IT'S a crisp April afternoon when the newly-elected MP for Beckenham and Penge agrees to talk with me. Not to be overshadowed by the political dynasty of which he’s a part, Liam Conlon has been working quietly in the wings as an advocate for survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes.
His mother, Sue Gray, was Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff until October 2024 and first came to prominence as the author of an infamous report into ‘Partygate’. In another life, she ran the Cove Bar in Newry, Co Down, and it’s this point of personal connection that softens Conlon up. Newry was my hometown too.
“I’m a Londoner and I’m Irish,” he says, clearly enthusiastic about his Irish roots. “The thing I love about London is that those two things are never in conflict, certainly not in the last 30 or 40 years.”
It’s Conlon’s work as the driving force behind Philomena’s Law that really sets him apart. Named for Philomena Lee – played by Judie Dench in the 2013 Oscar-nominated film ‘Philomena’ – the legislation aims to allow survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes to access compensation if they are living in the UK.
Conlon tells me: “There are over 13,000 survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes living in Great Britain. This accounts for both women who spent time in institutions and children who were either born to those women or born in the homes themselves.
“They endured all kinds of horrific experiences. They were abused mentally, physically, and used as unpaid labor. Their children were forcibly adopted, sometimes overseas, and never seen again. This is one of Ireland’s great shames.”
When I ask Conlon why he thinks it has taken so long for survivors living in Britain to access compensation, his assessment is blunt: “For a long time, this was shrouded in secrecy and shame, both for survivors and institutions,” he says.
“A few years ago, survivors received a long-awaited apology from then Taoiseach Micheál Martin, followed by a payment scheme that acknowledged the financial impact of being connected to these institutions.
“The problem is that for survivors in Britain, if they are on means-tested benefits, housing benefit, financial support for social care or anything else, their compensation from the Irish Government will count as savings and they could end up losing their money.
“I spoke to one person who was offered €50,000, who said that they did not feel able to take that money because they would lose their other benefits. It’s an extra layer of hassle which Philomena’s Law aims to rectify; providing what’s called ‘capital disregard’, which means ring-fencing compensation payments for victims. We want people to be able to spend their compensation money how they wish without having their benefits affected.”
Conlon is keen to work across party lines on the issue, seeing it as something which is above the everyday partisan nature of government and opposition. He tells me that the Irish diaspora in Britain is so firmly ingrained across all facets of society that support for Philomena’s Law sometimes comes from welcome, if surprising, sources within the political world.
“I’ve had great support from my own party,” he says. “From the likes of Dawn Butler, who represents a significant number of Irish constituents, and Andy Slaughter, who represents a number of Irish people in Hammersmith and Chiswick.
“But there’s been support from other politicians as well. People like Seamus Logan of the SNP, and Daisy Cooper, who currently sits on the Lib Dem front bench as the MP for Philomena Lee’s own constituency.
“I’ve even had MPs like Lola McEvoy from Darlington, whose grandmother was in a mother and baby home, with very personal resonances for not just her own constituents but her family as well.”
Conlon tells me that timing around legislation couldn’t be more urgent, since many survivors are now reaching a point where illnesses related to old age are becoming an issue. This, he says, makes it vital to bring as much attention as he can to the issue of financial compensation, pointing out that only 5% of eligible survivors in Britain have applied for or accepted compensation from the Irish Government.
“Philomena’s Law is not a done deal by any means,” he says. “One challenge is that despite the precedent of Windrush and the infected blood compensation scheme, this is the first time we’ll have legislated payment from a foreign government. I don’t believe that’s happened before.
“One of the arguments I’ve been trying to make is that ‘capital disregard’ is already in place in Northern Ireland, so this is really just about equalising UK law across all facets of the Union.
“Another challenge we face is that, as things stand, the Irish Government only gives survivors six months to decide whether or not they’re going to accept compensation. If the person in question hasn’t availed of it by then, it’s considered a rejection, and they’re effectively barred from ever reapplying.”
The compensation scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes first opened in March 2024 and since then, survivors have barely been able to wrap their heads around its complexity. Conlon emphasises that until ‘capital disregard’ is legislated in Great Britain, there will have to be some diplomacy between the British and Irish Governments to waive the six month rule.
“In this regard it’s important to commend the work done by activist groups and charities,” he says. “People like IPAC, the London Irish Centre, the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, the Fréa network, and the likes of the Coventry Irish Society in other parts of the country, who help survivors walk through this process much more readily than if they’d been left on their own.”
Helpline
The London Irish Centre provides a freephone service for survivors and former residents of Mother and Baby Institutions and County Homes on 0800 519 5519
See More: Liam Conlon, Philomena's Law, Philomena Lee
