LABOUR MP Liam Conlon’s proposed ‘Philomena’s Law’ – which seeks to support the 13,000 survivors of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes in Britain – received a special briefing in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Survivors, campaigners, community welfare organisations, journalists and MPs came together to hear the practicalities of the proposal spearheaded by the chairperson of the Labour Party Irish Society.
The campaign’s genesis was based in finding ways to ensure that survivors’ means-tested benefits were not at risk if they received a financial award from the Irish government’s Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.
Currently, survivors who accept an offer of payment from the scheme could lose a range means-tested benefits, on the basis that the payment would be treated as ‘savings’.
The packed Committee Room in Westminster heard from a range of speakers representing different aspects of the complex issue, including: Liam Conlon, MP for Beckenham and Penge and Chair of Labour Party Irish Society; Jane Libberton, Campaigner and daughter of survivor Philomena Lee (for whom the law is named); Rosa Gilbert, Policy and Research Manager at Irish in Britain; and Séan Kaluarachchi, Survivor Information Adviser at the London Irish Centre.
The meeting was chaired by Associate Editor at Bloomberg UK, Ailbhe Rea.
Mr Conlon opened proceedings by addressing the horrendous history of Mother and Baby Homes, which he described as ‘cruel institutions’. He spoke about the experiences of women in the Homes and how they had their children forcibly removed, often never to be seen again, as happened to Philomena Lee.
He pointed out the transgenerational trauma this treatment inflicted, because children were denied knowledge about their roots and were told their mother had rejected them.
There were gasps in the room as he told the story of one MP who had approached him after his proposal had first been introduced to the House of Commons. The MP told him that her grandfather was born in a Mother and Baby Home, and that her family only found out after he died. She described how this affected her mother who had lived her entire life not knowing this, regretting ‘the conversations they had missed out on’.
Mr Conlon also spoke about the scandal of the women who came to England to escape the Homes who were then forcibly sent back to Ireland. The audience heard about the positive feedback Mr Conlon has thus far received from MPs across the House. MPs Dawn Butler, Andy Slaughter and Seamus Logan were also in attendance at the hearing.
Dawn Butler represents the largest Irish-born constituency in Great Britain and told the room that Mr Conlon has ‘100 percent of our support’.
Philomena Lee’s daughter Jane spoke of the stigma that still surrounds the experiences of survivors and how that needs to be overcome, saying of her mother:
“When she first told me 20 years ago, she didn’t want anyone to know, because of the shame... and that needs to change… the uptake of compensation has been very low, we need to let people know, they didn’t do anything wrong.
“[My mother] actually thought she had no story to tell… because it’s just her life and what happened to her. And obviously, over the years, we've realised just how many people it’s happened to.”
Rosa Gilbert explained how survivors’ welfare benefits were at risk if they accept a financial offer, and how the limit of six months to make a decision as to whether to accept an offer from the payments scheme does not give enough time for survivors to find out how it will affect them personally. She pointed to the fact that there was already legislation in place in Northern Ireland to ensure payments from the scheme do not impact survivors’ benefits.
Séan Kaluarachchi told the audience about the national freephone number for survivors in Britain in the London Irish Centre and how he has helped many survivors access payments. He reported that he has also represented many clients who fought to have extensions to the deadline to accept or decline an offer because they have been worried about their benefits and their social care. He added that when he tells clients about what Liam Conlon was doing to try and change the law they were ‘very uplifted’.
Irish in Britain’s CEO Brian Dalton said: “Many people here today have worked together to highlight this anomaly, to address what's really been an historical injustice and a lack of equity for those living with the legacy of Irish residential institutions in Britain.
“It’s heartening to see such a broad consensus for change and that’s why this is such an important opportunity, and we would argue, an obligation, to address that.”
Liam Conlon concluded by saying: “It’s simply not good enough that we now have boxed thousands of women and children, survivors into a situation where if they accept compensation and they are on means-tested benefits that they risk losing that compensation benefit altogether.
“This is more than the law, more than words on paper, it’s about cultural change.”
The National Response Freephone Line is 0800 519 5519. It is open 10am – 4pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
NB: this freephone can only be rung from within the UK.
