Markus Andrews

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been mocked after his claim that the UK “leads the way” in sanctioning Russian banks backfired spectacularly.The Cabinet minister took to social media over the weekend to defend the government’s record on sanctions, following criticism that it had been too slow.To make his point the Tory MP produced a chart showing the UK had sanctioned £258.8 billion, compared to £240 billion in the US and £38.8 billion in the EU.But opposition politicians were quick to point out that the chart suggested there was simply more Russian money worth sanctioning in London than elsewhere.Labour MP Chris Bryant said: “All this proves is that thanks to the Tories all the dodgy Russian money is in London. It’s an admission of corruption!”His colleague Karl Turner added that the minister’s claim in fact showed the “actual scale of ill-gotten Putin money his utterly disgusting Tory Government have let in”.And ex-Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: “I think this tells us more that the UK is where most of Putin’s billionaires were enabled to safely put their money in the first place.”SNP MP Peter Grant added: “So that must mean the City of London was sheltering more dirty money from Russia than anyone else?”Despite the high cash figures produced by Mr Rees-Mogg, the government has sanctioned far fewer individual businessmen with links to the Kremlin than its neighbours – and been slower to do so.According to figures collated by Bloomberg last week the European Union had sanctioned 490 Russian entities, Canada 413, Australia 407, Switzerland 371, the US 118, Japan 40 and the UK 16.The UK government says that it has sanctioned far more and claims its figure is closer to 228 following a rush of measures last week. But an analysis by the BBC’s Reality Check unit has found this figure open to dispute because it it includes subsidiaries and individuals within companies. Whatever the precise figure, the UK is widely regarded to have not gone as far or as hard as its neighbours, despite its rhetoric. The government has also faced criticism more widely for having let the UK become a hub for Kremlin-linked money in recent decades. More

The government is seeking to expedite its Russian sanctions process and tackle “dirty money” in the UK using its long-awaited Economic Crime Bill – with Boris Johnson conceding that “punishing sanctions are meaningless until properly implemented”.MPs will debate a swathe of amendments to the newly-revived legislation on Monday, which the government says will allow the UK to implement “harder and faster” sanctions against individuals associated with Vladimir Putin and his regime.The government has already sanctioned some individuals, banks and companies, but has been criticised by campaigners and MPs for moving too slowly – and, in various instances, for not going far enough.Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds accused the government on Sunday night of wanting to give Russian oligarchs a “get out of London free” card by still allowing them six months before foreign-owned UK property needs to be registered and the identity of their owners revealed.The move is intended to ensure criminals cannot hide behind secretive webs of shell companies.While ministers have already put amendments forward to reduce the time given to comply with new rules from 18 months to six, Labour insists this should be cut to 28 days.Ministers are expected to argue that the six-month period strikes a suitable balance between the register’s aims of going after “kleptocrats and corrupt elites” without “hitting decent, law abiding people”.But Mr Reynolds warned it would “give Putin’s cronies months to sell up and escape sanctions”, saying: “The invasion of Ukraine and continued Russian aggression demands action now, not in six months’ time.Earlier, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had struck a more conciliatory tone, but said that there was “a bit of frustration … because these issues are not new”.“There was something called the Russia report of two years ago now that pointed out why we needed some of these measures and the government hasn’t acted quickly enough,” Sir Keir told ITV News.“So, there’s a frustration. I am determined that that frustration doesn’t lead to division because I think that Putin wants to see us divided and we’re not going to let him see us divided. We’re going to be united standing up to Russian aggression.”Other changes to the draft legislation aim to make it easier for law enforcement to demand an explanation for how properties of more than £50,000 were paid for – a move aimed at cracking down on money laundering, which is believed by the National Crime Agency to cost the UK £100bn per year.Another amendment would create the legal power to sanction individuals or companies already placed under sanctions by allies such as the European Union, United States and Canada.Ministers have also agreed to lift some human rights protections that have previously protected oligarchs with interests in the UK from sanctions.But two Tory former Cabinet ministers, David Davis and Andrew Mitchell, have proposed an amendment which would go even further – by establishing a mechanism to allow the government to pre-emptively freeze oligarch’s assets even before the legal sanctions processes have been completed.Follow live updates on Russia’s war on UkraineAdmitting that “punishing sanctions are meaningless until properly implemented”, the prime minister insisted on Sunday that the government’s proposed changes “will allow us to pursue Putin’s allies in the UK with the full backing of the law, beyond doubt or legal challenge”. Mr Johnson is also due to host his Canadian and Dutch counterparts, Justin Trudeau and Mark Rutte, at Downing Street on Monday, followed on Tuesday by the leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.In a phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, as a second ceasefire attempt in Mariupol collapsed, Mr Johnson told the Ukrainian president that “the British people stand fully behind the Ukrainian people”, according to No 10.Echoing his mantra also repeated in an article he penned for New York Times on Sunday, the prime minister “underlined the UK’s determination to ensure Putin fails”, a Downing Street spokesperson said.The pair also discussed “the increasing threat Russia’s barbaric attacks pose to Ukrainian civilians and and “the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine, precipitated by Russia’s indiscriminate attacks and ceasefire breaches”, No 10 said. More

