Ukraine Shows We Stand United When It Really Matters

MIDDAY on Wednesday is normally when the House of Commons reaches its most rancorous state, as the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition stand up to insult each other, egged on by jeering backbenchers.

- Ross Clark Political commentator

Yet this week something miraculous happened. Informed that the Ukrainian ambassador was watching proceedings from the gallery, the whole house rose to its feet in spontaneous applause. Even the speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, suspended his usual pedantry to allow it to happen – clapping is technically forbidden in the House.

Vladimir Putin has bombarded innocent civilians in an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and he is well on his way to destroying his own country’s economy. But he has also achieved the seemingly impossible: to unite a Britain which in recent years has been bitterly divided and partisan.

Well, almost. There’s always Jeremy Corbyn, of course, along with John McDonnell, Diane Abbott and their friends at the Stop the War Coalition, who seem to think the real problem is Nato’s “warmongering” rather than an unhinged Russian leader trying to recreate his country’s lost empire by force. Thank God Corbyn never became Prime Minister. It is chilling to think what situation we would be in now if he had, and Putin knew that he could flatten Ukraine and the British PM would do little to resist.