Meeting of the Parliament 26 February 2026 [Draft]
Over last year’s Easter recess, Paul Sweeney and I joined the Mighty Convoy charity in delivering seven ambulances overland to armed forces in Ukraine for immediate use on the front line. What struck us both was the proximity, because the front line is just three tanks of diesel away from here.
What also struck us was that the country is trying, and succeeding, to live as normal a life as possible. There is no rationing and the burrito shacks are still offering happy hour. However, we were also given an air‑attack briefing and we saw the graves. The cemeteries around the Greek Orthodox churches of western Ukraine are swollen with the corpses of the glorious defenders. In central Lviv, a garden not unlike Princes Street gardens is given over for use as a war cemetery, where flags of the glorious defenders fly as far as the eye can see. There were three funerals there on the morning of our arrival.
On this fourth anniversary, I am particularly thinking of our student guide, Sasha, who has since been drafted and is now serving on the eastern front, and of Father Taras, whom we met in Yavoriv army base. An army veteran of 10 years, he has never carried a gun but serves on the front line. As we were approaching holy week, I asked him whether the soldiers came to his services. He said, “No. Mostly, they just want me to hear their confessions, because they think they are going to die.”
They are fighting for all of us. Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the heroes. [Applause.]