Prime Minister David Cameron has just annouced to the House of Commons that his government intends to resettle “20,000 refugees” over the course of the Parliament.
That means that Mr Cameron, who was elected on the platform of reducing net migration into the United Kingdom to the “tens of thousands” will take a minimum of 4,000 more people per year, despite net migration into Britain being at an all time high at 330,000 over the last year, according to recent statistics. When he was pushed on the issue by acting opposition leader Harriet Harman, Mr Cameron said that he had “just got off the phone with Angela Merkel… she was very grateful”.
Mr Cameron’s comments came in the first session of the House of Commons after the summer recess.
His announcement comes just hours after the French government agreed to take an extra 24,000 people, and after Germany ramped up pressure on European partners to take far more than the 4,000 that Mr Cameron had originally pledged.
Mr Cameron claimed that “some” of the people in transit across Europe were economic migrants, and that “many” were refugees. His words are in direct contrast with all experts on the matter, who now admit that most of the migrants are indeed economic migrants and not refugees.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage told Breitbart London: “I’m disappointed that new Syrian refugees will not come as part of the UK’s normal annual intake. We seek assurances that those being allowed to come to the UK are being security checked.”
Earlier today, Hungary’s Prime Minister took steps to reclaim Hungary’s border policy, with the threat of deploying the country’s armed forces to secure the borders.
The Slovakian Prime Minister has also warned that 95 per cent of migrants are economic migrants.
But Mr Cameron’s plans will not, according to his statement to the House of Commons, take migrants who illegally enter Europe.
Instead, he has claimed that the British government will only seek to take those from refugee camps in Turkey.
Last week, György Schöpflin, a member of the governing Fidesz party in Hungary told Sky News that some of refugees who swamped Budapest’s main railway station last week were not as desperate as media outlets had made them out to be.
“When you’re looking at some of these refugees, they’re actually rather better off than some of the rather poorer people in Hungary.
“They do have very sophisticated smart phones, designer clothes – they’re not the poorest of the poor.”
The “20,000 refugees” statement was met with jeers from the House of Commons chamber.
Meanwhile, a petition to stop all immigration to the United Kingdom has reached a whopping 90,000 signatories, just 10,000 shy of prompting a government debate on the matter.
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