JOHN Major Lambasted over Child Migrants

By Sean O'Neill
The Times
July 22, 2017

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/john-major-lambasted-over-child-migrants-sd0czzwhr

The former prime minister is facing criticism for his handling of the issue of the ill-treatment of child migrants who were deported from Britain to Australia

Sir John Major should have been called before a public inquiry to explain why his government refused to accept any responsibility for the plight of child migrants, a leading campaigner said yesterday.

Margaret Humphreys, director of the Child Migrants Trust, told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) that as the scale of the scandal emerged in the 1990s her efforts to engage the Conservative government were in vain. Sir John and other ministers repeatedly said that the issue of ill-treatment of the migrants was a matter for governments in Australia and other countries.

Some 7,500 children were taken from their families in Britain and deported to farm schools and institutions in Australia and other former colonies between 1948 and 1970. Many suffered physical…