Ten refugee families for EVERY town in Britain: Yvette Cooper calls on 'cowardly' Cameron to accept 10,000 fleeing Syrians
- Labour leadership contender attacks David Cameron over migrant crisis
- She said Britain could accept 10,000 refugees seeking asylum in the EU
- Ms Cooper claimed the government's failure to respond was 'immoral'
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Every town in
Britain should take 10 Syrian families fleeing the chaos in the Middle
East, Labour leadership hopeful Yvette Cooper said this morning
Every
town in Britain should take 10 Syrian families forced to flee the chaos
in the Middle East, Labour leadership hopeful Yvette Cooper said this
morning.
The
shadow home secretary said the failure to offer sanctuary to refugees
trying to escape the 'new totalitarianism' of Islamic State was
'immoral' and 'cowardly'.
She
called on the Government to exclude refugees from its target to reduce
net migration to below 100,000 a year and suggested that it should be
possible to take some 10,000 people seeking asylum.
In
a speech to the Centre for European Reform in London, Ms Cooper
acknowledged that her comments would be controversial at a time of
heightened concern about immigration.
But
in the face of the crisis in the Mediterranean with tens of thousands
risking their lives in an attempt to reach safety in Europe, she said
that it was essential to separate out the issue of asylum from the wider
immigration debate.
'This
has become a humanitarian crisis on a scale we have not seen on our
continent since the Second World War. Yet we seem paralysed to respond,'
she said.
'And
its not just us. All Europe is struggling to respond. We can't carry on
like this. It's immoral, it's cowardly and it's not the British way.
Ms
Cooper contrasted Britain's offer to take a few hundred Syrian refugees
through a United Nations programme to the 1930s when in a matter of
months the country accepted 10,000 Jewish children fleeing the Nazis.
'We
have to step up to the plate. This has become a test not just of
Europe's values, but also of the EU's resilience and ability to respond.
And so far our continent has been found still wanting,' she said.
'And
it is a test of British values too - of whether we will again be able
to reach out to the rest of the world and help as we have done in
previous generations, or whether we will turn inwards and turn our backs
instead. And so far our country has been found still wanting too.'
Ms
Cooper said called for politicians of all parties to support a
'national mission' to change attitudes, end the fear of the 'politics of
immigration'.
'That
has to start with the Government and its targets. For our country to
have a net migration target which includes refugees is just immoral,'
she said.
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Migrants hoping to travel on to western Europe protest in front of the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest today
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Refugees who arrived by train from
Budapest wait for transportation to one of the refugee reception
centres, at Munich's central train station
She
said the Government should summon a national conference to see how many
places it was possible to offer to refugees from Syria and the
Mediterranean.
'If
every city took 10 refugee families, if every London borough took 10
families, if every county council took 10 families, if Scotland, Wales
and every English region played their part, then in a month we'd have
nearly 10,000 more places for vulnerable refugees fleeing danger,
seeking safety,' she said.
Nigel Farage this morning claimed Britain had 'lost sight of what is a genuine refugee'.
The
Ukip leader said the European Union has 'opened the door to an exodus
of biblical proportions' as thousands of people flee from war-torn
countries such as Syria and Eritrea.
He
told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Britain should follow Austria's
lead in tightening up checks at borders to prevent illegal immigrants
entering the country.
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Nigel Farage this morning claimed Britain had 'lost sight of what is a genuine refugee'
Mr
Farage said: 'The EU have sent a message that anybody who comes across
the Mediterranean or comes through Turkey, once they have set foot in an
EU country they will be accepted.
'That's sent a message to hundreds of thousands of people that they can come.'
'Genuine' refugees had historically tended to be members of ethnic or religious groups fleeing for their lives said Mr Farage.
But
he said: 'The problem we have now is if you look at the definition of
the EU's asylum policy, it includes anybody who comes from a war-torn
country and it even includes people leaving extreme poverty.
'The
problem we've got is potentially we've opened the door to an exodus of
biblical proportions, meaning millions and millions of people. We've
lost sight of what is a genuine refugee.
'How many millions does Europe want to take? That really is the question.'
Britain should offer refugee status to 'a few thousand people' from Syria but cannot provide an open door to migrants, he said.
'I
think we are going to have to start doing what the Austrians did
yesterday,' said Mr Farage. 'The Austrians stopped lorries and stopped
cars and checked and found 200 people who were smuggled trying to come
into their country.
'We
are going to have to accept that crossing borders is going to get more
difficult if we are serious about dealing with illegal immigration.'
It comes as Mr Farage prepares to launch Ukip's campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.
He
admitted that he did want to lead the official No campaign during the
EU referendum but would be happy for Ukip to work alongside whichever
campaign is nominated as the official opposition to Britain remaining.
Mr
Farage acknowledged that Ukip deputy chairman Suzanne Evans had
described him as too divisive to lead the official No campaign, but
added: 'She also said we shouldn't major on immigration in the
referendum, which I think is wrong.'
NWN: I can recall the NF selling the book CAMP OF THE SAINTS by Jean Raspail in the 1970's. We were over 40 years ahead of our times.
