H undreds of names were added to the Government's sanctions list on Tuesday as sweeping new powers helped ministers target oligarchs, their relatives and Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

The Russian prime minister and defence minister were among those subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban in tough new measures announced by Liz Truss.

James Cleverly, the Europe minister, reflected in the Commons on how "we will live to regret it" if, once again, the free world does not "do enough" to contain Putin's aggression, as David Lammy, his Labour counterpart, noted the "deep reflection" in the West about what more could have been done.

Q uestions about Britain's duty to Ukraine were also at the forefront of Boris Johnson's mind. Addressing President Zelensky via videolink, he said: "We all know that we can do more and we must do more... We must try to do more particularly to support you in protecting the Ukrainian people from bombardment by artillery and by aviation."

Tuesday showed the scale of what new legislation can achieve - and ministers will now be turning their minds to further measures that can be taken in an attempt to ensure that Putin fails.

We'll be back tomorrow with all the latest news, insight and analysis from Westminster.

R ussian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has failed to achieve its planned two-day blitzkrieg capture of the country, writes Taras Kuzio .

Far from a master strategist, the Russian president is merely the latest in a long line of deluded tinpot dictators.

More than two weeks into the invasion, Russia has captured only one city, Kherson, and even there popular street protests are preventing a full-on occupation.

Putin has badly miscalculated in three important areas

D iane Abbott, the former shadow home secretary, says there are aspects of the 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme that are worth praising, especially refugees being allowed to live and work in the UK for three years and access medicines and benefits.

"The arrangements for the Ukrainians should be a precedent for the treatment of all asylum seekers, not an exception.

"Maybe it's a case that it's easier to be humane towards refugees that look like us. In the first instance the Government tried to apply the visa system to refugees... This is our discretion for any Government. Any Government is within its rights to limit or withhold visas, but this is not the case for refugees.

"It is a category error to attempt to treat refugees in this way."

J onathan Djanogly, the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, says the West "somehow assumed" that the Soviet empire would "jump to Western values" on its collapse.

"We demilitarised based on some vacant concept of the peace dividend, and the ultimate victory of liberal democracy, and we hoped - with little justification - that Russia would become just like us," he tells MPs.

"Then the West adopted an apologist attitude. Little was made of Putin's viciousness in Chechnya, perhaps because that suited Western narratives at the time. We must recognise that Russia is quite content not only to use force, but also start using it on a much lower provocation level than us.

"Even if we do not directly fight Russia, we must continue to provide the Ukrainians with all of the military assistance they need... No more weaknesses, no more ignoring threats."

T heresa May, the former prime minister, says there is a "very clear message" to Vladimir Putin from Parliament and the country alike.

"There should also be a clear message from this House that those who are responsible for initiating and prosecuting this House will be held responsible for their war crimes," she says, raising the trafficking of the Ukrainian people - particularly unaccompanied Ukrainian child refugees - at the border areas.

"This is happening in Poland, it's happening in other countries where Ukrainian refugees are fleeing through. This has been raised with me by two NGOs who work globally on modern slavery.

"It's a sad reflection on human nature that the very point where these women and children are fleeing... the criminal gangs have moved in to make money from the trafficking of what they consider to be another commodity, that is human beings."

Human traffickers moved in "within a day or so" of refugees starting to flee Ukraine, Mrs May said, adding: "We have to look beyond the obvious. I suggest the opportunities for traffickers in these border areas is not the obvious, but it is something that will lead to further considerable human misery, and I trust that the Government will take this on board, and act with urgency."

I n the face of illiberalism, in the face of aggression, in the face of dictatorship, now is the time to reassert our belief in liberal democracy, reiterate our support for human rights at home as well as abroad, reinforce our unshakeable commitment to our Nato allies and proclaim our belief in multilateral institutions, like the United Nations, designed to build peace and prosperity based on the rule of law.

Because those who seek to divide us have these in their sights.

I f assets are not seized, they cannot be deployed to help rebuild Ukraine, Chris Bryant tells the Commons - "otherwise there's not going to be a Marshall Plan for Ukraine at all".

David Lammy vows that the Opposition stands ready to help the Government should further legislation come forward.

"For more than a decade the Government has refused to clean up dirty Russian money. For any change to happen, ministers have had to be dragged through the Lobby by members across this House to rush through legislation that should have been passed years ago.

"We welcome the measures in the economic crime bill yesterday, although many were too weak, but the job is only half-done. We must complete the process of shutting down the London laundromat, ending the impunity of Russian oligarchs but also for the corrupt elites and criminals across the world who use Britain as a base for dirty stolen money."

T heresa May, the former prime minister, says she is "grateful" for the unity shown across the Commons in the face of the Russia-Ukraine war.?

She says: "I wonder, given that the Right Honourable Gentleman made reference to Syria, if on reflection he regrets the stance taken by the Labour Party in this chamber when chemical weapons were used in Syria, and the Labour Party chose not to support the then-Government's position that we should alongside the Americans take action."

Mr Lammy responds: "I entirely understand why the former prime minister raises the issue as she has. She will know too that there is deep reflection on Capitol Hill and in Washington as to that moment in time. I think this is a long curve, it's one that can go back really to 2008. It's not just?that singular moment but I understand why she raises it."

Julian Lewis, the MP for New Forest East, asks MPs not to bring the Syria vote into the current debate - "because the Syria vote hinged on the fact that it was proposed to depose another Arab dictator without regard to the nature of the extremists who would have taken over. We did exactly that sort of thing when we armed all sorts of groups in Afghanistan, and that didn't work out too well for America either. This is a separate issue and we should not confuse the two."

