UK Politics

Michael Gove has said Boris Johnson has nothing to apologise after the prime minister tried to use a notorious paedophile to get one-up on Labour.The prime minister had falsely claimed that Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile while director of public prosecutions – a claim rejected by those familiar with the case.The prime minister reached for the false claim, which has been circulating for months on far-right social media channels, while he was on the ropes in parliament over his lockdown parties.But asked on Wednesday whether the prime minister had anything to apologise for, Mr Gove said: “No”.Appearing to defend the prime minister, the levelling-up secretary added: “I think this is a uniquely sensitive issue and it does need to be handled with care, and I listen with enormous respect to those who act for victims of the actions of a terrible, terrible criminal.”But – and it’s not a subject that I want to dwell on because it is uniquely sensitive – it is the case that the CPS apologised for the handling of this case and what happened in 2009, and I think we should acknowledge that an apology was given at the time and respect that.”Mr Gove added: “Keir Starmer acknowledged that mistakes had been made by the organisation of which he was head, to his credit. He was very clear about those mistakes.”Mr Johnson’s comments have been branded a disgrace by former chief prosecutors and even some of his own MPs.Tory MP Julian Smith said on Tuesday that Mr Johnson’s “smear” against the opposition leader was “wrong and cannot be defended”, urging the prime minister to withdraw it.He was joined overnight by veteran Tory Bob Neill, chair of the Commons Justice committee. Sir Bob said: “This suggestion is baseless and unworthy, even in the cut and thrust of political debate. “There are plenty of reasons to attack Keith Starmer and Labour on their policies but not a false premise. Let’s at least fight out politics cleanly.”Mr Johnson’s claim was branded “a disgrace to parliament and office of prime minister” by Nazir Afzal, a former chief Crown prosecutor for the North West on Monday. “It’s not true. I was there. Keir Starmer had nothing to do with the decisions taken. On the contrary, He supported me in bringing hundreds of child sex abusers to justice,” Mr Afzal said in a post on social media.In 2020, fact-checking charity Full Fact also looked into the claim that Sir Keir had stopped Savile being charged in 2009 and found that it was false.Labour MP Jess Phillips said on Wednesday morning: “I genuinely cannot contain my anger about this. “Boris Johnson pretending he’s sorry for his behaviour and his lies and in the same speech he lied some more to save his skin and as a shield he used children who had been raped. Tory MPs who tolerate this any longer are complicit.” More

Boris Johnson gave a speech at a “prosecco-fuelled” leaving do allegedly held in No 10 during the third national coronavirus lockdown, according to a report – marking one of multiple fresh Partygate claims against the prime minister.In her damning update on Monday, civil servant Sue Gray revealed that the Metropolitan Police were investigating a dozen gatherings, including a previously unreported event on 14 January last year “on the departure of two No 10 private secretaries”.Both The Telegraph and The Guardian reported on Tuesday night that the prime minister had been in attendance, with the latter saying that Mr Johnson gave a speech thanking a colleague for their hard work and stayed at the event for around five minutes.In the same article, The Telegraph reported that Mr Johnson had been witnessed heading up to his Downing Street flat on the night of 13 November 2020, where a party also under police investigation was allegedly held following his aide-turned-nemesis Dominic Cummings’s departure from Downing Street.The fresh claims came hours after Mr Cummings claimed on his blog that “there are photos of the PM at parties under investigation”, adding: “I’ve spoken to people who say they’ve seen photos of parties in the flat.”Referencing a claim in the Mail on Sunday that Abba’s “The Winner Takes it All” was heard blaring from the Downing Street flat on 13 November 2020, Mr Cummings added: “If cops talk to people there that night, there’ll be witnesses who say ‘we could all hear a party with Abba playing’.”In a bruising Commons session on Monday following the publication of Ms Gray’s update, during which the prime minister faced visible anger from several of his own MPs, including his predecessor Theresa May, Mr Johnson refused to be drawn on whether he was present at his flat on the night in question.