UK Politics

Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has suggested Sir Keir Starmer should not resign if he is fined by Durham Police over the beer and takeaway meal with colleagues during lockdown.Mr Rees-Mogg – who has previously dismissed the Partygate scandal as “fluff” – said the Labour leader should be left to get on with more important matters.It comes despite senior Tories’ attempts to step up pressure over the “Beergate” saga, with ministers demanding Starmer address “holes” in his account over the curry eaten at a Labour event last April.Asked by Andrew Neil on his new Channel 4 programme if he thought the Beergate row was also “fluff”, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “It must be in the same category of seriousness.”Asked if he should step down if fined, the senior Tory figure said: “I think he should pay a fine and talk about the issues of great importance.”The Brexit opportunities minister added: “The difficulty for Sir Keir is that he said, before the result of an investigation, that the prime minister should resign.”Mr Rees-Mogg said Partygate scandal was “fundamentally second tier” issue, adding: “The issue for [Starmer] is one of judgement. Did he get Partygate right? … This is the not the primary issue of our time.”The veteran interviewer joked about the saga at the start of The Andrew Neil Show. Seen eating a curry with a bottle of beer, Mr Neil said it was “not a party – it’s work event”.Durham Constabulary is now investigating claims that an event attended by Sir Keir and other senior party figures and activists while campaigning last year might have broken local Covid regulations.A leaked memo in The Mail on Sunday indicated that the takeaway meal in Durham had been planned as part of Sir Keir’s itinerary for from 8.40pm to 10pm on the day of campaigning last April.The only business listed after the dinner was for Sir Keir to walk back to his hotel, according to the report. The Labour leader has previously claimed he “paused for food” and continued working after the meal, saying “the idea that nobody works at 10 o’clock at night is absurd”.Separately, a source who was present at the event told the Sunday Times: “He did not go back to work to the best of my knowledge.” The same source said some Labour people “were just there for a jolly”.A spokesman for Starmer’s office said: “Keir was working, a takeaway was made available in the kitchen, and he ate between work demands. No rules were broken.”Deputy PM Dominic Raab accused Sir Keir of “complete hypocrisy” over the saga, telling Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News: “He needs to fess up and answer all of the holes in the account that he gave for that beer and curry event in Durham.”But Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy described Sir Keir as “Mr Rules” on Sunday, and said Tory ministers’ attacks over the Beergate saga were “frankly absurd and pretty desperate”.It comes as the Metropolitan Police are believed to have begun issuing more fines to Downing Street staff over gatherings held in government offices during Covid lockdown curbs.Scotland Yard is starting to hand out fines over a Christmas party held at No 10 on 18 December 2020, according to The Mirror.Scotland Yard would not confirm if fines had yet been issued over the event – held while London was in strict Tier 3 measures – but it is one of 12 events its Operation Hillman team is investigating.Mr Johnson was forced to address the issue of the 18 December bash after the explosive leak of a video showing staff holding a mock press conference and making jokes about a Christmas party.It led to the resignation of government aide Allegra Stratton and the announcement of an investigation by top civil servant Sue Gray’s investigation. More

Boris Johnson’s government is threatening to tear up the Northern Ireland protocol unless the EU agrees to ditch border checks soon, despite warnings the row could spark a “horrific” trade war.The Independent understands that foreign secretary Liz Truss is pushing for unilateral action unless there is a quick and significant change in stance by Brussels to remove checks on goods agreed in the Brexit withdrawal deal.A Foreign Office source said a compromise appeared unlikely after European Commission negotiator Maros Sefcovic recently made clear in a call to Ms Truss that the EU could not go beyond its existing proposals to ease only some checks.Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis – who heads to Stormont on Monday for crisis talks after Sinn Fein’s historic election victory – suggested that the government was ready to “do what we need to do” to override the protocol.Mr Lewis denied that the government was “dancing to the DUP’s tune”, with the unionist party refusing to enter into power-sharing arrangements with Sinn Fein until Downing Street scraps the protocol checks on goods coming from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.