Photography by Sergey Kozak (Public Domain)
Boris Johnson has, again, betrayed Ukrainian refugees. We covered this in Reason 43, but over the last few days even more has come to light. Allegations have been made that Boris Johnson blocked efforts by the Home Office to remove barriers.
Even as Boris Johnson boasts about his generosity, he has worked behind the scenes to betray Ukrainian refugees
Over the last week, Priti Patel has been rightly vilified for failing to make it easy for Ukrainian refugees. The criticism has come from Left and Right, with almost universal disgust. For all her faults Patel seems to have listened, springing into action to open a humanitarian corridor. That is until Johnson got involved.
Even as over 100,000 Brits offered to open their homes to Ukrainians, Boris Johnson acted to make it as difficult as possible for them to get here. It takes some doing to make Priti Patel look compassionate! I have never been more proud of the people of this country. And never been less proud of it’s leadership.
The situation is pretty dire, with fleeing Ukrainians required to complete full visa applications. There are provisions that allow for missing documents, but the default position is still that documents should be provided. There are also an expanded range of sponsorship options available. But again, this is of limited use if they can’t get through the process in the first place. Contrast this to Poland. No documentation. Open borders.
When challenged on how he can justify this, he cited National Security concerns. The man who made a Russian billionaire a peer, against advice from MI6, cited National Security concerns. There is only one risk to National Security, and it is not the desperate souls fleeing from war.
What has this meant for Ukrainians?
The reality is that, despite enormous public support, latest figures show the UK has only taken in 3,000 Ukrainian refugees. Despite, the repeated platitudes and faux outrage from Government cheerleaders (like Gove), this number is pitiful. I repeat what I said a week ago, it does not matter if a scheme is uncapped if no one can access it.
At this point, I would have more respect for the Government if they just came out and said “we don’t like foreigners”. Trying to claim that we are providing a generous refugee package, whilst having taken in the lowest number of refugees in Europe is infuriating. It’s gaslighting by a Government that takes us for fools. The British public are speaking in one single voice. We want to help. This Government ignores that at their peril.
#JohnsonOut50
Reason 50 completes my initial goal to set out 50 reasons why Johnson must go. I will continue to compile this list for the time being, but the problem with a man like Boris Johnson is that all the scandals roll into one.
The ink is barely dry on yesterday’s headlines before he’s lurched into the next. This is how he gets away with it – people lose track. It’s reminiscent of Mr Burn’s getting a check up. He’s so ill that all the diseases keep each other at bay. Boris Johnson definitely has a political case of Three Stooges Syndrome.
