Volodymyr Zelensky asked Sir Keir Starmer to “show your leadership” as he appealed for permission to strike Russian targets with Western weapons in a historic address to the UK Cabinet.
The Ukrainian president urged the British Government to help with Kyiv’s “long-range capability” as he became the first foreign leader to address the meeting of senior UK ministers in person since 1997.
“We are still missing the main answer to this question,” Zelensky told the meeting on Friday morning.
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Here’s a recap of what has been happening in the world of UK politics:
- Volodymyr Zelensky asked Sir Keir Starmer to “show your leadership” as he appealed for permission to strike Russian targets with Western weapons in a historic address to the UK Cabinet.
- The Ukrainian president urged the British Government to help with Kyiv’s “long-range capability” as he became the first foreign leader to address the meeting of senior UK ministers in person since 1997.
- “We are still missing the main answer to this question,” Mr Zelensky told the meeting on Friday morning.
- Ukraine has said lifting restrictions on western resources – including British Storm Shadow missiles – to strike into Russian territory is key to strengthening its defence and securing its frontline position in the war.
- The UK Government signalled that it was ultimately a matter for Kyiv how it chooses to deploy weapons, as long as international law is upheld.
- A person has died in the English Channel as “yet another life” was lost, following five deaths of people attempting the journey in the last week. Five people were pulled from the water after a “heavily loaded” boat got into difficulty off the coast of Calais, France, at around 1am on Friday, the French coastguard said.
- Whitehall crisis officials are working to end the “inconvenience” caused by the major IT outage hitting airlines, train companies and banks, Cabinet minister Pat McFadden has said.
- An emergency Cobra meeting was held at official level – rather than ministerial – on Friday morning to discuss the chaos, with a further gathering expected later.
- Four in 10 Conservative MPs are now on the party’s front bench after Rishi Sunak made further appointments to his interim opposition team.
Horizon: Ex-Royal Mail boss believed Vennells knew ‘there were faults in system’
Dame Moya Greene texted Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells to say “I think you knew” because she believed the ordained priest knew “that there were faults” in the Horizon system.
Counsel to the inquiry Sam Stevens asked: “What did you think Paula Vennells knew?”
Dame Moya replied: “Gosh. I think she knew, on the basis of the evidence that has emerged in this inquiry, that there were faults in the system.
“I think that Post Office executives, including Mrs Vennells, continued to slavishly in my opinion, adhere to the position that was not tenable on the basis of the evidence presented here – that there were no faults.”
Horizon: Ex-Royal Mail CEO told Vennells ‘I know you would never accuse anyone in the wrong’
Former chief executive of Royal Mail Group Dame Moya Greene sent a message to her Post Office counterpart Paula Vennells in May 2022 saying “I know you are a good person and would never, never accuse anyone in the wrong”, the Horizon IT inquiry has heard.
The message from Dame Moya read: “Horizon is the villain here and thank god we finally learned about the frailty in the system.
“We think of it is (sic) computerised, it is untamperable, infallible… not so.
“Stand tall. I know you are a good person and would never, never accuse anyone in the wrong.”
Dame Moya said she sent a message of support to Paula Vennells because she had been “vilified in the press”.
Asked what she meant when she said Ms Vennells was “a good person and would never accuse anyone in the wrong”, Dame Moya said: “Well the first thing I would say is I thought this would be a private communication and I want to just say there’s a context to this.
“Mrs Vennells was being vilified in the press and we didn’t know at that time in 2022 what we know now as a result of the evidence that has emerged in this inquiry.
“So at that time, I can only say what I saw – and what I saw when I worked with Mrs Vennells was a hard-working executive who was a problem solver.
“Not at all the kind of person that she has been portrayed (to be).”
Suella Braverman expected to defect to Reform as Tory leadership race heats up
Conservative MP Suella Braverman is expected to quit the Conservatives and join Nigel Farage’s Reform UK later this year, according to sources in both parties.
The right-wing former Home Secretary is struggling to command enough support to run for the Tory leadership when the race officially kicks off next week after key allies abandoned her fledgling campaign.
She may even face the ignominy of failing to secure the numbers to get on the ballot paper as support within the parliamentary party leeched away to the other right-wing candidates.
“We expect her to take a tilt at the Tory leadership and then come over to us, perhaps in the autumn around conference time,” a Reform source said. “She’ll fit in well.”
“There’s now so much antagonism towards Suella Braverman among MPs that there is now a generally held view that she will defect,” a senior Tory source told i.
Read the full story from Kitty Donaldson, Hugo Gye and Richard Vaughan here.
