Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed the decision by the European Union for Ukraine to begin accession talks to become a member of the bloc.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, announced the move on X (formerly Twitter).
Responding on the same platform, the Ukrainian president said: “This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires, and strengthens.”
Rishi Sunak has scrapped the dedicated post of disabilities minister — during UK disability history month.
Downing Street confirmed on Thursday that an “existing” minister will be handed the disabilities brief on top of their current job.
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It was later announced that health minister Mims Davies will take on responsibility for disbaility issues.
She said: “I’ll work as hard as I can to ensure disabled people’s voices are heard loud and clear.”
Until last week the position was its own minister of state level job, having first been created when Labour came to power in 1997.
Davies holds the more junior parliamentary under-secretary post and shadow disabilites minister Vicky Foxcroft said that showed the disabilities brief had been “downgraded”.
The last MP to hold the standalone disabilities role was Tom Pursglove, but he was made minister for legal immigration earlier this week.
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The prime minister also appointed Michael Tomlinson as minister for illegal immigration.
It means there are now two dedicated immigration ministers but no specialist disabilities minister.
The move comes during UK disability history month, which runs from November 16 until December 16.
Sunak’s official spokesperson denied the change was a “downgrading” of the role.
“It’s not right. We will have a minister for disabled people who will lead on that important work,” the spokesperson said.
“It is actions that matter. What you will continue to see is a government showing strong support for disabled people and for disabled issues.”
But Foxcroft said: “Shocking that Rishi Sunak has chosen not to appoint a new minister for disabled people, health and work.
“After 13 years of Tory austerity, pandemic and cost of living crisis, disabled people feel their voices aren’t being heard and represented in Government. This confirms it.”
James Taylor, director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: “This is an appalling and retrograde move by the government.
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“What kind of message does this give to Britain’s 16 million disabled people? That – in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis – we are now less important?
“Life costs more if you are disabled. There hasn’t been cost of living payment for disabled people this winter. And negative welfare rhetoric has ramped up this year.
“We must have a Minister for Disabled People in government, to be a champion of disabled people and disability, and make sure policy doesn’t leave disabled people behind and disadvantaged.”
A government spokesperson said: “Minister Davies will build upon this Government’s track record of supporting disabled people, having delivered millions of cost of living payments and helping over one million more disabled people into work five years earlier than planned.
“The minister will help ensure there is always a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in our society, while tearing down barriers so that every disabled person can realise their potential and thrive.”
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Mark Drakeford is stepping down as the Welsh Labour leader with immediate effect, he has announced.
In a major shock, the veteran Labour politician said his replacement as the country’s first minister will be elected before Easter.
Drakeford, who became first minister exactly five years ago, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “When I stood for election as Leader of Welsh Labour, I said I would stand down during the current Senedd term. That time has now come.
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“It has been a great privilege to serve as leader of this party. Together, we have achieved a huge amount over the last five years in some of the toughest times we have known.
“Despite all the chaos in Westminster, the ongoing impact of Brexit, climate change and the pandemic, by working together, we have delivered record results for Welsh Labour in the local government and Senedd elections.
“Our greatest task is still ahead of us – to return a Labour UK Government and start repairing the huge damage which has been inflicted by the Tories over the last 13 years.
“I will work tirelessly to secure that Labour victory and to continue delivering on the promises we made to people all across Wales in 2021 to deliver a stronger, fairer and greener Wales.”
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Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon was among the first to pay tribute to Drakeford.
Writing on X, she said: “He was without doubt one of the most decent, dedicated, principled, and impressive politicians I had the privilege of working with in my time as FM. He will be the hardest of acts to follow.”
Rishi Sunak said he wished Drakefors “all the best as he moves on from his many years of public service”.
Former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson has poured cold water on speculation that he may join former President Donald Trump on the Republican 2024 ticket.
Trump himself has suggested he may be open to the idea of the conspiracy theorist — who frequently promoted racist and far-right talking points on his prime-time Fox show until he was fired in April — as his running mate if he secures the Republican nomination.
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But when fellow Fox alum Megyn Kelly asked Carlson on her SiriusXM show on Monday if he would serve as Trump’s right-hand-man if requested, Carlson said it would be “so unimaginable.”
“I mean, I haven’t led a life that prepares a person for politics,” Carlson told Kelly. “As I said, I don’t think I have any horrible skeletons or anything. It’s not that. It’s just that that’s not how my brain works. I’ve never done anything like that. I can’t imagine spending time with politicians.”
In private messages that were released in March as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News, Carlson said he hated Trump “passionately.”
