An MP in Britain's Conservative Party who suggested child refugees might be deceiving British authorities has run into an unlikely foe—dentists.
David Davies, the MP for Monmouth, had called for dental checks on child refugees being resettled in the U.K. from Calais under a government scheme in order to check their age.
Davies had suggested on Twitter that some of the children were in fact over 18:
These don't look like "children" to me. I hope British hospitality is not being abused. https://t.co/1CKwsPnfaS
— David TC Davies MP 🏴🇬🇧 (@DavidTCDavies) October 17, 2016
He said he would be tabling questions in parliament to ask how many such refugees had undergone dental checks. He told BBC Radio Wales that one of the migrants arriving had "lines around his eyes and looks older than I am."
But the British Dental Association (BDA), the trade body for dentists, condemned the idea, calling such checks "inaccurate, unethical and inappropriate."
Inaccurate, unethical and inappropriate. Our take on calls for dental X-rays of child migrants. https://t.co/sfNhcVaau1 pic.twitter.com/CE0AxzgP9t
— BDA (@TheBDA) October 19, 2016
Labour MPs lined up to criticize Davies on Twitter:
You make me ashamed to be in same Parliament @DavidTCDavies feeding this hatred and undermining child refugees #notimpressed https://t.co/sKc1aYZMgG
— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) October 18, 2016
I'm not sure suppressing our humanity is the best way to do politics, to be honest https://t.co/cWIWPd0l5P
— Jonathan Reynolds (@jreynoldsMP) October 19, 2016
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Josh is a staff writer covering Europe, including politics, policy, immigration and more.
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
