She told a Channel 4 debate that 'councillors and people' were 'wanting to do

Every town in Britain should take 10 Syrian families fleeing the chaos in the Middle East, Labour leadership hopeful Yvette Cooper said this morning

Yvette Cooper says she has already had people offering their homes to refugees after she called on every town in the country to welcome in 10 Syrian families.

The Labour leadership hopeful believes failure to offer sanctuary to refugees trying to escape the 'new totalitarianism' of Islamic State in the Middle East was 'immoral' and 'cowardly'.

Today, in a speech to the Centre for European Reform in London, she called on the Government to exclude refugees from its target to reduce net migration to below 100,000 a year and suggested that it should be possible to take some 10,000 people seeking asylum.

She has now said that she has already had 'councillors and people coming forward saying they want to do something to help.'

Speaking during the Channel 4 Hustings between the four leadership contenders, the shadow Home Secretary said: 'I think when you ask people, they actually want to come forward.

'There’s been this assumption that actually local councils and locals communities don’t want to help. But I think you will find there is considerably more interest in supporting the refugees than anybody has given Britain credit for.

'It depends on how many local councils come forward to offer and already since I called for action this morning you’ve had councillors and people coming forward saying they want to do something to help.'

During the televised debate, which took place this afternoon, her fellow leadership contenders appeared to back Ms Cooper's stance.

'I agree that there are many local councils and council leaders who would be prepared to play their part and David Cameron should be asking local councils what they are able to do and putting that forward across Europe,' Liz Kendall said.

Jeremy Corbyn added that local authorities would need central government funding to accommodate these refugees, while Andy Burnham said: 'There has to be a European approach here where everybody agrees to play their part.'

As she made the announcement, Ms Cooper acknowledged that her comments would be controversial at a time of heightened concern about immigration.

But in the face of the crisis in the Mediterranean with tens of thousands risking their lives in an attempt to reach safety in Europe, she said that it was essential to separate out the issue of asylum from the wider immigration debate.

'This has become a humanitarian crisis on a scale we have not seen on our continent since the Second World War. Yet we seem paralysed to respond,' she said.

'And its not just us. All Europe is struggling to respond. We can't carry on like this. It's immoral, it's cowardly and it's not the British way.'

Ms Cooper contrasted Britain's offer to take a few hundred Syrian refugees through a United Nations programme to the 1930s when in a matter of months the country accepted 10,000 Jewish children fleeing the Nazis.

'We have to step up to the plate. This has become a test not just of Europe's values, but also of the EU's resilience and ability to respond.

And so far our continent has been found still wanting,' she said.

'And it is a test of British values too - of whether we will again be able to reach out to the rest of the world and help as we have done in previous generations, or whether we will turn inwards and turn our backs instead. And so far our country has been found still wanting too.'

Ms Cooper said called for politicians of all parties to support a 'national mission' to change attitudes, end the fear of the 'politics of immigration'.

'That has to start with the Government and its targets. For our country to have a net migration target which includes refugees is just immoral,' she said.

Migrants hoping to travel on to western Europe protest in front of the Keleti Railway Station in Budapest today

Refugees who arrived by train from Budapest wait for transportation to one of the refugee reception centres, at Munich's central train station

She said the Government should summon a national conference to see how many places it was possible to offer to refugees from Syria and the Mediterranean.

'If every city took 10 refugee families, if every London borough took 10 families, if every county council took 10 families, if Scotland, Wales and every English region played their part, then in a month we'd have nearly 10,000 more places for vulnerable refugees fleeing danger, seeking safety,' she said.

Nigel Farage this morning claimed Britain had 'lost sight of what is a genuine refugee'.

The Ukip leader said the European Union has 'opened the door to an exodus of biblical proportions' as thousands of people flee from war-torn countries such as Syria and Eritrea.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Britain should follow Austria's lead in tightening up checks at borders to prevent illegal immigrants entering the country.

Nigel Farage this morning claimed Britain had 'lost sight of what is a genuine refugee'

Mr Farage said: 'The EU have sent a message that anybody who comes across the Mediterranean or comes through Turkey, once they have set foot in an EU country they will be accepted.

'That's sent a message to hundreds of thousands of people that they can come.'

'Genuine' refugees had historically tended to be members of ethnic or religious groups fleeing for their lives said Mr Farage.

But he said: 'The problem we have now is if you look at the definition of the EU's asylum policy, it includes anybody who comes from a war-torn country and it even includes people leaving extreme poverty.

'The problem we've got is potentially we've opened the door to an exodus of biblical proportions, meaning millions and millions of people. We've lost sight of what is a genuine refugee.

'How many millions does Europe want to take? That really is the question.'

Britain should offer refugee status to 'a few thousand people' from Syria but cannot provide an open door to migrants, he said.

'I think we are going to have to start doing what the Austrians did yesterday,' said Mr Farage. 'The Austrians stopped lorries and stopped cars and checked and found 200 people who were smuggled trying to come into their country.

'We are going to have to accept that crossing borders is going to get more difficult if we are serious about dealing with illegal immigration.'

It comes as Mr Farage prepares to launch Ukip's campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.

He admitted that he did want to lead the official No campaign during the EU referendum but would be happy for Ukip to work alongside whichever campaign is nominated as the official opposition to Britain remaining.