Asylum changes seek to use children as a weapon, says Labour peer Alf Dubs

Dubs, who was a child refugee, says Shabana Mahmood’s ‘shabby’ plans will increase community tensions

• UK politics live – latest updates

The home secretary is seeking “to use children as a weapon” in her changes to the asylum system, a veteran Labour peer who came to Britain as a child refugee has said.

Alf Dubs, who arrived in the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, described Shabana Mahmood’s proposals as “a shabby thing”.