A former Nato supreme commander in Europe has broken with the consensus of military leaders to plead for the west to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine.General Philip Breedlove argued that the move – thus far rejected by the military alliance – could be carried out without the “bellicose rules of engagement” that could spark a wider conflict with Russia.Earlier, the head of the UK armed forces became the latest military leader to rule out a no-fly zone, warning it could trigger an “escalation” if Nato were to shoot down Russian planes.“A no-fly zone would not help. Most of the destruction is coming from artillery. It’s not coming from Russian aircraft,” Admiral Sir Tony Radakin argued.But General Breedlove asked: “How many casualties does it take before we take a different approach to this war?“I think there’s 42 million or so Ukrainians. Does it take 42 million to convince the west that we should have a different approach to this war? This is the question that needs to be going to leaders now.”General Breedlove, a US air force general who served as Nato’s supreme allied commander for Europe between 2013 and 2016, argued that a “humanitarian no-fly zone” was possible.It would be “one in which we go in with a decidedly non-bellicose set of rules of engagement”, he told Times Radio. “Those rules of engagement whereby we talk to our enemy, and we say we are not going to fire on you unless you fire on us,” he argued.It would depend on whether, “even in Mr Putin’s heart, he could find a way to agree to some humanitarian relief”, he added.Some defence experts assert that the west will be drawn inevitably into the conflict, if it drags on for years as feared, as countries continue to supply weapons and aid to Ukraine.That view argues that it may be better to act now, to prevent Vladimir Putin from killing larger numbers of Ukrainians from the air.But Mr Putin has upped the stakes by warning that the implementation by western leaders of a no-fly zone would be considered by Russia to amount to “participation in the armed conflict”.Admiral Radakin told the BBC: “If we were to police a no-fly zone, it means that we would probably have to take out Russian defence systems, and we would have Nato aircraft in the air alongside Russian aircraft, and then the potential of shooting them down – and then that leads to an escalation.”Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, echoed this view, saying: “We’re not going to get ourselves into a direct military conflict with Putin because that would be a massive escalation.”And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Everybody understands why we can’t have a no-fly zone, why direct military assistance is not possible.” More

As few as 50 visas have been issued for Ukraine refugees to come to the UK, it has emerged, as the crisis was labelled Europe’s worst since the Second World War.Priti Patel was challenged over the low figure – as she became embroiled in a spat with France over refugees trapped in Calais without visas to cross the Channel.On a visit to a help centre, the home secretary was asked if she had made it “too difficult” for refugees to be admitted, after – unlike the EU – rejecting pleas to waive visa rules.“Nearly 12,000 have indicated that they’d like to come, over 5,000 have submitted applications,” Ms Patel was told.“As of today, only 50 have been approved. So, given the desperation, how is it acceptable that only 1 per cent of UK visa applications have been granted? Are you making it too difficult?”In response, Ms Patel did not dispute that only 50 visas have been issued, while arguing staff numbers are being boosted “across all application centres across the entire European Union”.The Independent has asked the Home Office to confirm the figure of 50 successful visa applications, which was revealed by Channel 4 News.Earlier, France protested at what it called the UK’s “lack of humanity”, after women and children in Calais were told to travel back to Paris to apply for visas.But Ms Patel claimed: “The British government is not turning anybody around or turning anybody back at all.” She added: “I have staff in Calais to provide support to Ukrainian families.”The French interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, criticised the way British officials are turned away refugees at the Channel for not having the necessary visas.“I have twice contacted twice my British counterpart, I told her to set up a consulate in Calais,” Mr Darmanin told Europe 1 radio, referring to the home secretary.Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, called the situation “shocking”, asking if the government had “lost all humanity and solidarity”.On the visa numbers, Ms Cooper added: “This is too slow. Too many hoops for desperate families to have to jump through. Home Office completely failing to understand urgency of crisis.”But Ms Patel insisted: “It is wrong and it is inaccurate to say that we are not providing support on the ground. We are.”However, Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, called for the “bureaucratic nonsense” surrounding visa applications to be cleared away.“We believe that some of the procedures can be really simplified,” he said, after meeting, Ms Patel at the nearby embassy.“We will sort it out later. Now we have to let as maximum people we can have as possible.The figures appeared to show that 5,535 online applications have been completed and submitted online, while 2,368 people have booked a visa appointment to submit their application. More

