Ukraine war: Tory MPs row over 'immoral' refugees tweet

A senior Conservative MP has accused a party colleague of writing "utterly risible, illiterate, immoral and offensive bile" on Ukrainian refugees.

Daniel Kawczynski claimed on Twitter that "British left-wing parties" were making "illiterate and immoral" calls for the UK to take in more people.

But Simon Hoare, chair of the Commons Northern Ireland Committee, wrote that he did "not speak for the Tory party".

"I'm not sure you speak for humanity," he added.

More than 2.1 million people have fled Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin launched Russia's invasion of the country last month, the United Nations says.

According to the latest figures, the UK has granted only 957 visas to Ukrainian refugees, while Poland has taken in about 1.3 million people.

The government has been under pressure from opposition parties and some Tory MPs to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to get to the UK.

On Wednesday, Mr Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, tweeted: "British Left wing parties demand Britain takes in more Ukrainian refugees. This is illiterate and immoral.

"When war is over Ukrainians will need to return home to rebuild their country. We should be supporting Ukrainian refugees in frontline states like Poland & Romania."

This prompted an angry response from Mr Hoare, MP for North Dorset, who tweeted: "What utterly risible, illiterate, immoral and offensive bile. Haven't you heard what Boris Johnson has been saying?

"You do not speak for the Tory party. I'm not sure you speak for humanity #whitehotfury."

Mr Kawczynski, who has since deleted his tweet, told BBC Radio Shropshire on Thursday that Mr Putin wanted an "ethnic cleansing" of Ukraine.

He added that he was afraid that the UK and other countries would play into the Russian president's hands.

"He wants to turn vast tracts of this country into Russia or take complete control," Mr Kawczynski, who was born in Poland, said.

"If you lose the people, if they leave in their droves as they did in Bosnia and other places, it's that much more difficult for long-term reconstruction."

"I would argue that the best value for money for the British ratepayer is to send a lot of financial assistance to these countries which are relatively poor but which are Nato partners of ours so that we can support these countries in holding on to these refugees."

Questioned about Mr Hoare's comments, he replied: "I think I'm going to leave Twitter because you can't really explain yourself in 240 characters."

Also speaking to BBC Radio Shropshire on Thursday, Mr Hoare said he had to read Mr Kawczynski's original tweet three times, thinking it was either from a parody account or he had misread it.

He added that figures from across the Conservative party had been calling for an "open-hearted" response to the "humanitarian crisis" in Ukraine.

Since the row between the two men began, the UK has announced plans to streamline the visa application process for Ukrainian nationals.

Those with passports will be able to apply entirely online from Tuesday and will be allowed to give their biometric data on arrival in the UK instead of at an overseas visa application centre.

Labour has called for ministers to lift "normal visa conditions" for Ukrainian refugees so the UK can take its "fair share".