Starmer condemns ‘despicable’ sentencing of US journalist in Russia
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the “despicable” sentencing of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by a Russian court on espionage charges which were rejected by his employer and the US as a sham.
The Prime Minister said the jailing underscored Moscow’s “utter contempt for media freedom” and called for the journalist’s immediate release.
Mr Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison after a swift and secretive trial in Russia’s highly politicised legal system.
The 32-year-old was detained in March last year while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and accused of spying for the US, which he denies.
He has been behind bars ever since, becoming the first US journalist taken into Russian custody on espionage charges since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, at the height of the Cold War.
In a statement on Friday, Sir Keir wrote: “The sentencing of (Wall Street Journal) reporter Evan Gershkovich is despicable and only serves to underscore Russia’s utter contempt for media freedom.
“Journalism should not be a crime. Gershkovich must be released immediately.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Sentencing Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a strict penal colony shows the Russian state’s contempt for media freedom.
“He is a journalist, works for a respected news outlet, and was accredited by the Russian state to work in Russia. He should be released immediately.”
Dow Jones chief executive and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour and editor-in-chief Emma Tucker they would “not rest” until Mr Gershkovich is released.
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, prosecutor Mikael Ozdoyev said Mr Gershkovich was accused of gathering secret information about the production and repair of military equipment at Uralvagonzavod, a huge industrial plant about 90 miles north of Yekaterinburg.
He said Mr Gershkovich was acting on instructions from the CIA and tried to conceal his action – an accusation US officials have dismissed as bogus.
The US State Department has declared Mr Gershkovich “wrongfully detained”, committing the government to assertively seek his release. US officials also have dismissed the charges as bogus.
Asked on Friday about a possible prisoner swap involving Mr Gershkovich, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.
Four in 10 Tories now on front bench as Sunak makes new appointments
Four in 10 Conservative MPs are now on the party’s front bench after Rishi Sunak made further appointments to his interim opposition team.
The former prime minister announced a flurry of junior appointments on Friday following the unveiling of his temporary shadow cabinet last week.
Friday’s announcement means there are now 51 MPs on the Conservative front bench, amounting to 42 per cent of the total parliamentary party and underlining how far Tory numbers have dwindled.
Around 10 of those appointed on Friday are also doing more than one job.
Andrew Bowie, the shadow veterans minister, is now also a shadow energy security and net zero minister.
Hampshire MP Paul Holmes has been given three jobs, shadowing the Foreign Office and the Northern Ireland Office while also acting as a Tory whip.
Other appointments made on Friday include Alicia Kearns, the former Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman, who has been made a shadow Foreign Office minister, and Danny Kruger, co-chair of the New Conservatives group, who has been made a shadow defence minister.
In the Lords, Earl Howe has been made shadow deputy leader of the house, continuing a 33-year unbroken run on the Conservative front bench that started when he was made a whip under John Major in 1991.
Friday’s appointments are likely to be temporary, with Mr Sunak’s replacement making their own choices once they have been elected.
The Conservative Party said it now “stands fully ready to provide the opposition the public deserves to this new Labour Government, especially following the King’s Speech and the announcement of this Government’s new legislative agenda”.
Cold weather and election sees shoppers curb spending
Sales in Great Britain slumped by 1.2 per cent last month as shoppers seemed reluctant to spend despite a fall in inflation, higher wages and lower social security contributions.
Retailers blamed poor weather, cost of living pressures, and pre-election uncertainty for customers’ reticence to spend.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed the quantity of goods sold fell in June compared with May.
Sales dropped across most sectors, and were down 2.1 per cent at non-food stores, while supermarkets and other food stores posted a 1.1 per cent decline. Only petrol and fuel sales showed an increase, up 2.1 per cent.
Over the year to June, volumes fell by 0.2 per cent, and they were 1.3 per cent below their pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
Read the full story here.
No plan to scrap Bibby Stockholm migrant barge despite Labour criticism
No plans have been made to scrap the Bibby Stockholm, despite the new Government wishing to close the barge “as fast as possible”.
The three-storey barge, which is moored in Portland in Dorset, was repurposed to house asylum seekers by the Conservative government in a bid to cut down the high cost of using hotels.
But it has been the subject of a string of controversies, criticism and legal challenges since opening, and in December, an asylum seeker died on board in a suspected suicide.
The new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said during the election campaign that she would initially keep the asylum barge but that Labour wants to end the use of barges and hotels “as fast as possible”.
However, i understands no firm decisions have been taken on contracts for the barge, currently believed to be housing around 300 residents, and no plans have been agreed for phasing it out.
Read the full story here.
