Key events
Rishi Sunak and Volodymyr Zelensky met earlier for a bilateral on the fringes of the Nato summit in Vilnius.
The prime minister suggested the pair meet without aides present, with the Ukrainian president agreeing that there should be “only two” of them in the room.
Sunak told his counterpart:
It is good to see you here at Nato where you belong.
Zelensky thanked Sunak for helping secure additional security guarantees for Kyiv, with a G7 deal due to be signed on Wednesday in the Lithuanian capital.
He also tweeted that negotiations with the UK “always enhance global security”.
The meeting with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom @RishiSunak 🇬🇧 has begun. Our negotiations always enhance global security! More news to come.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 12, 2023
Zelensky said he wanted to use his meeting with Sunak to talk about security guarantees for Kyiv.
The prime minister told him there had been “real progress” on that matter.
He said:
What your soldiers are doing on the front line, it is inspiring to everyone.
We’re proud to have played a part in training some of them.
They have served with enormous bravery and courage.
Zelensky said the training missions in the UK had been “very important”, with Sunak adding it was clear the exercises had “been put to good use”.
You can follow our dedicated liveblog on the Russia-Ukraine war here:
Gove’s department hands back £1.9bn meant to tackle England’s housing crisis
Michael Gove’s department is handing back £1.9bn to the Treasury originally meant to tackle England’s housing crisis after struggling to find projects to spend it on.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has surrendered hundreds of millions of pounds budgeted for 2022-23, including £255m meant to fund new affordable housing and £245m meant to improve building safety.
Officials said the department was unable to spend the money, which accounts for about a third of its entire housing budget, thanks to rising interest rates and uncertainty in the housing market after the Covid-19 pandemic.
But experts warn the lack of investment is likely to exacerbate the housing crisis in England, where homebuilding is forecast to drop to its lowest level since the second world war.
Jack Shaw, a local government expert who uncovered the figures through a freedom of information request, said:
The government is experiencing significant challenges investing in housing because of a perfect storm in market conditions.
But the decision to delay housing investment or withdraw it altogether as a result of lower than anticipated spending will mean fewer homes are built.
Read the full story by my colleague Kiran Stacey here:
Thames Water bosses are being questioned by MPs on the at the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee over the company’s financial viability.
The interim joint chief executive of Thames Water said leadership at the troubled supplier is “very focused on turning this business around”.
Alastair Cochran told MPs:
I was brought in with a whole new executive team to turn around this business.
This business matters – it serves 15 million customers. Our job collectively is turn this business around.
We know performance both operationally and financially hasn’t been where it needs to be. We’ve been very transparent about that.
We are very focused on turning this business around, making it sure it is financially resilient and delivers a better service for customers, and improves both its operational and environmental performance.
The chairman of the water supplier has told MPs that the departure of its former boss Sarah Bentley last month was surprising.
Sir Adrian Montague said:
I think Sarah’s resignation was a surprise.
I think she had got to the point perhaps of feeling that the burdens of office were considerable and it was an entirely personal decision, with which I think we had no involvement.
My colleague Alex Lawson wrote this piece yesterday which explains what has been going on:
Rishi Sunak to host Tory MPs at No 10 after missing PMQs for second week in a row
Rishi Sunak is set to host all Tory MPs for morale-boosting hog roast at Downing Street tonight, as he misses his second PMQs in a row.
The prime minister is still in Lithuania, where he is attending a two-day Nato summit and meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, president of Ukraine.
He’s due to fly back to the UK this evening in time to welcome his guests and try to instil some positivity over his party’s struggle to recover in the polls and the prospect of them potentially losing in all three by-elections taking place next week on 20 July.
All MPs, regardless of allegiances are reportedly invited including Nadine Dorries who is set to trigger the fourth by-election battle of the summer.
Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden will once again hold the fort for Sunak, facing Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour Party
Sunak has now missed around 20% of PMQ sessions, which is the largest percentage of Prime Minister’s Questions of any inhabitant of Number 10, figures from the House of Commons Library and research by Sky News shows.
I will be looking after the politics blog today. If you have any tips or suggestions, please get in touch: [email protected]
