“During a hero’s welcome in the 11th-century Westminster Hall, he said: “I appeal to you and the world: combat aircraft for Ukraine. Wings for freedom.” Zelenskyy drew a parallel with Britain’s own defiance of the Nazis in the second world war: “Great Britain, you extended your helping hand when the world had not yet come to understand how to react.” … Zelenskyy also visited King Charles and was due to travel to Paris to meet France’s president Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz. He is expected to attend an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. Pressure is mounting on western countries to provide combat jets, and Boris Johnson, the former UK prime minister, said Sunak should do more to help Kyiv.” – FT
Sketches:
“Rishi Sunak is poised to send longer-range missiles to Ukraine in a move that could mark a major escalation in British lethal aid to Kyiv. The prime minister said that Britain was hoping to lead the world by approving the delivery of weapons that could put Russian territory within range. President Zelensky said the missiles were needed to get Ukraine out of the “stagnation phase” and “make the evil completely retreat from our country by destroying its airbases deep in the occupied territories”. The missiles under discussion include Harpoon anti-ship missiles, which have a maximum range of 150 miles, and Stormshadow air-to-surface cruise missiles, which have a range of 250 miles.” – The Times
More:
Editorial:
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Zelensky delivers a brilliant plea for warplanes on a brilliant winter’s day
“In this context, Zelensky’s visit, his meeting with the King and his address to Parliament, is crucial. He is asking us for more — and we must give him what we wants. Yes, we should not underestimate the risk of escalation, even up to the use of nuclear weapons. But from my experience serving in the UK’s past four major military campaigns and having completed a PhD in contemporary Russian warfare, I am confident that the least dangerous course of action is to give the Ukrainians ‘the tools to finish the job’ — as Winston Churchill put it to President Roosevelt in a similar context. Anything that lengthens this war increases the danger to us all — and will result in even higher casualty rates, especially among our Ukrainian friends.” – Daily Mail
>Today: Jonathan Djanogly and Roksolana Pidlasa in Comment: Making Putin pay
“The Ministry of Defence is poised to resume payments to the US defence company responsible for the British army’s troubled Ajax armoured vehicle, in the strongest signal yet that it remains committed to the long-delayed programme. General Dynamics, which was awarded a £5.5bn contract in 2014 to deliver 589 vehicles, has not been paid for the past two years as the government probed serious noise and vibration problems during trials that caused hearing damage to some crews. After a health and safety review into Ajax identified “serious failings” in the UK’s defence procurement culture, the MoD commissioned Clive Sheldon KC last year to conduct an independent inquiry into what went wrong with the programme.” – FT
>Yesterday: Events: Join us for the ConservativeHome Defence & Security Conference
“The new Conservative party chair, Greg Hands, has said this year’s local elections in England will be difficult but that the Tories are in “overall good shape”, with Lee Anderson a man of “great integrity” working as his deputy. Hands, who was promoted to Nadhim Zahawi’s former role in Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle on Tuesday, also said his party would have a “really good story to tell” at next year’s general election. But he struggled to defend controversial remarks Anderson made as a prominent backbencher… During a Commons speech in May, Anderson suggested people in the UK used food banks because they “cannot cook properly” and “cannot budget”.” – The Guardian
“The new deputy chairman of the Conservative party has backed the death penalty for its money-saving potential and “100 per cent success rate” in preventing reoffending, as he vowed to continue taking on critics with outspoken views. Lee Anderson insisted he had the experience from his own life to criticise people on benefits while wealthy southern Tories were “too scared”, arguing that comments deemed outrageous in Westminster were common sense in his red wall constituency. The former coalminer and Labour party employee was appointed in Tuesday’s reshuffle as a counterweight to Greg Hands, the Remain-backing west London MP who is party chairman.” – The Times
“Households and businesses will be pushed to slash their energy use by 15 per cent by the newly-created Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Rishi Sunak has made the target, to be achieved by 2030, one of the six priorities of the department, which was established in Tuesday’s Whitehall shake-up. That could translate into more advertising campaigns urging Britons to turn down their boilers or switch off radiators in empty rooms. It may also mean more Treasury support for improving insulation in homes and offices – an area in which Mr Sunak showed some reluctance as chancellor, according to sources at the time.” – Daily Telegraph
“Suella Braverman, the home secretary, has said she will shake up the UK’s anti-radicalisation policy, called Prevent, after a review found it was “out of kilter” with the counter-terrorism system and too focused on ideology of the extreme right. Following publication of the independent review on Wednesday, Braverman said she would adopt its 34 recommendations “wholeheartedly”, promising “major reform” to “better understand the threats we face and the ideology underpinning them”. The report’s author, William Shawcross, a journalist and commissioner for public appointments, commended the counter-radicalisation programme for saving lives. But he criticised what he called its “double standards when dealing with rightwing extremism and Islamism”…” – FT
“Michael Gove’s government department has been banned from spending money on new capital projects without Treasury approval amid concerns about how well public money is being managed. Insiders had signalled that Gove’s speech in Manchester on 25 January had prompted fears of rogue spending as he announced plans to fund a new round of local grants in northern counties. It had also been claimed that Gove’s pledge in the same speech to provide £30m to fund improvements to substandard housing, after a two-year-old boy in Rochdale died after being exposed to mould in his family’s flat, had prompted fury among Treasury officials. The Treasury denied this.” – The Guardian
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“Boris Johnson has declared an advance payment of about £2.5 million for speaking events. According to the MPs’ register of financial interests, the former prime minister received the payment on January 3 as an advance for speaking engagements arranged via the Harry Walker Agency. Johnson had already declared just under £1.8 million for speeches delivered since he left Downing Street in September. Together with a £510,000 advance for his memoirs, it brings Johnson’s earnings in the five months since he stopped being prime minister to just under £5 million. The former prime minister has also been declaring the free use of accommodation provided by Lord Bamford, the Conservative donor and JCB chairman, and his wife Carole, who founded Daylesford Organic.” – The Times
“Kemi Badenoch has signed a historic UK-Italy export deal in Rome. The new Business and Trade Secretary hailed the first such post-partnership between the UK and any EU country, which will boost green tech and sciences by billions. It will slash red tape that prevent businesses from selling to Italy, and help make it easier for businesses to work there, adding to the £43billion in trade already done between the two nations. The UK’s life sciences, carbon capture and other green tech sectors are to see a boom from the deal… She will fly out today to Mexico as Britain edges close to two deals there.” – The Sun
“Labour has launched an attempt to stop swaths of EU laws automatically disappearing from the UK statute book “by accident” at the end of the year, in a new challenge to Rishi Sunak’s flagship Brexit legislation. The main opposition party said its “sovereignty amendment” would give parliament the final say on whether to repeal EU laws, which include consumer and environmental protections and workplace rights. Labour’s amendment to the government’s retained EU law bill is likely to win cross-party support in the House of Lords, forcing Sunak, the prime minister, to mobilise his MPs to defend legislation which has been criticised by business groups and some Tory MPs.” – FT
More Labour:
>Today: Stephen Booth’s column: What a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol might look like – whether or not the DUP accept it
>Yesterday: Poppy Coburn in Comment: Labour’s race equality legislation would bring patron-client politics to Britain