Cameron Shaming the Country

Are you suggesting I google the name Merlotgran or replying to another post?

Yes I think it was Henning

Sillyoldfool - yes we know the cash strapped NHS is stopping funding some cancer treatments, military personnel lack the support they deserve, over crowded schools, not enough houses etc etc. I don't want to be as unpleasant as you have been in your comments but the current government has cut funding to all public services to an even greater extent than they said they would, or that many of us feared they would. We can afford to fund our NHS, it's all about choices isn't it.

Half the population of the middle east are not going to be over here, sillyoldfool.
As Iam says, it's all about choices.
If we want those from the middle east to contribute their fair share, we could ask them to pay their taxes here properly. Somehow, I do not think they will want to go back to the middle east and sever ties with the country that has housed them for the last few years.
Actually, they could possibly house all the refugees in their mansions in London if they felt magnanimous enough.

There is politics . . . and then there is the simple fact that these men, women and child refugees need our help now. I would not leave my home, possessions and my country and trudge across multiple strange countries unless I was really totally desperate and at the end of my tether and in fear of my families life - would you?

So - yes - there does need be a suitable solution to the root cause - but in the meantime these people need our help now. . . not 'over the life of the parliament' as Cameron is suggesting.

Well said, Sillyoldfool. I couldn't agree more.

Anniebach

You said in your post .19.31 on the beheading of Alan Henning.

'He was advised not to go there, he knew there was a risk, anyone who takes risks and dies do so knowingly, ----------it was his choice'

Why do you not say the same about British jihadists who have done exactly the same? ?

Does anybody know where these people will be housed? Cameron does not seem to have provided this information or indeed even given it a thought!
I was under the impression that there was a housing shortage in this country. Am I thinking too logically?

Britain takes pride in being a Christian country. Christianity is not really a half-hearted religion and we should live out what we preach, if only because we can see that Britain flounders without moral principles. The principles of charity in the Bible are very clear: we are to give what we have to those who need it more. We are told that when we give charity to the least of these, we do it for Christ; a clear direction to give charity. We're also warned that those of us who turn away the needy will one day be called to account. The parable of the Good Samaritan and the Widow who gave all she had - two coins - also come to mind. Also, we are coming up to Christmas, when we will be celebrating the birth of the Christ child, who was himself a refugee and was unable to find shelter in a dwelling place for humans. How can we celebrate this but claim there is no room at the inn when we live in one of the nations on earth that use a vast amount of the world's resources? I don't have all the answers but i do feel that the day is coming when we will have to learn what it means to share.

davref 17.07

' Our government's attitude is scarcely comprehensible unless it is the tool of the ugly, right wing with a visceral hatred of anything 'European' - anything involving genuine collaboration , working together or joint action with other EU members"

Are you unaware we are members of NATO. We collaborate and work together in joint action with other European countries all the time.

Albania. Belgium. Bulgaria. Croatia. Czech rep. Denmark. Estonia. France. Germany. Hungary. Iceland Italy. Latvia. Lithuania. Netherlands. Norway. Poland. Portugal. Romania. Slovakia. Slovenia. Spain. Turkey.

We are a major contributor to the European Commission and Parliament , at the moment granted that could change. I could give further examples as could many other posters I'm sure.

Your Dr Goebbles comment was as crass as the post that called Cameron a 'dictator'

Then again nobody should be surprised alongside the 'Little Englander' jibe that followed it was the hat - trick.

It's about time Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States started taking some of these refugees. I know it isn't a very popular idea but the rule of seeking refuge and asylum in the first safe country they reach should be enforced. We don't have the resources to help our own people how can we find the resources to house and feed all these extra thousands of people.Where I live we have to at least a week to see a doctor now, I can only imagine how long we will have to wait when all these migrants get here. The schools in our area are over subscribed, There are many economic migrants mixed in with the refugees, they are not all coming from Syria and they should be sent home!!!

I don't think the refugees would go to the Arab States. It would be like putting Protestestants with Catholics under Mary Tudor.

Well said POGS

I would argue with you about Britain being a Christian country saturnvista but I would agree that we have a Christian history and our law and practice is based on a particular understanding of Christianity. I do think our humanity should encourage us to help and the recorded examples of some Christians should have moulded that mindset.

