There is a sense of peace and quiet in Maggie Atkinson's London Bridge office, which has large windows overlooking the Thames. But the peace is disturbed every afternoon when hundreds of local school children pass along the river walkway on their way home. It is an interruption, however, that Dr Atkinson seems to welcome.
'I like children - that's why I'm here. I enjoy talking to them and they seem to enjoy talking to me,' she says.
At the time of being interviewed, Dr Atkinson is in the process of establishing contact with the new ministerial team, and is upbeat about the coalition's commitment to ending the detention of children in the UK for immigration purposes. She praises the 'fresh energy' and 'new eyes' the coalition represents.
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