"Is that money well spent, minister?”
Painting over murals meant to welcome children at an asylum reception centre in Kent cost the Home Office £1,550, despite the Tory minister who made the orders previously claiming it cost nothing.
Tory minister Robert Jenrick was shamed last month after it was revealed he had ordered staff to paint over pictures of cartoons and animals on walls at the Manston centre, after it was claimed he did not want it to be seen as a ‘welcome centre’, and instead as a ‘law enforcement environment’, in keeping with the government’s broader hostile environment policy.
Jenrick, the immigration minister, said in Parliament that that there was ‘no financial cost’ to painting over the murals, which was contested by Labour MP Stephanie Peacock at the time, who questioned how this was possible unless, “overstretched workers were redeployed from far more pressing duties and the minister himself brought the paint in from home.”
In fact, it cost the taxpayers £1,549.52 for the redecoration, an FOI request has now revealed. The Ministry of Justice’s estate team painted over the colourful Disney characters on the wall in early July.
Speaking this morning on LBC, Jenrick was unable to provide a straight answer when asked by Nick Ferrari whether the money was well spent, saying that he, ‘wasn’t responsible for the cost’, despite being responsible for making the order in the first place.
Jenrick replied: “The change was the right one and I fundamentally believe that you don’t judge the compassion of our system by the decoration of a centre where they first arrive.”
However, during his round of interviews this morning Jenrick pushed the government line that, if asylum seekers turn down accommodation on the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge then they will have to ‘look after themselves’ and ‘make their own arrangements’.
It’s very hard to comprehend his use of the word ‘compassion’ when discussing his Party’s immigration system that could potential see refugees and asylum seekers sleeping on the streets, and houses those fleeing war and violence in accomodation described as a ‘prison’ and ‘potential death-trap’.
(Photo credit: SkyNews / YouTube screenshot)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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