Markus Andrews

Vladimir Putin is “not serious” about peace talks as the Russian president continues to “wantonly” bomb Ukrainian citizens, Liz Truss has told MPs.With the Kremlin’s brutal invasion now in its 33rd day, the foreign secretary also suggested sanctions imposed by the UK and western allies were “pushing back” the Russian economy by years.Her remarks come as Ukraine’s president insisted he was looking for peace “without delay”, with negotiators from Kyiv expected to meet with the Russian delegation on Tuesday in Turkey.But updating MPs on Monday, Ms Truss said: “We know that Putin is not serious about talks, he is still wantonly bombing innocent citizens across Ukraine and that is why we need to do more to ensure that he loses and we force him to think again.“We need to ensure that any future talks don’t end up selling Ukraine out or repeating the mistakes of the past.”She added: “We remember the uneasy settlement of 2014 which failed to give Ukraine lasting security, Putin just came back for more.“That is why we cannot allow him to win from this appalling aggression and why this government is determined Putin’s regime should be held accountable at the International Criminal Court.”Ms Truss also acknowledged that the “value of sanctions degrades over time” and said she would be pressing allies to do more ahead of a meeting of Nato foreign ministers next week.“Sanctions were put on by G7 in unison and they shouldn’t be removed as long as Putin continues with his war and he still has troops in Ukraine.“That is not all: we need to ensure that Putin can never act in this aggressive way again. Any long-term settlement needs to include a sanctions snap-back that can be triggered automatically by any Russian aggression.”Earlier, Boris Johnson also held a call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, where the pair discussed the “appalling humanitarian situation in Mariupol, where heavy fighting continues,” a No 10 spokesperson said.They added: “The prime minister offered his full support to Ukraine in the face of Russia’s continued aggression, including with humanitarian support and more defensive equipment.“President Zelensky provided an update on negotiations and the two leaders agreed to coordinate closely in the days ahead. The prime minister reiterated the UK would maintain and strengthen economic pressure on Putin’s regime”.On social media, the Ukrainian president added: “Talked about critical humanitarian situation in the blocked cities, shared information about the peace talks. “Discussed strengthening sanctions against Russia and defence cooperation between Ukraine and Great Britain.”Speaking in the Commons, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy also insisted Russia must pay a “long-term cost” for its invasion of Ukraine.“Putin’s invasion may have stalled but the threat he poses remains,” he told MPs. “Reports suggest he may be seeking a way out. We want to see an end to the bloodshed and the restoration of Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.“I am sure the foreign secretary will agree with me that any ceasefire agreement must enjoy the full support of the democratically-elected government of Ukraine.” More

It was “always inevitable” that Brexit would have an impact on UK trade with the rest of Europe, chancellor Rishi Sunak has admitted.Mr Sunak agreed that it “might well be” the case that the slump in trade intensity experienced by the UK compared to other leading economies has been caused by the fact that Britain was the only one of them to go through Brexit.The chancellor’s comments came after the Office for Budget Responsibility published research suggesting that the UK’s “trade intensity” has tumbled by around 15 per cent as a result of leaving the EU.They represent one of the clearest admissions yet from Boris Johnson’s pro-Brexit administration that EU withdrawal was bound to reduce the UK’s commercial relationship with its closest trading partners.Figures published by the OBR alongside last week’s mini-budget showed the UK’s goods export volume falling dramatically at the start of 2020 as Brexit came into effect, and failing to recover as quickly as other advanced economies from the Covid pandemic.In stark contrast to the promises of Leave campaigners at the time of the 2016 referendum, the OBR said it was clear that trade deals struck so far with the rest of the world were not of a sufficient scale to offset the fall-off in commerce with the EU.Speaking to the House of Commons Treasury Committee, Mr Sunak said it was difficult to “disentangle” the impact of Brexit on trade from the blow delivered by the Covid pandemic.But he told the cross-party panel of MPs: “It was always inevitable that there would be a change in our trade intensity with Europe as a result of a change in the trading relationship. That was expected and unsurprising.”The committee’s Conservative chair, former Treasury minister Mel Stride, said that the OBR figures show that “there’s been a slump in the level of our trade with the EU” and that, while other countries’ trade flows had recovered strongly from the Covid pandemic, the UK’s had “stayed down”.“Doesn’t that tell you that the main distinction between ourselves and them is that we went through Brexit and they did not?” asked Mr Stide.The chancellor replied: “It might well be, I’m just saying it’s too early to be definitive.”Mr Sunak rejected suggestions that the UK economy had become more “closed” as a result of Brexit, saying that the government’s intention was to open up trade with other parts of the world.But Mr Stride responded: “That’s an aspiration, but the reality appears not.”Mr Sunak replied: “Trading relationships take time. They don’t happen overnight. So I think that of course that will happen over a period of time.”Mr Stride said that a delay in replacing lost European trade could hit UK productivity and living standards.“If it remains the case that these new deals don’t float our boats up very quickly and we stay down roughly where we are and we are a more closed economy, what concerns would you have around that, particularly around our mission to try and improve productivity and living standards?” he asked the chancellor.Mr Sunak replied that the assumption of declining trade with the EU was already built into OBR forecasts. More

