‘It’s an extended family’: Grant Shapps and Ukrainian refugees describe living together
Grant Shapps and the Ukrainian family he took into his home 10 months ago have spoken to Sky News about the experience for the first time.
The cabinet minister, who lives with his wife and grown-up twins in his Hertfordshire constituency, joined the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which has seen British families open their doors to those fleeing the conflict.
They welcomed Snezhana Chaykina, her now seven-year-old son Nikita, and her 75-year-old mother Hanna, who left their home in Kyiv with their dog Max last year.
He said the scheme had been “overall a huge success” and a “sobering” experience, which had affected how he approached cabinet discussions on support for Ukraine.
Snezhana, an IT manager for a travel firm, left behind her husband and their new apartment to take a leap into the unknown when the Russian bombardment began.
The family crossed into Poland where they posted an advert on a Facebook group about the British scheme, which was spotted by Mr Shapps’ daughter.
Ms Chaykina’s family has been staying with Mr Shapps
They are all happily living in his home and expect to stay there for the coming months, he said.
“We had a happy life in Ukraine”, she said, until an early morning phone call from her sister in Germany last February.
“She told us there are bombs falling on Ukraine. I told her, you are kidding, it cannot be, it just sounds mad.
“Then I started to check the news and I found it. The war has begun. And of course, this forced us to leave the country.
“First, I thought that it would be for a couple of weeks, then a couple of months. Now it seems probably it might take a couple of years, I’m not sure.”
Ms Chaykina says she initially thought she would only have to leave her home for a couple of weeks
‘We’ve given your room to three Ukrainians and a dog’
Arriving last April, all three family members and the dog are sharing the old bedroom of Shapps’ eldest son, who was at university when the war broke out, and has now moved out.
“We told him we’ve given your room to three Ukrainians and a dog!”, Mr Shapps said.
Nikita attends the local school in Hatfield and can now speak and read English, while Snezhana works from home and is in regular touch with colleagues in Ukraine.
Her husband, who was given a medical discharge from the military with a leg injury, has recently travelled to Poland and hopes to reunite with his family in the UK.
She says she and Mr Shapps have “a lot in common” but that the pair do not discuss UK politics, except the Ukraine situation.
His wife Belinda had first raised the idea of taking in refugees, shortly before the conflict began.
“It’s just become completely normal, we pretty much operate as one family,” the energy secretary said, making a peanut butter sandwich for Nikita.
“We eat together, put on the dishwasher and those types of household things. It’s an extended family.”
Read more:
What has happened to refugees taken in under Homes for Ukraine scheme?
Ukrainian refugees staying in UK facing homelessness
Britain granted more than 150,000 visas under the Home for Ukraine scheme, and 218,000 in total through other schemes, including family reunion.
Host families were asked to commit to at least six months, and paid expenses at a flat rate of £350 a month.
But with no end in sight to the conflict, the latest figures show more than 4,200 Ukrainians received homelessness support from local authorities and some are sleeping rough.
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UK refugees face homelessness
Shapps hasn’t changed stance on small boat crackdown
A group of 70 cross-party MPs, including former home secretary Priti Patel, wrote to the government last week to call for more support.
In November, ONS data suggested 17% of Ukrainian adults who came on these schemes are now renting privately, while 59% were still living with a sponsor, despite most working.
Mr Shapps said: “I think we feel a lot in common with Ukrainians because we went through the Blitz and they’re going through their country being bombed, and against the odds, withstanding all that evil from Putin.
“I found it very helpful because every time we’re discussing what’s happening in Ukraine, in Cabinet, in the back of my mind or when I get home, I’m reminded about the reality of the policies and what it actually means.
“Literally in our own kitchen. I think it’s quite a salutary and sobering thing to experience government policy quite so close to home.”
But it has not changed his mind about the government’s attempts to crack down on small boats, some of them carrying people who have fled warzone.
Mr Shapps said: “My view is we can’t have a situation where there’s a way into this country by illegal means, by being people trafficked from countries which are already safe, like France.
