Foreign secretary David Lammy has been speaking at the G20 foreign ministerial meeting in South Africa,Referring to the Ukraine war, he criticised Russia for having “learned nothing”, adding: “we are at a crucial juncture in this conflict, and Russia faces a test”,He said that the only “just and lasting peace” will be a peace “consistent with the UN charter” which “rejects Tsarist imperialism”,Lammy was also critical of Russian minister for foreign affairs [Sergei] Lavrov for his “logic of imperialism dressed up as realpolitik”,He said:You know, mature countries learn from their colonial failures and their wars, and Europeans have had much to learn over the generations and the centuries.

But I’m afraid to say that Russia has learned nothing.I listened carefully to minister Lavrov’s intervention just now – he’s, of course, left his seat – hoping to hear some readiness to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty.I was hoping to hear some sympathy for the innocent victims of the aggression.I was hoping to hear some readiness to seek a durable peace.What I heard was the logic of imperialism dressed up as a realpolitik, and I say to you all, we should not be surprised, but neither should we be fooled.

We are at a crucial juncture in this conflict, and Russia faces a test.If Putin is serious about a lasting peace, it means finding a way forward which respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and the UN Charter which provides credible security guarantees, and which rejects Tsarist imperialism, and Britain is ready to listen.But we expect to hear more than the Russian gentleman’s tired fabrications.We are closing the UK politics blog.Here is a summary of events today:Foreign secretary David Lammy criticised Russia for having “learned nothing” over the Ukraine war.

In a speech at the G20 Foreign Ministerial Meeting in South Africa, he added: “We are at a crucial juncture in this conflict, and Russia faces a test”.He said the only “just and lasting peace” will be a peace “consistent with the UN charter” which “rejects Tsarist imperialism”.Keir Starmer spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskyy to express support for him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader” after US president Donald Trump claimed Ukraine’s president was a “dictator”The UK signed a defence agreement with Norway, aimed at what the countries perceive as a threat from Russia in the Arctic.Defence secretary John Healey said Norway and the UK will “step up further” support to Ukraine.At a press conference, he said Russia’s threat to Europe stretches beyond its war in Ukraine adding that Britain will support Ukraine on the “battlefield and the negotiating table”.

He hailed Vlodomyr Zelenskyy’s “commitment” to his country but added that talks about peacekeeping forces were “jumping ahead of ourselves”.On Thursday morning culture secretary Lisa Nandy said that the “heat” needed to be taken out of public discussions about any peace deal in Ukraine.She added that “it’s important that we maintain a dialogue with Russia, and I think it’s important that Russia hears what the world believes, and certainly across Europe.”Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said on Thursday that she could not comment on the motivation behind Trump’s attack on Zelenskyy and that “there are no clear solutions right now”, offering tentative Conservative support to any plans to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage broke his silence on Donald Trump’s comments on Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying: “Let’s be clear, Zelenskyy is not a dictator, but it’s only right and proper that Ukrainians have a timeline for elections.

” Speaking to GB News, he said that Trump’s words should be taken “seriously” but not “literally”,He attacked people suggesting that the UK did not hold elections during the second world war, and said it was “about time the British media woke up to the truth of that,”Nigel Farage has declared he has handed over Reform UK to its 200,000 members, but the party now appears to be owned by a not-for-profit company controlled by its leader and chair,Former chair of the defence select committee Tobias Ellwood has warned the Britain risks being in direct conflict with Russia within five years, and said that current discussions about possible peace in Ukraine had descended into what he called “foghorn diplomacy”,The Labour government has announced a £270m Arts Everywhere fund for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector.

Plans by the Labour government to prevent refugees who arrive in the UK on a small boat, lorry or via other so-called “irregular” means from becoming a British citizen face their first legal challenge.Culture secretary Lisa Nandy says she will be “discussing” a Gaza documentary with the BBC after it emerged the film’s narrator was the son of a Hamas deputy minister.Local authorities in Scotland will need to increase council tax bills by almost a fifth if they are to keep pace with increases to local government funding in England, a thinktank has found.A report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) noted “core spending power” for local government and schools in England is set to increase by 7.4% in real-terms between 2023-24 and 2025-26.

The number of number of people in hospital in England with norovirus has jumped sharply to reach a new high for this winter, NHS figures show.The former head of the Foreign Office, Simon McDonald, has warned Rachel Reeves not to cut Britain’s international aid spending, amid signs the chancellor is willing to raid the development budget to help pay for higher defence spending.On the Israel-Gaza war, Lammy said there needed to be a “long-term plan for security and governance on the strip” to lead to a two-state solution:And as we turn to the Middle East, the ceasefire in Gaza is painfully fragile, I’m grateful that so many of us here today are working together to ensure that it holds we must continue to work together tirelessly to secure the release of the remaining hostages, to bolster the Palestinian Authority, and to boost aid into Gaza and to develop a long term plan for governance and security on the strip so that we can advance towards a two state solution, which remains the only long term viable pathway to peace.Foreign secretary David Lammy has been speaking at the G20 foreign ministerial meeting in South Africa.Referring to the Ukraine war, he criticised Russia for having “learned nothing”, adding: “we are at a crucial juncture in this conflict, and Russia faces a test”.

He said that the only “just and lasting peace” will be a peace “consistent with the UN charter” which “rejects Tsarist imperialism”.Lammy was also critical of Russian minister for foreign affairs [Sergei] Lavrov for his “logic of imperialism dressed up as realpolitik”.He said:You know, mature countries learn from their colonial failures and their wars, and Europeans have had much to learn over the generations and the centuries.But I’m afraid to say that Russia has learned nothing.I listened carefully to minister Lavrov’s intervention just now – he’s, of course, left his seat – hoping to hear some readiness to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty.