“I simply will not indulge in running commentary” on “something that is being investigated” by the police, Mr Johnson told Labour MP Jess Phillips in response to her question on the matter, adding: “She will have to wait.”When approached by The Independent about the two new claims against Mr Johnson on Tuesday night, a No 10 spokesperson said they could not comment on either allegation due to the ongoing police investigation.These fresh developments in the Downing Street parties saga came hours after No 10 was forced to backtrack over the suggestion that the public could never be told if Mr Johnson were to be handed a fine as a result of the police investigation.It followed widespread incredulity over the initial position, with Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey saying: “This stinks of a cover-up by No 10. Even Richard Nixon believed a country deserves to know whether their leader is a crook.”Meanwhile the Tory rebellion against Mr Johnson continued to grow, as Peter Aldous became the 10th Tory MP to publicly call on the prime minister to resign, revealing that he had submitted a letter of no confidence to the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.In a lengthy statement, Mr Aldous said he had “never taken such action before”, but believed he was acting “in the best interests of the country, the government and the Conservative Party”. Mr Aldous is among the likes of Sir Roger Gale, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and Andrew Bridgen in nudging Mr Johnson closer to the 54 letters needed to trigger a vote of no confidence in his premiership.But while his Commons appearance on Monday afternoon appeared to spell a blow to Mr Johnson’s prospects, with one minister telling The Independent that he was “considering his position” after the prime minister’s disappointing response, he later attempted to launch a fightback with a behind-closed-doors address to the Tory party described by one MP as “barnstorming”.Less encouraging for the prime minister, however, were fresh polling figures published by Savanta ComRes on Tuesday, suggesting Labour had opened up an 11-point lead – with Sir Keir Starmer’s party sitting on 44 percentage points, while the Tories trailed on 33. More

Billions of pounds spent on “levelling up” may be wasted because ministers are picking projects too small to revive poorer areas and failing to analyse “what works”, a damning report warns. The study – released as a long-delayed blueprint for Boris Johnson’s flagship policy is unveiled – sharply criticises grants from the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund and £3.2bn Towns Fund for not being “based on evidence”.The spending watchdog rebukes ministers for failing to produce a proper business case, while ignoring advice that small schemes “do not usually drive significant growth”.The report comes after criticism of “pork barrel politics” as allocations from the two funds favoured Conservative areas – for voter-friendly improvements such as libraries and leisure centres.The levelling up white paper will signal a return to Labour-style target-setting – abolished by David Cameron in 2010 – with a warning it will take a decade to reap success.It will set out 12 legally-binding “missions”, including to increase pay, jobs, investment, transport connections, home ownership and school results in poorer areas, while cutting crime.Every area will be offered a directly-elected mayor, if it wants one – but ministers will admit it will be only a “starting gun fired on decade-long project to level up Britain”.But the National Audit Office (NAO) is warning Michael Gove’s levelling up department “has wasted opportunities to learn lessons” about what will be successful.As a result, “it doesn’t know whether billions of pounds of public spending has had the impact intended,” said Gareth Davies, the head of the watchdog.The head of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, Labour’s Meg Hillier, accused the government of having “turned on the taps without really knowing where to direct the hose”.And the Local Government Association (LGA) warned councils’ efforts are hindered by being forced to bid for “small pots” of cash, which left them unable to “plan strategically for their communities”.The prime minister has been on the back foot over levelling up since a disastrous speech last year, in which he admitted he had only “a skeleton” of a plan.Mr Gove, the levelling-up secretary, is believed to have a lost a battle with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, for more cash – helping to delay his white paper, first promised last September.The Independent revealed how almost £2bn has been slashed from promised development funding, through a failure to match EU funding lost because of Brexit.Meanwhile, Labour research found that 144 areas receiving levelling up cash are still each £50m out of pocket, on average, because of a decade of cuts.The NAO report highlights the scale of the task, with the gap between rich and poor areas in the UK “among the largest” of any developed nation.Some £11bn is earmarked for local economic growth between 2020 and 2026, also including the Shared Prosperity Fund – meant to replace lost EU funding, but cut to £2.6bn over three years, not a promised £4.5bn.The NAO criticises the levelling up department for:* Rejecting “expert advice” that only “major physical regeneration” can deliver economic growth – not better “cultural assets”.* As a result, making it “hard for local authorities to plan the joined-up investment strategies that the department’s research suggests are needed to promote local growth”.* Making local councils bid for cash from multiple pots, which creates “uncertainty for local leaders” – often requiring them to “find alternative sources of funding.”* Producing only a single business case for the Levelling Up Fund – instead of going through the standard three stages.Mr Davies: “With its focus on levelling up, it is vital that the department puts robust evaluation arrangements in place for its new schemes to promote local growth.”Mr Johnson said on Tuesday: “Levelling up means giving all young people, no matter their background, the skills they need to realise their potential.” More

