Boris Johnson: Britain should send troops to Ukraine now
In an interview with the BBC, former prime minister Boris Johnson expressed regret that western allies have not given more decisive military and financial support to Ukraine, to bring the conflict to an end. Laura Kuenssberg, asked Johnson what specific action he would call for. Johnson said the West needed to ‘flip a switch in Putin’s brain’, so that he believes the outcome of the war will be a ‘free, sovereign, independent, westward facing Ukraine’. The former prime minister called for increased military and financial assistance, impounding Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’, and for non-combat British ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine. Johnson asked why we can’t send troops now, if we are planning for boots on the ground ‘after Putin has condescended to have a ceasefire’. He argued that ‘the one person who suffers from escalation is Putin.’
Bridget Phillipson: ‘We’re not ruling anything out’
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday over allegations he may have shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while acting as trade envoy. He has since been released under investigation, and his homes have been searched by officers (Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing). Since his arrest, calls have grown to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the royal line of succession.
On Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson when we could expect to see legislation on this and his removal from the Privy Council. Phillipson said the government would ‘keep all of these options available’, but would wait for the police to conduct their investigation before discussing further action with the king. Phillipson gave a reminder that the focus must be on the victims of this ‘network of very powerful men’, and Phillips agreed, asking if the government would support an independent judge-led inquiry into the scandal. Phillipson said the government would look at any sensible proposals, after the police have carried out their work.
Bridget Phillipson: ‘We want to secure the best possible deal for British businesses’
A furious President Trump announced on Saturday that he would be invoking the 1974 Trade Act to impose global tariffs of 15% without congressional approval. This move came after the Supreme Court ruled he had overstepped his powers with previous tariffs, which Trump described as a ‘ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision’. On Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked Phillipson if the UK’s previous deal secured with the US still stood. Phillipson said it’s a ‘fast-evolving issue’, but the government is making sure the UK’s national interest is heard ‘loud and clear’ with American counterparts. Phillipson noted that Trump does not seem to be exempting the UK from these new tariffs, despite Keir Starmer’s attempts to engage with the president. Phillipson said that the government always stands up for ‘what’s right for Britain’, and claimed they get lots done through ‘serious conversations, often not in front of the cameras’.
Phillipson on BBC: ‘We are not going to be taking away effective support’
Phillipson will announce the government’s Schools White Paper tomorrow, which includes plans to halve the disadvantage gap between students in England within two decades, and change how children with special education needs are reviewed. On the BBC, Laura Kuenssberg asked Phillipson if any children will lose their support as a result of the changes. Phillipson said the changes are about ‘improving support’, not removing it, and that more children will receive support, more quickly. The education secretary said that parents shouldn’t have to go through the process of getting a legally binding Education, Health and Care Plan (ECHP) to get help for their children. Kuenssberg asked again whether any children might lose their support. Phillipson said there would be a ‘careful transition’, but admitted that children ‘will be reviewed’.
Laura Trott: Tories will stop funding ‘dead end degrees’
On GB News, Camilla Tominey asked Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott about Conservative plans to scrap the higher interest rates in Plan 2 student loans. In the Sunday Telegraph, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Plan 2 loans ‘increasingly feel like a scam’. Trott pointed out that youth unemployment is higher in the UK than in Europe for the first time, and said young people need a ‘new deal’, which the Conservatives will pay for by stopping funding for ‘dead end degrees’. Tominey asked what constitutes a dead end degree. Trott said the IFS has estimated that 30% of degrees have a ‘net negative return’ for the people taking them, whose job prospects are not significantly improved after graduation. Tominey argued that a lot of job postings say ‘graduates only’, and that people feel they need degrees in a difficult jobs market. Trott said that a shift from ‘low value courses’ to ‘high quality apprenticeships’ would reduce unemployment and debt.
Robert Jenrick: ‘[The] country is going bankrupt, and we’ve got to be responsible’
Trevor Phillips also spoke to Reform UK’s Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick, who this week announced a U-turn for Reform on the two-child benefit cap. Jenrick told Sky News that Reform have ‘changed [their] approach’ and would reinstate the cap as a ‘matter of basic fairness’. He said the country is going bankrupt and the ‘heart of Reform’s economic policy’ is to be careful with money. Jenrick said it was fair that ‘working people, making responsible decisions’ shouldn’t see other people ‘choosing to be on welfare… having lots of kids’.
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