“So it doesn’t change my view about that at all. It’s absolutely right that stopping the small boats is one of our top priorities.
“And that’s entirely different from being a country that has a big heart and always goes out of its way to help in the world.”
Other MPs who have taken in Ukrainian refugees include Conservative ministers Robert Jenrick and Victoria Prentis, Norfolk MP Duncan Baker and Middlesborough Labour MP Andy McDonald.
Weather warnings are in place for snow, wind and rain across much of the UK on New Year’s Day.
The start of 2025 will bring a “multi-hazard storm, combining severe gales, heavy rain and possibly significant snow as the rain runs into cold air,” said Sky News meteorologist Christopher England.
Pic: Met Office
The most significant snowfall on New Year’s Day will be from Donegal, across Northern Ireland and into the north of England and south of Scotland.
The wind looks strongest in the south, Mr England added, where 60mph winds are possible inland and 80mph gusts around the coasts of the Irish Sea.
The stormy weather continues on 2 January, with the Met Office issuing yellow weather warnings across England, Wales and parts of Scotland.
The UK has faced widespread disruption over the last few days, as thick fog descended.
Tens of thousands of passengers had flights delayed or cancelled, while drivers were warned about dangerous conditions with poor visibility.
Revellers are also set for a “wet and rather windy” New Year’s Eve, with the potential for a snowy Hogmanay in Scotland.
There could be some “possibly disruptive weather” on 31 December, Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said, with Scotland likely to see the worst of it.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for winds of up to 70mph that may cause travel disruption on New Year’s Eve.
The alert, in place from 7am until 11pm on Tuesday, covers most of Northern Ireland as well as north of York in England up to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Greenock.
The forecaster also warned that delays to transport are likely, with gusts of up to 60mph expected in most areas.
Those affected should check road conditions for driving and the latest travel information as well as preparing for in advance for potential power cuts.
A pensioner who is refusing to leave what’s being branded Britain’s loneliest housing estate has told Sky News he is facing bullying and intimidation tactics to force him out.
Nick Wisniewski’s ex-council flat in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire is set to be demolished because the local authority wants to redevelop the area, which has become a derelict eyesore.
The vast area on the outskirts of Glasgow used to have almost 1,000 properties, but slowly the bulldozers have moved in, creating huge mounds of rubble where homes once stood.
The land is overgrown, with all remaining properties boarded up – apart from the retired bank worker’s home, which demolition teams have been unable to touch as he refuses to budge.
Nick Wisniewski claims he is being bullied to leave his home
Rubble where homes on the estate once stood
‘They’ll basically need to drag me out’
The 68-year-old, whose neighbours were all rehomed in 2023, bought the flat in 2017 under the discounted right-to-buy scheme and is now mortgage-free.
He told Sky News he rejected an initial offer from North Lanarkshire Council of £35,000 plus two year’s rent as it would not be enough to buy a new place.
Contemplating a time in the future when he is forced out, he said: “By law they can smash my door down, they can come in here, manhandle me to get me out. That’s the law, and they’ll basically need to drag me out.”
Asked if he is prepared to go to that length to stop himself being removed, he said: “I am hoping it doesn’t come to that, but if it does then so be it.”
He reveals a compulsory purchase order process is now under way.
A compulsory purchase order is the legal power given to a local council to buy a property without the owner’s consent.
The legal battle will now be resolved by the Scottish government in due course.
There used to be almost a thousand properties on the estate
He said: “It’s been all intimidation, bullying, lies. They offered me £40,000 over a year ago. I thought they’d have offered me a wee bit more. I would accept, probably, £60,000.
“They had a meeting a couple of weeks ago saying that they are starting legal, which means compulsory purchase order.
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“There’s so many stages to that and it’ll take a while for that to come in to force.”
North Lanarkshire Council told Sky News it “completely refutes” any allegations of bullying or intimidation.
A spokesman said: “We are continuing to try and engage with the remaining resident and our focus is on progressing our ambitious plans to transform this area of Gowkthrapple for the benefit of the local community.”
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