Downing Street have said that “nothing is off the table” in terms of possible UK troop deployment for Ukraine, as Western military planning is set to intensify in London next week.
Number 10 said “thousands” of personnel would be required to support any operation whether by “sea, on land or in the air” as allies prepare “for all eventualities” amid diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Officials from the so-called coalition of the willing will “accelerate the pace and scale” of work to consolidate proposals for possible troop deployment across land, air or sea to safeguard any peace deal.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer warned Vladimir Putin would face “severe consequences” for breaching any truce as he met defence planners for the first stage of talks at the UK’s Northwood military headquarters on Thursday.
In another setback for Rachel Reeves, UK Government borrowing soared above forecasts last month as public sector spending rose, putting pressure ahead of the spring statement next week.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing was £10.7 billion in February. This was £100 million more than the same month last year and the fourth-highest February on record.
In her spring statement next week, Rachel Reeves is expected to try blaming the drop on worsening global economics amid Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Key Points
- Fresh blow for Reeves as UK's official economic growth forecast 'set to be halved'
- Labour denies returning to era of austerity
- Bank of England holds interest rates amid concerns over inflation and Trump tariffs
- Bank of England governor says UK is facing 'a lot of economic uncertainty'
- Badenoch offers pessimistic vision for upcoming local elections
- Rachel Reeves 'to announce biggest spending cuts since austerity' in spring statement
Plaid Cymru leader warns voters to 'beware' Farage and Trump
16:01
,
Holly Evans
The leader of Plaid Cymru has used his conference speech to warn people to “beware” Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Nigel Farage.
Speaking at Plaid’s spring conference on Friday, Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “’Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied’.
“That suffragist mantra rings just as true now as it did when it was first uttered more than a century ago.
“Because be in no doubt, those wishing to silence that voice are more energised, more organised, more enfranchised than they have been in a very long time.
“So, as Trump and Musk and Farage and their followers seek to profit from the currency of fear and hate, we too must show courage.
“We must be united and determined in exposing these morally bankrupt millionaires and billionaires who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
“Trump believes in Trump. Musk believes in Musk. Farage believes in Farage.
“Beware these men whose only real ideology is their ego.”
Plaid Cymru leader to say he will put Starmer ‘on notice’
15:10
,
Holly Evans
Plaid Cymru’s leader is set to say he will put Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “on notice” if he wins next year’s Senedd elections.
Speaking at the party’s spring conference in Llandudno on Friday, Rhun ap Iorwerth is expected to say the current relationship between the Welsh Labour and UK governments represents “a lose-lose for Wales”.
If elected first minister after the Senedd elections next May, Mr ap Iorwerth says he would put the Prime Minister “on notice” that the relationship between the governments “will change because our destination demands it”, and Wales will “take responsibility for its own actions”.
He will say: “The truth is that the establishment wants to stifle, even obstruct, our ambition.
“On one hand, Keir Starmer makes life more difficult for the most vulnerable – his and Rachel Reeves’ Tory-inspired benefits cuts will hit some of the most vulnerable people in coming weeks – and on the other, Eluned Morgan doesn’t want the powers that could make a difference to people’s lives.
“It’s a lose-lose for Wales.”
Is the UK facing a new age of austerity?
14:50
,
Holly Evans
There are ever more signs that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will use her spring statement next week to introduce further public spending cuts, augmenting fears that the country could be on the verge of a new age of austerity. How has the growth agenda morphed so soon into something akin to its opposite?
Why might new cuts be needed?
The growth that was the theme of Reeve’s first Budget last autumn has failed to materialise, and economic forecasts have become ever more pessimistic. The Bank of England last month reduced its growth forecast for this financial year by half – from 1.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent, and predicted higher inflation. Worse, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research think tank, the combination of poor growth and rising interest rates has reduced the chancellor’s spending buffer – or fiscal headroom – from an estimated £10bn to zero. And while the effect of US trade tariffs could be less damaging to the UK than to EU and other countries, there could still be a cost.
Read the full analysis here:
The planning system is broken. Here’s how we should fix it
14:30
,
Holly Evans
'Nothing off the table' in placing UK troops on the ground for Kyiv
14:10
,
Holly Evans
Downing Street on Friday said officials from allied countries will meet again at the same site next week to firm up a strategy to protect Kyiv as plans enter an “operational phase”.