J ohn Baron asks David Lammy whether the Labour frontbench accepts that more is needed "to build our hard and soft power" so that those who believe in democracy can win through.

"The Honourable Gentleman is completely right, he's right that after Georgia in 2008, after Crimea, after the Donbas, after Syria, there's deep reflection now in the Western community on what we could and should have done," Mr Lammy says.

"And it's always important to remember that in democracies like ours, soft power always plays a part which is why we should never undermine the BBC, never undermine the British Council, never undermine the role of our foreign diplomats in that endeavour and the role of international development.

"We should also be very, very cautious about the cuts made to our armed defences. Sadly Putin has only deployed hard power, or aggressive power... And we should reflect deeply on the complacency that has crept in over the last few years."

T hree weeks ago, the world changed forever, notes David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary.

"It was also the beginning of an assault on the fundamental aims of post-war Europe - peace, freedom and national sovereignty," he tells MPs. "After countries on our continent murdered each other on an industrial scale in two World Wars in one century, after a Cold War that threatened our planet with nuclear extinction, and after horrific conflicts in the Balkans, we established an era of relative security in Europe.

"With the vicious tyrant in the Kremlin now shaking that all about, Ukrainians have defended their homeland with extraordinary courage and determination. Russian forces fed a diet of propaganda by their government may have expected to be greeted as liberators.

"They have instead encountered not just the dogged and skilful resistance of the Ukrainian Army, but the courage of ordinary men and women, willing to stand in the path of Russian tanks."

J onathan Djangoly asks whether the assets that have been seized will be used "for the benefit of the Ukrainian people".

Mr Cleverly says the end goal of the sanctions is to "choke off the supply of funds for Putin's war machine - we have to be very, very focused on what these sanctions are for".

James Cleverly is asked about what action will be taken where Vladimir Putin is still supported and Russian money is still allowed to flow into different countries.

The enforcement of the sanctions regime is a task for HM Treasury, Mr Cleverly responds, and it will work internationally to ensure it has the "desired effect to end this war in Ukraine".

"Together with our allies and partners, we will ensure that Putin loses in Ukraine."

S ir Bernard Jenkin calls for "open condemnation" from the international community of Vladimir Putin's actions amid reports Russian troops are massing on Odessa.

James Cleverly agrees that Putin must not be allowed to open up another front, and the support of the international community is needed.

"We must be realistic that there will be a cost to the UK and to our allies by imposing these tough sanctions, but the cost of doing nothing is so much higher. We saw what happened in 2014 when the free world did not do enough to contain Putin's aggression. He came back more aggressively.

"That's why we cannot allow Putin to impose a settlement onto Ukraine which vindicates his aggression. If we fail to stand up to Putin, if we fail to support Ukraine in their hour of need, we will live to regret it."

J ames Cleverly vows that the UK will work with the Ukrainian government to ensure that weapons it provides do not end up on the market.

He notes that more than 22,000 Ukrainian troops have received British training since 2014 as part of Operation Orbital.

"We will be sending more supplies, including Starstreak ground-based air defence anti-aircraft missiles, and we [as] allies need to do everything possible within the UN Charter on Self-Defence to help Ukraine defend itself. We must be robust in supporting our Nato allies living under the shadow of Russian aggression. So the UK, as Nato's biggest European contributor, is doubling the number of troops in Estonia and Poland.

"As Putin inflicts ever-greater misery in Ukraine, we continue our humanitarian and economic support... we have pledged over ￡400million... The British people have also risen to the moment by showing their own huge generosity of spirit. In the short time since it was launched, there have been over 80,000 people sign up to our 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme."

One MP points out that a Sky news notification tells him the figure is now above 100,000.

"It's never usually nice to be wrong at the Despatch Box but I am incredibly proud that the figure that I quoted, which was accurate at the time, has now been made obsolete once again by the enormous generosity of spirit of the British people. And I think it shows us at our best."

J ames Gray, the Wiltshire North MP for the Conservatives, says one of the "lighter moments of an otherwise extremely bleak military picture in Ukraine" was the destruction of Russian tanks "using, one must presume, British NLAW missiles".

James Cleverly responds: "We have heard anecdotally that Ukrainians are shouting 'God save the queen!' while firing those?weapons at the tanks that have been sent to destroy them. I am very, very proud that we play an important part."

Jamie Stone, the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, says the sanctions "sit very ill" with the cuts to the size of the Army as?he asks about our Political Editor Ben Riley-Smith's story, in today's Telegraph.

Mr Cleverly responds that the "sad truth" of the matter is that Putin has planned to use expansionist tactics for some time, and says "I don't think it's true" that there is a link to domestic defence policy. He speaks of his pride in the British military technology and training which is now helping Ukraine.

C hris Bryant, the Labour MP for the Rhondda, describes it as "phenomenally difficult... to find out who is and isn't sanctioned", pointing to people who have been sanctioned but are not yet on the Foreign Office list.

"We need to deal not just with the people who have ￡20million houses who we've all heard of, but people who've got ￡50,000 flats in London, bought with Russian dirty money. The many relatives for instance of Abramovich and his ex-partners. Each one of those needs to be dealt with, and each one of those properties needs to be seized."

James Cleverly responds by agreeing for the need for "due publicity" around those who have been sanctioned.

He praises the British and international response to cut off Russian trade, transport and finance, adding: "We have led the way in our financial sanctions... We have hit over ￡300billion worth of Russian bank assets. All this amounts to the toughest financial sanctions package of any country.