“It is really frustrating that the EU have not shown the flexibility we need to see to get that resolution,” Mr Lewis told Sky News on Sunday.On the prospect of legislation to override the protocol, Mr Lewis added: “We’ve always said we take nothing off the table, and that hasn’t changed. We will do what we need to do … There is a point we will have to make some decisions.”The Republic of Ireland government urged all parties to work together to re-establish a power-sharing executive after Sinn Fein emerged the largest party at the Stormont assembly for the first time.Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the EU “has been willing to show a lot of flexibility over the last 12 months to try and find a basis for agreement”.Mr Coveney added: “We don’t need threats of unilateral action, unilateral legislation in Westminster. What we need is partnership and intense negotiations to try and finally settle the issues around the protocol without dismantling an international treaty.”With the EU unlikely to give into threats, UK food industry bosses told The Independent they fear that a trade war would lead to a further spike in supermarket prices, just as families are struggling to cope with soaring living costs.The EU Commission is prepared to take retaliatory trade action if No 10 tears up its commitment to uphold the protocol, say legal experts – including moves to slap tariffs on British goods.“The EU might take legal action initially, but there could be some punitive measures. If we end up with tariffs being applied on goods then that would be horrific. It will push up costs and prices,” said the British Meat Processors Association’s trade policy adviser Peter Hardwick.Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, said he expected a “ratcheting up” in the UK-EU row. “Tariffs would be a huge step backwards. They would add significant inflationary pressure to costs at all levels, through to the end consumer.” More

Senior Conservative MP Damian Green has called for an end to ministers’ “culture war” attacks on the BBC and the judiciary – saying the strategy was losing the party voters in the south of England.The former minister, influential leader of the One Nation caucus of backbenchers, said the poor local election results in so-called “blue wall” heartlands reflected distaste for an “embarrassing” government.Mr Green said he took “little consolation” from Labour’s struggle to make inroads in the north when so many traditional Tory voters were “distancing themselves” from the party in the south and in London.“They want a government that seeks to unite society, and resists the urge to declare culture wars on institutions like the judiciary or the BBC,” he said of southern Tories in an article for the Sunday Telegraph.“They believe Conservatism involves respect for institutions, not a revolutionary desire to smash them up. They also want a calm, competent government that is not embarrassing.”Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has stoked battles with the “lefty luvvie lynch mob” over the “outdated” BBC licence fee model and plans to privatise Channel 4.Mr Green’s intervention comes as the head of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) warned that the Channel 4 sell-off undermined the government’s “levelling up” agenda by risking jobs and investment in the north of England.Henri Murison, whose influential group is chaired by former Tory chancellor George Osborne, said the “incoherent” plan could be open to legal challenge.On the prospect of court action from production companies set to lose out, Mr Murison said: “When government ministers make decisions based on bad advice they shouldn’t be surprised when they are legally challenged.”Boris Johnson faces renewed pressure from his own benches to change course following Thursday’s elections, and is hoping to use Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech to show he is responding to the concerns of voters and moving on from scandals.Mr Green said the party must “rediscover the virtues that appeal to natural Conservatives in strong Conservative areas” – including reducing the tax burden to help those struggling with the rising cost of living.From the right of the party, former minister Sir John Redwood called for tax cuts and warned governments “are usually only swept from office when the economy goes into recession on their watch”.Levelling up secretary Michael Gove suggested that falling levels of home ownership were a key factor in the heavy local election losses – but insisted it would be “bonkerooney” to replace Mr Johnson over Partygate.The government’s plans to increase the supply of homes form part of its Levelling Up and Regeneration bill, set to be unveiled next week.The reforms also aim to revitalise high streets and town centres, including by giving councils extra powers to force landlords to rent out empty shops.The prime minister has also promised to deliver a “super seven” of Brexit bills that will cut red tape and “unnecessary barriers inherited from the EU”.Justice secretary Dominic Raab said “common sense” reforms to make it easier to deport foreign offenders as part of a shake-up of human rights laws are likely to feature in the Queen’s Speech.Mr Raab insisted that while the elections had been “challenging”, the PM would stay on at No 10. “I’m confident that he can and will win the next election,” he said.The deputy PM admitted the Liberal Democrat resurgence in the south of England would mean he faces a “tough fight” in his own Esher and Walton seat in Surrey.The Lib Dems say Mr Raab, Mr Redwood and Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond are among the top 10 Conservative MPs most at risk from a “blue wall backlash” at the next election. More

