Former energy minister Greg Barker went to climate talks as part of Russian Federation party
A Conservative peer attended Cop26 in Glasgow as part of Russia’s group of participants at the UN climate summit, the Guardian can reveal.
Greg Barker, a former energy minister when David Cameron was prime minister, attended the talks as part of the party of the Russian Federation, according to a list published by the UN.
Continue reading...Change would mean Ukrainians with temporary visas would be able to bring their relatives to Britain
Ministers are considering a climbdown to allow Ukrainians with temporary visas to bring relatives to the UK after Ukraine’s ambassador called for an easing of restrictions.
Amid scenes of chaos and despair at a visa application centre in Poland, government insiders said Ukrainians in the UK on work and student visas might also be allowed to bring their relatives to the UK.
Continue reading...Labour said seeking to appoint Orlando Fraser ignored due process and showed Tories ‘looking after their own’
The government has been accused of “looking after their own” after choosing a former Tory party candidate with links to a rightwing thinktank as its preferred candidate for the chair of the charities’ watchdog.
Labour said by seeking to appoint Orlando Fraser, a founding fellow of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), to the chair of the Charity Commission, ministers had ignored due process in favour of another Conservative supporter.
Continue reading...Polish charity says three vans were blocked from getting on ferry because they didn’t have required paperwork
Brexit red tape is preventing small charities and members of the public from bringing supplies to the Ukrainian border to help ease the deepening humanitarian crisis, it has emerged.
A Polish charity in Lewisham, south London, said three of its vans were blocked from getting on a ferry because they didn’t have the paperwork needed for their cargo.
Continue reading...Analysts warn of a difficult and expensive transition that could push Britain into recession
Britain and the US together moved to ban Russian oil on Tuesday in the biggest financial crackdown on Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago.
In a move likely to hit the Kremlin’s coffers hard, as well as further raise petrol prices and feed inflation in the west, Boris Johnson said stopping imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022 was “another economic blow to the Putin regime”.
Continue reading...Court rules government failed to fulfil obligation to collect correct amount of customs duties and VAT
The British government faces paying a hefty charge to the EU after the European court of justice ruled it had been negligent in allowing criminal gangs to flood European markets with cheap Chinese-made clothes and shoes.
Publishing its final ruling on Tuesday, the court concluded that the UK as member state had “failed to fulfil its obligations” under EU law to combat fraud and collect the correct amount of customs duties and VAT on imported Chinese goods. The failures by HMRC date from 2011 to 2017.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s president is expected to plead for more arms and repeat call for no-fly zone over Ukraine
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will address UK MPs via video link from Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon, when he is expected to plead for more arms and to repeat a call for a no-fly zone even though it has been rejected by Nato.
In a first, the leader’s speech will be broadcast direct into the Commons chamber with formal business suspended so that MPs can listen in with the help of simultaneous translation provided over headsets at 5pm.
Continue reading...Home Office sources contradict earlier government denials that third way to enter Britain may be introduced
Priti Patel has been accused of presiding over chaos after Ukrainian refugees arriving in Calais were greeted by posters telling them to get their UK visas in Paris or Brussels, while her pledge to expand the visa scheme was contradicted by Downing Street.
On a day of confusion and uncertainty for Ukrainian refugees making the 1,400-mile journey to Britain, the home secretary admitted that she has not yet set up a visa application centre (VAC) near the French port of Calais where refugees have gathered.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Critical defence select committee report to come amid growing Tory unease over No 10’s plan
The credibility of the government’s plan to put the Royal Navy in charge of coordinating efforts to control small boats in the Channel is expected to be questioned by an influential parliamentary committee.
A report by the defence select committee, to be delivered shortly, will raise doubts over whether plans to put the Royal Navy in charge have been rigorously tested.
Continue reading...Border official insisted Slovakian national was using an alias after Home Office misspelled name
The Home Office has agreed to pay nearly £6,000 in a settlement to an EU citizen it detained at the border in a post-Brexit crackdown on Europeans entering the country last year.
Miro Matos, a Slovakian who has lived in the UK for 18 years, was so furious at his treatment in Calais that he sued after officials detained him for 10 hours alleging he was using a false name and had not declared a driving offence when he applied for EU settled status.
Continue reading...Labour’s Anneliese Dodds says women should play a central role in the UK’s post-pandemic economic recovery
Women should play a central role in the UK’s post-pandemic economic recovery, with evidence revealing companies with more female leaders outperform those dominated by men, according to House of Commons research.
Accusing the government of ignoring women’s needs during the coronavirus pandemic and side-lining them in plans for recovery, the shadow secretary for women and equalities, Anneliese Dodds, said the data showed women held the key to a stronger economy, but they were being held back by a lack of investment and the risk of “childcare deserts” in parts of the country.
Continue reading...Deputy PM says Nato will need ‘strategic stamina’ as Starmer accuses ministers of moving too slowly on sanctions
It may take years for Vladimir Putin to be defeated in his conquest of Ukraine, Britain’s deputy prime minister has admitted, as Labour accused the government of moving too slowly over sanctions.
Dominic Raab said people who thought the crisis could be resolved in days were “deluding themselves” and that Nato would need to “show some strategic stamina” in its bid to force the Russian army to retreat.
Continue reading...Tory MPs and business groups urge chancellor to scrap increase intended to fund NHS and social care amid fears of stagflation
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is under renewed pressure from MPs and business groups to rethink plans to increase national insurance next month, as fears grow that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will dramatically worsen the cost of living crisis and plunge the economy into “stagflation”.
Both Tory and Labour MPs believe Sunak can still be persuaded to ditch the 1.25 percentage point rise – announced last September to fund the NHS and social care – and want him to use the potentially devastating effects of events in Ukraine on prices as justification for what they say is an urgently needed U-turn.
Continue reading...Anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate says extremists present self-improvement as part of wider political struggle
The far right is increasingly recruiting via online fitness groups, whose popularity soared during the pandemic, prompting fears that new members are being radicalised to commit acts of violence, new analysis shows.
Researchers have detected a network of online “fascist fitness” chat groups on the messaging app Telegram with a large number directly linked to the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative, Britain’s biggest extreme right group.
Continue reading...Amendment to the economic crime bill comes after criticism that UK has been slower to act than US or EU
Russian oligarchs suspected of having links to Vladimir Putin could have their UK assets seized even before the British authorities have completed formal steps to impose sanctions, under far-reaching plans tabled for debate in parliament on Monday.
The move – put forward in an amendment to the economic crime bill by former Tory cabinet minister David Davis and backed by a cross-party group of MPs – would, if passed, amount to the toughest action yet to clamp down on illicit Russian cash in the UK.
Continue reading...Statistics watchdog wrote to the PM about ‘selective use of data’ after statement about number of people in work
Government officials were warned repeatedly about making misleading claims about job figures before the official statistics watchdog reprimanded Boris Johnson over the matter.
Ed Humpherson, the director general of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), said there had been “a series of informal discussions” before the regulator took the “unusual” step of issuing public rebukes to No 10 over the same issue twice last month.
Continue reading...Vulnerable women face huge bills before giving birth, campaigners say
The health of pregnant migrant women and their unborn babies is being put at risk due to fears around NHS charging, with some trusts demanding upfront fees for maternity care or wrongly charging those who are exempt, it has been claimed.
Vulnerable migrant and asylum-seeking women with no recourse to public funds are frequently being issued huge bills ahead of giving birth or aggressively pursued for payments during their pregnancy against current guidance, maternity rights groups have warned.
Continue reading...Most academics back research boycott but ‘there is a case for maintaining ties’, says Oxford professor
Researchers at UK universities are bracing themselves for sanctions affecting science partnerships with Russia, including in climate science and space research, as the government seeks to isolate Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.
Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, said most academics would support a research boycott with heavy hearts and concerns for Russian colleagues.
Continue reading...Deputy PM defends response to invasion after criticism the government has acted too slowly over sanctions
Russian elites could have their property seized and handed over to Ukrainian refugees, the deputy prime minister has suggested.
Dominic Raab made the remarks as he defended the UK’s response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the prime minister, Boris Johnson, called for an emergency UN summit after a Russian attack on a nuclear power station in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Sewage works, airports and seaports among key infrastructure at risk, says intergovernmental report
The UK “is very much not adapted to climate change and not prepared”, according to a lead author of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The study, published this week and approved by 195 countries, says the worldwide impacts of the climate crisis are more severe than predicted and there is only a narrow chance of securing “a liveable future for all”.
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