DAVID Cameron’s approach to Syrian refugees is heartless and shames Britain, Tim Farron has said as the Liberal Democrat leader prepares to chair a special summit this week on unaccompanied child asylum-seekers.
The summit at Westminster on Wednesday, organised by the Lib Dems, will bring MPs from across the political spectrum, including Labour’s Yvette Cooper and the Greens’ Caroline Lucas, who have also campaigned for the UK Government to do more to tackle the refugee crisis.
The Office of the Children’s Commissioner, the Local Government Association and Save the Children will also be at the summit to debate the best way to tackle the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War Two.
Asked in an interview with The Herald if he felt the Prime Minister’s response to the refugee crisis shamed Britain, Mr Farron replied: “It does. You only need to talk to people overseas to get that sense...
“One of the memories that really sticks with me is on the beach at Lesbos when a New Zealand woman, who knew I was a British politician and saw me handing out bottles of water to the refugees as they came onto the beach. She shouted at me: ‘Stop handing out bottles of water and take some f****** refugees,’ in a clear sense Britain isn’t doing its bit and that’s absolutely right.”
The party leader accused Mr Cameron of “doing the minimum he possibly can,” which was taking in 20,000 over five years, and that he had failed to respond meaningfully to the calls for Britain to take in a further 3000 unaccompanied children, who were already in Europe.
“It’s heartless but it’s also very foolish because it’s the biggest crisis for generations...We had one million last year, 200,000 the year before and a projected three million this year and that’s a minority of all the refugees there are.
“The idea that there’s this pull-factor...is rubbish. It’s not the pull-factor, it’s the push-factor; it’s people being driven by war, persecution and increasingly climate change...The mass migration of people under extreme circumstances is going to be the huge story of the 21st century. We either deal with it in a logical, intelligent and compassionate manner or you are heartless and bury your head in the sand at the same time, which is Cameron’s approach.”
Last week, the PM at a Syria aid conference in London announced that Britain would over the next four years double its aid to the war-ravaged region, totalling £2.3 billion.
Last month in response to calls for Britain to take in 3000 unaccompanied child refugees, Mr Cameron set out a package of new measures that included UK officials working with the United Nations refugee agency to identify children in Syria and Afghanistan, who could be brought to the UK; but no numbers were specified.
Also, he announced the UK would liaise with Greece and Italy to identify vulnerable unaccompanied children and orphans in both countries, who might have a direct family link to the UK, and that a total of £10 million would be provided to provide blankets and medicines for refugee children already in Europe.
But the measures so far have failed to impress opposition politicians; Mr Farron said the PM’s response demeaned his office and hurt Britain.
“The Prime Minister’s cold-hearted vision of Britain is not mine and it’s not the vast majority of the public’s either,” claimed the Lib Dem leader.
“I hope that by bringing all partner organisations and other MPs of all parties who share my commitment on the issue together to lay out a more positive plan to help those unaccompanied children in Europe, who have to be down in doorways night after night thousands of miles away from home,” he added.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel