Ed
Sue Gray's report into lockdown parties in Downing Street is done.
She wants it published - in full.
MPs from every party want to see it - in full.
The Prime Minister has said he will publish it - in full.
But now the police have got involved.
And that means we may only see bits of that report this week.
The most serious allegations will be stripped out.
Will we ever know what really went on at those government
parties in lockdown?
For some it doesn't matter - move on, they say,
there are much bigger issues going on in the world,
like Russia, or bills and taxes rising.
For many others, though - among them, crucially, Tory MPs -
getting to the truth does matter.
And they are the ones who'll decide whether the Prime
Minister stays or goes.
This morning, to talk about all that and the looming
conflict in Ukraine, I'll be joined by the Foreign
Secretary, Liz Truss, tipped to replace Boris Johnson
if he doesn't survive.
I'll be talking to the man leading the West's response
to Russia's aggression, the Secretary-General
of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg.
Labour's Shadow Housing Secretary, Lisa Nandy,
on what "levelling up" means to her.
And we'll be joined, in the latest of our New Year leader interviews,
by the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey.
Guiding us through the day's news, I'll be joined
by the star of Sherlock, Doctor Who and so much else,
actor and director Mark Gatiss,
and the editor of the Sunday Times, Emma Tucker.
Lots to find out over the next hour - which begins
with the news from Chris Mason.
Boris Johnson and the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, have pledged
to push ahead with a rise to National Insurance in April.
It comes despite growing Conservative backbench pressure
to delay or abandon the tax rise.
In a joint article in the Sunday Times,
they say every penny raised will go towards boosting the
NHS and social care.
Britain is considering sending hundreds more troops to bolster
the defences of Nato allies in Eastern Europe,
amid the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine's border.
Boris Johnson says he's ordered the Armed Forces to prepare
to deploy across Europe in the coming days.
A nine-year-old boy in Staffordshire and a 60-year-old woman in Aberdeen
have died after being hit by falling trees during Storm Malik.
Power lines have also been affected, with thousands of homes in Scotland
and England without electricity.
A second storm - Storm Corrie - is expected to bring further high
winds to Scotland this afternoon.
And, will it be a history making morning for Rafael Nadal?
Or can Daniil Medvedev upset another party as the pair meet
in the Australian Open final.
That's all from me.
The next news on BBC One is at one o'clock.
Back to you, Sophie.
Thank you.
Now let me show you what's on the front of this morning's papers.
Ed We will start with the Mail on Sunday and their headline goes red
wall revolution to rescue Boris, it says he is unveiling a radical
blueprint to turbo charge the economy and reset Boris Johnson's
struggling Premiership in the process, a different take on that
from The Observer, they say say it levelling up stunt to save Johnson's
job and they say that the new fund, for poor areas is a recycled pledge.
The Sunday Times headline, Sunak wins the tug-of-war over the Tory
tax hike, and the Prime Minister and the Chancellor agree that the
National Insurance rise must go ahead. They have written a piece
that is in the Sunday Times. Also an extraordinary story on the front of
the Sunday Times from Christina Lamb, a very experienced foreign
reporter, in my 35 years as a reporter I have never seen anything
of this magnitude she says. The independent's front-page, storm
Malik, extraordinary photograph there of the roof that has been
blown off this house, comely blown off the house as falling trees cause
the deaths of a woman and a boy, it talks about Rishi Sunak putting
finishing touches to his leadership bid.
The Sunday Telegraph, the PM's aide, this is Dan Rosenfield, watched
cricket as Kabul fell is their headline.
And finally The Sun on Sunday, Forrest Gump. They story is Prince
Andrew shouted adds a female gardener under wrongly cut trees.
And with me to review the papers are the actor
Mark Gatiss, and from her home, the editor of the Sunday
Times, Emma Tucker.
Good morning to both of you, a lot to talk about in the paper, Emma let
us, we will start with you, there a story you have in the Sunday Times,
saving Johnson's bacon, this is written by your chief political
company they to be Tim Shipman. Yes, so that is Tim's sort of weekly take
on what is going on behind the scenes, and the theme I think that
comes out this week, is that somewhat miraculously, you could
argue, Johnson seems more confident of his position now, than he did at
the start of the week, probably, mine, normally speaking, the
announcement of a police inquiry into what was going on behind the
scenes in Government might worry a Prime Minister, but seems to have
worked in his favour in this instance, because of this insistent
by the Met they are only going, when the report comes out, which we now
expect it on Monday, it, should have you all the sort of important bits
Redacted. There is some extraordinary details in his
article, about security, specifically, concerns about highly
sensitive confidential information being left round the Prime
Minister's flat. Yes, this was the, this detail is about the fact that
the there, is a flat at Number 10 Downing Street, where the Prime
Minister lives with his family, and it has a key pad to allow people in
and out, and what Tim's reveal says is the code for this key pad was
available to some of the Prime Minister and his wife's friends and
there was a lot of coming and going, a point civil servants went up to
the flat and witnessed this material, some of it highly
classified lying round and thought, and described it as a sort of Pratt
boy churl, a frat house culture, at this point said no more red boxes
upstairs, you are coming down, the, if you are going to look at
classified information that has to be in your office downstairs. There
is a piece written by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, want are we to make
of the fact they have done this joints article. I think it is
significant, it is significant they have come together, I think there is
a sense, at the beginning of last week, the Prime Minister was
wobbling over this national insurance planned increase for
April. I think that Rishi Sunak has said, look, you know, we have to
commit to this, we haven't got enough money to not do it. You can't
allow yourself to be pushed around, we can't allow ourselves to be
pushed round by the backbencher, who is called the shots? You have the
feeling that any backbench could walk in and say this is what I want,
if you don't give it to me I will put in alert. This is a real
commitment from the two most important people in Government, they
have come together, they are saying enough is enough, we are pressing
ahead with this, we have to do it, and for Rishi Sunak, it matter,
because his big game is he wants to be able to cut taxes, and he is
worried if they don't go ahead, they will never be able to go ahead with
it. Like, Boris Johnson has committed to sorting out the problem
of social care, his predecessors failed.? Going to be another Tory
Prime Minister who fails to sort out social care. It is true a lot of the
money isn't initially going to go to social care but it is a step towards
it. It is significant which is why we took the piece. Let us talk about
another story in the Sunday Times but this is the story by Christina
Lamb about the situation she has uncovered or witnessing in
Afghanistan. It is really harrowing to read. It is dreadful to read and
it makes you wonder, as I said before, whether what it was all for?
