PM received £7,150 in gifts from Russian friend Lebedev as Mi6 raised security concerns March 13, 2022 Boris Johnson received £7,150 in gifts while he was London mayor from media mogul Lord Evgeny Lebedev at the same time Mi6 was raising security concerns about the Russian-British dual national, it has been revealed. Documents show Johnson received gifts like private jet flights to visit Lebedev’s Italian villa, chaffeur-driven cars and dinners in London [...]
Gove says £350 a month will be given to people housing Ukrainian refugees March 13, 2022 Brits who take in Ukrainian refugees will be given £350 a month as a part of a government scheme, housing secretary Michael Gove has said. Gove today said more than 3,000 UK visas had now been given out to those fleeing Ukraine, which is up from 1,300 on Thursday. The government has opened up refugee [...]
Lib Dems call for £18bn cut to VAT to ease cost of living crunch March 10, 2022 The Liberal Democrats are calling for an £18bn VAT cut that would see the rate slashed from 20 to 17.5 per cent in a bid to ease the cost of living crunch on British households. The Lib Dems say the new policy proposal, released on the eve of the party’s spring conference, would save households [...]
Exclusive: Khan tries to coordinate London hotel accommodation for Ukraine refugees March 10, 2022 Sadiq Khan is in talks to try and coordinate hotel accommodation for Ukrainian refugees set to arrive in London as a part of a similar scheme used to house homeless people during the first Covid lockdown. City Hall has been speaking to the government about how to house those fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with [...]
Number 10 ‘open to sale’ of Chelsea – but Abramovich would see none of the cash March 10, 2022 The government is “open to the sale” of Chelsea Football Club, but no cash would go to newly sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Boris Johnson’s spokesperson today said the Treasury would have to ultimately green light a potential sale of the club, but that “under no circumstances would any sale allow Roman Abramovich to profit [...]
CBI calls for more government help for businesses and consumers to pay energy bills March 10, 2022 The government must provide more direct support for businesses and consumers dealing with a coming surge in energy prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one of the UK’s top business bodies has said. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today urged the government to “support energy intensive industries that lie at the heart of [...]
‘An atrocity’: Russia accused of bombing Ukraine hospital during ceasefire March 9, 2022 Russia was today accused of breaking a ceasefire to bomb a hospital in the under siege city of Mariupol in what was described as an “atrocity” and act of terror by Volodymyr Zelensky. The city has faced heavy shelling over the past week and has become the site of an impending humanitarian disaster, with civilians [...]
UK must drop barriers for refugees, says Ukrainian ambassador to the UK March 9, 2022 The UK should drop all barriers for Ukrainian refugees trying to enter the country, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK has said. Vadym Prystaiko told MPs on the Home Affairs Committee today that “we will be happy if all the barriers are dropped for some period of time when we can get maximum [numbers] of people, [...]
Zelensky invokes Churchill as tells MPs ‘we will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets’ March 8, 2022 Volodymyr Zelensky invoked Winston Churchill’s most famous speech in a historic address to the House of Commons today, telling MPs “we will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets” and that “we will not lose”. In the first ever address by a foreign leader in the Commons, the Ukrainian [...]
Ukraine: UK bans all Russian oil imports from end of 2022 March 8, 2022 The UK will ban all imports of Russian oil and oil products from the end of this year in response to the invasion of Ukraine, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has announced. Kwarteng said the government would provide support to businesses in managing the transition, while also saying that he is “exploring options” in regards to [...]