Help for the helpless?

     The needs of the many thousands fleeing from Syria are huge.   Food and clothing provide only temporary relief for those queueing on the borders in Austria, struggling to get to permanent safety.     They are providing a problem for the European Union it has not met before and so far seems unable to handle effectively.
     Some 18,000 refugees were recognised as a minimum quota for the UK, by EU leaders, though David Cameron, after a long delay, has said 20,000 will be admitted.   It can't be denied that this undertaking seems to be in line with general opinion in the UK, which has not been offering an open-handed welcome to the refugees.   Maybe, as some claim, we have a fine tradition of helping those fleeing from persecution abroad.  Or maybe not.
        If there has been this tradition from the past, the historic record of the fate of the refugees now fleeing to western Europe is likely to be different, with the UK this time showing a disregard for the cold and hunger and lack of shelter of those seeking a place where they can be safe.   And the government's attitude as well as that of the UKIP MEP Nigel Farage, seems to be sympathetically shared by large numbers of the public.   "They should stay and sort out their own country themselves," said one Cornishman to me.   Efforts to raise funds were meeting with no success in this Cornish village and nor were suggestions that Britain might take in refugees.  "How do we know that there aren't some IS terrorists among them?" asked one.
         No, it is not proving a popular charitable cause in many parts of the country, even though others are putting in huge efforts to raise funds and provide temporary homes for refugees.    This is not going to be our proudest moment - that distinction is this time going to Germany.
   
        
 ends