We’re now closing this live blog. Here’s the full report on Angela Rayner’s comments:
And for more Covid news from around the world you can follow our global coronavirus blog:
Evening summary
Here is a quick recap of some of the main developments from today:
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The government has scrapped the “golden visa” system that allows wealthy foreign investors a fast track to living in the UK, amid concerns over links with Russia. The tier one investor visa route will be shut to all new applicants from all nationalities with immediate effect, the Home Office said, adding that some cases had “given rise to security concerns, including people acquiring their wealth illegitimately and being associated with wider corruption”. More here.
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Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said counter-terrorism police should “shoot first” and “ask questions second”, as the party upped its attacks on the Tories’ record on crime rates. Rayner said she supported a more hardline approach to policing, saying she wanted police to “beat down the doors” of criminals and “sort them out”, as Labour continues to set out a tougher approach to law and order.
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The UK accused Russia of orchestrating “false flag” attacks in Ukraine as a pretext for an invasion. The claims by Boris Johnson and the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, came as tensions continued to mount between Russian-backed separatists and state forces in east Ukraine, with shells hitting a nursery school. Truss said reports alleging “abnormal military activity” by Ukraine in the eastern Donbas region were a “blatant” attempt by the Kremlin to fabricate a reason for an invasion. The prime minister claimed there was a “false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians” and “we fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days”. Western allies fear Russia will carry out or support attacks in Ukraine that it will then falsely blame on the Kyiv government in order to justify an invasion. More live updates here.
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Russia’s claim to be withdrawing troops from the border with Ukraine seems to be a “disinformation campaign” and the troops are instead making their final preparations to invade, the UK armed forces minister said. James Heappey said Moscow was continuing to deploy thousands more soldiers to the region and building bridges across rivers that could be used as part of a military incursion into Ukraine. More here.
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Scotland Yard was forced to admit it was “unacceptable” for one of its official Twitter accounts to apparently criticise the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, leading him to accuse the force of amplifying misleading information. Khan tackled the suggestion – made in a now-deleted tweet by the verified “Met Police Taskforce” – that he did not understand the rules for disciplining officers. It came as the London mayor said he would not support the choice of the home secretary, Priti Patel, to replace the Met commissioner, Cressida Dick, unless whoever was chosen understood “the importance of addressing these deep cultural issues” within the force, such as racism, sexism and bullying. More here.
- A minister hinted that Boris Johnson is likely to announce an end to the provision of free lateral flow tests when he outlines his “living with Covid” plan next week. James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said it was time to reconsider whether some pandemic measures should remain in place as he argued Britons need to “change behaviours” in the face of future Covid variants potentially being less threatening. There have also been reports that as part of the prime minister’s blueprint for the future, the UK government will no longer provide free lateral flow tests to the public. Asked on Sky News whether the offer of free quick-result tests to allow people to check whether they are positive for coronavirus would be “taken away”, Heappey said: “I think that is the direction of travel but the prime minister will shortly announce his conclusions on that.”
- A new attempt will be launched next week to force publication of the full report on whether No 10 parties broke Covid laws, with Conservative MPs urged to support the move to ensure there are “no more cover-ups and no more lies”. While more questionnaires were sent out by Scotland Yard to people who attended a dozen gatherings under investigation, a “humble address” motion was tabled in the House of Commons by the Liberal Democrats. If passed, ministers would be forced to release a specific set of documents within two days of the Met concluding its investigation. A date has yet to be set for the vote, but it could come on the next opposition day allocated to the Lib Dems. The papers being demanded include an unredacted version of Sue Gray’s report, all accompanying evidence collected by the Cabinet Office, and a list of Downing Street staff issued with a fixed penalty notice. More here.
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Labour will fight only a “minimal campaign” in most of the Lib Dems’ top 30 target seats at the next general election, in “an informal Lib-Lab plan to topple the Conservatives”, the FT reported. Keir Starmer has reportedly told colleagues that Labour must “ruthlessly focus” resources on its target seats in the vote, which must be held by 2024, leaving the Lib Dems as the main challengers in some seats.
That’s all from me for today. Thank you so much for reading along. Have a lovely weekend!
Updated
We can see through Oliver Dowden’s US-style bluster as a mere distraction from the country’s real problems, writes Jon Allsop for the Guardian today.
Here is an extract:
The UK, of course, has longstanding institutional racism issues, and countless cultural sores of its own. When Dowden told the Heritage Foundation that the government had told schools that it was “illegal to teach the concept of ‘white privilege’ as though it were undisputed fact”, his audience surely heard a clear echo of the US freakout over critical race theory.
In general, America’s culture war discourse is so ingrained that it is impossible to simply uproot it and replant it in Britain, where political life is less structured around hot-button cultural controversies.
