Accepting these migrants is a huge mistake

Britain can’t be expected to take in a flood of displaced people that will alter the cultural balance of the country for ever

In Germany, posters saying “Refugees welcome” and “Nobody is illegal” have been appearing at bus stops and demonstrations. At a rally in Oxford last weekend, demonstrators held up home-made placards saying “We welcome refugees (given the chance)” and “We are all human”.

These people are merely telling us about themselves. Public expressions of compassion signify that a person is good. Their absence demonstrates heartlessness. This has been called “virtue signalling”, or mandatory emoting, and it has now reached its crazy apotheosis in the great migration crisis.

In a measured response to the refugee hysteria, David Cameron has balanced compassion with the public interest. Over five years, Britain will take 20,000 people from refugee camps bordering Syria.

The left promptly denounced this number as pitiful. Labour’s