If the Taliban were able to retake Kabul without a shot fired, hundreds
of thousands of people have died for nothing, we have just made things
worse, I think about the way as war is grinding towards Ukraine, it is
so easy for people to say these things and then there is no, there
is no after care, there is no thought of the consequence, it is
the most extraordinary story, this family having to sell their
daughter. This little girl here we can see here in the paper, she is
eight years old and her family have, her father has sold her for
marriage, to feed the family. And is contemplating having to sell his
three month old daughter because they have eight slices of bread
between them. For 30 she says and the wife says she hasn't cook add
single potato for week now. It is monstrous but it almost impossible
to grass than the vastness of this problem, and then what the world can
do about it. Christina, let us move on to another story from you. And
Ukraine, of course, Boris to face down President Putin on Ukraine.
Emma, sorry. I do apologise. Your correspondent. Will Let us talk
about Ukraine. This is the other, well the big foreign story of the
moment and who knows where it is going to go in the next couple of
week, the papers are reports that a significant increase in Britain's,
we are sending more troops, we are sending more weaponry over to the
border, I think the interesting we do ask is, is what, is really what
impact is all this going to have on Putin? We have got a very
interesting piece inside the Pape air, looking at the fact that in
some ways, whether he goes to war or not is neither here nor there for
the people who matter to Putin because, for them, want with Ukraine
is like a spectator sport. Those the 500 richest people in Russia, they
have all their money installed in London, for them it doesn't make any
odds, so Putin, it's a massive gamble for him, but, it's, it
doesn't, it, he can afford to do it in a way that perhaps we don't fully
understand, over here. Let us talk about another story in
the papers which is about Spotify, that you have picked out here, this
is in The Observer, explain what is going on here, this is Joni Mitchell
and Neil Young who have taken themselves off Spotify. Yes, in
protest as a podcast which appears to be promoting anti-vax conspiracy
theory, it is very interesting, a sort of new part of the culture war,
a lot of people sort of saying who are those old fogies, why should I
care? And a lot of people who do care, up in arm, what is interesting
is that both Joni Mitchell and Neil Young had polio as children. It
struck me very strongly that there is a generational difference in
people who are aware of the massive benefits of vaccines and the miracle
they were post-war, and then, generationally people who have just
grown up with them and taken them for granted, so it is another great
schism in our society against pro and anti-but it the world is
spiralling into madness that we can somehow feel that doctors are the
enemy and people who are trying to do you good are infringing your
human rights, it dizzying some of it, really. Let us talk about
cyclist, so are you a cyclist? I am an ex-cyclist, I stopped cycling
because it was too frightsening to cycle in London. Last night I saw
some Deliveroo drivers weaving through without any helm. It is
petrifying. Now the Highway Code is being changed and it is just, it is
literally an accident waiting to happen. They have said cyclists can
cycle down the middle of the road but you can imagine a lot of people
will get knocked off, before they realise that the rules have changed.
This is a story in the Mail on Sunday, they wouldn't let any cars
past for eight mile, drivers fumeing on the day cyclists took over the
road. This is a change to the Highway Code but a lot of people
don't realise it's happened. They don't which is somewhat worrying for
cyclist, I think this idea, in built up zones everyone is going to have
to share the road. This is cyclist claiming the roads. I agree, it is,
people, I don't know how the Highway Code, how do people hear about it
other than reading? It is not like we get a memo saying by the way the
Highway Code has changed. I don't know to what extent it will make a
difference, maybe the low traffic zones will make our streets less,
well, safer for cyclist, but will it be interesting to see what the fall
out is. I think people forget cyclists are drivers. It may not be
as confusing. Let us talk about something that you are appearing in
very soon. Next month I think it it as the park theatre, this is in
London, it is all about raising awareness of theatre, raising funds,
let us show a clip of what it is about.
A luxury cruise, far from civilisation.
An impending storm.
A stolen diamond and a drink laced with poison.
