“Boris Johnson today declared that Britain will ‘never recognise’ Russia’s seizure of Crimea or ‘any other Ukrainian territory’. The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s support for Ukraine, in the face of Vladimir Putin’s barbaric invasion, at an international conference. The summit – hosted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – comes ahead of the six-month anniversary of the latest phase of Russia’s assault on its neighbour, which began on 24th February this year. Tomorrow is also Ukraine’s independence day, which will mark 31 years since the country’s independence from Soviet rule. Downing Street was today adorned with flowers of Ukraine’s national colours in preparation for the country’s celebration.” – The Daily Mail
“Thirty one years ago, Ukraine took a decisive step forward on its path as a free democracy. We have stood with them throughout. The UK was one of the first countries to recognise Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union, and is now at the forefront in supporting our friends in their battle to stop Putin from turning the clock back through force of arms… If I become prime minister, I will do everything I can to ensure the flame of freedom in Ukraine continues to burn bright… I will go further as prime minister by doing everything possible – including declassifying more intelligence – to expose Putin’s playbook to the world. My government will use intelligence strategically to reveal the Kremlin’s attempts to undermine and destabilise freedom-loving democracies.” – The Daily Telegraph
“London and Kyiv have unveiled details of a new agreement to help the war-torn country rebuild its economy after Russia’s invasion…Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the International Trade Secretary, met with Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Ukraine’s Minister of Economy of Ukraine, and Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister and Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, via video link to reiterate the UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine and begin talks. The digital trade deal, agreed in the presence of Vadym Prystaiko, Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, yesterday, will aim to support Ukrainian businesses by cutting red tape, enabling them UK more efficiently through technology such as electronic transactions, e-signatures, and e-contracts.” – Daily Express
“ Liz Truss has pledged to divert billions of pounds earmarked for tackling NHS backlogs into social care in an effort to free hospital beds. The foreign secretary told a leadership hustings hosted by Times Radio in the West Midlands that too much of the government’s £13 billion package to address Covid backlogs and overhaul social care was going into the NHS. “I would spend that money in social care,” she said. “Quite a lot has gone to the NHS. I would give it to local authorities. We have people in beds in the NHS who would be better off in social care. So put that money into social care.” Rishi Sunak called for fundamental reform of the NHS, warning that otherwise it would “gobble up every single pound that everyone has”.” – The Times
>Today:
“Liz Truss last night promised to hold a tax-cutting mini-Budget within days of taking over if she wins the Tory race. But Rishi Sunak slammed her saying she had watered down plans for a full blown emergency Budget – with full independent scrutiny of her spending plans. ommons Treasury Committee boss Mel Stride – who backs Sunak – accused the Foreign Secretary of “flying blind” as she planned to ram through tax cuts without a new economic forecast. But Truss supporters say a economic forecast would take ten weeks to produce and there was no time to wait to help people this winter so instead she will hold a smaller “fiscal event.” A source said: “Liz wants to cut taxes as soon as she can, something Rishi has no experience of.”” – The Sun
>Today:
“Liz Truss’s plans to curb the independence of the Bank of England could spook investors and “be bad for all of us”, Rishi Sunak has said as he continued to attack her economic policy. Sunak, a former chancellor, said the government needed to “let the Bank of England get on with its job with interest rates”. On Tuesday, he told Sky News: “I’m worried, quite frankly, by reports from others that they want to curb the independence of the Bank of England. I think that would be a mistake, and I think it would spook international investors into the United Kingdom and will be bad for all of us.” With Truss firmly in the lead to be the next prime minister and less than two weeks to go, she has indicated she would review the Bank’s mandate.” – The Guardian
“The Foreign Secretary, who is widely expected to win the Tory leadership contest, insisted ‘you cannot outsource ethics to an adviser’ as she spoke to Conservative members in Birmingham. There is currently no Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests after Lord Geidt dramatically quit the role in June… Sir Alex Allan previously quit the role in 2020 after the PM overruled his finding that Home Secretary Priti Patel had bullied staff. Prior to his own resignation as PM, Mr Johnson had been contemplating how to replace Lord Geidt. But, at the latest Tory hustings event, Ms Truss…claimed there would be a ‘fundamental problem’ if a PM didn’t know ‘the difference between right and wrong’ themselves.” – The Daily Mail
