Politics latest news: UK has only approved a ‘few hundred’ visas for Ukrainian refugees, minister suggests

The UK has only approved “a few hundred” visas, out of a million refugees that have fled Ukraine, a minister has suggested.

Damian Hinds, the security minister, admitted that there had been a “relatively small number” of applications processed in the past week, while the Government refused to waive the visa requirements needed to come to the UK.

He told Sky News that “very soon” centres would be the capacity to deal with 6,000 visa applications a week, up from around 890 that were available in one week.

He did not deny that the UK had not approved any more than a “few hundred” applications so far.

In the past seven days there has been an exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine into neighbouring countries, the swiftest exodus of refugees this century.

The Government has come under criticism in recent days for not waiving the Visa process for Ukrainians, unlike countries such as France or Ireland.

He said that the Government was increasing staffing in its visa application centres across Europe to cope with the influx of people seeking visas to the UK, as Ukrainians have rights to move to any country in the 26 Schengen, such as Poland.

​​Follow the latest updates below.

09:16 AM

Government refuses again to comment on Abramovich sanctions

Damian Hinds said it would “be neither right nor wise” to comment on Roman Abramovich, after the Chelsea owner announced his intention to sell the Premier League football club.

The security minister, asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain whether sanctions against the Russian billionaire were being considered, said: “It would be neither right nor wise of me to comment on individuals.

“I don’t think we should let individuals know what is going to happen before it happens.

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“But in any case, I wouldn’t talk about an individual case unless and until there were measures in place.

“But people should know we’ve already put in place sanctions on individuals and there will be more to come.”

Asked whether he knew what Mr Abramovich meant when he said “net proceeds” from the sale of the club would go to the victims of the war in Ukraine, Mr Hinds said: “No, because you can define net proceeds in different ways, as any corporate financier would tell you.”

It comes as the Telegraph revealed that the billionaire duo of Hansjorg Wyss and Todd Boehly are preparing a bid for Chelsea, while Roman Abramovich says he will not ask for £1.5bn loan to be repaid by club.

08:49 AM

Why is the UK lagging behind on oligarch sanctions?

Despite leading the way on several sanctions before the EU, such as Swift, the UK is now somewhat lagging behind the rest of Europe on sanctioning Russian oligarchs, says Ben Riley-Smith, our Political Editor.

08:42 AM

Boris Johnson is not scared of going after Russian elites, minister says

The wealth of Russian oligarchs with British investments will not prevent the UK Government from “going after” them, the security minister said.

Put to him that Boris Johnson’s administration is “scared” of targeting wealthy Russian elites due to the “legal implications”, Damian Hinds told BBC Breakfast: “No.

“You shouldn’t overlook or just ignore what I just said about people who have already been sanctioned – that is very material in these circumstances.

“And there will be more individuals (who) can be sanctioned.

“And we do understand some of these are deep-pocketed people – that doesn’t mean they are immune or exempt in any way.

“We will be going after people as needed.”

08:26 AM

Five key developments from Ukraine

Eight days into the war, Ukraine has surrendered its first city to Russia.

Here are five key developments overnight, and you can follow the latest news in our live blog.

1. Ukraine’s president said his country had thwarted Russia’s “sneaky” plans.

2. One million refugees have fled Ukraine in the week since Russia’s invasion.

3. Germany will increase its weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

4. France expressed fear that the worst phase of Russia’s war is yet to come.

5. An explosion rocked Kyiv railway station, where thousands of women and children have been sheltering.

You can read more about these important developments here.

08:16 AM

MoD maintains that Ukraine still holds major cities

The latest military update from the region from the Ministry of Defence says that Ukraine still holds major cities such as Kharkiv.

08:09 AM

Russia is threat to Europe and the world

Damian Hinds, the UK’s security minister, told Sky News: “This is a ruthless invading force. When it comes to tactics and military strategy.

“But we do know that this is a ruthless force, an extremely dangerous (force) obviously imminently right now for Ukraine, but actually dangerous for wider Europe and the world.”

08:00 AM

We need to make sure Russia ‘hurts’ from sanctions

Damian Hinds, the security minister told Sky News: “We’re all desperately concerned. This is a ruthless invading force. When it comes to tactics and military strategy, I’m not going to second-guess Vladimir Putin.

“The bravery, the tenacity we’ve seen from the people of Ukraine, my god, we have all been taken aback.

He said that all of the measures such as sanctions introduced by the UK mean we need to “make sure we make the regime hurt”.

07:40 AM

Good morning

Damian Hinds, the security minister is on the morning round. He was quizzed strongly on Sky News over its visa scheme.

Here’s what to expect today:

• It has been one year since the death of Sarah Everard at the hands of a Met Police officer.

• Voters are heading to the polls in Birmingham Erdington to vote for their new MP, triggered by the death of Labour’s Jack Dromey.

• Labour has currently got a majority of 3,601 in the seat.

• The Scottish government is set to publish its plans to make it easier for trans people to change their gender through self-ID – expected to be laid out at Holyrood around 2pm.

• It is the second day of tube strike action in London.