Syria: Refugees and Counter-terrorism

Christian Matheson Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Obviously, we will take great care over this issue and make sure there is proper security screening of people who are coming.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

Would the Prime Minister concede that perhaps the Government have been a little slow out of the traps in responding to this crisis, perhaps because Ministers are a bit befuddled by an artificial debate that conflates economic migrants with refugees, and indeed that conflates economic migrants with the European Union debate that Conservative Members are having? Would he also care to comment on the editorial policy of newspapers that deliberately include provocative articles by deliberately provocative writers saying it is absolutely fine to send gunboats to stop refugees, and change their position straightaway when there are pictures of dead little boys washed up on the beach?

[The Prime Minister]

The Government were right to reach 0.7% and right to be the leading aid donor in Europe to the Syrian refugee camps, and are now right to take 20,000 Syrian refugees.