Join a different star sleuth each night, as they attempt
to solve the murder mystery.
Without any rehearsal.
Health Secretary
Sports Personality of the Year the bit that terrifies me, without any
rehearsal? It is the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park in February and March,
the play has been raised with a full cast, and there is a guest inspector
every night without any preparation whatsoever, and an earpiece with
lines being fed. We have to solve the murder, sight unseen, and
imagine being pushed around the stage by the rest of the cast. It is
kind of terrifying and brilliant at the same time. So you do not know
what you are going to say? It has been done once before, it is a
fundraiser for the Park, like so many theatres post pandemic, trying
to get people back into the theatre and raise awareness of the fact that
they are not funded. So it is a wonderful opportunity to get people
back to what they most enjoy doing, having a great night out. Well, very
good luck with it! Thank you both for joining me this morning.
Two people have been killed by falling trees during Storm Malik.
And now another storm - Corrie - is about to sweep through Scotland.
Over to Sarah Keith-Lucas in the weather centre.
Yes, we are in the calm between the storms at the moment, Storm Malik
swept across the northern half of the UK, so still seeing some
disruption from that storm. Through today, things turning wet and windy
from the north-west, and that is down to Storm Corrie approaching.
Before that, many places seeing dry, settled weather, sunshine through
the day, but the rain moving in through Northern Ireland and
Scotland, preceded by snow over high ground. Temperature is about 5-9,
but the wind will cause problems, later this evening and overnight, as
the system sweeps across the northern half of the UK. A yellow
warning for gust of 50-60 mph, but possibly 90 mph for the North of
Scotland, where there is an amber weather warning in a false. So Storm
Corrie sweeps its way across all areas through tonight, the wind is
strongest further north, not quite as windy towards the south. Not as
cold as the night we have just seen, strong winds initially on Monday,
but slowly easing through the day. If you want to keep up with any of
the weather warnings, you can find them on our website. Sophie.
Now, alarm continues to grow over what is happening on the Russian
border with Ukraine. what is happening on the Russian
Around 100,000 of Vladimir Putin's troops, equipped with everything
from tanks and artillery to ammunition and air power,
are currently stationed along Ukraine's vast border.
The increasing military presence is made up of some new units,
which have travelled almost 4,000 miles, from the far east of Russia,
many of them recently taking up positions in neighbouring Belarus.
One of the best way of tracking what is happening
is through satellite images - you can see aerial tanks,
artillery and support equipment in Yelnya,
a Russian town north of Ukraine.
And this, further south in Klimovo, closer to Ukraine's border,
shows military vehicles.
President Putin has repeatedly denied he is planning an invasion,
but the US is warning Russia could cross that
border within weeks.
The West's response is being co-ordinated by Nato -
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
It was an alliance of 12 countries created in 1949 in the aftermath
of World War II to provide protection against an attack
from Germany and the Soviet Union.
Since then, it has expanded a lot -
it now has 30 members, including former Soviet states.
The Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg,
joins me now, live from Brussels.
Morning. Good morning, thank you for having me on. Thank you for
having me on. Thank you for joining us. Do you think a Russian invasion
of Ukraine is imminent? What we see is a very significant Russian
military build-up, with more troops, more heavy equipment, as you just
described, but also very threatening rhetoric, and then we have a track
record of Russia, using force against Ukraine before. But there is
no certainty about the intentions, and of course one thing that allies
do is we send a message to Russia that they should not use force
against Ukraine once again, and we are also pursuing a diplomatic track
to prevent them from doing so, because it is a no-one's interest to
have a new armed conflict in Europe. President Biden says there is a
distinct possibility the Russians could invade in February, do you
agree with him on that? There is a real risk, and that is exactly why
the Nato allies have stepped up with more support for Ukraine. Ukraine
has the right to self-defence, and we are helping them with upholding
that right. We are sending a very clear message to Russia that if they
use force again, there will be a high price for them to pay with
economic and political sanctions, and allies are stepping support to
Nato allies in the eastern part of the alliance, the Baltic region and
the black Sea region. How far are you prepared to go to protect
Ukraine?
Ukraine? We have to distinguish between Nato allies and Ukraine.
Ukraine is a partner, we provide support, we help them with
modernising their defence and security institutions, Nato allies,
the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, are providing
training, and thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been trained over the
last years. So the Ukrainian Armed Forces is much stronger, much
larger, much better equipped and better trained now than back in
2013-14 when Russia invaded the first time. So we provide support to
Ukraine. But for Nato allies, like for instance the countries bordering
Ukraine - Romania, the Baltic countries and so on, for them and
all other Nato allies, we provide 100% security guarantees, meaning
that if one ally is attacked, that will trigger a response from the
whole alliance, one for all, all for one, which is the core message of
Nato. So for Nato allies, it is 100% security guarantee, and that is
reinforced by the presence of Nato troops in the eastern part of the
alliance. The UK leads one of these battle groups that we have deployed
to the Baltic region. For Ukraine, a partner, we provide support and send
a message that they will be heavy economic sanctions if Russia uses
force again. So you provide support and you can't threaten sanctions,
but as we know, Ukraine is not a member of Nato. Would you rule out
putting Nato troops in Ukraine in the eventuality that Russia did
invade? We have no plans to do deploy Nato combat troops to
Ukraine. Nato allies have trainers there, we help them come from Nato,
with building capacity, modernising defences, including cyber defences.
