Blunkett condemned for asylum hypocrisy

The Home Secretary, is accused today of double standards over asylum-seekers by segregating them from the rest of society while calling for racial integration.

In The Independent, Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, attacks David Blunkett's controversial plan for the children of asylum-seekers to be educated at accommodation centres rather than schools.

Tonight the Government faces a backbench rebellion when MPs debate the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill. Thirty-two Labour MPs have backed an amendment saying the children of asylum-seekers should attend ordinary schools where places are available. Neil Gerrard, Labour chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on refugees, who has tabled the amendment, said: "We do not believe we should be segregating children. Education is not just about academic subjects but about learning to live with other kids."

In his article, Mr Morris warns Mr Blunkett: "Preaching integration while practising segregation is no way forward." He dismisses the argument that would-be refugees are "swamping" schools and surgeries, saying: "It is wholly contradictory to articulate a policy of inclusion, extolling the virtues of assimilation and citizenship, yet to put asylum-seekers into detention camps. They will not learn the language and culture of their new homeland by talking to other asylum-seekers."

Mr Morris also criticises Tony Blair taking a hard line on asylum to head off an advance by anti-immigration parties, as seen in the Netherlands and France. "Instead of reaching for the pejorative with terms like 'overwhelmed', ministers must accept they can never develop an asylum policy to satisfy the far-right," he says. "Adopting their language only heightens fear and apprehension. Better to take a principled stand based on the international conventions, which remain true to this nation's values of humanity and justice."

Mr Blunkett will mount a strong defence of the Bill.