Ideology or incompetence? Chaos reigns in UK handling of Ukrainian refugees

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Ideology or incompetence? That is the question dominating much talk in Westminster right now, as people watch the UK’s chaotic approach to Ukrainian refugees unfold. Perhaps the answer is a bit of both.

According to recent polling for The New Statesman, 64% of the British public backs those refugees being granted visas to the UK without restrictions. 58% of Tory voters feel the same way. Nadia Whittome recently set out in LabourList her argument for following the EU in waiving visa requirements (she also made the case that “quick and easy access to permanent settlement routes” should “not apply to Ukrainian nationals only”). While not prepared to go that far, Priti Patel has appeared to accept that more must be done – but not been clear about what is being done.

The Home Office revealed over the weekend that “around 50” visas had been processed (less than 1% of the 5,535 people who applied in the preceding 48 hours). When that figure was criticised, Boris Johnson and Priti Patel said it was inaccurate. The Home Secretary also told The Sun on Sunday that she was creating a brand new route for Ukrainian refugees. But neither Downing Street nor the Foreign Office were aware, and the idea seems to have been dropped already.

The Home Secretary claimed that “we have set up a spoke VAC (visa application centre) en route to Calais but away from the port”. Yet it soon emerged that this visa centre did not actually exist. Patel later asserted: “I actually said that I can confirm we are setting up another VAC en route to Calais. I made that quite clear in my remarks earlier on.” On the media round this morning, Ben Wallace sounded embarrassed. “We can do more and do it quicker – we’ll get on it,” the Defence Secretary said, offering MoD support to help speed up the process.

The other conversation starter in Westminster last night was the “historic” appearance of the Ukrainian President set to take place. Volodymyr Zelensky will address MPs directly via video link at 5pm today in the House of Commons, where screens will be installed. It is also International Women’s Day. Anneliese Dodds, the Labour Party chair and Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary, has written for LabourList to mark the occasion. “If we break the bias, everybody wins. That’s why a Labour government will put women at the heart of our economic recovery,” she says. Elsewhere on LabourList, we have the results of the economic crime bill votes, Labour’s call for a ‘Nazi-style’ special tribunal to prosecute Vladimir Putin, and much more.

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