The Conservative Party will not return Russia-linked donations as they are properly declared, Liz Truss has said.
The Foreign Secretary insisted no-one would be "off the table" regarding sanctions in the event of a full-scale of invasion after three oligarchs and five banks were targeted yesterday.
But asked if Russian linked-cash would be handed back by the Conservatives, Ms Truss said: "All donations to the Conservative Party are from people on the electoral register, in Britain. Those donations are properly declared.
"What we’re talking about here is people - the oligarchs that we’re targeting in today’s sanctions - closely linked to Vladimir Putin’s regime. Now there are many people who have moved to Britain from Russia who are not necessarily friends of Vladimir Putin and who have become British citizens.
"That is a completely different matter from people who are close to Vladimir Putin who are backing his appalling regime... All of those donations are properly declared".
Labour claims donors who have made money from Russia have given ￡1.93million to either the Conservative Party or individual constituency associations since Boris Johnson took office in July 2019.
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A lab leak in Wuhan, China, is now considered the most likely origin of the Covid pandemic "behind closed doors" in the Government, it has been claimed, after Boris Johnson signalled that security measures would be enhanced to prevent accidental escape.
On Monday, the Prime Minister told the House of Commons that the UK biosecurity strategy would be refreshed to protect against "natural zoonosis and laboratory leaks", in a public acknowledgement of the threat from insecure research facilities.
There is mounting suspicion that Covid-19 leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology which had been collecting and experimenting on dangerous bat coronaviruses in the years before the virus first emerged in the city.
The Government has asked for evidence before drafting a new biosecurity strategy, which will deal with "accidental release and dual-use research of concern, where life science research is capable of being misapplied to do harm".
Full story: Ministers 'consider leak most likely origin'
Prime Minister's Questions will make its return today now that Parliament has returned from recess, with Boris Johnson to face Sir Keir Starmer at midday.
Women and equalities questions will get the show on the road in the Commons at 11.30am, before an opposition day focused on Russian aggression and poor-quality accommodation alongside any urgent questions/minister statements.
In the Lords there will be questions on Russian naval exercises, committee consideration of the Refugees (Family Reunion) Bill and the second reading of the Elections Bill.
And Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor, is currently addressing the Treasury Committee right this moment.
Whenever I begin to think positively about Sir Keir Starmer, I usually receive a jolt back into reality when I remember that he was only too happy to serve for three years as a leading light in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, writes Iain Dale. Not only that, but he campaigned to make him prime minister.
We had a lucky escape. On Monday, Jezza rose from the backest of backbenches and appeared to intimate that the Ukraine crisis was all the West’s fault. More specifically, he asked Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, if Nato would withdraw troops "from the border" (of where?) if Russia did the same – as if Vladimir Putin’s demands were in any way justified.
Corbyn was rightly given short shrift by Wallace. Corbyn’s extremist position is the same as that adopted by the Stop the War Coalition, which he chairs. They seem to buy into the Nato encirclement myth propagated by the Kremlin.
Even in the statement the group issued yesterday, which called on Russia to withdraw troops from eastern Ukraine, it couldn’t help blaming the conflict in part on "the expansion of Nato and US hegemony at the expense of other countries". Britain, it said bizarrely, had played a "provocative role".
Iain Dale: Jeremy Corbyn's antics still embarrass Labour
Boris Johnson has unveiled a "first barrage" of economic sanctions against Russia, after Vladimir Putin ordered troops into two breakaway regions of Ukraine and signed decrees recognising their independence.
In the UK, almost 2,000 miles away from the action, it’s easy to feel complacent about how war could affect our lives.
Indeed, Britain is very unlikely to be drawn into a "hot" military conflict. But experts say that war between Russia and Ukraine will change everyday life in the UK in ways most people have not yet fully understood.
From mortgage-rate rises to bigger grocery bills, and cyber attacks to a new age of nuclear anxiety, here's how Putin’s invasion could echo around the streets of Britain.
The Ukraine crisis is a "wake up call for Nato", Liz Truss said this morning.