Nato allies also provide equipment, defensive weapons, like the UK has
now provided, for instance, anti-tank weapons. So we do a lot of
stuff to help Ukraine strengthen its ability, capability to defend
itself. But, again, Ukraine is not a Nato ally, so the 100% security
guarantees that an attack on one ally would trigger a response from
the whole alliance, that applies for Nato allies, not for close and
highly valued partners. Just to be very clear, you say you have no
plans. Would you absolutely rule that out? Will we not see a scenario
in which Nato troops go into Ukraine to fight Russian troops? That will
not happen? No. We are focusing on providing support to Ukraine, helped
them to uphold their rightful self defence, and also sending a message
to Russia that we will impose severe sanctions on Russia if they once
again use force against Ukraine, and then of course we have increased our
presence in the eastern part of the Nato alliance, Nato territory, and
we are ready to do even more of that if needed. The paradox is that
Putin, they went into Ukraine in 2014 because they didn't like to
have Nato close to the borders. The more aggressive they are, the more
Nato will get to the borders with increased presence in the eastern
part of the Nato alliance. We want to avoid all of this, and that is
the reason why we are pursuing a diplomatic path and why I invited
also Russia to sit down and to continue to meet with night out to
discuss why we should de-escalated find a political solution. Surprise
-- so President Putin would know that Nato troops would not take
action against Russian soldiers, so it is only sanctions that can have
some effect. The president of Ukraine says sanctions will have no
effect on Vladimir Putin. Well, severe sanctions have an effect, it
means that Russia has to pay a high price, and a second it has an effect
that Nato allies provide strong support to the Ukrainian Armed
Forces, which are much better trained and equipped now than they
were in 2014, not least because of support from Nato and Nato allies.
But yes, there is a difference between being a Nato member and
being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine, there is no
doubt about that. But again, I think that it is extremely important to
try to prevent a situation where we have armed conflict in Europe once
again, and that is the reason why we have forwarded written proposals to
Russia on issues like arms control, missiles, nuclear, or transparency
on Nato mechanisms to reduce the risks of misunderstandings, a wide
range of issues where we are ready to sit down with Russia to engage in
a real diplomatic effort to find a political solution to prevent a new
armed conflict in Russia. The chief of the UK defence tab said that the
significance of the worst scenarios in terms of a full invasion of
Ukraine would be scale not seen in Europe since World War II. Do you
agree with that? Is it as serious as that? It is very serious, because we
have seen this very strong military build-up by Russia, and therefore it
is important to send a clear message that they should not use those
capabilities to launch a new armed attack against Ukraine. I therefore
think it is important that we send this strong message of unity of
deterrence, but also of our diplomatic efforts, and therefore I
welcome the announcement by the British Government to both step up
the support tonight Nato, with more trips, more jets in a Nato presence
in the east, but also the diplomatic initiative by the United Kingdom -
this demonstrates UK leadership and it is a leadership that we need
especially now, when we are faced with this very critical, pivotal
time for European security. If there were a Russian invasion, and you are
saying sanctions are more likely than Nato troops on the ground, are
you preparing for the possibility that Russia could retaliate against
sanctions by cutting off gas supplies to Europe? We are concerned
about the energy situation in Europe, because it demonstrates the
vulnerability of being too dependent on one supplier of natural gas, and
that is the reason white Nato allies agreed that we need to work and
focus on diversification of supplies, and we also took very
careful note of what the International Energy Agency said
recently, that Russia has manipulated the European gas market
by holding back supplies, by depleting the storage facilities of
natural gas, and it just highlights the importance of developing
alternative sources for energy supplies to Europe, because what we
face now is a serious come up with very high prices for many European
customers. Absolutely, and Europe is very dependent on Russian supplies,
Europe gets a third of its supplies from Russia. You say you are worried
about it, but are you doing anything actively to prepare for it, because
this could happen quite quickly. Nato allies are addressing that
issue while working on alternative sources of supply, both in the short
run,
run, like LNG, liquefied natural gas, which can be transported by
ships. I know the United States are talking closely to European allies,
to the European Union, from other sources, from other sources like
Qatar and the United States. So that is boosted up to increase
deliveries, supplies from existing sources. Then any more longer term,
is about reducing the dependence on these types of energy sources to
develop new and also more environmentally friendly domestic
energy sources, but that will take some more time, it will require big
investments by European allies to change the energy structure of our
countries. The President of Ukraine says that the Western leaders are
overreacting about the threat from Russia and creating panic. Why is he
saying that?
saying that? Well, I have spoken recently with President Zelensky, I
also spoke very recently with Prime Minister Johnson and President Biden
last week, and I think we really all agree that there is a real danger,
but at the same time that we need to pursue this balanced approach,
meaning a message of support in Ukraine, as we do, our readiness to
impose sanctions, but at the same time continuing to work for a
political solution. And that is also the message from President Zelensky,
that he wants us to send a message to Russia that there will be severe
consequences, but of course the most important thing is to try to prevent
military action by Russia against Ukraine. And so we need to work hard
for the best but be prepared for the West, and that is exactly what we
do, also in close coordination with President Zelensky and Ukraine, they
are in constant dialogue and contact with us, at various levels.
