Campaign pushes to change law that could lead to survivors living in UK being disqualified from means-tested benefits
Survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes are being “re-traumatised” by the prospect of losing benefits in the UK if they accept compensation from the Irish state, Westminster has been told.
The warning comes amid a campaign backed by representatives of almost every political party in the UK and figures including Steve Coogan, who starred in Philomena, a film about the mother and baby homes scandal.
More than 100 MPs and peers from across the political spectrum – including Sinn Féin and Unionist MPs – have now signed a letter in support of the campaign led by the Labour MP Liam Conlon, ahead of a parliamentary debate on Tuesday calling for a change in the law.
Ireland has begun the process of confronting one of the most painful chapters in its history by offering compensation to thousands of unmarried mothers who were shunned by society and hidden away in the church-run mother and baby homes.