Sure, people care about patriotic songs and the union jack, often quite a lot. But these symbols aren’t permanent, inflamed points of contention. (Keir Starmer may be keen to emphasise them, but he seems to see them as a post-Corbyn prerequisite for electability, not a finished political offer in and of themselves.) We have tabloids, but we do not have a Fox News mainlining grievance day and night. GB News looks tinpot in comparison.
Moreover, the cultural schisms that we do have don’t always reinforce each other. Brexit got nasty, but did not map neatly on to existing divisions. (Dowden voted for Remain.) Covid rules, a key driver of the US culture wars, have not been as viciously polarising here. When Dominic Cummings broke lockdown, he tried to fight his way out of accountability, Trump-style, but was met with a wall of public fury. Ditto Boris Johnson. As of a year ago, nearly 60% of Britons didn’t know what “woke” meant. A roughly contemporaneous poll found the equivalent US figure to be around 30%.
It’s easy to oversimplify any transatlantic comparison, and it’s facile to say that culture wars are always a distraction from weightier, kitchen-table issues – culture matters. But the relentless, totalising focus on grievance surely is a distraction. In keeping with their “with or against us” tone, the woke wars, if they are to be effective electorally, need to be an all-or-nothing political strategy. Many US politicians are all in. Most Tories are not. And it’s far from clear that their voters would reward them if they were.
You can read the full piece here: The British public won’t swallow the Tories’ half-baked ‘war on woke’
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The EU must drop the pretence that the Northern Ireland protocol is designed to protect the peace process, the DUP leader has said.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said unionism was “rapidly losing faith” that a negotiated solution to issues with the protocol could be achieved through the ongoing negotiations between the EU and UK.
The DUP leader, who has repeatedly called on the UK government to suspend the trading arrangements by triggering the article 16 mechanism, was speaking after a virtual meeting with the European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič.
Earlier this month Donaldson pulled the DUP first minister, Paul Givan, out of the Stormont executive in protest at the protocol – a move that removed the power-sharing administration’s ability to make any significant decisions.
Šefčovič has been holding talks with the main Stormont leaders before next week’s meeting of the EU/UK joint committee on implementing the protocol.
Four of the five main Stormont parties also held talks with the Irish foreign affairs minister, Simon Coveney, on Thursday. Donaldson could not meet Coveney in person in Belfast due to travel logistics but is expected to speak with him in the coming days.
Donaldson, who last year stopped his ministers participating in cross-border political meetings as part of his campaign against the protocol, said it was the “greatest threat to progress and prosperity in Northern Ireland of our generation”. He added:
The EU can no longer keep up the pretence that the protocol was about protecting peace.
The Irish Sea border does not have the support of a single unionist elected representative. It is divisive and undemocratic. It trashes the cross-community consent principle. The absence of a functioning executive or north-south structures demonstrates that the protocol is an unrivalled danger to fairness and progress in Northern Ireland.
Unionism is rapidly losing faith that a negotiated solution is possible. It is time for the government to take actions which restores fairness and reinstates Northern Ireland’s access to the UK internal market. This is the only way to build a better future for everyone in Northern Ireland.
Sinn Féin’s Stormont leader, Michelle O’Neill, who was automatically removed as deputy first minister when Givan quit, held talks with Šefčovič and Coveney on Thursday.
She said the majority of people in Northern Ireland did not support the triggering of article 16.
There’s no desire here on the part of the wider society around the triggering of article 16.
O’Neill said her engagements with Coveney and Šefčovič were “very timely” in advance of next week’s joint committee meeting, adding:
We hope that there are solutions to be found, if that’s the case remains to be seen.
Updated
UK scraps ‘golden visa’ scheme for wealthy foreign investors amid Russia concerns
The Home Office has confirmed it has scrapped the “golden visa” system for wealthy foreign investors amid security concerns, PA reports.
The tier one investor visa route will be shut to all new applicants from all nationalities with “immediate effect”, the department said, adding that some cases had “given rise to security concerns, including people acquiring their wealth illegitimately and being associated with wider corruption”.
Launched in 2008, the scheme allows people with at least £2m in investment funds and a UK bank account to apply for a tier one investor visa.
The scheme has now been axed over concerns about how the system was being taken advantage of, and against a backdrop of souring relations with Moscow given its military buildup on the border with Ukraine.
The home secretary, Priti Patel, said:
I have zero tolerance for abuse of our immigration system. Under my new plan for immigration, I want to ensure the British people have confidence in the system, including stopping corrupt elites who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities.
Closing this route is just the start of our renewed crackdown on fraud and illicit finance. We will be publishing a fraud action plan, while the forthcoming economic crime bill will crack down on people abusing our financial institutions and better protect the taxpayer.
