PM:Britain to take thousands straight from Syria border

BRITAIN will act with its ‘head and heart’ by accepting ‘thousands more’ refugees from Syria, David Cameron said yesterday.

The Prime Minister also pledged to increase aid given for those fleeing the conflict to £1billion, making it the country’s largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis.

But when asked if Britain would take part in air strikes against Islamic State in the war-torn country, he said he would do it only with ‘genuine consensus’ – which could be less likely if Jeremy Corbyn becomes Labour leader.

Mr Corbyn has recently said he ‘can’t think’ of any circumstances when he would back British action abroad.

During visits to Lisbon and Madrid, Mr Cameron said Britain had a ‘moral responsibility’ to help refugees as he revealed thousands will be brought to the country from camps on the Syrian border.

He declined to give a precise figure on the number who will be admitted, saying the details were being finalised and will be announced next week.

Mr Cameron, who has been under fire from European leaders for his reluctance to help share the burden of refugees already in Greece, Hungary and Italy, warned their plan could lead to more deaths.

The European Union is expected to next week propose a quota system to relocate 160,000 asylum seekers who are already in Europe in order to ease the pressure on the three countries.

But Mr Cameron – who has already exercised an opt-out and rejected taking part – said Britain’s plan to take people directly from refugee camps was ‘ better’ and warned the EU plan was ‘not the right approach’.

As he urged European leaders to reconsider, he said: ‘We happen to think this is not the right approach because it can encourage people to make the journey.

‘We have a clear view that the

‘No other country

has come close’

best way to help people is not to encourage people to make this dangerous journey, but to resettle people from the refugee camps.

‘ We have to break this link between getting on a boat and getting settlement in Europe.’

Mr Cameron said admitting ref- ugees ‘can only ever be part of the answer’ and that a comprehensive approach was needed, including using aid to alleviate suffering in the countries which migrants come from.

‘We are already the second-largest bilateral donor of aid to the Syrian conflict and we will provide a further £100million, taking our total contribution to over £1billion,’ he said. ‘No other European country has come close to this level of support.’

Asked if military action in Syria was ‘ inevitable’, Mr Cameron appeared to indicate that he would proceed only with backing from Labour.

He said: ‘We support the action that is being taken against IS in Syria, in Iraq the RAF has carried out a whole series of strikes that, with allies, have degraded and set back IS.

‘I believe that process should continue and will continue. But we already support what is happening in Syria. We are providing intelligence, we are providing air support, we’re providing refuelling support.

‘But I will only proceed going further on this issue if there’s genuine consensus in the United Kingdom about it before going back to Parliament.’

In August 2013, Mr Cameron went to the Commons seeking support for air strikes in Syria but it was rejected without Labour backing.