Closing summary
We will shortly be closing the politics live blog for today. Thank you, as always, for reading the updates and for all the messages and comments.
You can keep up to date on all the Guardian’s UK politics coverage here. Here’s a summary of the key events and stories from today:
Keir Starmer welcomed the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at Downing Street on Friday, calling the visit a “real piece of history”. The Ukrainian president was greeted by the UK cabinet with a standing ovation as he became the first foreign leader to address the cabinet in person since 1997.
Starmer said the UK will “double down” on backing for Ukraine, and confirmed he had accepted this morning an invitation to visit Ukraine again in the future.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, asked Keir Starmer to “show your leadership” and help with Ukraine’s “long-range capability”. In his address to the UK cabinet Zelenskiy said “if the restriction on western weapons is lifted” it would help Kyiv to strengthen its defence and secure its frontline positions. He said “it is possible to destroy” areas in Russia where weapons are being concentrated. On long-range capability, the president said “we are still missing the main answer to this question” and told the prime minister “I ask you to show your leadership” on the issue.
The government will overturn the suspension of UK funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (Unrwa), foreign secretary David Lammy has said, adding that Britain will provide £21m in new funds. He told the Commons on Friday: “We are reassured that after Catherine Colonna’s independent review, Unrwa is ensuring they meet the highest standards of neutrality and strengthening its procedures including unfettered.”
The worldwide IT crisis was discussed by UK government officials who attended a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. The prime minister did not attend the Cobra meeting as he was hosting the Ukrainian president at a meeting the cabinet at the time.
Britain will not help Ukraine hit targets in Russia, the defence secretary said. John Healey was speaking hours before Zelenskiy was due to address a cabinet meeting at Downing Street on Friday. Healey did not rule out accepting the Ukrainian president’s request to use British-made missiles against Russian territory, but added that Britain would not be involved in any such attacks.
The UK will provide military aid funding to Ukraine “for every year for the rest of the decade,” John Healey said. The defence secretary told Times Radio: “If we take the starting point that the defence of the UK starts in Ukraine and if Putin wins in Ukraine he will not stop there, then we must stand with Ukraine, we’re determined to do that.”
The government has begun setting up its promised curriculum and assessment review, looking at what is taught and tested in England’s state schools, with the announcement that a senior academic, Prof Becky Francis, will lead the review. The review was a Labour manifesto pledge at the general election, and is expected to report back in 2025.
Speaking on Friday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard welcomed the “effort by Border Force to make sure that we are tackling that cross-Channel smuggling operation that’s going on”. Asked whether there was a new policy for Border Force to return small boats to France, he told LBC Radio: “We’ll be working out the full policy and how it works. I’m afraid it’s not as simple as taking every single boat back to the French shore. But what we have seen is French ships intercepting some of those dinghies travelling across the Channel and returning to France. We’d like to see more effort put in place like this, so we’re stopping that illegal trade.”
Long-awaited changes designed to protect individuals from having to sell their homes to meet large social care bills must be further delayed because of funding and staffing shortages, the leaders of England’s largest councils have said. Plans to introduce a cap on social care costs – which would limit people’s lifetime care cost contributions to a maximum of £86,000 – in October 2025 will be impossible to deliver, the County Councils Network (CCN) said.
Keir Starmer’s promised “reset” of the UK’s ties with the rest of Europe has drawn a positive response in European media, with one longtime journalist rejoicing that she will never again have to cover “Britain as a basket case”.
Working parents could be hit with unexpected tax bills because of a clampdown on the misuse of a childcare “benefit” offered by some employers that lets people enjoy savings of up to £10,000 a year. HM Revenue and Customs has turned its sights on some workplace nursery benefit schemes which allow employees to pay the fees out of their pre-tax salary, resulting in them making big savings on income tax and national insurance.
Keir Starmer’s promised “reset” of the UK’s ties with the rest of Europe has drawn a positive response in European media, with one longtime journalist rejoicing that she will never again have to cover “Britain as a basket case”.
