Migrant workers are being prevented from leaving Russia so they can be enlisted in the army according to British officials.
The Ministry of Defence suggested the move was part of efforts by Moscow to ensure there is a “high number of personnel” available to be enlisted.
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In their latest intelligence update on the war in Ukraine – which reaches its first anniversary next month – the MoD also said the Kremlin policy of “partial mobilisation” remains in place.
That was set up last September and saw 300,000 reservists called up to the Russian army.
According to the MoD, media reported on January 22 that migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan with dual passports were prevented from leaving Russia because “their names were on mobilisation lists”.
“Separately, on January 23, 2023, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the decree on ‘partial mobilisation’ continues to remain in force, claiming the decree remained necessary for supporting the work of the armed forces,” the MoD update said.
“Observers had questioned why the measure had not been formally rescinded.
“The Russian leadership highly likely continues to search for ways to meet the high number of personnel required to resource any future major offensive in Ukraine, while minimising domestic dissent.”
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It was revealed over the weekend that mandatory military training will be introduced in Russian secondary schools from September.
Two weeks ago it also emerged that Russia could increase the age limit for army conscripts in an attempt to boost the size of its military.
The current age limit for routine military conscription in Russia is 27.
But Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Russian State Duma Defence Committee, proposed increasing that to 30.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has claimed Vladimir Putin threatened to kill him last year as he made a last-ditch attempt to prevent the invasion of Ukraine.
Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked as Tory Party chairman and cabinet minister without portfolio by Rishi Sunak.
The prime minister said there had been “a serious breach of the ministerial code” over Zahawi’s tax affairs.
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“As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in HM government,” Sunak said in a letter to his Tory colleague.
The PM has been under pressure to sack Zahawi ever since it emerged that he had paid a £5 million settlement to HMRC over unpaid tax when he was chancellor last year.
Sunak announced that he was asking his ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to investigate the affair.
In his letter to Zahawi, the prime minister said: “When I became prime minister last year, I pledged that the government I lead would have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.
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“That is why, following new information which came to light in recent days regarding your personal financial arrangements and declarations, I asked Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, to fully investigate this matter.
“You agreed and undertook to co-operate fully with the inquiry.
“Following the completion of the independent adviser’s investigation – the findings of which he has shared with us both – it is clear that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code.
“As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in HM government.
″“As you leave, you should be extremely proud of your wide-ranging achievements in government over the last five years.
“In particular, your successful oversight of the Covid-19 vaccine procurement and deployment programme which ensured the United Kingdom was at the forefront of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Shadow education secretary Bridget Philipson said: “Despite the writing on the wall, the Prime Minister showed himself to be too weak to act.
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“Rishi Sunak should have sacked Nadhim Zahawi a long time ago, just as he should have acted over Dominic Raab and Suella Braverman, but in his weakness he promoted them.
“The reason this keeps happening is we have a government whose only principle is party first, country second.
“The Tories are governing in their own interests, with a prime minister who is trying to manage his MPs, rather than govern in the national interest.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper called on Zahawi to stand down as MP for Stratford-on-Avon.
She said: “Rishi Sunak has finally acted after spending days defending the indefensible on Nadhim Zahawi.
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“It should never have taken him this long to act. Sunak’s first 100 days in office have been tarnished by endless Conservative sleaze and scandals.
“Serious questions remain about what Sunak knew about Zahawi’s tax affairs when he appointed him. We need a proper independent inquiry to establish the facts and hold the Prime Minister to account.
“Given this was a serious breach of the ministerial code, Nadhim Zahawi must also do the right thing and resign as an MP.”
A journalist summarised the exact problem with the recent string of Tory scandals on BBC Question Time on Thursday.
Alison Phillips, the editor of the Daily Mirror, was discussing Tory Party chair Nadhim Zahawi’s taxes, which have been in the spotlight over the last week.
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Zahawi was reported to have paid a multi-million pound penalty to HMRC over his taxes last year, around the time he became chancellor under Boris Johnson.
The Tory Party chair has not disclosed the size of the settlement – believed to be an estimated £4.8 million including a 30% penalty – or confirmed whether he paid a fine.
Since the issue came to light, prime minister Rishi Sunak has ordered his independent ethics adviser to investigate it – as there are “questions” which need “answering” – but has not yet asked Zahawi to step down from his role.
Phillips began: “Surely, Rishi Sunak must have called him [Zahawi] in and said, ’Hang on a minute, how come I’ve just found out that what you said to me last week was not the whole truth?
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″‘And you’ve made me look an absolute clown, you’ve caused distrust in the country’ – and this is continuing.”
