Official lying in the UK: what child detention reveals about how we are governed

This week, OpenDemocracy presents a disturbing new dossier by the award-winning author Clare Sambrook — Official lying and how it harms our democracy.

OpenDemocracy founder Anthony Barnett reflects on the impact of Clare Sambrook’s coverage of child detention, and the citizens’ campaign End Child Detention Now.

“…in the intense, relentless process of exposing the scandal of child detention another perhaps even greater scandal emerges. The British state and its civil service, which presents itself as an honest public service, is suborned. There is a clear pattern of persistent official lying used in defence of the punitive practice of arresting and detaining asylum-seeking families.”

Go to the OurKingdom section of OpenDemocracy to read the full article, download the dossier, and find extracts of some of Clare’s writing on child detention.

Image: with thanks to Martin Rowson, who has donated his Pinocchio Protocol cartoon. The original artwork which will be auctioned on behalf of End Child Detention Now. Details here