Helping arrivals is essential for our national prosperity

FOR GENERATIONS, the United Kingdom has welcomed refugees who have lost everything due to the war and terror they have had to flee.

- By Enver Solomon REFUGEE COUNCIL CHIEF EXECUTIVE

From Ukrainians to Syrians to Afghans and to those who have fled conflicts many years back in the Balkans, we know that the faster refugees integrate, the faster they contribute to British life and to the public purse.

This is why it is essential that councils help refugees to speak English, get to know local people and find work.

Cutting this assistance would be a false economy that would leave refugees isolated, communities divided and the taxpayer poorer.