Boris Johnson’s strategist criticised the manner in which female Conservative MPs raised complaints about colleague Neil Parish for watching porn in parliament, it has been claimed.Deputy chief of staff David Canzini reportedly told No 10 staff that he was “shocked” that Tory MPs had chosen to raise the matter in an open forum – calling for “blue on blue” attacks to end.Mr Canzini suggested to government special advisers that such matters were best raised privately as he called for more party unity, according to the Sunday Times.“It felt really grubby. Several female spads special advisers looked uncomfortable,” one source told the newspaper about the strategist’s alleged comments at a meeting on Friday.“Dismissing the concerns of multiple female MPs as a shocking blue-on-blue attack is appalling … If this is the Conservative offering, we are screwed,” they added.Downing Street did not respond to request for comment on the story, but No 10 are said to have insisted that Mr Canzini did not explicitly single out the female MPs behind the complaint against Mr Parish.One senior female MP responded by saying there should be better “mechanism” so that MPs could raise their concerns about a colleague with the whips “with the confidence it would actually be acted upon”.She told the Sunday Times: “We do have to end the blue-on-blue attacks, but we can only do that by having proper respect for female colleagues. This epitomises the concerns about whether female colleagues are there to be tolerated or valued.”Neil Parish has resigned last weekend as the Tory MP Tiverton and Honiton after admitting watching pornography in the Commons, in what he described as a “moment of madness”.A female minister has initially raised that matter at a meeting at a meeting of Tory MPs and the chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris in Westminster the previous week, saying she had seen Mr Parish viewing adult material on his phone. Her complaint was backed up by a second female MP.It was not until after the story had broken in the press that the chief whip referred it to parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, which deals with allegations of harassment and bullying.Mr Heaton-Harris, criticised for reacting too slowly to the claim, wrote to MPs this week to acknowledge that “we need to do more to improve the culture we work in”.He said two female whips, Amanda Solloway and Rebecca Harris, would “look at how we can better respond to any welfare issues”.The chief whip also revealed that Foreign Office minister Amanda Milling had been asked to set up a “support group” for Tory colleagues dedicated to providing more guidance. More

Metropolitan Police are believed to have begun issuing more fines to Downing Street staff over gatherings held in government offices during Covid lockdown curbs.Scotland Yard is starting to hand out fines over a Christmas party held at No 10 on 18 December 2020, according to The Mirror.The festive bash, details of which first emerged at the end of last year and sparked the Partygate scandal, was said to have been attended by dozens of Boris Johnson’s staff.Scotland Yard would not confirm if fines had yet been issued over the event – held while London was in strict Tier 3 measures – but it is one of 12 events its Operation Hillman team is investigating.Mr Johnson was forced to address the issue of the 18 December bash after the explosive leak of a video showing staff holding a mock press conference and making jokes about a Christmas party.It led to the resignation of government aide Allegra Stratton and the announcement of an investigation by top civil servant Sue Gray’s investigation.The report on fresh fines comes as senior Tories tried to step up pressure on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over the so-called “Beergate” saga.A leaked memo in the Mail on Sunday indicated that the takeaway meal in Durham had been planned as part of Sir Keir’s itinerary for from 8.40pm to 10pm on the day of campaigning last April, no further work was scheduled after the dinner.The only business listed after the dinner is for Sir Keir to walk back to his hotel – he has previously claimed he “paused for food” and continued working after the meal, saying “the idea that nobody works at 10 o’clock at night is absurd”.Separately, a source who was present at the event told the Sunday Times: “He did not go back to work to the best of my knowledge.” The same source said some Labour people “were just there for a jolly”.A spokesman for Starmer’s office said: “Keir was working, a takeaway was made available in the kitchen, and he ate between work demands. No rules were broken.”Culture secretary Nadine Dorries claimed the memo showed there was “no break in a work meeting”, while Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said: “Starmer claimed it was an impromptu curry. Turns out it was pre-planned.”Deputy PM Dominic Raab accused Sir Keir of “complete hypocrisy” over the Durham beer, telling Sky News on Sunday: “He needs to fess up and answer all of the holes in the account that he gave for that beer-and-curry event in Durham.”But Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy described Sir Keir as “Mr Rules” on Sunday, and said Tory ministers’ attacks over the Beergate saga were “frankly absurd and pretty desperate”.The shadow levelling up secretary told BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: “It’s absurd to equate serial partying, lying and laughter … and a work event that people broke to eat.”She wouldn’t say whether Starmer should resign if he is fined over a takeaway. “I’m not going to get into a hypothetical because I don’t believe for one moment he broke the rules,” Ms Nandy said.Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it would be difficult for Sir Keir to continue as Labour leader if he is fined. “No politician is above the law,” he told the BBC. “If they get a fixed-penalty notice after a police investigation, it’s extremely difficult for them to continue.”Andrew Fisher, former policy adviser to Jeremy Corbyn, said Starmer would emerge in a stronger position if he avoids a fine.“If he is cleared by police, he’ll be able to stand up in Parliament and say ‘Look, I was investigated and cleared. You [Johnson] were investigated and found guilty’,” he told LBC.Meanwhile, The Mirror reported that Mr Johnson’s deputy principal private secretary Stuart Glassborow – pictured alongside the PM at a Christmas quiz on 15 December – left his job last week. More

Sinn Fein has hailed a “new era” for Northern Ireland as the Irish nationalist party swept history aside and emerged the largest political force at Stormont assembly for the first time.Michelle O’Neill, the party’s leader north of the border, challenged the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to drop its obsession with Brexit checks and “work together” to restore the power-sharing executive which collapsed in February.“Today represents a very significant moment of change, it’s a defining moment for our politics and our people,” said Ms O’Neill after the republicans won the most votes and most seats for the first time since the country’s political institutions were set up a century ago.Sinn Fein won 27 seats and received 29 per cent of first preference votes, compared with 25 seats and 21.3 per cent of first preference votes for the DUP – putting Ms O’Neill on course to become the first-ever Irish nationalist first minister.DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would accept the outcome of the election, but insisted that the Northern Ireland protocol remained a barrier to power-sharing.“Our position remains that we need to remove the long shadow of the protocol that is inhibiting our ability to operate and function properly,” Sir Jeffrey told the BBC. “The sooner that happens, the sooner we’ll be in a position to move forward.”Asked whether failing to serve alongside Sinn Fein would be “anti-democratic”, the DUP leader said: “There are lots of parties in lots of places in the world who decide not to go into a government, but we are committed to the political institutions.”But Ms O’Neill insisted that the urgency of the cost of living crisis meant that “we must all turn up” at Stormont next week, adding: “The people can’t wait. The people have told us they expect us to work together. The people are right.”Boris Johnson’s government is drawing up legislation aimed at tearing up checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland unilaterally – a move which is sure to spark a major row with the EU.But the bill is understood to be on hold until after the 10 May Queen’s speech, with ministers hoping that the election results can persuade Brussels to agree that checks must be dropped to restore power-sharing arrangements.Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, set to travel to Belfast on Monday to meet political leaders, responded to results by encouraging the parties to form an executive “as soon as possible”.The cabinet minister said the electorate “were clear that they want a fully functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland, they want the issues around the protocol addressed, and that they want politics to work better”.Labour urged the government to “prioritise practical solutions through negotiation with the EU and not chase headlines with empty threats”.Peter Kyle MP, shadow Northern Ireland secretary, said Sinn Fein had “earned the right to nominate a new first minister”, adding that protocol issues “should not prevent a return to the executive”.Bertie Ahern, former prime minister of Ireland, called for the UK and EU to come to a compromise over the protocol. “I think what we desperately need in the island of Ireland now is for those negotiations to come to a successful conclusion,” he said on Saturday. More

Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill hails ‘new era’ in Northern Ireland after victoryThe British deputy prime minister said stability in Northern Ireland was “imperilled” by problems with its post-Brexit agreement, following Sinn Fein’s historic election success.The unionist DUP will refuse to serve with the republican party in a power-sharing executive unless there are major changes to the NI protocol.Dominic Raab told Sky News: “It’s clear from the dynamic that we now see that we won’t get to that position of stability unless and until it is fixed.”Over in Westminster, Boris Johnson is planning to announce new laws that will “deliver on the promise of Brexit” as he looks to bounce back from a bruising set of results for the Tory party.The British prime minister said he would reveal a “super seven” of Brexit Bills which will cut red tape and “unnecessary barriers inherited from the EU” in the Queen’s Speech next week. Show latest update

1652021107Complaints over complaints in MP porn scandalBoris Johnson’s strategist criticised the manner in which female Conservative MPs raised complaints about colleague Neil Parish for watching porn in parliament, it has been claimed. Adam Forrest has the full story here:Zoe Tidman8 May 2022 15:451652020207‘We don’t need threats of unilateral action in Westminster;Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, has spoken about the Northern Ireland protocol today.“There’s a responsibility, I think, on us all to respect how the people have voted and to find a way of working with the parties to put an executive and assembly that can work back in place,” he told RTE. “We don’t need threats of unilateral action, unilateral legislation in Westminster. “What we need is partnership and intense negotiations to try and finally settle the issues around the protocol without dismantling an international treaty and international law, but by applying the maximum flexibility possible to the existing agreement, to ensure that it’s implemented in a pragmatic and sensible way.”Zoe Tidman8 May 2022 15:301652018285‘Absurd muckracking’Lisa Nandy has tweeted out a clip of her interview on “beergate” earlier today.“It seems perfectly clear to me that this seems perfectly in line with every event I’ve done with any Labour leader,” she said.The shadow foreign secretary said it was “frankly just absurd muckracking” from the government to suggest it was the same as being under investigation for a dozen gatherings – including BYOB and kareoke parties – and saying they had never even happened. Watch here:Zoe Tidman8 May 2022 14:581652016907Irish reunification poll ‘will happen’ in next decade, says Sinn Fein leaderSinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has stepped up call for border poll – asking for all-Ireland citizens assembly to discuss the idea now.“We have consistently been calling for the meeting of a citizens’ assembly, Ireland-wide, to acknowledge and engage the change that is clearly happening in Ireland, to ensure that we have an inclusive and respectful forum where we can talk about change and, more importantly, plan for change Ireland-wide,” she said on Sunday.She told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend: “We don’t want to exclude anybody in the change that will happen … over the course of the next decade, be in no doubt about that.”Zoe Tidman8 May 2022 14:351652015707Lib Dem ‘not ruling out Labour pact to oust Tories’The Liberal Democrats would not rule out a pact with Labour to defeat the Conservatives, the party’s deputy leader has suggested.Daisy Cooper said the Lib Dems had “no interest in doing a coalition with this Conservative government at all”.Asked about Labour, she told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “The Liberal Democrats have said that we want to win as many seats as possible off the Conservatives at the next general election and one way or another we would like to play a role in ousting this Conservative government.“It is far too soon – what that might look like, how that might work, but we would want to play a role in ousting this Conservative government, that’s our number one priority.”Zoe Tidman8 May 2022 14:151652015189’Standing together for peace’The leader of Sinn Fein has been at a Ukraine war protest in Ireland today. Here is what she said:Zoe Tidman8 May 2022 14:061652014807Liz Truss condemns Russian attack on Ukrainian school Liz Truss accused Vladimir Putin’s forces of war crimes after a Russian bomb destroyed a school in Luhansk, Ukraine, where around 90 were sheltering in the basement:Zoe Tidman8 May 2022 14:001652013607Civil servant wins six-figure sum over ‘insidious’ Ministry of Justice racismIn some other news, The Independent has revealed a former civil servant received a six-figure pay-out from the government over discrimination. She says was subjected to “insidious” racism during a 12-year battle with the Ministry of Justice, our race correspondent Nadine White reports.Zoe Tidman8 May 2022 13:401652012417Tories should urged to resist desire to ‘smash up’ institutionsDamian Green has called for an end to ministers “culture war” attacks on the BBC and the judiciary.The senior Tory MP said the strategy was losing the party voters in the south of England.The former minister said the poor local election results in so-called blue wall heartlands reflected distaste for “embarrassing” government.Voters “want a government that seeks to unite society, and resists the urge to declare culture wars on institutions like the judiciary or the BBC,” he also said in an article for the Sunday Telegraph.Mr Green continued: “They believe Conservatism