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Ukraine’s “voice must be at the heart” of any peace deal negotiations to end the war with Russia, the UK’s defence secretary has said.Speaking as Nato allies gathered in Brussels on Thursday (13 February), John Healey maintained that Russia “remains a threat well beyond Ukraine” after Donald Trump claimed that he and Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin talks on ending the conflict.The US president said he agreed with his Russian counterpart to “work together, very closely” on ending the three-year conflict in a phone conversation on Wednesday.”There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine, and Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks,” Mr Healey added. More

Boris Johnson has accused Nigel Farage’s Reform of “glomping on monkey glands”.The former prime minister discussed the group’s rise in popularity during his appearance at the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Wednesday (12 February).The former Tory leader told CNN anchor Richard Quest: “They were on zero per cent when I was running the show.”He added: “You can’t make your self any more attractive to the electorate as a political party if you try to glump on monkey glands from another political party.” More

Boris Johnson has revealed he will not return to politics any time soon – for one very bizarre reason.The former prime minister was grilled on a potential return to frontline politics during his appearance at the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Wednesday (12 February).When pressed on his future by CNN anchor Richard Quest, the former Tory leader said he would only do something if “I generally thought I could be useful”.He then added: “I am blissfully engaged trying to build my wife a kitchen. It’s very time consuming.” More

Nigel Farage’s former advisor has condemned Labour’s immigration raid videos, describing them as “unpleasant and nasty.”Gawain Towler, the UK Independence Party’s (UKIP) former director of communications, compared the footage to former Conservative prime minister Theresa May’s “Go home or face arrest” Home Office vans.Ms May has since said the vans were “wrong.”“There’s something mean and unpleasant and nasty about the way it’s been done,” Mr Towler said of the government’s strategy in a Times Radio interview.“We want illegal migrants to leave… particularly those who’ve committed crimes… But the tone aspect, I think they’re trying to appeal to an electorate they think we are rather than understanding who we are.” More

Frustrated farmers have urged the government to “listen and end death taxes” as a large scale protest descended in London on Monday (10 February).Farmers gathered in Westminster for the third time in four months, protesting the government’s inheritance tax plan.Under the plan, farms would face an effective tax rate of 20 per cent on assets above the threshold, rather than the normal 40 per cent rate for inheritance tax.Farmer Oli Fletcher said: “The government needs to help the workers in the countryside, just as we need to help the workers in the cities who already have trouble affording food and who already have poor standards of nutrition.” More