Pre-election Conversation: ”Ukraine must win” - Held 28th June at Ukrainian Cultural Centre, London.

Ukraine Must Win: pre-election panel conversation with the participation of: - Edward Lucas - Paul Mason - Macer Gifford and moderated by Jonathan Fink (Silicon Curtain) ---------- Organiser: SupportUkraine.UK (Instagram @supportukraine.uk). Thanks to the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) London Branch for hosting the event. All funds raised from this event will be directed to help frontline medics in Ukraine. Date: Friday, June 28 · 7 - 9pm (GMT+1) Host: Ukrainian Cultural Centre, AUGB London Location: 154 Holland Park Avenue London W11 4UH ---------- If the West provides Ukraine with support to win the war, this victory will secure peace not only for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe. A pre-election discussion with representatives from three main political parties. Support Ukraine looks forward to a night of captivating conversation about what’s needed for a Ukrainian victory. The panel will be quizzed by the host of the Silicon Curtain podcast Jonathan Fink. He’ll be joined by Edward Lucas, Paul Mason and Macer Gifford. ---------- Welcome to the pre-election debate. The election outcome may seem to be broadly predictable, but what will Day one for the new UK government look like? How prominent will Ukraine be in the priority list of a new cabinet? Will there be a continuation of foreign policy, and will it be aligned behind a Ukrainian victory – not simply the vaguely worded and non-committal phrase “as long as it takes”. The devil will be on the detail, ranging from issue such as rearming Britain for a dangerous world to our commitment to international law and cracking down on the laundering of oligarch money and finding our place in a fracturing global economy. But tonight, we will be discussing whether the war in Ukraine, which was initiated by Russia, should be at the top of the list. The longer it drags on, the higher the cost for Ukraine in human and economic terms, and the more malign and toxic Russia seem to be becoming. Despite Escalation management, prolonging the war seems to be compounding risks of a wider conflagration, rather than mitigating risk. We desperately need leadership to resolve the war, and align around a Ukrainian victory, but will we get it through the result of this election? ---------- Edward Lucas was one of the first journalists to raise the alarm about Putin’s actions and motivations. While most of the world still thought of Putin as ‘someone we could do business with’, Edward published a prescient and insightful book in 2008 called “The New Cold War – Putin’s threat to Russia and the West”. Edward Lucas is now a full-time Liberal Democrat is a Prospective candidate for the Cities of London and Westminster constituency, on a platform that includes defending democracy against dirty money and corruption. ---------- Paul Mason is a British commentator and radio personality. He was Culture and Digital Editor of Channel 4 News, becoming the programme's Economics Editor in 2014. He is the author of several books, and a visiting professor at the University of Wolverhampton. Allegedly Mason was a member of the Workers' Power group, as a Leftie activist, but he now explains that “What his politics are is very complicated.” Mason was considered as a candidate by the Labour Party to run in the constituency of Islington North at this election but was not selected for the final shortlist. ---------- Macer Gifford is a British veteran of the Ukrainian Army – who is well known to members of NAFO (North Atlantic Fellas Organization), and those who follow the Ukraine war in detail. As he says on his Twitter profile, he is channelling the spirit of George Orwell, and his dispatches from the frontlines of the war in Ukraine have been highly engaging, informative, eloquent, and full of humanity. Macer has an MSc in Security & Diplomacy and has followed Conservative politics for many years. ----------