What do you want Boris Johnson to say to President Putin? First of all
I think it's a good thing that Prime Minister Johnson speaks to President
Putin, it demonstrates that we also reach out for diplomatic path, for
diplomatic solution, and that is if line with what our Nato allies and
Nato is doing and we have co-ordinated our reference,
including by direct talks between Nato leaders and I spoke with the
Prime Minister Johnson recently on the importance of also reaching out
diplomatically to Russia. I think the important message is that we are
ready to sit down, we have a wide range of issue, we have written
concrete proposals, on nuclear missiles and other things, but if
Russia decides to use force, then there will be a high price for them
to pay, so, it is up to Russia to decide whether they choose the path
of diplomacy or whether once again they decide to use force, and
decides to choose the path of confrontation. Thank you for joining
us from Brussels this morning.
Thank you for joining us from Brussels this morning.
Back now to matters much closer to home.
The long awaited Sue Gray report and those parties.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, tweeted on Friday...
Ed Davey is here.
Good morning. A stitch up, what evidence do you have a of a stitch
up between the Metropolitan Police and Downing Street? I have huge
respect for police officers rank-and-file police officers who
put their lives on the line to keep us safe and for them to do their
job, the public have to have trust and confidence in them, but the way
the Met has handled this, I think is undermining that, and there is this
perception, look at what has happen. First the Met said they wouldn't
investigate at all because it was retrospective offence, then they
said they might, but they want to let Sue Gray get on with her report,
then they said they would and Sue Gray's report could be published in
full, then Che change their minds for a fourth time and say Sue Gray's
report had to wait until they have done their investigation, that is
chaos it may be a cock-up but equally it could be something worse.
You called it a stitch up at both points. I wanted them to
investigate. I wrote to the Met commission several weeks ago to urge
her to investigate. If she had done that then, probably the report would
have been published and we wouldn't be in the mess we are now, with this
complete paralysis in Government. I have always wanted them to
investigate. What I didn't want was them to make such a hash of this,
changing their position so many times, which of course makes people
concerned. But the police commander who is leading this investigation,
who is called Catherine ropeer I said she will do -- Roper, said she
will do it without fear or favour. Are you saying that the police are
corrupt, trying to save the Prime Minister? No, we all expect the
police to do their job properly and Riley thebe is what happens, what is
Number Ten doing in this? We have a Prime Minister who is clearly broken
the rule, I think we have all seen that, we have a Prime Minister who
has lied about that to Parliament, misled it. No-one trusts this Prime
Minister. It is why I have called strongly he should resign. I was at
a school in my constituency the other week and the young people were
saying the Prime Minister should resign, and I think, he has put the
police in a difficult position. I am confused why you have used the words
stitch up. You don't know for sure, you have no evidence it is a stitch
up. I said it was perception. And the perception is there because you
keep saying it. No the Met has mishandled this, changing their
minds four or five times and it is not just me saying this it is
lawyer, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, number of
people share my view that they have handled it so badly. It might be
incompetence, they may have just got it wrong, that is bad enough, I hope
it isn't something more serious. So bottom line do you trust the police
to do this? We all have to trust the police S Do you trust the police to
do it. ? I do, but what I want to do is for them to explain themselves
fully. I would like to see Sue Gray's inquiry published in full, on
Monday. Then we can look at that. If the police think there should be
redactions, they should say so, they should explain themselves hand has
been the problem, their communications has been shocking and
that is why this perceptions have arisen. Let us talk about something
else, the spiralling cost of live, energy bill, is it fair that the
poorest families in this country pay the green levies on their energy
bills? You are a former energy secretary. It is not that that is
causing the energy problems. It is the rising gas prices that are
causing the problem, I am proud of my record because we invested in
renewables and energy insulation that has reduced the bills but the
Government failed, the Conservatives failed, after 2015, to continue my
policies, Liberal Democrat policies of investing renewables and
investing on insulation and if they had, if they had done what we had
done energy bills would be £2.5 billion lower, I think the
Government has to act, but, has to deal with the real problem. But
energy bills have green levies which is 12.5 pence out of every pound,
what we pay for them. You want, you got them baked in. You fought like a
tiger were your words back in, about six, seven years ago, you fought
like a tiger to keep them in the bill, is that fair for people.
Should they not be moved to general taxation. Let me make it clear, the
rising heating bill which I am worried about is because of gas
price, I understand that. The problem with the Prime Minister,
because he has lied and broken the rules and completely focussed on
saving his own skin he is not taking action, when people are facing the
bill, what we are calling for is a cost of living summit. Let us have a
worker event not more party, he should have the chief executive of
the water company, the energy companies and get them to take
action. We have put forward proposal, we think there should be
what we call a Robin Hood tax on the profits of these gas companies and
that money should be used to reduce bills. That is a one-off windfall
tax which could raise a lot of money, but that is one off and this
is something that is going to go on for a lot longer than a year. I do
think that if these gas prices continue, that windfall tax would
have you to continue, so we could protect the poorest, whether it is
through increasing the warm home discount, taking 7.5 million people,
their energy bills lower, I would want to increase that to include
people on Universal Credit. We would want to take action with throbben
hood tax, pensioner, we have argued the winter fuel should be doubled.
