Sir Keir Starmer is not “ducking” questions about “beergate”, a shadow cabinet minister has claimed, after the Labour leader pulled out of a public event which would have seen him grilled by journalists.
Labour has not offered an explanation as to why Sir Keir is no longer attending the now-cancelled briefing which was due to be hosted by the Institute for Government think tank to discuss the "challenges the country faces".
The decision to pull out comes after a leaked memo emerged on Saturday night which revealed the takeaway event in Durham last year was pre-planned, in contrast to Labour’s earlier claims that it was decided on the night as “nowhere served food”.
Durham Constabulary announced last Friday it was investigating the claims following receipt of “significant new information”, having previously said they did not believe an offence had been established.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said he had "no idea" why Sir Keir had pulled out of the event and added: “The idea that Keir is somehow ducking scrutiny is simply not true. He has led from the front during this local election campaign.”
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Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, told reporters after a speech at the National Army Museum this morning that the UK believes Vladimir Putin is "running out of his precision [weapons] stock fairly quickly".
Mr Wallace said the invasion of Ukraine had shown a "lesson for us all": “We all have highly complex weapons that, funnily enough, don’t take a couple of days to replace, it can take months.
“Once you fire them all in the way Russia has done, they have a real challenge and I think in the long term my point about ‘has Putin already won or lost in the long run’, you know, Putin trying to refurbish that armed forces is going to be incredibly hard. A lot of the components come from the West, he won’t be able to get hold of those.”
Ben Wallace has accused Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, of making “fairytale claims” about Nato's intentions.
Answering questions after delivering a speech at the National Army Museum in south west London, Mr Wallace said: “President Putin has made a number of fairytale claims for months and years now. It’s literally getting… if it wasn’t so tragic it would be amusing, but it isn’t.
“One of his claims is that he is surrounded. Nato accounts for six per cent of his land border. That’s not being surrounded if only six per cent of your land border is Nato countries."
Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said Vladimir Putin and his allies are "mirroring" the "fascism and tyranny" seen during the Second World War.
Speaking at the National Army Museum in south west London, the Defence Secretary said: “Through the invasion of Ukraine, Putin, his inner circle, his generals, are now mirroring fascism and tyranny 77 years ago, repeating the errors of the last century’s totalitarian regimes.
“They are showing the same disregard for human life, national sovereignty and the rules-based international system."
Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, delivered a speech at the National Army Museum in south west London this morning and he used the address to repeatedly take aim at Vladimir Putin.
The speech coincided with the Russian Victory Day parade in Red Square, Moscow, which is being held to mark the Second World War victory over the Nazis. (You can follow the latest from the parade here).
Mr Wallace said he believed Mr Putin wanted to "intimidate" the world: “Really what President Putin wants is the Russian people and the world to be awed and intimidated by the ongoing memorial to militarism. I believe the ongoing und unprovoked conflict in Ukraine does nothing but dishonour those same soldiers.”
Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, is in Belfast today to hold crunch talks with the leaders of the main political parties.
He is due to meet with Sinn Fein's Michelle O’Neill, the DUP's Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Alliance's Naomi Long, the UUP's Doug Beattie, and the SDLP's Colum Eastwood.
Mr Lewis said in a statement issued overnight that he will urge the leaders to "fulfil their responsibilities and form an Executive as soon as possible".
However, he will face tough questions over what the Government intends to do to resolve problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol, with the DUP having made clear it will not join an administration unless the protocol is scrapped.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, was asked during an interview on Sky News this morning if he wanted to be the next Labour leader.
He replied: “No. I am sure that by the time there is a leadership election I will be too old and people will be looking to a new generation because after three terms of Keir Starmer being the prime minister of our country people will be looking for a new generation.
“I am slogging my guts out to make sure that Keir Starmer is the next prime minister and on the basis of the election results we got last week, a remarkable turnaround from where Labour was two years ago, I think we have got everything to play for at the next general election.”
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said Sir Keir Starmer's diary "changes all the time" after the Labour leader pulled out of an event in central London this afternoon (see the post below at 08.27).
Asked why Sir Keir had pulled out, Mr Streeting said: “No idea. I didn’t check before coming on because I thought it was such a trivial thing.
“But the idea that Keir has been avoiding scrutiny when he has been out all weekend in front of cameras celebrating those brilliant results we got in the local elections last week, whether or not he has done an event, his diary changes all the time, it is kind of neither here nor there really.”
Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said Sir Keir Starmer will have to "search his soul" if he is fined over "beergate" after the Labour leader piled enormous pressure on Boris Johnson to resign after he was fined over "partygate".
Asked if she believed Sir Keir should step down if he is fined, Ms Donelan told Sky News: "That is a decision for Keir, not for me. What my constituents are saying is that this whole thing smacks of sheer hypocrisy given the relentless focus he has placed on ‘partygate’.
“I think this is a decision for him. He is going to have to search his soul after making this a top priority over the last few months at the expense of key issues like rising cost of living etc.”
Sinn Fein's victory in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections has prompted questions about whether a referendum could be held in the future on a united Ireland.
Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, told Sky News that it is a "long way down the track in terms of a topic for conversation”.