To Kelly on Monday, though, Carlson ― who on the same day launched his own streaming platform ― had nothing but praise for the four-times-indicted former president.
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“I’m a total sucker for Trump,” he claimed. “Personally, I get along with Trump really well. The closer I am physically to Trump, like if I’m with him in the room, I always love Trump and I think it’s impossible not to, and you know the experience. He’s just charming.”
Carlson called Trump “funny as hell” and “brave in his way” and said he agreed with many of his policies and was “kind of psyched to vote” for him if he becomes the GOP nominee next year.
“But serving in politics with anybody, I mean, that’s just a lot for me to think about because I just don’t think I’m really suited for that. Would anyone want to see a guy like me run for office?” Carlson asked.
“Yes,” replied Kelly. ”I thought about it a million times.”
She predicted, “You’re not gonna end your life without having been probably president, maybe vice president. I just don’t think you will.”
Watch the exchange here:
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And while Sunak’s press conference didn’t get the best of reactions from either the public or his political peers, one place he can look to for some words of encouragement (albeit sarcastic ones) is Joe Lycett’s social media account.
Speaking directly to the prime minister, the comedian wrote on X: “Well done hunni, you came across really calm and in control there. Job done.”
In recent history, the former Great British Sewing Bee host has become known for his political commentary, always delivered in his own inimitable style.
Boris Johnson has been giving evidence to the public Covid Inquiry all day.
This is just the first of two days in which he will be grilled over the government’s handling of the pandemic, and there was plenty of back-and-forth between the former prime minister and the counsel to the inquiry Hugo Keith KC.
So here’s a list of the core exchanges from the first day.
“Can I just say how glad I am to be at this inquiry and how sorry I am for the pain and the loss and the suffering of the Covid victims,” Johnson said when he started to give evidence.
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Four people started to protest and held up a sign which said “the dead can’t hear your apologies”. They were removed.
Johnson also said he took “personal responsibility for all decisions made”.
The Inquiry chair, Lady Hallett, also kicked off proceedings by warning Johnson about the leaks to the media, saying: “Failing to respect confidentiality undermines the inquiry’s ability to do its job fairly, effectively and independently.”
Amid a furore that the inquiry did not have all the necessary evidence because one of the ex-PM’s phones could not be accessed, Johnson said he was not responsible for any of the apparent technical issues.
“I haven’t removed WhatsApps from my phone. I want to make that clear. I have given everything you need,” he said.
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In his witness statement, the ex-PM wrote: “We – I – unquestionably made mistakes, and for those I unreservedly apologise.”
However, when pressed by Keith, Johnson did not say what mistakes he was referring to – he just admitted that, with hindsight, it was clear they needed to do things differently.
Asked if he thought government-decision making led “materially to more excess deaths than might otherwise have been the case”, he said: “I’m not sure.”
He did admit concerns about mixed messages from the devolved governments, though. He later said “the collaboration was excellent” but communication could end up being “confusing”.
Johnson claimed the UK was “16th out of 33 countries for excess deaths” in Europe.
However, the QC said the UK had one of the worst records for excess deaths among western European countries.
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Johnson also blamed other factors, like the “extremely elderly population”, and the population density of the UK.
The ex-PM said his colleagues were “more reluctant” than he was to impose lockdown-type measures.
He said: “I think it would be fair to say that the cabinet was on the whole more reluctant to impose NPIs (non-pharmaceutical interventions) than I was.”
The PM was criticised at the start of pandemic for missing Sage – Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies – at the beginning of 2020.
He said in retrospect it may have been “valuable to try to hear the Sage conversation”, but he was reliant on the chief medical officer for England, professor Chris Whitty and the former chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance who are “outstanding experts in their field”.
He defended the former health secretary Matt Hancock, who has been heavily criticised for his handling of the pandemic throughout the course of the inquiry.
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His former chief adviser Dominic Cummings told the inquiry he had encouraging Johnson to sack Hancock, the ex-PM said: “If you’re a prime minister, you are constantly being lobbied by somebody to sack somebody else.”
He added that Cummings “had a low opinion of the health secretary”, but Johnson said: “I thought he was wrong.”
Johnson also said he does not accept Hancock was excluded from some key meetings, but said he needed to discuss some costly elements of the lockdowns with the Treasury.
Later, he expressed frustration – and rolled his eyes – at the idea in Cummings’ witness statement that he kept Hancock in cabinet as a sacrifice for the inquiry.
“I don’t remember that at all, it’s nonsense,” Johnson said, saying he thought Hancock was a good public communicator “whatever his defects”.
