Cameron must listen to Precious pleas

David Cameron has made much of that fact that he values opinion and seeks, though he may not have put it in these precise terms, to be a listening Prime Minister.

Mr Cameron should be listening to Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, to Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics and to the Rt Rev John C Christie, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

All three have made a plea to the Prime Minister to intervene to stop the deportation of Florence Mhango and her daughter Precious to Malawi. The trio's case is a well made. Precious, who has been in the UK for seven years, knows no other home. To all intents and purposes, she is Scottish. And they are right to warn of their additional concern over Florence's fears that Precious will be forcibly removed from her care if they are returned to Malawi.

As long ago as last December this newspaper argued that the then Labour government was blind to the circumstances of this particular case. We said then that to order the forcible removal of a child who had spent most of her life in this country was inhumane and could not be justified. Nothing that has happened since then, including the election of a new government, has led us to change this view. Are you really listening, Mr Cameron?