The armed forces minister, James Heappey, had suggested the change was being made in part because of the Kremlin’s buildup of troops near Ukraine.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday morning:
Changes were made to that in 2015 and 2019 to make sure that the checks were ever more stringent. But absolutely, as we enter into what could be a generation or longer of quite acute competition with Russia, all of the things that have become normal in Anglo-Russian relations over the last 30 years will be up for review. And that is, I think, what the home secretary and her team are looking at at the moment.
At least 700 such visas have been issued to Russian millionaires in the first eight years of the scheme, according to the Times (paywall).
The controversial issue had been due to come to a head in several weeks anyway, as an amendment tabled to the nationality and borders bill during its report stage in the House of Lords would, if passed, have required the visa route to be suspended.
My colleague Aubrey Allegretti has more on this story here: UK ministers plan to scrap ‘golden visa’ scheme amid Russia concerns
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The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has been accused of allowing fake news to flourish after refusing to debunk false claims that civil servants in his department demanded the removal of a portrait of the Queen.
Dave Penman, the head of the FDA senior civil servants union, has claimed that Kwarteng is damaging morale within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy after ignoring requests to publicly correct reports that staff replaced the portrait with a smaller picture of the monarch.
The row comes amid deepening anger among civil servants that they are being unfairly and repeatedly vilified in anonymous quotes from ministerial aides.
You can read the story here: Kwarteng accused of letting fake news flourish over Queen portrait
Updated
These are from the Daily Mirror’s Rachel Wearmouth:
Sadiq Khan calls PM's Savile slur on KS "a dead cat that serves two purposes": "1 is more we repeat these slurs & these lies the more it becomes normalised & people start believing it but 2nd distracts from the serious issue about the PM who makes the rules, breaking the rules"
— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) February 17, 2022
Sadiq Khan says the the PM's Savile slur has directly led to death threats on @Keir_Starmer: "He's at risk and there's a link I'm afraid between the death threats he's received and the language used by the Prime Minister. And we can't escape that, there's a cause and an effect."
— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) February 17, 2022
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Counter-terrorism police should 'shoot first and ask questions later', says Angela Rayner
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, has said counter-terrorism police should “shoot first” and “ask questions second”, as the party ups its attacks on the Tories’ record on crime rates.
Rayner said she supported a more hardline approach to policing, saying she wanted police to “beat down the doors” of criminals and “sort them out”, as Labour continues to set out a tougher approach to law and order.
Speaking to Matt Forde’s Political Party podcast, Rayner said she was on a “different page” to the former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s approach to crime, adding:
On things like law and order I am quite hardline. I am like, shoot your terrorists and ask questions second.
Taken aback by the live audience’s reaction, she added:
Sorry, is that the most controversial thing I’ve ever said?
Rayner went on to say she wanted police officers to take a more active role in investigating burglaries, as well as “antagonising” thugs who make life difficult for their neighbours.
On law and order, I think if you are being terrorised by the local thug, I want a copper to come and sort them out.
You should be hardline on things like that. It’s not just: ‘Oh, you’ve been burgled, here is a crime number.’
I want you to beat down the door of the criminals and sort them out and antagonise them. That’s what I say to my local police … three o’clock in the morning and antagonise them.
Rayner said she had been “plagued by antisocial behaviour” when she was growing up, adding:
It’s the usual suspects … I want the police to annoy the hell out of them until they realise disrupting lives is not OK. I am quite hardline on that.
Her comments displeased many on the Corbynista wing of the party, including the former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.
Is Angela suggesting a mandatory death sentence for suspected (but not convicted) “terrorists” ? https://t.co/RIsaENZ20L
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) February 17, 2022
The Lib Dems’ home affairs spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael, said: “I suspect that Rayner may not have meant this entirely literally.”
I suspect that Rayner may not have meant this entirely literally - but a good reminder why there is a clear difference between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. We agree where we can, but this is why a strong, independent liberal voice is vital.https://t.co/TNocNJcoWN
— Alistair Carmichael MP (@amcarmichaelMP) February 17, 2022
Last month, an IpsosMori poll for the Standard showed that Keir Starmer’s party was now trusted more on law and order, after weeks of sleaze allegations hitting the government over partygate.
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A Tory MP who leads a group that campaigns against the government’s net zero measures has recruited two members of staff from a controversial organisation that questions climate science.
After the Guardian revealed links between members of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, run by the MP Craig Mackinlay, and the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), further ties between the two organisations have been found.
Politico reported that Mackinlay, an outspoken critic of the government’s net zero policies, has taken on Harry Wilkinson, the head of policy at GWPF’s campaigning arm, Net Zero Watch, in addition to Ruth Lea, a former trustee of the arm, to work in his parliamentary office.