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Former senior civil servant Helen MacNamara told the inquiry Johnson oversaw a “toxic culture” in No.10, while top civil servant Simon Case that the top team were “basically feral”.
But the ex-PM told the inquiry that actually it was just “a lot of highly talented, highly motivated people who are stricken with anxiety” who under pressure “will be inclined to be critical of others”.
But he said it would have been worse if everyone was “so deferential” they never expressed their opinion.
MacNamara claimed there was an “obvious, sexist treatment” of women in No.10.
Johnson said: “I think that the gender balance of my team should have been better.
“I think sometimes during the pandemic, too many meetings were too male-dominated if I’m absolutely honest with you.”
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He later said he had apologised to MacNamara after messages, sent to him describing her as a “c***”, were published in the inquiry.
Johnson said his cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill and chief adviser Dominic Cummings both decided to step aside, rather than a sign he lost confidence in them.
When pressed over his relationships with them, he refused to be drawn and just said they chose to leave, saying it was “very difficult, very challenging period”.
The ex-PM said the possibility of such a virus was not something that had really “broken upon the political world”, and he was not asked about it at PMQs – but noted he did become anxious about it by the end of February.
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He added: “It was not escalated to me as an issue of national concern until much later.”
Acknowledging some predictions he saw about the potential Covid deaths in early 2020, he said: “I don’t think we attached enough credence to those forecasts.”
He claimed it was a “cloud on the horizon no bigger than a man’s hand”.
He said he could not remember expressing scepticism about the possible number of deaths.
“The scientific community within Whitehall at that stage was not telling us that this was something that was going to require urgent and immediate action,” Johnson claimed.
He said he knew Covid had a 2% fatality rate, but claimed “fallacious, inductive logic” meant they did not take warnings seriously.
The ex-PM noted Italy had an elderly population, much like the UK, and so its 8% fatality rate “really rattled me”.
He said: “We should have twigged, we should collectively have twigged, much sooner. I should have twigged [by late February].”
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Weighing up lockdown and behavioural fatigue, Johnson said he was anxious about locking down too early without a vaccination programme.
“We have to be realistic about 2020 – the whole year – that whole tragic, tragic year,” Johnson said, before taking a moment to compose himself.
He then pointed out “we did lock down – and then it bounced back.”
He claimed he does not accept suggestions he was doing nothing in the months before lockdown, saying he was working and having calls with Presidents Xi and Trump.
The QC replied that he was actually not suggesting Johnson was on holiday, he was just reiterating Cummings’ allegations.
He said the view that interventions should to be imposed too early was “the prevailing view for a long time” and shared by lots of people – and so he would not have gone into lockdown earlier.
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Suggesting it was hard to know how to respond, he said: “When you hear about an Asian pandemic that is about to sweep the world, you think you’ve heard it before and that was the problem.”
He did not consider overruling the chief medical officer – and Keith then asked if he understood Sage could not tell him what to do.
Over accusations that he showed a lack of leadership by changing direction, he said: “Of course we were changing but so did the collective understanding of the science.”
Johnson told the media he went to a hospital and shook hands with several Covid patients at the very early stages of the pandemic.
“I do think I shouldn’t have done that in retrospect,” Johnson replied.
“I should have been more precautionary, but I wanted to be encouraging to people.”
The clip in question from March 2020 below:
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The ex-PM said they should have stopped mass sporting events in early March – Johnson attended an England v Wales game at Twickenham.
“With hindsight, as a symbol of the government’s earnestness rather than being guided by the science, we should perhaps have done this,” he said.
But he added, “At every stage I was weighing massive costs,” and “what the government was going to do was “very destructive for a lot of people least able to bear the costs”.
Johnson said trying to flatten the curve of infections, – which he claimed led some people to assume the government were “trying to allow this thing to pass through the population unchecked”.
However he said this would have been a “by-product” of tackling the virus.
Presented with a graph showing the possible impact of interventions on the NHS, he said: “I was bewildered, to be honest.”
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With or without restrictions, he said: “In either case, we are facing an absolutely intolerable situation.”
Johnson rejected claims he could not make up his mind about the lockdown – which came into effect on March 23, 2020 – but said the chancellor told him it would pose a risk to bond markets so he had to make a careful decision.
“It would have been totally negligent not to have had such a conversation,” Johnson said: “I’d made up my mind – we [were] getting on and doing it, we [were] not being diverted.”
He said, “I had no other tool – literally nothing else” aside from lockdown, and he “couldn’t take the gamble with public health”.
