The Prince of Wales has said the values of democracy are under attack in Ukraine in the “most unconscionable way”.

Charles, 73, was speaking at a ceremony to grant city status to Southend-on-Sea in Essex, following the death of MP Sir David Amess, who was stabbed at a constituency surgery last year.

The prince said “no-one could have given more” than Sir David “for the values which underpin society we share”.

He continued: “Values which appear all the more precious at this present time when we see, more starkly than for many years, the appalling suffering and devastation caused when the path of violence is chosen.

“What we saw in the terrible tragedy in Southend was an attack on democracy, on an open society, on freedom itself.

“We are seeing those same values under attack today in Ukraine in the most unconscionable way.

“In the stand we take here, we are in solidarity with all those who are resisting brutal aggression.”