"And we will work with and encourage our allies to keep ratcheting up [their sanctions] as well."

T he United Kingdom has been "at the forefront of the international response" to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, James Cleverly says.

"Now, we will enhance our work with our allies to respond to Russia's aggression.

"That is why we are building on efforts to cut off funding for Putin's war machine through sanctions and today I can announce we will go further than ever before by hitting over 360 more people complicit in Putin's regime.

"They range from former President, Dmitry Medvede, and his foreign minister,?Sergey Shoygu, to Putin's propagandist, Maria Zakharova.

"This means after today we will have designated over 1,000 individuals and entities under our Russia?sanctions regime... This would have not been possible without the extraordinary efforts of colleagues across this Parliament to help get this legislation through the House so quickly.

"And it shows our collective determination to lead by example in punishing the Putin regime."

J ames Cleverly is making a statement as a backbench debate on Ukraine begins.

"We owe it to President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine to do our utmost to help them in their brave fight," he says.

"We owe it to ourselves to stand up for security and stability in Europe and we owe it to the world to keep the flame of freedom burning and to show that aggression does not pay."

N icola Sturgeon has U-turned on a previous pledge to scrap face coverings on public transport and in some other public places in Scotland.

"Given the current spike in case numbers, we consider it prudent to retain this requirement in regulation for a further short period," the First Minister told the Scottish Parliament.

"I know this will be disappointing for businesses and service providers such as day care services."

M s Sturgeon said that the guidance will be reviewed again by ministers in two weeks, before the Parliament's Easter recess.

The "continued widespread use" of face coverings would "provide some additional protection", she added, suggesting it could help Scotland through its current spike in coronavirus infections.

M ore than 100,000 individuals and organisations have now registered their interest in the 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme "thanks to the generosity of the British public", Boris Johnson has said.

T he UK and the EU "have to stick to" the terms of the withdrawal agreement, Guy Verhofstadt has said amid the ongoing dispute about the Northern Ireland Protocol.

"Pacta sunt servanda is a very important phrase in old Latin, that says it all," the EU's former negotiator told LBC. "When you have made an agreement, you stick to the agreement and you implement the agreement. So I didn't follow in detail, since I'm no longer Brexit coordinator anymore for the European Parliament… but I think we have to stick to it.

"And if there are practical problems, I think the European Commission has always been ready to solve this practical problems. But the first thing to do is stick to the agreement."

Mr Verhofstadt added that he "always had a great esteem" for Theresa May, and said Brexit " could have been totally different if at a certain moment, Labour and Conservatives were ready to cooperate and to find a way out" of the impasse that culminated in Mrs May's political demise.

"I'm still continuing to think that in a world as we see today, with the aggression of Russia?would have been stronger today if the UK was a part of the EU, that I'm pretty sure. Brexit was a loss for everybody. For Britain and also for the European Union. We never know what will happen in the future.

"There will be in my opinion, a generation of young politicians in the UK, who will say; Oh look, let's work together, let's enter in European Union, and let's change the European Union for the better."

B ritain’s first and only black chief constable has called on?police should introduce quotas to increase the number of ethnic minority officers, Charles Hymas, our Home Affairs Editor,?reports .

Calling for "positive discrimination", Mike Fuller, formerly Kent’s chief constable and a non-executive director of the Home Office, said?Northern-Irish style recruitment quotas?for black and ethnic minority candidates could be seen by the community as "righting a wrong".

He said that black communities felt "overpoliced and underprotected" and warned that without more black and ethnic minority officers, there would continue to be a lack of trust and confidence within the black community in the police service.

Black, Asian and other people of ethnic minorities represent 14 per cent of the population, but only 8.3 per cent of constables. There are no ethnic minority chief constables, only 4.7 per cent chief officers, and just over five per cent of chief inspectors and inspectors.

Full story: Calls for Northern Irish style quotas

B ritain is "leading the way" by removing all Covid rules related to international travel, Grant Shapps said.

"We are the first major international economy to get back to the kind of restriction-free travel we all enjoyed before Covid," the Transport Secretary told the Commons.

From 4am on Friday, there will be no testing or quarantine requirements for any passengers arriving in the UK, regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated.

"I've had the calls from passengers, from airlines, from airlines across the House that the passenger locator form is a burden that has simply outlived its usefulness.

"So I am delighted to confirm that from Friday we will be removing the passenger locator form for all passengers. No more quarantines, no more tests, and no more forms - international travel is back."

He describes the announcement as "another vital step" to live with Covid, and manage an endemic virus.

T he pause on fracking introduced in November 2019 "remains in place", a business minister has said.

Greg Hands said that the Government was "clear that shale gas is not the solution to near-term issues", as it relies on a "continued series of new wells" and would take "years of exploration and development" before reaching commercial viability.

"Even if the pause were lifted, there is unlikely to be sufficient quantities of gas available to address the high prices affecting all of western Europe, and would certainly have no effect on prices in the near term," he said.

However, Mr Hands added that ministers were ready to consider any application for an extension lodged by Cuadrilla in a bid to stop the closure of its last two viable wells amid the energy crisis.

"I can tell my honourable friend that my right honourable friend the Secretary for State and I met with the Oil and Gas Authority today and they are ready to consider Cuadrilla's letter and potential application and the Government hopes the regulator would consider it favourably."

A co-founder of Extinction Rebellion was confronted by his daughter over? his tactics , a new Netflix documentary shows, as activists say he was obsessed with being arrested.

