Philomena's law would introduce what is called a ‘capital disregard’ for payments made to any survivors from Ireland’s Institutions Payment Scheme.
Currently someone who receives means-tested benefits risks losing them if they accept payment from the scheme, Philomena’s Law would protect such benefits.
The bill is named after Philomena Lee, whose life was portrayed in the award-winning film of the same name.
Her family support the campaign and they attended the debate, which was sponsored by Liam Conlon who is the MP for Beckenham and Penge.
Lifelong trauma
The Minister at the Department for Work and Pensions, Andrew Western, was present to hear cross-party support for ‘Philomena’s Law’. This included moving testimony from Steve Darling, the Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay, about his own experience of adoption and the lifelong trauma that it often causes.
Rachel Hopkins, the Labour MP for Luton South and South Bedfordshire, gave an account of the experiences of her constituent Christina, present at the debate, who had been born in a Mother and Baby Home in County Wicklow.
Philomena Lee’s MP, Daisy Cooper, called on the Minister to arrange a meeting between Ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions and former residents of the institutions.
Ian Byrne and Rebecca Long-Bailey spoke about the historic Irish communities in the North West of England, the important work of Irish organisations in their constituencies, and the difficulties former residents often have trusting institutions.
Injustice
There was consensus in the room that these were people who had experienced injustice, and that there was an urgent need to prevent the further injustice of potentially losing their benefits.
The debate was an opportunity to register the cross-party support for Philomena’s Law and hear a response from the government, which stated that they are still considering the potential merits of introducing this legislation. The Minister pointed out that previous disregards introduced to protect certain compensation payments from capital limits for means-testing all related to incidents for which the UK government was responsible.
Summing up, Liam Conlon pointed out that the UK Government is responsible for people as well as events, and that responsibility for the women and children who have been living in Britain for many decades should be the focus.
He thanked the many organisations in Britain supporting and advocating for survivors of Mother and Baby and County Homes, including Irish in Britain, London Irish Centre, Fréa Renewing Roots, Luton Irish Forum, and Coventry Irish Society.