PIP reform: What we know about Labour’s plans
Sir Stephen Timms has spent the last four years grilling the Tory government over its record on employment, benefits and pensions as chair of the Commons committee.
He spoke out about concerns over a “hostile” welfare system forcing people into jobs and warned the current personal independent payments (PIP) assessment process is flawed.
Now, having been appointed the minister for social security and disability, he will have the opportunity to enact some of the changes he has called for.
This Labour government comes into power with considerable challenges lying in wait. Economic inactivity remains high, caused in large part by increased sickness or chronic health conditions, and the disability benefit bill is set to keep rising.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted that current welfare spending is forecast to increase from £261bn in 2022/23 to £360bn by 2028/29 – with disability benefits alone due to rise from £30bn to £52bn.
Insiders say that, under the Starmer administration, Timms was selected because of his knowledge and ability in his area.
One Labour source told i that the appointment is ultimately “because the top team thinks he can deliver which is basically the focus of this parliament.”
Read more here.
Opinion: Nato has just four months left to help Ukraine defeat Russia
by Hamish de Bretton-Gordon
As things stand, it is looking increasingly likely that Donald Trump will win the US presidency in November and Vladimir Putin knows all he has to do is wait.
Trump has said he intends to negotiate a ceasefire and believes he can end the Ukraine-Russia conflict within “24 hours”. It has led diplomats to speculate that, as president, Trump will pull the plug on US support for Ukraine – an assertion strengthened by the appointment of JD Vance as his running mate. Isolationist Vance was one of the main opponents of the US’s new assistance package to Ukraine and has expressed indifference to what happens in that war.
“I think that it’s ridiculous that we’re focused on this border in Ukraine,” Vance said in an interview in 2022. “I gotta be honest with you: I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”
On another occasion, he said: “I do not think that Vladimir Putin is an existential threat to Europe, and to the extent that he is, again that suggests that Europe has to take a more aggressive role in its own security.”
This should send alarm bells throughout Nato and our new government. Vance is no friend of Europe and we cannot brush his views under the carpet.
For too long the UK has ignored the geopolitical shift. Putin told us for years he would invade Ukraine and try to prevent Nato expansion. We did not just ignore him; we even reduced the size of our Army along with the rest of Europe to seemingly encourage him. And now we stand on the edge of the abyss of another war in Europe.
Read more here.
‘Mismatch’ between first past the post and evolving ‘party system’ in UK, says expert
Tim Bale, who is a professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London, said that a mismatch exists in the UK between “the electoral system and the party system”.
He told Times Radio: “If we were to have proportional representation, the number of votes that Reform get would be translated into seats in Parliament, and therefore you could see a deal between a centrist Conservative government on the one hand, and a Reform UK support party on the other.
“But the problem for the Conservatives at the moment is that all those votes on the right of the political spectrum, to the right of them, are wasted in effect, and don’t translate into a party that can help them get into government.”
He also said that voters are “much more volatile these days. In other words, they change their party between elections.
“But on the other hand you’d have to set that against the fact that, really since the early 1970s – believe it or not – we’ve been becoming a more multi-party system.
“Even though people are voting in the first past the post system, they are increasinly inclined to vote for smaller parties. That wasn’t true in 2017 and it wasn’t true in 2019, but they were a temporary hiatus in a long-term trend towards a system which contains more parties and more people willing to vote for those parties.
“So in some sense there is a mismatch between the electoral system we have, and the party system we have.”
Opinion: Starmer is courting Europe and the US – and risks losing both
by Adam Boulton
Sir Keir Starmer has spent the first week of his post-election honeymoon speed-dating foreign leaders.
His list of partners is impressive too. Within days of taking office he ticked off President Joe Biden and 30 other leaders at the Nato summit in the US, catching up with the dozen or so he had missed in Washington, DC at the European Political Community summit which he hosted this week at Blenheim Palace. The representatives of the UK’s closest neighbours, France and Ireland, President Emmanuel Macron and Taoiseach Simon Harris, were singled out for special attention at intimate dinners.
The new Prime Minister had no experience of foreign policy before taking over. He has hit the ground running and he has been sure-footed. “We want to work with all of you to reset relationships, rediscover our common interests and renew the bonds of trust and friendship that brighten the fabric of European life,” he told his delighted guests at Blenheim. His message was that Britain is back after the chilly years of Brexit isolation and his reset had the assembled European leaders purring.
Meanwhile, thanks to the networking skills of Karen Pierce, the British ambassador in DC, the Prime Minister was the only foreign leader to get through to Donald Trump on the phone immediately after his attempted assassination.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has been busily eating the rude words he has said in the past about Trump. Instead he is emphasising how he much he has in common with Trump’s vice presidential pick JD Vance. “We share a similar working-class background with addiction issues in our family. We’ve written books on that… we’re both Christians.”
