The last two weeks have witnessed the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the end of the second world war.

Millions of Ukrainian men, women and children have been driven out of their homes by a continuous bombardment delivered by the Russian army. Our government’s response to this crisis has been risible. Whilst Ukrainian citizens were fleeing for their lives our government was insisting that these same refugees,seeking shelter and safety, had to apply in person for their visa applications to enter Britain.  They were also told that applications could only be made in Paris or Brussels. These refugees were almost exclusively female; the able-bodied men had remained in Ukraine to defend their country from the Russians.  Emmanuel Macron, President of France, has condemned Britain’s actions saying that it imposed additional misery on desperate men, women and children. He accused the government of failing to live up to its “grand statements.”Johnson has repeatedly claimed that Britain leads the world in the number of refugees that it has admitted.  The opposite is true as his figures are based on those classed as resettlement; he ignores the vast majority who come directly from their own country.

At the start of the war in Ukraine, Johnson and his ministers, had a choice.  They could follow the path taken by Europe and make safe passage for refugees as frictionless as possible, by either waiving visa requirements or by allowing visa applications to be made once they had reached the UK.

Instead, the government opted for an approach that treated the refugees as suspect. The government even insisted that those in transit had to pay £2.74 to ask a question by e-mail to UK Visas & Immigration – the section of the Home Officethat handles visa applications if you’re outside the UK. An approach described by Vadym Prystaiko, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, as “bureaucratic nonsense”.

Some see this as evidence of the growing libertarian and xenophobic character that the government has adopted in recent years.  David Cameron speaking in 2015 (in)famously referred to a “swarm of migrants” crossing the Mediterranean. A thread of anti-immigrant hostility and obsession with control appears to run through the Home Office like lettering through a stick of Brighton rock. This has been years in the making and successive governments, Conservative and Labour, have bowed to pressure from xenophobic, right-wing press.  It is to be hoped that the government will, in the coming days, show some compassion towards those in real need.  The trait displayed thus far can only be described as callous.

Johnson, meanwhile, is busy touring the television studios and conference centres with his one-man impersonation ofWinston Churchill.  He seems to be clinging to the hope that this Ukrainian crisis will save his premiership as the Falkland’s crisis saved Margaret Thatcher’s. We need to remind Johnson and ourselves that there is a lot of unfinished business in Westminster in need of serious attention.  Susan Gray and the Metropolitan Police reports have still not beenpublished; neither has Johnson given a full account of his actions or answered the many questions that those reports will hopefully raise. This worm should not be allowed to wriggle free from its hook.

Yours sincerely

Ed Runham