She also said the idea which really “cuts” through for her, was that last July Zahawi was using “his very expensive lawyers to send out letters to get journalists and investigators to stop looking at this”.
This is a reference to when reports first started to suggest that Zahawi was the subject of an investigation by the National Crime Agency and HMRC.
Phillips said these threats of being sued is seen all over the country right now, as ″very rich people are using the law to evade proper scrutiny.”
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“The idea that we’ve got someone in our government doing that, it’s just appalling, it stinks,” she added.
She mentioned that Sunak promised to introduce “integrity, professionalism and accountability” into the heart of government when he was elected as Tory leader back in October, as that’s what we as a country “deserve” and “want”.
“He’s let himself down, he’s allowed one of his closest advisers to let him down, and I think it’s a real shame for all of them,” the journalist concluded.
“Last July Nadhim Zahawi was using his very expensive lawyers to send out letters to get journalists and investigators to stop looking at this”
Nadine Dorries has been given her own chat show – and there are no prizes for guessing who her first guest is.
The former cabinet minister will interview her close friend and ally Boris Johnson on Talk TV’s ‘Friday Night With Nadine’ show.
Dorries has never hidden her admiration for the ex-prime minister, and recently warned her party that it would “die” unless he was made leader again.
The Mid Bedfordshire MP said: “As someone who’s never been afraid to speak their mind, I’m delighted to be joining the team at TalkTV for Friday Night With Nadine, where I’ll be putting my 23-year political career and experiences at the despatch box to good use.
“Boris Johnson continues to dominate so much of the political narrative since his departure from No10. Now’s the time to find out what he really thinks about a whole range of pressing issues.”
The show will be broadcast on February 3.
Dorries, who is tipped to receive a peerage in Johnson’s resignation honours list, will be hoping it goes better than her last attempt at being a Talk TV presenter.
Standing in for Piers Morgan, she tripped over her words as she introduced the show’s second conversation topic.
“Sorry, I’ve just completely messed that up,” she was heard muttering, as co-presenter Emily Sheffield urged her: “Keep going.”
Russia is preparing to send sub-standard tanks into battle in Ukraine, UK officials believe.
A “small number” of T-14 Armata main battle tanks are set to be used in the war for the first time, according to the latest intelligence update from the Ministry of Defence.
But the MoD added: “In recent months, deployed Russian forces were reluctant to accept the first tranche of T-14 allocated to them because the vehicles were in such poor condition.
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“It is unclear exactly what aspects of the vehicles prompted this reaction, but within the last three years, Russian officials have publicly described problems with the T-14’s engine and thermal imaging systems.”
In 2021, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu described the planned production run of the tanks for 2022 as an “experimental-industrial” batch.
The MoD update added: “Therefore, it is unlikely that any deployed T-14 tanks will have met the usual standards for new equipment to be deemed operational.”
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The update came as it emerged that Ukraine’s pleas for tanks from its Western allies appear to have finally have been heard – with Germany and the US reportedly poised to deliver the vehicles to the under siege country.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has eventually decided to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, it has been reported, and allow other countries such as Poland to dispatch their German-made artillery too.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is expected to approve sending M1 Abrams tanks to help Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Speaking to Sky News, Lord Hayward said: “I think he should be considering whether he stands aside for the period of the inquiry.”
He added: ”I think there’s a difficulty where you are party chairman because you’re meant to be out there motivating the campaigners in preparation for key local elections in a few months’ time, which are the main next hurdle for the party.
“In those circumstances, it is somewhat difficult.
“If you were another cabinet minister, it may be somewhat easier to continue, but I think that is the problem for him and he may have to review his position, depending on the timescales.”
The peer also called for the investigation into the scandal by Rishi Sunak’s ethics adviser needs to be wrapped up soon.
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“It needs to be quick for everybody’s sake,” he said. “If it takes too long it just drags on and on and that just leaves everything up in the air and you have to take a different set of decisions, but I and other people in the party – and the public at large – would want it to be a very quick inquiry.”
Sunak faces a grilling from Labour leader Keir Starmer over the affair at prime minister’s questions today.
Many Tory MPs privately believe Zahawi will inevitably have to leave his position, with some speculating that it could even happen before PMQs.
One told HuffPost UK: “Why would Rishi want to go through a PMQs dominated by that?”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Every day that Nadhim Zahawi clings on does more damage to Rishi Sunak’s credibility.
“The Conservative Party is stuck in an endless cycle of sleaze and chaos, while the country suffers from a cost of living and NHS crisis.
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“What more will it take for Sunak to finally do the right thing and sack Zahawi, or at least suspend him for the duration of this investigation?
“He promised his government would have integrity and accountability, but instead once again it’s one rule for them and another for everyone else.”