There will be no further help for households struggling with energy bills before the autumn, chancellor Rishi Sunak has signalled. Mr Sunak is coming under pressure to step up assistance as bills for gas and electricity soar by an average £700 next week, after last week’s spring statement was blasted for failing to do enough for the poorest.But he today told MPs that it would not be “appropriate” to take further action until it was clear how far the energy price cap will rise in the autumn, and said that even then he would only act “if necessary”.Appearing before the House of Commons Treasury Committee to answer questions on last week’s mini-budget, the chancellor was accused by Labour’s Angela Eagle of “making a political choice to plunge 1.3 million people – including half a million children – into absolute poverty” by failing to upgrade welfare benefits in line with fast-rising inflation.But he insisted that the tax and benefit changes he has imposed as chancellor have been “progressive”, and said that any spare cash available to him in future will go on tax cuts not additional spending. His decision to pre-announce a 1p cut in income tax for 2024 had been taken in order to impose “discipline” on cabinet colleagues to rein in spending over the coming two years, he suggested.Pressed over what he can do to help families facing a “vicious” increase in the cost of living over the summer, Mr Sunak replied: “As we said very clearly in the spring statement document, we will continue to monitor the situation and as we know more, are prepared to act if necessary. “Clearly it’s very difficult to sit here today and speculate on what happens to energy prices [and] therefore the biggest impact on living standards in the autumn. Let’s wait until we get there and then can decide on the most appropriate course of action, but I don’t think anyone today knows what that appropriate course of action ought to be.”Justifying his decision to delay before offering any further help on bills, he stressed the “volatility” of energy prices as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. And he denied that he was “blocking” Boris Johnson’s attempts to produce an energy security strategy designed to wean the UK off Russian oil and gas.Reports suggest that the chancellor has refused to sign off investment in onshore wind and nuclear power on value-for-money grounds. It was today confirmed that the plan – promised “in a few days” by Mr Johnson at the start of this month – has been delayed again and will not appear before next week.But Mr Sunak said: “I’m certainly not blocking anything. The PM is continuing to work through the details of that. Given how important it is, I think it’s important that we get it right. It’s being worked on at pace.”Mr Sunak said that estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility of a further 40 per cent rise in domestic energy prices at the next review of the energy price cap in the autumn were already outdated, with current figures suggesting that the actual rise could be 10 percentage points lower than that.Last week’s decision to raise the threshold at which National Insurance becomes payable – on top of an earlier £9bn package targeted directly at energy prices – will help families facing price rises forecast to peak at almost 9 per cent this year, he insisted.Dame Angela told him: “You’ve made a political choice to plunge 1.3m people – including half a million children – into absolute poverty.“People on fixed rates of income are going to suffer very, very badly in the next period, whatever happens in October. A single person caring for their parent whose main source of income is their carers allowance of £67 a week is not going to be able to accommodate a huge trebled or quadrupled energy bill.”Mr Sunak said he had opted to spend £6bn on increasing National Insurance thresholds to benefit 30 million workers, rather than spending the money on upgrading benefits to keep pace with inflation.“Someone else sitting here could have said, `I’d rather spend that £6bn on the welfare system’,” he said. “That’s absolutely a choice that someone else could have made… I think the mix of policies we’ve got is the right mix.”Mr Sunak agreed with committee chair Mel Stride that his announcement of a 1p cut in income tax for 2024 was effectively a “stake in the ground which you are going to defend at all costs” to prevent cabinet colleagues, including Mr Johnson, from splashing out more cash on public spending.He denied that he had ever described himself as a “tax-cutting chancellor”. But he said that, having borrowed huge sums to pay for Covid support and raised taxes for health and care spending during his first two years at the Treasury, in future, “incremental marginal decisions should be about reducing the tax burden both for individuals and for businesses”.Announcing the cut in the basic rate of income tax to 19 per cent two years in advance “means that hopefully we can have a more disciplined conversation about incremental public spending – which is already at very high levels – so that our collective priority is to deliver that income tax cut in 2024,” he told MPs. “We can do that best by maintaining discipline on public spending.” More

