Boris Johnson is “absolutely right” to hold energy talks with Saudi Arabia, the Europe minister has said.
The Prime Minister travels to the kingdom later on Tuesday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as he seeks to convince the Saudis to increase oil and gas production – which would help the West to reduce its reliance on Russia.
Asked if Mr Johnson was being forced to choose between Russia and Saudi Arabia, James Cleverly told Times Radio: “We should remind ourselves that Vladimir Putin has instigated a completely unprovoked, completely unjustified invasion of a sovereign state.
“The PM is also right to try and ensure that in the short-term we can have alternative sources of energy whilst ultimately moving towards what our goal is which is a more economically and ecologically source of energy generation, and that’s renewables.”
On the execution of 81 people by the Saudi Arabian regime on Sunday, he told Sky News Britain’s “longstanding and principled” opposition to the death penalty and said he had “no doubt” this would be communicated during Mr Johnson’s visit.
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08:45 AM
Labour urges China to ‘play its part’ in building safer world
China must “play its part in making the world safer” if it wishes to be a “global player”, the shadow levelling up, housing and communities secretary has said.
Labour’s Lisa Nandy called on China to “stand up to Russian aggression” in light of comments by James Cleverly that confirmed the Government “haven’t had [a] statement from China” ruling out its military involvement in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict (see 8.07am).
“What we are looking to do is ensure that China and indeed every other country around the world is condemning Russia’s actions, absolutely not supporting Russia in its aggression against Ukraine and indeed sanctioning Russia, putting real financial pressure on Russia,” Mr Cleverly said.
“That’s what we’re calling on the international community to do and that’s what we’ll push for.”
08:32 AM
University lecturers accused of spreading pro-Putin propaganda
University lecturers have been accused of spreading pro-Putin propaganda on social media as the Government promises a “crackdown”, Camilla Turner reports.
Several academics have been acting as “useful idiots” for Russia’s atrocities, a senior Tory MP warned yesterday. In education questions, Robert Halfon, chairman of the education select committee, told the Commons that an investigation by LBC had exposed “pro-Putinist propaganda at some of our leading universities”.
He added that Ray Bush, professor emeritus of African studies and development politics at the University of Leeds, had made reference to the United States having “chemical warfare installations in Ukraine – that’s a lie, as he knows, being spread by the Kremlin”.
At Edinburgh University, Professor Tim Hayward retweeted a Russian representative to the United Nations describing the attack on Mariupol’s maternity hospital as “fake news”, he said, while at Leicester University another academic had described “ludicrous disinformation on both sides” and “boasted about appearing on Russia Today”.
Prof Hayward said he was tweeting in a personal capacity and that he did not “retweet but quote-tweeted”. He said he did not endorse the “categorical fake news allegation” and that he retweeted many people whom he disagreed with. “I recognise propaganda can abound on all sides. I am not pro-Russia and emphatically not pro-Putin,” he said.
Full story: Academics acting as ‘useful idiots’ for Russian atrocities
08:23 AM
How the Homes for Ukraine scheme works
Britons who take in Ukrainian refugees will only get the £350-a-month payments for the first year despite their stay in the country lasting for up to three years.
Full details of how the new sponsorship scheme, which will allow people in the UK to offer spare rooms to Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, have emerged via Government sources.
The scheme, drawn up by Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, launches on Monday with aspects of the approach still under development.
Ben Riley-Smith, our Political Editor, looks at how it will work
08:18 AM
Boris Johnson takes £2,200 pay rise because there is ‘no way’ to turn it down
Boris Johnson will take a pay rise of £2,200 despite several MPs and Scottish National Party ministers pledging to give theirs to good causes, writes Camilla Turner, our Chief Political Correspondent.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said there was “no way” for him to decline the increase because it would go through automatically. He declined to comment on whether he would donate his increase to charity, saying he was “not going to get into” his charitable donations.
The spokesman said the Prime Minister “is not able to turn down that pay rise which is independently judged by Ipsa [the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority]”.
Asked whether he would cut his ministerial salary by £2,200, the spokesman said: “The ministerial element of the Prime Minister’s salary has been frozen for some time now and will remain so.”
