Victor Cazalet – 1940 Comments on Welcoming Refugees

The comments made by Victor Cazalet, the then Conservative MP for Chippenham, in the House of Commons on 10 July 1940.

propose in a very few minutes to initiate a discussion on the subject of refugees and their treatment in this country during the past few months. For some years I have been interested in this question, but any humble or slight contribution which I may have made to this problem is only a tithe of the really great work which the hon. Lady the Member for the English Universities (Miss Rathbone) has done for refugees. All refugees in this country, and indeed many refugees in other countries as well, owe her a deep debt of gratitude, and I am glad to have an opportunity to pay tribute to her work to-day. I know enough about the subject to realise something of the hardships, miseries, and sufferings which a great many of these people have endured during the past four years. It has been the historical policy of this country for many centuries to give asylum to refugees, and I do not believe that England has lost by this policy.