Nadhim Zahawi owed the tax man £5 million while he was chancellor, according to a government minister.
Chris Philp’s comments, in a radio interview, are the first time any government official has confirmed the size of the settlement the Tory party chairman reached with HMRC.
It is unclear how much of the total payment was the penalty Zahawi was given for failing to pay his taxes on time.
But appearing on Radio Four’s Today programme this morning, Philp took issue with the presenter, Mishal Husain, when asked about the scandal.
In a statement at the weekend, Zahawi said HMRC had agreed that his error had been “careless and not deliberate”.
Philp said: “I don’t know precisely what form that carelessness took – neither do you.”
Presenter Mishal Husain replied: “He paid a penalty for it, the settlement was in the region of £5 million.”
Philp then replied: “I think that was the amount of tax owed, wasn’t it?”
Nokes, chairwoman of the Commons women and equalities committee, told TalkTV she welcomed the investigation.
“I think there are too many unanswered questions,” Nokes said.
“The challenge for Nadhim is – look at the front pages, he’s leading too many of them.
“When you become the story it’s a distraction from anything else that the government is trying to do.
“There are countless examples of good, competent Cabinet colleagues who’ve got themselves in a mess, who have resigned quickly and come back, really in some instances just a few months later.
“In order to get this cleared up Nadhim should stand aside and let the investigation run its course.”
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However, home office minister Chris Philp hit back, saying he did not think Zahawi should have to step aside while the investigation takes place.
Philp told BBC Breakfast: “I think it is reasonable that where there is an investigation, the person concerned is allowed to continue serving while that investigation continues.
“We do have a principle, don’t we in this country, innocent until proven guilty. That applies to a whole range of different circumstances.
“The investigation has been launched by the prime minister, that is the right thing to do. It will get to the bottom of this and then the prime minister will make his decision.
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“But I don’t think it is fair to jump to any conclusions before the investigation has concluded.”
Pushed on Nokes’ call for Zahawi to stand aside, the minister added: “I don’t take that view, I think we should let the investigation play out.”
Zahawi is facing calls to quit after it emerged he resolved a multimillion-pound tax dispute with HMRC by paying a penalty while serving as chancellor.
Claims started emerging when Zahawi was made chancellor, with reports suggesting Cabinet Office officials alerted the then-prime minister Boris Johnson to a HMRC dispute.
Zahawi has admitted he paid what HMRC said “was due” after it “disagreed about the exact allocation” of shares in YouGov, an error he said was “careless” not deliberate.
Nadhim Zahawi’s Taxes Explained
The allegations surround Zahawi’s links to a Gibraltar-based trust called Balshore Investments Limited – of which his father Hareth is a director.
When YouGov was co-founded by Zahawi, the trust was allocated shares equalling the number given to his co-founder Stephan Shakespeare.
Asked about this last year, the then chancellor said neither he nor his wife benefitted from the trust and denied it was used to avoid tax, saying it was because his father “lived abroad”.
The stake in the company owned by Balshore was eventually sold by 2018 for about £27 million.
Experts said that if Zahawi benefitted from that transaction he should owe tax on it.
They point to a document from 2005 that suggests he benefitted from the trust when Balshore at least partially covered a loan.
Zahawi has not disclosed the size of the settlement – reported to be an estimated £4.8 million including a 30% penalty – or confirm whether he paid a fine.
Zahawi released a statement to “address some of the confusion about my finances”.
He said: “Following discussions with HMRC, they agreed that my father was entitled to founder shares in YouGov, though they disagreed about the exact allocation. They concluded that this was a ‘careless and not deliberate’ error.
“So that I could focus on my life as a public servant, I chose to settle the matter and pay what they said was due, which was the right thing to do.”
The new commander of the Russian army in Ukraine has faced pushback over his attempt to clamp down on “non-standard haircuts” among his troops, the UK has claimed.
General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s Chief of the General Staff and the newly appointed commander in Ukraine, has reportedly started off his new job by trying to “improve deployed troops’ day-to-day discipline”.
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In its daily update, the UK’s ministry of defence (MoD) alleged that Gerasimov was looking to target “non-regulation uniform, travel in civilian vehicles, the use of mobile phones, and non-standard haircuts”.
However, the MoD claimed: “The measures have been met with sceptical feedback.”
The UK officials suggested that “some of the greatest derision has been reserved for attempts to improve the standard of troops’ shaving”.
It continued: “Officials in the Donetsk People’s Republic described the prioritisation of a ‘farce’ that would ‘hamper the process of destroying the enemy’.”
A proxy private military company, the Wagner group, perceived as an informal arm of the Russian state, also pushed back against the new rules.
