1,500 Syrians Granted Asylum in Britain

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has revealed that the UK admitted 1,500 asylum seekers from Syria in the last year.

"We have accepted hundreds upon hundreds of individual asylum seekers from Syria under our international asylum obligations," he told MPs in response to a question by Labour MP Ian Lucas.

"Will you agree and support the placement of a limited number of the most vulnerable refugees from Syria in the UK?" Lucas asked him.

Labour suggested that Britain should accept between 400 and 500 Syrians, including women and girls at high risk, and torture victims.

Clegg added that both sides of the House and Britons should be proud of UK's financial aid package which came to "£500m of assistance, to Jordan and other front line states, to those communities in the region who are dealing with this terrible humanitarian crisis."

The United Nations has requested internationally to offer resettlement opportunities outside of Syria, as well as humanitarian aid.

The £500m in official aid is the UK's largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis. Of the total, £217m is being spent within Syria, while £236m has been allocated to neighbouring countries.

Last month, Ukip leader Nigel Farage expressed support for granting Syrian refugees asylum in the UK - criticising the government for not doing so - while leading opposition to the entry of Romanian and Bulgarian migrants.