The film lays bare disagreements within?the environmental movement?in the wake of its mass protests which?brought London to a halt?in April 2019.

The group succeeded in pushing?climate change?up the political agenda, but within months disagreed on the best way to proceed, with co-founder Roger Hallam?backing a plan to fly drones near Heathrow?which was unpopular with younger activists.

At an emotional meeting in August 2019 his daughter Savannah Lovelock, on behalf of the movement's youth wing, addressed her father and other members about the plan.

"I would like it, dad, if you could look at me," she says, before telling the group that the older members had been "denying us agency and voice within this organisation."

Olivia Rudgard has the story

I can't comment on other countries' intelligence or the reporting of private diplomatic telegrams, but we call on China to play a positive, constructive role in putting pressure on Putin and his regime to withdraw.

We are in contact with the government of China and will continue to reiterate that message.

We're very open with China, as is the US and Europe, about what we are asking from them.

B oris Johnson has compared Vladimir Putin to a drug "pusher" feeling the West's "addiction" to oil and gas.

Defending his trip to Saudi Arabia, which begins tonight, the Prime Minister told reporters that there is a need to build the "widest possible coalition" in response to Russian aggression.

"Vladimir Putin over the last yeast has been like a pusher, feeding an addiction in western countries to his hydrocarbons. We need to get ourselves off that addiction.

"I?think what the world is seeing is the return in Ukraine to the kind of brutality, the kind of absolutely indiscriminate bombing of civilian centres, of great cities that we last saw in the European continent 80 years ago, this is quite unbelievable what is happening now in our continent."

B oris Johnson has said "everybody in the country" is feeling the economic effects of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

"There is no question at all that the spike in oil and gas, that is being felt by British consumers, by everybody who has a central heating system, everybody in this country is seeing the effect of that spike in prices," he told reporters at Lancaster House in London.

"We have to deal with that in any way that we can, and what we need to do is build long-term security of energy supply in this country.

"We have to make sure that other producers are doing what they can and we are going to have to help the whole world move forward with greener solutions."

"Ninety per cent" of the European Parliament would welcome Britain back into the EU, Guy Verhofstadt has said.

T he MEP, who coordinated the Brussels' response to Brexit, claimed the world would be "stronger today" if Britons voted remain.

Here are his full comments

N azanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's local MP said the British-Iranian aid worker?has had her British passport returned, raising hopes for the imminent release of several dual nationals detained in Iran, Campbell MacDiarmid and Ahmed Vahdat report .

"I am very pleased to say that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given her British passport back," Ms Siddiq, who is the member of parliament for where Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe used to live in London, said on Twitter.

"She is still at her family home in Tehran. I also understand that there is a British negotiating team in Tehran right now."

M rs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at a Tehran airport in April 2016 and later convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. Her family and employer reject the charge as baseless.

Her lawyer said on Tuesday he was hopeful the 43-year-old would be released “within days”.?

Read more: Fresh hope in case of charity worker detained since 2016

R ussian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin, defence minister Sergey?Shoigu and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev have been sanctioned.

Russian propagandists who have been designated include Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's?press secretary,?and Maria Zakharova, the?Russian foreign affairs spokeswoman.

"We are going further and faster than ever in hitting those closest to Putin ? from major oligarchs, to his Prime Minister, and the propagandists who peddle his lies and disinformation," said Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary.

"We are holding them to account for their complicity in Russia’s crimes in Ukraine. Working closely with our allies, we will keep increasing the pressure on Putin and cut off funding for the Russian war machine."

B oris Johnson told his Cabinet this morning that the situation in Ukraine is turning into "something we have not seen for decades, with a savage war machine bombarding unarmed civilians relentlessly".

In a statement, Downing Street said Mr Johnson "said today’s meeting of Joint Expeditionary Force leaders, addressed virtually by President Zelenskyy, would be another opportunity to rally support which he said must continue to expand to match the severity of Putin’s actions.

"He said the incredible Ukrainian resistance continued to stall Russian forces, ensuring Putin’s hope of conquering the country in a matter of days had been thwarted."

Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, "[told] Cabinet that?a combination of poor planning and arrogance had made the Russian army think that they would be welcomed into the large cities in the East of Ukraine, which have a high proportion of Russian-speaking citizens... Instead, he said the Ukrainian people were showing immense bravery in this region, inflicting severe damage on the Russian forces."

Mr Wallace updated ministers on the latest supplies of lethal defensive aid provided to Ukraine, while Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, provided an update on the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

A total of 370 Russian individuals and entities have been sanctioned, the Government announced.

Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, will appear in the Commons to confirm new sanctions designations at the start of a backbench debate on Ukraine. The debate will be closed by James Heappey, the minister for the Armed Forces.

R achel Reeves accuses Rishi Sunak of being "out of touch" amid the cost-of-living crisis, saying it is having a "devastating but not inevitable" effect.

"Why is the Chancellor so intent on shielding oil executives instead of protecting the poorest in society?" she asks.

Mr Sunak calls for a "diverse and secure supply of energy", and insists that he shares Ms Reeves's concern about the lowest-income households.

"That's why I'm proud that all the evidence points to the fact that the decisions made by this Government have benefited those on the lowest?incomes the most. We have protected those who need our help and we will continue to do so."

"Millions of people are worried sick right now about their soaring bills and how they are going to manage through this year," Rachel Reeves tells MPs.

"Meanwhile in stark contrast, BP have said they have 'more cash than they know what to do with'.

