Boris Johnson: 'More than 200,000' Ukrainian refugees could come to UK

A senior Tory MP today warned Russia could try to disguise agents as Ukrainian refugees to enter the UK and carry out a repeat of the Salisbury spy attack.

Mark Harper, the former chief whip, said the Russian regime ‘will not hesitate to send agents here to kill British citizens’ as he urged the Government to maintain strict checks on the people coming to the UK. 

Mr Harper said it is ‘really important that we continue to keep the biometric checks in place’ because he can ‘still remember what happened in Salisbury’ in 2018 when a Novichok nerve agent was used on the streets of the Wiltshire city.  

Home Secretary Priti Patel insisted the checks will be kept in place amid calls from some MPs to cut ‘red tape’ to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to come to Britain. 

Ms Patel told the House of Commons that Russian troops are ‘seeking to infiltrate and merge with Ukrainian forces’ and ‘extremists are on the ground in the region too’. 

She said that because of this, combined with ‘Putin’s willingness to do violence on British soil’, the Government ‘cannot suspend any security or biometric checks on people we welcome to our country’. 

It came as Boris Johnson today predicted more than 200,000 Ukrainian refugees could come to the UK after ministers offered more help to people fleeing the Russian invasion. 

The Prime Minister said Vladimir Putin’s attack had ‘already forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes and we must prepare for an even larger outflow’ as the conflict worsens. 

Mr Johnson said ‘many people in Britain will of course want to help Ukrainian refugees’, with ministers now allowing Ukrainians living in the UK to bring their relatives here. 

The premier said the numbers are ‘hard to calculate’ but it could be in excess of 200,000 – double an initial Government estimate of 100,000 – after ministers today decided to extend the refugee scheme. 

The original scheme allowed people to be reunited with their ‘immediate family’ but Downing Street said it will now be widened to also cover parents, grandparents and children over 18.

Meanwhile, the Government is also creating a ‘humanitarian sponsorship pathway’ which will allow individuals, charities and business groups to offer to sponsor Ukrainian citizens with no family ties to the UK so they can come to Britain. 

Mark Harper, the former chief whip, said the Russian regime 'will not hesitate to send agents here to kill British citizens' as he urged the Government to maintain strict checks on the people coming to the UK

Mark Harper, the former chief whip, said the Russian regime ‘will not hesitate to send agents here to kill British citizens’ as he urged the Government to maintain strict checks on the people coming to the UK

Home Secretary Priti Patel insisted the checks will be kept in place amid calls from some MPs to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to come to Britain

Home Secretary Priti Patel insisted the checks will be kept in place amid calls from some MPs to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to come to Britain

Boris Johnson today predicted more than 200,000 Ukrainian refugees could come to the UK after ministers offered more help to people fleeing the Russian invasion

Boris Johnson today predicted more than 200,000 Ukrainian refugees could come to the UK after ministers offered more help to people fleeing the Russian invasion

Some MPs have urged the Government to waive visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens coming to the UK. 

Ms Patel told the Commons this afternoon: ‘I have heard some members calling for visa waivers. Russian troops are seeking to infiltrate and merge with Ukrainian forces, extremists are on the ground in the region too.’

The Home Secretary was heckled by some SNP MPs but continued: ‘I will continue and perhaps the opposite party members, I will take their questions later on, but I actually do want to emphasise the seriousness of the security situation on the ground and that is not something that can be discounted lightly at all.’

She added: ‘Given this and also with Putin’s willingness to do violence on British soil and in keeping with our approach which we have retained consistently throughout all emergency evacuations, including that in Afghanistan, we cannot suspend any security or biometric checks on people we welcome to our country.

‘We have a collective duty to keep the British people safe and this approach is based on the strongest security advice.’

The SNP’s Stuart C. McDonald later told Ms Patel: ‘The simple and just response is to waive visa requirements for Ukrainians and offer comprehensive protection, that is the only way to stop splitting up families and the only way to help Ukrainians as a whole, avoiding the red tape that we have already heard about today.’

But Mr Harper hit back and said: ‘Could I just gently say to SNP members it is really important that we continue to keep the biometric checks in place.

‘I can still remember what happened in Salisbury. The Putin regime is a regime that will not hesitate to send agents here to kill British citizens and it is the Home Secretary’s job to make sure we keep people safe.’

Ms Patel yesterday announced the Government was ‘giving British nationals and any person settled in the UK the ability to bring over their immediate Ukrainian family members’. 

However, that only covered spouses, unmarried partners in relationships of at least two years, parents of children under the age of 18 and children under the age of 18. 

Number 10 confirmed at lunchtime that the scheme will be extended to cover more groups. 

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman told reporters: ‘The Home Secretary set out the first phase yesterday. But you can be any nationality. It is not about being a UK citizen, you just need to be settled in the UK.

‘The extension will cover adult parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings in addition to the immediate family members.’ 

Ms Patel confirmed the extension in the Commons as she said: ‘Those joining family in the UK will be granted leave for an initial period of 12 months. They will be able to work and access public funds.’

The Home Secretary also said the Government will set up a ‘humanitarian sponsorship pathway’ which will ‘open up a route to the UK for Ukrainians who may not have family ties with the UK’. 

The scheme will allow individuals, charities, businesses and community groups to offer to sponsor Ukrainian citizens so they can come to Britain. 

They will initially have leave to remain for 12 months and will be able to work and access public services.

Ms Patel said: ‘The Home Office will work closely with all our international partners on the ground to ensure that displaced Ukrainians that are in need of a home are supported.

‘My colleague, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up (Michael Gove), will work with the devolved administrations to ensure that those who want to sponsor an individual or a family can volunteer and be matched quickly with Ukrainians in need.

‘There will be no numerical limit on this scheme and we will welcome as many Ukrainians as wish to come and have matched sponsors.

‘Making a success of the new humanitarian sponsorship pathway will require a national effort from the entire country and our country will rise to that challenge.’

The Government has stressed it is helping the nations surrounding Ukraine to offer support to refugees.  

Mr Johnson said 'many people in Britain will of course want to help Ukrainian refugees', with ministers now making it easier for Ukrainians living in the UK to bring their relatives here. A refugee is pictured today at a border checkpoint in Medyka, Poland

Mr Johnson said ‘many people in Britain will of course want to help Ukrainian refugees’, with ministers now making it easier for Ukrainians living in the UK to bring their relatives here. A refugee is pictured today at a border checkpoint in Medyka, Poland

Speaking today during a visit to Warsaw in Poland, Mr Johnson said: ‘When I spoke to President Biden and fellow leaders last night, we focused on the humanitarian emergency that is now beginning.

‘Putin’s invasion has already forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes and we must prepare for an even larger outflow, perhaps numbered in the millions.

‘Poland has already welcomed many thousands of refugees with compassion and practical help, and the UK will provide up to £220million of emergency and humanitarian aid for Ukraine and I have placed 1,000 troops on stand-by to help the humanitarian response in neighbouring countries, including in Poland.

‘Many people in Britain will of course want to help Ukrainian refugees. So, we will make it easier for Ukrainians already living in the UK to bring their relatives to our country, and though the numbers are hard to calculate they could be more than 200,000.

‘And if the worst happens, and President Zelensky’s government is no longer able to function in Kyiv, we must prepare to support them whatever happens in the weeks ahead.’

source: dailymail.co.uk