Sofia Svensson

Next month Ukraine goes to the polls in its seventh presidential election since it achieved independence in 1991. Five years on from Euromaidan, and the resulting Russia invasion, the country remains bitterly divided between pro and anti-Europeans. Yet, this will be the first election not to feature a powerful, pro-Russian force amongst the frontrunners. Although, of course, that isn’t to say Russia won’t be doing its best to influence the election - something the Ukrainians have become used to. As is often the case in this part of the world, an election isn’t really an election if the Kremlin doesn’t interfere. In its defence, Russia insists that it’s actually the West doing the meddling - specifically the UK.

What was Vladimir Putin playing at? Earlier this month, he sent Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov on to state television to say they were not spies at all, just tourists who had travelled 3,000 miles to see Salisbury Cathedral while staying in the wrong city. Exposing them in this way would mean it would only be a matter of time before it emerged that Boshirov was, in fact, not who he claimed he was. Unsurprisingly, Boshirov is actually Anatoliy Chepiga: not a sports nutritionist but a decorated GRU Colonel. He was awarded Hero of the Russian Federation, Russia’s highest state award, which was most likely handed to him by Putin himself. A Brit might be thinking: Ha! Gotcha! Putin has been caught in the act.

The National Centre for Social Research’s held an ‘The Class Ceiling’ yesterday where attendees included Sky’s Lewis Goodall. He tweeted afterwards that thanks to Sam Friedman, an LSE researcher, there is now ‘solid evidence for the class pay gap: Those from a working class background are paid £7,000 less for doing the same job as someone from a middle class home.’ https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1042388864214736897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Quite a claim, but how solid is the evidence? Last year, Friedman and others published a report (pdf) for the Social Mobility Commission saying that those from a working-class backgrounds earn on average £6,800 less than colleagues from professional and managerial backgrounds.