This month marks the one year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With an expected renewed Russian offensive expected in weeks, the fight goes on for the Ukrainians.
This week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Parliament to address MPs and Peers in the historic Westminster Hall. Such an event is a rare honour. Charles de Gaulle, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama have been other world leaders to similarly do so; as have our late Queen and new King. This, however, was the first time a leader of a country at war has addressed both Houses.
Security being tight, my Parliamentary team and I found out about the address early on the day of the visit itself. Having already been booked to visit our multi-billion pound upgrade of the railway between Manchester and York, I had to forego the opportunity to hear this powerful and historic speech. My job for the day was instead to visit and thank some of the 2,000 men and women building a new and upgraded railway through the Pennines.
It was clear to all that the atmosphere was one of solidarity with the Ukrainian people. My team were honoured to be able to attend such a historic moment, the resilience and the character of President Zelenskyy came across in his speech. My team said that being in the presence of President Zelenskyy brought the realities of the war to the forefront of their minds and reminded them of the strength of the Ukrainian people.
The chief request from President Zelenskyy was for the UK to supply warplanes to help Ukraine protect its populace from Russian bombardments and help the Armed Forces of Ukraine reclaim its territory in the coming months. We are examining the ways in which the UK could provide Ukraine with fighter jets. Nonetheless, the training of pilots takes years. I’ve written previously that the present stage of this conflict does not involve British troops and pilots being put on the front line. We have to walk a fine line between supporting Ukraine and avoiding creating a much larger global conflict.
I am proud that the UK is the largest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. Our already supplied £2.3billion of military hardware and humanitarian aid will be soon supplemented by the supply of our Challenger II tanks. After the speech in Parliament, Rishi Sunak and President Zelenskyy went to Salisbury Plain to view our troops training their Ukrainians counterparts to use these tanks.
Of course, to win a war you need not just the military hardware, but the infrastructure to deliver it. For instance, my own Department of Transport has been providing Ukraine with the equipment needed to help it rebuild bombed railways. We stand ready to do more; alongside 120 British transport companies who have signed up to help us.
Back to domestic matters, I travelled by train from the Pennine towns of Batley, Morley and Bingley, via Leeds, to see HS2’s progress through the Midlands. Joined by the Mayor of West Midlands, Andy Street, I visited the new Curzon Street station site. This is the first new intercity terminus station built in Britain since the 19th century and will be the centre of high-speed rail in the Midlands. Eventually there will be nine trains per hour from the station. Thousands of new jobs are being created off the back of this investment. It was good to see some of the decisions I have made for this site being put into action. This being during National Apprenticeship week, I was able to meet some of the apprentices whose careers will be fulfilled by this new railway project. It was only three weeks ago that I met Jessica, our one thousandth HS2 apprentice.
Whilst I am sorry that I missed the history of President Zelenskyy’s visit, I know that he was afforded a hero’s welcome by my colleagues. My job, for the last two days, has been to go out to visit the people building our new railways in the North and Midlands. I am aware that we want more of it down South, but we do need to spread investment across the country. From Batley on Wednesday to Birmingham on Thursday, it’s then back home to Bexhill and Battle for constituency Friday.
