Generosity is a stark contrast to Putin’s tyranny

CLACKMANNANSHIRE AND DUNBLANE MSP

All of us will have spent a lot of time thinking about the dreadful situation unfolding right now in Ukraine.

This isn’t the first time that there has been conflict in Europe since the second world war, it’s not even the first this century.

But it is the first time in over seven decades that conflict has caused a humanitarian crisis on the scale we’re seeing today.

Ukraine isn’t far away from where we are. Many people reading this column will have visited the country at some point and there are those in our communities who have family and friends who live there. Since declaring its independence in the early 90s, it has played its part in Europe as a peaceful, democratic country.

There is much discussion to be had around the motivations for Russia’s aggression and its leader, as there is around where all of this is going. What has been clear for a long time is that Vladimir Putin is a dictator in his own country and a bully across the globe. It’s important to all of us that Putin isn’t successful in bringing down the Ukrainian state and occupying the country in his own interests.

SNP colleagues in Westminster have been holding the UK government to account on its response to the crisis, which in my view hasn’t gone far enough in a number of areas - including on sanctions against Russia and making it easier for Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK.

In stark contrast, the European Union is enabling visa-free entry for Ukrainians to live and work in EU countries for up to three years. Poland alone has welcomed over one million Ukrainian refugees into the country, meanwhile reports emerged over the weekend that the UK border agency turned away around 150 Ukrainians attempting to come to the UK from France.

The UK can and should be doing more to help people in desperate need.

This isn’t a time for cynical immigration policymaking, it’s a time for every country to step up and offer to help in every possible way.

With the powers available, the Scottish Government committed last week an initial £4 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and began work with organisations on the ground to assess what in terms of medical supplies were needed in the region. As a result of that work, NHS Scotland sent a range of medical items, including ventilators, bandages, and syringe pumps (over 130,000 items in total), to Ukraine.

Locally, many community-based organisations have rolled their sleeves up to get involved in helping in any way they can.

A number of organisations in our area have focused on taking donations of items needed to take to refugees fleeing Ukraine.

The response has been tremendous: Bridge of Allan Parish Church packed up vans filled with donations last week, clarifying on social media that they did not need any more volunteers having had such a positive response from the community.

Similarly, Wimpy Park Community Group in

Alloa, who also ran a collection for essential items, confirmed they were unable to take any more donations. These are just two of the many amazing examples from across the Clackmannanshire and Dunblane.

In the face of some awful events unfolding across the continent, the generous warm hearts of the communities around us stands in stark contrast to the tyranny of Vladimir Putin.

A number of people have been in touch with me asking how they can donate money to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

The Scottish Government has set up a website to help give advice on where to go, which can be found at: ready.scot/humanitarian.