The Foreign Secretary highlighted that the UK was "particularly" supporting Estonia with an enhanced military presence but stressed that there had to be a wider concerted effort among European and international allies to strengthen their own forces.
"This is a wake up call for Nato. For years and years Russia has been building up its military strength, it's been investing in high-tech military capabilities," she told GB News.
"We in the United Kingdom have upped our military spending but we need to see Nato allies do that as well because my view is if he is successful, and we are doing everything to try and stop him from being successful, Vladimir Putin will not stop at Ukraine.
"This issue of the economic support we have in Britain, protecting freedom and democracy in Europe. We are able to take tough decisions, the Germans have shown they are prepared to take tough decisions with Nord Stream 2, the Americans have shown they are prepared to take tough decisions.
"All I'm saying is we should be prepared to take those decisions for the long term sake of freedm and democracy in Europe and we are united with our allies in doing that. We need to do more to strengthen Nato and we are working on that."
Labour called for sanctions on Vladimir Putin to go further this morning after the Russian President "crossed a line".
"You've got the EU effectively going after 27 oligarchs, there are 74,000 Russians here in our country, there's got to be more than three oligarchs," David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, told LBC.
"I think you and I can put our heads together and come up with a few. None of them are on the list, so the question is what's going on?"
Mr Lammy suggested "going after" semiconductors and cutting Russia out of Swift to weaken its place in the global financial system.
"If we want Vladimir Putin to take us seriously we've got to hit him hard financially, particularly because we all know we're not putting boots on the ground."
The BBC has defended its decision to downgrade its News at Ten coverage of the Ukraine crisis in favour of a report about the lifting of UK Covid restrictions.
News of Russian troops moving into Ukraine was relegated to the second spot in the BBC One bulletin on Monday night, 17 minutes into the programme.
Instead, it led with Boris Johnson’s announcement that Covid restrictions were to end, including analysis by Laura Kuenssberg, interviews with elderly members of Eastbourne and District Model Yacht Club, and reports from every UK region.
Critics of the decision included David Gauke, the former Tory minister, who made his feelings clear on Twitter.
Anita Singh, our Arts and Entertainment Editor, has more
Alex Salmond is facing fresh demands to cancel his show on the Russian propaganda channel RT amid calls for the Kremlin-funded broadcaster to be banned in the UK.
The former first minister, who has hosted a weekly show on the network since 2017, was warned that he was acting as a "useful idiot" to Vladimir Putin and that his presence on the network was damaging Scotland’s reputation.
Mr Salmond’s Alba Party yesterday issued a condemnation of Russia’s move to send troops into two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, but called for "Russia’s own security interests" to also be considered in coming to a peaceful solution.
Last week, the party attacked the UK and US for "hyping" a possible conflict and claimed there was a lack of evidence to justify warnings of Russian aggression.
Daniel Sanderson, our Scottish Correspondent, has this story
There is "too much connection" between Russian oligarchs and donations to the Conservatives, the shadow foreign secretary has claimed.
Urging the Tories to "hand back ￡2million", David Lammy told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Our concerns are, I'm afraid, that there has been too much connection between Russian oligarchs and donations to the Conservative Party.
"Frankly, it's not clear entirely what's going on. I mean, I just think this was a moment when Britain had to step up and demonstrate certain kinds of seriousness. It hasn't happened.
"This is a long-standing issue, this is a line in the sand."
People in Scotland will continue to receive free tests after they have been scrapped in England, it has emerged, as Nicola Sturgeon was accused of picking a fight with Westminster on the issue.
The First Minister said that her administration would uphold the "principle" of free tests for all, but criticised the UK Government for failing to provide extra funding for them.
It follows Boris Johnson’s announcement for "living with Covid" in England on Monday, which saw the abolition of free tests for all but the most vulnerable from Apr 1 and an end to mandatory self-isolation.
In Scotland, where the isolation requirement has never been enforced by law, Ms Sturgeon said that guidance to isolate after a positive test result would remain.
