Dan Tomlinson, a Treasury minister, defended the government’s decision to relax some sanctions on Russian oil in interviews this morning. He also insisted the move would be time-limited.
On the Today programme, asked why the government was putting keeping down the cost of flights abroad above the need to support Ukraine, he replied:
double quotation markI reject the binary that you’ve offered me, there.
I think it is entirely possible, and plausible, and as in fact what the government is doing, to have one of the strongest sanction regimes in the world, to be leading the international effort to support Ukraine, and to make sure that Vladimir Putin doesn’t get what he wants from his things.
And at the same time, to take responsible choices that prioritise, rightly as we should, the domestic security, the family finances here in the UK, and the ability for important products to be available not just for holidays but for international movement of freight and goods and business activity as well.
And that’s why this time-limited change has been announced by the government.
Business leaders have joined the Conservatives (see 8.55am) in attacking the government’s proposal for supermarkets to voluntarily impose price caps on some food items.
In an interview on the Today programme, Stuart Rose, a former chair at Marks & Spencer and at Asda, said:
double quotation markI think the whole idea is the stuff of nonsense and it will never fly.
This smacks of state control, it’s idiotic, it’s dangerous and it’ll never work.
He said that while supermarket profits may have gone up, “that’s because sales will have gone up because the business is efficient and it is attracting more customers, and therefore, it is doing the job that it should do – i.e. capitalism does work and customers get great choice.”
And, as the BBC reports, Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:
double quotation markThe UK has the most affordable grocery prices in Western Europe thanks to the fierce competition between supermarkets.
Rather than introduce 1970s style price controls and trying to force retailers to sell goods at a loss, the government must focus on how it will reduce the public policy costs which are pushing up food prices in the first place.
Rachel Reeves is preparing to announce a planning shake-up that would fast-track clean energy and infrastructure projects by curbing judicial reviews, the Treasury has said. Lauren Almeida has the story.
Dan Tomlinson, a Treasury minister, defended the government’s decision to relax some sanctions on Russian oil in interviews this morning. He also insisted the move would be time-limited.
On the Today programme, asked why the government was putting keeping down the cost of flights abroad above the need to support Ukraine, he replied:
double quotation markI reject the binary that you’ve offered me, there.
I think it is entirely possible, and plausible, and as in fact what the government is doing, to have one of the strongest sanction regimes in the world, to be leading the international effort to support Ukraine, and to make sure that Vladimir Putin doesn’t get what he wants from his things.
And at the same time, to take responsible choices that prioritise, rightly as we should, the domestic security, the family finances here in the UK, and the ability for important products to be available not just for holidays but for international movement of freight and goods and business activity as well.
And that’s why this time-limited change has been announced by the government.
Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, has also been posting on social media about the government’s decision to relax some sanctions on Russian oil. She says:
double quotation markLabour’s ridiculous energy policies have weakened Britain and must be reversed.
The British Government should not be in a position where it relaxes sanctions on Russian energy or helps to strengthen Putin’s energy revenues.
Yesterday Labour voted against our domestic oil and gas industry in Parliament. They must immediately change course and stop trying to shut down the North Sea.
double quotation markLabour’s energy policies and their ideological approach has weakened our country’s energy security.
Russian oil is not the solution to cost of living pressures or the headwinds facing businesses.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, has said his party will look in detail at the plans to relax sanctions on some Russian oil products and has concerns about support for Ukraine being undermined.
But he has not condemned the announcement outright – unlike Kemi Badenoch, who argues it shows the government’s refusal to allow new drilling for oil in the North Sea is “insane”. (See 8.55am.)
Here is Caroline Davies’s story about the government’s announcement last night.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Davey said:
double quotation markThe government has a real challenge here, because this appalling war in Iran … is pushing up the cost of living, is pushing up diesel and petrol prices.
But we’ve also got to remember that we need to support our Ukrainian allies, they are fighting and paying a heavy, heavy price to beat that appalling Russian invasion, they’re on the front line of our defence and security, and the question is, has the government got that trade off right?
