Amber Rudd says 'fake news' is being spread about child refugee numbers

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said "fake news" was being spread about the Government's commitment to child refugee resettlement.

Speaking on Peston on Sunday, Ms Rudd insisted the UK was helping child refugees and had resettled "large numbers" of vulnerable minors from war torn areas.

Ms Rudd said: "Unfortunately, fake news is settling out there.

"The fact is, we took 8,000 children last year in to this country and settled them.

"Three thousand arrived unaccompanied and illegally and have been settled here. These numbers are large."

She denied Lord Dubs was given a commitment to the UK taking in several thousand child refugees from France, insisting the Government was going to consult with local authorities before agreeing on the exact terms to the Dubs Agreement.

She stressed the Government was committed to resettling vulnerable children from the region, not from across the channel.

"Where are the most vulnerable children? Are they in the region or are they in France and Italy and Greece? They're in the region. That's why we're focused on the region. And in terms of the European children, we are helping.

"We have a fund - £10 million - that helps which helps the children in France, in Greece and in Italy.

"At the end of last year, in order to help with the Calais clearance, we did a one off acceptance of 900 children."