These gas companies you are going to be taking a lot of money awe, these
are the same companies that are investing a lot of money in
renewable energy. Nowhere near enough. Let us remember these are
totally unexpected prof, the idea they are affecting their investment
is for the birds, we have an energy crisis the Government is doing
nothing, there should be a cost of living summit in 10 Downing Street
and they should look at the proposals that the Liberal Democrat
have come forward, our proposals would say the typical struggling
family nearly £1,000 a year, that is the sort of package that the
Government should be putting forward and the fact it isn't is mainly
because Boris Johnson's too busy say -- saving his own skin. Thank you.
Thank you.
Lisa Nandy, the Shadow Housing and Levelling Up Secretary,
joins me from Salford:
Good morning. Morning. Let us talk about the Sue Gray report first. We
-- will publishing that report in full jeopardise the investigation.
Look, the reason we have to have the Sue Gray report is because the Prime
Minister won't come clean on what has been going on in Downing Street
and his involve in in it. We could sort this out without him having to
hide behind a civil servant or the Metropolitan Police. He coiled come
clean, since he won't we believe that the most important thing is to
get that report out in full, there are a lot of bereaved families, a
lot of people who made huge sacrifices who deserve to hear the
truth from the Prime Minister. If he won't put an end to this circus and
stasis in Government when people are dealing with hugish use round the
country, cost of living crisis, if he won't do it, that report has to
come out in full. So that people can judge for themselves. Is the problem
for you, for Labour, every day we don't see the report makes it more
likely for the Prime Minister to survive, that the public somehow
moves on as you keep calling for him to resign? Look, the Prime Minister,
it is up to the Prime Minister what he does now and up to Tory MPs, in
the end he will have to face the public, and he will have to answer
to the public for what he has done, but we believe that it is absolutely
seven that will he levels with people, that he comes clean, he
shouldn't need a police investigation to tell you whether
you are at a party or not. It matters to people that people follow
the rules they make and that is why we say is a publish this report in
full, put an end to the circus and get on with doing your job. When you
look at the polls, Labour had a big lead, now we are told it is halved.
To five. Polls go up and down, I have been round in politics long
enough to have seen it from every which way, but my eye is on the
country, what I am concerned about at the moment is that people are
really struggling to keep their heads above water, everywhere I have
been, across Yorkshire and the Humber, in the north-west of
England, people are saying ensqrils are going up. Shopping costs more
and they are about to face a tax hike which we have had confirmed
this morning from the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, people can't do
it and meanwhile we have this farcical situation of a Prime
Minister hiding, from the public, and refusing to come clean, being
investigated by the Metropolitan Police, and we have a levelling up
secretary who is spending his timing ringing round Tory MPs, trying to
show up support for the Prime Minister instead of putting in place
proper plans to give all of our parts the good jobs and
opportunities they deserve. It is nod good enough. Levelling up, the
phrase didn't even exist until the Conservatives came up with it. What
do you think it means? Think it means getting good jobs back into
communities and the wages that sustain high streets and allow town
centres to thrive. That has been the reality for a -- far too many
people. We have been written off by national Government, for too long.
And, the plans that we had this morning, the release we had from the
Government, this recycled money which gives us a bit of a refund in
a few places on the money we have lost missing the point. People need
money back in their pocket, we need good jobs and wage, there are parts
of the country where that is being realised. Investment in renewable,
it gets money back in to people's pockets, apprenticeship, it gives
places that once powered this country the chance to make a
contribution again. Question manned and deserve that level of investment
from our Government. We have ambition for our people and place,
but, why hasn't the Government? What about National Insurance This rise?
Would scrapping that help with levelling up? You can't possibly hit
people with more taxes at the moment, it is just simply not
possible for a lot of people to survive. The stories that I am
hearing from people across the country about the sacrifices they
will have to make, are enormous but what is worse is that the government
doesn't seem to have understand if you want, what they are billing as
King's Cross style generation you have to have Central London style
wages. If you were in Government would you repeal this National
Insurance rise? We are hoping that the Government won't go ahead with
it. Would you not do it? We wouldn't bring it in in the first place. Let
me be clear if there was a Labour Government today, there would be no
rise in National Insurance, people would not be facing the prospects of
seeing their incomes squeezed even more. Why? Because we have to get
people spending again. We have to get people spending on the high
streets in order to sustain them. We is have to allow families the
security they need toe do well. So the Government is sets on... On the
same day they have said they want to level up the country, they are
reaffirming this tax hike for people. Do you then repeal it if you
win the next election? Look, with a bit of luck this won't come in at
all. We will be doing everything we can to try and appeal to Tory MPs
consciences and try and persuade the Prime Minister to rethink, if we
continue do that we will come forward with a much fairer system
that doesn't hit working people, the hardest, the people who can least
afford to bear it, bear the greatest brunt of the tax system, that isn't
just true in relation to national insurance contributions, that is
true in relation to business rates for example. Something that have got
to be dealt with if we are to get the High Streets thriving again. We
will put fairer taxation, to make sure the people who bear the burden
can bear it. If you come in at the next Government would you repeal the
national insurance rise, yes or no? I am trying to explain we wouldn't
bring this in in the first place, and if the Government... But it
could be there, it would be there If we get into Government what we will
do is reform the taxation system, in the round, to make sure that people
aren't paying, aren't paying more when they have got less, that is the
problem, that is the reason why a lot of families are struggling to
keep their heads above water, not because they are being hit by one
thing but they are being hit by thing after thing after thing. It is
shopping bills going up. Energy, national insheerness, VAT, they are
squeezing working people and destroying any prospects of
levelling up across our commune I -- community and we deserve better.