However, just as much as Christianity may have influence us so have those of Little Englander mind set which is often influenced by the saddest part of our media.

Perhaps we really need to grow up and see the world and our fellow human beings as a whole.

But Ruthie, our country is rich and our standard of living is very privileged in comparison to many other countries. Surely we have a responsibility to take a cut in our standard of living when others are so much worse off? We haven't been through much of what the poor Syrians have. We don't have a refugee problem either. In Lebanon, every third person is a refugee and this relatively small place holds more refugees than Britain or indeed the EU will ever take. It and countries like it has a refugee problem. I am a mother of small children and still able to see that we have to learn to share, even though it will come at cost. We are humans before we are members of any particular country.

Looking after the poor and needy is every bit as much an imperative of Islam as it is of Christianity. If Saudi Arabia was inundated by thousands of refugees in the way that other countries have been then they might be forced to change their ways. If you're going to be historic and raise Catholic/Protestant issues (and I reckon Sunni/Shia versions of Islam correlate well with this) the influx of Irish as a direct result of the famine did lead to change over here. These refugees are Middle Eastern. The culture of northern Europe will be harsh for them to acclimatise to. Indubitably ghettos will develop with all the potential for discontent and resultant problems, big problems.
Its quite simply far too easy to simply throw open the doors. Complex problem solving will be required to attempt to settle this extremely complex set of problems. That's just not going to happen I'm afraid.

Eloethan

Well said

Eloethan Fri 04-Sep-15 01:30:18

Well said

Well, something needs to happen, Jane.

When Jews came here they lived in Jewish quarters, same with the people from Ireland , same with those on the Windrush . It's natural to want to live close to people who speak your first language, share your faith, share your customs , plus there is the NIMBY problem , always been a problem in this country

Jane10. "Indubitably ghettos will develop with all the potential for discontent and resultant problems, big problems"
We already have these ghettos. We don't need anymore.

Do they not have a NIMBY problem in other countries then?

Is there a French, German, Spanish equivalent of Little Englander?

Just wondering

These small islands can only support a finite number of people. We are fast approaching a population 70M and running out resources. Numbers of refugees in the past have never been on the scale we are now seeing, not even in 1945 when our population was around 40M. How much are we as individuals prepared to give up to accommodate the extra people who wish to take residency here in Britain. Sympathy does not always lead to satisfactory solutions. While we can't just pull up the drawbridge, it is essential that whatever the policy that is pursued it must be well thought out and not bring about a back lash as is so often the case. David Cameron is between a rock and hard place. Does he govern the country for the good of all or does he give way to fickle public opinion that can change in an instant. Financing by government in handing out benefits to more claimants can only mean more tax taken from us. There are not enough of the so called rich fat cats to ease the tax burden. We little guys out number them many times so it is us who have to pay up; also the situation is fast approaching where there are more applicants than jobs available. I think giving help in the refugee camps is the better solution and hopefully they will be able to return to a peaceful life in their own country soon. What is it we say, there's no place like home.

I am not ashamed of my country. We have done so much to help many races and people, the least they can do is to learn the language and integrate. If genuine refugees arrive in a safe country , no war, why do they not stay there? Particularly if it is a country that practises their religion. We are a small country and we simply cannot keep taking people and providing shelter and homes. I know lots of people whose grown up children cannot leave home because of financial restraints. As refugees tend to have more children and dependants than we do, where do you stop. We do not have a country that will expand continually or a purse that will always be full. Of course it is upsetting to see people fleeing in great numbers. What I do not understand is why young men who are fit enough to march through different countries cannot band together and fight for their homeland. If they get a safe haven wherever. It should be until their homeland is safe to return to.

We do not begin to have the pressure in geographical terms that many other countries in the world are experiencing. In real terms, we do not actually have a refugee crisis and nor does any country in Europe. Lebanon has a refugee crisis. Our economy's up the left and the country's been badly run. Our problems would be present whether refugees were there or not. Sadly.

POGS, because I have no wish to even think we should compare our moral code with IS, you seem to