It’s crucial we offer a safe haven to those in most need

IT is beholden on the global community to respond with open arms to Ukrainian refugees. What is happening in Europe brings home the horror of global displacement already bedevilling many parts of the world.

That is why Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill is both irrelevant and inhumane. Voters are not fools.

They see the consequences of seeking to create a fortress Britain.

We all saw what happened in Kabul in August when British citizens and Afghans eligible for resettlement were left stranded. We saw the impotence of Priti Patel’s rhetoric when 27 people drowned in the Channel three months later.

And we will see them again when tens of thousands of Ukrainians head towards the hope of a new life in Europe.

Of course Britain cannot help every person in need. But signalling without solutions is virtue signalling.

I was criticised for talking frankly about asylum seekers. I shall do so again. This Bill is not going to work, and anyone who believes otherwise is delusional.

It would remove the right to seek safety unless you have a passport and visa, creating a two-tiered system.

Those who have proper documentation will, bizarrely, be accepted as asylum seekers, whereas those who don’t will be counted as illegals.

But how many Ukrainians will have been able to apply for visas before they put their belongings in the car? The Government resettled 20,000 Syrians in a scheme that is widely viewed as a success. When refugees have access to safe routes, they use them.

Yet just one individual from Iran was offered resettlement in 2020. And last year not a single person was resettled from Yemen. If the Government commits to a clear, agreed, predictable annual target, everyone from council workers to the Treasury has the chance to prepare.

That is why I’m calling for Britain to set an example by offering a specified number of displaced people from Ukraine a safe and managed route to the UK.

As the world’s fifth-largest economy, we have the chance to do the right thing at the right moment. This government’s two-tier system proposes unworkable solutions which mislead the public into believing tough measures have been implemented. In reality, men and women are pushed into ever more dangerous alternative routes. The option is not an open door or hermetically sealed border, but a rational approach to managed migration for those in greatest need.

Nationality & Borders Bill is both irrelevant and inhumane