Wilkinson is a critic of consensus on global heating, and has tweeted: “The ‘climate crisis’ is a religious belief, nothing to do with science.” He previously worked for Nigel Lawson, who founded the GWPF and makes claims such as: “I think that climate change is not a threat, it is happening very gently at a fraction of a degree per decade which is something we can perfectly well live with.”
Wilkinson celebrated the news of his appointment, tweeting: “After 5 years of working as a Researcher for Lord Lawson, I am pleased to be able to take a position in Craig Mackinlay’s office. I look forward to supporting his work alongside continuing my role with Net Zero Watch.”
Green campaigners have frequently called the GWPF a leading source of climate change denial, as it has questioned climate research by top scientists, called for green measures to be halted, and claimed the rising level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has many benefits.
More on this story here: Staff from climate denial group recruited by Tory MP behind net zero attacks
Updated
Johnson fears Russian 'false flag' action to discredit Ukraine ahead of invasion
Russia has been accused by the UK of orchestrating “false flag” attacks in Ukraine as a pretext for an invasion, PA reports.
The claims by prime minister Boris Johnson and foreign secretary Liz Truss came as tensions continued to mount between Russian-backed separatists and state forces in east Ukraine, with shells hitting a nursery school.
Truss said reports alleging “abnormal military activity” by Ukraine in the eastern Donbas region were a “blatant” attempt by the Kremlin to fabricate a reason for an invasion.
The prime minister claimed there was a “false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians” and “we fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days”.
Western allies fear Russia will carry out or support attacks in Ukraine which it will then falsely blame on the Kyiv government in order to justify an invasion.
Despite Russian claims to be pulling units back to base following the conclusion of military exercises, the UK and US have claimed that thousands more troops have been deployed, along with supporting assets such as field hospitals and new bridges.
Johnson, speaking at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, said:
The picture is continuing to be very grim. Today, as I’m sure you’ve already picked up, a kindergarten was shelled in what we are taking to be, well, we know, was a false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians, designed to create a pretext, a spurious provocation for Russian action. We fear very much that that is the kind of thing we will see more of over the next few days.
Truss, who is in Ukraine, said she was very concerned about the exchanges of fire in Donbas and the continued build-up of Russian troops.
Separatist authorities in the Luhansk region claimed there had been an increase in Ukrainian shelling along the tense line of contact, describing it as a “large-scale provocation” and that they then returned fire.
The Kyiv government disputed the claim, saying separatists had shelled its forces but they did not fire back a nursery school building in Stanytsia Luhanska was hit, wounding two civilians, according to the Ukrainian military.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “the shelling of a kindergarten in Stanytsia Luhanska by pro-Russian forces is a big provocation”.
Truss, who has warned that Russian president Vladimir Putin could mount a “false flag” operation to justify an invasion, said:
Reports of alleged abnormal military activity by Ukraine in Donbas are a blatant attempt by the Russian government to fabricate pretexts for invasion. This is straight out of the Kremlin playbook.
Truss said she was “very concerned about reports today of increased Russian aggression: over 7,000 extra troops near the Ukraine border and an attack by pro-Russian troops on a kindergarten in Ukraine”.
She urged Russia to withdraw its troops as there was “still time for diplomacy and de-escalation”.
You can read more over on our Ukraine live blog:
Updated
Ireland’s foreign affairs minister has downplayed the prospect of a major breakthrough in negotiations on Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol next week, PA Media reports.
Ahead of a meeting of the EU/UK joint committee on the implementation of the Irish Sea trading arrangements on Monday, Simon Coveney advised against “unrealistic” expectations about what might emerge.
He also insisted that the Irish government was not a bystander to the ongoing political crisis at Stormont that has flared amid ongoing unionist anger at the protocol.
But he did express concern about the long-term future of the power-sharing institutions after the recent collapse of the coalition administration.
He was commenting on the uncertainty over whether the political will would exist to reconstitute an executive following May’s assembly election.
Coveney travelled to Belfast on Thursday to meet political leaders two weeks after the Democratic Unionist party withdrew the first minister, Paul Givan, from the executive in protest at the Irish Sea “border” with the rest of the UK.
Asked about the prospects of significant progress on the disputed issuesbetween the EU and UK next week, Coveney said:
I think it’s important not to be unrealistic in terms of the expectations that may come from that meeting. I think the likely scenario is that there probably will be a joint statement from both sides in terms of outlining the issues that they want to try and address together. But we should use that as a staging point for progress, as opposed to a reminder of how far apart the two sides continue to be.
The minister had meetings scheduled with Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the UUP and Alliance party on Thursday.
The DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, was travelling on Thursday and a meeting between himself and Coveney was expected in the coming days.
