Speaker praises Czech counterpart’s support for Ukraine

Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the Czech Republic had shown great humanity and leadership by throwing open its doors to 500,000 Ukrainian refugees after Russia’s invasion.

He made the comments during a speech of welcome to Markéta Pekarová Adamová, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, who is on a visit to the UK with a parliamentary delegation.

‘We have to remind the world that this appalling act of aggression is taking place in Europe,’ the Speaker said.

‘That is why your support for Ukraine is so important,’ he told Mrs Adamová.

‘Instead of causing division, this illegal invasion has had a strangely unifying effect on democratic nations like the UK and Czech Republic - and long may that continue.’

Sir Lindsay said cordial relations between the two nations dated back to the Second World War when Czechoslovak fighter pilots answered a call from the RAF to help defend Britain’s air space.

There were also links closer to home, in the form of Prague-born Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs, who was one of the 669 Czech children saved by British stockbroker Nicholas Winton from the Nazis on the Kindertransport, he said.

Mrs Adamová’s visit coincided with the relaunch of an All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Czech Republic, co-chaired by Lord Dubs.

Currently, 80,000 people from the Czech Republic live in the UK, while 9,000 Brits call the Czech Republic their home.