The prime minister told leaders at a meeting of the European Political Community at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on Thursday that he wanted to draw a line under years of fractious relations with the rest of Europe. The relaunch was greeted with a sense of relief that after years of chaotic leadership in London a new age of cooperation was beginning.
Annette Dittert, the longtime London correspondent for the German public broadcaster ARD, was effusive about the vibe shift.
“Starmer managed to restore Britain’s reputation in Europe within a day. Astonishing achievement in such (a) short time,” Dittert tweeted. “‘[W]ithin a day’ is maybe a bit over the top, but still: what a complete change of tone and such a relief not having to report on Britain as a basket case any more.”
Der Spiegel noted that “after the long ice age between Berlin and London”, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and Starmer get along well. It said the new prime minister’s performance in Blenheim could mark the beginning of a new “tandem” for Europe.
The news magazine said that given the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House and the weakening of president Emmanuel Macron in France, Europe needed new fulcrums of power.
Read more of the piece by Lisa O’Carroll, Deborah Cole and Sam Jones here:
The Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, has written a profile on Labour’s new defence adviser, Fiona Hill. You can read more about the former White House Russia adviser from County Durham here:
The government has begun setting up its promised curriculum and assessment review, looking at what is taught and tested in England’s state schools, with the announcement that a senior academic, Prof Becky Francis, will lead the review.
Francis is a former director of the UCL Institute of Education and is now chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, a government-endowed charity that processes research for teachers. The new role sees her leading an expert panel to examine “the key challenges to attainment for young people, and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve,” especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, according to the Department for Education.
The review was a Labour manifesto pledge at the general election, and is expected to report back in 2025.
The DfE said the review “will seek evolution not revolution,” and will be wary of increasing teacher workloads.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said:
Our dedicated school and college staff deliver better life chances for countless children but for too long they have been held back by a curriculum and assessment system that fails to prepare enough of our children for work and for life.
That is why this government, alongside leading education experts, leaders and staff on the frontline, will breathe new life into our outdated curriculum and assessment system.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
Assessment in England, across the phrases, is fundamentally broken. It is designed for accountability, rather than teaching and learning.
We are pleased to see the review will consider how any changes would affect staff. The previous government’s changes were rushed through at an unmanageable pace and caused significantly more teacher workload.”
The worldwide IT crisis was discussed by UK government officials who attended a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, as we reported earlier.
The meeting heard there has been no known impact on 999 or emergency services.
The prime minister did not attend the Cobra meeting as he was hosting the Ukrainian president at a meeting the cabinet at the time.
A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said they were unaware of the problem having any impact on government services.
We are certainly aware of the disruption this has caused to business and to those particiualrly looking to travel today. We are keeping in closely monitoring the situation and making sure the relevant industries can use the support we can provide.
Updated
Keir Starmer has posted a photo of himself and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy on X. He described welcoming Zelenskiy to Downing Street as “an honour”.
An honour to welcome you to Downing Street, President @ZelenskyyUa 🇬🇧🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ktf0f3fSpX
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) July 19, 2024
Zelenskiy has also posted on X, describing how the two leaders “discussed several important issues”.
He wrote:
Key topics included the frontline situation and the urgent need for long-range weapons to protect our people’s lives. I also informed prime minister about the approval of Ukraine’s Maritime Security Strategy. Together, we will continue working to strengthen our Maritime Coalition.
Ukraine will always be grateful to the United Kingdom for its steadfast support of our independence and the lives of our people.
Today, together with UK Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer, we discussed several important issues.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 19, 2024
Key topics included the frontline situation and the urgent need for long-range weapons to protect our people’s lives. I also informed Prime Minister about the approval of Ukraine’s… pic.twitter.com/r1IvymXMT9
The PA news agency reports that Downing Street said it was a “tragedy” that “yet another life” has been lost in the English Channel.
A Number 10 spokesperson said:
It is a tragedy that yet another life has been lost and the prime minister spoke to such an incident just yesterday.”