Dominic Raab dismisses fears that Putin will use nuclear weapons as ‘rhetoric’Dominic Raab, the UK deputy prime minister, has ruled out imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine during the Russian attack, saying this would lead to a “massive escalation”.Echoing the words of Boris Johnson, he said Vladimir Putin “must fail” – but warned this may take time. Also on Sunday, the PM put forward a six-point plan for the international community to support Ukraine during the Russian invasion.This included maximising economic pressure on the invading country and doing more to help Ukraine to defend itself and preventing a “creeping normalisation” of what Russia is doing to its neighbour.“We cannot allow the Kremlin to bite off chunks of an independent country and inflict immense human suffering and then creep back into the fold,” Mr Johnson wrote in the New York Times. Meanwhile, the UK defence secretary Ben Wallace has warned the Russia leader to neither “test” nor “underestimate” the UK. Show latest update

1646579675That is all from us for today. We will be back tomorrow with more on what is happening in UK politics. Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 15:141646578969Over in Ireland, a government minister said the number of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland could exceed 80,000.James Browne said the exodus of people from Ukraine was on a scale not witnessed in Europe since the end of the Second World War.Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 15:021646578625France condemns British treatment of Ukrainian refugeesFrance has urged Britain to do more to help Ukrainian refugees trying to come to the UK from Calais, as Dominic Raab defended the visa rules for those fleeing the conflict.Its interior minister said it was “inhumane” of the UK to turn away refugees arriving at the French port city if they did not have a valid visa.More here:Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 14:571646577262Boris Johnson lays out six-point plan on UkraineThe PM has tweeted out his six-point plan for helping Ukraine in the Russian invasion:Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 14:341646573852Brexit and pesticidesMoving away from Ukraine for a moment, our policy correspondent Jon Stone has an article on Brexit and pesticides. He reports the government is considering using its new regulatory freedom to allow ones banned in the EU on food imported to the UK.Full story here:Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 13:371646572292UK ‘has direct line to Russia war room’The UK has a “direct line” to Russia’s war room to ease tensions during the Ukraine crisis, a defence chief has revealed – but it is “not as strong” as wanted.“We have a line in the Ministry of Defence that goes direct to the Moscow operational headquarters,” he said.Rob Merrick, our deputy political editor, reports:Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 13:111646570852Labour response to six-point plan on Ukraine On Boris Johnson’s six-point plan in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the shadow defence secretary said the prime minister must match his rhetoric with action.“It’s exactly what the alliance of not just western states but increasingly international opinion is actually doing,” John Healey told Times Radio: ““In many ways, some of our allies could reasonably turn around and say ‘well it’s all very well for you, Boris Johnson, but you’ve got to now match some of your tough rhetoric with your own action, particularly on humanitarian assistance, on diplomacy and on sanctions’.”Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 12:471646569892‘It’s very important we show the world we’re united’ – Sir Keir StarmerSir Keir Starmer has said it is important to show the UK is “united” when asked whether Boris Johnson should resign. See him make the comments to BBC here:Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 12:311646568632‘It does not work’ – Ukrainian woman on UK visa schemeOn that note, a Ukrainian woman has told ITV News the current visa scheme “does not work” and requirements waived to support those fleeing from war:Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 12:101646568332Waiving visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees would undermine public support, Raab claims Dominic Raab has suggested support would be undermined for Ukraine if the UK let refugees in without visas.The justice secretary was asked on the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme about reports that 150 Ukrainian refugees had been turned away at Calais because they did not have a valid visa.He said: “Look, if we just open the door not only will we not benefit the people that we need to, the genuine refugees, but I think we undermine the popular support for this very thing, so I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. We need to make sure that we’re acting for those that need our support.”Our social affairs correspondent, May Bulman, has spoken to Ukrainians refugees unable to join family in the UK under the current visa scheme:Zoe Tidman6 March 2022 12:05 More

