Sir Keir Starmer is in Kyiv to sign a new 100-year agreement pledging the UK’s “steadfast support” to Ukraine. Russian drones attacked the city centre during the PM’s visit. Elsewhere, a suspended Labour MP has pleaded guilty to assault.
Thursday 16 January 2025 12:08, UK
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The Politics Hub has been partly masquerading as our Ukraine live blog this morning, with the prime minister in Kyiv.
But there’s also been plenty of political news back home – here are the main things you need to know:
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is giving a speech this afternoon about how she’ll restore the public’s trust in her party.
We’ll bring you any noteworthy updates from that.
Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is live from 7pm – we’ll bring you the full line-up for the show later.
And of course we’ve always got an eye on the House of Commons – the foreign secretary has been giving a statement about a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which you can read up on below:
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
There was no panicked market reaction to yet more news of weak UK growth, even though GDP (a key measure of economic expansion) came in lower than forecast.
Low growth has become the norm and unfortunately for Chancellor Rachel Reeves so too has high government borrowing costs and a less valuable pound over the last 10 days.
If Ms Reeves was hoping for continued reprieve from market pressure she did not get it on Thursday morning.
How’s the pound looking?
While news of slower inflation rises on Wednesday somewhat brought down high borrowing costs which inched up over the previous week and boosted the value of the pound, GDP figures did the opposite.
The pound, which is taken as an assessment of investor confidence in the UK economy, dropped below $1.22.
The benchmark for government borrowing costs – the effective interest rate on 10-year borrowing – edged up but didn’t erode the falls from good inflation news yesterday. The same goes for the price of longer-term, 30-year lending.
Bad news for motorists
The UK stock market provided a bright spot with the FTSE 100 index of most valuable London Stock Exchange companies rose a large 0.8%, a second day of growth. Up but to a lesser extent was the more domestic comprised FTSE 250, rising 0.17%.
If Ms Reeves had managed to dip out of the headlines the focus this morning would arguably been on the oil price, which ticked up after Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire.
A barrel of Brent crude oil now costs $81.87 having been priced in the low 70s for much of November and December.
It’ll mean filling up the car tank becomes more expensive and costs possibly rising throughout supply chains.
Mike Amesbury, who has been expelled from Labour, has apologised after punching a man in Cheshire last October.
After pleading guilty to assault by beating, he said: “I am sincerely sorry to Mr Fellows and his family.”
The judge has adjourned the case to 24 February for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
District Judge Tanveer Ikram said: “This case is within the high culpability category. I accept that the injury was not serious, the sentencing guideline suggests a sentence starting point of a high level community order or a range up to a prison sentence.
“I have already made mention of the fact whilst there was a single punch to the face, the victim ended up on the floor and he was further attacked again on the floor. That seems to me an additional aggravating factor.
“I hear all said on the defendant’s behalf and I will no doubt hear that again once I have read what the pre-sentence report suggests as workable options in terms of the range of sentence available to the court.”
Mike Amesbury will remain suspended from the Labour Party after pleading guilty to assault by beating.
The MP, who was suspended before entering his plea, punched a man in Frodsham, Cheshire in October.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “It is right that Mike Amesbury has taken responsibility for his unacceptable actions.
“He was rightly suspended by the Labour Party following the announcement of the police investigation.
“We cannot comment further whilst legal proceedings are still ongoing.”
It is understood the party whip will not be restored.
He will now sit as an independent MP in Runcorn and Helsby.
However, if Amesbury is sent to prison or given a suspended sentence he could face the prospect of losing his seat in the Commons.
A sentence of less than a year, even if it is suspended, would leave him liable to the recall process, which would trigger a by-election if 10% of registered voters in his seat sign a petition calling for it.
A jail term of more than a year would mean Amesbury automatically losing his seat.
Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have kicked off a round of bilateral talks at the Mariinskyi Palace in central Kyiv this morning.
The two leaders were photographed inside the palace, with flags of Ukraine and the UK in the background.
We’ll likely hear some details about what they discussed later in the day.
This morning, Sir Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met at a memorial in Kyiv to lay wreaths for victims of the war.
The wall of photographs outside St Michael’s Monastery, a Kyiv landmark, has become a place of pilgrimage for families paying tribute to their lost loved ones.
Mr Zelenskyy and Sir Keir walked slowly behind an honour guard carrying wreaths in the two countries’ national colours.
Away from Ukraine, suspended Labour MP Mike Amesbury has just pleaded guilty to assault by beating at at Chester Magistrates’ Court.
It comes after he punched a man in Frodsham, Cheshire in October.
CCTV footage has showed the MP for Runcorn and Helsby punching the man on Main Street.
Other previously released videos from another angle show Mr Amesbury punching the man repeatedly after knocking him to the floor as members of the public intervened.
It was reported to police at 2.48pm on Saturday 26 October.
The 55-year-old politician is currently an independent MP after he was suspended by Labour at the end of October when the CCTV footage emerged.
He was voluntarily interviewed under caution by Cheshire Police and was “released pending further enquiries”.
Cheshire Police then handed a file on his case to the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime division in London, rather than the local department, because of his position as an MP.
He was charged with common assault by police on 7 November.
At the time, Amesbury said what happened was “deeply regrettable” and he was cooperating with police.
As Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Kyiv today, explosions and air raid sirens were reported to have sounded in the Ukrainian capital.
Vitaliy Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, confirmed the Russian drone attack at around 10.16am UK time.
In the last hour, Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy laid a wreath at a makeshift memorial at St Michael’s Square in Kyiv.
Mr Klitschko urged those in the city to “stay in shelters”.
Later, the mayor confirmed there were no reported injuries.
He said: “In the Solomyanskyi district of the capital, a piece of UAV debris damaged a passenger car.
“It tore apart the engine and partially the car’s interior. There was no fire.
“There are no injuries at this time either.”
Sir Keir Starmer has met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, where he laid a wreath at a vast memorial for killed soldiers.
The “Memory Wall of Fallen Soldiers” features photographs of thousands of military personnel who have died in service, largely during the war with Russia.
It is estimated that 5,000 photographs are on the makeshift memorial.
Today marks the prime minister’s first trip to Ukraine since taking over the top job in July.
Over in Kyiv, Sir Keir Starmer has spent his morning at Ukraine’s main burns unit to see first hand the human toll of the war with Russia.
Here, he met with burns victims – some of whom had burns on 80% of their bodies – and staff from the Red Cross who are working in the region.
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