The plight of Syria’s refugees deserves more than your good intentions and virtue signalling

I suppose it should not be a surprise that the virtue signalling over the appalling plight of Syrian refugees displaced by that country’s monstrous civil war has now reached fresh heights of absurdity. Nor that some of the press coverage of this dreadful crisis is edging towards a post-Diana level of mawkishness. One front page this morning shouts at David Cameron, demanding the Prime Minister SHOW YOUR HUMANITY. I mean, really.

Then, on ITV’s Murnaghan programme this morning, Nicola Sturgeon and Yvette Cooper were asked if they would house Syrian refugees in their own homes. Obviously they had to say yes and we may now expect the same question to be asked of every politician in Britain. If it’s good enough for Nicola and Yvette – and Bob Geldof – then why isn’t it good enough for you? Show some humanity, damnit. Don’t be such a heartless bastard.

Can we agree this is ridiculous? True, nothing says I’m a pretty decent kind of person better than scribbling #RefugeesWelcome on a piece of paper and then posing for a selfie and posting said selfie on Twitter or Facebook.