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Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Stockport’s Lib Dem Leader Sue Derbyshire speaks out on refugees
by Lib Dem team on 4 September, 2015
Stockport Council’s Liberal Democrat leader Sue Derbyshire has spoken out on refugees:
Sue has said the town will play its part in helping refugees fleeing from civil war.
“We have all been moved by the plight of men, women and children simply trying to survive. The people of Stockport are generous and warm-hearted – we will not stand by and watch fellow human beings suffer and die when there is action we can take.” Sue said.
Greater Manchester already takes a high number of refugees, and the Liberal Democrats believe it’s absolutely right that we take our fair share. The Liberal Democrats know the people of Greater Manchester will step up and support those in desperate need, whether they take refuge locally or elsewhere.
“More than half the population of Syria has been displaced in a brutal civil war,” Sue said. “Of the 12 million displaced people, a few hundred thousand have come to seek refuge in Europe and just a few thousand have so far come to the UK. It is a matter of simple human compassion that we do what we can to help until they are able to return to their own country.”
31 Comments
The council should go further and like other local councils in other areas, state how many refugees Stockport can home. There is money in the Gateway Project to fund this.
I want to stand up and be counted ……. we cannot turn our backs on fellow human beings.
With the governments new commitment to take in more Syrian refugees, how many families has Stockport agreed to take? What specific support is being put into place to re-settle them and what can locals do to welcome and help?
Hi Simone, we don’t have a number yet – we’ve said we’ll take our fair share and we need to work with the Government to see how many that will be. We’ll need to come back with more information as soon as we’ve got it.
What can individuals like me do to help?
Hi Dawn, very good question. We’re working on that and should have more information soon about how people can best donate money/clothes/food etc.
Its very sad to see children suffering but their parents have chosen to subject these children to the risks of crossing seas in unsuitable vessels and cross boaders without travel documents offering suport in the UK only encourages more risky travel and i for one do not wish to support any imigration into the Btitain.all British tax payers contribute tge 2nd largest aid package into this region ahead of all other european countries we have done more than our share. And for all of you offering food and accomodation to these desperate people my question is why have yiu chosen to ignore the destitute people who live on the streets of Stockport, Manchester ,London and every other large city of the UK ,Do they not matter and they not worthy of your help?
Roy,
I have to agree with you. The people who killed the child who made the front pages (and all the others) are the people traffickers and in this case the parents who made the decision to put them in a flimsy boat.
The rules for refugees is that you stop in the first safe county you come to (i.e Turkey).
I don’t want anymore in the UK, heartless possibly, but there are many more millions who would come and England is already the most populated country in Europe, and has had a net gain of between 2-300,000 every year since 1997.
We already have a massive housing crisis, school place shortage and NHS crisis in the UK, how do we support many more thousands? And before someone says the Government can borrow more I believe the current UK debt is
£1,500,000,000,000 (which has to me paid back somehow
(see link http://www.nationaldebtclock.co.uk/
I meant to write ‘the mostly densely populated country in Europe’ not ‘the most populated’
Roy – no-one has chosen to ignore other destitute people. We move very quickly to help anyone living on the streets in Stockport and make sure they have a roof over their head.
It is sad to see people being forced out of their country by war, and I think it just shows how desperate people are that they are willing to risk everything. You don’t do that unless the risk of staying put is even higher.
Your comments Roy are spot on.
Couldn’t have put it any better.
Thanks Roy for voicing some reason in this matter. The answer is not to admit thousands of people who will struggle with our way of life, but to ensure their homeland is stable and secure for them to live in. As the news develops there has been a sea change in refugee response where there is now a sense of “rights” in their interviews. Why should we pay vast sums of money to house these people when people here are being driven away from their families and friends in London, as it is “ghetto-ised” for the rich alone, people’s benefits have been slashed causing massive hardship and the subsequent rise in food banks and people are being exploited by zero hours contracts.
I for one would demand to know how SMBC intends to fund any refugee programme when we as tax payers are being subjected to massive cuts in local services
Maybe I’ve missed something here, but I’ve yet to hear of the wealthy muslim countries welcoming them: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirites etc & surely, given the religious connections, it would be obvious that they would be welcomed with open arms by their muslim brothers no?
Correct, Jane.
Jane, that’s true, but the vast majority of refugees from Syria are in Muslim countries.
Of the 20million population of Syria, 12 million – more than half – have been displaced. About 8 million are still in Syria. Four million have escaped and nearly all are in Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. Right now, about one in five people in Lebanon is a Syrian refugee.
A much smaller number – estimated around 250,000, are in Europe. So criticising the gulf states for not taking refugees is fair, but criticising the muslim world certainly wouldn’t be.
No-one puts themselves and their families into a small, overcrowded boat for a dangerous journey unless they are fearful for their lives in their own country. We should put ourselves in their position, open our hearts and our borders and like many times before help refugees. So far, this country’s response has been shamefull.
Judy, many of these refugees are already in safe countries, yet they fail to stay in them and instead appear to have gained an ‘entitlement’ to keep travelling until they find a country they prefer.
