Westminster Hall
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| Address | 3 St Margaret St, Westminster, London SW1P 3JX, UK |
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| Did you know | Westminster Hall is the oldest building on the Parliamentary estate. |
| Date of Reg. | |
| Date of Upd. | |
| ID | 1270822 |
About Westminster Hall
Holly Willoughby: Man arrested over alleged kidnap plot
... Willoughby and her then co-presenter Philip Schofield denied the accusations, saying they had been at Westminster Hall to film a special report...
UK terrorism risk is rising - Suella Braverman
... Ms Braverman was speaking in front of a packed room in Westminster Hall, where some of the guests were survivors of UK terror attacks...
King Charles and Queen Camilla pose in royal regalia for official portraits
... Those chairs were also used by King Charles and Queen Camilla at Westminster Hall to receive addresses from the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament last year...
Brexit: MPs call for public inquiry into impact of leaving EU
... in Westminster Hall gave MPs an opportunity to discuss these issues, with most speakers criticising Brexit than those who backed it...
Laura Kuenssberg: Jets to Ukraine decision 'not easy' says Poland
... All week, British politicians have been falling over themselves to associate themselves with the biggest political celebrity in the world right now, President Zelenksy - sharing their own blurry phone snaps of his historic Westminster Hall speech and giving interviews about how moving it was to be there...
Chris Mason: The profound questions Zelensky's European tour poses
... To how many requests from Ukraine can the answer be yes? For how long? At what cost? And with what consequences? To stand in Westminster Hall, with hundreds of others, was to see British politics come together...
Ukraine war: Zelensky asks France and Germany for fighter jets
... " Freedom will win - we know Russia will lose, " he told a crowd of MPs and peers in Westminster Hall, adding the UK was with his country on a march to " the most important victory of our lifetime"...
Ukraine war: President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the UK
...On Wednesday, Ukraine s President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise trip to the UK to speak in Westminster Hall and meet King Charles at Buckingham Palace...
Chris Mason: The profound questions Zelensky's European tour poses
By Chris MasonPolitical editor, BBC News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 's tour of Europe, for all its photo opportunities, gratitude and applause, is a reminder that The War leaves The UK and Ukraine's allies wrestling with profound questions.
It is a conflict without immediate, obvious end.
To how many requests from Ukraine can The Answer be yes?
For how long?
At what cost?
And with what consequences?
To stand in Westminster Hall , with hundreds of others, was to see British politics come together.
Witnessing its invited speakers, first hand, is one of The Greatest privileges of this job because people are invited to address The Hall at moments of huge import.
Last Year , The King shortly after The death of Queen Elizabeth.
Some years Ago - and before my time Here - The Pope, Nelson Mandela and Charles De Gaulle .
And now Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
This Was a cross-party audience poised to applaud at any moment a leader who has become The Face and voice of his country, and recognised in much of The World .
A defender of his nation and a defender of democracy.
But can The UK, should The UK, provide what he wants?
This Was not just a lofty exposition of a speaker's worldview.
It was a leader At War with a specific request.
President Zelensky has regularly presented an ambitious list of requests to Ukraine's allies, many of which have often been met, even if not as quickly as he might have hoped.
And so to his latest: warplanes for his country's pilots to fly.
An observation and demand that amounted to " thanks for your help but we need lots more" was wrapped in The arresting rhetoric of a former actor, both comfortable on The Public stage and savvy at The stagecraft of performance.
Presenting a Fighter Pilot 's helmet to The Speaker of The Commons , Sir Lindsay Hoyle , he pointed to The writing upon it: " We have freedom, give us wings to protect it. "
This Was a whole lot More Than Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is promising and is not easy to achieve.
And not only is President Zelensky asking for it, so is Boris Johnson ,
So What should we read into The current Prime Minister 's promise later that " nothing is off The table"?
In broad terms, we can read it literally.
The UK feels it has a strategic, diplomatic and moral obligation to remain steadfast in its support for Ukraine.
But Mr Sunak did not give a specific commitment to provide British planes.
There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, training pilots takes ages.
Secondly, fighter jets require complex engineering support to function properly in a warzone.
And thirdly, they would be vulnerable to Russian air defence systems, stationed within Russia - The targeting of which would risk a huge escalation in The War .
For all these reasons Lord Robertson, The former secretary general of Nato, told The Bbc there were " huge problems" with The idea, at least in The short term.
But he did suggest that sending a dozen or so Challenger tanks, The First of which The Prime Minister told us will be on The Battlefield under Ukrainian command next month, is not enough.
That, He Said , is because " they are defending our Front Line " - The Continent 's Front Line , and The Front Line of our values.
Those words and this trip from President Zelensky are a reminder that The Challenges and questions posed by this ongoing war to The UK and its European neighbours are likely to last for a long time to come.
Source of news: bbc.com