The new Government’s reset is a bid to reclaim its position in the world familiar from the Thatcher, Major and Blair years as “the bridge” between the US, the UK’s closest friend, and its European allies.
Read more here.
Tory architect of GCSEs welcomes Labour’s review of ‘outmoded’ tests
Former Conservative education secretary Lord Baker of Dorking has welcomed the Labour Government’s review of educational assessments, labelling them “outmoded”.
Lord Baker, who introduced the GCSE system in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher’s government, welcomed Labour’s curriculum assessment review.
It launched the review on Friday, seeking to ensure a child’s background does not prevent them from receiving a high standard of education.
Lord Baker suggested that GCSEs should be scrapped, along with other current assessments and curriculums.
The Conservative peer told ministers in the Lords: “Could I also surprise you by saying I welcome entirely all the proposals you put today to the House? I hope it’s the beginning of a great reforming government.
“Endorsements by me of statements from the Education Department for the last 14 years have been rather rare events, but I hope this is a very good start.
“In your manifesto, you said that there’s going to be an expert-led review of the curriculum and assessment. Well done, congratulations, I urged the last government to do it again and again.
“Seven committees were set up that all urged that and said you should scrap EBacc and Progress 8 and also GCSEs, which I introduced, which I think are now outmoded.”
Horizon IT inquiry: Swinson was advised not to meet Sir Alan Bates
Former postal affairs minister Jo Swinson has told the Horizon IT inquiry that she was advised not to meet sub-postmaster and campaigner Sir Alan Bates in order to maintain the government’s independence from an ongoing mediation scheme between the Post Office and its employees.
Ms Swinson, a former MP and Liberal Democrats leader, said she regretted not meeting with Sir Alan, who was recently knighted for his campaign work.
Concluding his questions for Ms Swinson, counsel to the inquiry Julian Blake asked: “What do you think you did to contribute to the scandal?”
Ms Swinson replied: “There’s various things that I wish I had done differently. I should have met with Sir Alan Bates. I wish I’d asked to meet with [forensic accountants] Second Sight directly. I wish on a couple of occasions I had pushed more and probed more.
“One of those was when I was told that the Post Office was changing their prosecution policy… I think my response at the time was kind of relief and ‘about time’.
“But actually, I wish I’d asked more questions at that point, because I suspect that there were reasons for that – and if Post Office had been frank about that advice that they’d received, which I’m sure must be why they changed their prosecution policy, about the unsafe witness, years of anguish could have been saved for sub-postmasters.
“Justice could have been years earlier if that… memo had been properly acted upon at the time. I didn’t know about it, and I wish I had, and I’m just really sorry that I asked lots of questions and it wasn’t enough.”
Housing crisis is holding Britain back, says Rayner
Britain is being held back by its “housing crisis” and the new Government has a “mountain to climb” to address it, Angela Rayner has told the House of Commons.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the new Labour administration has already taken the first steps in response, as she pointed to plans to reform the planning process to boost housebuilding.
Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, added that the Government is committed to the “biggest wave” of social and affordable housing for a generation.
In the King’s Speech, the Government said the Planning and Infrastructure Bill would reform the system to help meet the goal of building 1.5 million more homes over the course of the Parliament – deciding “how, not if” properties are built.
The Housing Secretary said the Government would take steps to “unblock our planning system” by creating a new task force to accelerate stalled housing sites.
Ms Rayner said: “The housing crisis is holding Britain back. Too many families face soaring mortgage payments or sky-high rents for damp, unsafe homes.
“Or the leaseholders trapped facing eye-watering charges with no way out.
“All of this has been fuelled by the chronic housing shortage after the last government failed to meet their housing targets every single year. Housing completions are now set to hit their lowest level since World War Two.”
Horizon IT inquiry: Vennells knew there was problem with key witness and never told me, says former postal minister
Returning to the Horizon IT inquiry again, Jo Swinson has said ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells “knew there was a problem with an unsafe witness, and she never told me.”
The ex-postal affairs minister was referring to leading Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins, who is currently the subject of a Metropolitan Police investigation on suspicion of perjury and perverting the course of justice.
Giving evidence at the probe on Friday, Ms Swinson said: “Having seen the details provided to me by the inquiry, I am staggered that I made my statement in the Commons on July 9, and on July 15 Post Office Ltd received the memo… that said that the credibility of their key witness was fatally undermined.
“I cannot quite square in my mind how it was possible for, as the minister, as the shareholder, me to be responding to these issues, being given this briefing – and then that bombshell.
