Inside Politics: UK calls for maximum sanctions on Kremlin as Zelensky to address UN security council
Volodymyr Zelensky vows to do ‘everything possible’ to hunt down those suspected of carrying out war crimes before address to UN security council, writes Matt Mathers
One of the under-studied consequences of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is the impact it will have on our climate. On the one hand several western players, crucially the EU among them, have vowed to reduce their dependence on Russian hydrocarbons in the wake of the Kremlin’s bloody war, raising hopes among campaigners of a cleaner future. On the other hand there are fears that in the short term, governments from Washington to Berlin may turn to using more oil and gas to alleviate sky-high energy prices exacerbated by the conflict, potentially putting the final nail in the coffin of already tenuous climate goals. Those concerns were brought into sharp focus once again yesterday as the IPCC warned in its latest report that it is “now or never” on action to avoid climate disaster.
It is against the backdrop of concerns about supply, cost and environmental impact that Boris Johnson and Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, put the final touches to the government’s delayed energy security strategy, which was conceived before the war broke out but repurposed to adapt to Europe’s new geopolitical realities. All the noise coming from Downing Street in recent weeks suggests that ambitions to expand nuclear, offshore wind and solar power will be included in the document, as Johnson sets out his “two big bets” on the way forward.
Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg’s comments yesterday afternoon that the UK should drill “every last drop” of North Sea oil and gas hints at the government’s direction of travel on extracting more resources from the ground. Despite polls suggesting high public support, cabinet remains split over onshore wind farm expansion, with many Tory activists opposed because of their impact on the landscape. But surely failure to significantly ramp up what is our cheapest energy source is a gamble too far for Johnson if he is serious about Britain’s commitment to achieving net zero by 2050.
Inside the bubble
Our chief politics commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for:
The House of Commons is in Easter recess, but the Lords is still sitting. Today peers debate the Professional Qualifications Bill and the Health and Care Bill. Lords committees will hear from nuclear power industry bosses about the prospects and possible timetable for new reactors, and from chief scientific advisers to five government departments. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, will call for evidence on drug-driving, while Gillian Keegan, a health minister, will set out plans for training social care staff.
Coming up:
– Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell on Times Radio Breakfast at 8.35am
– Defence committee chairman Tobias Ellwood on Sky News Breakfast at 8.45am
Daily Briefing
- WAR CRIMINAL HUNT: Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukraine president, has vowed to do “everything possible” to identify the Russian soldiers involved in alleged war crimes, as horrifying reports coming out of Bucha continue to reverberate around the globe. “This will be a joint work of our state with the European Union and international institutions, in particular with the International Criminal Court,” Zelensky said in his latest overnight video update. “All crimes of the occupiers are documented. The necessary procedural basis is provided for bringing the guilty Russian military to justice for every crime they commit.” On the ground, Ukraine forces continue to take back territory in the north of the country, after denying Kremlin troops the ability to secure their objectives and forcing them to retreat from the areas around Chernihiv and north of Kyiv, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said. Zelensky is set to address the UN security council later for the first time since the war broke out as evidence of war crimes continues to mount. We’ll have all the latest updates on our liveblog.
- MAXIMUM SANCTIONS: Reports of mass graves and torture have sparked international condemnation and Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, has called on partners in the west to impose the strongest possible sanctions against the Kremlin in response to reports of the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians. Speaking shortly after the US called for the Russian president to be put on trial for war crimes, Truss also demanded that Russia be suspended from the UN Human Rights Council amid “strong evidence” of war crimes and “heinous butchery” in the town of Bucha. During a joint press conference with her Ukrainian counterpart on Monday, the foreign secretary also pledged a £10m civil society fund for Ukraine, including support for organisations dealing with sexual violence.
- SELL OFF: Boris Johnson’s government confirmed the end of an era for Channel 4 last night after it was announced that ministers will go ahead with privatising the public service broadcaster, founded in 1982 by none other than Margaret Thatcher. Plans for the sale, on which there has been a public consultation, will be included in May’s Queen’s Speech when the government sets out its legislative agenda for the next parliament. A Downing Street source accepted that “as a business [Channel 4] is currently performing well” but said that government ownership is “holding it back in the face of a rapidly changing and competitive media landscape.” The decision to privatise the station, which is publicly owned but funded through advertising – therefore costing the taxpayer nothing – raises questions about the government’s priorities as voters face sky-high energy bills. It was only last week that No 10 said it urgently needed to “rationalise our legislative programme” given the “unprecedented circumstances on cost of living and the crisis in Ukraine”. Labour has accused the accused government of “cultural vandalism” over the move. But the backlash is not just coming from the opposition benches. Tory MP Sir Peter Bottomley said he opposes the privatisation, as he feels it is “bad for the diversity of television, bad for viewers and bad for independent producers”. A spokesperson for Channel 4 said it was “disappointed” with the decision, but would “continue to engage” with the government on the process to “ensure that Channel 4 continues to play its unique part in Britain’s creative ecology and national life”.
- ‘NOW OR NEVER’: Scientists working for the world’s leading authority on climate change have warned that less than three years remain to bring global emissions into decline and avert a “catastrophic” temperature rise. The “now or never” call to action from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published on Monday, also urged for emission levels to be slashed in half by 2030. At a press conference, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres called investing in new infrastructure relating to fossil fuels, which are behind the continuing rise in planet-heating greenhouse gases, “moral and economic madness”. “Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals,” he said. “But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing production of fossil fuels.” Guterres called the latest IPCC report “a litany of broken climate promises”. Our climate correspondents, Louise Boyle and Saphora Smith, have a run-through of all the key points from the report here.
- PARTYGATE LATEST: No, this is not an extract from a previously unseen script from The Thick of It. Helen McNamara, the ex-government ethics chief who was among the first people to receive a Partygate fine, brought a karaoke machine to a leaving bash for Downing Street aide Hannah Young, according to the Daily Telegraph. After the report emerged, McNamara, who now works for the Premier League, said she had “accepted and paid the fixed penalty notice”, adding: “I am sorry for the error of judgement I have shown.” The Telegraph has more Covid law breaking tales this morning. The paper reports that fines have been issued to attendees of a “boozy” leaving party for the government official in charge of writing the rules. The fixed penalty notices relate to a farewell event shortly before Christmas 2020 for Kate Josephs, director-general of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-19 Taskforce, the paper says. Josephs was responsible for drafting detailed rules governing people’s lives during the pandemic.
The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.
On the record
“We want to get more oil out of the North Sea, we want to get more gas out of the North Sea. We need to be thinking about extracting every last cubic inch of gas from the North Sea. 2050 is a long way off. We’re not trying to become net zero tomorrow. We’re going to need fossil fuels in the interim.”
Rees-Mogg on energy supply.
From the Twitterati
“A reminder that until recently Nadine Dorries thought Channel 4 was taxpayer-funded.”
New Statesman senior editor George Eaton.
Essential reading
- Tom Peck, The Independent: Brexit has laid bare the towering idiocy of Jacob Rees-Mogg – that’s a benefit, right there
- Sean O’Grady, The Independent: The PM will dismiss the Met’s fixed penalty notices – just like his student parking fines
- Charlene Rodrigues, The Independent: Yemen’s hunger crisis deepens as war rages in Ukraine
- Tom McTague, The Atlantic: How the west rebuilds its world
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