9th September 2010
The United Kingdom government was yesterday accused of abandoning its promise to end the detention of children in immigration centres in a climbdown that will be a severe embarrassment to Liberal Democrat ministers.
Two months after Nick Clegg told MPs the coalition would deliver on its pledge to end the controversial practice, Damian Green, the immigration minister, has revealed that the government only intended to "minimise" the number of child detainees.
The Lib Dems had hailed the policy as a sign of their influence within the Tory-led coalition. During his speech to the Commons in July, Clegg criticised the Labour government for committing a "moral outrage" by detaining 1,000 children held with their families while awaiting removal from the UK last year. The deputy prime minister, who announced the closure of the Yarl's Wood detention centre's family unit, pledged to "restore a sense of decency and liberty to the way we conduct ourselves".
The government's policy shift represents a blow to the Liberal Democrats within the coalition government.
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Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.