The official said the incident “underlines the stark reality of the dangers of these crossings and the callousness of the criminal gangs who are driving this”.
The spokesperson said the prime minister and home secretary were “working to address this and step up enforcement” including through “the work that we’ll be carrying out with European partners on it”.
Downing Street did not confirm whether British Storm Shadow missiles can be used by Ukraine to strike into Russian territory as part of the country’s efforts to defend itself.
Asked by the PA news agency whether the prime minister was receptive to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s calls for permission to use UK weapons in Russia, a Number 10 spokesperson 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.”
Keir Starmer welcomed the Ukrainian president on Friday, making Volodymyr Zelenskiy the first world leader to visit the newly elected prime minister at Downing Street.
The Guardian video team have shared the below, where you can see Starmer greeting Zelenskiy outside No 10 and then also speaking during a bilateral meeting inside:
This article was amended on 19 July 2024. An earlier version said that Volodymyr Zelenskiy was the first world leader to visit the newly elected prime minister. It has been corrected to “the first world leader to visit the newly elected prime minister at Downing Street”.
Updated
The Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran has urged the foreign secretary to “pull the lever that would best signify” the UK’s commitment to the two-state solution.
She told the Commons:
The situation in Gaza is frankly soul-shattering. It’s been 300 days nearly, the death toll is at 38,000, the vast majority killed being women and children, only three days ago, 22 people lost their lives in a strike on a UN-run school. That’s the fifth attack on or near a school in the last eight days, and those who survived the bombings are at severe risk of disease and malnutrition.
This has to end now. We need that immediate ceasefire, but we need also those hostages out and the aid to come in.
But it is also right we start thinking about not just the next day, but how do we stop this from ever happening again?
And there is only one viable answer to that, and that is the two-state solution. That is our North Star, it is the keystone to stability in the region as well, but I have to express disappointment that the foreign secretary refuses to pull the lever that would best signify our commitment to it, which is to recognise the Palestinian state on 1967 borders. Ireland, Spain and Norway did it this May. Will he consider it, and if he won’t, why not?”
In his reply, David Lammy said:
There is no confusion on this party’s position on Palestinian recognition. We are committed to Palestinian recognition. We hope to work with partners to achieve that when the circumstances are right.”
Foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) must vacate Gaza.
Former Commons foreign affairs select committee chair Alicia Kearns told the Commons:
Israel has the right to defend itself in accordance with international humanitarian law and we must remove Hamas’s capacity to launch attacks against Israel.”
In his reply, the foreign secretary said:
I think that Israel’s security is paramount. Hamas cannot remain in charge of Gaza, but equally, the IDF cannot remain situated. There has to be a new paradigm. It will involve, I expect, Arab partners and others that can give the security guarantees to Israel. We have to work at pace at what comes afterwards.”
According to the PA news agency, Kearns pressed Lammy on aid entering Gaza. She said:
On aid, has he secured any reassurances in his meetings to increase the number of trucks going into Gaza because 70-odd a day is just not enough?
In government, we did everything we could to urge Israel to let more humanitarian aid into Gaza, opening more crossings, whether through Rafah, we trebled our own aid commitment within the last financial year, doing everything we could to get aid there by land, sea or air.”
Lammy told MPs in his reply:
Seventy trucks a day when we know that it should be 500 is not enough and all of this House recognise the phrase ‘flood’ – we were told in April that they would flood Gaza with aid, 70 is no way near enough.”
On the topic of the occupied West Bank, Lammy described settlement expansion as a “terrible situation” and added:
It was very important for me to meet with the new prime minister on the West Bank to discuss the finances that have been withdrawn, to discuss the febrile situation that we saw on the West Bank and the horrors of an unbelievable expansion against a backdrop in which this breaches international law that this house stands by.”
The foreign secretary told parliament today that the to reach an end to the conflict in Gaza, the immediate priority is a ceasefire complied with by both sides, the release of all hostages and a surge of aid into Gaza.
