Jewish Lord Dubbed Peer of The Year
A member of the House of Lords who escaped the Nazis has been recognised for his efforts to secure asylum for modern child refugees.
The 84 year-old Lord Alf Dubs was awarded ‘Peer of the Year’ at the Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year Awards for overturning the parliament’s original plan.
The government’s original policy was to prioritize supporting the refugees in the Middle East. Moved by his experiences on the kindertransport, Lord Dubs put forward an amendment to allow unaccompanied children to gain refuge in the UK, which passed today.
Speaking at the awards, Dubs said ‘It’s very humbling to meet people who have dedicated everything to the cause of refugees, I’m glad that some of them are now coming. I could make a speech about why the government didn’t get a move on, but they’re doing it now, I’m delighted about that’.
The Spectator editor Fraser Nelson said the peer has “shown that the House of Lords, if used properly, is a place where one person can overturn government policy”.
“In an act of political jujitsu, this 84-year-old wrestled the government machine, won, and had the Prime Minister agree to take in child refugees from Calais.”
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