UK Politics

The British government has said it is worried for the safety of a journalist who staged an anti-war protest live on Russian TV.Marina Ovsyannikova has reportedly gone missing after she interrupted a news broadcast with a placard reading “They’re lying to you here” and “Stop the War!”The act, which took place on Kremlin-controlled Channel 1, received plaudits from around the world but is expected to provoke a furious response from the Russian government. Ms Ovsyannikova is expected to face criminal charges of the interruption, amid a crackdown on protest and free speech in the country.Asked whether the UK government was worried for the safety of the journalist, who is thought to be an editor at the channel, James Cleverly, a foreign office minister, told BBC Breakfast:”Obviously, we are we are worried. Press freedom is incredibly important and these these acts of defiance – we see people protesting on the streets in Russia, we saw that protest on the Russian news programme – these are incredibly important. “I think it as I say it shows it shows a huge degree of bravery for those individuals to protest in what is we know an oppressive, authoritarian states. But it’s really important that the Russian people understand what is being done in their name. They have been systematically lied to by Vladimir Putin. “And it’s really important they understand the truth of what’s going on. But that this is an invasion. This is an attack it’s unprovoked it’s unjustified, and the more Russian people understand what’s really going on, frankly, the better.”MPs in the UK have suggested that Ms Ovsyannikova should be nominated for a Nobel prize But she faces prosecution under new article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for the “public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Federation Armed Forces”, observers say. If found guilty she could be given up to 15 years in prison. Ahead of her protest Ms Ovsyannikova appears to have recorded a video in which she blamed Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine, and apologises for her work on Russian state TV news. More

The UK has announced new sanctions on Russian goods including vodka, as well as a ban on exports of luxury products including vehicles, fashion and art.In steps announced by the department for international trade, Britain will deny preferential “most favoured nation” tariffs to hundreds of imports from Russian and Belarus, in response to Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.Vodka is the most prominent item on a list of imports worth a total of £900m annually which will now face a punitive additional 35 per cent levy. Also on the list are products like steel, fertiliser, cement, cereal crops and furs.The measure removes the benefits of World Trade Organisation membership for the administrations in Moscow and Minsk.Meanwhile, the UK has joined G7 allies in imposing a ban on all high-end luxury good exports to Russia, including iconic cars like Rolls Royce and Bentleys, couture clothes and fine art, with the intention of depriving oligarchs close to Putin of the glitzy lifestyles they enjoy.And the government announced it will no longer issue any new guarantees, loans and insurance for exports to Russia and Belarus. Without government export credit support, any financial backing from the private sector to the region is virtually impossible.Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the new tariffs will “further isolate the Russian economy from global trade”, and in addition to earlier measures put “maximum economic pressure” on Putin and his cronies.International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with our international partners in our determination to punish Putin for his barbaric actions in Ukraine, and we will continue our work to starve his regime of the funds that enable him to carry them out.“The World Trade Organization is founded on respect for the rule of law, which Putin has shown he holds in contempt. By depriving his government of key benefits of WTO membership, we are denying him further resource for his invasion.”Shadow international trade secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds responded: “For weeks, Labour has been calling for tougher sanctions including a ban on luxury goods, so it is a positive step that ministers have listened and announced this, though it should have not taken this long.“Urgent sanctions have been needed so that Putin and his inner circle cannot live a Mayfair lifestyle in Moscow whilst committing atrocities in Ukraine.“The government now needs to ensure that the export ban has no loopholes so it has maximum impact.” More