David Lammy said:
Britain wants to see an immediate ceasefire. The fighting must stop. The hostages must be released. Much, much more aid has got to enter Gaza …. This horror must end, now.”
Today’s announcement on funding for Unrwa brings the UK into line with partners such as Germany, the EU, Sweden, Japan, France and other donors, says the government.
The government has ended the funding pause on @UNRWA - effective immediately.
— Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) July 19, 2024
This begins with £21m to support the humanitarian response in Gaza, provide essential services for refugees across the region, and alleviate the suffering of civilians.
Read more ➡️… pic.twitter.com/mwItbABdf5
Development minister, Anneliese Dodds, will meet the Unrwa commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, today to discuss how the funding will support Unrwa’s work and to condemn the killing of almost 200 Unrwa workers in the conflict.
Dodds said:
The situation in Gaza is intolerable and unacceptable and urgent action is needed to alleviate the suffering of civilians there.
Unrwa is the only agency that can deliver lifesaving humanitarian aid at the scale needed. But it can only operate effectively if it has access to the whole of Gaza and it is safe for Unrwa staff to work there.
That’s why we are calling for unfettered access for humanitarian organisations alongside an immediate ceasefire, the protection of civilians, the release of all hostages and a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.”
Government overturn suspension of UK funding to Unrwa, says David Lammy
The government will overturn the suspension of UK funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (Unrwa), foreign secretary David Lammy has said.
He told MPs:
Humanitarian aid is a moral necessity in the face of such a catastrophe and it is aid agencies who ensure UK support reaches civilians on the ground. Unrwa is absolutely central to these efforts. No other agency can deliver aid at the scale needed. It’s already feeding over half of Gaza’s population. It will be vital for future reconstruction and it provides critical services to Palestinian refugees in the region.
I was appalled by the allegations that Unrwa staff were involved in the 7 October attacks. But the UN took these allegations seriously. I’ve spoken to UN secretary-general Guterres and commissioner Lazzarini. We are reassured that after Catherine Colonna’s independent review, Unrwa is ensuring they meet the highest standards of neutrality and strengthening its procedures including unfettered.
Unrwa has acted, partners like Japan, the European Union and Norway have also now acted, this government will act too. I can confirm to the House that we are overturning the suspension of Unrwa funding.
Britain will provide £21m in new funds, some directed at supporting the management reforms recommended by the colonial review and Unrwa supports more than five-and-a-half million Palestinians; almost 200 of their staff have died through this conflict. I thank them for this life-saving work.”
Updated
Here are some more images of Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Downing Street this morning:
Keir Starmer says the UK will 'double down' on backing Ukraine
Keir Starmer said Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Downing Street was a “real piece of history”.
The Ukrainian president was greeted by the UK cabinet with a standing ovation as he became the first foreign leader to address the ministerial meeting in person since 1997.
“This is a very, very important meeting for us and you’re very welcome here,” the prime minister said. “It is a real pleasure and a privilege to be able to welcome you to Downing Street this morning. This is a real piece of history.”
He said the president becoming the first foreign leader of the 21st century to address cabinet in person shows “the esteem you’re held in … in this country and around the world”.
Starmer said Ukraine had Britain’s “unshakeable support” and that Russia’s aggression was “unforgivable and cannot go unpunished”.
He said the UK will “double down” on backing for Ukraine, and confirmed he had accepted this morning an invitation to visit Ukraine again in the future.
Speaking on Friday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard welcomed the “effort by Border Force to make sure that we are tackling that cross-Channel smuggling operation that’s going on”.
Asked whether there was a new policy for Border Force to return small boats to France, he told LBC Radio:
We’ll be working out the full policy and how it works. I’m afraid it’s not as simple as taking every single boat back to the French shore.
But what we have seen is French ships intercepting some of those dinghies travelling across the Channel and returning to France. We’d like to see more effort put in place like this, so we’re stopping that illegal trade.”
More than 15,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel this year as more people made the journey on Thursday, according to new Home Office figures.
