source of state revenue, away from Europe and mainly to China and India after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over its conflict in Ukraine.
India and China are the biggest buyers of Russia's oil.
Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday that Russia expected to continue supplying oil to India despite pressure from the US, adding that Moscow hoped trilateral talks with India and China would soon take place.
By clicking the 'Subscribe’, you agree to receive our newsletter, marketing communications and industry
partners/sponsors sharing promotional product information via email and print communication from Garavi Gujarat
Publications Ltd and subsidiaries. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the
unsubscribe link in our emails. We will use your email address to personalize our communications and send you
relevant offers. Your data will be stored up to 30 days after unsubscribing.
Contact us at data@amg.biz to see how we manage and store your data.
If approved, the law would impose fines or jail terms on individuals and companies providing online money gaming services. (Representational image: Getty)
INDIA's government on Wednesday introduced a bill in parliament seeking to ban online gambling, citing risks of addiction, financial losses, and possible links to money laundering and terrorism financing.
The proposed legislation could affect a multi-billion dollar sector that includes online poker, fantasy sports, and India’s popular fantasy cricket apps, some of which sponsor the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the national cricket team.
The bill, tabled in the lower house, seeks to prohibit websites or apps from offering games “played by a user paying fees or depositing money or other stakes” with the expectation of winning money.
If approved, the law would impose fines or jail terms on individuals and companies providing online money gaming services.
Lawmakers said the industry’s “unchecked expansion” required regulation, noting that it has been linked to “financial fraud, money laundering... and in some cases, the financing of terrorism.” The bill also referred to the financial and social harm such games could cause to young players.
Industry groups have opposed the proposal, saying it would damage a sector that has attracted significant foreign investment.
The All India Gaming Federation and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports said on Tuesday that banning “responsible” Indian operators would drive
(With inputs from agencies)
Keep ReadingShow less
The High Court in Glasgow sentenced him after he pleaded guilty to two charges of terrorism. (Photo: iStock)
A TEENAGER inspired by Adolf Hitler who planned to set fire to a Scottish mosque was sentenced on Thursday (21) to 10 years in custody.
Police arrested the 17-year-old in January carrying a military-style rucksack as he tried to gain entry to the building in Greenock, on the west coast of Scotland.
Inside the bag officers found a German-made Glock-type air pistol, ammunition, ball bearings, gas cartridges and aerosol cans, prosecutors said.
The teen had mapped out the building's interior on his phone.
A search of his home found Hitler's book Mein Kampf, knives and masks as well as instructions and ingredients for the manufacturing of explosives.
The High Court in Glasgow sentenced him after he pleaded guilty to two charges of terrorism, Scotland's Crown Office said.
The teenager -- who cannot be named for legal reasons due to his age -- will initially serve his sentence in youth custody before being moved to an adult jail.
He will be supervised for eight years after his release.
(AFP)
Keep ReadingShow less
Keir Starmer attends the Service of Remembrance to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Alrewas, Staffordshire, Britain August 15, 2025. Anthony Devlin/Pool via REUTERS
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer faced renewed criticism over his immigration policies on Thursday (21) after new official figures showed asylum-seeker claims hitting a record high, with more migrants being housed in hotels compared with a year ago.
According to a regular tracker of voters' concerns, immigration has overtaken the economy as the biggest issue amid anger over the record numbers of asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the Channel, including more than 27,000 this year.
The populist Reform Party, which advocates the deportation of "illegal immigrants", is now comfortably leading in the polls, putting Starmer, who has promised to cut net immigration, under increasing pressure to tackle the issue.
However, earlier this week the government was dealt a blow when a council to the northeast of London won a temporary injunction to stop asylum seekers from being housed in a hotel where protests had erupted after one resident was charged with sexual assault.
Other councils have indicated they would also seek similar court orders, while Reform leader Nigel Farage has called for more protests.
"Labour has lost control of our borders and they're engulfed in a migration crisis," said Chris Philp, the home affairs spokesman for the main opposition Conservative party.
The new migration data showed more than 32,000 asylum seekers were housed in hotels in Britain at the end of June this year, an increase of eight per cent from the year before.