The MoD claimed Wagner owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, lashed out at the official advice from the Kremlin, saying: “War is the time of the active and courageous, and not of the clean-shaven.”
The UK officials also pointed out: “The Russian force continues to endure operational deadlock and heavy casualties; Gerasimov’s prioritisation of largely minor regulations is likely to confirm the fears of his many sceptics in Russia.
“Along with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, he is increasingly seen as out of touch and focused on presentation over substance.”
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This is just the latest sign that all is not well within the Russian army ranks.
According to previous claims from the MoD, Russia is even using “poorly-training convicts” to bolster its armed forces.
And by February 24, the war – which the Kremlin expected to last just a matter of days – will have stretched out to a year, with just 15% of Ukrainian land under Russian control.
The appointment of Gerasimov to lead the campaign in Ukraine was seen as a sign that Russia was trying a new tactic to turn the war in its favour.
He replaced General Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed General Armageddon for his brutal strategies, who will now serve as Gerasmiov’s deputy.
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Russia’s army Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov
James Cleverly has insisted that tax affairs are “private matters” during a grilling over the finances of the Tory party chairman.
The foreign secretary stressed that Nadhim Zahawi made a “careless error” after it was revealed he paid a settlement to HM Revenue & Customs in relation to a shareholding in YouGov.
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Zahawi is under pressure over allegations that he tried to avoid tax and has now had to pay it back as part of a multi-million pound settlement.
Cleverly said he did not know the size of the tax settlement with HMRC or whether Zahawi paid a penalty.
“I don’t know more than is in his statement,” Cleverly said.
Pressed on whether Zahawi should reveal more information, Cleverly said: “People’s taxes are private matters. I know that as politicians we, quite rightly, are expected to have a higher level of disclosure than perhaps other people might do.
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“Nadhim has issued a statement where he has admitted that he made a careless error, that this is now resolved.”
Cleverly also swerved questions over whether Zahawi negotiated his tax settlement while he was chancellor, or what Rishi Sunak knew when he appointed him party chairman.
“I’m not an investigator,” he added when it was put to him that he was there to speak on behalf of the government.
Asked whether Zahawi will survive in his role until Wednesday, Cleverly said: “What else am I going to say other than yes, because he’s a very, very effective minister.”
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly faced a grilling
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Zahawi, who attends Sunak’s Cabinet, released a statement to “address some of the confusion about my finances”.
However, the statement raised further questions, including whether Zahawi negotiated the settlement when he was chancellor and in charge of the country’s taxation.
Claims started emerging when Zahawi was made chancellor by Boris Johnson last summer, with reports suggesting Cabinet Office officials had alerted the then-prime minister to the HMRC dispute.
Zahawi did not disclose the size of the settlement – reported to be an estimated £4.8 million including a 30% penalty – or confirm whether he paid a fine.
Tax lawyer Dan Neidle, who has been working to expose the minister’s tax affairs, estimated that he owed £3.7 million.
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In an unusual move, Zahawi did not take founder shares when he set up YouGov, saying in his statement that his father took shares “in exchange for some capital and his invaluable guidance”.
He continued: “Twenty one years later, when I was being appointed chancellor of the Exchequer, questions were being raised about my tax affairs. I discussed this with the Cabinet Office at the time.
“Following discussions with HMRC, they agreed that my father was entitled to founder shares in YouGov, though they disagreed about the exact allocation. They concluded that this was a ‘careless and not deliberate’ error.
“So that I could focus on my life as a public servant, I chose to settle the matter and pay what they said was due, which was the right thing to do.”
He added that the matter was resolved and that all his tax affairs were “up to date” when he was appointed Tory party chairman by Sunak in October.
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But the prime minister is facing questions over what he knew about the matter and when, as well as calls to sack Zahawi.
Sunak’s promise of a premiership of “integrity” was already thrown into disarray this week after he was fined by police for not wearing a seatbelt and criticised for the allocation of levelling-up funding.
Downing Street said it had nothing to add to Zahawi’s statement and confirmed that the prime minister had confidence in him as Tory chairman.
Opposition parties have demanded an independent probe as well as the publication of all of Zahawi’s correspondence with HMRC.
Labour party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said Sunak needs to remove Zahawi as party chair, adding: “Zahawi still needs to explain when he became aware of the investigation, and if he was chancellor and in charge of our tax system at the time.
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“He needs to explain why his legal representatives said his affairs were up to date in December last year only for him to settle a million-pound fine this month.”
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Zahawi and his Conservative Cabinet colleagues are arrogantly trying to brush this under the carpet.
“There are facts that still need to be established so there must be an independent investigation to get to the bottom of this.”
