Football fans and the refugee crisis

[bertlambshank]

For an 20 year olds perspective on this he said to me
'fuck me Dad a lot of these trying to get on this train have better trainers than you!''.
To which I replied ''I bet they would rather have somewhere to live Son''.
Half an hour later he came downstairs with 6 pairs of trainers and took them to the Oxfam shop.

[bruisedshins]

For an 20 year olds perspective on this he said to me
'fuck me Dad a lot of these trying to get on this train have better trainers than you!''.
To which I replied ''I bet they would rather have somewhere to live Son''.
Half an hour later he came downstairs with 6 pairs of trainers and took them to the Oxfam shop.

Class, fair play to your son.

[cdbearsfan]

I'm not really convinced we've done the right thing more often than not, to be honest. We weren't as racist as America, as war-mongering as the Germans and we weren't the most bastardy-colonialists (Belgium win that one) but I'd agree with Brazilian Villain's assertion that we have a far from spotless history.

I do think though that in recent decades we've taken great strides towards being a more tolerant and decent nation.

This crisis is a great time to remind the World how decent we can be by doing our bit and offering the support the refugees need.

[pauliewalnuts]

We should certainly be able to hold our heads up high as a modern, tolerant nation.

We don't look like that at the moment, though, even in comparison to nations with a relatively recent history of being the exact opposite.

[ciggiesnbeer]

And once again, I am not suggesting we are without fault - no country is - but we have more often than not done the right thing for a long, long time, which makes the current inaction all the more disappointing.

I would point to the slave trade act of 1807 being one on the plus side.

Thinking of actions nations took for moral reasons across the past few centuries and there are few which compare to that one in terms of a net reduction of human suffering.

[bertlambshank]

The people will be heard on this.The Government is back tracking already.
What I don't get is why didn't the Government keep Quiet for a couple of days listen to the will of the people and then say something.
Arrogant fuckers this lot are.

[Sexual Ealing]

This country had a reputation for centuries for doing the right thing.

I'd like it to come back, but the response of the political class - not just the government, NB - so far has been embarrassing. Paralysed with fear.

Yes, in Ireland we have marvelled for centuries at the UK's ability to do the right thing. Its actions in the period leading up to and during the Great Famine were particulalrly well guided.  If only we had an enlightened political class like that nowadays I'm sure everything would be just dandy.

That'd be a fair point if i had claimed that the UK had a faultless history.

Unfortunately, I didn't, so it's not hugely relevant. The fact of the matter is we used to be relied upon to put ourselves on the right side of things. Currently, we're not, we're being insular and pretending things aren't happening.

When there was a massive humanitarian crisis on its doorstep in the 1840s (far greater than today's with millions of deaths) the UK not only didn't do the right thing but its actions helped exacerbate the suituatuon. So to claim the UK had a reputation for centuries for doing the right thing is palpable nonsense rather than the "fact of the matter".   

Palpable nonsense because you've flagged up something from 170 years ago?

And once again, I am not suggesting we are without fault - no country is - but we have more often than not done the right thing for a long, long time, which makes the current inaction all the more disappointing.

Not to be argumentative, but when were the 'more often than not' occasions when we 'did the right thing'?

[silhillvilla]

If you can overlook the centuries of rampage , pillage and empire building, well Madness were allowed to Play on the roof of a villa fans Nan's house . That wasn't too shabby 

[b23]

I wonder, how many caring posters on this thread would house, feed, clothe and wash these unfortunate people ?

1 ?
2 ?
4 ?
16 ?

Brian. Dave. Pauliewalnuts.

[Summers]

I wonder, how many caring posters on this thread would house, feed, clothe and wash these unfortunate people ?

1 ?
2 ?
4 ?
16 ?

Brian. Dave. Pauliewalnuts.

This is such a stupid comment.

"The latest Government data on vacant dwellings shows over 610,000 empty homes in England with over 200,000 long-term vacant dwellings (that is homes unoccupied for over six months). Click on our statistics tab and latest statistics to find out how the data is derived and how to access information at an individual local authority level."

"More than 11m homes lie empty across Europe – enough to house all of the continent's homeless twice over – according to figures collated by the Guardian from across the EU.

In Spain more than 3.4m homes lie vacant, in excess of 2m homes are empty in each of France and Italy, 1.8m in Germany and more than 700,000 in the UK.

There are also a large numbers of vacant homes in Ireland, Greece, Portugal and several other countries, according to information collated by the Guardian.

Many of the homes are in vast holiday resorts built in the feverish housing boom in the run up to the 2007-08 financial crisis – and have never been occupied."

Pretty sure there's enough space around the world without people needing to fit people into their utility rooms or garden sheds.

[brian green]

Nothing I would like better than a few Syrians doing paid work on my farm and some Syrian kids kicking a football round my farmyard. I think we should realise how this humanitarian catastrophe came about.  Many of us, my family included, marched against the Iraq war. We could see what came next and this is it. War begets war and war begets mass human suffering. It is time for the developed world to take stock of itself. It is time to turn away from pouring the talents and energies of educated people into building Mercedes cars and Rolex watches and pour it into the building of homes and schools and roads and bridges and drains and reservoirs and all the fabric of communities so that when humanitarian disasters like this happen there is the capacity to deal with it. It is no more than nations providing a spare bedroom for guests. Countries scramble to pour billions into hosting the Olympic Games or the World Cup. The same resources should be given to saving innocent people's lives.

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

Nothing I would like better than a few Syrians doing paid work on my farm and some Syrian kids kicking a football round my farmyard. I think we should realise how this humanitarian catastrophe came about.  Many of us, my family included, marched against the Iraq war. We could see what came next and this is it. War begets war and war begets mass human suffering. It is time for the developed world to take stock of itself. It is time to turn away from pouring the talents and energies of educated people into building Mercedes cars and Rolex watches and pour it into the building of homes and schools and roads and bridges and drains and reservoirs and all the fabric of communities so that when humanitarian disasters like this happen there is the capacity to deal with it. It is no more than nations providing a spare bedroom for guests. Countries scramble to pour billions into hosting the Olympic Games or the World Cup. The same resources should be given to saving innocent people's lives.

Spot on.

[ROBBO]

Governments are the problem not the people, if the suburb i live in was asked to support twenty families of Syrian refugees i have no doubt that they would be welcomed with open arms, replicate that across developed countries and that would go a long way to solving the problem. With the prime minister we have there is no chance of this happening. Save the children.

Australia is a great example of how governments are often the problem.

Which is somewhat ironic considering that most of the population either comprises, or is descended from, economic migrants (or criminals)

Our present PM demonised boat people when in opposition calling them illegal which as anyone with a brain knows is a nonsense. I would however seperate the Syrians who are in a terrible plight from those who are in no danger just want a better life. We pulled down the shutters when so many people were drowning trying to get here, ironically far more arrive by plane and are accepted. Its a complicated issue but why do i think they would be more readily accepted if they were of a different religeon.

[Stirchley Villain]

Shouldn't this thread be moved to Off Topic?

[Chris Smith]

The people will be heard on this.The Government is back tracking already.
What I don't get is why didn't the Government keep Quiet for a couple of days listen to the will of the people and then say something.
Arrogant fuckers this lot are.

They seem to be in a constant mode of electioneering. Worrying about how potential defectors to UKIP might react rather than doing what is right for desperate people trying to escape a war.

As you say it appears that they are belatedly reacting and I suppose better late than never but it is damning that it took pictures of a dead toddler to make them do it.