We’re meant, I think, to be moved by Westminster Council’s latest initiative: “A Westminster Welcome: The Strategy for People Seeking Sanctuary in Our Borough”. As the council’s announcement has it, “the strategy sets out a compassionate, coordinated approach to help people who have been forced to flee their homes feel safe, supported and able to rebuild their lives in Westminster.” And who’s against a strategy that’s compassionate and co-ordinated?
If that weren’t enough, the initiative is “an important step towards Westminster becoming an accredited Council of Sanctuary – a national award recognising councils that go beyond their statutory duties to welcome and support people seeking sanctuary.” It would make the council a member of the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network, one of 63 councils nationally, and one of 15 London boroughs, in the network. Sanctuary…shades of medieval men fleeing the wrath of the king and making for the altars of churches to claim asylum. Except it’s nothing of the sort.
