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| David Cameron must balance head and heart in this refugee crisis | David Cameron must balance head and heart in this refugee crisis |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| From time to time, David Cameron quotes the greatest leader the Conservative party never had, Iain Macleod. When the prime minister addresses the Commons on Monday on the Syrian refugee crisis, he might find inspiration in Macleod’s final speech as colonial secretary at the 1961 Conservative annual conference. | From time to time, David Cameron quotes the greatest leader the Conservative party never had, Iain Macleod. When the prime minister addresses the Commons on Monday on the Syrian refugee crisis, he might find inspiration in Macleod’s final speech as colonial secretary at the 1961 Conservative annual conference. |
| Related: George Osborne to use foreign aid to help Syrian refugees in UK | Related: George Osborne to use foreign aid to help Syrian refugees in UK |
| “I believe quite simply in the brotherhood of man,” he declared, “men of all races, of all colours, of all creeds. I think it is this that must be in the centre of our thinking.” These are the words of a Tory patriarch, born in the reign of George V, still dismantling an empire. But replace the words “man” and “men” and the principle remains as simple, as strong and as fine. | “I believe quite simply in the brotherhood of man,” he declared, “men of all races, of all colours, of all creeds. I think it is this that must be in the centre of our thinking.” These are the words of a Tory patriarch, born in the reign of George V, still dismantling an empire. But replace the words “man” and “men” and the principle remains as simple, as strong and as fine. |
| On Sunday’s Andrew Marr Show, George Osborne framed the argument that the PM will make. Without embarrassment, the chancellor acknowledged that the images of Aylan Kurdi, the drowned three-year-old refugee, had encapsulated a sense of urgency, to which Britain was morally and practically obliged to respond with appropriate speed. That response, Osborne continued, must have “a head as well as a heart”. Yes, it should address the immediate plight of those seeking a safe haven from civil war – “but not in a way that encourages them into these dangerous boats”. At the very least, the chancellor is right that a plan strictly confined to refugee reception will salve consciences but not truly address the crisis: “Let’s not just deal with the symptoms, let’s go to the cause.” | On Sunday’s Andrew Marr Show, George Osborne framed the argument that the PM will make. Without embarrassment, the chancellor acknowledged that the images of Aylan Kurdi, the drowned three-year-old refugee, had encapsulated a sense of urgency, to which Britain was morally and practically obliged to respond with appropriate speed. That response, Osborne continued, must have “a head as well as a heart”. Yes, it should address the immediate plight of those seeking a safe haven from civil war – “but not in a way that encourages them into these dangerous boats”. At the very least, the chancellor is right that a plan strictly confined to refugee reception will salve consciences but not truly address the crisis: “Let’s not just deal with the symptoms, let’s go to the cause.” |
| Our political discourse has been debased by cheap slogans, dog-whistles blown by desperate men | Our political discourse has been debased by cheap slogans, dog-whistles blown by desperate men |
| In this case, that means getting aid to regional refugee camps and – most contentious of all – planning for military intervention in the Syrian civil war. Who or what would be the target? There are the people traffickers, Islamic State militants and the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, himself – now openly assisted by the Russian military, please note. The pressure for action is building afresh, and from unexpected quarters: as irenic a figure as Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, called in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph for airstrikes and “other British military assistance”. | In this case, that means getting aid to regional refugee camps and – most contentious of all – planning for military intervention in the Syrian civil war. Who or what would be the target? There are the people traffickers, Islamic State militants and the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, himself – now openly assisted by the Russian military, please note. The pressure for action is building afresh, and from unexpected quarters: as irenic a figure as Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, called in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph for airstrikes and “other British military assistance”. |
| Two years ago, Cameron persuaded Barack Obama to use sufficient force against Assad to get him to the negotiating table. It was Ed Miliband, never forget, who scuppered that option in a bout of parliamentary gamesmanship that should have shamed him (but conspicuously didn’t). No such attacks would have worked without the subsequent presence in Syria ofa blue-bereted, multinational stabilising force (of the sort that post-Saddam Iraq never had and so badly needed). The diplomacy over Syria’s future might not have been successful against such a backdrop. But the idea was to compel all sides to step back and consider the constitutional options before they were all engulfed in fire. It is conceivable – just conceivable – that the Syrians might have been spared two years of bloodshed and flight from their homes. But we’ll never know, will we, Ed? | |
| It was clear from Osborne’s remarks that the reception of refugees in this country under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) programme, established last year, will be independent of the EU’s quota proposal, integrated instead with Britain’s ring-fenced aid programme and whatever military intervention is taken – if any. The chancellor insisted that the government would not embark on such a path unless it saw “support across the House of Commons for this action”. | It was clear from Osborne’s remarks that the reception of refugees in this country under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) programme, established last year, will be independent of the EU’s quota proposal, integrated instead with Britain’s ring-fenced aid programme and whatever military intervention is taken – if any. The chancellor insisted that the government would not embark on such a path unless it saw “support across the House of Commons for this action”. |
