Energy firms could be bailed out using taxpayer-funded loans, as the Government scrambles to resolve the building gas crisis.

       Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, has had held several meetings with energy bosses over the weekend and they are expected to continue this week, amid warnings that dozens of companies could go bust. A bail-out fund is one of several options on the table, with the industry fearing a financial crisis-style collapse.

       James Cleverly, the Foreign Office minister, signalled a willingness to let some of them collapse, telling the BBC: "We would much prefer to see diversity in the market... but our priority is to protect the consumer and protect the integrity of gas supply".

       Speaking to Sky News, he added: "We will do absolutely everything we can to protect our consumer... Exactly how we do that will be up for discussion

       He insisted that the UK was "in a pretty good place" because of the nature of supply both domestically and from "reliable" partners such as Norway.

       Speaking from New York, Boris Johnson said the bounce-back from Covid had caused a global "bottleneck". Asked whether the problems could last for months, Mr Johnson said: “It could be faster than that, it could be much faster than that.”

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       A minister has refused to say how many British dual nationals were being held in Iran, saying it is not in their best interest to do so.

       James Cleverly, the Foreign Office minister, told LBC that Iran "currently hold a number of British dual nationals in detention, completely arbitrary detention".

       He insisted he did know the figure, but refused to disclose it, saying: "I'm not going to discuss that this morning because, actually, it's not always in the best interests of the people that we're trying to help.... It's not always in the best interest of the individuals for their cases to be publicised."

       Pushed as to whether he knew the figure, he said: "I do, I work on this all the time."

       The major military deal struck between the UK, US and Australia is "not about France," a minister has said today, amid a diplomatic row.

       James Cleverly, the Foreign Office minister, told Sky News: "With any international relationship there are ups and downs. I have no doubt we will be able to resolve any frictions that there are currently with France... This is Global Britain engaging with the world, working with all partners across the world - including Australia and the US."

       Responding to reports this morning that France has said trade talks with Australia are now "unthinkable", Mr Cleverly said: "Contractual relationships between Australia and France is for Australia and France."

       There is no connection between the growing energy crisis and Brexit, Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has said.

       Asked if there was a link, he told LBC: "No, no, this is hitting a number of countries around the world and it is - I think the Prime Minister summed up rather well - this is a byproduct of the sudden increase in demand as we come out of Covid.

       "Globally, the UK is in a better position than many countries because, obviously, we have a domestic gas production capability, and our imported gas is from very, very reliable partners like Norway.

       "So whilst this is affecting many, many parts of the world simultaneously, actually the UK is in a better position than many."

       The release of dual nationals by Iran will be "top of the agenda" at a meeting between new Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her Iranian counterpart, a Foreign Office minister has said.

       Ms Truss will meet with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday.

       James Cleverly said: "We will continue pushing and we will not rest until we get them all home. Their incarceration is arbitrary, it's completely unjustified and we have made it clear that we will not stop working to get those British dual nationals home."

       Asked how confident he was that Ms Truss would succeed where others had failed, he said: "Well, it is never easy negotiating with the Iranian leadership. But... she's an incredibly focused and energetic minister, she's well-regarded for that, and I have no doubt that she will apply that energy to these negotiations."

       The Government's "priority" is ensuring that food supplies are unaffected by gas shortages, a minister has said.

       Speaking after the owner of Bernard Matthews warned that C)2 shortages mean "Christmas will be cancelled" (see post below), James Cleverly said the Government was working to address "some short-term shortages."

       The Foreign Office minister added: "We will ensure that we are able to put food on the tables, that is a real priority."

       On the medium and longer-term, he said the Government wanted to ensure "the UK is increasingly self sufficient in terms of good production, logistics chain - HGV drivers and so on."

       Iceland is not the only food business to raise a warning over the impact of CO2 shortages on Christmas.

       This weekend, Ranjit Singh Boparan, the owner of Bernard Matthews and 2 Sisters Food Group, said the closure of two large fertiliser plants in Teesside and Cheshire due to a sharp rise in gas prices could mean "Christmas will be cancelled".

       CO2 is essential to the humane slaughter of livestock, extends the shelf life of products and is vital to cooling systems for refrigeration purposes, industry leaders have said.

       He said: There are less than 100 days left until Christmas and Bernard Matthews and my other poultry businesses are working harder than ever before to try and recruit people to maintain food supplies.”

       He said that “the gaps on the shelves” that he had warned about in July were “getting bigger by the day”.

       Boparan continued: “The supply of Bernard Matthews turkeys this Christmas was already compromised as I need to find 1,000 extra workers to process supplies. Now, with no CO2 supply, Christmas will be cancelled.

       A shortage of CO2 could cause food shortages in the run-up to Christmas, the managing director of Iceland supermarket has said.

       Richard Walker told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that suppliers who are looking at some of the stock they hold and their just-in-time chains are suggesting this "could become a problem over the coming days and weeks".

       He said: "This is not an issue that is months away, that is for sure. We are building up our stocks on key lines like frozen meat just to make sure we can deal with any unforeseen issue.

       "At the moment we are fully stocked and our suppliers are OK, but we do need this sorted as quickly as possible."

       Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said the energy price cap was not there for "preventing any increase in prices in perpetuity" ahead of a planned 12 per cent rise on October 1.

       He told Times Radio: "It was about making sure that those increases were modest, and predictable, and it's doing exactly what it was designed to do.

       "It's already protected hundreds of thousands of people from volatile energy prices and will continue to do so. It's about making sure that people can budget and they know what's coming, and it has done exactly what it was designed to do.

       "But, as I say, we will explore with the sector about how to make sure we protect the consumers of energy, both domestic and commercial, and also make sure we protect the long-term supply of energy to the UK."

       Boris Johnson will push Joe Biden to change Covid-19 travel rules and let Britons fly to America when they meet on Tuesday in the White House for the first time.

       The Prime Minister will make an “impassioned” case for why the US President should lift his travel ban by allowing fully vaccinated people in the UK to travel directly into America.

       Mr Biden’s failure to ease restrictions - despite both leaders pledging to take action when they met at the G7 summit in June - has frustrated Whitehall and left UK businesses despairing.

       There will also be a push for Mr Biden to promise billions of dollars more in climate financing for developing nations to help Mr Johnson hit a flagship Cop26 UN climate conference target.

       The Prime Minister flew to New York on Sunday, kick-starting a four-day US visit where he will attend the UN General Assembly before his first White House trip since entering Number 10 in July 2019.

       But there is plenty of drama back here in Westminster, with the Government scrambling to address the energy crisis - and questions about whether it could even lead to Christmas being cancelled (again).

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