Boris Johnson’s Savile claim ‘a ridiculous slur’, says Keir StarmerBoris Johnson gave a speech at a leaving event revealed by Sue Gray to have been held in Downing Street just over a week into the third national lockdown, according to a new report.In her damning update into the Partygate scandal, the top civil servant said that the gathering at No 10 on 14 January last year was among a dozen events now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police. Both The Telegraph and The Guardian reported on Tuesday night that the prime minister was in attendance.The former also claimed that Mr Johnson was witnessed heading up to his Downing Street flat on the night of 13 November, when a gathering also under police investigation allegedly took place following the exit of his former chief aide-turned-nemesis Dominic Cummings. As he faced a battering – including from his own benches – in the Commons on Monday, Mr Johnson said he would not say whether he had been in attendance at his flat that night as a result of the ongoing police investigation, a line repeated by Downing Street when asked about the fresh claims on Tuesday evening.It came after a tenth Tory MP publicly called on the PM to resign, and Downing Street backed down after coming under pressure over plans to keep secret any fine imposed on Johnson as a result of the parties row, after opposition parties warned of a potential “cover up”.Show latest update

1643760493Labour calls on Sunak to halt bankers’ tax cut to pay for cost-of-living helpOur political editor Andrew Woodcock has this exclusive report:Labour is challenging chancellor Rishi Sunak to cancel a planned £1bn-a-year tax cuts for banks and use the cash to ease the blow of the cost-of-living crisis on working people.An amendment to the Finance Bill being debated in the House of Commons on Wednesday would halt a planned cut from 8 to 3 per cent in the surcharge levied on banking profits over £25m from next year.Instead, Labour says the estimated £1bn annual cost of the reduction could be used to fund home improvements for hundreds of thousands of families to soften the blow of energy bill rises expected to average around £700 from April.You can read more details here:Andy Gregory2 February 2022 00:081643757044Boris Johnson’s false Jimmy Savile claims ‘shared widely by far-right Telegram groups’Boris Johnson’s false claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile when he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service is being shared widely in far-right Telegram groups, according to VICE World News.The news website says that many of the Telegram groups it has seen have tens of thousands of followers.Andy Gregory1 February 2022 23:101643755841Former justice secretary questions government asylum plansAway from the Partygate saga for a moment, Tory former justice secretary Ken Clarke has challenged government plans to jail migrants entering the country illegally “in Victorian slums of overcrowded prisons”.Arguing the incarceration rate was already “ludicrously high”, the Conservative grandee questioned whether the move would lead to “desirable” outcomes.Andy Gregory1 February 2022 22:501643753105Breaking: Fresh Partygate claims emerge against Boris JohnsonBoris Johnson gave a speech at a colleague’s leaving party held in Downing Street during the post-Christmas lockdown last year, according to a report.After Sue Gray’s report yesterday revealed the existence of a gathering in No 10 on 14 January 2021 “on the departure of two No 10 private secretaries”, The Telegraph and The Guardian now report that Boris Johnson was in attendance, with the latter reporting that he gave a speech and stayed for around five minutes.And shortly after Dominic Cummings wrote on his blog this evening that people had told him they had photographs of an alleged party – now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police – in Mr Johnson’s flat on the night of his own exit from Downing Street on 13 November last year, which Mr Johnson has repeatedly refused to say whether he attended, The Telegraph reported a claim the prime minister was witnessed heading up to the flat that night.When approached about the allegations by The Independent, a No 10 spokesperson said they could not comment on either claim due to the ongoing police investigation.Our policy correspondent Jon Stone has more details on Mr Cummings’ claims here:Andy Gregory1 February 2022 22:051643752035Footage resurfaces of Johnson’s past comment on investigating historic child abuseThis video has been doing the rounds on social media once again today, after Boris Johnson falsely accused Sir Keir Starmer of being behind a failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.In