Asked whether the focus of discussions had shifted away from the prospect of ground troops for Ukraine, a Number 10 spokesman said: “No, nothing is off the table on any of these fronts, so I wouldn’t start ruling anything out.
“But clearly thousands of troops will be required to support any deployment, whether that is at sea, on land or in the air.”
Any deployment will require significant support and the firming up of “basic logistics of … moving people and ensuring deployment rotations, so as the PM said we need to be prepared for all eventualities,” the official said.
“We’ve moved into an operational phase now and what that means is … bringing together military planners to look at the potential design of force structures, interoperability and what capability is needed to ensure a sovereign Ukraine is able to defend itself for generations to come.
“Next week, we’ll continue to accelerate the pace and scale of operational planning with further meetings at our Northwood headquarters as we look forward more closely at the details and structure of any future force.”
Lib Dems urge Starmer to seize frozen £25 billion Russian assets
14:01
,
Holly Evans
The Liberal Democrats have called on Sir Keir Starmer to seize Russian assets after the Treasury said £25 billion worth has been frozen since the start of the Ukraine war.
A report released by the Treasury on Friday revealed the total, which accounts for all assets that have been sanctioned by the UK since February 2022 when the invasion of Ukraine began.
Some 2,001 individuals and entities have been sanctioned under the regime as of March 2024, according to the Treasury.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “In the face of Donald Trump edging ever closer to an historic betrayal of Ukraine the Government cannot just sit on its hands and cower behind clunky legal processes.
“There is nothing stopping us, and those who say otherwise need to get out of the way.
“Emergency legislation needs to be tabled so that the Government can seize these billions and use them to support Ukraine. More Ukrainians are being killed everyday as Putin’s barbaric invasion continues. To stand idly by and not use these assets to support them in their struggle would be a shocking dereliction of duty.”
When is the Spring Statement – and what will be in it? From taxes to spending cuts
13:30
,
Holly Evans
Rachel Reeves will soon give an update on her plans for the UK economy as she prepares to make the first Spring Statement of the new Labour government. The chancellor will also speak to an economic forecast as part of the event, with many predicting further spending cuts to come as the Treasury seeks to tackle ailing growth.
Ms Reeves will be delivering the statement on Wednesday 26 March. She had previously committed to one major economic event a year – the Budget – which usually comes in the Autumn. This is to "give families and businesses stability and certainty on tax and spending changes," she says.
This means there a no major policy announcements expected as part of the statement, although some have predicted that reduced spending targets and some key tax changes will be revealed.
Read the full article here:
Sir Keir’s ‘coalition of the willing’ is proving to be principled – and a rallying cry for Ukraine
12:45
,
Holly Evans
After a week of frenetic activity on the war front, there has been a welcome return to peace – if only the idea of it. High-level meetings in London and Brussels have served to clarify a few basics.
Military leaders met behind closed doors in London for what was billed as operational planning for Sir Keir Starmer’s “coalition of the willing”. EU leaders, meanwhile, thrashed out preparations for closer defence cooperation and the eventuality, however distant, of peace in Ukraine; Volodymyr Zelensky reported from Norway on his recent “friendly” phone call with Donald Trump.
With much of the recent action happening between Washington and Moscow, and with diplomatic meetings taking place in Saudi Arabia, it has been all too possible to neglect the role that could and should be played by Europe and the Europeans. Here was an illustration of why they matter.
Read the full article here:
Downing Street unable to confirm if Heathrow will be fully reopened on Saturday
12:32
,
Holly Evans
Downing Street would not say whether it is confident Heathrow Airport will be fully reopened by Saturday.
Asked whether this would be the case, a No 10 spokesman said: “Well, it’s clearly a fast-moving situation.”
He added: “The fire is still burning and I’m aware that the airport has announced a complete closure until midnight tonight as a result of the situation.
“It will be for emergency services and Heathrow to update on timescales for when this situation will be resolved. We do expect there will be significant direct disruption in the hours and days ahead.”
There was a “cross-government call” on Friday morning to deal with the immediate aftermath of the fire, the spokesman said.
He added: “The Department for Transport is working closely with Heathrow Airport, Nats (National Air Traffic Services) and all key operators to understand the situation and ensure a quick resolution so that the airport can reopen and flights resume as quickly as possible, and clearly we will do everything we can to support those affected and get things moving again.”