Tony Diver, Simon Johnson and Lizzie Roberts have this report
On whether oligarchs would be damaged at all now that they have been warned by the Government, Liz Truss repeated that there is "nowhere to hide".
"We are raising the levels of concern and fear and pain around the Kremlin to do what we can to stop further invasion of Ukraine."
Asked about Labour suspicions that the Conservative Party has benefited from donations by many close to Vladimir Putin's regime, Ms Truss dismissed this suggestion as "completely wrong".
"We are acting in concert with our international allies which is vitally important and we are taking an escalatory approach. We will agree a further package in the event, which we think is highly-likely, in the event of a full-scale invasion into Ukraine.
"Nothing is off the table in terms of who we're targeting, in terms of what entities we're targeting."
On criticism from some of her party's own MPs of the scale of yesterday's sanctions, Liz Truss was adamant the UK has "sanctions left in the locker" to impose.
"I think it's so important we are working in concert with our international allies.
"There's a further list of oligarchs that we will target in the event of a full invasion... I'm not going to go into numbers."
Sanctions are "closely coordinated" with the US and Europe, Ms Truss said, and "the worst thing we could do is show any divisions in the West."
She told BBC Radio 4: "What we have done, and we have been working on this since December, is working on a coordinated package of sanctions.
Asked if Vladimir Putin was likely to respond to an incremental approach, Liz Truss described the Russian president as "hell-bent on invading Ukraine".
"There has been a plan in place for a number of months, the Russians have shown they are not serious about diplomacy. This is about turning the clock back to the mid-1990s, this is about regaining control of Ukraine and what I fear is Putin will not stop at Ukraine.
"This is about broader security in Eastern Europe."
On a suggestion from Rusi that the sanctions were like taking a "peashooter to a gunfight", Ms Truss noted one of the banks that has been sanctioned funds the Russian military.
"This is about inflicting pain on Vladimir Putin and degrading the Russian economic system over time. If you're asking me is he paying attention, my view is he wants to invade, this is a longstanding plan, and what we have to do is make it as painful as possible both in terms of providing support to the Ukrainian government... and by imposing economic costs."
The situation in Ukraine remains "extremely concerning" ahead of a "highly likely" full-scale invasion, Liz Truss has warned.
"We're seeing all the precursors to that taking place," the Foreign Secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, adding that the UK had been at the "forefront" of efforts to help Ukraine.
"It is vital that we and our international partners continue to support Ukraine in the face of this appalling Russian aggression... We continue to supply support of all kinds to Ukraine."
Ms Truss ruled out a timeframe of 24 hours for a Russian invasion, as suggested by the Australian prime minister.
"The purpose of the sanctions we have put in place, together with our allies across the G7, they are to inflict pain on the Putin regime. We've targeted key oligarchs close to Putin, we are making it impossible for Russia to raise sovereign debt, we're targeting key banks that fund the military."
Scotland Yard has questioned attendees at Downing Street lockdown parties under caution, a leaked document has revealed.
It raises the prospect that Boris Johnson has become the first Prime Minister to be questioned under caution by the police.
The document appears to be a copy of the questionnaire issued by the Metropolitan Police to those accused of attending illegal gatherings.
It contains the standard Police and Criminal Evidence Act caution which states: "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."
Last night, Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, described it as an "embarrassment" for the Government and Mr Johnson personally.
Martin Evans, our Crime Correspondent, has this report
The Champions League final must move from Russia in the wake of Vladimir Putin's actions, Liz Truss insisted this morning.
Echoing calls from Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries for Uefa to reconsider the location of the match, the Foreign Secretary told Times Radio: "My view on the final is that it shouldn't go ahead.
"Russia has denied the existence of another sovereign state, it is preparing an invasion of Ukraine. I think it would be completely wrong for a football tournament to take place there."
In further comments on the Today programme, Ms Truss claimed it would be "appalling" were the game to go ahead.
The Conservative Party will not return Russia-linked donations as they are properly declared, Liz Truss has said.
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