Home Office response to refugees is cruel, insular, and bureaucratic

Under normal circumstances, it would be a very upbeat conference.

The last six months have seen big steps towards a greener Scotland, with record investment in nature restoration, active travel and recycling. My colleague Lorna Slater is introducing a ban on some of the worst single-use plastics.

We are building a fairer Scotland with the Scottish Child Payment to be doubled to £20 per week in April, which will help to offset some of the damage done by Downing Street’s decision to cut Universal Credit.

We are also introducing a better deal for tenants, including rent controls. We have also delivered £145 million to recruit additional teachers and support staff, as well as record levels of support for mental health services.

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I will be delivering a Private Members Bill to introduce “buffer zones” around hospitals and sexual health clinics. This will curb the ability for protesters to intimidate people who are accessing abortion services. Everyone should be able to access their healthcare unimpeded and without harassment.

It is a change that the public supports. Polling from Survation shows that the change is supported by 72% of people. I’m heartened by the emphatic levels of support, but it also underlines how shocking it is that such a bill is even necessary.

However, this won’t be a weekend of celebration. It can’t be. Not when we are meeting at a time of such horrific instability and crisis.

Our vision isn’t one that starts and ends at our own borders. We are part of a global movement and a global family. We are internationalists.

The illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine has already killed thousands of people and displaced many more. So many lives have been turned upside down. Millions of people who were going about their daily lives a few weeks ago are now hiding for cover and living through an aerial bombardment. Every day that the war continues there will be more atrocities, making a terrible situation even worse.

Over the last two days alone the Russian military has bombed a pre-school and a children’s hospital, turning the latter into rubble and trapping innocent people beneath it. There can be few acts as reprehensible and inhumane.

Putin’s forces have destroyed vital infrastructure across Ukraine. They have used cluster bombs and fired missiles into population centres. The damage that is being done could take years to rebuild, but a lot of the trauma will never heal.

There has been an international outpouring of solidarity. There have been collections and demonstrations taking place all over the world, including major protestants across Russia. But that solidarity on the ground must be reflected by governments.

The powers of the Scottish Parliament are very limited in terms of what we can do to directly hurt the Kremlin. But we are pushing to do everything we can. We are taking steps by sending aid and medical equipment, disinvesting in Russian banks and urgently investigating what meaningful action can be taken against the oligarchs that have bankrolled the invasion and profiteered from Putin’s years of repression.

The most important thing that governments can do is provide support to the people that need it. Like in all wars, it is civilians and the most vulnerable who are being hurt the most. More than two million people have fled Ukraine, and they need help now.

We have called for the UK Government to do its part, but so far it has fallen badly short. There have been lots of warm words and promises, but well-meaning words are not enough.

If they want to live up to their pledges of solidarity and support, then Boris Johnson and his colleagues should be taking the lead from countries like Ireland who have waived visa restrictions and processed three times as many refugees as the UK has – despite having one-tenth of the population.

We can and must do so much better than the Home Office’s cruel, insular and bureaucratic response. People’s lives are on the line, but they prioritise paperwork and setting up hurdles. The mediocre baby steps forward will not cut it for those who desperately need our help.

Home Secretary Priti Patel

Unfortunately, it is characteristic of the kind of approach we have come to expect. This is a department and a government that brought us the Windrush scandal and the hostile environment. It is a government that locks up families in brutal detention centres like Dungavel while sending deportation vans into our communities to carry out dawn raids.

The Home Office’s historic lack of empathy and compassion towards refugees and migrant communities wasn’t an accident, it was an active choice. And it will only get worse with the new Nationality and Borders Bill that threatens to criminalise people for being refugees in the first place. Perhaps it is no surprise that the same organisation is unable to respond with the pace and humanity that is required.

This isn’t about party politics. It’s far bigger than that. It is a matter of right and wrong. There are lots of things I disagree with the Irish government about. But, when it comes to offering safety and sanctuary to Ukrainians, the difference in approach has been like night and day.

In six months’ time our party will come together again for our autumn conference. I hope with all my heart that the backdrop we are meeting to is one that is more stable and peaceful.

I hope that this brutal war will have long since ended by then, and that the people who have fled it are safe and secure. I hope that by the time we meet again, Ukraine will be rebuilding and that governments and people around the world are supporting them in doing so.