Time to do the right thing for refugees

Migration is no vote winner and most mainstream politicians like to dodge the subject rather than engage in an educated, rational and compassionate discussion on the issue.

If ever such a debate was needed, it is surely now.

Europe is in chaos as it faces its biggest influx of displaced people since the Second World War.

Poor Greece - practically bankrupt after suffering years of recession and austerity - is shouldering the brunt of the mass migration. More than 160,000 have arrived in Greece this year - already passing last year's total. Around 23,000 landed last week alone - twice as much as the week before.

As some European nations rush to build fences to keep migrants at bay, Germany has taken a different tack: welcoming them with open arms.

It expects to take in some 800,000 migrants this year - four times more than in 2014. Moreover, Germany has taken a relaxed view on the Dublin regulation, which states refugees must apply for asylum in the first country where they arrive.

Just days after our Prime Minister offered more fencing and sniffer dogs to help the French in Calais, some 20,000 people took to the streets of Vienna in an act of solidarity with migrants. The march followed the gruesome discovery of 71 bodies in an abandoned lorry in Austria. Today, the world is still reeling from the heartbreaking image of the body of small boy washed up on a Turkish beach.

In Germany, volunteers have turned out in strength to welcome incomers with food, water and even promises of shelter. Some had set up make-shift school desks to teach refugees basic German.

Through a social media campaign, Icelanders are putting pressure on their government to take those in need, with some 11,000 families saying they would open their homes to Syrians.

In contrast, the British government continues to stick to its strict immigration script. David Cameron has offered to take in a few hundred Syrian refugees.

Yvette Cooper is right to call him on that - and to prick our own consciences. She said: “If every city took ten refugee families, if every London borough took ten families, if every county council took ten 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.”

Today, her plea is being echoed by political and community leaders in York.

It's not too late to do the right thing and make a difference.

Labour's leadership candidates, but are any of them fit to be the next Prime Minister?

MS COOPER has grabbed some headlines with her outspoken words on refugees, but the media's focus remains on frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn in Labour's leadership race.

All four candidates - including Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall - were interviewed together on Channel Four news this week. It was a rather civil affair, with a fair bit of disagreement (mostly directed at Jeremy and his off-message views on Nato, Trident and the economy), and a little bit of talking over each other (Ms Kendall was the worst culprit here).

As an interested observer, a few things struck me about the encounter. Cooper grabbed the most airtime, and has perfected a way to smile while calmly laying out what Labour Needs To Do Next; Liz Kendall has the glossiest hair and the brightest red dress (Cooper's was a paler shade) and says much without saying much at all; Burnham looked the business in his dark suit, and his puppy-dog eyes and soft Scouse accent are attractive qualities, but you wonder if he lacks the killer instinct to be a leader. That leaves Jeremy. Yes, he does look like a geography teacher and the most unlikely politician to become Prime Minister (not to mention whether the electorate would back his vision for a better Britain), but given that none of the other three look set to unseat David Cameron, you can't but feel the urge to say: Go on, give the guy a go.

Labour are a long way off rebuilding a way to Number 10 and will probably go through several leaders before finding one that finds the magic key.