Britain urged to take 40,000 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean

Britain has been urged to take 40,000 migrants from Italy and Greece, who have been rescued from the Mediterranean.
A UN expert said Britain should participate in a voluntary scheme to relocate migrants.
Other EU leaders have agreed to the scheme, in an effort to share the burden of a growing crisis.
The discussion on the migrant crisis occurred at the European Council Summit- where David Cameron hoped to push his ideas of EU reform.

But the UK has opted out of the scheme and there is no mandatory quota of migrants for EU countries that have opted in, which has led the Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi to brand the plan "modest" and said that member states who resist sharing the burden of the migrant crisis are lacking "solidarity".

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Migrants: Cameron has been urged to opt into the scheme and share the migrant burden

The UK doesn't have to participate in such matters as it has an opt-out deal on EU home affairs matters.
The migrant crisis in the Mediterranean has caused tensions among countries in the EU.
Peter Sutherland, special representative of the UN secretary general for international migration and development, said the agreement reached overnight reflected "limited progress".
He insisted the plan could have been more ambitious, adding that it's success could only be judged when "we see what countries come up with."
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "All member states should participate in the voluntary settlement, including Britain, Ireland and Denmark.

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EU-bound: Migrants just off Turkey's Mediterranean coast

"This is a question basically of European solidarity. Why should Greece and particularly Italy take this unfair burden of responsibility for people who are refugees escaping from persecution?"
He said providing sips to rescue migrants found at sea was "not enough".
This comes after t he SNP called for David Cameron to take in migrants from the Med earlier this month .

Politics 00:44