The number of Ukrainian refugees welcomed to Britain will increase "very, very quickly", the Europe minister has said.

       On Sunday afternoon, the Home Office confirmed that around "around 50" visas had been granted under the Ukraine Family scheme to those fleeing the Russian invasion. More than 5,500 applications have been made online to date.

       When challenged on the response, James Cleverly, the Europe minister, told Times Radio that it was "just the start" of the process.

       "Understandably and quite rightly there have been a large number of people who have applied to this," he said. "I have no doubt that you will see those numbers increase very, very quickly as we work through those applications.

       "There does have to be a process, the secret is to get that process as quick and slick as possible. We don’t have a target or necessarily an upper limit, we want to make sure we are as generous as possible. But we also need to recognise refugees need help right through the process."

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       The Deputy Prime Minister emphasised the needs for security checks on new arrivals to Britain as part of the Government’s commitments to helping those fleeing Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

       Mr Raab - whose own father fled from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia in 1938 - was asked by Nina Hossain, a presenter with ITV News, whether the pathway for Ukrainians should be as simple as it was for those seeking sanctuary during the late 1930s.

       "I don't need to be lectured by you about what my father went through. And you are talking about something you know little about," he said. "It was incredibly difficult for my father to get to the UK.

       "It is absolutely right, given the foreign fighters that are there alongside the Russians, that we make sure that we do have security checks precisely so that our generosity is directed to those who deserve our compassion, not those who might seek to harm us."

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       SNP plans for a new independence referendum could be shelved again due to the Ukraine crisis, the party’s Westminster leader has suggested.

       Ian Blackford said that his short-term focus was on the Russian invasion and called on his party to be "respectful of the responsibilities" it had and "mindful" of the global situation, reports Daniel Sanderson, our Scottish Correspondent.

       Nicola Sturgeon has continued to insist that a new referendum will be held by next year, and claimed last month that "preparatory work is under way" to enable it to be held.

       However, there are significant doubts over her ability to deliver, with the constitution reserved to Westminster and the UK Government refusing to countenance allowing an independence vote to go ahead.

       Be mindful of where we are, Ian Blackford urges members

       Vladimir Putin should know he will face punishment at the end of his war on Ukraine, Gordon Brown said this morning.

       The former prime minister has urged the creation of a special Nuremberg-style tribunal in the hope that it could "send out a message to give morale to the Ukrainian people" and put the Russian leadership on notice about the penalties it could go on to face.

       Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, he said: "You'd set up a prosecutor probably in the Hague, they would compile the case.

       "They would then demand the arrest of Putin and his colleagues. That would lead eventually to a trial if we can get hold of them."

       The NHS will pay for patients' taxis and hotels if they opt for treatment at another hospital away from their home, writes Tony Diver, as Sajid Javid launches a major health reform that will allow the public to "shop around" between trusts to avoid long waiting times.

       The Health Secretary will launch the "My Planned Care" initiative tomorrow, in an attempt to reduce the list of a record six million patients in the UK waiting for treatment.

       A new online dashboard will allow patients to "shop around" by looking at waiting times for their procedure at other trusts, allowing the burden on hospitals to be more evenly distributed across the UK.

       Mr Javid suggested the NHS will also pay for travel and accommodation for people who are using NHS services that are far from their homes, and that patients will be able to compare the services of NHS and private hospitals directly.

       Read more on tomorrow's major health reforms

       Thirty years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy’s defence secretary, Robert McNamara, learnt something that made his blood run cold, writes Nick Timothy. Unknown to Washington, in the event of a US attack on Cuba, Soviet forces there had been primed to strike back with nuclear weapons.

       Nick Timothy: Calm, clear predictable policies can help us win this new Cold War

       Sir Keir Starmer refused to repeat his call for Boris Johnson to resign over the Downing Street party scandal, as he said politicians should demonstrate "unity" after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reports Tony Diver, our Whitehall Correspondent.

       Despite a Labour spokesman insisting that the party had not withdrawn its call for the Prime Minister to leave office, both the party leader and shadow defence secretary dodged questions about the issue and talked up Labour's support for the Government's sanctions.

       Asked by the BBC whether he stood by his calls for Mr Johnson to leave his role, Sir Keir said: "I do think there’s a basic question of trust and it does seem a long time ago now we were talking about all the allegations the Prime Minister faces."