Thank you.
The Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss,
is travelling to Ukraine this week,
but before that, she's here with me this morning.
Morning, thank you very much for coming on to talk to us. Are you
working on the assumption that President Putin is going to invade
Ukraine? We think it is highly likely that he is looking to invade
Ukraine, that is why we are doing all we can throw deterrence and
diplomacy to urge him to desist. That is why we are strengthening our
sanctions regime here in the United Kingdom, we are going to be
introducing new legislation so that we can hit targets including those
who are key to the Kremlin's continuation, and the continuation
of the Russian regime. We are also supplying and offering extra support
into our Baltic allies across the Black Sea, as well as supplying the
Ukrainians with defensive weapons, and the United Kingdom is the
largest contributor to Nato in Europe, and we are the largest
European night out supporter of troops and defences in Europe. I
want to talk to you about sanctions in a moment, but in terms of what
could happen, are you thinking and invasion is imminent? Well, what we
are seeing our attempts by the Russian regime to stabilise
Ukrainian democracy. -- destabilise. We saw an attempt by the Russian
regime to install a puppet regime in Kyiv. We have seen cyber attacks and
other attempts to destabilise Ukraine, at the same time as we have
seen a big build-up on the border. You know, there is a real threat of
invasion, but we don't know what is going to happen, no-one can predict
the future, but we have to work as hard as we can to stop that
happening, because it would be terrible for Europe, terrible for
freedom and democracy, and I think it would be very bad for the Russian
government themselves, because it could well end up as a quagmire, as
we saw in Chechnya, as we saw in Afghanistan. The Ukrainians will
fight, that is absolutely clear, so we are doing all we can to prevent
that happening. Yan startled -- Jens Stoltenberg says there is no
scenario in which Nato soldiers are fighting alongside Ukrainian
soldiers, do you rule out British soldiers fighting alongside them? It
is very unlikely, and the Defence Secretary has been clear about that.
We are training 20,000 Ukrainian troops, we have supplied anti-tank
missiles, defensive weapons, we are giving support to the Ukrainian
navy, we are giving support to the Ukrainian energy sector to help them
become more energy independent, so we really are giving every possible
support we can to Ukraine, and we are one of the leading downers of
lethal aid to Ukraine to make sure that they are in the best possible
position to defend themselves against Russia. At Ukraine is very
different from the status of the Baltic countries like Estonia, who
are members of Nato, and we have a security guarantee with them, and
that is why we are doubling, offering to double the number of
troops in Estonia, where we have the enhanced border presence, to make
sure that we are bolstering support for those crucial Nato allies who
are very close to Russia. But what people want to know, is there a
scenario in which British soldiers are fighting with Ukrainians,
Ukrainians they have been training against Russian soldiers? That is
very unlikely. This is about making sure that the Ukrainian forces have
all the support we can give them, whether it is intelligent support,
whether it is cyber support, whether it is defensive weapons we have been
supplying into Ukraine. What about sanctions? You have spoken about
those already, and the president of Ukraine says sanctions against
President Putin, against Russia, will not work. Sanctions can be
effective. What they have to be is coordinated, so we have done a lot
of work as the UK to pull together our G7 allies to make it clear to
Vladimir Putin there will be severe costs on any invasion into Ukraine,
and we would target Russian financial institutions, we would
target energy companies, we will target oligarchs close to the
Kremlin, and that is why the UK is broadening our sanctions regime to
make sure that there was people have nowhere to hide and that we could
potentially target any interests that have an impact on the Russian
government. But the problem is that a lot of people are saying that they
are hiding in the UK, they are hiding in London. Well, we have
already put in place a mix of sanctions, and this week we will be
doing more to make sure we can target all interests of direct
relevance to the Russian government. But we need to work with our allies
on this. The fact is that Europe has been too dependent on Russian gas.
It is good to hear the German saying that Nord Stream 2 is unlikely to go
ahead in the event of a Russian invasion, but that is the type of
measure we need reducing the dependence of Europe on Russian gas,
making sure there are alternatives, making sure that we have
alternatives domestically so we can really go after these Russian
interests that are bankrolling the regime. But the sanctions need to
have byte, and even our own Intelligence and Security Committee
says Russians with links to Putin was so integrated into the UK scene
that it is almost impossible to tangle, that is why it is proving
difficult to sort. This is why we are doing more, broadening our
sanctions regime. We are going to be introducing legislation to make sure
that sanctions don't just target companies who are actively
destabilising democracies in the Ukraine but are of strategic
importance to the Kremlin. But what about money here in the UK? We have
already seized more than £1 billion of illicit finance in the UK, we
have improved our regimes, and we continue to look at what more can be
done. One think tank with links to President Biden says that uprooting
Kremlin linked oligarchs will be a challenge, given the close ties
between Russian money and the United Kingdom's ruling Conservative Party.