Asked why it had taken two weeks for him to go to Belfast to meet politicians, Coveney said:
I can assure you we’re not bystanders and that’s why I’m here, to meet in person with all the parties that are available to meet. But we have been talking to parties in the meantime, as you would expect, and, of course, I speak to the British government all the time, in particular Liz Truss, and I speak to Maroš Šefčovič [European Commission vice-president] a number of times every week. So we are keenly involved in actually trying to find compromise positions and trying to find a way of reassuring people that the Northern Ireland protocol can be implemented in a way that everybody can accept.
And, of course, we’re watching closely in terms of the instability in terms of Northern Ireland politics as we lead into assembly elections now in May. And, of course, thinking about post those elections, how the two governments could work together with all of the parties in Northern Ireland to bring about political stability here.
Asked if he was concerned about Stormont’s long-term future, Coveney said:
I think everybody should be concerned. You know, we’ve had a period of tension and polarisation, much of that links to Brexit and the Northern Ireland protocol issues, I accept that.
But we move into an election cycle now and I think all of us have to try to think ahead in terms of the consequences of that election. We have to respect democracy and what people choose in terms of the parties and the make-up of a future assembly.
But we’ve also got to ensure that there is sufficient trust rebuilt to ensure that both governments can work together with parties in Northern Ireland to maintain stability and the institutions that are so valuable to people’s well-being in Northern Ireland.
Coveney said both the UK and EU acknowledged the consequences for community relations in Northern Ireland of the ongoing failure to resolve the dispute over the protocol. But he pointed to a recent opinion poll as evidence that the protocol was not a major issue of concern for most people in the region.
Both the British government and the European Union, I think, are very conscious of the fact that the inability so far to settle some of the outstanding issues around how the protocol is implemented is having a very polarising impact on politics in Northern Ireland.
I think we were also reminded in the last few days that not everybody on the streets of Northern Ireland are talking about the protocol in the context of these [Assembly] elections. In fact, less than 7% of people polled in Northern Ireland have said that the protocol is the first issue for them in terms of how they’ll vote. So you know, I think we need to put this into perspective.
The protocol and issues around it are important and politicians like me and others have to find solutions and landing zones that are based on compromise and understanding each other’s perspectives, but also around a realistic and honest assessment of what Brexit means and the choices that flow from that.
Coveney added:
My job is to try to find solutions, to try to be optimistic about what’s possible and to try and work through issues with patience and with respect for everybody and their perspectives, so that we can try to find a basis for agreement moving forward, and I think the European Union is also trying to bring that patience and understanding.
Updated
More than half of Britons think Boris Johnson has not been up to scratch as prime minister – a jump of 13 points from last year, a poll has found.
An Ipsos UK survey carried out last week suggests that 54% of Britons think the prime minister has done a bad job to date, with almost the same proportion supporting a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
Pollsters said the results showed a continuing trend of Johnson’s personal rating weakening.
It comes as the PM finds himself in the middle of a storm about claims of coronavirus rule-breaking in Downing Street. The Metropolitan police are investigating 12 alleged parties held at the top of government during lockdowns, with Johnson one of about 50 people to have been handed formal legal questionnaires by officers.
Johnson has also faced criticisms elsewhere, including in relation to his government’s handling of the Covid pandemic and the attempt to delay a Commons suspension for former Tory minister and MP Owen Paterson last year.
Ipsos’s survey found that Johnson’s ratings had slipped across the board, with less than a third of the population believing he has performed well, down by eight points on last year’s polling.
In February 2021, 41% thought he was doing a bad job, and that figure has shot up by 13 points to well over half.
According to the polling company’s results, 54% of people who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election see him as having done a good job, down from 69% 12 months ago.
The proportion of those Tory voters – who won him his 80-seat majority just over two years ago – saying he has done a bad job has nearly doubled, from 15% to 29%.
A handful of Tory MPs are known to have submitted letters of no confidence in Johnson’s leadership after the party revelations. A total of 54 letters would need to be handed in to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, to trigger a confidence vote.
The survey found that 56% of the public support Tory MPs pressing for a confidence vote, with about a quarter in opposition.
Two in five think a vote is likely to happen, up by five points since the start of the month.
Keiran Pedley, the director of politics at Ipsos UK, said:
The data continues to show Boris Johnson’s personal poll ratings weakening, with a majority of Britons now saying he has done a bad job as prime minister and a majority supporting the concept of Conservative MPs triggering a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
What happens next will likely be decided by events, as police investigations draw to a close and other items move up the news agenda.
* The results are based on online interviews with a representative sample of 2,038 British adults aged 18-75, conducted on 9 and 10 February.
Updated
Russian claim of Ukraine drawdown is disinformation, says minister
Russia’s claim to be withdrawing troops from the border with Ukraine seems to be a “disinformation campaign” and the troops are instead making their final preparations to invade, a UK defence minister has said.
James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said Moscow was continuing to deploy thousands more soldiers to the region and building bridges across rivers that could be used as part of a military incursion into Ukraine.
