Yvette Cooper condemns Theresa May's 'cowardly' asylum policy

"We may have a generation long battle against the new totalitarianism just as we did its predecessors," she said in a speech to the CER in London. "And just as we did faced with totalitarian regimes past, we have a moral responsibility again do our bit to help those who flee to survive."

"This has become a humanitarian crisis on a scale we have not seen on our continent since the Second World War. Yet we seem paralysed to respond," she added.

"And its not just us. All Europe is struggling to respond. We can't carry on like this. It's immoral, it's cowardly and it's not the British way."