involves respect for institutions, not a revolutionary desire to smash them up. They also want a calm, competent government that is not embarrassing.”More on this story here by Adam ForrestLamiat Sabin8 May 2022 13:201652011217‘Frustrating’ lack of flexibility from EU over protocol – LewisNorthern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis has said he will meet with the leaders of the Stormont parties tomorrow to talk about resurrecting the Assembly.He urged DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to nominate a deputy first minister to get the executive working again, after the unionist party vowed not to restart power-sharing with Sinn Fein until the protocol checks are ditched.But Mr Lewis also said the issue of protocol needed to be “resolved” – blaming the EU for failing to agree to ditch the checks signed into law as part of the Brexit deal.“It is really frustrating that the EU have not shown the flexibility we need to see to get that resolution,” told Sky News.’Frustrating’ lack of flexibility from EU over protocol, says Northern Ireland secretaryThe NI secretary added: “It’s more frustrating to hear over the last couple of days that the EU seem to be saying they’re not willing to show any sort of flexibility to get this resolved.”On the UK government’s threat of unilateral action, Mr Lewis added: “We’ve always said we take nothing of the table, and that hasn’t changed. We will do what we need to do … There is a point we will have to make some decisions.”Put to him that the government was “dancing to the DUP’s tune”, Mr Lewis said the idea was a “misnomer” – claiming all communities had issues with the protocol.Legislation prepared with the aim of overriding the protocol is not expected to be included in next week’s Queen’s Speech, but The Independent understands it could still be introduced later in the parliamentary session.Lamiat Sabin8 May 2022 13:00 More

The UK will provide an extra £1.3bn in military support to Ukraine, in a dramatic escalation of assistance for Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces as they fight the Russian invasion.The new funding comes on top of the UK’s existing £1.5bn support to Kyiv, which included around £400m in humanitarian aid and grants to the Ukrainian government, and unlocking over £700m in additional World Bank lending through loan guarantees.It is the highest rate of UK military spending on a conflict since the height of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “The situation in Ukraine continues to cause immense suffering with every day bringing new, tragic stories of Putin’s brutality.“We are unwavering in our support for the people of Ukraine – and this extra £1.3bn will ensure we continue to provide the necessary military and operational support they need to defend themselves against Putin.“The UK is at the forefront providing economic, humanitarian and defensive support to Ukraine and we are working tirelessly to bring an end to this conflict.”The extra funding has been drawn from the UK’s reserves – funds the government has set aside for the most pressing emergencies – and includes £300m of military kit announced by Boris Johnson earlier this week. The electronic warfare equipment includes a counter-battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment and thousands of night vision devices.Boris Johnson and other G7 leaders will meet with Mr Zelensky virtually on Sunday to discuss further support on offer, as well further sanctions on Russia.The prime minister and defence secretary will also host a meeting of leading defence companies later this month to discuss increasing production in response to increased demand created by the conflict in Ukraine and a global shift away from Russian-made weaponry.Mr Johnson said: “Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine – it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.“The UK was the first country to recognise the scale of the threat and send arms to help the Ukrainians defend themselves. We will stand by that endeavour, working with our allies to ensure Ukraine can continue to push back the Russian invasion and survive as a free and democratic country.“In the process, we are bolstering our own security and economy, turbocharging the development and production of cutting-edge defence equipment here in the UK.”In the US, Mr Biden has promised a package including artillery shells, radars and other military equipment.Sunday’s virtual meeting of G7 leaders on VE Day could also consider additional sanctions on Russia.The White House views the meeting as a way of displaying western unity on the eve of Moscow’s traditional 9 May victory day parade.There has been speculation that the Russian president had hoped to use the symbolically important date to highlight his success in Ukraine, but the fierce resistance put up by Kyiv’s forces has scuppered any such claim.The UK Ministry of Defence said Russia’s ability to fight with modern equipment was being damaged by losses in Ukraine and the impact of sanctions.The MoD said at least one of Russia’s most advanced T-90M tanks had been destroyed in fighting, while sanctions were restricting access to microelectronic components for sophisticated equipment. More