Boris Johnson has been accused of hypocrisy after criticising the West for letting Russia “get away” with its first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 – when he blamed the EU at the time.In a hard-hitting article, the prime minister argued Vladimir Putin has felt free to “bomb maternity hospitals” because of the “terrible mistake” of failing to confront him eight years ago.“The Russian leader had committed an act of violent aggression and taken a huge chunk out of a sovereign country – and we let him get away with it,” he has written.But the senior Labour MP Chris Bryant attacked an attempt to “rewrite history”, ignoring the stance Mr Johnson took when Putin annexed Crimea and armed separatists in the east of Ukraine.In 2016, Mr Johnson was branded a “Putin apologist” and rebuked by then-prime minister David Cameron, his views likened to those of Nigel Farage and France’s National Front leader Marine Le Pen.He said: “If you want an example of EU policymaking on the hoof and EU pretensions to running defence policy that have caused real trouble, then look at what has happened in the Ukraine.“All the EU can do in this question, in my view, is cause confusion and, as we’ve seen in the Balkans, I’m afraid a tragic incident, and in the Ukraine things went wrong as well.”Mr Bryant hit out on Twitter, saying: “I’m pleased Boris Johnson now accepts, as some of us argued back in 2014, that our feeble response to the annexation of Crimea by Russia was a dangerous mistake.“But back then he was part of the problem, claiming it was the EU’s fault not Putin’s. Liars can’t rewrite history.”The clash came ahead of the prime minister flying to Saudi Arabia today, in a bid to persuade Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to boost oil and gas production, to ease reliance on Russia’s exports.In his article, for The Daily Telegraph, he argued Putin has felt free to “launch his vicious war in Ukraine” because of the West’s “addiction” to his energy supplies.On the fallout from the 2014 attacks on Ukraine, he has written: “We decided we could somehow go back to normality.“Economic relations did not just resume – they intensified, with the West taking more Russian gas than ever before, becoming more dependent on the goodwill of Putin.”Mr Johnson argued it would be “crazy” not to plan more North Sea oil and gas licences, denying any clash with the legal commitment to achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050.“It is time to give investors more confidence in British hydrocarbons. That way, we will have more domestic energy resilience as we make the transition to a zero carbon future,” he said.However, he insisted his looming “energy independence” plan will focus primarily on expanding renewable sources of energy, from the wind and the sun.It made no mention of fracking – despite No 10 previously saying the option will be explored, potentially overturning the current ban. More

A Conservative MP has deleted his Twitter account following a backlash over comments he made about Ukrainian refugees. Daniel Kawczynski had said it would be “immoral and illiterate” for Britain to take in more Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.The Shrewsbury MP’s view was widely criticised by furious members of the public, and he eventually deleted the post.On Monday he told his local newspaper that Twitter was “not the platform for me”.Mr Kawczynski said he had used the social network for eight years but that it had “allowed a huge amount of denigration and disinformation”.”Careful press releases and the recording of Parliamentary debates is sufficient as I do not have confidence in Twitter,” he told the Shropshire Star.As of Tuesday morning his account was not visible on the social network.The MP had originally caused the angry backlash by tweeting: “British left-wing parties demand Britain takes in more Ukrainian refugees.”This is illiterate and immoral. When war is over Ukrainians will need to return home to rebuild their country.”We should be supporting Ukrainian refugees in frontline states like Poland and Romania.”He has since claimed the post was misinterpreted. The MP was himself branded “immoral” over the original comments.Mr Kawczynski is the latest in a string of Conservatives to cause outrage with comments about Ukrainian refugees. Last month immigration minister Kevin Foster faced calls to quit after appearing to suggest people fleeing the conflict could come to Britain on seasonal agricultural visas to pick fruit.The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page. More

A peer was blocked from speaking in a parliamentary debate after he was accused of falling asleep in the House of Lords.Lord Young of Norwood Green attempted on Monday to voice his thoughts on a bill allowing the UK to diverge from EU laws governing the genetic modification of crops.Standing to speak, he began: “I wanted to take part in this debate because I stake my position as somebody who is a Remainer, but if there’s two things that I welcome in coming out of the common market, one is the [EU’s common agricultural policy] CAP and this particular gene editing…”But the Labour peer was interrupted by government whip Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist, who intervened to say: “I am sorry, but the noble lord was fast asleep for the entire duration of the minister’s speech.“He really should not participate in this debate having failed to take advantage of the ability to hear him.”Lord Young, a former union boss who has also served as a BBC governor, replied: “Sorry?”, to which the government frontbencher repeated: “I am afraid the noble lord was fast asleep for the entirety of the minister’s opening speech.”When the 79-year-old Lord Young responded that he was “not now” asleep, Lady Bloomfield retorted: “Well I had to send a note to you in order to wake you up, by the doorkeeper.”The draft Genetically Modified Organisms (Deliberate Release) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022 debated by peers on Monday would allow greater freedom for the practice of gene editing plants in the UK.Environment minister Lord Benyon said the post-Brexit regulations would allow the UK to “remain at the forefront” of research into GM crops.Lord Young is far from the first parliamentarian to sit accused of falling asleep in either chamber. Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne said in January 2018 that he was embarrassed and “annoyed” at himself for having fallen asleep during a speech by colleague Ken Clarke on Brexit, adding that it been a “very long day” because he had gone for an early-morning swim.The image of him with his head on his shoulder, which he described to the BBC as “horrible”, was followed 18 months later by the infamous incident in which then House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg was seen sprawled across the front bench with his eyes closed.Additional reporting by PA More

