Labour MP tells of asylum 'shame'

The rally heard calls for "fairness and tolerance".

A Labour MP has said she is "ashamed" of the government's policy on asylum seekers.

Speaking at a central London demonstration in defence of asylum seekers, Diane Abbott told a crowd of several hundred that both Labour and the Conservative party were guilty of using anti-refugee rhetoric.

I am not afraid to say I am ashamed of the things my government has done in relation to asylum seekers

Diane Abbott MP

The current treatment of refugees was "not right and not necessary" she said.

"We are still one of the richest countries in the world and I believe that New Britain under New Labour should behave in a more principled way towards people fleeing persecution."

A Labour MP of 14 years standing, Ms Abbott told the crowd: "I am not afraid to say I am ashamed of the things my government has done in relation to asylum seekers.

"I am ashamed of the vouchers policy, I am ashamed of the dispersal system but above all I am ashamed by the way the Labour party has struggled to outdo the Tories in rhetoric against so-called bogus asylum seekers."

The rally in Trafalgar Square was to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Refugees and last Wednesday's UN Day Against Racism.

Diane Abbott: "Labour should behave in a more principled way".

Another speaker, who works directly with asylum seekers, warned of the dangers of complacency in the face of a resurgent European far right.

Helen Bamber, director of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, said: "Let's not go to sleep during this election and wake up in the 'foreign land' of Jorg Haider's Austria where xenophobia and racism are eating at the political fabric."

She called for "tolerance and fairness" towards asylum seekers, and joined Ms Abbott in condemning the "indignities" of the government's voucher system.

The demonstration comes the day after the publication of Home Office figures showing the number of people claiming asylum last month was the lowest monthly total for almost two years.

The 5,520 applications were down 13% on January's figure - the lowest since May 1999 - with the backlog of outstanding claims almost at a seven-year low.