March 2019, Mr Johnson suggested money spent investigating historic child sexual abuse had been “spaffed up the wall”.Boris Johnson says money spent on investigating historic child sexual abuse has been ‘spaffed up the wall’Andy Gregory1 February 2022 21:471643750847“Every minute” that Boris Johnson remains in power, he “damages our politics”, the Liberal Democrats leader has claimed.Andy Gregory1 February 2022 21:271643749844PM returning from Ukraine tonightBoris Johnson has reportedly boarded his flight back from Ukraine and is scheduled to land in the UK in the early hours of Wednesday.Andy Gregory1 February 2022 21:101643749060White House press secretary quizzed on Boris Johnson’s domestic troublesJen Psaki, the White House press secretary, has insisted that Joe Biden remains confident in the UK’s role in seeking to assuage the Russia-Ukraine crisis – “despite cakes in anyone’s faces”.Quizzed by a reporter about troubles “on the other side of the Pond”, Ms Psaki was asked whether Mr Biden had ever been “ambushed by cake”, as it was claimed Boris Johnson had been on his birthday during lockdown at a gathering now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.“Not that I’m aware of,” she said with a laugh, adding that the US president “is confident in the important partnership we have with the UK, the role they play in making clear to Russia the unacceptable nature of the build-up of troops and their bellicose rhetoric as it relates to Ukraine. “And that certainly has not changed despite cakes in anyone’s faces”.Psaki laughs at Boris Johnson ‘ambushed by a cake’ but says UK-US relationship unaffectedMs Psaki said she has not discussed Mr Johnson’s domestic troubles with the president. Andrew Feinberg has the details here:Andy Gregory1 February 2022 20:571643747976Jimmy Savile victims ‘appalled’ by Boris Johnson’s Jimmy Savile jibeRichard Scorer, whose law firm represented many of Jimmy Savile’s victims, has said his clients are “universally appalled” by Boris Johnson’s comments in the Commons yesterday.“I think what angers them more than anything else is the idea of Johnson trying to use and weaponise their suffering in order to try and get out of a political hole,” he told ITV News.Andy Gregory1 February 2022 20:391643747345Government breaks promise to release private documents on Owen Paterson’s lobbyingThe government has broken its promise to publish internal documents that could shine a light on whether Tory MPs helped private healthcare companies land lucrative emergency Covid contracts, our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports.On 17 November last year MPs voted to force ministers to release minutes of meetings between Owen Paterson, health minister Lord Bethel and private healthcare company Randox. The government was also ordered to release all correspondence relating to two contracts with the company – which Mr Paterson lobbied on behalf of, in breach of Commons rules.The department of health and social care committed to releasing the documents by the end of January, but has still not done so – causing anger among opposition MPs.Andy Gregory1 February 2022 20:29 More

Photos exist of Boris Johnson at No 10 parties being investigated by the police, Dominic Cummings says he has been told – agreeing they will “incriminate” him.The former chief aide also predicted witnesses will report that “we could all hear a party with Abba playing”, referring to the gathering in the prime minister’s flat on 13 November 2020.Mr Cummings also predicted that Mr Johnson will “keep lying” about the scandal, after being given a stay of execution by the delay in Sue Gray delivering the bulk of her Partygate report.In a question-and-answer session on his paid-for blog, he was asked if he is aware of photos that will “incriminate” the prime minister, as the Met investigation continues.“Yes, there are photos of the PM at parties under investigation. I’ve spoken to people who say they’ve seen photos of parties in the flat,” Mr Cummings replied.“I’ve talked to people who were in no 10 on 13/11 who cd hear the party in no 10 after I’d left – the press office is below the flat.“If cops talk to people there that night, there’ll be witnesses who say ‘we could all hear a party with Abba playing’.”The exiled aide added: “He’ll keep lying. This could blow up terminally for him if [he] lies to the cops but he won’t be able to help himself other than say ‘I don’t remember’ which is his default when he senses danger.”Mr Cummings also described the chances of Liz Truss becoming Conservative leader are “probably being overrated” – pointing to her previous opposition to Brexit.In contrast, Rishi Sunak had backed EU withdrawal and with “MPs heavily influenced by polls” that would “obviously benefit” the popular chancellor.Ms Truss was “little known”, he told readers, and had “said a lot of stuff that will not be popular with members if/when they hear it”.“If she gets to the last 2, the combination of her support for Remain and her record will be big problems for her. Her chances are probably being overrated,” Mr Cummings said.Michael Gove would “probably” run again – despite suggesting he would not – while newcomer Tom Tugendhat would be hampered by having “never been in cabinet”.Mr Cummings has said he sees it as his “duty” to get rid of Mr Johnson – following the former allies’ bitter fallout – describing it as like “fixing the drains”.He first revealed the lockdown-busting No 10 garden party, in May 2020, that is still the biggest threat to the prime minister’s survival.At the weekend, he claimed Mr Johnson is obsessed with creating monuments in his memory “like the Roman emperors” were.He only got excited about “Big Ben’s bongs” and “looking at maps” to find places to build things in his honour, he said. More