Boris Johnson has been urged to scrap plans for a post-Brexit trade accord with Saudi Arabia amid concern about the government’s mass executions.The oil-rich autocracy executed 81 people over the weekend, thought to be the largest such killing in the country’s history.Human rights campaigners have accused the prime minister of trying to trade “oil for blood” with the trade push – which comes while political prisoners and children are among those still facing death row.In the House of Lords on Monday peers said plans to give Saudi traders preferential access to the City of London’s markets should not go ahead.It comes as Boris Johnson is reportedly planning a trip to the country to emphasise trade opportunities, especially in oil and gas.Lord Purvis, a Liberal Democrat peer, told the Lords: “Last week [minister] Lord Grimstone and officials were offering great market access to our aerospace industry to Saudi Arabia and now we are in negotiations to offer them preferential access to the City of London.”So will the government give an indication that it’s not just concerned about this but that it will remove preferential market access to Saudi Arabia in the UK economy, for grievous and horrific human rights abuses?”But the Earl of Courtown, responding for the government, appeared to suggest the government had no plans to step back from is approach to Saudi Arabia.”All these issues are always under review but we do have a very close relationship with Saudi Arabia and this enables us to have full and frank discussions with them over these issues,” the deputy chief whip said.Lord Watts, a Labour peer, said the government “seems to be running away from trade deals with our European partners who share our love of democracy and freedom” and warned that ministers appear to be “rushing into trade deals with bloodthirsty dictators”.But the Earl of Courtown replied that it was “important to have trade deals throughout the international community and particularly at the moment with the issues relating to insecure energy supply it is really important that we keep talking to our close allies across the world”.Lord Collins, whose urgent question sparked the exchange in the upper house, said the Saudi Arabian government’s warning that it would not “hesitate to deter anyone who threatens security or disrupts public life” demonstrated “just how low the bar is for execution in that country”.Saudi Arabia was as recently as 2020 thought to have enacted an unannounced moratorium on the death penalty, but has since moved away from the policy.The country’s government says the 81 people were “terrorists” but observers say the definition used is absurdly broad. The state SPA news agency said the accused were given the right to an attorney and were guaranteed their full rights under Saudi law during the judicial process. Crimes ranged from from joining militant groups to holding “deviant beliefs”.Soraya Bauwens, deputy director of campaign group Reprieve said: “Boris Johnson is trading oil for blood. Despite the Saudi Government’s claims that these executions related to terrorism charges, nearly three quarters of these 81 men were executed for non-lethal offences. “Some were pro-democracy protesters, tortured into false confessions, whose real ‘crime’ was challenging the status quo. Many more political prisoners and child defendants on death row are at risk.”We cannot show our revulsion for Putin’s atrocities by rewarding those of Mohammed Bin Salman. Johnson must cancel his trip, condemn the killings and call for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.”Downing Street has said the government will be “raising” Saudi Arabia’s executions with the regime in Riyadh.Tory government peer the Earl of Courtdown said: “We are deeply concerned by the execution on 81 individuals on 13 March. The United Kingdom strongly opposes the death penalty in all countries and in all circumstances as a matter of principle. The UK ambassador has already raised the UK’s strong concerns with the Saudi national security advisor and their vice foreign minister. “HM government regularly raises concern with Saudi authorities regarding juvenile death penalty applications. The British embassy at Riyadh closely monitors all juvenile death penalty cases and routinely attempt to attend trials.” More

Watch live as Michael Gove makes statement on ‘Homes for Ukraine’ schemeHousing secretary Michael Gove has unveiled the government’s “Homes for Ukraine” sponsorship scheme, amid heavy criticism of the UK’s visa policy.With the latest government figures showing Britain has issued just 4,000 visas to Ukrainian refugees, Mr Gove said the scheme will offer those who provide a home for refugees fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war a monthly payment of £350.It came as Boris Johnson planned to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the hope Saudi Arabia can raise its production of oil and gas to make up for a reduced reliance on Russia.Downing Street has said the government will be “raising” Saudi Arabia’s execution of 81 men in a single day with the regime in Riyadh, with Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson insisting the government does not “shy away” from raising human rights issues with its allies.Over the weekend, the country’s state-run Saudi Press Agency announced that 81 men were executed over a variety of crimes – Saudi Arabia’s largest mass execution in recent history.Show latest update

