Zelenskyy ends speech saying Europe is ‘global force’ that can stand against any other power
Zelenskyy suggests Ukraine is also protected by its values.
We believe in people, in their rights and freedom. We believe in culture and we want nations to live in real peace, strong peace and communities in respect together.
Europe is a global force – one the world cannot do without and that no one can stand against.
Zelenskyy says European leaders must protect it so “that the future generations will say these leaders acted when it mattered and that people lived in safety.”
He goes on to urge the UK to work with Ukraine, so that in future in Kyiv and in London people will never have to “hide under a drone nest, or live under the concrete without a safe sky, safe land or safe seas, in a world where drones rule instead of people”.
He says that Britain needs “tools like this iPad” (the one he has been talking about them, used by the Ukrainians to coordinate their air defences and monitor attacks and the damage being caused in real time).
He ends by saying he met King Charles this morning, and presented him with one of the iPads. He says the king asked if he had another one. Unfortunately, he didn’t. So the king told him, in that case, he would share his with Starmer.
Key events
Early evening summary
Cabinet secretary confirms leak inquiry underway into report about national security council’s Iran policy debate
British military team shoots down five drones in Iraq in one night, defence sources reveal
Irish PM Micheál Martin defends Starmer in White House as Trump revives his ‘no Churchill’ diatribe about him
Zelenskyy ends speech saying Europe is ‘global force’ that can stand against any other power
Zelenskyy says Ukraine will be able to help its allies with its mastery of drone technology
Zelenskyy warns that cheap drone technology has increased risks of attack
Zelenskyy to address MPs and peers in parliament
MSPs to vote on assisted dying bill for Scotland this evening, with supporters worried it has lost majority support
More than 100,000 UK nationals have returned from Middle East since Iran war started, Cooper tells MPs
Badenoch calls Trump’s recent criticism of Starmer ‘very childish’
Being in Sinn Féin not the same as being in the IRA, Gerry Adams tells high court
Zelenskyy thanks UK for standing by Ukraine through ‘difficult winter’
Starmer tells Zelenskyy that he won’t let Iran war distract attention from need to keep backing Ukraine
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives at No 10 for talks with Starmer
Cooper tells MPs that Lebanon conflict on brink of widening with ‘disastrous humanitarian consequences’
Reeves asks officials to draw up plans for fiscal devolution
Newly unearthed Nigel Farage videos reveal support for rioter, neo-Nazi event and far-right slogans
Streeting says he’s ‘particularly concerned’ about childhood vaccination rates, saying NHS not doing well enough
Streeting explains meningitis symptoms to MPs, and explains how it’s spread
Streeting backs Lib Dems in condemning anti-vaccine ‘political postioning’ by some MPs, in jibe at Reform UK
Streeting says JCVI being asked to consider case for older children to be given MenB vaccine
Streeting says Kent students being offered MenB vaccine in response to meningitis outbreak
Streeting sets out health advice for anyone at risk from current outbreak
Streeting said he’s confident UKHSA ‘acted as quickly and comprehensively as possible’ in response to outbreak
Streeting says meningitis outbreak ‘unprecedented’, with 2 deaths, 4 cases confirmed and 11 under investigation
Streeting to make statement to MPs about meningitis outbreak
Farage say king’s visit to US ‘absolutely must go ahead’
Farage claims Starmer has made ‘big strategic mistake’ by not backing US over Iran
Farage claims there is now ‘no chance’ of US agreeing Chagos Islands deal in light of Iran war developments
Farage said Reform UK would impose ‘very, very tough’ benefit cuts to help fund higher defence spending
Farage defends Tice’s tax avoidance scheme, rejecting claims it flouts Reform UK ‘stop offshore taxpayer rip off’ pledge
Reform UK announces lottery, with winner getting energy bills paid for year, to promote announcement about VAT cut on energy
Funding for community radio stations to double under local media strategy announced by Lisa Nandy
UK to fund AI team in Ukrainian Ministry of Defence as part of new partnership agreement
Streeting urged to make Commons statement about meningitis outbreak in Kent
UK must learn lessons from AI race and retain its quantum computing talent, says Liz Kendall
Government defeated in Lords on pensions bill as peers vote down plan to let ministers tell pension schemes where to invest
Trump says he’s expecting king’s state visit to US to go ahead
Labour’s Emily Thornberry backs calls for king’s state visit to US to be postponed given Iran war and US rift with its allies
Early evening summary
The Iranian regime and Vladimir Putin’s Russia are “brothers in hatred”, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told MPs and peers. As the Press Association reports, the Ukrainian president highlighted co-operation between Tehran and Moscow on Shahed kamikaze drones which had targeted Ukraine and countries across the Gulf. He said Ukraine’s bitter experience had resulted in expertise in combating drone warfare which was now being offered to help countries in the Middle East. Zelenskyy suggested the technology developed in his country could have helped protect RAF Akrotiri from the drone strike which hit it earlier this month. Speaking in a Westminster committee room, Zelenskyy said:
The regimes in Russia and Iran are brothers in hatred and that is why they are brothers in weapons.