I was hoping to hear some sympathy for the innocent victims of the aggression,I was hoping to hear some readiness to seek a durable peace,What I heard was the logic of imperialism dressed up as a realpolitik, and I say to you all, we should not be surprised, but neither should we be fooled,We are at a crucial juncture in this conflict, and Russia faces a test,If Putin is serious about a lasting peace, it means finding a way forward which respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and the UN Charter which provides credible security guarantees, and which rejects Tsarist imperialism, and Britain is ready to listen.

But we expect to hear more than the Russian gentleman’s tired fabrications.The chancellor has said no one should be in any doubt about the government’s commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence.Speaking to broadcasters at Warner Bros studios near Watford, she said:I am absolutely committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence.

I’m really clear that a strong economy depends on strong defences and our national security being protected, so we will set out that pathway to 2,5% of GDP,We will do it in the proper way, but no one should be in any doubt about my commitment to spend 2,5% of GDP on defence,She also said she wants to create “a culture.

..of retail investing” to achieve “better returns for savers” in the UK amid reports she is considering cutting the limit on tax-free ISA savings.Asked about the reports, Reeves told broadcasters:It’s really important that we support people to save to achieve their aspirations.At the moment, there is a £20,000 limit on what you can put into either cash or equities (ISAs) but we want to get that balance right.

I do want to create more of a culture in the UK of retail investing like what you have in the United States, to earn better returns for savers.Nigel Farage has declared he has handed over Reform UK to its 200,000 members, but the party now appears to be owned by a not-for-profit company controlled by its leader and chair.Farage announced last year that he would “democratise” the party after receiving criticism for it being a private company majority controlled by the leader, not a members’ association like other parties.The company that owns Reform now appears to be owned by a new not-for-profit company, Reform 2025, which so far has just two members and two directors: Farage and Zia Yusuf.It was previously owned by a limited company majority controlled by Farage but with stakes also held by Yusuf, Richard Tice, the deputy leader, and Mehrtash A’zami, the party secretary.

It is understood this is the permanent new structure of Reform and that Farage and Yusuf are guarantors for the company, and would be replaced if new people took on those roles.The party’s filings to Companies House says there is no person in overall control.You can read the full report here:At the press conference in Norway, Healey was asked, following comments by Donald Trump, whether it could be trusted that the US still has Europe’s best security interests at heart.He said:Europe’s best security interests and America’s best security interests are satisfied by an end to this war in Ukraine and by a strong, unified Nato.That’s an argument that we are having and have discussed with the Americans and will continue to make.

Healey said that he had seen Ukrainian leader Mr Zelenskyy’s “commitment to his country”.He later added:This was a man who, stuck in his country, led his country, and still does.He was elected.He’s the elected leader of Ukraine, and he’s done what Winston Churchill did in Britain in the Second World War, suspended elections while at war.And our job is to stand with the Ukrainians, support the Ukrainians, support them in their fight.

And if they choose to talk, support them in the negotiations as well,We have more from PA Media from the defence secretary, John Healey, in Norway,Healey said that Britain will support Ukraine on the “battlefield and the negotiating table”,But said talks about peacekeeping forces were “jumping ahead of ourselves”, PA Media reports,Formal negotiations were still yet to start, he said, despite initial talks between the US and Russia taking place.

He repeated that Ukraine needed to be involved in final talks.He said:In many ways we’re jumping ahead of ourselves.Our prime minister had made the commitment that if we reach a ceasefire, we reach an end to the fighting, security guarantees will be needed and Britain is ready to play a full part in that and we’re leading some of the detailed discussions about what may be needed, but I am certainly not going to give you any detail that is going to make president Putin the wiser.He added:Fundamentally though, the war is still being fought.Russia is still bombing, firing on, launching drones, not just on Ukrainian troops but on Ukrainian cities.

The Ukrainians are still fighting and our job is to support them in that fight, to keep them as strong as they can be when they come to the negotiating table.Support them on the battlefield, support them at the negotiating table when they choose to do so.More from the press conference earlier with defence secretary John Healey.Russia’s threat to Europe stretches beyond its war in Ukraine, John Healey said.The defence secretary said the reason for his visit to Norway, during which he met with his Norwegian counterpart Tore Sandvik, was to present a united front against Vladimir Putin’s forces.

He said:One of the reasons that I wanted to join Tore here in Norway was also to remind people that we look at the Russian war in Ukraine, but Russia remains a threat beyond Ukraine, and Russia’s aggression is not confined to Ukraine and we have to meet that challenge and confront that together.We have more on defence secretary John Healey speaking about the UK’s defence agreement with Norway.Discussing the declaration that both countries have signed, Mr Healey told a press conference earlier:This is a now, a once-in-a-generation opportunity, the chance to deepen further that military, industry and nation partnership between our two countries.So we have, today, signed an agreement, a declaration that we will work now to forge a deep, ambitious new defence agreement and we’ll do that by the summer.Mr Healey also said that Norway and the UK will “step up further” the support to Ukraine, PA Media reports.

He later added:We’ve said as two European nations that we will step up further the support we give to Ukraine,Ukraine is still fighting,We must keep them in the fight,We must try and keep them strong to secure that peace for the long-term,Commenting on Nigel Farage’s response to Donald Trump calling President Zelenskyy a “dictator”, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said on X:So Nigel Farage has chosen to explain away Trump’s outrageous remarks about President Zelensky instead of doing the right thing and condemning them.

Deeply disappointing but not at all surprising.He sounds like a spokesman for Trump.He certainly doesn’t speak for Britain.