He said: “I believe that it was absolutely necessary” and “helped to suppress the R-rate”.
He also cast doubt on the view that the need for a mandatory stay at home order could have been avoided if the government acted sooner – but accepted Sage lacked enough clarify on data.
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Despite saying in his witness statement that he thought it was wrong for the PM to hold meetings with the first ministers, and compared it to being a “mini EU”, Johnson said they need to get a “better way of getting a unified message”.
“Some form of integrated decision-making which does not leak is what you’re after,” he said.
The ex-PM admitted that he had written in notes about long Covid describing it as “bollocks” and “gulf war syndrome stuff” – an illness which rocked veterans from the 1991 war, but no single cause was ever identified.
He said these phrases may have caused “hunt and offence to huge numbers of people who have that syndrome”, and “I regret it very very much.”
Johnson’s administration has been repeatedly slammed for “misogyny”, “leadership issues”
The ex-PM said he wanted a No.10 where ideas can be challenged, and he said: “It was occasionally argumentative, but that was no bad thing.”
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He also said the country required “continuous, urgent action”, and claimed he spoke bluntly sometimes “because I wanted to give people cover to do the same”.
He also said the PM should go into meetings when decisions are being made – but that was not happening.
A UNICEF representative has warned there’s a growing risk that disease could end up killing as many children in Gaza as the last eight weeks of bombardment have.
More than 15,500 people are estimated to have been killed in Gaza since the war began on October 7, according to the Palestinian territory’s health ministry – including approximately 6,000 children.
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Israel declared war on Hamas almost two months ago after the Palestinian militants killed an estimated 1,200 people on Israeli soil and took around 240 others hostage.
Israel then put Gaza under siege, and launched a series of missile attacks and a ground invasion.
And according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), there may soon be another major risk to the displaced Palestinian population – disease.
UNICEF’s James Elder told BBC News on Tuesday that there are some areas which should be safe from bombardments within Gaza.
But, he added: “They are not safe in an international law sense or a moral sense, in terms of safety, but we also mean in terms of food, water, medicine, protection.
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“We’re seeing hundreds of thousands of people on their last legs go to a place without a single toilet.
“To dirt, to desert, to bombed out buildings, without any access to water.
“So now we have death from the skies and disease stalking – there’s a perfect storm now.
“We may well see the similar number of children dying, being killed, from disease – if these attacks don’t stop – as we do from the attacks themselves.”
There has been growing international concern about the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.
On Monday, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for a “sustained ceasefire in Gaza, the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages and unimpeded and sustained humanitarian aid flow to meet the needs of the people throughout the Gaza Strip”.
It comes as Israel has started to bomb southern Gaza too, weeks after Palestinians in the north of the territory were encouraged to relocate to the south amid an imminent land invasion.
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According to the UN’s OCHA, as of November 23, more than 1.7 million Palestinians are already internally displaced in Gaza.
And the World Health Organisation’s Richard Peeperkorn warned on Tuesday that the “situation is getting worse by the hour”.
Speaking to reporters via video link from Gaza, he said: “There’s intensified bombing going on all around, including here in the southern areas, Khan Younis and even in Rafah.”
The WHO’s director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday over concerns that medical facilities would be at risk in southern Gaza.
He wrote: “Today, @WHO received notification from the Israel Defence Forces that we should remove our supplies from our medical warehouse in southern Gaza within 24 hours, as ground operations will put it beyond use.
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“We appeal to #Israel to withdraw the order, and take every possible measure to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and humanitarian facilities.”
A fresh Tory civil war over immigration has erupted after Rishi Sunak was warned not to give in to his right-wing backbenchers by ignoring human rights laws.
The prime minister is planning to unveil emergency legislation within days to ensure deportation flights to Rwanda finally get off the ground after the Supreme Court ruled the policy was illegal last month.
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Members of different groups of right-wing Tory MPs are joining forces to pile pressure on Sunak to opt out of European Convention on Human Rights rulings on asylum cases as a way of preventing that happening again.
They are prepared to vote against the government bill if they do not think it goes far enough.
But in a fresh headache for the PM, the One Nation Caucus of moderate Tory MPs has warned him it would be “a mistake” to ignore the ECHR.
The group’s chair, Damian Green, said: “The UK has for generations been a world-leader on human rights. We have set the standard on what a law-abiding, well-functioning democracy should look like.
“Successive Conservative governments have played a vital role in creating and protecting the ECHR as well as the refugee and torture conventions. We have continued to hold these treaties dear and they should be seen as a fundamental part of protecting the UK’s democratic legacy.”