Davey said the Lib Dems wanted to consider the proposal in detail.
double quotation markThis proposal is complicated … because they’ve got some proposals where they’re tightening the sanctions at the same time, so it’s a package, and it only came up late last night. We will look at it. We’re really, really worried if there’s any undermining of our support for Ukraine.
Britain’s second most senior diplomat in Washington, who stood in as interim ambassador after the sacking of Peter Mandelson, has abruptly left his post, Ben Quinn reports.
Good morning. PMQs is back, and there are at least two obvious issues for Kemi Badenoch to raise when she faces Keir Starmer.
What Tories calls Starmer’s “Soviet-style” plan to curb supermarket prices
As Sarah Butler, Mark Sweney and Heather Stewart report, UK supermarkets have been asked by the government to consider freezing the prices of some essential foodstuffs to protect the public from inflation fuelled by the Middle East conflict.
This is not the same as the SNP’s proposal for mandatory price caps on essential food items in supermarkets. The UK government is looking at some sort of voluntary scheme.
On the Today programme, Dan Tomlinson, a Treasury minister, did not deny the story, but he stressed that this was “not a government announcement”, just a story about what ministers might be looking at. He said it was right for ministers to consider ideas that could help people with the cost of living.
This is unlikely to impress Badenoch. This is what her shadow business secretary, Andrew Griffith, said about the story last night.
double quotation markThis is more nuts than a squirrel convention!
I warned Rachel Reeves prices would go up if she raised taxes and drowned employers in red tape. She didn’t listen and now she’s proposing Soviet style measures!
What Tories call Starmer’s “insane” energy policy
Last night the government announced that it is relaxing sanctions on Russian oil that has been refined into diesel and jet fuel in third countries. The technical details of the announcement are here.
This morning Badenoch claimed this showed that the government’s refusal to allow new drilling in the North Sea was “insane”.
double quotation markAfter 18 months of “standing up to Putin” the Labour govt quietly issued a licence allowing imports of Russian oil refined in third countries.
Yesterday Labour MPs voted AGAINST UK oil and gas licences.
We are now importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea.
It is not just the Tories attacking the government over this. In an interview with the Today programme this morning, Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said people in Ukraine felt “very let down” by this. She said:
double quotation markWe are talking about our allies in Ukraine who have been fighting a war bravely against Russia for years and years with our support.
They have looked to Britain as one of their most important allies, and they don’t understand, given that we promised that we would stop this loophole in October, and we still haven’t done it. In fact, it seems to have got worse. People feel very let down.
Thornberry said Ukrainians view sanctions as vital because “they believe that every bit of joint pressure they make with their allies is pushing Russia ever closer to ending the war because this is absolutely crippling their economy”. She went on:
double quotation markThere was a G7 announcement on the 19 May which said that they, the G7, had an unwavering commitment to put pressure on Russia including sanctions on the energy sector and actions against entities in third countries that materially support Russia’s war effort but we’re still saying that we’re going to take sanctioned oil but so long as it goes to Turkey first and then it’s refined, we will use it.
After PMQs, Wes Streeting will give a resignation speech in the Commons. He is taking advantage of the convention that allows a cabinet minister who has resigned to make a “personal statement” in the Commons before the main debate of the day starts. Streeting resigned last week saying he no longer had confidence in Starmer as PM. He did not launch a leadership bid, but he has ambitions for the top job and we are likely to get some indication as to what his manifesto for the Labour leadership would be were he to be a candidate in a contest later this year.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister chairing the government review into young people and work, gives evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee on youth employment.
Morning: John Swinney is sworn in as Scotland’s first minister at the court of session in Edinburgh. Then he will appoint his cabinet, with announcements due before the end of the day.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
12.50pm: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is due to take part in a Q&A at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and Labour candidate in the Makerfield byelection, is also due to speak at the event at various meetings.
Afternoon: Wes Streeting is due to give a speech in the Commons following his resignation as health secretary.
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Source: Guardian - World News
