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| Tory MPs join criticism of Amber Rudd over child refugees | Tory MPs join criticism of Amber Rudd over child refugees |
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| MPs have said 50 unaccompanied child refugees a day are now heading back to the “people traffickers and mud” of the Calais and Dunkirk camps, as the home secretary’s decision to close the “Dubs scheme” faced growing cross-party criticism. | MPs have said 50 unaccompanied child refugees a day are now heading back to the “people traffickers and mud” of the Calais and Dunkirk camps, as the home secretary’s decision to close the “Dubs scheme” faced growing cross-party criticism. |
| The Tory MP David Burrowes was among those who criticised the government’s decision to close the scheme to bring unaccompanied child refugees in Europe to the UK after only 350 arrivals. | The Tory MP David Burrowes was among those who criticised the government’s decision to close the scheme to bring unaccompanied child refugees in Europe to the UK after only 350 arrivals. |
| Accusing ministers of having “cut and run from child refugees”, he said that when MPs and peers voted to set up the scheme last May “parliament did not intend to set a time limit on our compassion for vulnerable child refugees in Europe”. | Accusing ministers of having “cut and run from child refugees”, he said that when MPs and peers voted to set up the scheme last May “parliament did not intend to set a time limit on our compassion for vulnerable child refugees in Europe”. |
| A second Conservative, Will Quince, the MP for Colchester, said he was “sad and disappointed” by the decision and asked whether ministers could require local councils to take more unaccompanied child refugees. | A second Conservative, Will Quince, the MP for Colchester, said he was “sad and disappointed” by the decision and asked whether ministers could require local councils to take more unaccompanied child refugees. |
| On Thursday afternoon Theresa May defended the government’s policy at a press conference with the prime minister of Italy, one of the countries from which unaccompanied minors have been resettled under the Dubs scheme. | |
| “We have been seeing quite a number of children and families being resettled here in the United Kingdom,” she said. “I think what we are doing in terms of refugees is absolutely right, on top of course of the significant financial support and humanitarian aid we are giving to refugees in the region of Syria - a commitment of £2.3bn, the second biggest bilateral donor.” | |
| But other MPs joined the criticism of the decision. Heidi Allen, the Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, said she and a number of colleagues were angry and would be pressing for the Dubs route to remain open, starting with a parliamentary debate on 23 February. | |
| She described the home secretary, Amber Rudd’s claim that the scheme was encouraging people traffickers and acting as a pull factor as “utter rubbish, playing to the Tories who do not understand the situation”. | She described the home secretary, Amber Rudd’s claim that the scheme was encouraging people traffickers and acting as a pull factor as “utter rubbish, playing to the Tories who do not understand the situation”. |
| “Quite a few of us had sensed things were not heading in the right direction and had applied for a backbench debate anyway. That will be the first parliamentary opportunity. There are quite a lot of us that are not going to let this go,” she told the Guardian. | “Quite a few of us had sensed things were not heading in the right direction and had applied for a backbench debate anyway. That will be the first parliamentary opportunity. There are quite a lot of us that are not going to let this go,” she told the Guardian. |
| “Our job over the next week or so is to make everyone aware of what has happened and I don’t believe we will let this go. All the government has to do is leave the system open and let councils come forward. There is just absolutely no reason to shut the scheme down. | “Our job over the next week or so is to make everyone aware of what has happened and I don’t believe we will let this go. All the government has to do is leave the system open and let councils come forward. There is just absolutely no reason to shut the scheme down. |
| “In my view, they are being very slippery and citing money in the regions, and the 20,000 resettlement scheme, which are brilliant and amazing, but this is a separate piece of legislation for a very separate population, for children stuck in Europe. It has got nothing to do with any of the other schemes.”Tania Mathias, the Tory MP for Twickenham, said: “It was never expected to be closed at any point. Britain should be leading the way, there should be more resources for local authorities.” | “In my view, they are being very slippery and citing money in the regions, and the 20,000 resettlement scheme, which are brilliant and amazing, but this is a separate piece of legislation for a very separate population, for children stuck in Europe. It has got nothing to do with any of the other schemes.”Tania Mathias, the Tory MP for Twickenham, said: “It was never expected to be closed at any point. Britain should be leading the way, there should be more resources for local authorities.” |
| Rudd, answering an urgent Commons question from Labour’s Yvette Cooper, defended the decision to end the government’s commitment to the scheme, saying: “We do not want to incentivise journeys to Europe.” | Rudd, answering an urgent Commons question from Labour’s Yvette Cooper, defended the decision to end the government’s commitment to the scheme, saying: “We do not want to incentivise journeys to Europe.” |
| She said the Dubs scheme had not yet closed and ministers had fulfilled their obligation to assess the capacity of local authorities to provide places for the children. “We have done that,” she said. “It is still not closed yet because we still have to transfer 150 under the amendment. We have done what we are obliged to do and put a number on how many will come.” | She said the Dubs scheme had not yet closed and ministers had fulfilled their obligation to assess the capacity of local authorities to provide places for the children. “We have done that,” she said. “It is still not closed yet because we still have to transfer 150 under the amendment. We have done what we are obliged to do and put a number on how many will come.” |
