Refugee crisis

I was interviewing ten foster parents in west London for a report on children in care. Foster parents are in great demand, so I was startled to discover that only one of the sets of parents was looking after the sort of vulnerable children you imagine to be in the care system. The others were looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeker children. They made an alarming claim: three of these seemed to be adults passing themselves off as boys. ‘The first thing they ask for is a razor,’ said one foster parent, ‘They’ve got these big beards.’ A woman admitted she found it embarrassing having a grown man posing as a 17-year-old. But the authorities appeared uninterested. ‘Our concerns are just fobbed off,’ said another.

The argument over the recently-abandoned Dubs scheme for refugees encapsulates what is wrong with the debate about what is, perhaps, the worst humanitarian crisis of recent years. The actor David Morrissey was on the Peston show this morning saying he was "devastated" when Theresa May decided to stop plans to take a limited number child refugees from Europe and instead focus on settling 20,000 straight from the Middle East. Except, of course, her policy wasn't framed in that way on Peston's show. It never is, anywhere. We have heard the same point, made by well-intentioned people like Morrissey, for weeks. But no one mentions what the Prime Minister proposes instead.

On this week's podcast, we consider how refugees could be better aided, whether David Cameron might be envious of George Osborne's 'retirement', and why getting trolled can be good for your career. First, as the government ends the Dubs amendment scheme, we ask whether there are better solutions to the refugee crisis. Paul Collier writes this week's cover piece, arguing against camps and in favour of getting refugees into jobs, as soon as humanely possible. Paul joins the podcast this week, along with Kevin Watkins CEO of Save the Children. As Paul writes in the magazine: "Refugees nowadays do not have the luxury of a short-term solution. The problems they are fleeing are likely to last for a very long time.

In 1942, a man called Manfred Alexander turned up, unannounced, on my grandfather’s doorstep in Berlin. My grandfather knew him only slightly. He hadn’t seen him for several years. Like countless Jews, Manfred had been herded onto an eastbound train the year before, bound for God knows where. He’d ended up in a Concentration Camp in Minsk, run by the Ukrainian SS. There, after a terrible winter, a German guard whom he hardly knew hid him beneath the coal in the tender of a steam train which was carrying wounded German soldiers back to Berlin. Back in Berlin, cold and hungry, Manfred headed straight for my grandfather’s apartment on Grolmanstrasse. It was opposite the police station but it was the only address he knew. My German grandfather was no saint.

Yesterday the Home Office won its appeal against a landmark ruling that allowed four Syrian refugees living in the main camp in Calais to come to the UK. While the refugees will be allowed to stay, the appeal means that it will be difficult for more refugees to come to Britain this way in the future. Following the decision Yvette Cooper labelled Theresa May 'a disgrace'. The Labour politician says she is appalled that May pursued this appeal and called on her to do more to help Syrian refugees. However, Mr S couldn't help but think back to Cooper's own promises when it comes to refugees.

Last year a host of celebrities and politicians alike slammed the government for their handling of the refugee crisis. As part of this, several figures including Sir Bob Geldof, Stan Collymore, Nicola Sturgeon and Yvette Cooper volunteered to take refugees into their home. Alas, when Mr S checked last year both Geldof and Collymore were yet to go ahead with their pledge. So, what about Cooper? Back in September, the Labour MP said she would be happy to take a refugee in her own home: 'If that’s what it took and that’s what was needed, then of course, I think lots of people would be.' However, when Nick Ferrari attempted to quiz Cooper about her refugee intake on LBC, there was a snag. NF: Have you taken your refugee in yet?

The Spectator's fifth most-read article of the week was Nigel Farndale on what life was like on board a warship in our 'much reduced' Royal Navy. Nigel joined the crew of HMS Bulwark in the Mediterranean where he found a Royal Navy undergoing an identity crisis amidst swingeing cuts. Our fourth most-read piece was Damian Thompson on the furore surrounding the last-minute decision to pull an incendiary book about the Church of England. Publisher Bloomsbury sent a panicky message to reviewers asking them to return their copies of 'That Was The Church That Was: How the Church of England Lost the English People'. You can read Damian's article about why the decision was made by clicking here.

After photos emerged of three-year-old Syrian Aylan Kurdi’s body being washed up on a Turkish beach, the British public hit out at the government for failing to do enough to help with the current refugee crisis. Although the government has so far spent £900 million helping refugees who have fled Syria, many were outraged that more refugees were not being allowed into Britain. In fact, to help the cause a number of high-profile figures -- including Sir Bob Geldof and Stan Collymore -- said that they would happily take refugees into their home to aid efforts. What's more, thanks to schemes such as Room for Refugees their heartfelt pledges could now actually be realised.

Mitres off to the Archbishop of Canterbury for inviting 'a family or two' of refugees into his home. Well, not specifically into his home but into a four-bedroom cottage that sits in the grounds of Lambeth Palace. Opening up your second home to refugees is becoming quite fashionable among people who have more houses than they have hats or, indeed, mitres. Bob Geldof has offered refugees use of his Kent home as well as his London flat. The Pope has instructed that Vatican lodgings should be made available to a few families. This refugee crisis is proving easier to solve than we first thought. By my quick calculation, that's possibly up to 10 families already fixed up. Just another two hundred thousand to go.