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told MPs he drives an ageing Volkswagen hatchback, as he defended his controversial mini-budget.The chancellor – a former investment banker whose wife is a multi-millionaire – faced ridicule at last week’s spring statement after he posed for photos filling a Kia Rio car at the petrol pump to publicise his 5p-a-litre cut in fuel duties.It later emerged that the modest family hatchback, which retails from around £13,000, did not belong to the chancellor but was borrowed from an employee at the London branch of Sainsbury’s where the photo-shoot took place.Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh challenged the chancellor over the stunt at a hearing of the House of Commons Treasury Committee on Monday, only to be told that Mr Sunak in fact drives a VW Golf, which sells from about £23,000 depending on the model.“I just wanted to let the chancellor know that the cost of filling up my Kia Picanto has gone up from £30 to £54 pounds in the time I’ve owned it,” said Ms McDonagh. “Mr Sunak, did you face a similar fuel hike in the time you’ve owned your Rio?”The chancellor responded by asking how long the Labour MP had owned her car. Told that Ms McDonagh had bought her Picanto three years ago, he responded: “Mine, I think, is probably older than that… We have a Golf.”Mr Sunak confirmed that the Kia Rio featured in his publicity photos belonged to a Sainsbury’s employee, adding that he was “very grateful” to the supermarket chain for passing on his fuel duty cut swiftly to customers.“I’m very grateful to Sainsbury’s for passing on the fuel duty cut very quickly, as did a couple of other retailers straight away, which is great because people’s petrol bills are rising… because energy prices globally are going up,” said the chancellor. More

P&O Ferries must be stripped of its licence to operate in the UK and its boss struck off as a company director after its wilful sacking of 800 staff, senior MPs are demanding.Two committee chairs who have investigated the scandal are telling the government it must get tougher with the rogue ferry firm – amid fears its response so far will fall short.The call came as the transport secretary gave P&O “one further opportunity” to reverse the sackings, before changing the law to stop it undercutting the minimum wage as it recruits new staff.However, although Grant Shapps said he intended to “block” the redundancies, he appeared to be only applying political pressure on the operator to rethink.A “package of measures” later this week will, he said, stop firms flouting rules meant to require prior consultation with workers – as P&O did – but is unlikely to apply retrospectively.Such an outcome will leave Boris Johnson exposed after he promised MPs that the firm will be prosecuted and vowed the firm would not “get away with it”.Now the Conservative Huw Merriman, chair of the Transport Committee, and Labour’s Darren Jones, the Business Committee chair, have demanded harsher action to:Prosecute P&O Ferries and “remove its licence to operate in the UK”.Give ministers the power to take out an injunction against any firm copying P&O and refusing to consult staff on redundancies.Remove chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite – who admitted the firm deliberately broke the law – as a director because he is “not a fit and proper person to run a company that operates critical national infrastructure”.The committee chairs set Mr Shapps and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng a deadline of next Monday to act on the firm’s “appalling” behaviour.In the Commons, the transport minister Robert Courts declined to reveal the specific crackdown planned, refusing to say whether it would see Mr Hebblethwaite removed.He also dodged a call to stop parent company DP World receiving tens of millions of pounds as a freeport operator, or remove it from a government trade advisory body.In his letter to P&O, Mr Shapps vowed his measures would “ensure that seafarers are protected in the way that parliament and this government already intended”.“I intend to block the outcome that P&O Ferries has pursued, including paying workers less than the minimum wage.“You have one further opportunity to reverse this decision by immediately offering all 800 workers their jobs back on their previous terms, conditions and wages – should they indeed want them back at this stage.”Mr Shapps added: “Given that we intend to ensure such outcomes are prevented by laws – which we will ensure that you cannot simply choose to ignore – I believe you will be left with little choice but to reverse your decision in any case.”However, the Department for Transport privately acknowledged the action could not be applied retrospectively.And chancellor Rishi Sunak said it would not be possible to remove DP World as operator of freeport sites.“We are, across government, reviewing the relationship with DP World and all the various contracts that we have,” Mr Sunak told the Commons Treasury Committee. “But there is no contractual route to change the terms of the various things in the freeports programme.“I can’t stop a company that owns a site from owning the site.” More