Electrical substation fire makes Heathrow look ‘vulnerable’, says Energy Secretary
12:08
,
Holly Evans
The closure of Heathrow due to a fire at an electrical substation has made the airport look “vulnerable”, the Energy Secretary has said.
Europe’s busiest airport, which is supplied by the North Hyde electrical substation in west London, was impacted by the power outage caused by a fire on Thursday night.
A spokesperson for the airport said they had no choice but to close Heathrow until 11.59pm on Friday, adding that they expect “significant” disruption over the coming days.
London Fire Brigade said 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters were still on the scene at Nestles Avenue in Hayes just before 6am with part of a transformer still alight.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that National Grid told him they had not seen “anything like the scale” of what happened with the “seriousness” of the fire.
“But it makes Heathrow look quite vulnerable and therefore we’ve got to learn lessons, as I say, about not just Heathrow but how we protect our major infrastructure,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Mr Miliband said the fire “appears to have knocked out a back-up generator as well as the substation itself”.
Over 5,000 migrants cross English Channel since January
11:40
,
Holly Evans
More than 5,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since the start of the year, figures show.
Some 341 migrants were detected crossing the Channel on Thursday, according to provisional Home Office data.
It means 5,025 arrivals have been recorded since January 1.
This is the earliest point in the year at which the 5,000 mark has been passed since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.
Last year, 5,000 arrivals was passed on March 31.
The cumulative number of arrivals so far in 2025, 5,025, is 24% higher than at this stage in 2024, when the figure stood at 4,043, and 36% higher than at this point in 2023 (3,683).
Miliband ‘very confident’ hundreds of thousands of green jobs will be created
11:05
,
Holly Evans
Ed Miliband has said he is “very confident” the Government will create “hundreds of thousands” of jobs with its green plans, but did not put a figure on how close it is to Labour’s manifesto target of 650,000.
The Energy Secretary said net zero represents “the growth opportunity of the 21st century”, and that the sector grew at a faster rate than the economy as a whole last year.
It comes as Mr Miliband announced the first major project for the publicly-owned Great British Energy.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday morning, he was asked about 650,000 new jobs pledged in the manifesto.
He told the programme: “We’re confident we’re going to provide hundreds of thousands of jobs as a result of our drive to net zero.
“This is the growth opportunity of the 21st century. Turn your back on net zero and you turn your back on business investment, good jobs, innovation for the future, and Britain leading in the key industrial areas of the future.”
Pushed again on the figures, former Labour leader Mr Miliband said: “I’m very confident that we will create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the green economy.” He also said he is “confident” the Government will meet its pledges.
Labour’s clean power push ‘undermined’ if bills stay high, top donor says
10:41
,
Holly Evans
One of Labour’s biggest donors has said the party’s push towards clean power will be “undermined” if it fails to slash energy bills by the next election.
Dale Vince, founder of energy firm Ecotricity, told the PA news agency: “They came in promising to cut bills, the whole promise of energy independence is to get bills down and keep them there.”
He added that if bills do not fall “it undermines the whole case for the green transition in many ways, because the thing that the average person cares about is the cost of living and how to pay energy bills”.
Mr Vince has given more than £5 million to Labour and he was the party’s biggest corporate donor at the last election.
Labour has promised to reduce bills by £300 a year by 2030, and is aiming to decarbonise the power grid by the same time.
Stanley Tucci and Stephen Fry call on Starmer to rethink ‘shameful’ benefit cuts
10:16
,
Holly Evans
Stanley Tucci, Brian Cox and Sir Stephen Fry have piled pressure on the government to U-turn on controversial welfare cuts.
The celebrities have branded the cuts, which will see around a million people lose their disability benefits, “shameful” and warned they have left those affected fearful for the future.
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that the current system is “morally and economically indefensible”, with the government estimating its measures will save more than £5bn a year by the end of the decade.
Read the full article here:
Farage called suspended Reform MP’s behaviour ‘disgusting’ in private texts
10:00
,
Holly Evans
Suspended Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said Nigel Farage “must never become prime minister” after the party leader allegedly called his behaviour “disgusting” and “contemptible” in leaked private messages.
