Minister refuses to say if she's 'comfortable' with removal of asylum centre children's mural

A cabinet minister has refused to say whether she is "comfortable" with the Home Office painting over an asylum centre children's mural because it was "too welcoming".

Financial secretary to the Treasury Victoria Atkins insisted child refugees are "looked after properly" when they arrive in the UK, but avoided questions over the order to remove the cheery Mickey Mouse design.

The decision was reportedly made by immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who wanted to make it clear the site for unaccompanied children in Kent was a "law enforcement environment" and "not a welcome centre".

This appears in contrast to a recent HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on the Kent Intake Unit, which said: "The range of toys for young children was too limited and there was little reading material."

As the government faces calls of "trivial nastiness" over its "utterly absurd" decision, Atkins was asked by Sky News's Sophy Ridge if she was "really comfortable" with the move at the Dover facility.

Read more: Backlash as 'evil' Home Office paints over Mickey Mouse mural at child asylum seeker centre

"I think we've got to focus on the fundamentals here, if there are children arriving in the United Kingdom via small boats, then as soon as they land in the UK they are looked after properly," she told the programme.

"The local authorities step in, they have their welfare, their health needs and their schooling needs looked after. But we also have to stop people from being enticed by criminal gangs to cross the Channel.

"That journey in itself is such a dangerous journey, it must be terrifying for children who come across, and so that is why we're so focused on stopping the boats."

Pointing to a picture of the now-removed mural, Ridge said: "I don't believe you're comfortable with it – the decision to paint over it – I don't believe it."

Atkins wouldn't answer either way, instead saying: "I'm not comfortable with the idea that people would bring children across on these boats."

Read more: Hundreds of migrants fight for survival on the Polish-Belarusian border waiting to cross into the EU

Pressed again on whether she approves of the decision, Atkins said: "What I care about is how those children are looked after when they come here, and I am confident that they are given the care and welfare that we would expect."

Atkins has faced criticism on social media over Sunday's appearance, with SNP president Michael Russell tweeting: "The compassionless rhetoric of Victoria Atkins is very like that used in the 19th century to justify the horror of workhouses."

Read more: Channel crossings hit 12,000 for 2023 so far after new highest daily total

Children's rights charity Article 39 said: "The government department that cannot bear frightened children drawing some comfort from friendly images on a wall is seeking, through #IllegalMigrationBill, to have power to accommodate children outside children’s care system."

John Nicholson, SNP MP for Ochil & South Perthshire, wrote: "Woeful from the squirming minister. Great persistent questioning from @SophyRidgeSky.

"The answer should have been simple. 'No, we shouldn’t have painted over the mural. It was an awful thing to do, and I’m ashamed.'"

Watch: Highest number of people so far this year make dangerous Channel crossing

Pete Wishart, SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire, added: "How anyone could be 'comfortable' with this grotesque and shameful decision to paint over a children's mural should be lost on anyone with any sense of decency."

Earlier this week, Labour's shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock told The i: "This is a sign of a chaotic government in crisis, whose failing approach means all they have left is tough talk and cruel and callous policies.

"We need a Labour government and our five-point plan to end the dangerous crossings, defeat the criminal smuggler gangs, and end hotel use by clearing the asylum backlog."

In a statement, a Home Office spokesperson said: "We do all we can to ensure children are safe, secure and supported as we urgently seek placements with a local authority.

"All children receive a welfare interview on their arrival at accommodation, which includes questions designed to identify potential indicators of trafficking or safeguarding issues. Our priority is to stop the boats and disrupt the people smugglers.

"The government has gone further by introducing legislation which will ensure that those people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country."

Read more: At least 10 migrants missing, one dead after boat sinks off Tunisia

The Home Office also referred to other features at the facility, which opened in November last year, including larger and softer interview rooms, an outside space, prayer rooms, a larger reception area and improved security measures.

Despite the government's insistence on "stopping the boats" and cutting off the flow of people making their way across the English Channel, Friday saw the largest number of migrants arriving on the coast in a single day so far this year.

Some 686 migrants made the dangerous journey, according to Home Office figures, although no small boats of migrants had been detected in the previous six days.

The latest crossings take the provisional total so far for this year to 12,119 – slightly lower than the equivalent point in 2022, when the figure was more than 13,000.