Government minister in spiky interview on whether UK is making it too difficult for Ukrainians to seek refuge
Europe minister James Cleverly has been questioned over why only 50 visas have been given to Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, according to the Home Office’s own figures.
More than 13,500 people have applied to come to the UK so far under schemes for Ukrainian refugees.
Mr Cleverly was shown a video by Sky News of a British family who said they were stopped from crossing the UK border in Calais, but said he did not know the details of the individual case.
“We have made it absolutely clear we want to support Ukrainians who are seeking refuge,” he told Kay Burley.
But pressed on whether the UK was making it too difficult for Ukrainians to get into Britain, he said the refugee crisis “has only occurred over the last couple of days” and the “vast majority” of people are still at the borders of countries neighbouring Ukraine.
The UK is concentrating its efforts on supporting people in these areas, he said.
In a tense exchange where Mr Cleverly was asked multiple times why more visas had not been processed, the minister said: “I want to remind you that the process has only just started.”
The minister ended the interview rather abruptly, saying he “had to go” as he had another interview to get to.
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