Boris Johnson under pressure to do more for Ukraine refugees and to increase sanctions

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Tory Minister has promised that the number of Ukranians being granted visas for the UK would increase “very, very quickly” after the Home Office was slammed for only granting 50 applications.Challenged over the UK’s support for refugees fleeing Ukraine on Monday, Europe Minister James Cleverly told Sky News: “We have made it absolutely clear we want to support Ukrainians who are seeking refuge, both those who have family connections here in the UK and, indeed, those who don’t." The move came as evidence emerged of Russian forces bombarding Ukraine civilians as they sought to flee the military advance with the number of refugees leaving the Ukraine topping 1.5 million.

Cleverly said: “Over the last 10 days or so we have seen huge numbers of people leaving Ukraine, fleeing from the conflict, we will support them in the places that they currently are – which is typically in countries bordering Ukraine.“But we will, of course, also welcome Ukrainians here to the UK.”There was confusion when, on Sunday, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was looking at “legal options to create a humanitarian route” for Ukranians without ties to the UK fleeing the conflict to come to the UK.Under the current scheme anyone with family members in the UK can stay in Britain for up to the three years.In addition to the 5,535 who have finished their online applications, an extra 2,368 have booked a visa appointment and 11,750 people have started their applications but have yet not completed it.The Prime Minister claimed that approximately 200,000 Ukrainians could use this programme.Johnson is also coming under pressure for moving too slowly to clamp down on Russian oligarchs’ dirty money in the UK.Emergency legislation is due to be rushed