I believe that the little boy who drowned was already in Turkey when his parents boarded the boat.
This country’s response has not been shameful. We have given more financial aid than any other European country. We have also taken some refugees directly from Syria. I agree with the Govts aim to take more, DIRECTLY from Syrian refugee camps. Whilst I think what has happened is terrible, I am also TERRIFIED of Islamic Fundamentalists using this mass migration as a way into our country, with the intention to cause death and destruction to us ‘infidels’.
I also think that any refugees coming to the UK should not be given permanent residence, however long they may need ‘sheltering’, and they should not be allowed to use the European Human Rights Act to stay if and when it is safe for them to return to their homeland.
Surely these refugees are fleeing the fundamentalists. If IS want to send terrorists over here they have the money and the means to do it in a much simpler way. Most Muslims are not terrorists, just people wanting to live their lives peacefully. I agree that our country has sent aid, but just to take people who are already relatively safe doesn’t answer the immediate problem.
Of course the refugees are fleeing the fundamentalists. But don’t be naive in thinking that the fundamentalists won’t be using this opportunity to get some of their monsters in on the ground.
Iain maybe you could do a little bit more for the refugees and welcome a refugee family into your home and provide for them while they sponge off the state, set an example to us all.
I’m sure that many opportunities are being explored by IS to bring their distorted and evil practices to this country and others. However we should not confuse this with the plight of refugees. I am not in any way naive and I am offended that you should suggest this. I am deeply saddened to feel that there are so many voices against common humanity. I am not in any way religious but the Archbishop of Canterbury was right when he said that we cannot and must not turn away from these desperate people. For those of you who do not agree I hope that you are never put in the position where you are desperate for help and no one is there for you.
Why don’t we just let everybody into the UK.
Some people really need to get a grip on reality.
This is a great opportunity to establish an organisation similar to the United States Peace Corps that was established by President John F Kennedy. This sends volunteers abroad to improve conditions in developing countries, including those where there has recently been conflict. This would need to follow closely after military action had made areas free from terrorists. It would provide a challenging opportunity for our young people who find it difficult to obtain employment and wish to have evidence of reliability and initiative under challenging conditions to place on their CVs.
Some people have suggested that our young people should be enrolled into National Service as a character-building measure. This was terminated in 1960 as the military needs subsided. Voluntary service in a Peace Corps would achieve similar aims, especially if its membership was drawn from throughout Europe. Our youth would then return home experienced in working alongside people from other nations and with some knowledge of foreign languages and customs. I know from my own and my family’s personal experience of working abroad and mentoring youngsters working abroad that this an excellent way to progress one’s career and replace the fictions peddled by the “Daily Mail” and its ilk with valuable knowledge of how the real world operates and why it often succeeds when Britain is frightened to participate.
No more middle eastern immigrants to UK please! The strain on our infrastructure and public services is already imense.
Why cannot the oil rich Muslim countries accept these refugees on a temporary basis and co-operate with each other to restore order to Syria, Iraq and Libya before transporting them back to their homelands? Eventually, they would integrate far better into such societies than in UK. My impression is that many immigrants do not wish to integrate into UK society anyway.
So, we put pressure on the Oil Rich countries into taking the immigrants do we??? Consider first their Human Rights record.These Sovereign States have be-headed more people than ‘IS’ and treat women as second class citizens. The UK is into circa £7billion worth of trade with them therefore that is a No Go idea.
If we are going to support the crisis by increasing the uptake (which looks like it is now on the cards), the number will be deemed as too many or too few whatever the Government decide in any case but let’s at least make certain that those allowed into the UK are encouraged to return to their country of origin when the time is right and not risk the UK becoming even more overcrowded and ghettoised. We already have massive integration problems so why add to it.The exception could be,If they have skills we need and our economy benefits and the so called ‘black economy’ does’nt, but that is another debate.
Maybe the refugees could open more curry/food outlets then we would be more accepting of them, seeing that we as a nation have a bit of history in that respect.
I have the answer to this problem.
I don’t want to contribute to housing/schooling/paying benefits to new immigrants into this country, But all you who do wish to welcome these people into Britain could contact the council set up a legally binding agreement to Pay EXTRA council tax which would fund the refugees, this contract would have no end date and would remain in force increasing with inflation for as long as the immigrants remain in this country. Lets see how many come forward with their cheque books.
Roy, I think that is a fine idea – unfortunately, I suspect the majority of people who want to welcome these refuges here, want to do it with other peoples money.
I have worked all my life and paid taxes all my life. Despite this my daughter is likely to come of university with a debt in the region of £45,000, and (assuming she gets a job) will the have to pay 30-50% of her disposable income on rent as she is unlikely to have a big enough deposit for a house.
Yet I’m supposed to put a big smile on my face, pay even more taxes and welcome even more people into the country who will need scarce public resources and even scarcer housing.
Roy
Your comments always seem to resonate with me.
Funny how Iain and his usually flowing contributions to these pages have stopped.
Maybe he is busy trying to bring more and more refugees into this already overcrowded country.