ANTI-RACISM campaigners have demanded that all refugees are treated with greater humanity as the Tories announced new support for victims of Ukrainian conflict today, in a bid to improve its “embarrassing” response to the crisis.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove set out the details of a new programme, Homes for Ukraine, by which people in the UK can offer to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes.

Mr Gove said: “There will be no limit to the number of Ukrainian refugees.”

Families will receive a tax-free payment of £350 a month and are expected to commit to housing an individual or a group for a minimum of six months.

Under the new scheme, people in the UK will be able to nominate an individual or family to stay with them rent-free, or in another property, for at least six months and will have access to the NHS and other public services, while their children will be able to attend local schools.

Applications will need to be made online and each one will be vetted.

Shadow levelling-up secretary Lisa Nandy said this was “a DIY scheme,” adding: “Families will still need a visa and will need to find an internet cafe to fill out a 50-page form.”

The government has been under fire from both sides of the House for its bureaucratic and slow handling of the massive refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However Zita Holbourne of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts UK, while welcoming the move by the government, said she could “see the difference in the treatment of other refugees — particularly those who are black and brown — when they are fleeing war.”

Ms Holbourne added: “It would be good if the government treated all refugees with the same humanity we have quite rightly seen towards Ukrainian refugees — we all bleed red.”

Weyman Bennett of Stand Up to Racism said: “Black and white refugees should be treated the same and be welcome.”

It was “especially galling since our government has directly intervened in the countries whose refugees it is refusing to support,” he added.

Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Britain’s plans to help those fleeing Ukraine have been “embarrassing compared with those of other countries.”

He told Good Morning Britain today that people, businesses and councils were “ready to step up” and welcome refugees, but the system to do so has been “far too complicated.”

The latest Home Office figures show that only about 4,000 visas have so far been granted.