LEGAL protections for lone refugee children will be scrapped after MPs rejected every single Brexit bill change put forward by the House of Lords.

In a development that prompted harsh words from critics, MPs voted 342 to 254 to cancel the obligation on the UK Government to negotiate terms with the EU on reuniting young, unaccompanied asylum claimants in the EU with UK-based family members.

Ministers insist they support the principle of the Dubs amendment, named after Labour peer Lord Dubs.

Provisions he championed on child rights and welfare were reinstated in the Lords earlier this week.

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Brexit minister Stephen Barclay insists the UK has a “proud record” on the issue and took in 3500 unaccompanied minors in the year to September 2019.

All the Government will be compelled to do now is make a statement on the matter within a stated two-month time frame.

Labour shadow Brexit minister Thangam Debbonaire said the Government’s record was “just not good enough”.

And SNP immigration spokesperson Stuart McDonald said: “The Tories have stooped to a shameful new low with their move to reject and overturn the Dubs amendment.

“Rather than stepping up and playing its role in addressing the refugee crisis, the toxic Tory Government has instead lurched to the extremes and closed the door on some of the most vulnerable children in the world.

“This is a Tory Government that is callous to its very core.”