Local response is magnificent
The response from the people of Perthshire to the refugee crisis in Ukraine has simply been magnificent.
I have been able to see at first hand the efforts of community organisations and individuals the length and breadth of Perthshire and I want to thank everybody for all their efforts.
From Blairgowrie to Aberfeldy, from Crieff to Coupar Angus, to the streets of Perth, the people of Perthshire have gathered to support the Ukrainian people in their time of need.
And there have been some exceptional efforts.
Steve Carr, the Perth man who helped found the charity Dnipro Kids Appeal, has been involved in an extraordinary adventure, travelling to the besieged Ukrainian city to collect and transport Ukrainian orphans to safety in Poland, then eventually on to Scotland.
In Aberfeldy The Schiehallion Hotel’s owner Gavin Price and his colleagues have organised a database of hosts prepared to house and employ refugees.
He has a team in place to help organise potential sponsorships, travel and paperwork for Ukrainians wanting to come to Scotland.
Aberfeldy is now quickly becoming a Scotland-wide leader in directly helping fleeing Ukrainians.
Whilst all this is going on the Home Office continues to slow everything down with a bewildering bureaucracy and a blizzard of paperwork.
The UK, almost alone in Europe, still do not offer visa free access to refugees and the schemes they have set up have so far failed to match the demand created by almost two million people seeking to flee Ukraine.
In parliament I have consistently insisted that the Home Office and the UK Government match the efforts of my constituents and do the correct humanitarian thing.
The UK Government is, of course, held back by a decades old antipathy towards refugees and people seeking to come to the UK to flee conflict and settle in the UK.
We have just concluded a Brexit where the main principle was in‘taking back control’with a determination to stop people coming to the UK as its main objective.
This is also a UK Government that created the ‘hostile environment’and the grotesque spectacle of vans touring the streets of London telling illegal refugees to‘go home or face arrest’.
It is perhaps a bit too much to expect them to move quickly with this ingrained culture.
No one knows how long this is likely to last or how this may be concluded, but right now we are experiencing the most harrowing humanitarian crisis Europe has experienced since the SecondWorldWar.
This Russian aggression has united communities across the world and the desire to assist and support has been unprecedented.
Perthshire is more than ready to play its part and in the House of Commons I will continue to push the UK Government to do more.