Thread by @edwinhayward

A thread to keep track of all Priti Patel's lies about the visa situation for Ukrainians.

Format: screengrab (in case she disappears the material) + link to original tweet.

Note: to provide important context for Priti Patel's lies, I am also grabbing the tweet(s) that she's falsely responding to.

Yes, there's more. Every time someone makes the same point, Priti Patel responds with the same false information.

People keep trying and trying to make Priti Patel grasp the real situation, but she's having none of it.

Looks like David Lammy really irked her... Priti Patel had a second crack at telling him his correct interpretation of the situation was wrong.

Here is the reality, straight from the Home Office.

Priti Patel shared this BEFORE her rampage of accusing other MPs of sowing disinformation.

Visa process remains THE SAME for Ukrainian nationals without British connections. Zero allowance for the war.

Before they can even subject themselves to the full Hostile Environment that is the UK visa application process (complex forms, masses of support documentation, high fees, biometrics etc.) Ukrainians have to first escape the warzone and the country.

And then apply, and hope!

It's important to be scrupulously accurate: the Home Office has made some modest concessions for 2 groups of people:

- Ukrainians already in the UK
- Ukrainians in Ukraine who have British family concessions

It has done nothing whatsover for the bulk of Ukraine's population.

Here are the rules that apply to the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians (those not in the 2 special groups in the previous tweet).

Taken from the official UK Government advice that Priti Patel linked to when accusing others of spreading disinformation.
gov.uk/guidance/suppo…

We're nearing the end of this horrible, horrible thread, but it's worth noting all the other Tory MPs who are parroting the same false information as Priti Patel (presumably because they haven't read the underlying document).

1. Tim Loughton

2. Ben Everitt

Again, zero recognition that we might want to do something DIFFERENT and SIMPLER at a time of war.

(Like Ireland, for example, which has binned its visa process and put out the welcome mat.)

3. Robert Buckland

(You'll notice he's using the same messy graphic as Ben Everitt - the one which explains that applying for a visa to come to the UK is just as hard as in normal times, only with more staff working on it.)

And finally, in case you're still not convinced and more evidence is needed, here's the official update on the visa situation from the Home Office... which says that Ukrainians can apply under EXISTING IMMIGRATION ROUTES.

In other words, no concessions.

Added: I think this is the most depressing thread I've ever had to post on Twitter, out of more than 114,000 tweets. (And yes, I'm even counting Brexit.)

It has been clear for a long, long time that the Tory government was broken. But not THIS broken. Fractured beyond repair.

IMPORTANT: All the above is based on public info, as of 24 February 2022.

If there's some sort of visa concession scheme for general applicants, it has NOT been made public via normal government channels.

Here are all the documents referencing Ukraine.
gov.uk/search/all?key…

And this is the consequence...

The final insult in this sorry affair?

Boris Johnson touting the UK's role in taking in refugees, and calling out the fake news on the web.

Notice when he starts talking about helping refugees escape using 1,000 troops? They're on the borders of Ukraine.

Added: Here's a PDF copy of the official rules for Ukrainians wanting UK visas, as they were on 24 February 2022.

It's terrible to have to be so paranoid, but it feels impossible to trust the Government not to quietly amend them and retcon reality.
drive.google.com/file/d/1g34PhM…

Added: here's more material about the UK's support for refugees, from a Home Office blog post.

Read the first point. Carefully. Notice how it doesn't make any concessions whatsoever for the fact that applicants will be coming from a country under attack.
homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2022/02/25/hom…

And if reading this thread destroys your last faith in humanity, here's a look at how a civilised country has stepped up and responded. Bravo, Ireland. Bravo.

(Note too that the countries bordering Ukraine are taking HUGE numbers of refugees, no questions asked.)

I have written all the above up as an article on Medium: "Tory Misinformation and Propaganda around UK Visas for Ukrainians"
link.medium.com/Xue2hLodZnb