She said: “I think let’s not overcook this one as of yet. Even Sinn Fein said it would be five years off. Their priority in the election, my understanding is that they campaigned primarily on issues like cost of living, not on a referendum. Over 50 per cent of votes were actually for unionist parties or parties that didn’t want constitutional change.”
She added: "This election does not indicate that there is a groundswell or a dramatic change in terms of wanting a split from the Union from the people of Northern Ireland and the votes cast demonstrate that.”
A Cabinet row over how to approach the Northern Ireland Protocol issue means there will not be any legislative measures about it in the Queen's Speech tomorrow, the Telegraph understands.
Liz Truss faces Cabinet opposition to her plan to rip up the Protocol despite claims it could help to secure a devolved government in the province (you can read the full overnight story here).
The Queen's Speech is only expected to include "anodyne" language that ministers will try to resolve the border issues.
Michelle Donelan would not be drawn on whether the Government could include a Bill to override the Protocol, telling Sky News: “I am not going to reveal what is in the full Queen’s Speech tomorrow. I am not going to reveal either way what is in the Queen’s Speech, that would break all protocol.
“What I am saying is that our first step here is to try and negotiate with the EU and find a solution.”
Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said the Government’s current focus is to negotiate with the EU to try to remedy problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
She told Sky News: “Our go to to begin with is to negotiate with the EU and try and resolve this problem and find a workable solution.”
The UK and EU have been locked in talks for months, with a breakthrough remaining elusive. Ms Donelan suggested efforts could be stepped up in the wake of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections.
She said: “We are negotiating. We are working at pace. And we will be over the coming days trying to rapidly find a solution, working with the EU.”
The Northern Ireland Assembly elections saw Sinn Fein become the largest party, with the DUP in second place. Attention has now turned to whether the two parties will be able to agree to form an Executive.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the DUP, has said he will refuse to join a new administration until the Northern Ireland Protocol is scrapped.
Work remains ongoing between the UK and the EU to try to resolve issues with the post-Brexit border rules but ministers are still insistent that unilaterally scrapping the protocol is “on the table” as an option.
Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, told Sky News: “The Northern Ireland Protocol is not working and I believe the concerns about that were reflected in the recent result that we saw in the election. We are working at pace to resolve this. Nothing is off the table.”
Asked directly if the Government could scrap the protocol, Ms Donelan said: “That is on the table as one of the options. Our first attempt here is to try and negotiate with the EU. We want to resolve this at pace.”
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, was asked if Sir Keir Starmer’s position would be untenable if he is fined over “beergate”.
Mr Streeting refused to be drawn, telling BBC Breakfast: “I answered this question the other day. I just don’t think that is going to happen. I am just not entertaining the prospect that Keir Starmer is going to be fined.”
Wes Streeting, Labour's shadow health secretary, told BBC Breakfast there is "no reason to believe" the police will reach a different conclusion on "beergate" this time around having previously decided they did not believe an offence had been established.
Mr Streeting said: "And in this case let’s not forget the police have looked at this before. Ok, they are looking at it again now. There have been lots of calls particularly from the Conservative Party for them to do so.
“They are looking at it again now. I have no reason to believe, as I said on your programme the other day, that looking at it this time will be any different to what we saw before.”
Sir Keir Starmer had been due to attend a briefing hosted by the Institute for Government think tank this afternoon to discuss "the challenges the country faces". The event has now been cancelled. (You can read the overnight story here).
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, was asked why the Labour leader had pulled out of the event as it was suggested to him that Sir Keir may not have wanted to face questions from journalists.
Mr Streeting told BBC Breakfast: "I have no idea why he cancelled the event and I certainly didn’t ask before I came on because I think it is such a trivial issue. But the idea that Keir has been dodging questions, I mean he has been out all weekend, even after a local election campaign where we did very well.
“He has been out thanking Labour teams, particularly in the places where we did particularly well in these elections and he has put himself in front of the cameras to answer journalists’ questions wherever he has been.
“So the idea that Keir is somehow ducking scrutiny is simply not true. He has led from the front during this local election campaign.”
Wes Streeting, Labour's shadow health secretary, said he believed it is "totally reasonable" that time was "set aside for dinner" at the "beergate" gathering.
He told BBC Breakfast: "One of the remarkable things about that story in the Mail is that it was entirely unsurprising and not at all revelatory for anyone who has been involved in an election campaign.
“When you go on visits around the country… a senior politician like Keir Starmer, you don’t just rock up in a place like Durham, wander round a bit aimlessly and then hope for the best.
“Everything is planned. Everything is arranged. And it is totally reasonable that during the course of the day time would be set aside for dinner and it doesn’t contradict anything that Keir has said all the way along about the fact that he was in Durham during an election campaign, had some dinner, carried on working and I just don’t understand the controversy.”
Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.
Westminster is preparing for tomorrow's Queen's Speech when the Government will set out is legislative agenda for the next parliamentary session.
But before we get to that ministers are wrestling with the situation in Northern Ireland while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing renewed pressure over "beergate".
It promises to be a busy day and I will guide you through the key developments.
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