Chancellor responds to pictures of Syrian boy washed up on beach but refuses to commit UK to taking in more refugees

George Osborne has said the UK must fight against Islamic State and the criminal gangs who killed Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body was washed up on a Turkish beach, as he refused to commit to Britain taking a higher number of refugees.

Making the first cabinet-level response since shocking photographs of the drowned boy were published worldwide, the chancellor said Britain would continue to take more “genuine asylum seekers and refugees” and would keep the numbers under review.

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The government is under pressure from Conservative MPs and Labour to take more decisive action. Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, criticised David Cameron’s “walk on by on the other side” approach.



London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, became the most senior Conservative to call for more action, saying it was Britain’s moral responsibility to take those fleeing persecution. But he said the UK must not become a magnet or pole of attraction for “economic migrants”.

Johnson said it was time to look harder at resolving the Syrian problem. “No one would say non-intervention is working,” he said.

Osborne, speaking during a factory visit in Sunderland, said: “There is no person who would not be very shocked by that picture – and I was very distressed when I saw it myself this morning – of that poor boy lying dead on the beach.

“We know there is not a simple answer to this crisis. What you need to do is first of all tackle Isis [Islamic State] and the criminal gangs who killed that boy.”

Aylan Kurdi and his older brother, Ghalib, in a family photo. Photograph: Twitter

Osborne insisted Britain was taking a leading role, pointing out the country had given nearly £1bn in aid to Syrian refugees.

The chancellor said it was necessary to break up the criminal gangs preying on desperate families. He said: “Of course Britain has always been a home to genuine asylum seekers and refugees. We’ve taken 5,000 people from the Syrian conflict. We will go on taking people and keeping it under review. Britain has been playing a leading role and it will continue to do so.”

Harriet Harman, the Labour interim leader, called on Cameron to convene a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee to discuss what local councils and the Home Office could do to help.

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In the Scottish parliament, Sturgeon used first minister’s questions to launch a powerful and emotional attack on Cameron for his stance over the refugee crisis.

Sturgeon said: “As first minister of Scotland I pledge that I will ensure that Scotland does everything possible to help this refugee crisis. I will be far from the only person reduced to tears last night at the picture of a little boy washed up on a beach. That wee boy has touched our hearts. But his is not an isolated tragedy. He and thousands like him, whose lives are at risk, is not somebody else’s responsibility; they are the responsibility of all of us.

“So, yes, I am angry, very angry, at the ‘walk on by on the other side’ approach of the UK government. I implore David Cameron to change his position and change it today. And I pledge as first minister of this country that we stand ready to help offer sanctuary to refugees who need our help.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Libyan coastguards have rescued 104 refugees off the country’s coast. Some of them are resting at a naval base in Tripoli. Photograph: EPA

Alex Salmond, the former first minister and now SNP foreign affairs spokesman, launched a highly personal attack. Speaking about being confronted with pictures of the drowned boy, he said: “The natural human instinct is to help, but David Cameron’s instinct is to walk by on the other side.” He said Scotland would take its fair share of asylum seekers.



Cameron has also faced pressure from a growing number of Conservative MPs and from the former party chairman Sayeeda Warsi.



Cameron convened Cobra to discuss the Calais crisis when migrants disrupted travel on either side of the Channel tunnel, but has not done so since this phase of the crisis erupted.

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In her letter to Cameron, Harman urged him to adopt a four-point plan to help more refugees. She urged him to:

Agree now that Britain will take more refugees, both directly from Syria and from the southern European countries where most refugees have arrived.

Convene an urgent meeting of EU leaders next week to agree a process for resolving the immediate refugee crisis on Europe’s borders.

Convene an urgent meeting of Cobra so that a cross-government plan can be agreed and implemented. This was now a problem spanning beyond the Home Office, affecting transport, small business, tourism and local communities, she said.

Bring together a summit of local authority leaders to agree a framework on what more can be done locally to support refugees and asylum seekers.

Harman wrote: “I disagree with the conclusion you appear to have drawn, that there is somehow a choice to be made between building stability in the region through greater humanitarian support, and playing our part in helping desperate refugees who have fled the horror in Syria. There isn’t.”

She added: “This is now the worst humanitarian crisis to reach European shores since the second world war. And its impact is being felt right across our country, from transport delays to small businesses being affected, not to mention widespread public concern about the crisis. You will, like me, have been appalled by the deeply distressing pictures of children drowned, and heard the stories of people suffocated to death in smugglers’ lorries.

“We are all proud of Britain’s historical role of offering a sanctuary to those fleeing conflict and persecution. We are an outward-facing, generous-hearted nation, not one that turns inward and shirks its responsibilities. I know you will not want to be the prime minister of a government that fails to offer sanctuary while our neighbours are stepping up to respond.”