Ukraine: 1,000 Days

Debate between Vikki Slade and David Lammy

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

It was important for me to be at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. It was important for me to go back—the first time for a UK Foreign Secretary—and the meeting I was in this morning was also important. We are serious about that reset with the European Union and our European partners. This is a time for more multilateralism, not less.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I host a Ukrainian refugee in my home, as do many other residents of Mid Dorset and North Poole. I want to publicly thank those residents for opening up their homes and to thank the families who joined them for their contribution. Those families told me this weekend over a cup of tea that they are afraid they will never be able to go back home, and they are terrified for their parents and grandparents stuck in a living hell in Kherson. They do not think they will ever leave and that they will be forever living under occupation. What assurance can the Foreign Secretary give to those people living here that we will extend their visas for as long as needed and that, if necessary, we will allow their families to join them?

[Mr Lammy]

I thank the hon. Lady for all she is doing and for championing these issues. The United Kingdom is preparing to sign a 100-year partnership with Ukraine. That is the nature and depth of the relationship we are setting out with the Ukrainians for the years to come. That partnership, that support, that standing with them, will survive all parliamentarians—even the baby of the House—in the Chamber today. That is the reassurance. This is a great country. It is a great privilege to stand at the Dispatch Box as Foreign Secretary with the awareness that others have stood here and stood up to tyranny. We will continue to do that, and the hon. Lady must reassure those families that they will prevail.