Labour is challenging chancellor Rishi Sunak to cancel a planned £1bn-a-year tax cuts for banks and use the cash to ease the blow of the cost-of-living crisis on working people.An amendment to the Finance Bill being debated in the House of Commons on Wednesday would halt a planned cut from 8 to 3 per cent in the surcharge levied on banking profits over £25m from next year.Instead, Labour says the estimated £1bn annual cost of the reduction could be used to fund home improvements for hundreds of thousands of families to soften the blow of energy bill rises expected to average around £700 from April.The party’s Treasury spokesperson James Murray said the tax cut was coming at a time when bankers are widely expected to receive large bonuses, as investment bank profits have soared off the back of a wave of takeovers and mergers caused by the pandemic.A separate Labour amendment urges the government to look again at the taxes and bills faced by working people, including the 5 per cent VAT levy on power and the planned 1.25 percentage point hike in national insurance.Mr Sunak announced plans to cut the profit surcharge in last year’s budget, to soften the impact of a rise from 19 to 25 per cent in corporation tax on the same date.The surcharge has raised £8.3bn since its implementation in 2016.Figures obtained by Labour from the House of Commons Library showed that £1bn a year could provide solid wall insulation for 110,000 homes, cavity wall insulation for 1m homes, 380,000 new gas condensing boilers, the replacement of single with double glazing in 200,000 homes or the installation.Mr Murray said: “People are worried about the future, with energy bills soaring and inflation at its highest in decades. But what are the Tories doing? They’re hiking up people’s taxes and ignoring the cost of living crisis.“This unfair tax hike on working people shows how just how out-of-touch the chancellor is – and it adds insult to injury that it comes at the same time that he is pushing a billion-pound tax cut for banks through parliament.”A Treasury spokesperson said: “The most recent Budget confirmed that banks’ overall corporate tax rate would rise to 28 per cent from 2023, up from 27 per cent currently, projected to raise over £4bn.“We recognise the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, and are providing support worth around £12bn this financial year and next to help.“The Health and Social Care Levy will provide a necessary, permanent source of funding to support the NHS and social care system, benefiting people across the country. It is progressive, with those earning more paying more.” More

Labour’s Lisa Nandy has accused Michael Gove of attempting to regenerate left-behind areas of the country “on the cheap” ahead of the long delayed publication of the government’s levelling up strategy. In a stinging attack on the government, the shadow levelling up secretary told The Independent that ministers were “out of energy” and “out of ideas”, as a row continues to rage over Boris Johnson’s future in No 10.The senior Labour figure also claimed the strategy – to be unveiled on Wednesday – appeared to be “more about a reset” for the prime minister, rather than “turning around an economic settlement that hasn’t worked for a lot of places for decades”.Her remarks come as Mr Gove – the cabinet minister responsible for levelling up – prepares to publish the government’s blueprint for changing the “economic geography of the country” and creating better opportunities outside the south-east of England.No 10 said Mr Gove will “set out the tools needed”, including “investment in education and skills and further devolution of powers outside of Westminster”, to deliver on the 2019 election promise to level up the country.Some details of the plan were revealed over the weekend, as the government identified Sheffield and Wolverhampton as the first recipients of a “radical new regeneration programme” – with areas benefitting from the £1.5bn Brownfield Fund. However, a row ensued after it emerged the funding had previously been earmarked by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, at last year’s Budget.Ms Nandy told The Independent that two years after Mr Johnson promised to level up the country, disadvantaged areas were being given “piecemeal, small pots of money dolled out from Whitehall” following a decade of austerity.Taking aim at Mr Gove, she said the cabinet minister was “walking around the country talking about a King’s Cross style regeneration of 20 parts of the country, without the King’s Cross style funding – it cost £3 billion to redevelop King’s Cross.”