"They previously compared their record profits from the inflated prices to a 'cash machine'. These profits are not being used to fund new investments. So why won't the Chancellor make North Sea oil and gas companies pay their fair share of taxes to tackle this cost-of-living crisis?"

R ishi Sunak points out that oil and tax companies are already taxed at "double the rate" of other companies, saying there are "billions of pounds of projects waiting to be unlocked and we want to see that investment unlocked here in the UK".

B en Bradshaw asks John Glen, the economic secretary to the Treasury, when the UK will "seize not freeze" the assets of individuals linked to Vladimir Putin, in the same way as the US has.

Mr Glen notes that more than 500 people have already been sanctioned, and has cut off three million Russian companies from Russian markets.

"We will continue to work closely with our allies to make sure that the response continues to be comprehensive," he says.

Tulip Siddiq asks Mr Glen how many Russian-linked individuals and businesses have wrongly been given Treasury-backed Covid support.

Mr Glen says "lots of individuals across the economy" were given support as part of the Government's response to Covid. He is unable to give what he calls "chapter and verse", but he pledges to press ahead with a second fraud action plan later this year and work on further reform of Companies House.

As topical questions begin, Rishi Sunak describes the Treasury's package of sanctions as "world-beating".

S teve Baker asks Helen Whately what steps are being taken "to ensure that areas needing levelling up are able to attract private sector investment".

The Exchequer Secretary responds that the British Business Bank is "crowding in private sector investment" and that the "lion's share" of money in the levelling up scheme will go through the private sector.

A lmost 89,000 Britons have now applied to open up their homes to Ukrainian refugees, as a minister said he was "actually quite proud" that the website for the scheme had crashed.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHUC) said 88,712 people had registered their interest in the Homes for Ukraine scheme as of Tuesday morning, an increase from around 35,000 on Monday night.

I ndividuals and organisations are currently?able to use an online "portal"?to provide their details. Online?forms will be made available from Friday for individuals who are prepared to sponsor a refugee.

A ￡350-a-month "thank you" is to be paid to households?who take in Ukrainian refugees, which will help to cover increased energy and food costs.

The announcement of the new figure came as James Cleverly defended the Homes for Ukraine website crashing when it launched on Monday.

?Read the full story here

D erek Thomas, the Conservative MP for St Ives, says a large number of people are on state pension in his constituency.

"I wonder whether one of the easier routes just because of the critical rise in the cost of living would be to reinstate the triple-lock until next year?"

Rishi Sunak says Mr Thomas is "right to highlight" the situation, but adds: "He'll know we made a decision temporarily to move to a double-lock this year, because of the anomaly in the reported earnings which would have meant a statistically very large rise which wouldn't have been justified or fair in the circumstances.

"That said, because of this Government's policy on the triple-lock, I'm pleased to say that pensions now are at their highest level relative to earnings in more than three decades."

J ake Berry, the Conservative MP for Rossendale and Darwen, notes the cost of fuel is now an "eye-watering" ￡2 in some areas. He asks whether Rishi Sunak will look at not only cutting fuel duty but also putting up mileage recovery rates in the spring statement.

"I'm grateful to my Right Honourable friend for his suggestions, of course I'll bear them in mind," he says. "He's right about the rising cost of fuel at the pumps although I am pleased to see in the last few days the price of Brent has fallen by about 25 per cent, just illustrating the volatility of the situation at the moment."

Fay Jones, the Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, asks that her constituents are in mind ahead of the statement, adding it is "wrong to assume that those who live in rural areas are wealthy enough to withstand these pressures".

Mr Sunak says he knows the difficulties rural constituents are facing as he represents a rural constituency himself.

R ishi Sunak says the Government is putting in place support to ensure households can meet their energy costs, with a council tax rebate of ￡150 in April for most Britons and a further ￡200 of support from October.

On the Russian invasion, Mr Sunak says the Treasury has been "hard at work" to put in "the most comprehensive set of economic sanctions this country has ever done, and that Russia has ever experienced".

Asked by Steve McCabe, the Labour MP for Selly Oak, if?he would have advocated a National Insurance increase had he appreciated the extent by which energy bills would rise, Mr Sunak insists: "We have reacted to the situation with rising energy bills by putting in ￡9billion worth of support, which will get to households far faster than the proposals put forward by the Opposition, I might add.

"It's also worth bearing in mind that because of the price cap households will be protected from further increases all the way through to the autumn."

R ishi Sunak is asked by Kim Johnson about the recent assessment he has made of the impact of inflation on living standards, to which the Chancellor points to recent packages of Government support.

Ms Johnson notes that one-third of her Liverpool constituents suffer poverty, and asks Mr Sunak if he believes whether now is the time to increase National Insurance Contributions (NICS) amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Sunak says there are 300,000 fewer children in poverty than in 2010 "thanks to the actions of Conservative-led governments".

"We all know the best way to make sure children do not grow up in poverty is to make sure they grow up in a house where people work, and that is why I was delighted this morning that there are record numbers of people on payrolls."

I s there anyone watching the news who does not want to help Ukrainians? asks Suzanne Moore .

Actually I know a good few people who don’t watch the news as they find it all too distressing (not needing to engage is surely the ultimate "luxury belief") but even those who only skim the headlines would feel less powerless if they could offer aid.

The Government has come up with something that appears to have been scribbled on the back of an envelope.?Its "homes for Ukraine" scheme?will mean from today individuals can "sponsor" and offer a room to those fleeing the war. They can stay for six months and the hosts will get ￡350 a month.

