A Proud Day to be a Liberal Democrat - Ending Child Detention

It's been a rocky few weeks for the Liberal Democrats as the tuition fees debate has given us our first real test since going into Government.

But today as members, we can be justly proud to be Liberal Democrats in goverment because Nick Clegg has announced, as promised, that the barbaric system of detaining children will end by the by next May.

As reported on Freedom Central, no child is currently in an immigration detention centre and no child will spend this Christmas in an immigration detention centre. The Coalition Government has also announced the reform of our immigration system to make it more family friendly – creating a system that is humane, fair and effective.

Labour Shame

In Labour’s last 5 years in office alone the Government locked up 7,075 children for an average of just under 2 weeks each (12.74 days). That works out at 7 children a day. Last year alone, 1,065 children were locked up by Labour, 173 of whom were locked up for longer than a month.

For all their progressive talk, Labour's record in government when it came to civil rights was shoddy at best - such are their controlling, authoritarian tendencies.

Liberal Democrat Infuence in Government
The Coalition’s Programme for Government stated that ‘we will end the detention of children for immigration purposes’.  

There is no doubt in my mind that if it wasn't for the Liberal Democrat influence in government, this would not be happening. Had the Tories been in government alone would they have prioritised the ending of this inhumane policy? I very much doubt it.

Because this is a policy long-championed by the Liberal Democrats. They were the only party to include this commitment in their manifesto. In an open letter to Gordon Brown in 2009, Nick Clegg wrote: “One of the best ways to judge the moral compass of a nation is how we treat children … How on earth can your government justify what is in effect state-sponsored cruelty?”

Not in my name, and not any more.

You want to see how Liberal Democrats in government are playing a positive role in changing lives for the better? Then here's a case in point.