Sturgeon’s tears as she pledges to open our doors to thousands
NICOLA Sturgeon has said she was moved to tears by the plight of the three-year-old boy whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey and yesterday said Scotland is ready to accept an ‘absolute minimum’ of 1,000 refugees.
The First Minister, her voice cracking with emotion in the Holyrood chamber, angrily condemned David Cameron for his ‘walk on by on the other side approach’ to the international crisis.
She will today convene an emergency summit with humanitarian groups, church leaders and opposition politicians to find a way for Scotland to take action. That could happen independently of the UK if a mechanism can be found to circumvent the rules.
During First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Labour MSP Patricia Ferguson broke down as she accused the Prime Minister of turning his back ‘on what are the most desperate people on the planet’.
In a clear sign of the strength of feeling among Scotland’s politicians, Tory leader Ruth Davidson even challenged her UK leader to do more.
In a furious attack, former First Minister Alex Salmond said Mr Cameron is ‘shaming the people of this country’.
Help, support and thousands of pounds has been pledged by Scottish charities to help stranded refugees, while the Celtic FC Foundation said it will work with an international aid agency to raise funds from a charity match.
Labour leadership hopeful Yvette Cooper earlier this week called for Britain to take up to 10,000 refugees fleeing the political turmoil in the Middle East.
As the UK is the member state, it is for Westminster to decide whether to join the EU’s relocation and resettlement efforts, and it is unlikely that Scotland could take action on its own.
Miss Sturgeon’s spokesman told the Scottish Daily Mail: ‘To take that 10,000 figure, the First Minister’s view is that in very rough terms a pro-rata figure would be 1,000 for Scotland.
‘The First Minister would regard that as an absolute minimum in terms of Scotland’s share.’ He added that ‘ by implication’, Miss Sturgeon would also support a figure of 10,000 for the entire UK.
Earlier, the First Minister spoke emotionally about the distressing photo of Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi beamed around the world.
She said: As First Minister of Scotland, I pledge that I will ensure that Scotland does everything possible to help this refugee crisis. I will be far from the only person reduced to tears last night at the picture of a little boy washed up on the beach. That wee boy has touched our hearts, but his is not an isolated tragedy.
‘He and thousands like him whose lives are at risk is not somebody else’s responsibility, they are the responsibility of us all.
‘So I am angry, very angry, at the “walk on by on the other side” approach of the UK Government.’
Miss Sturgeon added: ‘I implore David Cameron to change his position today, and I pledge as First Minister that we stand ready to help offer sanctuary to refugees who need our help.’
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale also criticised Mr Cameron’s response to the crisis. She said: ‘We have a Prime Minister who says showing more compassion, taking in more refugees, is not the answer.’
Miss Ferguson could not hold back the tears and said: ‘It is time David Cameron demonstrated… leadership and compassion, instead of continuing to turn his back on the most desperate people on the planet.’
Miss Davidson took to Twitter to insist the ‘human response must be to help’. ‘If we don’t, what does that make us?’ she asked.
In a statement released later, she said: ‘The UK has always shouldered its burden in the world. It’s not an immigration issue it’s a humanitarian crisis.
‘We’ve got to do more closer to home and work with our European partners. There is work to do and I want the Prime Minister to lead that.’
‘His is not an isolated tragedy’