Last week I provided an update on the conflict in Ukraine, the humanitarian emergency it has caused and the Government’s response to this dynamic situation. Given that the situation has developed significantly since my last update, I thought it helpful to provide a comprehensive response to the many issues constituents have raised on this issue.
Since my last update, I have worked with my team to aid constituents with Ukrainian family members; joined with MP colleagues in the House of Commons Chamber to listen to the historic speech to parliament by President Zelensky; met the Foreign Secretary and female MPs to show our solidarity with our Ukrainian counterparts for International Women's Day; voted for legislation to toughen our economic response; attended ministerial coordination and contingency planning meetings; worked within my department on the issue of Russian state media and cyber preparedness; and thanked British journalists including the BBC World Service for their courageous reporting, in my role as Minister for Media, Data & Digital Infrastructure.
Refugees and the humanitarian situation
As last week, this has been the predominant issue which constituents have raised with me, and rightly so. The conflict has caused the displacement of large numbers of Ukrainian nationals who have been forced to leave their home.
In my last update I set out the Ukraine Family Scheme visa and forthcoming humanitarian sponsorship pathway which will open a route to the UK for Ukrainians who may not have family ties to the UK, neither schemes are limited in the number of Ukrainians they can support. Eligibility for the family scheme has been expanded to include extended family members and their immediate family members.
I understand that there are calls for security checks to be waived or Ukraine passport holders. Speaking in the Chamber, the Minister for Safe and Legal Migration, Kevin Foster MP advised that there have, unfortunately, been cases of people presenting with false documents at visa processing centres and therefore security checks do remain necessary. The governments of the US, Canada Australia have all adopted a similar approach. However, the process has been streamlined so that, from Tuesday 15 March, Ukrainians with passports will not need to attend a Visa Application Centre (VAC) in order to provide their biometrics and will be able to complete applications online, wherever they are, before providing biometrics once they enter the UK. This will allow appointments at VACs, now increased to 13,000 per week, to be focused on those that do not have passports. I understand the Army are supporting the Home Office to increase capacity at VACs as well.
Finally, I am aware of reports of constituents in Calais seeking to bring family members to the UK. For data protection purposes, you will appreciate I am unable to discuss individual cases, however I can confirm that my team and I are in direct correspondence with a number of constituents and have been liaising with the Home Office on their behalf. I am grateful to and proud of my team, who have been providing a lot of personalised support to those in need.
Housing Secretary, Michael Gove, has been consulting MPs today about schemes that will help people offer homes and other support to Ukrainian refugees. I believe more details on this will be announced to parliament next week, so please keep an eye out for announcements as I know several constituents want to be more actively involved.
Register of Overseas Entities
On Monday the Government brought forward the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill taking it through all legislative changes in the House of Commons in one evening. This legislation will introduce a ‘Register of Overseas Entities’ to crack down on foreign criminals using UK property to launder money. The new register will require anonymous foreign owners of UK property to reveal their real identities to ensure criminals cannot hide behind secretive shell companies.
I appreciate concerns about the speed of implementation of some of these measures and I know ministerial colleagues are working to establish new mechanisms as soon as possible. I am pleased that owners will be given six rather than 18 months to join the 'Register of Overseas Entities'.
Additionally, the new legislation will expand the existing Unexplained Wealth Orders regime and create a more robust legal test for the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) to impose monetary penalties for financial sanctions breaches and enhance OFSI's intelligence-gathering and information sharing powers.
Further to the Economic Crime Bill, I am encouraged by plans to upgrade Companies House’s systems, cracking down on money laundering and fraud in UK registered companies while allowing legitimate business to flourish.
Sanctions upon Russian Oligarchs
The Economic Crime Bill referenced above will simplify the process of imposing sanctions, allow the UK to more easily sanction individuals, stop oligarchs threatening the UK with multi-million pound lawsuits for damages at the taxpayer’s expense and also allow the UK to mirror allies’ designations. The Government has published sanctions upon seven further Russian oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich, who has not yet been sanctioned by other allies. These sanctions take the total number of Russian individuals, entities and subsidiaries sanctioned since the invasion to over 200. A statement on these sanctions can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/abramovich-and-deripaska-among-seven-oligarchs-targeted-in-estimated-15bn-sanction-hit
Military support to Ukraine
Speaking in the House of Commons this week, the Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace MP, advised that an additional 1,615 New Light Anti-tank Weapons (NLAWs) had been supplied to Ukraine, bringing the total to 3,615 with more NLAWs and anti-tank Javelin missiles to be provided.
The Defence Secretary also advised that Government is exploring the possibility of donating Starstreak man-portable anti-aircraft missiles. I know that many constituents have called for the introduction of a NATO no-fly zone however this option has been discounted as its implementation would risk drawing NATO forces into direct confrontation with Russia. I am glad that the Government is exploring this option, increasing Ukraine’s own ability to defend its airspace, and look forward to further updates on this.
Aid to Ukraine
As referenced in my earlier update, the Government has committed to £220m in emergency and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and is also guaranteeing up to $500m of loans through Multilateral Development Banks. The UK is now the largest single donor of aid to Ukraine, with a total commitment to the crisis of approximately £400m, and has also launched International Ukraine Support Group with Canada and the Netherlands to mobilise allies to coordinate and provide further political, humanitarian, economic and defence support for Ukraine.
I once again refer constituents to the Disasters Emergency Committee's Ukraine appeal, which is the best place to direct any personal donations. The link is below. The UK public has donated the equivalent of £1m+ for every hour since the DEC appeal launched.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukraine-what-you-can-do-to-help
I spoke this week to the Minister for Civil Society about community support and he advised that charities are encouraging the donation of money to the DEC Appeal for the time being rather than the donation of items. It is vital to keep supply chains functioning and transport routes free for humanitarian professionals who are coordinating the effort.
I hope that this update is helpful in advising of our recent actions however you can keep up to date on the latest measures at: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/russian-invasion-of-ukraine-uk-government-response
