Author Archives: Clare Sambrook

Clare Sambrook

The Independent View: Child detention – mind the gap between rhetoric and reality

By Clare Sambrook | Sat 1st January 2011 - 2:25 pm

‘Today marks a big culture shift within our immigration system,’ said Nick Clegg two weeks ago, announcing plans purporting to end child detention. ‘That practice, the practice we inherited, ends here,’ he said.

Sadly, it didn’t end there.

Liberal Democrats interested in these matters might take a look at two dossiers of evidence compiled by End Child Detention Now and published on openDemocracy.

Mind the Gap! Coalition claims and realities for child detention in the UK tests the new ‘compassionate approach to family returns’ as expressed in government documents released on December 16

Drawing on evidence elsewhere, for instance an HMIP report on …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged | 18 Comments
Clare Sambrook

The Independent View: Please make sure they really do end child detention

By Clare Sambrook | Wed 15th September 2010 - 1:27 pm

Liberal Democrats are understandably confused about whether child detention is ending or not.

Nick Clegg got the commitment to end child detention into the Coalition Agreement. Only last Thursday Sarah Teather promised: ‘Rest assured. It will be done.’ She also said: ‘We have to be careful not to rush into this as we are dealing with the safety and well-being of often vulnerable children and it is essential it is done properly.’

Quite how children’s safety might be served by not rushing to end a practice proven to wreck their lives is a mystery that suggests leading Liberal Democrats have been

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged , , , and | 26 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Anthony Acton
    What I find so disappointing about the last 2 years is that the 2024 GE result gave the party a massive boost in resources and, potentially, political influenc...
  • Nigel Jones
    I agree with Nigel Quinton, Tony Robertson and Katharine Pindar on the lack of a clear party lead on our overall vision for the future of the country which must...
  • Katharine Pindar
    Ed concluded our Autumn Conference by telling us that 'We are in the fight of our lives - and we will win!' Of course, rapturous applause followed. But somehow ...
  • Tim L
    In my experience of San Francisco, driverless cabs are smooth and courteous. I wish all drivers, there and here, were as good. I am sure in due course they will...
  • Nigel Quinton
    @Tony R - absolutely right. Burnham is echoing so much of what we have been shouting about (and being ignored) for years. Electoral reform, localism, social car...