Phillip Schofield has taken aim at the UK government for not being more “welcoming” to refugees who are fleeing Ukraine.
During a discussion about the ongoing crisis in Tuesday’s edition of This Morning, Schofe criticised the government for being so restrictive with regards to which Ukrainian citizens were allowed to claim asylum in the UK.
“Why are we not being more welcoming?” he questioned. “[In] Europe, Poland has said, ‘that’s it, come in, come in, get out of there and get in here’, whereas we are setting out these rules...
“Why aren’t we flinging our doors open?”
He continued: “A lot of people have said, understandably, these Ukrainian families want to stay relatively close to the border, to Ukraine, in case they can go back. Not many of them want to travel this far.
“But [for] those who’ve got family and support and friends here, surely we should drop those restrictions and say, ‘in you come’?”
On Monday, home secretary Priti Patel initially announced that only Ukrainians with “immediate” family in the UK would be allowed to claim asylum here.
The government was met with widespread criticism over this stance, including from former Tory leader William Hague.
Following this, on Tuesday afternoon it was confirmed by Downing Street that this was being extended to include “adult parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings” of those already living in the UK.
In addition, UK citizens and companies will be able to sponsor Ukrainian refugees who want to live here.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “We intend to make a broad and generous offer to the people of Ukraine, those that do wish to come here.
“We are confident that we will be able to bring over significant numbers of Ukrainians. We have a strong record in settling refugees.”
This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV.