“Vladimir Putin has shown “reckless disregard” for global security with his threat to use nuclear weapons against the West, President Biden said earlier today, as he sought to rally the United Nations against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden warned that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” in a speech to the UN general assembly in New York, hours after President Putin threatened to use Russia’s nuclear arsenal against Nato adversaries. In a rare televised address to the nation, Putin accused the West of “nuclear blackmail”, claiming without evidence that Nato was ready to use weapons of mass destruction against Russia. “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people,” Putin said. “This is not a bluff.” – The Times
“Patients will be promised a GP appointment within two weeks as ministers attempt to use league tables of waiting times to force surgeries to improve. Thérèse Coffey, the health secretary, is expected to set a new target for people to be given an appointment within 14 days, or sooner for urgent conditions, with poor performers named and shamed. Social care is also likely to be given about half a billion pounds more to help with plans to move patients out of hospital more quickly over the winter. In her statement on NHS priorities today, Coffey will make pension tax breaks for doctors, to stop them quitting the NHS, one of her main announcements.” – The Times
“British officials believe that they have half a year to solve the impasse over the Northern Ireland protocol, President Biden having given priority to the dispute in his first talks with Liz Truss. The government sees the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement on April 10 as a key moment to revive powersharing and settle the province’s post-Brexit trading arrangements. A senior diplomatic source said that the anniversary was also an obvious opportunity for Biden to visit the UK — but only “if things come good”. Although the trip would be likely to stop short of a full state visit, it would be an opportunity for Truss to cement her relationship with the president following their meeting last night, and leave behind tensions over Northern Ireland and Brexit.” – The Times
“More than 100,000 part-time workers will risk having their benefits cut if they do not agree to work longer hours, under plans to be unveiled by Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday. Anyone who works fewer than 15 hours per week on the National Living Wage will have to attend coaching sessions at job centres and prove they are trying to increase their earnings, The Telegraph has learnt. The Chancellor described it as a “win-win” policy because it will help fill the 1.2 million vacancies in the jobs market as well as helping those on low incomes to earn more by giving them intensive support with seeking work. The measures, which will be announced in the so-called mini-Budget, will take effect next January.” – Daily Telegraph
“Conservative MPs have criticised Liz Truss after she failed to raise the Channel migrant crisis with Emmanuel Macron at the UN general assembly in New York. Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover, said it was a “missed opportunity”. She told The Times: “With record numbers of illegal crossings this year, getting the small boats crisis under control should be a key priority. Winter is coming and there is inevitably a greater risk of loss of life in the Channel.” Tim Loughton, a Tory member of the home affairs committee, said that he hoped Suella Braverman, the home secretary, “will be having a fairly urgent meeting” with Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, to find “a new way going forward”. – The Times
“Liz Truss has told her Israeli counterpart she is reviewing moving the British embassy in Tel Aviv to the contested holy city of Jerusalem. The Prime Minister appeared to be following Donald Trump as she discussed the possible move with Yair Lapid during a meeting at the United Nations summit in New York on Wednesday. Britain has long maintained its Israel embassy in Tel Aviv despite Israel designating Jerusalem as its capital. Mr Trump, when US president, sparked controversy by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2017. A Downing Street spokeswoman said Ms Truss informed Mr Lapid “about her review of the current location of the British Embassy in Israel”. Then the Foreign Secretary, she made the pledge during the Tory leadership contest in a letter to the Conservative Friends of Israel.” – Daily Telegraph
“Jacob Rees-Mogg has said the Government will push ahead to allow fracking in the UK, despite concern about earthquakes and backlash from countryside groups. The Business Secretary said the current limit on seismic activity from fracking – at 0.5 on the Richter scale – was “too low” and “will be reviewed to see a proportionate level”. A report on the potential dangers of fracking from the British Geological Survey, commissioned by ministers in April, is expected to be published on Thursday. The Government hopes the report will say that the dangers of shale gas extraction have been overstated, since it was banned in 2019. Liz Truss has promised to lift a three-year ban on fracking for shale gas as part of her plans to boost the UK’s domestic energy supply.” – Daily Telegraph
“Sir Keir Starmer is facing a wave of pressure from within the Labour party to back electoral reform for UK general elections, with more than 100 delegations set to issue motions at this weekend’s party conference in Liverpool. Last year, the Labour leader’s team saw off an attempt to force the party into backing proportional representation, or PR, despite more than 80 per cent of local party delegates supporting an end to the current “first past the post” voting system in Britain. The motion from 150 constituency Labour parties (CLPs) was defeated after opposition from several of the party’s large affiliated trade unions. This year, however, some of the biggest unions have indicated they would support a similar proposal for the party to back PR.” – FT
“Liz Truss is leading perhaps the most right-wing government in modern British history, with an economic plan shaped by ideology rather than evidence, the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, has warned before this week’s mini-budget. Davey, whose party’s annual conference was cancelled because it coincided with the Queen’s funeral, told the Guardian that Truss’ decision to style Friday’s announcement as a “fiscal event” rather than a budget seemed to be aimed at preventing the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) scrutinising its impact. “The failure to have an OBR assessment shows the economy is being run by ideology, not a plan,” Davey said. “They clearly don’t want the evidence, because that would be unhelpful to their argument. And that should trouble everybody.” – The Guardian
“The coronation of the King will be half the length of his mother’s and feature more young people, more women and more members of ethnic minorities, The Times understands. The ceremony will be pared down from the lavish event when the Queen was crowned before a congregation of more than 8,000 at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. The service alone lasted about three hours and was followed by a procession involving 40,000 troops, described recently as Britain’s “last imperial hurrah”. Instead, the King’s coronation is likely to last only 90 minutes and be radically different. Both the King and the government will be conscious of the need to avoid too extravagant a ceremony at a time of economic hardship.” – The Times