No 10 has insisted “striking someone is never the answer” after the actor Will Smith hit comedian Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars.The incident came after Mr Rock made a joke during the ceremony about Mr Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, who has been open about suffering from alopecia, for having a shaved head.The 53-year-old Mr Smith — named best actor at the 94th Academy Awards — stormed on stage and slapped comic in the face, before returning to his seat and shouting: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth.”Asked whether Boris Johnson would condemn the Hollywood star for striking the comedian at the Oscars, a No 10 spokesperson said they had not discussed the subject with the prime minister.But they added: “You’ll appreciate he’s been in a day of speaking to world leaders on Ukraine. On this the education secretary was entirely right this morning — obviously striking someone is never the answer”.Earlier, Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, told LBC: “Violence is never the answer to any problem-solving, as Will Smith admitted himself in that tearful, heart-wrenching apology”.Mr Zahawi also told BBC Breakfast: “It is heartbreaking when you lose control of your emotions in that way, but I think it’s important not to allow yourself to cross that line, and he apologised immediately, which is good to see”.However, the Conservative MP Simon Hoare said Mr Rock’s joke at the Oscars was “tasteless” and that he hoped he would have stepped up to physically confront him.“Regarding the Will Smith incident at The Oscars, I’d just hope if someone thought it in good taste to make a joke at the expense of a medical condition of my wife then I’d get up and lamp him,” the MP for North Dorset said, adding: “The joke was tasteless.”Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, was also among politicians to weigh into the incident, saying on Monday he was “pretty shocked” by the incident that overshadowed the Oscars event in Los Angeles.While he said insults of family members “excites something quite emotional in all of us”, he insisted: “To go up and hit someone in the way is wrong”.The Conservative MP Dehenna Davison also said she had written to Mr Smith inviting him to speak to a parliamentary group dedicated to raising awareness of the dangers of one-punch assaults.Ms Davison, whose father Dominic was killed by a punch when she was 13 in 2007, told Mr Smith she was a “huge fan” of his work but said: “I was very disappointed to see you use your substantial platform not for good, but for the promotion of violence.”She said her life was “turned upside down” by her father’s death and so when she became an MP she set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on One-Punch Assaults “to raise awareness about single-punch assaults, and to reinforce the message that one punch can kill”. More

Up to £17bn of spending cuts are hidden in Rishi Sunak’s mini-budget because of soaring inflation, the Treasury watchdog is warning – casting doubt on claims that austerity is over.The chancellor’s spring statement contains a poison pill for Whitehall departments because allocations were made in cash terms and will now be severely “eroded”, MPs were told.The squeeze threatens to hit schools struggling to deliver catch-up support to pupils who missed lessons because of Covid and hospitals hit by a record patient backlog.And it also spells bad news for public-sector workers, whose pay is likely to be cut sharply in real terms, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said.Richard Hughes, the OBR’s chair, agreed “the spending power of departments” would be hit by the chancellor’s decision to make allocations in cash terms – as inflation is set to reach close to 9 per cent.“It does erode the real value of those other budgets compared to what was anticipated when set back in October,” he told the Commons Treasury committee.That “erosion is anywhere between £5bn and £17bn”, Mr Hughes added, depending on which measure of inflation is used to make the comparison.He said the Treasury had yet to reveal its full hand for public sector workers, but they should expect the “lowest-based pay rises”, far short of protection against inflation.During the evidence session, the OBR also:* Said the real-terms cuts to benefits from failing to uprate with inflation are worth £12bn – while Mr Sunak is handing back only £0.5m to a bigger help fund for local councils.* Agreed the 5 per cent fall in the value of benefits is likely to be “a record” – telling MPs it “can’t recall” one on the same scale.* Acknowledged pensioners and other benefit claimants will be see their living standards fall further than earners.* Warned it could take 18 months for benefits to catch up with rising inflation – because they are going up in line with just a 3.1 per cent rise in prices, from last September.* Said Mr Sunak had “headroom” of £15bn – of which he has allocated around £10bn for the income tax cut in 2024, with the rest set aside.Mr Sunak has faced a storm of criticism for failing to help households facing the biggest squeeze in living standards since records began in 1956-57, according to the OBR.A further 1.5 million people will be plunged into absolute poverty, including half a million children, the Resolution Foundation think-tank warned.The hidden spending cuts threaten a fresh bust-up between the chancellor and Boris Johnson – who has promised voters that austerity is over. More

Sunak ‘making economy worse’, says senior Tory in cost of living rowRishi Sunak today suggested there will be no extra support for people facing soaring energy bills until the Autumn, as he faced his first Commons grilling since delivering his widely criticised spring statement to MPs last week.He told MPs at the Treasury select committee : “It clearly is very difficult today to speculate on energy prices in the autumn. Let’s wait until we get there”.It has been reported there are currently major disagreements between Mr Sunak and Boris Johnson about how to tackle rising energy bills, with the prime minister saying the government needs to “do more” to help people with increasing bills.Mr Sunak is being questioned on whether his mini-budget did enough to help Britons with the cost of living crisis.Mr Sunak slashed fuel duty by 5p and raised the threshold at which people pay national insurance by £3,000.But MPs on all sides of the Commons – as well as several think tanks – said the moves would not be enough to help Britain’s poorest families.Show latest update