I watched a lovely Rabbi preparing to welcome a family as his own parents had been refugees. Benedict Cumberbatch has spoken up for years on behalf of refugees and he did again at the Baftas on Sunday (although I am afraid the self-congratulation of the awards made me long for the no-show lockdown ceremonies).

Still, I am confident that many famous actors have the money to house those devastated by this war, but we do need to be realistic and ask ourselves what these people actually need? I worry that the Government passing this responsibility onto individual well-wishers is but one more sign of a terrible and incoherent policy toward refugees.

Suzanne Moore: We must help refugees build independent lives here

B oris Johnson is "absolutely right" to hold energy talks with Saudi Arabia, the Europe minister has said.

The Prime Minister travels to the kingdom later on Tuesday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as he seeks to convince the Saudis to increase oil and gas production - which would help the West to reduce its reliance on Russia.

Asked if Mr Johnson was being forced to choose between Russia and Saudi Arabia, James Cleverly told Times Radio: "We should remind ourselves that Vladimir Putin has instigated a completely unprovoked, completely unjustified invasion of a sovereign state.

"The PM is also right to try and ensure that in the short-term we can have alternative sources of energy whilst ultimately moving towards what our goal is which is a more economically and ecologically source of energy?generation, and that’s renewables."

On the execution of 81 people by the Saudi Arabian regime on Sunday, he told Sky News Britain's "longstanding and principled" opposition to the death penalty and said he had "no doubt" this would be communicated during Mr Johnson's visit.

T he?Russian invasion of Ukraine has seen more than 2million Ukrainians?flee the nation?in the fastest exodus this century, according to the latest United Nations figures.

The UK Government has been under intense?pressure?to react appropriately to the Ukraine refugee crisis. The Homes for Ukraine scheme will allow people in the UK to offer spare rooms to Ukrainians fleeing the conflict.

Writing on the Ukraine refugee crisis, Suzanne Moore?believes?that "having seen the magnificent? bravery of these people, we need to help them build independent lives here".

With more than 88,000 people?offering to host a Ukrainian refugee in their homes within the first five hours of the scheme being launched, we want to know if you are offering to host Ukrainian refugees, why you have chosen to do so and how you are finding the process.

Tell us by filling in the form here

A t a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force with leaders from across northern Europe, Boris Johnson told Volodymyr Zelensky, who appeared via videolink: "You've challenged us quite rightly to do more and we all know that we can and we must do more. And we've been discussing it last night and this morning.

"I hear your points very loud and clear about the economic sanctions that we need to tighten, where we need to go harder on the banks, on Swift, and I think you're completely right in what you say.

"And when you talk about trying to protect Ukraine from the air, Volodymyr, who can listen to your appeals without a sense of urgency? And this is a desperate, desperate moment and I think we must try to do more particularly to support you in protecting the Ukrainian people from bombardment by artillery and by aviation."

M r Zelensky, the?Ukrainian President, thanked countries that had taken a "moral stance" against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"I'm grateful to Great Britain and personally to Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his leadership... We can still stop the Russian war machine and we can still stop the killing of people, and it will be easier to do it together, stop the destruction of our democracy together and stop it now or else they will also come to you."

B oris Johnson will meet with Baltic and Nordic leaders at Lancaster House today to coordinate the international response amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

I t comes after a meeting of his Cabinet. The main business of the Commons today will be Treasury Questions, followed by a debate led by backbench MPs on the Russian invasion and how the UK should respond to the Ukraine crisis.

U K defence spending will fall before the next election in real terms because of soaring inflation, ministers are warning Rishi Sunak, as political pressure builds to increase the budget, writes Ben Riley-Smith .

Analysis of the defence budget, which takes into account rising prices, shows that while it increases in 2022, it actually drops in 2023 and again in 2024.

The Treasury approved a major increase in defence spending in 2020 and again allocated more money in the?2021 Budget.

I t means the UK defence budget is increasing from around ￡40 billion in 2019 to nearly ￡49 billion in 2024, according to figures in Budget documents published last autumn.

However, much of the increase is front-loaded, meaning there is a bigger increase at the start of that five-year period than at the end of it.

Defence spending likely to drop two years in a row

S quatters broke into the central London mansion owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska and declared that it "belongs to?Ukrainian refugees".

Dozens of riot police were sent to the Belgrave Square property, armed with a JCB, but protesters remained on the balcony last night.

Mr Deripaska, an industrialist who has had?close links with the British political establishment, was targeted with sanctions by the UK Government last week.

Last night he accused the Government of colluding with people who raided his home and said the UK was failing to uphold basic laws of private property.

India McTaggart and Benedict Smith have the story

M ore than one million referrals of children for specialist mental health help were made last year, official figures show, as the Royal College of Psychiatrists warned it is "becoming an impossible situation to manage", Laura Donnelly writes .

Statistics show a record 4.3million?referrals for those of all ages, up 15 per cent since before the pandemic.

For the first time, more than one million cases?involved those aged 18 and under, a 26 per cent increase in cases in just two years.?

Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the country was coming to terms with the "biggest hit to its mental health in generations". He said there was an urgent need for a plan to tackle the number of people waiting for help.

It comes as 27 MPs call on the Government to improve access to?talking therapies, with one Tory speaking of his own history of self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Read the full story here

A hopeful development in the case of?Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe - who Tulip Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, says has been given her British passport back.

"She is still at her family home in Tehran," Ms Siddiq wrote on Twitter.

"I also understand that there is a British negotiating team in Tehran right now. I will keep posting updates as I get them."

