Prof Jon Silverman chaired the event at the House of Commons, which marked the 80th anniversary of the historic Commons debate which led to the Kindertransport initiative.

This initiative saw 10,000 Jewish children bought to the UK from Nazi-held territory in Europe just before the Second World War broke out.

Prof Silverman said: “It was a truly moving and remarkable occasion and a great privilege to be asked to chair it by the Association of Jewish Refugees.”

The event, which was attended by over 100 people, including the German ambassador to the UK, was held in the State Rooms of Speaker’s House, where the guests were welcomed by the Speaker of the House of Commons and Bedfordshire Chancellor John Bercow MP.

Thank you Mr Speaker for a heartfelt welcome to our #kindertransport80 event this evening at Speaker’s House pic.twitter.com/b7HlzYsfgX

— Assc Jewish Refugees (@TheAJR_) November 21, 2018

Thirteen present-day parliamentarians joined the guests, including the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government James Brokenshire, who read extracts from the 1938 debate.

One of the readers was Councillor Jo Roundell Greene, whose grandfather, the former Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee, gave shelter to one of the child refugees. That refugee, Paul Willer, now aged 90, also attended and met Ms Roundell Greene for the first time.