Despite brief hopes of a respite in tensions after Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Tuesday that there would be a “partial” drawdown of forces, some Nato countries remained sceptical about how many of the roughly 130,000 troops had really been withdrawn.
There have been suggestions that the Kremlin has deployed a further 7,000 soldiers to the border, and Heappey said:
Worryingly what we’ve seen over the last 48 hours is not the reversal that has been announced in Moscow.
He said he still hoped Russia was committing a “hugely expensive exercise” that would end up being a hoax to “wind us up”, but he admitted:
We’re on the threshold of a major war in Europe in which tens of thousands of people could die.
Heappey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
I fear that it is a disinformation campaign when we are seeing apparent footage of Russian troops moving away from the border. Because all of our indicators suggest that the buildup and the preparations continue.
The full story from Aubrey Allegretti and Julian Borger is here: Russian claim of Ukraine drawdown is disinformation, says UK minister
And you can follow all the latest updates on the Ukraine crisis over on our live blog:
Updated
Met police admit tweet critical of Sadiq Khan was unacceptable
Scotland Yard has been forced to admit it was “unacceptable” for one of its official Twitter accounts to apparently criticise the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, leading him to accuse the force of amplifying misleading information.
Khan tackled the suggestion – made in a now-deleted tweet by the verified “Met Police Taskforce” – that he did not understand the rules for disciplining officers.
It came as the London mayor said he would not support the choice of the home secretary, Priti Patel, to replace the Met commissioner, Cressida Dick, unless whoever was chosen understood “the importance of addressing these deep cultural issues” within the force, such as racism, sexism and bullying.
The shock announcement of Dick’s departure has caused turmoil in the Met and for political leaders, including Khan, in whom the Police Federation has declared it has “no confidence”.
Tensions escalated further on Thursday when the Times reported that Dick told colleagues Khan had given her an ultimatum to sack senior officers in Charing Cross police station or face suspension herself.
Khan insisted during a phone-in on LBC:
It is not the case the commissioner was given an ultimatum to sack them or be sacked.
However, he said he was “angered and disgusted” by the views of some officers at Charing Cross station and “concerned about the impact on trust and confidence” after it was revealed they exchanged WhatsApp messages about hitting and raping women, as well as the deaths of black babies and the Holocaust.
Khan criticised a tweet by an official Met account which retweeted a post pointing out that the process for sacking officers is independent of chief constables, with the comment: “Exactly this.”
Several hours after the post was deleted, a spokesperson for the Met said the tweet was “unacceptable and shouldn’t have been shared” from an official account.
They said senior officers were “addressing the matter” and would remind colleagues “they are expected to be independent and impartial at all times, on and off duty, including on social media”.
The mayor suggested the intervention was unhelpful, referring to a recommendation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct that found widespread evidence of bullying and discrimination among officers.
Khan said: “When you have Met police accounts amplifying information that is misleading, how is it possible for officers concerned about behaviour of other officers to come forward?
“Why are we surprised when whistleblowers don’t come forward if this is the attitude both the IOPC talked about and you’ve exemplified in relation to a blue-ticked account?”
With the search for Dick’s replacement now under way, Khan said he believed Patel would be “incredibly professional” in the recruitment process.
However, he said that while he hoped to be consulted, he would not support Dick’s successor if “I don’t have confidence that he or she understands the importance of addressing these deep cultural issues”.
Here is the full story: Met police admit tweet critical of Sadiq Khan was unacceptable
Updated
Ministers have been urged to ensure that the Cobra meeting on the storms (see 11.11am) results in an emergency support plan to deal with power cuts.
The Liberal Democrats’ communities spokesperson, Tim Farron, said:
Whenever a storm hits, the government is disgracefully unprepared to support the thousands of people affected, they never learn from their mistakes.
This time, as people up and down the country are barraged by stormy weather, the government must be on hand to provide support.
The Cobra meeting must agree on an emergency support plan including providing food, emergency accommodation and electricity generators for those affected by any power cuts.
Updated
The home secretary has ordered the first review of Border Force in more than a decade, PA reports.
Priti Patel has hired Alexander Downer, a former Australian high commissioner to the UK, to oversee the review, which began on Thursday and will scrutinise all areas of the agency’s work including illegal migration, customs and national security.
Downer, a former Australian minister for foreign affairs, is reported to have played a key role in the country’s policy of turning boats carrying asylum seekers at sea away from its coastline.
This is similar to plans Patel has attempted to introduce in the UK, prompting criticism from campaigners and threats of legal action.
The “wide-ranging, independent review” is the first of its kind since Border Force was established.
It will assess the agency’s “structure, powers, funding and priorities” to make sure it can “keep pace with rapidly evolving threats and continue to protect the border, maintain security and prevent illegal migration,” the Home Office said.
