I'm glad the Prime Minister has agreed to allow more refugees into Britain (though it isn't nearly enough). But David Cameron shouldn't have to be shown a picture of a dead child to be "moved" by the refugee crisis. If dead refugees truly did move the Prime Minister, then why hasn't he spoken more about the thousands that have died over the past four years? He knew about them, he knew they had died, and yet from 2011 to 2015 the UK has only accepted around 5,000 Syrian refugees - not nearly enough as we can or should, especially when you compare that number to the intake of other EU countries. He didn't care then. He has never been moved before.
Furthermore, Aylan Kurdi's death shouldn't have "moved" him "as a father" as though he was only "moved" because he was a child, his death and the many, many others should have had a profound effect on David Cameron as a human being, just as the death of any human being should be grieved for by any other human being with any ounce of compassion. He shouldn't have said "As a father, I was moved by the death of Aylan Kurdi", he should have said "as a human being, I was disgusted and angry at the preventable death of another human being".
David Cameron should be a lot more than "moved". I was "moved" when I first watched the film Marley and Me. But when I first saw what was happening with the refugee crisis, I was struck so profoundly by what was happening, and immediately felt powerless as I tried to think of something, anything I could do to help, because the tragedy that these desperate people were going through made me so unbelievably angry and heartbroken and I wanted to do something. But David Cameron is not powerless and nor does he feel it, so where is his compassion, where is his innate desire to help other human beings?
David Cameron shouldn't have to have been pressured by the press and other Conservatives in order for him to agree to allow more refugees into Britain. That it is not being a prime minister, or a leader. That is not knowing there is a humanitarian crisis and wanting to help because the refugees desperately need it. It didn't take human beings dying to persuade David Cameron to allow more refugees, that wasn't enough, it took him being personally criticised widely for him to agree to it. It took criticism from the media, it took criticism from a large number of MPs, and it took petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatures. But all it should have taken was the knowledge that people were dying and Britain wasn't doing enough. It still isn't doing enough, 4,000 more isn't enough. If Cameron actually did care, he would be allowing a lot more. Four thousand is his attempt to appease those criticising him. Although, as I've said, it's good he has agreed to allow more, it shouldn't have taken nearly that much for it to happen. He should have wanted to help because it was the right thing to do, not because he was under increasing pressure to. He should have wanted to help because he is a human being and he should have compassion and empathy for other human beings.
Many events have suggested to me that David Cameron suffers from an acute lack of human compassion, but the refugee crisis is one of the most disturbing.