THE DECISION to welcome ten Syrian families to Darlington has been defended by the town’s council leader as a moral and humanitarian policy.

Cllr Bill Dixon urged residents to think of how they would want to be treated if “tables were turned” as he dispelled myths around the resettlement of refugees in Darlington.

In a question and answer session hosted by the town’s White Rose movement, Cllr Dixon outlined the support offered to the small number of families now living in Darlington after fleeing their war-torn country.

Quashing persistent rumours that refugees “jump the queue” for council housing, he said the families were housed in private accommodation and as such, their arrival had “no effect on waiting lists”.

Cllr Dixon dismissed as “total rubbish” the suggestion that a number of new properties had been earmarked for refugees and said the government pays £8,520 a person to cover the majority of costs associated with their arrival, a figure reduced after the first year.

He said: “We also get extra funds to cover the costs of the children’s education – we can cope with the small amount it costs us after that.

“It’s not just about costs, though – I’d defend the policy on moral grounds. Wouldn’t we want the same humanitarian help for our children if they had suffered in the same way?”

When asked how the town could afford to look after refugees when services for local people were being cut, he added: “I am grateful for the extra money towards giving refugees and their children hope for the future but I get cross that we get nothing from the government to help us care for veterans.”

Cllr Dixon said there was no evidence to suggest refugees would take jobs from Darlington people, saying: “All the research seems to indicate that we need immigrant workers, and not just in the NHS. It allows you to redress the balance when you have gaps…

“Just think, there were no railway engineers in Darlington before George Stephenson arrived with his new technology – look at the local jobs that came from that.”

The council leader also refuted the idea that the authority funded luxuries for refugees, saying: “We don’t give them a free telly, or a free anything – and we don’t give tellies to asylum seekers or immigrants, contrary to some rumours.”

When asked about a rise in hate crime, Cllr Dixon condemned a “rise in nastiness”, especially since the EU referendum.

He said: “People seem to have given themselves licence to say what they want, regardless of its effects on others.”

To those that say we must look after our own people first and that charity begins at home, Cllr Dixon said: “This is Darlington, the town built by Quakers. This place was built on tolerance.

“When it comes to refugees, I’d ask people to stop and put themselves in their place. How would it be if the positions were reversed?”