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, has been in custody in the country since 2016 after she was accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

A ?Labour peer was blocked from taking part in a debate after he was accused of falling asleep in the House of Lords.?

Lord Young of Norwood Green stood up to speak just after 10pm on Monday during a debate about proposed changes to gene editing laws after Brexit.

B ut before he could offer his thoughts, Lord Young was interrupted by Lady Bloomfield, a Conservative whip - who said he had been "fast asleep for the entire duration" of a ministerial speech.

Read the full story here

R ishi Sunak has confirmed a ban on luxury, high-end exports to Russia in addition to raised tariffs on hundreds of Russian goods.

Britain will ban the export of luxury goods likely to include artworks, supercars and high-end fashion items in lockstep with the rest of the G7.

A goods list worth ￡900 million, including Russian vodka, will now face an additional tariff of 35 per cent on top of existing tariffs.

"Our new tariffs will further isolate the Russian economy from global trade, ensuring it does not benefit from the rules-based international system it does not respect," Mr Sunak said.

"These tariffs build on the UK’s existing work to starve Russia’s access to international finance, sanction Putin’s cronies and exert maximum economic pressure on his regime."

R ussia will also be denied Most Favoured Nation tariff treatment for key imports.

T he Europe minister expressed his hope for "fruitful" peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as he said Vladimir Putin's invasion had not gone to plan to date.

Noting the "disinformation and dishonesty" that has emanated from the Kremlin in recent weeks, James Cleverly said the defence mounted by Ukrainians of their territory had "forced Russia to reconsider" its strategy".

"The simple fact is that the attack that [Putin] thought was going to be so easy has proven to be anything but easy," he told ITV's Good Morning Britain.

?"I really hope these talks are fruitful, but we will judge Russia by its actions, and what we want to see, of course, is for them to leave Ukraine."

G ermany insisted on watered-down?EU sanctions?against Russia last night, Nick Gutteridge reports from Brussels , in a move that sparked fury from other members of the bloc.

Berlin demanded "carve outs" for raw materials vital to its industrial heartlands, leaving capitals in eastern Europe dismayed. Hours earlier, Christian Lindner, Germany's finance minister, said his country favoured tougher measures to heap "maximum pressure on?Putin".

Following fractious talks, a furious Polish envoy fired off an email to the bloc's other 26 embassies expressing disgust.

EU ambassadors only agreed on a fourth round of measures against the Kremlin after marathon negotiations in?Brussels.

The sanctions were only given the green light after a long and ill-tempered debate between increasingly divided member states.

EU agrees new measures aimed at crippling Russian economy

A Ukrainian family of four who?fled the Russian shelling?to reach Moldova could be the first to come to the UK, after being offered refuge by a British family in their six-bedroom Yorkshire home, writes Charles Hymas .

Lillia and Vitalii Kucher and their two daughters Victoria, 14, and Ilona, six, are poised to come to Britain within the next week after fleeing their home on the border with Moldova, as salvos of Russian army rockets exploded 80 miles away at the start of the war.

T hey linked up with Yorkshire-based Sabrina and Tony O’Brien and their three daughters by using EU4UA, an independent social media-style platform that matches refugees seeking homes to potential hosts,?separate to the Government’s website.

Ministers have made clear that, in the first wave, UK families willing to take in refugees with no UK family links will have to?provide named Ukrainians?for them to get the necessary paperwork to enter the country.

Couple and their daughters open doors to six-bedroom home

A lmost 89,000 people have registered an interest in opening up their homes to a Ukrainian refugee.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said that the latest figure is now 88,712.

S NP claims that Scotland is a world leader in?tackling climate change?have been exposed as "hollow rhetoric" after independent experts found progress had "stagnated", Daniel Sanderson reports .

A report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), published on Tuesday, said the Scottish government had presented a "vision" for protecting the environment but had largely failed to deliver practical policies.

It found no credible plans for adapting farmland or agriculture, a lack of planning around infrastructure and water preservation and that targets on peatland restoration and to protect wild animals were being missed.

Meanwhile, there was a "critical gap" in how the impact of policies was monitored and evaluated, meaning crucial information was "largely unknown", with muddled portfolios meaning ministers often escaped accountability.

Climate change committee finds SNP has largely failed to deliver

C hina must "play its part?in making the world safer" if it wishes to be a "global player", the shadow levelling up, housing and communities secretary has said.

Labour's Lisa Nandy called on China to "stand up to Russian aggression" in light of comments by James Cleverly that confirmed the Government "haven't had [a] statement from China" ruling out its military involvement in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict? (see 8.07am) .

"What we are looking to do is ensure that China and indeed every other country around the world is condemning Russia’s actions, absolutely not supporting Russia in its aggression against Ukraine and indeed sanctioning Russia, putting real financial pressure on Russia," Mr Cleverly said.

"That’s what we’re calling on the international community to do and that’s what we’ll push for."

U niversity lecturers have been accused of spreading pro-Putin propaganda on social media as the Government promises a "crackdown",? Camilla Turner reports .

Several academics have been acting as "useful idiots" for Russia’s atrocities, a senior Tory MP warned yesterday. In education questions, Robert Halfon, chairman of the education select committee, told the Commons that an investigation by LBC had exposed "pro-Putinist propaganda at some of our leading universities".

He added that Ray Bush, professor emeritus of African studies and development politics at the University of Leeds, had made reference to the United States having "chemical warfare installations in Ukraine - that's a lie, as he knows, being?spread by the Kremlin".

