The commentators 04-09-15...on the migrant crisisAngela Merkel is getting it right. For the most part, the refugee crisis has shown Europe at its worst: lofty rhetoric about collective action gainsayed by a fearful retreat into the narrowest of nationalisms. There have been exceptions. Sweden has been generous to a fault. And the German chancellor has shown she can grasp the other side of leadership. High quality global journalism requires investment. A large, rich and ageing continent can easily absorb such newcomers and, over time, will profit greatly from their energy and enterprise. But the initial dislocation must be equitably shared. Ms Merkel has shown such leadership. We must hope than Mr Cameron and others are shamed into following
- Philip Stephens, Financial Times Shame will pursue Cameron across Europe as he negotiates a face-saving deal for his referendum. EU leaders already warn that his bland refusal to take new arrivals from hard-pressed Greece and Italy will rebound on him. That means on all of us. That takes us another dangerous step further towards the EU exit gate. And when we are no longer part of that community, why would the French, Dutch and Belgians still act as our border guards? Expect them to let anyone board boats and trains to Britain. If shame doesn’t touch Cameron, the shortsighted idiocy of his behaviour might
- Polly Toynbee, The Guardian The Great Migration is a 21st century problem, far bigger than Syria and bigger than the authorities in Brussels seem able to comprehend. To panic now, as Mrs Merkel is doing, will just bring more to panic about. The solutions of the last century – refugee camps, or the notion that you can stem the flow of migrants with foreign aid – need to be abandoned, and a new agenda needs to be forged. Europe, in short, needs to begin a new conversation. Given that David Cameron is one of the few people in Europe keeping his head throughout this crisis, he’s the ideal man to start it
- Fraser Nelson, Daily Telegraph The finger-pointing must stop and states must work with each other to address the causes — not just the symptoms — of global disorder. Despite our unique position on defence and development spending, we are asking the Foreign Office to cut its budget by between 25 and 40 per cent — castrating our capacity for persuading others to join us. This crisis demonstrates the desperate need for effective diplomacy to coordinate the efforts of our potential partners in dealing with these intertwined development and security crises. This stupidity should be stopped at once
- Crispin Blunt, The Times A compromise may be possible for David Cameron in the problem of dealing with refugees. He could satisfy his instincts for remaining tough on immigration, while giving way towards the more compassionate attitude demanded in recent days, by agreeing to take in more refugees – as long as we get only the dead ones. Then no one can accuse Britain of not doing its bit. Because we will take in boatloads at a time, offering them a new start by chucking them into a skip. Kindness is the Conservative way
- Mark Steel, The Independent Europe is under severe geopolitical strain: in the east with the war in Ukraine and in the south with the fallout of Syrian conflict and strife in Africa. These issues are intertwined: European action will only be credible and sustainable if solidarity is built on both fronts simultaneously
- Natalie Nougayrède, The Guardian David Cameron should be engaging with the European Union and the United Nations to agree a programme in which all nations come together to take their fair share of refugees. The harrowing images we have all seen in recent days will have moved us all. Let us take this opportunity to put our common humanity at the heart of everything we do in our politics
- Jeremy Corbyn, The Independent What would have happened had the shootings taken place not in America, but in Norwich? What if the victims had been a local TV crew known to two or three hundred thousand people? Would our London-based newspaper executives have thought "We've never heard of them, so we'll use lots of gory pictures" or "They're British. We'll show some restraint"?
What if the victims had been a Newsnight reporter and cameraman, people we were used to seeing in our living rooms, people known all over the country? Would the photographic coverage have been muted - in deference to our familiarity and their families - or even more excessive? Editor's blog: Murder on camera Comment archive, 2015 |
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