During its February meeting, Ribble Valley Labour Party unanimously strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of and crimes against Ukraine and its people and fully supports the continued pursuit of global governments to impose the strongest possible sanctions against both Russia and Belarus. The motion, as agreed by the CLP, has been adapted into a letter and sent to both local media outlets and Nigel Evans MP.

Whilst supporting the efforts to arm and train Ukrainian forces fighting to defend their homeland, we also note, with concern, the scale of Russian influence in the financial sectors, media and public life of this country. Ribble Valley Labour Party publicly calls upon Nigel Evans MP and any other MP of whatever political affiliation to clarify the level of earnings from his or her appearances on Russia Today and any other Russian propagandist media outlets and to donate that amount to the Disaster Emergency Comittee’s Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal.

We fully understand the need for a united, cross-party front during a crisis and through acts of aggression such as those of Russia, however, we also feel that there should be learnings by those who have made errors of judgment and clarity provided as to the reasons for their previous decisions. We firmly believe in a free press, but struggle to understand as to what benefit to constituents there was in appearing on the aforementioned platforms.

Since this motion was passed there have evidently been further developments involving the channel’s license being revoked by OFCOM, making these concerns even more legitimate.

The motion heard at the meeting also called upon the Home Secretary to ensure that Ukrainians currently in this country are offered security with regards to visas and immigration status for the duration of the war. In addition, the Home Secretary offer a fair and supportive approach to supporting refugees of the war, with the UK offering to take a fair share of the global refugee burden.

Whilst we are glad that Priti Patel MP has recently introduced measures that make visa application easier for Ukrainian refugees, the obstructive initial process and its succeeding scandal has stained the United Kingdom’s standing within Europe.

Ribble Valley Labour Party stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people as they fight to defend their country against unprovoked Russian attacks and has set up a working group to help provide its members with updated information on how they can help in the relief effort. This working group strongly promotes the idea of donating money over material objects for both logistical and practical reasons and calls for all those who can to donate to the Disaster Emergency Comittee’s Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal (https://www.dec.org.uk).

Slava Ukraini

Media enquiries: Michael Graveston (RV Labour Press Officer) press@ribblevalleylabour.org.uk