1648479076Sunak hints at no extra support on soaring energy bills until at least autumn Rishi Sunak today suggested there will be no extra support for people facing soaring energy bills until the Autumn, as he faced his first Commons grilling since delivering his widely criticised spring statement to MPs last week.He told MPs at the Treasury select committee : “It clearly is very difficult today to speculate on energy prices in the autumn. Let’s wait until we get there”.It has been reported there are currently major disagreements between Mr Sunak and prime minister Boris Johnson about how to tackle rising energy bills.Joe Middleton28 March 2022 15:511648478732Labour MP says Sunak ‘not a tax cutting chancellor’Labour MP Angela Eagle said that Mr Sunak “styles himself as a tax cutting chancellor” but that he isn’t one.Mr Sunak said he has never said that, but has always said that he is a chancellor “who has had to deal with a pandemic”. He said the choice he had after Covid was to cut public spending or to deliver on plans to “improve people’s quality of life”.Joe Middleton28 March 2022 15:451648478322Labour MP says tax burden ‘still going up’Labour MP Angela Eagle has told Mr Sunak the tax burden is “still going up”, which the chancellor accepts. He says the reason is that the government is continuing to invest in public services and is recovering from the shock of the Covid pandemic.Joe Middleton28 March 2022 15:381648477946Labour MP says Sunak has made ‘political choice to plunge 1.3 million into poverty’Labour MP Angela Eagle says the chancellor has made a “political choice to plunge 1.3 million people into absolute poverty”.Mr Sunak disagrees and says that he has reduced the impact on prices which are “global in nature” and adds that his package is “progressive” in the way it has been designed.He adds that his package will not add to inflation and has put in “specific support” to help people. He says he is “very mindful” of people on low incomes and “difficult circumstances”.Joe Middleton28 March 2022 15:321648477209Watch: Starmer asked if a woman can have a penis’So a woman can have a penis?’ Nick Ferrari puts Sir Keir Starmer on the spotMatt Mathers28 March 2022 15:201648476390Watch: Sunak grilled at Treasury select committeeWatch live as Rishi Sunak is questioned about his 2022 Spring StatementMatt Mathers28 March 2022 15:061648476267Good to give people a ‘sense of direction’, Sunak says when asked about promise to cut income tax by 2024Stride now asks Sunak why he chose to outline an income tax cut of 1p by 2024, given that the financial outlook is uncertain and could quickly change.”Because in the autumn I said very clearly that the direction of travel on tax would be for reductions going forward”, the chancellor responds.He says he set this out in the autumn budget and “fleshed it out” in his spring statement.”It’s good to give people a sense of direction and a plan for where we’re trying to head,” he adds.Matt Mathers28 March 2022 15:041648475306Right for government to maintain ‘prudent buffer against fiscal rules’Mel Stride, the committee chair, kicks off the session by asking Sunak why he didn’t make full use of the fiscal “headroom” outlined in the OBR’s spring statement forecast.He asks the chancellor if he is concerned about the “uncertainty” families face amid rising fuel, food and energy bills.Responding, the chancellor said it is right for the government to maintain a “prudent buffer against our fiscal rules, which is what we have done”.Matt Mathers28 March 2022 14:481648474721Sunak to appear before MPs at Treasury select committeeRishi Sunak faces his first Commons grilling since delivering his widely criticised spring statement to MPs last week.The chancellor is up at the Treasury select committee where he is being questioned on whether his mini-budget did enough to help Britons with the cost of living crisis.We’ll bring you updates from the session once it gets underway at 2.40pm.Matt Mathers28 March 2022 14:381648473130Laura Kuenssberg named new host of BBC’s Sunday morning politics showLaura Kuenssberg has been announced as the new permanent presenter of the BBC’s Sunday morning politics show.In December, she announced she was stepping down as the broadcaster’s political editor after seven years.Kuenssberg will start her role when the show relaunches this September with a new set, title, format and title music.She said: “I couldn’t be more delighted. For decades Sunday morning has been the moment to explore the events that shape us and to challenge and listen to our politicians.“It’s an honour to take the chair for that conversation in the 2020s.”Matt Mathers28 March 2022 14:12 More