At Edinburgh University, Professor Tim Hayward retweeted a Russian representative to the United Nations describing the attack on Mariupol's maternity hospital as "fake news", he said, while at Leicester University another academic had described "ludicrous disinformation on both sides" and "boasted about appearing on Russia Today".

Prof Hayward said he was tweeting in a personal capacity and that he did not "retweet but quote-tweeted".?He said he did not endorse the "categorical fake news allegation" and that he retweeted many people whom he disagreed with. "I recognise propaganda can abound on all sides. I am not pro-Russia and emphatically not pro-Putin," he said.

Full story: Academics acting as 'useful idiots' for Russian atrocities

B ritons who take in Ukrainian refugees will only get the ￡350-a-month payments for the first year despite their stay in the country lasting for up to three years.

Full details of how the new sponsorship scheme, which will allow people in the UK to offer spare rooms to Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, have emerged via Government sources.

T he scheme, drawn up by?Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, launches on Monday with aspects of the approach still under development.

Ben Riley-Smith, our Political Editor, looks at how it will work

B oris Johnson will take?a pay rise of ￡2,200?despite several MPs and Scottish National Party ministers pledging to give?theirs to good causes,? writes Camilla Turner, our Chief Political Correspondent .?

The Prime Minister's spokesman said there was "no way" for him to decline the increase because it would go through automatically. He declined to comment on whether he would donate his increase to charity, saying he was "not going to get into" his charitable donations.

The spokesman said the Prime Minister "is not able to turn down that pay rise which is independently judged by Ipsa [the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority]".

Asked whether he would cut his ministerial salary by ￡2,200, the spokesman said: "The ministerial element of the Prime Minister's salary has been frozen for some time now and will remain so."

MPs receive pay rise despite Johnson urging watchdog to show 'restraint'

B ritain cannot go on like this and must take back control, Boris Johnson says this morning as he?calls on the Western world to end its dependence on Vladimir Putin by weaning itself off oil and gas.

Writing exclusively for the Telegraph, the Prime Minister says that the Russian leader has exploited our need for his oil and gas, but now we must take back control.

Mr Johnson acknowledges that the West made a "terrible mistake" in allowing Mr Putin to "get away" with the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

"Putin’s strength ? his vast resource of hydrocarbons ? is also his weakness. He has virtually nothing else. Putin’s Russia makes little that the rest of the world wants to buy," he writes.?"If the world can?end its dependence on Russian oil and gas, we can starve him of cash, destroy his strategy and cut him down to size.

"Later this month, I will set out a British Energy Security Strategy - how the UK will become more self-sufficient and no longer at the mercy of bullies like Putin. At the heart of the strategy is green energy of all kinds. Green electricity isn’t just better for the environment, it’s better for your bank balance."

B oris Johnson: There will be tough times ahead - but we can cut crippling bills

B ritain has urged China to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine amid reports President Xi's regime is "willing to supply" Vladimir Putin with weapons and military aid.

James Cleverly, the Europe minister, confirmed that British ministers had not received any guarantee from China that it would not get involved in the current conflict in Ukraine.

"What we’re saying to all countries is that they should denounce this unprovoked, illegal attack into Ukraine by Russia," he told Sky News.

"They should not in any way be supporting Russia. And we urge countries to join the UK and the international community in condemning and sanctioning Russia to choke off the finances that are funding Putin’s war effort.

"There is no justification at all for this attack and we urge China and all countries across the world to denounce it and absolutely not support it."

M r Cleverly added that he would like to see the international community step up its efforts in "sanctioning Russia [and] putting real financial pressure on Russia" in order to weaken President Putin's war machine.

T he Russian invasion of Ukraine is among reasons the Government should ultimately ditch oil and gas and pursue its net zero strategy, the Europe minister has said.

Asked if the UK had given up on fracking - which is not mentioned by Boris Johnson in his article for the Telegraph today - James Cleverly said it was "absolutely clear" there was a need to "move away from our collective addiction to hydrocarbon energy".

"The UK has really led the way, we saw this at Cop26 in Glasgow, in pushing for alternative energy production, moving away from gas, moving away from oil," he told Sky News.

"The situation in Ukraine presents a unique and terrible additional emphasis to us, collectively, to move away from our addiction [to] hydrocarbons and it’s absolutely right we seek to do that because it’s the right thing to do for the environment. And as we’re now seeing, it denies Russia an incredibly important source of income."

M r Cleverly insisted specific decisions around sealing the last viable wells were for the Energy Secretary, but moving to a more sustainable model was "the right thing to do" to deny Russia funding for its current war effort.

T here had been some doubt in recent days around whether Boris Johnson would visit Saudi Arabia, but his visit has been confirmed to the PA news agency this morning.

James Cleverly, the minister doing the broadcast round?for the Government this morning, could not say whether the Saudis had condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but said this would be something that Mr Johnson "brings up when he visits".

The Prime Minister will fly out tonight, according to Sky News, after MPs used an urgent question tabled by senior Tory MP Crispin Blunt yesterday to voice their disgust at the executions of 81 people by the regime on Sunday.

Mr Blunt said the developments came as "profound concern to this House and to our country" just one week after the Crown Prince had promised to "modernise" the Saudi justice system.

Alyn Smith, the SNP foreign affairs spokesman, said the visit should not proceed, while Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP, told the Commons: "If the PM goes in the next few days to Saudi Arabia, we will be sending a very clear signal that no matter what we say, we're not really bothered about this sort of thing."

B oris Johnson is "absolutely right" to hold energy talks with Saudi Arabia, the Europe minister said this morning ahead of the Prime Minister flying out to the kingdom later today.

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