Europe migrant crisis: Politicians search for a solution: Cooper speech

Europe migrant crisis: Politicians search for a solution: Cooper speech; - This has become a test not just of Europe’s values, but also of the EU’s resilience and ability to respond. And so far our continent has been found still wanting. And it is a test of British values too – of whether we will again be able to reach out to the rest of the world and help as we have done in previous generations, or whether we will turn inwards and turn our backs instead. And so far our country has been found still wanting too. Thankfully the long needed meeting of European home office ministers is finally happening on 14th Sept. Not before time. At least the debate has now started about how we deal with the reality of this crisis. So much more needs to be done – and it should be done by countries working together. Anyone who thinks we can better cope with this crisis by tearing the EU apart is profoundly mistaken. Only working together can we deal with the scale of this crisis. When the problem is so many people crossing borders, no country can hope to cope with it alone. Were we in Britain to pull away, our problems at Calais would get much harder not easier to solve. Imagine if our border controls returned to Dover or other European countries stopped trying to prevent people travelling to Northern France in the first place. We depend on other countries to do their bit to help us – and that means we need to pull our weight too. First we need smarter coordination and deployment of EU aid to help prevent the scale of travel and trafficking in the first place. Far better to support people in the region wherever possible so that in the end they can return home. Britain is rightly one of the most generous countries in the world in providing aid for the camps and supporting Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey and the Lebanon. But we need a coordinated response from the EU to ensure that where possible there are sustainable homes – with schools, health care and jobs...