Welsh Labour MS Mick Antoniw will address a special online ILP meeting on the Ukraine crisis at 7pm on Thursday 31 March, along with former Labour MEP Julie Ward.
Mick, who is second generation Ukrianian, led a Labour movement delegation to Ukraine shortly before the Russian invasion to meet trade unionists and human rights activists, as well as members of his own family.
Julie was a member of that delegation and has written about the crisis for Open Labour and taken part in an Open Labour podcast.
Mick has explicitly called for socialists to stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and criticised those on the left “who are so fixated with NATO and American imperialism that they have become blinded and indeed apologists for a ruthless Russian expansionism, for Russian imperialism based on a greater Russian nationalist ideology”.
His crowdfunding campaign to raise money for medical equipment for Ukrainian hospitals reached more than £43,000 within a few days after the war started. He is now urging people to support other Ukrainian solidarity organisations in the UK and to donate to established crisis bodies such as the British Red Cross and the Disasters Emergency Committee.
An associate member of the ILP, Mick is also MS for Pontypridd and counsel general in the Welsh Senedd as well as minister for the constitution.
Mick will speak about his own unique perspective on the horrific situation in Ukraine.
Julie has also written an article for Fabian Review magazine reflecting on her observations in the context of UK current foreign policy.
There will also be plenty of time for discussion and contributions from the audience.
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‘Solidarity with the People of Ukraine’, the ILP’s statement on the war, is here.
See also: ‘Ukraine, Starmer & the Left’ by Will Brown.