The Conservative government continues to ignore calls from across the political spectrum for the UK to welcome more Syrian refugees.

Both Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne have repeated the same talking points in recent days, saying that the issues facing the Middle East will not be solved by the UK taking more refugees and pointing out how much the UK has invested in international aid.

However, there is little to suggest that the situation on the ground in Syria will improve in the foreseeable future, and those fleeing the warzone remain in need. International aid to help support the millions of displaced Syrians is hugely important, but it should be one strand of an all encompassing plan to provide aid to refugees and not the entire plan.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said Scotland would “stand ready” to offer refugees sanctuary, and the Labour leadership contenders, the Liberal Democrats, and some backbench Tories have been calling for Britain to do more.

The picture of a dead Kurdish toddler washed up on a Turkish appears to have altered the public perception of the crisis. The Sun is among a number of newspapers that have called on the government to do more on their frontpage today, reflecting public opinion where more than 180,000 have signed a petition calling on the government to “accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugee migrants in the UK“.

David Cameron spent years rebranding the Conservatives away from their history as the “nasty party”, but by standing on the sidelines and refusing to offer those in the greatest need a safe sanctuary, he is quickly losing the battle of public perception.