Labour MP praises World Jewish Relief’s Ukraine fundraising efforts
Christian Wakeford visited the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial just five weeks ago during a European Jewish Association delegation visit to Kyiv
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Labour MP Christian Wakeford has praised the “vital” work being done by World Jewish Relief in raising funds for those affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – while recalling also his visit, just weeks ago, to the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial.
Speaking in the House of Commons, the Bury South MP, who is of Ukranian heritage himself, said: “World Jewish Relief and many other community groups across Prestwich, Whitefield and Radcliffe are raising vital funds for those in Ukraine and those who have already fled Ukraine, and I put on the record my thanks to them.
“As someone of Ukrainian heritage myself, this is an incredibly challenging time. My family over there are still there, but I know that they are safe; the region they live in has not yet been attacked.”
Wakeford also recalled how he had attended a European Jewish Association delegation to Kyiv to visit Babyn Yar just five weeks ago.
He told MPs: “Yesterday a Russian bomb exploded at Babyn Yar, the largest mass grave from the holocaust, where 33,000 Jews were killed one by one in a two-day period and where 100,000 people were ultimately buried.
“On 24 and 25 January I attended a European Jewish Association delegation to Kyiv to attend Babyn Yar.
“Just five weeks later, the site where I lit a candle in remembrance has been attacked.
“When I was in Kyiv, there was pro-militia graffiti on most streets. The Ukrainians I spoke to on the street had a growing feeling of anxiety, of not knowing what was coming, while we all expected the worst.
“That has now been realised and they have been attacked. They have been invaded, and it is right that the world supports them.”
Wakeford said during Wednesday’s debate that the UK Government have so far “set just the right tone with their humanitarian, economic and military support for Ukraine, all of which has rightly been offered on a swift and resolute basis.”
But he added: “However, with attacks like yesterday’s, perhaps we need to look forward to what support we can offer our friends when this brutal, illegal conflict is over, to repair, rebuild and regenerate, and to protect Ukraine’s heritage.”
The MP who dramatically quit the Conservatives for Labour earlier this year, then questioned why sanctions against those linked to Putin’s regime in the UK are taking so long to implement.
“Sanctions have been proposed for many weeks. While I think the Government has got the tone right and Parliament is at its best when it is united, Parliament is also here to act as a scrutineer and sometimes to say, ‘We don’t think you’ve quite got it right. This is what we think you should do.’
“Many individuals have been highlighted to whom sanctions should be applied. Where sanctions have not been applied, they need to be applied swiftly and meaningfully.”
He added: “We are in a very challenging time, and we all know that it will last longer and get more serious.
“With Putin’s heel on the throat of Europe, we all need to take this situation extremely seriously; there will only be more bloodshed before he finally sees sense. I do not think that will be for a while yet, but we must ensure that when he does see sense, the international courts and the rest of the world see him for what he is – a deranged megalomaniac.
“Hopefully, that will not be too far off. There will be one message from this House, from the rest of the country and, hopefully, from the rest of the world: Slava Ukraini.”
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