The people arriving in the UK as refugees by whatever means, whether they are escaping from poverty or persecution, are hoping to find a better life for themselves and their families. We can hardly blame them as we all seek to do this in one way or another, the difference between us and them is that their situation is so dire that that they are are prepared to go through danger and deprivation. I don’t see any long term solution to the problem unless we can help people to get a better way of life in their own countries. It seems to me that cutting the foreign aid budget is very shortsighted, it is in our own interest to help people so that they don’t have the need to leave home.
Climate change and population growth are likely to make the problem worse as people seek to improve their lives and to obtain many of the basics that we take for granted. If the technologies that are used to provide things that we regard as essential, such as electricity, are the ones that are proven, lowest cost and have been used in the western world for many years, then the inevitable result is that their carbon emissions will increase. Finding solutions will take time and money. Restoring our foreign aid budget and targetting it more effectively would be a way that we could contribute. If we don’t we will reap the consequences in the future and it will be a bitter harvest.