Grant Shapps becomes second MP to host Ukrainian family, while thousands still battle bureaucracy

The Tory MP previously said he was taking in a six-year-old boy, his mother and his 75-year-old grandmother.

The family will make use of one his children’s bedrooms while they are away at university.

Mr Shapps wrote on Twitter: ‘Whilst their country goes through the turmoil of Putin’s war, our country stands resolutely with the people of Ukraine.’ 

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has become the second MP to host Ukrainian refugees, after he welcomed a three-generation family and their dog in his Hertfordshire home yesterday. Pictured: Grant Shapps, his wife Belinda and their three children

It comes as Home Office figures reveal 56,500 visas had been issued to Ukrainians as of last Wednesday, with 25,100 of those coming through the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme while the remaining 31,400 have family members already living in the UK.

Of the 25,100 visas issued after Brits offered to open their doors to fleeing families, only 3,200 – 13 percent – had arrived in the UK as of last week.

Meanwhile, a larger proportion – 42 percent, or 13,200 – of visa-holders from the parallel scheme had arrived, possibly due to fewer background checks needing to be done when the visa sponsor is a family member as opposed to a stranger.

The first MP to welcome a Ukrainian refugee into their home, Robert Jenrick, criticised Home Office red tape, complaining that the visa-approval process had been too lengthy.

Mr Jenrick, the MP for Newark, told Chopper’s Politics, The Daily Telegraph’s podcast: ‘Truth be told, it has been a bumpy start.

‘It has taken too long to get visas. For us it took about three weeks to get all three visas approved.’