“Is it not time that Government Back-Benchers felt as embarrassed as we are that this is happening in our country?”
Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs has been praised for his scathing criticism of the Home Office over its decision to paint over pictures of cartoons and animals at an asylum reception centre to ensure children did not feel welcomed.
Last week it was reported that Tory Minister Robert Jenrick gave the order to paint over the cartoons, as he did not want the asylum centre to be seen as a ‘welcome centre’ and wanted it to be clear that it was a ‘law enforcement environment”, in keeping with the broader hostile environment policy being pushed by the Tory government.
Speaking in the Lords, Lord Dubs asked: “The Minister has just said that the Government take the welfare of unaccompanied children seriously. How does that relate to the arrivals centre in Dover, which had cartoons and welcoming signs for children removed on the orders of the Home Office Minister because it might make the children feel too welcome? Is that not a disgrace?
“Is it not time that Government Back-Benchers felt as embarrassed as we are that this is happening in our country?”
Tory peer Lord Murray of Blidworth replied: “The murals that the noble Lord refers to were provided by our detention contractors and were not commissioned or approved by the Home Office. It is clearly the correct decision that these facilities have the requisite decoration befitting their purpose.”
His response, which was clearly lacking in humanity and compassion, left Lord Dubs visibly shocked.
One social media user wrote in response to a clip of the exchange: “I have watched & rewatched these horrifying clips. @AlfDubs – a child refugee who fled the Nazis on a Kindertransport – asking Simon Murray @ukhomeoffice to explain the removal of murals as they’re “too welcoming for children”; & the Minister’s shameful response. #childrights.”
The charity, Every Child Protected Against Trafficking tweeted: “Asked by @AlfDubs about disgraceful actions of @ukhomeoffice to remove cartoons from Kent reception as they are ‘too welcoming for children’, Minister says: ‘It is the correct decision these facilities have the requisite decoration befitting their purpose’. Shameful cruelty.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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