“The money that was announced in the Budget several months ago that they reannounced at the weekend for the whole rest of the country is £1.5 billion,” she added.“It’s regeneration on the cheap and that is the settlement people called time on two and a half years ago – it’s just simply not good enough. These are places that within living memory powered this country, made a contribution, built our wealth and influence and should have the right to do it again.”Pressed on whether levelling up had any chance of success under the current prime minister, who has faced calls to resign from his own MPs, Ms Nandy replied: “I don’t want to say no because we had 40 years of good jobs leaving our towns, we’ve had a decade of austerity that’s turbo-charged that – and people have had enough.”But she added: “They are out of energy, they are out of ideas, and they’ve got a chancellor who fundamentally doesn’t believe in the potential of our nations and regions.” Speaking on the eve of the publication of the levelling up white paper, Ms Nandy went on: “I don’t see how anything more that this can materialise from this government. “They seem tired, they seem more interested in their jobs than other people’s. If the only thing that they’ve come up with in two and a half years is a levelling up board, some civil service jobs, and more mayors, I think they’ve completely missed the point. “Do I hold much hope for this? No, but in the end this will happen because people won’t accept it. In the end this will have to happen, but whether this government can deliver it or not, I’d say the evidence is pretty clear they can’t.“Who knows, maybe Michael Gove will read this and surprise me? But, if the Treasury doesn’t back it and the prime minister is deeply uninterested in what is happening in parts of the country, I don’t see how it can succeed.”In an interview with the BBC, Mr Gove insisted on Tuesday that the levelling up strategy was “absolutely critical for the country”, and while there was no “instant fix”, the government could not afford to go slow.He added: “Levelling up means making opportunity more equal. At the moment the UK is like a jet plane flying on only one engine and we’re not making the most of every community and in particular in the north and Midlands we need to make sure that people have an improved quality of life, but also economic improvements as well.” More

Invading Ukraine would be a “military disaster” for Russia, Boris Johnson has warned Vladimir Putin.Speaking during a visit to Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the prime minister rejected suggestions he was exaggerating the threat from Russia, insisting that the massing of as many as 100,000 troops on the border represented a “clear and present danger”.But he warned the Russian president that Ukraine would put up “a very fierce and bloody resistance” and the UK would impose sanctions the minute troops’ toecaps cross the border.Standing alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Johnson said that Moscow was putting a gun to Kyiv’s head in a bid to redraw the security map of Europe in a way that could force not only Ukraine but also countries like Georgia and Moldova back into the Russian sphere of influence.Mr Zelensky warned that any invasion would result not only in war between Ukraine and Russia, but “a European war – a full-fledged war”.Mr Johnson denied that he had been distracted from the tensions in Ukraine by his domestic troubles over lockdown-busting parties at 10 Downing Street, despite having to cancel a scheduled phone call with Mr Putin on Monday as he dealt with the fallout from the Sue Gray report.He is now due to speak with Mr Putin on Wednesday.The prime minister said the build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border was possibly the greatest act of hostility “towards the Ukraine in our lifetimes”.“We have to face a grim reality, which is that as we stand here today, more than 100,000 Russian troops are gathering on your border in perhaps the biggest demonstration of hostility towards the Ukraine in our lifetimes,” he said.“And the potential deployment dwarfs the 30,000 troops that Russia sent to invade Crimea in 2014.“Since that time of course, everybody knows that 13,000 Ukrainians have been killed and Ukraine has been plunged into a decade of war.“It goes without saying that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a political disaster, a humanitarian disaster, in my view it would also be for Russia, for the world, a military disaster as well.“And the potential invasion completely flies in the face of President Putin’s claims to be acting in the interest of the Ukrainian people.”Mr Johnson said sanctions will be automatically imposed if Russia invades Ukraine. “It is vital that in Moscow they understand there will automaticity in the way we apply these sanctions so the minute there is a further incursion into sovereign Ukrainian territory they will apply.”He said any conflict would come at a high cost.“The Ukrainian army will fight. They will put a very, very very fierce and bloody resistance and I think that parents, mothers in Russia should reflect on that fact,” he said. More