| A total of just 350 will be helped under a scheme that campaigners had hoped would help 3,000 children. MPs said that if the scheme was not being closed it was certainly being “capped and discontinued”. | A total of just 350 will be helped under a scheme that campaigners had hoped would help 3,000 children. MPs said that if the scheme was not being closed it was certainly being “capped and discontinued”. |
| But the home secretary claimed that the Dubs scheme was “acting as a magnet for the people traffickers” and was the reason why lone refugee children were making their way back to Calais once again in the belief they could get to Britain. | But the home secretary claimed that the Dubs scheme was “acting as a magnet for the people traffickers” and was the reason why lone refugee children were making their way back to Calais once again in the belief they could get to Britain. |
| “I am clear that when working with my French counterparts they do not want us to indefinitely continue to accept children under the Dubs amendment because they specify, and I agree with them, that it acts as a draw. It acts as a pull. It encourages the people traffickers,” said Rudd. | “I am clear that when working with my French counterparts they do not want us to indefinitely continue to accept children under the Dubs amendment because they specify, and I agree with them, that it acts as a draw. It acts as a pull. It encourages the people traffickers,” said Rudd. |
| She argued that lone child refugees in the camps in Lebanon and Jordan were more vulnerable than those in Europe and were more deserving of resettlement to the UK. | She argued that lone child refugees in the camps in Lebanon and Jordan were more vulnerable than those in Europe and were more deserving of resettlement to the UK. |
| But Labour’s Stella Creasy told MPs it was estimated that 50 refugee children a day were now arriving back in Calais to “sleep in mud and cold because the UK and French governments appear to be in a game of chicken as to who will take responsibility for them”. | But Labour’s Stella Creasy told MPs it was estimated that 50 refugee children a day were now arriving back in Calais to “sleep in mud and cold because the UK and French governments appear to be in a game of chicken as to who will take responsibility for them”. |
| She added in a Facebook post: “We all said Donald Trump wrong to ban refugees and yet not a week later Britain abandoning the most vulnerable kids, claiming somehow it’s a pull factor to offer those fleeing persecution sanctuary. Lots of unhappy Tory MPs too but now needs public to speak out and tell the government Britain is better than this.” | She added in a Facebook post: “We all said Donald Trump wrong to ban refugees and yet not a week later Britain abandoning the most vulnerable kids, claiming somehow it’s a pull factor to offer those fleeing persecution sanctuary. Lots of unhappy Tory MPs too but now needs public to speak out and tell the government Britain is better than this.” |
| Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, asked her opposite number: “Can the secretary of state tell me … how does she live with herself, leaving thousands of children subject to disease, people trafficking, squalor and hopelessness?” | Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, asked her opposite number: “Can the secretary of state tell me … how does she live with herself, leaving thousands of children subject to disease, people trafficking, squalor and hopelessness?” |
| The Dubs amendment was passed last May amid widespread public outrage over the scale of the European refugee crisis. David Cameron agreed that “more can be done” in the face of an all-party campaign to help 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees in the camps of Greece, Italy and France. | The Dubs amendment was passed last May amid widespread public outrage over the scale of the European refugee crisis. David Cameron agreed that “more can be done” in the face of an all-party campaign to help 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees in the camps of Greece, Italy and France. |
| Cooper, the chair of the Commons home affairs committee, said thousands of children were at risk in the camps in Greece and Italy. She told Rudd it had never been parliament’s intention “to turn our backs on child refugees”. | Cooper, the chair of the Commons home affairs committee, said thousands of children were at risk in the camps in Greece and Italy. She told Rudd it had never been parliament’s intention “to turn our backs on child refugees”. |
| She said many councils were willing to take more child refugees from within Europe if they were given more time and resources. “Britain can do better than this; will she accept that and reinstate the Dubs programme now?” she asked the home secretary directly. | She said many councils were willing to take more child refugees from within Europe if they were given more time and resources. “Britain can do better than this; will she accept that and reinstate the Dubs programme now?” she asked the home secretary directly. |
| Dubs said on the day his amendment setting up the scheme was passed last year that Theresa May had personally told him she accepted his amendment and the then immigration minister had told him the government would “accept the letter and the spirit of the amendment”. “The government is in breach of its own commitments,” he told the House of Lords. | Dubs said on the day his amendment setting up the scheme was passed last year that Theresa May had personally told him she accepted his amendment and the then immigration minister had told him the government would “accept the letter and the spirit of the amendment”. “The government is in breach of its own commitments,” he told the House of Lords. |