Former Kindertransport refugee Lord Dubs has had his amendment to the immigration bill that would have seen the UK accept 3,000 child refugees, rejected in a vote in the House of Commons.

The government narrowly defeated a cross-party amendment to the bill, tabled in the House of Lords.

MPs voted against the proposals to accept 3,000 children in a move similar to the kindertransport by 294 to 276.

The defeat came after the Home Office persuaded Conservative MPs that it was doing enough to help child refugees in Syria and neighbouring countries.

Only a handful voted in favour of accepting the child refugees.

Lord Dubs had called on the government to show the same compassion to young and vulnerable refugees as displayed towards the Jews fleeing the Nazis.

The Labour peer was born in Prague and was one of the children rescued by Sir Nicolas Winton in 1939.

Edie Friedman, director of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality said she was “very disappointed” that the amendment had failed to pass.

She said: "As a result, children across Europe will remain cold, alone and at risk over the coming months.This was an opportunity to stand on the right side of history, to bring relief to just 3,000 of the 95,000 unaccompanied children who applied for asylum in Europe last year.

"We wake up this morning on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of compassion."

Dr Friedman added: “The Immigration Bill has shown the UK at its worst, uncaring about the suffering of children a mere 30 miles away in places like Calais, but it has also shown us at our best.

People of all faiths, from all backgrounds, from across the political spectrum, have come together to speak out for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and we should be proud that the Jewish community has been so engaged and vocal.

“This conversation has not finished. The Immigration Bill is returning today to the House of Lords and we will be consulting with our colleagues in other refugee organisations, as well as Lord Dubs, to find out how the Jewish community can best contribute.”

Liberal Judaism vice president Rabbi Harry Jacobi, who also came to the UK as a Kindertransport child, likened last night’s result to a similar decision in 1938 to stop Jewish refugees entering Britain.

He said: "I am so very saddened and upset. This must have been what Parliament was like in 1938 after the Evian Conference, when refugees were refused admission.

"Too many MPs with hardened hearts just like the biblical story of Pharaoh. To close their eyes and hearts to unaccompanied children, to insist that it is alright to detain pregnant women, and that refugees can still be detained indefinitely simply on the say so of an immigration official. These are not the actions of a world-leading moral civilisation.”

Former Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper MP, was a vocal supporter of the amendment, and referred to Rabbi Jacobi’s journey to Britain in her Commons speech during the debate.

United Synagouge Rabbi David Mason, of Muswell Hill Synagogue in north London said: “It’s sad from my perspective the fear of economic impact has mean we are abandoning 1000s of children who are alone.

“Surely in with what is going on within Europe we want to support the rescue of these children and not get involved in the politics of identity.”

Senior Rabbi to the Movement for Reform Judaism,Laura Janner-Klausner said: “I have met some of the estimated 26,000 unaccompanied child refugees in Europe.

"I saw how not knowing their future has a corrosive impact on their mental and physical health.

"They lost everything in Syria and are now lost on the continent of Europe. I believe Britain has the capacity and the will to do more during this crisis.”

Board of Deputies president Jonathan Arkush said: “It is a Jewish religious imperative to care for those who are alone and vulnerable.

“It is not so long ago that Jewish children fleeing from war and persecution gained refuge in this country on the Kindertransports.

“Lord Dubs was himself such a child. The aim of bringing unaccompanied child refugees to this country is therefore laudable and we must make all reasonable efforts to alleviate their plight.”