The Lord Bishop of Manchester

My Lords, I hope the thin attendance tonight does not mean that we in the United Kingdom are losing interest in Ukraine, especially when I think of the huge number that gathered in Westminster Hall when President Zelensky came and spoke to us, and when many of us went across and sat in the Gallery in the other place when he spoke on a Zoom-type link in the early days of the conflict. It is my privilege, as the Bishop of Manchester, to regularly attend social functions at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, which is only about a mile away from my home. We have had a strong Ukrainian community in Manchester since the Second World War, if not before. That has been greatly increased in recent times, by those who have come as refugees. I share the comments that others have already made about hoping that many of those people will want to go back and rebuild their countries. We are talking about friendship and a 100-year friendship at that, but a partnership has to be built on more than just defence spending or mutual hatred of a common enemy; it needs to be about building connections at every level. I am pleased to hear what was said about parliamentary connections, but I am thinking in terms of the church connections that I build with my friends in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. What other civil society connections can we strengthen and grow if this friendship or partnership really is to last and be of benefit not only to the people of Ukraine but to this country as well?