The press, its real estate and financial industry. They clearly
think not enough is being done. We are doing more, we are introducing
new legislation to widen our ability to take sanctions forward. We have
legislated on illicit finance, and we continue to pursue that. And I
think it is very important, there is a real threat to freedom and
democracy in Europe, and that is more important than short-term
economic gain, both for the United Kingdom but also for our European
allies. This is why it's so important that we diversify away
from dependence on Russian gas. But it is not sanctions alone that will
deter Vladimir Putin. It is also about Ukraine's defensive
capability, making sure they have got those defensive weapons, there
was anti-tank weapons. Making sure we are clear with Vladimir Putin
that this is not going to be easy - the Ukrainians will fight, this
could well result in a quagmire similar to Afghanistan, similar to
Chechnya. That is what we have to be clear about, and that is why I am
travelling to Ukraine. I am also going to be travelling to Moscow in
the next fortnight. The Prime Minister will be travelling to
Eastern Europe. We need to get the message across to the Russian
government that this is not something that is going to be simple
or easy, it will result in a quagmire. How do you protect against
Russia cutting off gas supplies to Europe? It would have a huge impact
on us. We are talking to our allies about this, the United States has
more it can do on liquid natural gas, we are looking to the Middle
East and what supplies we can secure from the Middle East. In the long
term, we need more nuclear and renewable energy so we are less
dependent on Russian gas as a European continent. Do you accept
that the national insurance rise is unpopular among Tory voters? We are
in a very difficult situation, we have spent a lot of money on the
Covid crisis, which had public support, whether it was the furlough
scheme, the business support scheme, and the reality is we need to pay
that money back. What is crucial, though, is this Government has
really let any vaccines scheme, the booster roll-out, so we are seeing
ourselves recover the economy quicker, we are seeing... Do you
accept, though, that it is an unpopular tax among Tory voters?
Taxes are never popular, Sophie, and as soon as possible we want to be in
a position to lower our tax rates, we want to drive growth, because
ultimately that is what will make our country is successful, but we
face a short-term issue in that we have spent significant amounts of
money dealing with the Covid crisis that does need to be paid back. Do
you accept that it is an unfair tax? That working families will be
shouldering the burden of this? Somebody on £30,000 a year, £250
more every year? This tax has been designed to deliver the improvements
that are needed to the National Health Service and to social care.
But it could have been spread out more fairly, couldn't it? All of us,
including the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, wants to be able to
lower taxes. We want to take full advantage of our post-Brexit freedom
to do things like improve regulation in areas like financial services, so
we can grow the economy. And the Prime Minister has been very forward
leaning on Covid, taking decisions other governments didn't take,
opening up the economy early, and we are seeing the positive results, so
employment higher now than it was before the pandemic started, and
that is ultimately the way we will pay for this. It is a question of
fairness, and even the Institute for Fiscal Studies says it is
disappointing that the Government did not find a better package of tax
measures to fund these measures, a simple increase in income tax would
have been preferable, because national insurance is only being
paid for by working people. There are various arguments for various
different sorts of taxes, and as I have said, no tax is popular. This
is why it is vital that we get the economy growing, we take advantage
of the post-Brexit freedoms. But what the Chancellor has to do when
he looks at the budget, he has to look at all the options in the round
and come to the best decision. When are we going to see the Sue Gray
report? Well, that is a matter for Sue Gray. When do you think we are
going to see it due back your guess is as good as mine, Sophie. Will we
see the full, unredacted report? That is the intention. I have not
seen the report, Sophie, but it is our intention to publish the full
report. It is a bit of a mess, all of this, isn't it? There are issues,
of course, with the fact that we now have a police investigation
alongside the Sue Gray report, but we have an independent report being
conducted by Sue Gray, an operationally independent police
force, and we have to allow them to get on with that. My view, Sophie,
is the Prime Minister has apologised for what happened, he made it clear
that mistakes were made, and we have so many other issues that are of
major importance to this country to focus on, you have been talking
about the recovery from Covid, we have talked about the threat from
Russia on the Ukrainian border, threatening democracy and freedom in
Europe, so yes, we want to see the results of those reports, but my
focus as Foreign Secretary is on these very serious threats that we
are facing. Is Boris Johnson the best leader to take the
Conservatives into the next general election? Absolutely he is. You are
not tempted? There is no contest, there is no discussion. He has
achieved an 80 seat majority for the Conservative Party, he has delivered
on the Covid vaccine programme, the booster programme, he has delivered
on Brexit, and he will do a fantastic job winning the next
election for the Conservative Party. If he has found to have broken the
code of laws that he told the nation to follow, should he resign? I am
not going to answer hypothetical Starc it is not hypothetical. He has
already apologised for the mistakes that have been made, and I was in
the House of Commons, I saw that happen, I think now, of course we
need to get the results of these reports, but we need to focus on the
very important issues... But if the Prime Minister has lied to
Parliament, should he resign? I am not going to answer hypothetical
questions. The future of the Prime Minister is assured, he is doing an
excellent job on the things that matter, recovering the economy from
Covid, getting Brexit done and getting the country going again.
Thank you very much for watching. We will be back next week. Enjoy your
Sunday, goodbye.