The department said the move would “ensure the UK government is prepared for future challenges at the border, by identifying change and improvements needed across Border Force’s work on illegal migration, customs and national security to help keep the UK safe, secure and prosperous.”
Patel said Border Force officers worked “tirelessly to protect our borders at 140 sea and air ports right across the UK”, and since its inception in 2011 its “remit has grown to meet the changing border threats we face, and in recent years has supported delivery of the government’s Brexit commitments and Covid-19 measures.”
She added:
The public rightly expects this work to be carried out to the highest possible standard, which is why I have ordered this review of Border Force to identify ways in which it can keep improving its operations.
Downer said his review would be “robust, evidence-based and outcome-orientated”, adding:
I look forward to assessing Border Force’s structure, powers, funding and priorities, and hearing from a wide range of voices from across the organisation and beyond.
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Emergency Cobra meeting to discuss response to Storm Dudley and Storm Eustice as rare red weather warning issued for parts of UK
This is from the Daily Mail’s John Stevens:
An emergency Cobra meeting has been called this morning on response to Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice 💨💨
— John Stevens (@johnestevens) February 17, 2022
It will be chaired by Cabinet Office minister Michael Ellis
It comes as a rare red weather warning – the highest level – has been issued along the coastline of Devon and Cornwall as well as the south coast of Wales on Friday owing to extremely strong winds, and the Met Office said there could be “flying debris resulting in danger to life”.
The Met Office said Storm Eunice could bring winds of up to 90mph, causing significant disruption.
A lower amber warning for wind remains in place for the rest of Wales and most of England as far north as Manchester.
Thousands have been left without power as Storm Dudley brought chaos to roads and rail and ferry services across Scotland and northern England on Wednesday, with warnings of even more severe weather to come as Storm Eunice sweeps across the UK today.
The Met Office issued “stay indoors” advice, warning of winds of up to 100mph in places and further disruption to transport, as a clean-up operation was in progress after Storm Dudley.
Thousands of homes were left without power in the north-east of England, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Lancashire as heavy rain and strong winds, gusting to more than 80mph in places hit on Wednesday, uprooting trees and bringing down power lines.
More here: Thousands left without power as Storm Dudley wreaks havoc across UK
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The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said it would be “inappropriate” for him to lean on police and ask them to release photos of the Downing Street parties.
He told LBC:
Just think how inappropriate it would be for me, a Labour mayor, getting involved in operational matters where a Conservative politician is being investigated.
There are some countries around the world where the police do have their arms twisted in relation to operational issues.
I think it is right in our system where I have got no influence in relation to whether the police do investigate Boris Johnson, what is published and so forth.
I have always, as the mayor, been cognisant of the importance of me understanding which side of the line I should be on.
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Minister hints free lateral flow tests to be scrapped as part of 'revised' plan
A minister has hinted that Boris Johnson is likely to announce an end to the provision of free lateral flow tests when he outlines his “living with Covid” plan next week, PA reports.
James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said it was time to reconsider whether some pandemic measures should remain in place as he argued Britons need to “change behaviours” in the face of future Covid variants potentially being less threatening.
The prime minister is set to outline his post-pandemic plan of action when parliament returns from recess on Monday, having already stated he will aim within days of his statement to lift the requirement in England for those who test positive for Covid to self-isolate.
There have also been reports that as part of the prime minister’s blueprint for the future, the UK government will no longer provide free lateral flow tests (LFTs) to the public.
Asked on Sky News whether the offer of free quick-result tests to allow people to check whether they are positive for coronavirus would be “taken away”, Heappey said:
I think that is the direction of travel but the prime minister will shortly announce his conclusions on that.
Johnson’s administration has been warned that the public could be left “flying blind” on Covid if left without free testing provision.
LBC, which first reported about free tests being scrapped, also said the availability of free PCR tests could also be withdrawn as part of the changes, with the suggestion the UK would move to a paid-for model if people want to test themselves for the virus.
The Liberal Democrats’ health spokesperson, Daisy Cooper, said scrapping free tests while case rates were “still sky high” would “leave the public and scientists flying blind” and increase the risk of another lockdown.
The SNP and Labour have also criticised the touted plan, with Keir Starmer arguing that ending free coronavirus testing would be “a mistake” and would increase the risk of transmission.
On Wednesday the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) warned that with coronavirus yet to become endemic and it being “difficult to predict when this state may be attained”, scaling back free tests could weaken the UK’s defences if a new variant of the virus emerges that results in “significant new waves” of cases.
The group also said forcing people to pay for lateral flow tests would also have a “detrimental impact” on take-up, particularly among disadvantaged communities. A briefing note said:
Significant levels of cases, hospitalisations and deaths continue to disrupt and devastate individuals, public services and the economy. There remains a degree of unpredictability about the course ahead.
