Politics

Over the course of three days in September 1939, 1.5 million evacuees were sent to rural locations across Britain considered to be safe from the impending war. In a staggering logistical feat facilitated by thousands of volunteer helpers – from teachers to railway staff – children were swiftly relocated, with gas masks around their necks, suitcases in hand. Stately homes were given over for use as nursery schools. Local authorities attempted to provide a full-time education by finding alternative buildings – pubs, chapels and church crypts.

Crispin Blunt has had quite the 24 hours. The Tory MP yesterday made an extraordinary intervention in the case of Imran Ahmad Khan, the Wakefield backbencher found guilty of the sexual assault of a 15-year-old boy. Blunt decided to release a highly unusual and hyberbolic statement which lambasted the conviction as a 'dreadful miscarriage of justice' incited by 'lazy tropes about LGBT+ people' based in 'Victorian era prejudice.

How quickly political fortunes can change. Rishi Sunak's Covid boost was always likely to fade once the purse strings were retightened. Is this the end of his prime ministerial ambitions? Just as the National Insurance rise begins to kick in, the Sunak family’s tax affairs have been bought under serious scrutiny. On Sky News, Trevor Phillips resumed the interviewer’s chair once more to question the policing minister Kit Malthouse. He asked him about the Chancellor’s wife Akshata Murty, who, as an Indian national, does not have to pay UK taxes on her income earned abroad. Murty has since announced that she will do so, but will not give up her non-domiciled status: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1513068585408770051?

Boris Johnson’s visit to Kyiv is notable not only for its unannounced nature but for the additional package of support for Ukraine it has heralded. The Prime Minister pledged 120 armoured vehicles, new anti-ship missile technology, and a further £385 million in World Bank lending. The government will also permit tariff-free imports of Ukrainian goods to the UK, something requested by Volodymyr Zelensky. The announcement followed on the heels of extra military hardware, set out yesterday, which included anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, as well as precision-strike kamikaze drones. That package totalled £100 million and is additional to the £394 million in grant aid to fund humanitarian services.

This evening Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty has announced that she will pay UK taxes on her overseas income, following a public backlash after reports of her tax arrangements as a non-domicile emerged on Wednesday night. The change in tack comes after the Chancellor used an interview with the Sun newspaper to accuse political opponents of 'smearing' his wife in order to hurt him.