| If, as expected, Jeremy Corbyn is declared Labour leader on Saturday, the chances of such a consensus seem vanishingly remote. Yet it is no less clear that the spending review on 25 November will reflect fresh thinking on international development and the rubric under which it appears. Cameron and Osborne want aid and military action to act in concert to address horrific crises of the sort that are now afflicting millions of Syrians. No one nation can prevent such horrors. But the prosperous democracies of the world have a special duty to try. | If, as expected, Jeremy Corbyn is declared Labour leader on Saturday, the chances of such a consensus seem vanishingly remote. Yet it is no less clear that the spending review on 25 November will reflect fresh thinking on international development and the rubric under which it appears. Cameron and Osborne want aid and military action to act in concert to address horrific crises of the sort that are now afflicting millions of Syrians. No one nation can prevent such horrors. But the prosperous democracies of the world have a special duty to try. |
| It is a commonplace that the end of the cold war and the rise of fundamentalism ushered in an age of fragmentation. Globalisation has been the engine of growth but it has also made the world much smaller. Those in conflict zones ruined by fanatics and despots know where to find comparative prosperity and peace and – naturally – seek it with what desperate energy they have. Which of us would not try to escape? Which of us would not try to swap the blood-baked insanity of the Syrian warzone for the drizzly paradise of northern Europe? Ukip, for example, trades in the atavism of the tribe and the closed society. But the refugees are driven by an even older instinct: the desire to carve out a better, safer life for our children. | It is a commonplace that the end of the cold war and the rise of fundamentalism ushered in an age of fragmentation. Globalisation has been the engine of growth but it has also made the world much smaller. Those in conflict zones ruined by fanatics and despots know where to find comparative prosperity and peace and – naturally – seek it with what desperate energy they have. Which of us would not try to escape? Which of us would not try to swap the blood-baked insanity of the Syrian warzone for the drizzly paradise of northern Europe? Ukip, for example, trades in the atavism of the tribe and the closed society. But the refugees are driven by an even older instinct: the desire to carve out a better, safer life for our children. |
| The practical problems of population mobility on an unprecedented and global scale are manifold. Every difficulty involved is sharply compounded by our political culture, which is tactically generous but strategically cold-hearted. Such is the structure of the 21st-century news cycle and the power of social media that a single image can galvanise an entire continent. Yet the entrenched notion of asylum seekers as “bogus”, “scamming” the taxpayer, displacing indigenous Brits from social housing, schools and hospital beds, appears to have survived. In a Mail on Sunday poll 29% said Britain should not accept any Syrian refugees at all – not one – compared with 23% who would welcome 10,000 or more. | The practical problems of population mobility on an unprecedented and global scale are manifold. Every difficulty involved is sharply compounded by our political culture, which is tactically generous but strategically cold-hearted. Such is the structure of the 21st-century news cycle and the power of social media that a single image can galvanise an entire continent. Yet the entrenched notion of asylum seekers as “bogus”, “scamming” the taxpayer, displacing indigenous Brits from social housing, schools and hospital beds, appears to have survived. In a Mail on Sunday poll 29% said Britain should not accept any Syrian refugees at all – not one – compared with 23% who would welcome 10,000 or more. |
| As Robert Winder concludes in his fine history of immigration to this country, Bloody Foreigners: “There is nothing so likely to make a British audience melt as an individual plight, and nothing so likely to harden its heart as the translation of individual pleas into collective demands.” Our political discourse has been debased by cheap slogans, dog-whistles blown by desperate men, and the sad conviction of mainstream politicians that sounding “tough’’ about border control, migration and asylum is an essential part of electability. Credit is due to Yvette Cooper for insisting otherwise. | As Robert Winder concludes in his fine history of immigration to this country, Bloody Foreigners: “There is nothing so likely to make a British audience melt as an individual plight, and nothing so likely to harden its heart as the translation of individual pleas into collective demands.” Our political discourse has been debased by cheap slogans, dog-whistles blown by desperate men, and the sad conviction of mainstream politicians that sounding “tough’’ about border control, migration and asylum is an essential part of electability. Credit is due to Yvette Cooper for insisting otherwise. |
| There is no glib answer to this. It is the work of generations, of patience, and of incremental improvement. As Iain Macleod understood: “legislation does not change people’s hearts.This is a process of education, of knowledge, and the gradual movement towards the brotherhood of men in all countries.” Does Cameron agree? He will have few better opportunities to show that he grasps the difference between a winner and a statesman. | There is no glib answer to this. It is the work of generations, of patience, and of incremental improvement. As Iain Macleod understood: “legislation does not change people’s hearts.This is a process of education, of knowledge, and the gradual movement towards the brotherhood of men in all countries.” Does Cameron agree? He will have few better opportunities to show that he grasps the difference between a winner and a statesman. |