David Cameron has said he felt "deeply moved" by pictures of the dead Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach, but he gave no details of any new UK plans to take in more refugees.
The Prime Minister finally broke his silence - 24 hours after the pictures emerged - and coming after The Independent's campaign calling on the Government to take in its fair share of the four million Syrians who have fled their country after the civil war broke out four years ago.
Speaking on a visit to the north east, Mr Cameron said: "Anyone who saw those pictures overnight could not help but be moved and, as a father, I felt deeply moved by the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey.
"Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfil our moral responsibilities."
David Cameron finally broke his silence on the Syrian refugee crisis after pictures of the dead Syrian refugee boy Aylan Kurdi emerged on Wednesday
His comments come after Boris Johnson became the most senior Conservative figure yet to call on the UK to do more to alleviate the Syrian refugee crisis.
He said London will face up to is "moral responsibilities" to take in those fleeing persecution who are "plainly in fear of their lives," insisting there must be a distinction between refugees and economic migrants.
He also said it was time to “look harder” at the possibility of military intervention in Syria to “solve the problem at source”.
David Cameron 'deeply moved' by pictures of Syrian boy lying dead on beach @pa pic.twitter.com/yIYYBSdcZB
— Joe Pickover (@JPickover) September 3, 2015
He was speaking shortly after George Osborne became the first member of the Government to comment in public since the images of Aylan Kurdi washed up on a beach emerged on Wednesday.
The Chancellor spoke about how he was “very distressed" when he saw the pictures across the newspaper front pages this morning and hinted that the UK might increase the number of Syrians given sanctuary in the UK, but like Mr Cameron, he gave no fresh proposals over how the Government intends to move forward in its response to the humanitarian crisis that has overflown into Europe.
"We will go on taking people and keep it under review," he told Sky News.
