Commenting following Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on Ukraine, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
At this dark moment we must renew our commitments of international cooperation and stand with our allies against this horrendous invasion.
For too long we in the West have been complacent about the threat which Putin poses to our allies and to the fundamental values which underpin our way of life. No more.
We must stand with the people of Ukraine and provide them with humanitarian and military aid, while unleashing the severest of sanctions against Putin and his cronies.
The era of Russian interference in this country must come to an end. Much of the legislation needed is ready to go – it must be brought before MPs immediately. Parliament must sit this weekend, day and night if we have to, to pass the necessary measures and impose the most punitive of sanctions upon Putin’s regime.
The Liberal Democrats #StandWithUkraine
A terrible human tragedy is unfolding before our eyes.
As well as the strongest possible sanctions on Putin and his cronies, this crisis demands a coordinated humanitarian response to support the Ukrainian people. pic.twitter.com/Uqs7D9xo5I
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) February 24, 2022
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Raising a flap about letterboxes
Arriving at one of East Finchley's ghost platforms
Restrained
Chase Park fair photos
A swamp of lies and disinformation
Nigel Jones
Katharine Pindar
13 Comments
For too long there has been dishonesty at the highest levels in our society.
Unable, to make change happen for the better in any society, causes problems for both society, and more widely in the world.
How much parliament can actually achieve by being recalled this weekend is more than a bit questionable, although what it can do is to ensure that ALL politicians from ALL parties refuse to accept donations from either Russian or Chinese sources.
If the UK and the Western Alliance is to seriously try to stop Putin, then sanctions must be much more widespread. Just sanctioning a few oligarchs and banks will do nothing to stop Putin.
As argued in The Week, we must now revoke all residence permits and visas for all Russians connected to the Russian Duma, the Russian Civil Service, the Russian Armed Forces including permission for their children to attend schools in Europe. Bleating about how this will affect families will not butter any parsnips. The people who can stop Putin will not do so unless they are seriously inconvenienced or if they decide that the cost of Putin is greater than the benefit.
Putin and his government are utterly ruthless and without any regard to the suffering they are causing in Ukraine or anywhere else. Only a similarly ruthless response will get the man’s attention. He thinks we are milksops who will do nothing meaningful. The government’s half hearted response will prove him right. BJ and his cronies are more worried about the Russian donations that fund them than about Ukraine.
I hope our leader will step up and demand the serious sort of action that this desperate situation demands.
Delay leads to a less focused response. Recalling parliament can help, moreover, the presentation matters.
A simple message that propaganda would not easily counter, would be for all occidental countries to end sporting links forthwith.
NATO now has to put boots on the ground in its member states in eastern Eueope, and that includes British troops.
Tristan Ward.
There are already UK troops in Estonia and Poland with fighter jets in Cyprus to provide air support and Royal Navy ships on patrol the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. I am sure that even more will be on the way soon.
According to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 the Government have today announced that they are ready to take refugees from Ukraine.
“Royal Navy ships on patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea” I sincerely hope they are not all Minesweepers aka the Falklands??
@Andrew T.
Looks like you are ahead of me. My instinct is that there need to be more rather than less!
I’m with Mick Taylor( 24th Feb ’22 – 9:56pm) on this…We need to shame this government into tackling the icorruption within it’s structure in allowing Putin’s cronies to stash their assets in the UK..
Layla Moran’s use of parliamentary privilege to name 35 Russian oligarchs that ‘should be sanctioned’ wsas a good start..Those behind the ‘shell companies’ that own, not just properties, but individuals should be public knowledge..
Will it happen? I doubt it..It would mean Johnson and HIS cronies taking measures that would affect them and their party directly.. Meanwhile his promise of, “The British people, etc.” are just hollow words..
As dire as the situation in Ukraine is, and recognising the need for a united response from the West I sincerely hope that Boris Johnson and his governments many failings will not be forgotten and swept aside in the midst of the present crisis. The Conservative party have been a part of the problem.
Johnson is not the current subject of ire.
The other countries, dependent a little too much, on Russian supplies, are being slow and sluggish.
Net zero targets in my view by even this govt, are too unrealistic. We need energy independence far more than we are realising. Or at least dependence on democracies.
Look at the caution on Swift. Due to energy as much as finance.
I must add, though I said /this, it does not excuse Johnson. And especially not his party cronyism.
But a social democrat pm, and with a Liberal finance minister, too, in Germany is stalling more on banking!
People may be interested in the recording of Monday night’s meeting on Ukraine, Russia and a Destabilised Neighbourhood – organised by Liberal International British Group and the Paddy Ashdown Forum. It can be seen here: https://youtu.be/fRRpNJYPNX4