Mr Farage accused Mr Lowe of “damaging the party just before elections” in a WhatsApp conversation with a member of the Great Yarmouth MP’s staff, the BBC reported.
It comes as new polling suggests the fallout from the Great Yarmouth MP’s ousting is now hurting Reform. The weekly Techne UK tracker poll revealing the Tories level with Reform on 23 per cent each for the first time in two months.
Read the full article here:
Treasury minister stresses Labour will 'never play fast and loose' with finances
09:49
,
Holly Evans
Commenting on official figures showing Government borrowing topped forecasts last month, Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “We must go further and faster to create an agile and productive state that works for people.
“That’s why we’re refocusing the public sector on our missions and, for the first time in 17 years, going through every penny of taxpayer money line by line, to make sure it is helping us secure Britain’s future through the plan for change.
“At the core of this urgent mission is sound public finances, based on our non-negotiable fiscal rules.
“This Government will never play fast and loose with the public finances.”
'Another major blow' to Reeves as borrowing figures increase
08:56
,
Holly Evans
The latest borrowing figures are “yet another major blow to the Chancellor’s faltering plan for growth”, the Liberal Democrats said.
Lib Dem Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said: “Today’s concerning figures are yet another major blow to the Chancellor’s faltering plan for growth and show her approach is simply not working.
“The Chancellor has failed to turn the page of the years of Conservative economic vandalism. Instead, Reeves’s jobs tax will hammer small businesses, painting herself into a corner on her own fiscal rules.
“The only way to rebuild our public services is through meaningful growth, but unless the Chancellor sees sense and scraps her jobs tax at the spring statement hardworking families and small businesses will continue to pay the price.”
UK Government borrowing overshoots forecasts ahead of spring statement
08:38
,
Holly Evans
UK Government borrowing soared above forecasts last month as public sector spending rose, putting pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of her spring statement.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing was £10.7 billion in February.
This was £100 million more than the same month last year and the fourth-highest February on record.
It was also £4.2 billion more than had been forecast by the Government’s official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), and more than some economists had been expecting.
The borrowing figure refers to the difference between what the Government spends on the public sector and what it receives in income from tax and other receipts.
Overall central government spending totalled £93 billion in February, £3.8 billion more than the same month last year, when the Conservative government was in power.
What Labour’s crackdown on government credit cards reveals about its approach to public spending
07:00
,
Holly Evans
The dour Scotsman holding the title of chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Cabinet Office minister, Pat McFadden, doesn’t seem much of a space cowboy but he has in common with Elon Musk an apparent zeal to eliminate waste.
Being more sensible and considerably less excitable than his (rough) US counterpart, McFadden has not yet egregiously breached the British constitution but he has summarily abolished almost all of the civil service “credit cards”, a distinctly Doge-like action. It’s more than just a symbolic move…
What’s the problem?
Read the full analysis here:
Labour’s welfare ‘reforms’ are nothing of the sort – and they don’t go anywhere near far enough
06:01
,
Holly Evans
When I resigned from David Cameron’s government as the secretary of state for work and pensions in 2016, welfare stood at £61.6bn. By the end of this parliament, it is projected to be £108.7bn. Sickness benefit alone, which was £19bn back then, is set to rise to £32bn.
So it is with disability benefit, which is set to rise from £11bn to some £31bn. To govern is to choose. Against the backdrop of an increasingly unsafe world, the need to invest significantly more in defence, and a flatlining economy, further reform of welfare is a necessity.
The pandemic response has hit the welfare budget hard. The rise in sickness benefit claims poses a challenge to the government, particularly because some 60 per cent of claims since Covid are from mental health issues. The majority of these are for depression and anxiety.
The health department has declared that the best treatment for depression and anxiety is going back to work. That is why, as sickness benefit moves into universal credit, the possibility of large-scale reform opens up for the government.
Read the full article here:
What the latest interest rates mean for your mortgage, savings and bills
04:01
,
Holly Evans
The Bank of England (BoE) have today announced a hold on the Bank Rate - what we might simply call the interest rate - at 4.5 per cent, keeping it the lowest it has been in the UK since mid-June 2023.
Around that time, with inflation rising fast and the BoE seeking to stem it, the base rate jumped from 3.5 per cent at the start of February to 5.25 per cent by August - causing a sharp increase in mortgage repayments, a battle for savers among banks and plenty of other side effects.