Priti Patel is being urged to send emergency help for at least 150 Ukraine refugees stranded in Calais by what France calls the UK’s “lack of humanity”.Labour and a Conservative MP called on the home secretary to act – after women and children were told to travel back to Paris to apply for visas giving permission to cross the Channel.Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, called the situation “shocking”, asking if the government had “lost all humanity and solidarity”.“Ukrainian families turned away by UK at Calais and told to go back to Paris for a visa. Priti Patel needs to get a grip,” she said.Ms Patel needed to “send an emergency team to Calais immediately to sort this out today and get desperate people swiftly through,” Ms Cooper added.Roger Gale, a Tory MP in Kent, asked: “What are we doing to relieve the pressure on those frontline states that have already taken in more than a million people?“Time, surely, to cut the red tape and admit any refugees with a valid Ukrainian passport and any accompanying children.”The crisis has sparked another cross-Channel spat, the French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin criticising the way British officials turned away refugees for not having the necessary visas.“I have twice contacted twice my British counterpart, I told her to set up a consulate in Calais,” Mr Darmanin told Europe 1 radio, referring to the home secretary.But, in a statement, the Home Office made no mention of opening a consulate in the port town, while insisting it is “doing everything possible to help those fleeing the war in Ukraine”.The government has declined to waive visa rules to allow fleeing refugees to come to the UK, although it is allowing family members to join Ukrainians already in this country.In contrast, the EU – confronted with 1.5 million refugees just 10 days after Russia’s invasion – has offered asylum to all Ukrainians for three years.Mr Darmanin, in a letter to Ms Patel, attacked the UK’s “lack of humanity” towards refugees “in distress”.France had announced its expectation that Britain would set up a pop-up visa centre in Calais – prompting hundreds of Ukrainians to travel there, in an attempt to reunite with their families in the UK.“Our coasts have been the scene of too many human tragedies. Let’s not add to that those Ukrainian families,” Mr Darmanin added.A government spokesperson said: “The UK is focused on doing everything possible to help those fleeing the war in Ukraine, with an unprecedented scheme to quickly help tens of thousands of people from Ukraine to reunite with their families in the UK. Many have already successfully applied.“Staff have been surged across Europe to support people in coming to the UK and all visa application centres remain open, with thousands of appointments available to carry out essential security checks, and a dedicated helpline has been set up.” More

The UK has a “direct line” to Russia’s war room to ease tensions during the Ukraine crisis, a defence chief has revealed – but it is “not as strong” as wanted.Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said the link is being used for direct conversations with Vladimir Putin’s chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, when asked about ways to “de-escalate” the risk of wider conflict.“We have a line in the Ministry of Defence that goes direct to the Moscow operational headquarters. That’s tested every day,” the head of the armed forces said.“We’ve used that line for me to, to say to General Gerasimov that we need to speak and I’m waiting for him to come back to me.“Other countries also have direct lines in, but these lines of communication are not as strong as we would want them to be. And that’s why we’re furthering them as best as we can.”The admiral was also strikingly more cautious about the risk of nuclear war, after Dominic Raab dismissed Putin’s threats as “rhetoric and brinkmanship”.“We have got to be very cautious about President Putin’s threats,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme.The UK is able to detect “warning signs if this was going to start to chart a path towards nuclear escalation”, the defence chief said.He also delivered the strongest rebuke yet to Liz Truss, after the foreign secretary’s support for Britons – even those without military training – to fight for Ukraine.“We’ve been very clear that it’s unlawful as well as unhelpful for UK military and for the UK population to start going towards Ukraine in that sense,” the admiral said.“Support from the UK, support in whatever way you can. But this isn’t really something that you want to rush to in terms of the sound of gunfire. This is about sensible support based in the UK.”On Ms Truss’s comments, he added: “We can all understand that sentiment and that sentiment needs to be channelled into support for Ukraine.“But we’re saying as professional military people, that actually that is not necessarily the sensible thing to be doing.”He also denied it is “inevitable” that Russia succeeds in taking over Ukraine, after it made slower than expected progress in the first 10 days of the invasion.“No. I think we’ve seen a Russian invasion that is not going well,” the head of the armed forces said.“I think we’re also seeing a remarkable resistance by Ukraine, both its armed forces and its people.“We’re also seeing the unity of the whole globe coming together with a cohesive approach, whether that’s economically, diplomatically, culturally, socially, militarily, applying pressure to Russia, and that needs to continue so that Russia stops this invasion.” More