However, the total figure of just over 32,000 was 43 per cent lower than the peak of 56,042 recorded in September 2023, and slightly down compared with the previous quarterly figures in March.
Anti-immigration demonstrators display Union Jack and England flags as they gather outside the Cresta Court hotel, in Altrincham, Britain, August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble
The figures also showed 111,000 people had claimed asylum in the year to June, up 14 per cent from the previous year and surpassing the previous peak of 103,000 recorded in 2002.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said overall the figures showed their policies have been working since Labour took office last year, pointing to a 30 per cent increase in the returns of failed asylum seekers.
"We inherited a broken immigration and asylum system that the previous government left in chaos," she said in a statement.
"Since coming to office we have strengthened Britain’s visa and immigration controls, cut asylum costs and sharply increased enforcement and returns, as today’s figures show."
The numbers arriving on small boats - up 38 per cent in the year to June - have become the focal point for the migration issue. Critics say the public are at risk from thousands of young men coming to Britain, while pro-migrant groups say the issue is being used by far right groups to exploit tensions.
The latest figures showed of the almost 160,000 people who had arrived on small boats and claimed asylum since 2018, 61,706 had been granted some form of protection status.
Nationals from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iran made up the largest number of such arrivals in the year to June.
While the data showed overall enforced returns were 25 per cent higher in the year to June than the previous year, it also said since 2018 only 6,313 people who arrived by small boat had been returned, four per cent of the total number of such arrivals.
Starmer's government views clearing the backlog of cases as essential to fulfilling its pledge to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament in 2029.
Under a 1999 law, the Home Office "is required to provide accommodation and subsistence support to all destitute asylum seekers while their asylum claims are being decided".
But the use of hotels, which hit peak levels under the previous Tory government, costs Britain billions of pounds -- and they also have become flashpoints for sometimes violent protests.
Labour has said the use of migrant hotels has fallen from a high of 400 two years ago to around 230 presently.
Thursday's figures also showed that spending on asylum had fallen 12 per cent from £5.38 billion in 2023/24 to £4.76bn in 2024/25.
Starmer's government has signed several agreements with countries as it tries to break up gangs of people-smugglers facilitating the crossings.
It penned a new returns deal with Iraq this week and has struck a "one-in, one-out" pilot programme with Paris, which allows Britain to send some small-boats arrivals back to France.
(Agencies)
Keep ReadingShow less
Students queue to get their GCSE results at City Of London Magistrates Court on August 21, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)
HUNDREDS of thousands of teenagers received their GCSE results on Thursday, with figures showing a slight increase in top grades but a growing number of pupils failing English and maths.
Data from the Joint Council for Qualifications showed that 21.9 per cent of entries were awarded at least grade 7 or A, up from 21.8 per cent last year. The overall pass rate at grade 4 or C fell slightly to 67.4 per cent, compared with 67.6 per cent last year, though still above pre-pandemic levels.
Among 16-year-olds, 39.8 per cent did not achieve a standard pass in English language and 41.7 per cent failed in maths, both worse than last year. More students are expected to retake exams in autumn or next year, The Times reported.
Among older students retaking exams, results were also low: only 18.2 per cent of those aged 17 or above passed maths, while 23.1 per cent passed English.
Regional disparities continued. London had the highest proportion of top grades, with 28.4 per cent at 7 or A, compared with 17.8 per cent in the northeast, the lowest performing region. London also had the highest pass rate at grade 4 or C, 71.6 per cent, down from 73.1 per cent last year.
Gender differences persisted. Girls achieved 24.5 per cent top grades, compared with 19.4 per cent for boys. The gap of 5.1 percentage points was the smallest in 25 years. At least grade 4 or C was achieved by 70.5 per cent of girls and 64.3 per cent of boys.
Ofqual figures showed 1,302 pupils achieved grade 9 in all their GCSEs, with girls making up 61.7 per cent.
Subject choices shifted, with Spanish overtaking French, and entries rising in statistics, music, business studies and physical education, while history, religious studies, English literature and single sciences saw declines.