UNHCR Syrian Refugees Programme

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Sir Menzies Campbell (North East Fife) (LD)]

I thank the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) for her generous reference to me, but as she herself pointed out later, we have today seen the confident assertion of the responsibility and authority of the House of Commons, which has proved capable of bringing about a change of heart and a change to the position that the Government set out only last week.

As I have said already, I would have preferred that the United Kingdom’s efforts were a part of the United Nations programme, but my disappointment about that is, to some extent, mitigated by two factors. First, the UN will be heavily involved and co-operating with the United Kingdom and, secondly, we have the endorsement of the Refugee Council of the United Kingdom.

What we have seen today is a recognition of a humanitarian obligation, and one that is much more acute because of this country’s permanent membership of the Security Council of the United Nations. Like others, I have always challenged the notion that the very generous financial provision that we have made can be seen as an alternative to implementing the humanitarian obligation towards refugees. It has been notable in this debate that there has been very little effort to maintain that proposition.

Another proposition that has been aired in the course of the past 24 hours is that people do not want to see us being dictated to by the United Nations. The United Nations is not in a position to dictate; it is not a world Government. The United Nations makes requests. If it makes a request, all members, particularly those that enjoy the privilege of permanent membership of the Security Council, have a responsibility to respond.

We have also seen a change of policy. I am glad to say that there has been no sense of triumphalism. Those terrible words “U-turn” have not been used as far as I can recall at any stage of the debate. That is because common sense and humanity have prevailed. It is said that the proposals that the United Kingdom Government want to talk to the United Nations about will have flexibility—flexibility no doubt over the particular qualifications of an individual that would demand that they be included in the UK-UN programme. I hope, too, that flexibility will also apply to the question of numbers. If we had to set some arbitrary limit, then, as ever, there will be deserving cases that could not be considered simply because they fall outside that limit.

I strongly support the observations made by my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt) in relation to the suggestion that somehow the British effort should be confined to Christians. That is something that was raised by Mr Nigel Farage. On one day, he said that he was in favour of us taking our responsibility. On 30 December, on the Jeremy Vine show, he said that he was in favour of that responsibility only so far as it extended to Christians who had been persecuted. Let me put it this way: I would find it very difficult to distinguish between a woman who had been raped as a Christian or a Muslim. I would find it equally difficult to distinguish between two children who had suffered grievous injury on the basis that one was a Christian and the other a Muslim. The whole point about humanitarian recognition is that it should be universal. Anything less than that is of considerable damage to the obligation.

I will end on a slightly lighter note. Much has been said about the contribution made by refugees in this country. Let me take the House back to the wonderful Olympic games of 2012 and to Mr Mo Farah. Having won his second gold medal—he won the first in the 10,000 metres and the second in the 5,000 metres—and still panting with the exertion of the race, a microphone was thrust under his nose by someone from the BBC, who said, almost as his first question, “Wonderful. Well done. Would you not like to be representing your own country?” Mr Farah, who came here when he was six, was standing there with a Union flag around his shoulders. He said, “No, this is my country now.” If ever there was an illustration of the contribution that refugees can make to the quality of life and the achievement in a society such as ours, it is surely to be found in that incident.