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| UK politics live: minister suggests visa rules for Ukranians fleeing war to be further eased | UK politics live: minister suggests visa rules for Ukranians fleeing war to be further eased |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Ben Wallace, defence minister, says second step is looking at ‘refugee flows’ after initial announcement criticised as ‘shameful’ | Ben Wallace, defence minister, says second step is looking at ‘refugee flows’ after initial announcement criticised as ‘shameful’ |
| And here are some more line from Ben Wallace’s interviews this morning. | |
| Wallace, the defence secretary, said Russian invasion of Ukraine was likely to become more violent, with “horrific” casualty levels possible. He said: | |
| Wallace described Putin’s decision to put his nuclear deterrent on high alert as “rhetoric”. It did not fundamentally change the threat, he implied. He said: | |
| Wallace also said that, after Putin’s announcement, his 12-year-old son had asked if it meant there would be nuclear war. Asked how he replied, Wallace told LBC: | |
| Tom Tugendhat, the Conservartive chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told the Today programme this morning that he thought the government would end up following the EU policy and allowing Ukrainians fleeing the war to stay for up to three years. Asked if he thought the announcment from the PM last night went far enough, he said it didn’t. He told the programme: | Tom Tugendhat, the Conservartive chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told the Today programme this morning that he thought the government would end up following the EU policy and allowing Ukrainians fleeing the war to stay for up to three years. Asked if he thought the announcment from the PM last night went far enough, he said it didn’t. He told the programme: |
| Asked about the EU’s announcement that member countries would grant asylum to Ukrainian refugees for up to three years, he replied: | Asked about the EU’s announcement that member countries would grant asylum to Ukrainian refugees for up to three years, he replied: |
| Good morning. Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, was batting for the government on TV and radio this morning and he had the awkward job of tidying up policy difficulties left by his colleagues over the weekend. | |
| First, UK immigration policy for Ukrainians fleeing the war and seeking refuge in this country. Downing Street announced a new approach last night, but when the Home Office published the small print a bit later, it turned out to be very minimal. Labour called the announcement “shameful”. This morning Wallace implied that this was just a first step, and that more would be done. He told Sky News: | First, UK immigration policy for Ukrainians fleeing the war and seeking refuge in this country. Downing Street announced a new approach last night, but when the Home Office published the small print a bit later, it turned out to be very minimal. Labour called the announcement “shameful”. This morning Wallace implied that this was just a first step, and that more would be done. He told Sky News: |
| In the light of the reaction to last night’s announcement, and developments in the EU, the government may well end up doing more. But that is not what the Home Office was telling journalists to expect last night. | In the light of the reaction to last night’s announcement, and developments in the EU, the government may well end up doing more. But that is not what the Home Office was telling journalists to expect last night. |
| Second, government policy on Britons wanting to travel to Ukraine to join the fight against the Russians. Yesterday Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, was criticised for saying she would support people wanting to do this. This morning Wallace did not exactly disown her, but he claimed that she was not advising people without military training to volunteer (Truss did not make that distinction in her interviews) and he said her main point was that the war was a “just cause”. He also said there were better ways to help Ukraine. He said: | Second, government policy on Britons wanting to travel to Ukraine to join the fight against the Russians. Yesterday Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, was criticised for saying she would support people wanting to do this. This morning Wallace did not exactly disown her, but he claimed that she was not advising people without military training to volunteer (Truss did not make that distinction in her interviews) and he said her main point was that the war was a “just cause”. He also said there were better ways to help Ukraine. He said: |
| I will post more from Wallace’s interviews shortly. | I will post more from Wallace’s interviews shortly. |
| Mostly today I will be focusing on UK reaction to the war in Ukraine, but I will also be covering some non-Ukraine politics too. Here is the agenda for the day. | Mostly today I will be focusing on UK reaction to the war in Ukraine, but I will also be covering some non-Ukraine politics too. Here is the agenda for the day. |
| 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing. | 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing. |
| 2.30pm: Priti Patel, the home secretary, takes questions in the Commons. | 2.30pm: Priti Patel, the home secretary, takes questions in the Commons. |
| After 3.30pm: MPs debate the Lords amendments to the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill. | After 3.30pm: MPs debate the Lords amendments to the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill. |
| 4pm: Neil O’Brien, the levelling up minister, and Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England economist who is head of the levelling up taskforce, give evidence to the Commons levelling up committee about the levelling up white paper. | 4pm: Neil O’Brien, the levelling up minister, and Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England economist who is head of the levelling up taskforce, give evidence to the Commons levelling up committee about the levelling up white paper. |
| For full coverage of the war in Ukraine, and a global perspective, do read our separate live blog. It’s here. | For full coverage of the war in Ukraine, and a global perspective, do read our separate live blog. It’s here. |
| I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. | I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. |
| If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow. | If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow. |
| Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com. | Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com. |