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Green, who was Theresa May’s de facto deputy when she was prime minister, added: “The government should think twice before overriding both the ECHR and Human Rights Act and not rush such long term, difficult decisions.”
Matt Warman, another member of the One Nation Caucus, said: “Overriding the ECHR is a red line for a number of Conservatives.
“Protecting and reforming institutions and upholding human rights should be the cornerstone of any Conservative government.”
The row comes as James Cleverly became the third Tory home secretary to sign an agreement with the Rwandan government over the deportation plan.
Priti Patel first announced the controversial policy in April 2022, but since then not a single asylum seeker has been sent to the east African country.
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The new treaty seeks to address the concerns raised by the Supreme Court, especially the judges’ concerns that migrants could end up being sent back to their home countries.
Cleverly said: “I am grateful to our Rwandan partners for their willingness, dedication and commitment to strengthening this partnership further.
“The Supreme Court recognised that changes may be delivered which would address their conclusions – this treaty responds directly to that.”
Foreign workers will need to earn at least £38,700 to be given a visa to come to the UK under plans to slash net migration.
Home secretary James Cleverly told the House of Commons that the move was part of a five-point plan to bring down the numbers of immigrants coming to the UK by 300,000 a year.
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It comes after new figures revealed two weeks ago that 672,000 more people entered the UK than left it in the 12 months to June.
The Tories’ 2019 general election manifesto pledged to bring the figure down to less than 229,000.
Right-wing Tory backbenchers have warned Rishi Sunak that the party could cease to exist unless it keeps its promise to voters.
Cleverly said he was increasing the minimum salary threshold for foreign workers from £26,200 to £38,700, although it will not apply to those coming to work in health and social care.
The minimum income requirement for anyone wanting to move foreign family members with them will also more than double to £38,700.
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Overseas care workers will be banned from bringing dependents with them to the UK, while the shortage occupation list, which allows companies to hire overseas workers for 20% less than the going rate, will be scrapped.
The immigration health surcharge, paid by foreigners who use the NHS, will also be increased from £624 to £1,035, while the graduate visa route will also be reviewed amid concerns it is currently being abused.
He told MPs that immigration was “far too high” and that ministers were now “taking more robust action than any government before” to deal with it.
He said the government’s plans would lead to the “biggest ever reduction in net migration” and mean 300,000 a year fewer people coming to the UK in future.
The home secretary added: “We have taken decisive action to reduce legal migration – enough is enough.”
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Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Cleverly’s statement was “an admission of total failure for years by the Conservative government – failure on the immigration system and failure on the economy”.
Christina McAnea, general secretary of the Unison trade union, said: “These cruel plans spell total disaster for the NHS and social care. They benefit no one.
“Migrant workers were encouraged to come here because both sectors are critically short of staff. Hospitals and care homes simply couldn’t function without them.
“There’s also a global shortage of healthcare staff. Migrants will now head to more-welcoming countries, rather than be forced to live without their families.
“The government is playing roulette with essential services just to placate its backbenchers and the far-right.”
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A Tory minister was told that the only person the government has managed to send to Rwanda is home secretary James Cleverly as a Sky News presenter mocked the stalled policy.
Rishi Sunak’s aim of deporting asylum seekers to the east African country was dealt a hammer blow last month when the Supreme Court ruled it was unlawful.
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The prime minister has pledged to introduce “emergency legislation” too address the judges’ concerns about the policy.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reports today the government is planning to give the Rwandan government another £15 million to secure a new immigration treaty between the two countries.
On Trevor Phillips on Sunday this morning, health secretary Victoria Atkins was put on the spot over the policy’s ongoing problems.
Phillips told her: “The only person who seems to be on their way to Rwanda at the moment actually is the home secretary, James Cleverly. There’s no asylum seekers going there any time soon.
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″When he was here, he told me they were going to introduce emergency legislation urgently to make it possible to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing and that was weeks ago.
″It can’t be that much of an emergency because we haven’t seen the legislation.”
Atkins replied: “We are very much working across government on this. It will take a little bit of time to draw up this legislation because we want to make sure it’s in the right form.”
Asked if the legislation would be ready by Christmas, she would only say: “I know that the home secretary is working incredibly hard and quickly on this.”
Sunak is under huge pressure from his backbenchers to get flights to Rwanda off the ground to give him a chance of meeting his pledge to “stop the boats” carrying asylum seekers across the Channel.
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But the cabinet is split over whether the new legislation should give the government the right to ignore rulings under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act.