The PA news agency reports that 317 people travelled across the busy shipping lane in six boats, in the first recorded arrivals since Monday when 427 people made the crossing in seven boats. This brings the provisional total of migrants arriving via the English Channel in 2024 so far to 15,076.
This is 9% higher than the number recorded this time last year (13,774) and 0.2% down on the same period in 2022 (15,106), according to PA news agency analysis of government data.
Zelenskiy asks Starmer to 'show your leadership' on Ukraine's 'long-range capability'
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has asked Keir Starmer to “show your leadership” and help with Ukraine’s “long-range capability”.
In his address to the cabinet Zelenskiy said “if the restriction on western weapons is lifted” it would help Kyiv to strengthen its defence and secure its frontline positions. He said “it is possible to destroy” areas in Russia where weapons are being concentrated.
On long-range capability, the president said “we are still missing the main answer to this question” and told the prime minister “I ask you to show your leadership” on the issue.
Zelenskiy has said the ability to use western weapons to strike into Russian territory is important to Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Moscow.
The UK government has suggested the deployment of British missiles is ultimately a matter for Ukraine, as long as international law is upheld.
Working parents could be hit with unexpected tax bills because of a clampdown on the misuse of a childcare “benefit” offered by some employers that lets people enjoy savings of up to £10,000 a year.
HM Revenue and Customs has turned its sights on some workplace nursery benefit schemes which allow employees to pay the fees out of their pre-tax salary, resulting in them making big savings on income tax and national insurance.
This tax break was originally introduced in 1990 to encourage employers to provide nursery places for staff, either by opening an onsite nursery or by teaming up with other businesses to jointly finance and run one.
These schemes are typically marketed to employers by specialist firms and have increased in popularity as childcare costs have soared.
However, HMRC has said it believes some of the schemes do not meet its rules, which impose quite challenging requirements on employers when it comes to financing and helping to manage the nurseries used by their staff.
In an update published on its website, it said that while it believed the majority were compliant, “we have been alerted to a small number of scheme operators advertising their services with HMRC approval where the … requirements are not met”.
You can read the full piece here:
In a politics live blog/Microsoft IT outage live blog crossover, I bring you this update via the PA news agency:
Restaurants in parliament appear to have been affected by the global IT outage. Parliamentary catering services were only accepting cash payments on Friday morning, although cash machines in Westminster were still working.
Updated
English councils call for further delay to social care costs cap
Long-awaited changes designed to protect individuals from having to sell their homes to meet large social care bills must be further delayed because of funding and staffing shortages, the leaders of England’s largest councils have said.
Plans to introduce a cap on social care costs – which would limit people’s lifetime care cost contributions to a maximum of £86,000 – in October 2025 will be impossible to deliver, the County Councils Network (CCN) said.
It called on the health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, to urgently decide whether to push ahead with the cap, warning that to do so without a multibillion-pound cash injection would lead to some councils in effect being pushed into bankruptcy.
“To put it bluntly, it will be impossible to implement these reforms next autumn in the current timescales and with no funding committed to the reforms,” said Martin Tett, the adult social care spokesperson for the CCN.
The warning presents yet another challenge for the new government, which has said it wants to tackle the social care crisis as part of its wider ambitions to rebuild public services but which so far has offered little in the way of concrete proposals.
Councils are struggling to hire enough care workers, with the latest Skills for Care workforce data published this week revealing that 131,000 care jobs were unfilled. Skills for Care predicts that more than 400,000 extra staff will have to be recruited over the next decade to meet demand.
You can read more here:
This is the parliamentary schedule for Friday, as reported by the PA news agency:
House of Commons:
9.30am: A statement from chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, on the Covid-19 inquiry.
10.30am: A statement on Israel and Gaza.
11.30am: Debate on the king’s speech (day three).
House of Lords:
10am: Debate on the king’s speech – creating opportunities: education, early years and healthcare.
Updated
The Guardian’s community affairs correspondent, Neha Gohil, has spoken to minority groups in Reform seats for a news feature on life after the party’s election success in those constituencies.