MPs receive pay rise despite Johnson urging watchdog to show ‘restraint’
08:15 AM
Boris Johnson: We need to take back control
Britain cannot go on like this and must take back control, Boris Johnson says this morning as he calls on the Western world to end its dependence on Vladimir Putin by weaning itself off oil and gas.
Writing exclusively for the Telegraph, the Prime Minister says that the Russian leader has exploited our need for his oil and gas, but now we must take back control.
Mr Johnson acknowledges that the West made a “terrible mistake” in allowing Mr Putin to “get away” with the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
“Putin’s strength – his vast resource of hydrocarbons – is also his weakness. He has virtually nothing else. Putin’s Russia makes little that the rest of the world wants to buy,” he writes. “If the world can end its dependence on Russian oil and gas, we can starve him of cash, destroy his strategy and cut him down to size.
“Later this month, I will set out a British Energy Security Strategy – how the UK will become more self-sufficient and no longer at the mercy of bullies like Putin. At the heart of the strategy is green energy of all kinds. Green electricity isn’t just better for the environment, it’s better for your bank balance.”
Boris Johnson: There will be tough times ahead – but we can cut crippling bills
08:07 AM
You must denounce Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Britain urges China
Britain has urged China to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine amid reports President Xi’s regime is “willing to supply” Vladimir Putin with weapons and military aid.
James Cleverly, the Europe minister, confirmed that British ministers had not received any guarantee from China that it would not get involved in the current conflict in Ukraine.
“What we’re saying to all countries is that they should denounce this unprovoked, illegal attack into Ukraine by Russia,” he told Sky News.
“They should not in any way be supporting Russia. And we urge countries to join the UK and the international community in condemning and sanctioning Russia to choke off the finances that are funding Putin’s war effort.
“There is no justification at all for this attack and we urge China and all countries across the world to denounce it and absolutely not support it.”
Mr Cleverly added that he would like to see the international community step up its efforts in “sanctioning Russia [and] putting real financial pressure on Russia” in order to weaken President Putin’s war machine.
08:05 AM
Ukraine invasion shows need to pursue net zero and ditch oil and gas, insists minister
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is among reasons the Government should ultimately ditch oil and gas and pursue its net zero strategy, the Europe minister has said.
Asked if the UK had given up on fracking – which is not mentioned by Boris Johnson in his article for the Telegraph today – James Cleverly said it was “absolutely clear” there was a need to “move away from our collective addiction to hydrocarbon energy”.
“The UK has really led the way, we saw this at Cop26 in Glasgow, in pushing for alternative energy production, moving away from gas, moving away from oil,” he told Sky News.
“The situation in Ukraine presents a unique and terrible additional emphasis to us, collectively, to move away from our addiction [to] hydrocarbons and it’s absolutely right we seek to do that because it’s the right thing to do for the environment. And as we’re now seeing, it denies Russia an incredibly important source of income.”
Mr Cleverly insisted specific decisions around sealing the last viable wells were for the Energy Secretary, but moving to a more sustainable model was “the right thing to do” to deny Russia funding for its current war effort.
08:03 AM
Boris Johnson’s visit to Saudi Arabia confirmed
There had been some doubt in recent days around whether Boris Johnson would visit Saudi Arabia, but his visit has been confirmed to the PA news agency this morning.
James Cleverly, the minister doing the broadcast round for the Government this morning, could not say whether the Saudis had condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but said this would be something that Mr Johnson “brings up when he visits”.
The Prime Minister will fly out tonight, according to Sky News, after MPs used an urgent question tabled by senior Tory MP Crispin Blunt yesterday to voice their disgust at the executions of 81 people by the regime on Sunday.
Mr Blunt said the developments came as “profound concern to this House and to our country” just one week after the Crown Prince had promised to “modernise” the Saudi justice system.
Alyn Smith, the SNP foreign affairs spokesman, said the visit should not proceed, while Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP, told the Commons: “If the PM goes in the next few days to Saudi Arabia, we will be sending a very clear signal that no matter what we say, we’re not really bothered about this sort of thing.”
08:00 AM
Good morning
Boris Johnson is “absolutely right” to hold energy talks with Saudi Arabia, the Europe minister said this morning ahead of the Prime Minister flying out to the kingdom later today.
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