Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield struggled to hide their outrage while discussing the UK’s ‘shambolic’ Visa requirements for refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine.

The pair were stunned to learn that just 100 applications have been processed out of 17,000 that have been opened, as the government continues to face backlash for the slow and complicated process for those hoping to seek refuge in the UK.

It came as Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that Ukrainians with a passport will no longer have to attend an in-person appointment at a Visa Application Centre (VAC), and from Tuesday will instead be able to complete the process online.

Holly and Phillip once again discussed Ukraine’s ongoing war during Thursday’s This Morning, cutting live to the House Of Commons to hear Patel’s statement.

In it she announced Ukrainians with a passport coming to the UK, who have family already living in the country, will be able to apply for a Visa online from March 15.

This will allow VACs on the continent to focus on helping Ukrainians who do not have a passport. 

Following Patel’s statement, Holly and Phillip discussed the easing of restrictions with Camilla Tominay and Tom Swarbrick, and they agreed that this new application process hasn’t come quick enough for the refugees waiting in France to cross the Channel. 

Noting that it would still be five days before Ukranians could begin their online application, Phillip said: ‘That is a long time to wait for families who have already been waiting for so long.

‘That’s a long time, what are you going to do for those five days? Where do you stay? What do you eat?’

He added that some refugees may not have internet access or enough credit on their phone to complete the application. 

Holly couldn’t contain her shock as Camilla read out figures published by the Home Office reporting that as of March 7, 17,700 Family Scheme Visa applications had been opened so far, with just 100 processed so far. 

Stunned by this number, Holly gasped: ‘That’s mad,’ before going onto brand the government’s Visa requirements ‘a shambles.’

Suggesting that refugees are brought over to the UK and housed in one of the empty Nightingale Hospitals, Phillip noted: ‘This wasn’t a surprise – this happened weeks ago. 

‘The minute those illegal, cruel, malicious forces crossed that border, everyone down there who could act upon it would have said ‘there’s going to be a refugee crisis here.’ 

The Government has put in place two routes for Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK.

The first is a family reunion route which allows British nationals and Ukrainians living in the UK to bring their relatives to Britain.

The second is a ‘humanitarian sponsorship pathway’ which will allow individuals, charities and business groups to offer to sponsor Ukrainian citizens with no family ties to the UK so they can come to Britain.

The first scheme is up and running but the second is yet to be launched. It was announced last week but ministers still have not published the full details of how it will work.

The current visa process requires people to submit an application online and to then attend a VAC in-person to submit biometric data, including fingerprints, which is used for security checks.

However, there is currently not a VAC open anywhere in Ukraine, with people required to travel to a centre in a neighbouring country like Poland, Hungary or Moldova.

Critics have argued that this requirement, along with strict rules on what must be included in the application, make it far too difficult for many Ukrainians to get out of the country.

More than 2.1million people have now fled Ukraine, according to UN estimates, but the latest statistics from Downing Street show Britain has granted just 957 visas. 

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.