Massive Attack have urged the UK Government to do more to help Ukrainian refugees, saying in a viral tweet: "Don't wave flags, waive visas".
The tweet, which had been shared more than 22,000 times at the time of writing, came in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and carries the logo of the UK Home Office. The band then directed the tweet to the Home Office itself and the home secretary, Priti Patel.
On Sunday evening, the Home Office announced a change to entry requirements for Ukrainian residents, who can now apply to enter the UK without a visa if they are the close family member or partner of a British national. Critics, however, have urged the Government to loosen the rules further, given the dire situation in Ukraine.
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Labour is calling for a "wider sanctuary arrangement", though it has not set out specifically what this should entail beyond "wider family members as well as just the closest relatives". European Union countries are accepting any Ukrainian refugee, visa-free for up to three years; at least 400,000 such refugees have already crossed borders into the EU.
Ben Wallace, the Tory MP and defence secretary, hinted today that the UK's visa scheme for Ukrainians could be expanded. “We need to reflect on what Europe announced with the refugee crisis yesterday,” Ben Wallace told BBC Breakfast. “We will keep all the measures under review.”
Priti Patel has ruled out a visa waiver for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, however, because of fears that Moscow’s troops and extremists could seek to come to the UK. She told MPs this afternoon that she was following the “strongest security advice” as she rejected the call to scrap the need for visas.
“Over the weekend I have seen members of this House calling for full visa waivers for all Ukrainians,” the home secretary said. “Security and biometric checks are a fundamental part of our visa approval process worldwide and will continue, as they did for the evacuation of people from Afghanistan.
“That is vital to keep British citizens safe and to ensure that we are helping those in genuine need, particularly as Russian troops are now infiltrating Ukraine and merging into Ukrainian forces...We know all too well what Putin’s Russia is willing to do, even on our soil, as we saw through the Salisbury attack.”
The Home Secretary said the first phase of the “bespoke humanitarian route” being created for Ukrainians to enter the UK would allow around 100,000 people to come to “seek sanctuary”.
Other Tory MPs have already written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Guardian reports the centrist One Nation Conservative group said in the letter that the UK's "message must be clear: Ukrainian victims of war seeking refuge are welcome".
One Conservative MP and immigration minister, Kevin Foster, controversially tweeted on Saturday evening that Ukrainians could come to the UK under the government's seasonal work scheme, which is most notably used by fruit pickers in the summer months. The tweet was later deleted.
New polling from YouGov showed the British public overwhelmingly thinks Ukrainian refugees should be allowed to come to the UK. Some 77 per cent of Brits support allowing Ukrainians in without a visa, compared to 12 per cent who oppose.
Massive Attack were formed in Bristol in 1988. They have gone on to achieve commercial success and critical acclaim, and are frequently linked with humanitarian causes and left-wing movements such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Stop the War Coalition, and Extinction Rebellion.
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