Leading article: The cruelty of locking up child asylum-seekers
There are alternatives to the policy of detaining migrant families
Last week the medical establishment called for the Government to overhaul its policy of detaining children in immigration removal centres. This week they are joined by a number of paragons from the world of children's literature including Michael Bond, Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson. Both groups make a compelling case.
The Royal Colleges of Paediatricians, General Practitioners and Psychiatrists argue that removal centres are damaging the mental and physical health of the 1,000 or so children who are detained in them every year. They recommend a transfer of responsibility of healthcare in detention centres from the Home Office to the National Health Service and argue that detained children, some of whom are held for many months while a decision is made on their family's case, should be subject to the same safeguards and standards as young people elsewhere in the UK.
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
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