UNITED NATIONS called on the Tory government yesterday to double the amount of refugees admitted under resettlement programmes while slamming the “irresponsible” hate speech from some politicians and sections of the media.

UN High Commission for Refugees assistant Volker Turk said accepting around 10,000 refugees a year would be a “step change” for Britain and would double the current rate.

So far the government has committed to taking in 20,000 refugees by 2020 under a scheme to help those fleeing the war in Syria, with 5,453 granted humanitarian protection under the programme in the year ending March 2017, and 3,000 vulnerable children and family members.