“ Brexit guru David Frost is being wooed for a major Cabinet job by Liz Truss, The Sun can reveal. The frontrunner to be Britain’s next PM is understood to want the Tory peer to run the Cabinet Office – the nerve centre of Whitehall – as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. But his pals say discussions are ongoing and no agreement has been reached. Lord Frost negotiated Britain’s exit from the EU and future trade agreement for Boris Johnson, but he quit the government in October last year disillusioned by high taxes and lingering Covid restrictions. Since then the ex-Ambassador to Denmark has reinvented himself as the voice of true Conservatism with searing inventions on Net Zero, Fracking, low taxes and scrapping HS2.” – The Sun
“ Liz Truss is facing an internal revolt at her own department over officials’ latest pay award which allegedly leaves staff paid different amounts for doing the same job and comes amid a backdrop of attacks on the Civil Service,i has learnt. The Foreign Office (FCDO) pay award, announced to staff on Monday, has led to an outpouring of anger from around 100 officials on the staff intranet.Posts seen by i show staff threatening to refuse to work overtime, accusing the Government of failing to value staff, and bemoaning ministers’ attacks on civil servants while handing them real-terms pay cuts amid double-digit inflation. It comes after Ms Truss, the Foreign Secretary, has used her campaign to be next prime minister to attack the Civil Service for being “woke”.” – The I
“Foreign secretary Liz Truss and her inner circle were holed up last weekend at her 17th century official countryside residence, plotting what her government might look like and how to begin tackling the multi-layered crises facing the country should she win the race to become the next UK prime minister. The Conservative party leadership contest may have just under two weeks to run, but with several polls suggesting that she has a more than 30-point poll lead…Truss decided it was time to decamp to Chevening House in Kent to plan the transition to power. Senior insiders on her leadership campaign insisted that they were not taking victory for granted but with a hefty in-tray of economic challenges facing the next prime minister, Truss wanted to hit the ground running…” – The Financial Times
“The Rwanda asylum scheme will be in limbo for months while the number of Channel migrants continues to soar. Home Secretary Priti Patel is facing a legal challenge from a trade union which represents thousands of her own Border Force officers…the Public and Commercial Services Union has brought a judicial review of the Rwanda scheme which – after long delays – is due to begin on September 5…a second hearing in a challenge brought by another charity, Asylum Aid, will take place in October. Both hearings will scrutinise the lawfulness of the Government’s policy, announced by Miss Patel in April, that will see migrants from the Channel and other ‘irregular’ routes handed a one-way ticket to Rwanda to claim asylum there rather than in Britain.” – The Daily Mail
“Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has met with the boss of Scottish Power over the energy giant’s £100bn plan to freeze energy bills until 2024. Scottish Power chief Keith Anderson said that the minister and Liz Truss ally is ‘seriously considering’ plans to loan energy companies the money to fund a price cap freeze. Households could face average energy bills of £6,500 a year by this April, new forecasts of the energy price cap reveal… If the ‘deficit-fund’ plan from Scottish Power were implemented, the government would guarantee energy suppliers loans of around a tenth of a trillion pounds – their best estimate between the difference between the cost of buying energy and the current cap.” – The Daily Mail
“Dominic Raab is planning to break barristers’ near-monopoly on crown court trials. Facing an open-ended strike by criminal defence barristers, the Justice Secretary is understood to be examining ways to let other lawyers step in. One proposal thought to be under consideration is extending the number of solicitors who are allowed to appear in crown court. Solicitor advocates have existed since 1990 but the Ministry of Justice is looking at expanding their rights of audience so more of them can present arguments before a judge. There are 157,000 solicitors in England and Wales, across all areas of law, compared with 16,000 barristers. In another move, the MoJ wants to expand the role of legal executives to allow them to take on work performed by other types of lawyers.” – The Daily Mail
“Bosses from the Crossrail project in London will advise Israeli officials on the new Tel Aviv metro, it is to be announced today. Engineers from Crossrail International, the advisory company wholly owned by the Department for Transport, will provide consulting services for a new $45 billion, three-line underground with 90 miles of tracks and 109 stations. Crossrail was the project name for the new Elizabeth Line…It was three and a half years late and billions of pounds over budget.The Department for Transport said that Crossrail would advise on design, safety and standards, as well as on sustainability and environmentalism. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, will meet officials in Tel Aviv today and sign a memorandum of understanding with the Israeli transport ministry.” – The Times
“Thames Water has announced a hosepipe ban across the south of England, which will affect 15 million of its customers. The ban will come into force from 24 August, affecting people in London and the Thames Valley area. Using a hosepipe to water gardens or to clean cars will no longer be allowed, except by businesses and farmers. The temporary ban comes after reports that the source of the Thames had dried up during the drought. The measure follows a hosepipe ban announced for the first time in 26 years by South West Water, which covers Cornwall and parts of north Devon, and after extremely dry conditions across the UK, with drought having been declared across eight areas of England by the Environment Agency.” – The Guardian