“I’m not a lawyer, but when I read that document in the briefing notes I couldn’t believe it. You do not need to be a lawyer – how could anyone read that document and not realise that this is something which demands urgent attention?
“And yet, where did that go? Well, we know that Paula Vennells was aware that there was problems with an unsafe witness, and she never told me.”
‘Opposing poor planning is common sense’: Lib Dems hit back at Nimby label
Opposing poor planning is not “being a Nimby (not in my backyard)” but “common sense”, the Liberal Democrats’ housing, communities and local government spokesperson has claimed, hitting back at the label used by Tory counterpart Kemi Badenoch.
Helen Morgan told the Commons during the debate on the King’s Speech: “Integrating public delivery has got to be part of the planning process, so we welcome in principle the Government’s plans to streamline the delivery of critical infrastructure, including in the housing sector in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill, but we need to be clear that the current system has only benefited developers rather than communities and the new bill must take that into account.”
Ms Morgan called for the Government to consider the need for GPs, schools, bus stops and green spaces as part of the planning process.
“Now we will use the term Nimby today, I would imagine in this debate, and it’s already been used about the Liberal Democrats, but it’s not appropriate to approve housing in areas which are unsuitable, for example, where there’s a high risk of flooding.
“It’s not being a Nimby to oppose poor planning, it is common sense.”
No 10 does not confirm if Ukraine can fire Storm Shadow missiles into Russia after Zelensky appeal
Downing Street has not confirmed whether British Storm Shadow missiles could be launched by Ukraine into Russian territory following Volodymyr Zelensky’s appeal for the “restriction” on Western weapons to be “lifted”.
Asked whether the Prime Minister was receptive to the Ukrainian President’s calls for permission to use UK weapons in Russia, a No 10 spokeswoman said: “I think you heard from the Prime Minister when he was asked questions about this in the press conference yesterday, where he made our position very clear.
“I think what was also clear from the Cabinet meeting which you saw and yesterday, was our unwavering support for Ukraine. That will not change and we’re determined to support them for as long as it takes.”
Pressed on whether Britain has lifted restrictions on using Storm Shadow missiles on targets inside Russia, the official said: “There is no change to our position and the Prime Minister set that out yesterday.
“We have been providing military aid to support Ukraine’s clear right to self-defence against Russia’s illegal acts in accordance with international humanitarian law.
“Equipment provided by the UK is intended for the defence of Ukraine.”
Badenoch: Lib Dems ‘biggest local Nimbys’ and Labour gave ministerial positions to ‘children of chosen ones’
Shadow housing minister Kemi Badenoch has taken fire at rival parties, calling the Liberal Democrats the “biggest local Nimbys in the country” and accusing Labour of giving ministerial positions to the “children of the chosen ones”.
Speaking in the Commons this afternoon, Ms Badenoch, who is believed to be preparing a Tory leadership campaign, said: “Some people think opposition is about throwing mud across the chamber or calling your opponents scum. But often it’s about saying I told you so. And I want to reassure [Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner] that I will be here to say I told you so when these targets are missed.
“We of course will be a constructive Opposition. We want to see homes built in the right places with the right infrastructure. We are here to help.
“I doubt the same can be said of the biggest local Nimbys in the country, the Liberal Democrats. There are many more of them now, you wouldn’t know but there are. Usually elected on promises not to build anything, anywhere in their communities.
“In the last parliament I watched them oppose planning reforms on permitted development, reforms that allowed us to build on land that was already in use.
“It’ll be very interesting to see how they square their Nimby tendencies with their manifesto promises. But then again, saying one thing and doing another has never bothered the Liberal Democrats.”
Referring to the Labour front bench Ms Badenoch said: “I’m sad to see many of [Ms Rayner’s] shadow team not sitting beside her as ministers. They worked for free, grinding in opposition for years, only to watch the children of the chosen ones get the ministerial cars and salaries before their maiden speeches are written.”
Prime Minister condemns ‘disgraceful’ Leeds violence
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the “shocking and disgraceful” disorder seen in Thursday’s riots in the Harehills area of Leeds.
Pointing to the Home Secretary’s statement on the violence, a No 10 spokeswoman said: “He would echo that the scenes that we saw last night were shocking and disgraceful. And disorder of this nature has no place in our society.
“That’s why he would like to thank West Yorkshire Police and the emergency services for their swift support.
“And the police have our full support in carrying out their investigations and taking the strongest possible action against perpetrators and keep the public safe.”
Asked about fears of community tensions being inflamed, she said: “The police have also discouraged people from speculating on the cause of the disorder. And the Prime Minister would also urge people to follow this advice.”