Gohil writes that some Muslim and LGBTQ+ constituents say they would feel uneasy approaching their new MPs including Nigel Farage. You can read the full piece here:
Back to yesterday’s European Political Community summit momentarily and here is the Guardian’s view on it:
UK will not help Ukraine hit targets in Russia, defence secretary says
Britain will not help Ukraine hit targets in Russia, the defence secretary has said, as Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to appeal directly to the cabinet to use British-made weapons more freely.
John Healey did not rule out accepting the Ukrainian president’s request to use British-made missiles against Russian territory, but added that Britain would not be involved in any such attacks.
Healey was speaking hours before Zelenskiy was due to address an extraordinary meeting of the British cabinet on Friday, the first foreign leader to do so in nearly 30 years.
The defence secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’re providing weapons to Ukraine for their defence of their sovereign country. And that does not preclude them hitting targets in Russia, but that must be done by the Ukrainians. It must be done within the parameters and the bounds of international humanitarian law.”
Keir Starmer had previously indicated Ukraine would be able to use the Storm Shadow missiles against targets in Russia, but only for “defensive” purposes. The prime minister said last week: “It is for defensive purposes, but it is for Ukraine to decide how to deploy it for those defensive purposes.”
Zelenskiy will use the cabinet meeting to appeal to ministers to use Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets. He will also urge ministers to help build up Europe’s defence industrial base, as leaders around the world adjust to the possibility of a second, more isolationist, Trump administration.
You can read the full piece here:
In the bilateral meeting with Starmer, Zelenskiy thanked the UK for its “unity” with and backing for Kyiv and said “we feel this support”.
The Ukrainian president said he wanted to discuss “strong decisions” in the war in Ukraine. “Thank you for the invitation for the privilege for me to be here,” he said.
He said:
Thanks for this unity. We feel this support and your strong decisions … helped us to defend freedom and democracy in Ukraine and helped very much Ukrainian people.”
Zelenskiy added: “I also want to discuss with you today also strong decisions we can have in this war [to] help us.”
Keir Starmer said Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Downing Street was a “very special moment”.
In a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian president, the prime minister said the UK is “united in our parliament” in supporting Kyiv for as long as possible.
Starmer said:
It’s a very special moment for us to reiterate our support for you and the Ukrainian people in the fight against Russian aggression and to have this opportunity to confirm again our resolve to stand with you, so thank you so much for accepting the invitation.”
Here’s a photograph on the newswires of Larry the cat preparing for Zelenskiy’s visit this morning.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives in Downing Street to address the cabinet
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Downing Street, where he is expected to become the first foreign leader to address cabinet in person since 1997.
The Ukrainian president was greeted by prime minister Keir Starmer with a warm hug and handshake before entering Number 10.
Updated
The UK will provide military aid funding to Ukraine “for every year for the rest of the decade,” John Healey said.
The defence secretary told Times Radio:
If we take the starting point that the defence of the UK starts in Ukraine and if Putin wins in Ukraine he will not stop there, then we must stand with Ukraine, we’re determined to do that.
And it isn’t just that. We’ve stepped up extra support in these first two weeks in government.
We’ve also confirmed the commitment of extra military aid funding this year and for every year for the rest of the decade. As long as it takes.”
He added: “When Keir Starmer said Britain will continue our steadfast support for Ukraine he meant it.”
Updated
Opening summary
Good morning and welcome to our UK politics blog.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is addressing the cabinet this morning to bring fresh impetus to efforts to stop Russia evading sanctions on its oil exports.
The Ukrainian president is in the UK after attending yesterday’s summit of the European Political Community, hosted by Keir Starmer at Blenheim Palace.
At the meeting, European leaders agreed to launch a “call to action” to disrupt the growing fleet of “phantom” tankers carrying sanctioned Russian oil around the world.
You can read our story here
In other news, MPs will continue their debate around measures in the King’s speech earlier this week, stay with us for all the day’s political developments.
Updated