1647280951That’s us wrapping up the liveblog for today, thanks for following here. You can find all of The Independent’s latest articles on UK politics here.Or else keep scrolling to catch up on the day’s events, as we reported them.Andy Gregory14 March 2022 18:021647232969Welcome to The Independent’s live blog on everything related to UK politics.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 04:421647234301Refugee crisis: PM urged to sack Priti PatelPrime minister Boris Johnson has been urged to sack home secretary Priti Patel over her handling of the Ukrainian refugee crisis.Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, in a speech on Sunday, said Ms Patel’s response to the “humanitarian catastrophe” had been “utterly shameful”.“She has answered desperation with delays; crisis with confusion; pain with paperwork,” he said.Sir Ed added: “It couldn’t be clearer that Priti Patel is not up to the job. The buck stops with the prime minister. So Boris Johnson must sack her now”.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 05:051647235243Johnson says Putin’s ‘barbaric actions’ ‘testing all of humanity’Vladimir Putin’s “barbaric actions” on Ukraine are “testing all of humanity”, prime minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday, following a call with Ukrainian prime minister Volodymyr Zelensky.According to a UK government statement, the leaders condemned the murders of American journalist Brent Renaud and “countless innocent Ukrainians, and the abduction of the Mayors of Dniprorudne and Melitopol”.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 05:201647236061UK looking at options to bolster Ukraine’s self-defence, says PMThe UK will “continue to pursue more options for bolstering Ukraine’s self-defence”, prime minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday. In a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, Mr Johnson said the UK would “continue to stand behind Ukraine in all their efforts to bring an end to this disastrous conflict”.Mr Johnson was said to have told Mr Zelensky during their call that the UK would “continue to pursue more options for bolstering Ukraine’s self-defence”.“The Prime Minister outlined the support the UK continues to deliver to Ukraine,” a No 10 spokesman said.Amy Gibbons reports.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 05:341647237110Michael Gove wrongly says 300,000 visas given to UkrainiansCabinet minister Michael Gove blundered over the number of Ukrainian refugees accepted by Britain – incorrectly claiming that 300,000 visas has been issued to those fleeing the Russian invasion.Challenged over the figures on Sky News, Mr Gove admitted he had got the figure wrong, before revealing that only around 3,000 visas had been granted on the Ukraine family scheme.The government has been criticised for insisting that British sponsors go through online paperwork and security checks on behalf of a particular, named refugee.Adam Forrest has more.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 05:511647238243Cost of living crisis: Half of UK children ‘will have to sacrifice’ foodHalf of UK children will be in families that cannot afford the cost of living by April this year, new analysis has warned.Using the Minimum Income Standard (MIS), researchers estimated that around 43 per cent of families in the northeast of England, 41 per cent in Yorkshire and the Humber, 39 per cent in the West Midlands and 38 per cent in London, will all be living below the MIS threshold in a matter of weeks.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 06:101647239633Britons offered £350 a month for opening door to Ukrainian refugeesThe UK government is offering Britons £350 per month for opening their homes to Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country.The Homes for Ukraine scheme, to be rolled out this week, will allow individuals, charities, community groups and businesses to bring people fleeing the war to safety, even if they have no ties to the UK.People sponsoring refugees through the new uncapped route will be required to commit to the scheme for a minimum of six months – but will be encouraged to keep up the offer for as long as they can.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 06:331647239769Britons offered £350 a month for opening door to Ukrainian refugeesThe UK government is offering Britons £350 per month for opening their homes to Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country.The Homes for Ukraine scheme, to be rolled out this week, will allow individuals, charities, community groups and businesses to bring people fleeing the war to safety, even if they have no ties to the UK.People sponsoring refugees through the new uncapped route will be required to commit to the scheme for a minimum of six months – but will be encouraged to keep up the offer for as long as they can.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 06:361647240868Labour demands action to tackle record spike in petrol costLabour is calling on the government to act over the “spiralling cost-of-living crisis” as figures suggest families face a near £400 annual rise in the cost of petrol.The opposition party said its analysis of official statistics found the average family is facing a yearly rise of £386 on the cost of petrol.The record rise comes as 25 million Brits are also set to be hit with a tax hike this spring, which will cost the average worker £255 a year.Chiara Giordano reports.Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 March 2022 06:54 More