Heappey said he understood the concern around withdrawing the offer of free LFTs, especially for people wanting to know their Covid status before visiting vulnerable relatives.
However, the minister said the country was “moving to a different phase” and that pandemic habits would have to change. He said:
We are moving from a period of pandemic into a period of endemic and I think that there is a mindset adjustment that we are all going to need to make as we accept that the expectation is that future variants of Covid will be as mild or, more probably, milder than Omicron.
That means we can change our behaviours and worry less about the need to have tested ourselves, and everything else. But the prime minister will bring forward revised measures.
I understand why people are concerned - it has become habit and it is a reassurance - but the reality is we are moving to a different phase of this now and I think it is probably time to reconsider whether some of the measures that were in place over the last 18 months need to endure.
The government has previously said “universal free provision” of LFTs will come to an end at some stage, although it has said no decision has been taken on timings when responding to reports there could be an announcement on the ending of free testing next week.
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Lib Dems in bid to force publication of full Sue Gray No 10 parties report
A new attempt will be launched next week to force publication of the full report on whether No 10 parties broke Covid laws, with Conservative MPs urged to support the move to ensure there are “no more cover-ups and no more lies”.
While more questionnaires were sent out by Scotland Yard to people who attended a dozen gatherings under investigation, a “humble address” motion was tabled in the House of Commons by the Liberal Democrats.
If passed, ministers would be forced to release a specific set of documents within two days of the Met concluding its investigation. A date has yet to be set for the vote, but it could come on the next opposition day allocated to the Lib Dems.
The papers being demanded include an unredacted version of Sue Gray’s report, all accompanying evidence collected by the Cabinet Office, and a list of Downing Street staff issued with a fixed penalty notice.
The move will reignite pressure on the government over the parties scandal, which has resulted in calls from some Tory MPs for Boris Johnson to resign.
Despite the prime minister having attended some of the events under scrutiny, including a “bring your own booze” garden party organised by one of his most senior former civil service advisers, he has continued to deny any wrongdoing and has avoided a no-confidence vote.
There are concerns that some details may never be known, after a leaked Whitehall memo to those investigated by Gray said the Met “will not make public the details of their investigation and therefore your line manager will not be notified”.
The Lib Dem’s humble address motion was tabled and backed by all 13 of the party’s MPs. Ed Davey, the party leader, said Johnson “can’t be trusted to admit whether he or any other Conservative ministers end up being fined by the police”, and “we’ve seen time and again that his instinct is to lie, blame others or cover up the truth”. He added:
MPs from across all parties need to come together and force Boris Johnson to come clean. The public deserves to know whether our prime minister has broken the law, and for the full Sue Gray report, including any photos, to be published.
If Johnson is found to have broken the law, he must fess up and resign. No more cover-ups, no more lies.
The full story is here: Lib Dems in bid to force publication of full Sue Gray No 10 parties report
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Labour and Lib Dems in informal ‘non-aggression’ pact ahead of next general election
Good morning. Labour will fight only a “minimal campaign” in most of the Lib Dems’ top 30 target seats at the next general election, in “an informal Lib-Lab plan to topple the Conservatives”, the FT’s George Parker and Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe (paywall) report.
The paper reports that Keir Starmer has told colleagues that Labour must “ruthlessly focus” resources on its target seats in the vote, which must be held by 2024, leaving the Lib Dems as the main challengers in some seats.
Labour would need to gain more than 125 seats to reach the 326 required to form a government. The Tories are worried by the Lib Dem threat in their “blue wall” southern and rural heartlands after shock results in last year’s Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire byelections.
The informal Lib-Lab non-aggression pact taking shape would leave the Lib Dems to lead the anti-Tory fight in many southern seats, while Labour would focus on winning back “red wall” seats in the north and Midlands, the paper reports.
Labour and the Lib Dems have pooled resources in recent byelections in seats where they are best placed to beat the Conservatives. For example, in Batley and Spen the Lib Dem campaign was virtually invisible, while in North Shropshire the Lib Dems secured a massive 34% swing from the Tories in December; Starmer did not even visit the seat. Labour also gave the Lib Dems a similarly clear run last year in Chesham and Amersham.
One Lib Dem strategist told the FT:
If Labour and the Liberal Democrats spend all their time and money trying to beat each other it’s really not good for progressive politics. We need to fight in the areas where we can win and that is the overwhelming priority.
If the Lib Dems were to win 15 of their target Tory seats, it would reduce the current 77-seat Conservative majority by 30, considerably reducing the scale of the challenge facing Starmer in reaching power.
You can read the full story in the Financial Times (paywall).
Please feel free to get in touch with me throughout the day as I work if you have anything to share! Your thoughts are always welcome.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_
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