With both inflation and interest rates (generally, slowly and not always constantly) on the way back down, February saw the first decrease the BoE (or their Monetary Policy Committee, technically) have applied since November last year, amid an eventual government aim to stem inflation at two per cent.
Read the full article here:
Brexit created ‘mind blowing’ 2bn extra pieces of paperwork - enough to wrap around world 15 times
03:00
,
Holly Evans
Brexit has created a “mind blowing” nearly two billion extra pieces of paperwork for businesses - enough to wrap around the world 15 times.
If they were all laid end to end they would also reach to the moon and half way back again, an analysis of research by the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade by the Liberal Democrats found.
Lib Dem trade spokesperson Clive Jones said it showed the scale of red tape plaguing British businesses since the UK’s withdrawal from Europe.
Read the full article here:
Half of Reform UK voters don’t believe in the Covid vaccine, poll shows
02:01
,
Holly Evans
Half of Reform UK voters have little or no confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, compared with the general public who overwhelmingly trust the jabs, a YouGov poll has found.
Those who back Nigel Farage’s party have a “distinct” attitude towards the vaccines, with 50 per cent saying they do not trust them.
That compares to 71 per cent of the public who said they trust the Covid jab a great deal or a fair amount, and just 24 per cent of voters who said they do not trust it much or at all. Reform voters are also significantly more likely to not have been vaccinated against Covid during the pandemic, the poll found.
Read the full article here:
Tories facing ‘extremely difficult’ local elections, Badenoch warns
01:00
,
Holly Evans
The Conservatives are facing an “extremely difficult” challenge in May’s local elections, Kemi Badenoch warned as she launched the party’s campaign to win town halls.
The Tory leader was also defiant about the threat her party faces from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, urging voters to remember politics is not “showbusiness” and that “you will have to live with what you vote for”.
Voters across a number of county councils and unitary authorities in England will go to the polls on May 1, the first major electoral test since last July’s election.
Read the full analysis here:
Starmer backs calls for Netflix’s Adolescence to be shown in schools
00:00
,
Holly Evans
Fresh blow for Reeves as UK's official economic growth forecast 'set to be halved'
Thursday 20 March 2025 23:12
,
Tara Cobham
The UK’s official economic growth forecast for the year is set to halve, according to reports.
The Telegraph reports the expected growth rate for the 2025 financial year will be downgraded by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) next week.
In a blow to Sir Keir Starmer’s government, which has repeatedly claimed growth is a key priority, the growth rate for April to March 2026 will reduce from 2 per cent to around 1 per cent, the newspaper reported.
Rachel Reeves is expected to attempt to blame the drop on the global economic landscape as it worsens amid Donald Trump’s tariffs. The chancellor is due to lay out her spring statement to MPs on Wednesday.
Protesters disrupt House of Lords demanding unelected chamber be abolished
Thursday 20 March 2025 23:00
,
Holly Evans
Starmer ‘not doing enough to end tsunami of sick notes’ pushing up benefits claimants
Thursday 20 March 2025 22:00
,
Holly Evans
Labour’s plans to cut the welfare bill do not go nearly far enough, the former minister who brought in the biggest reform of benefits since their creation in the 1940s has warned.
In a week where Keir Starmer’s government announced plans to remove disability benefits from an estimated 1 million claimants, former Tory work and pensions secretary Sir Iain Duncan Smith said more must be done to stop “a tsunami of so called fit notes signing people off work forever”.
Writing exclusively for The Independent, Sir Iain also raised problems with a culture where young people leave school “and go straight to their sick beds”.
Read the full article here:
Jeremy Hunt hits out at ‘hyperbolic’ Brexit claims of backers like Boris Johnson
Thursday 20 March 2025 21:00
,
Holly Evans
Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt has hit out at Brexiteers who inflated the economic benefits of the UK’s departure from the European Union.
Mr Hunt, who voted Remain in 2016, criticised what he described as some of the "more hyperbolic claims” of some Brexit’s backers - who included former Tory PM Boris Johnson.
But in a foreword to a new report, Mr Hunt also said he believed "many claims” about the negative impact of Brexit on the economy “were overly exaggerated" and the UK’s departure had "much less impact on British exports to the EU".
Read the full article here:
