David Cameron under fire for calling government support for educational trips to Auschwitz a "gimmick"

Saturday, 23 February 2008 12:00 AM

Conservative party leader David Cameron has come under fierce criticism after calling a government policy to fund trips to the Auschwitz concentration camp "a gimmick".

In a speech yesterday, Mr Cameron claimed that the government had announced a number of other shortsighted policies. A press release later issued by the party contained Trips to Auschwitz as one of the 26 policies he disapproved of.

Previously the government announced it would allocate £4.65 million towards funding trips by students to the detention centre run by Hitler's Germany. The Tories have criticised the programme saying schools were expected to carry a part of the costs.

Board of Deputies of British Jews president Henry Grunwald expressed surprise over the opposition leader's comments.

He said: "The board of deputies does not get involved in party politics but we are surprised and disappointed that David Cameron should in any way have used the word gimmick in connection with visits to Auschwitz."

Holocaust Educational Trust chief executive Karen Pollock said the issue of organising visits to Auschwitz should not be used to "score political points".

Defending Mr Cameron's comments, a spokesman for the Conservatives said: "School trips to Auschwitz are a brilliant idea. However, by announcing these trips without providing the necessary funding the government has - in classic fashion - hidden the detail in the small print.

"Under a Conservative government these trips would be funded in full and schools would not have to find £100 per pupil from their budgets," he added.

Schools secretary Ed Balls also criticised Mr Cameron's statement on the trips.

"This is a truly disgraceful remark by David Cameron and he should apologise immediately for the offence he has caused ... In trying to make this issue into a matter of party politics, David Cameron has shown once again that he not only lacks judgment but also a basic sense of decency," he added.

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