       But a Labour spokesman said later on in the day: "We haven't withdrawn our call for Boris Johnson to resign".

       Keir Starmer: PM 'concentrating on the job' over Ukraine

       The SNP has doubled down on its commitment to axing Trident in the face of Vladimir Putin's nuclear threats.

       Asked by the PA news agency whether Russian aggression and events in Ukraine had led to a change in party policy, Ian Blackford, the party's Westminster leader, said: "No. Absolutely not at all, because there is a threat to the world from nuclear weapons.

       "The idea that having nuclear weapons provides a deterrence that removes that threat is far-fetched, to say the least."

       Mr Blackford also accused Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, of making "wrong assumptions" that Scotland would be more vulnerable if it became independent - the central objective of the SNP.

       "The SNP Scottish government is very clear that an independent Scotland, amongst other things, would seek to be a member of Nato," he said.

       "We would be alongside our friends or partners in the Western world, and we would want to make sure that we're taking our responsibilities for defence and security just as any other independent country does."

       The escape route and ceasefire offered by Russia this morning is a "nonsense" and "cynical beyond belief", James Cleverly said.

       Russia did not keep to its word during two attempted ceasefires over the weekend, with civilians being shelled - in some cases dying of their injuries - as they attempted to flee.

       Ukrainians will only be able to leave to Russia and Belarus, according to the Russian RIA Novosti news agency.

       "It appears cynical beyond belief," Mr Cleverly told BBC Breakfast. "There is a view that Vladimir Putin believed there was a widespread desire of Ukrainians to be closer to Russia, to be more Russian.

       "I think that has been proven to be a complete nonsense by the circumstances we are seeing. Providing evacuation routes into the arms of the country that is currently destroying yours is a nonsense."

       The Tory chairman of the foreign affairs committee has criticised the scale of Britain's response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis so far.

       Asked by Nick Ferrari on LBC's breakfast show whether the Home Office had failed by granting visas to 50 Ukrainians, Tom Tugendhat said: "Well, it's certainly not a success is it?"

       He added the Home Office must be "absolutely delivering" to ensure the right support for those most in need.

       "The British people are extremely generous, you and I both know that," Mr Tugendhat said.

       "This isn't some sort of, you know, illegal scam. This is, perfectly obviously, people fleeing for their lives and we need to be absolutely there to support them."

       Asked about the shocking images in the New York Times of a mother and her two children killed by Russia as they tried to flee, James Cleverly told Times Radio: "Those images are heartbreaking, they are incredibly difficult to watch and they remind us what hell Ukrainians are going through.

       "But Vladimir Putin is desperate to try and paint this as Russia defending itself against Nato aggression.

       "That is demonstrably nonsense, Nato is a defensive organisation - we’ve always made it clear that Nato is a defensive organisation. It would play straight into Putin’s narrative if he were to be able to demonstrate direct head-to-head conflict between Russia and Nato.

       "If we’re going to create a no-fly zone it has to be enforced and that would inevitably mean Nato aircraft in direct confrontation with Russian aircraft."

       In a separate interview with Kay Burley at Breakfast, Mr Cleverly said: "We are continuing to provide defensive military equipment support to the Ukrainian armed forces, we’ve seen that be incredibly effective, those NLAWs, those anti-tank missiles and the training we’ve given over the years have proven to be incredibly effective."

       Britain could "quite possibly" ban Russian oil and gas, the Europe minister indicated, but it will be "more significant" to reduce the continent's wider dependency on imports.

       "From the UK’s point of view of course we import very, very little Russian hydrocarbons anyway and so that’s something that we will of course consider," James Cleverly told Times Radio.

       "And it’s also important that we look at ways of helping those countries in Europe who are very heavily reliant on Russian gas in particular to make sure that is robust."

       Asked outright if ministers would introduce a ban, Mr Cleverly said: "Yeah, quite possibly. I don’t want to say a definite yes because I’m not involved directly in those negotiations but we import very little anyway.

       "What’s more significant is making sure we find a way of working as a team of working with those countries who are very heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas. Me saying the UK might do this might make for a good headline but what we need to do is make sure we work closely with each other."

       Around three per cent of UK gas demand is fulfilled by shipments of Russian gas, but other European countries are much more dependent on energy from the country.

       The number of Ukrainian refugees welcomed to Britain will increase "very, very quickly", the Europe minister has said this morning.

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