The government is considering using its new Brexit regulatory freedom to allow pesticides banned in the EU on food imported to the UK.Brussels announced it was banning 10 pesticides on imported fruit and veg in February last year and the UK was at the time widely expected in to follow suit. But over a year later the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) says no decision has yet been made on whether Britain will follow the EU or continue to permit the chemicals on food.All the pesticides have not been allowed for use by domestic farmers in either the UK or EU for some years, but were still allowed for imports from outside the bloc subject to “maximum residue levels” checked by border staff.But last year Brussels regulation 2021/155 cut the maximum residue levels (MRLs) for all the chemicals to the lowest possible level allowed under EU law – effectively banning their use on food destined for the continent. The change was announced by the European Commission in February 2021 and took effect in September last year, but the UK has not yet decided whether to follow suit for most of the chemicals.The chemicals in question are carbon tetrachloride, chlorothalonil, chlorpropham, ethoprophos, fenamidone, methiocarb, propiconazole and pymetrozine. Two further chemicals, dimethoate and omethoate, were also banned by the regulation and have also since been banned on food imported to the UK.The eight chemicals that are still permitted on imports to the UK but not EU were banned for a variety of reasons: chlorothalonil, a fungicide, is considered potentially carcinogenic and is judged to be a possible groundwater contaminant. Propiconazole, another fungicide used by American rice farmers, is considered “toxic to reproduction”, meaning it is classed as potentially dangerous to babies in the womb. Meanwhile chlorpropham, a chemical used to prevent potato sprouting by American farmers, is banned for domestic use in the EU and UK due to toxicity concerns.The widespread use of the chemicals by US farmers and the foot-dragging by the UK government has raised eyebrows among campaigners, who are suspicious that the UK may be concerned banning the pesticides could jeopardise a future trade agreement with the US and other countries with lax standards.The US rice industry described the ban on propiconazole as “frustrating” in April last year and while the country’s potato industry has described steps to restrict chlorpropham as “disappointing”.The Defra press office declined to provide a quote for this article but confirmed that no decision had yet been taken on the eight chemicals that were as yet not banned for import to the UK. The department did not give a timescale but said decisions would be made in “due course” and independently of the EU.Defra highlighted that it had taken action equivalent to the EU import ban on two of the chemicals, dimoethoate and omethoate, and said that decisions about which pesticides to permit on food were based on robust scientific assessments.Friends of the Earth campaigner, Kierra Box, told The Independent: “We’ve known for years that these pesticides pose health risks, which is why the UK already has some restrictions in place to limit residues of these chemicals on imported food.“However, the EU has already tightened the rules, so why hasn’t the UK followed suit“Any suggestion that prospective trade deals with countries that commonly use these pesticides may have influenced delays to these reassessments would be deeply concerning.“We mustn’t trade away health and environment safeguards for the sake of a few pounds or use the UK’s newfound ‘regulatory freedom’ to trash standards that protect people and planet, rather than raise them.”An investigation by Greenpeace’s Unearthed unit published in February found that British companies had shipped more than 10,000 tonnes of banned pesticides overseas in 2020, including propiconazole.Greenpeace UK’s policy director Dr Doug Parr, described the practice of exporting chemicals banned in the UK to be used overseas on food to be imported back to Britain as a “toxic boomerang”.“Our European neighbours have realised that flogging abroad harmful pesticides that are banned at home doesn’t make sense,” he told The Independent. “It makes even less sense if traces of those chemicals come back to the sender and on our dinner plate via imported food like a toxic boomerang. “And yet the UK government continues to allow companies to export thousands of tonnes of highly toxic, banned pesticides while showing little appetite for restricting the amount of harmful chemicals in the food we import. “Ministers should not let our environmental standards fall behind those in force across the Channel. Britain should be leading out in front by banning this toxic trade and promoting a healthier food system for people and nature.” More