WHO cannot have compassion for the plight of the Syrian refugees? Seeing on TV the devastation of the great and historic city of Aleppo, we can all understand why residents have fled for their lives. Sadly Aleppo is not an isolated example. Living in many parts of Syria is to court death on a daily basis.

It is estimated that there are at least 4.5m Syrian refugees. Possibly half are children. Among that estimate there are thousands of unaccompanied minors. There are also refugees seeking asylum from conflicts in Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan.

What then should be our response?

Surely it must be to join together with other nations to help these poor people in such disparate need.

So far Britain has pledged to take 20,000 refugees. Last financial year, I believe 2,500 arrived. Cumbria has not yet been at the forefront of this welcome. There are good reasons for this. Since Storm Desmond, attention and housing capacity has been focused on flood recovery.

However, that is about to change.

I was delighted to be part of a group of leaders who decided that we would swiftly move to provide government with a 'Cumbrian Offer' to accept a certain number of refugees. Our expectation is that refugee families will begin to arrive in April.

We will all have to work together to determine how we deliver that offer in a way that does not isolate the refugees, but permits them to integrate easily into our society. This should be perfectly possible. Other communities in Britain (and particularly Scotland) have managed the process successfully and I am sure we will be able to as well.

I know that the people of Cumbria want to reach out to help families in desperate need, and our council looks forward to working with you to deliver a Cumbrian welcome when they arrive.