And we want regimes built on hatred to never, never win in anything.
And we want no such regime to threaten Europe or our partners.
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
Cabinet secretary confirms leak inquiry underway into report about national security council’s Iran policy debate
Antonia Romeo, the new cabinet secretary, has confirmed that a formal leak inquiry is taking place into how Tim Shipman, the Spectator’s political editor, was able to obtain information from a national security council meeting about the Iran war.
In his report, published days after the war started, Shipman said that, the day before the war actually started, Ed Miliband, Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper ganged up to insist that the UK should initially refuse the US permission to use British military bases. Shipman said that Starmer was more keen on allowing the US to use British bases to attack Iranian military bases – a position the UK later adopted, after the war started, after the US submitted a formal request and after Iran started attacking other Gulf states where British citizens are based.
Romeo has disclosed that a leak inquiry is taking place in a letter responding to one sent by Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, who wanted to know if the leak was being taken seriously.
When Theresa May was PM, she sacked Gavin Williamson as defence secretary after he was accused of leaking from a national security committee meeting – a claim he denied.
In a post on social media, Shipman said holding a leak inquiry was an over-reaction.
That the prime minister is in hock to the soft lefties in his cabinet is hardly a state secret
In all seriousness nothing I was told was remotely sensitive from a security point of view. It was politically embarrassing, that’s all. How pathetic
British military team shoots down five drones in Iraq in one night, defence sources reveal
Dan Sabbagh
Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian’s defence and security editor.
A British counter drone team operating near Erbil, Iraq, shot down over five drones last night, the highest number destroyed by a single unit since the start of the Iran war at the end of last month.
Defence sources indicated it was the same unit that last Thursday had shot down two drones during overnight attacks on bases used by western forces in Erbil. A French soldier was subsequently reported killed.
Further details about the latest air raid were limited, though it is understood there were no casualties. The origin of the attack was not identified but it is most likely to have been conducted by pro-Iranian Iraqi militias.
Western forces have long been based around Erbil as part of a counter Islamic State operation that dates back over a decade.
RAF F-35 and Typhoon pilots also conducted air patrols over Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and the Eastern Mediterranean overnight, the Ministry of Defence said. The UK’s Space Command was monitoring Iranian missile launches, it added.
Irish PM Micheál Martin defends Starmer in White House as Trump revives his ‘no Churchill’ diatribe about him
Ben Quinn
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Donald Trump has once again criticised Keir Starmer, repeating a jibe that he was “no Winston Churchill” – before the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, stepped in to defend the prime minister during an encounter in the Oval Office.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said:
[Starmer] hasn’t been supporting the United States … I went out of my way [to help the UK with a trade deal]. As you know they couldn’t a deal with Biden because they had no real administration to make a deal. But we went out of our way. We made a deal, We made a good deal for them and frankly probably wasn’t appreciated.
It fell to the Irish leader, in Washington DC for the annual St Patrick’s Day reception at the White House, to engage in a rare moment of public disagreement with the US president, by crossing him not just on his characterisation of Starmer but of other issues including European immigration policies and Ukraine.
“I was disappointed because Keir was willing to send two aircraft carriers after we won,” said Trump, who pointed at a bust of Winston Churchill, adding “Keir is not Winston Churchill.”
Martin was allowed by Trump to interject amid interrupted shouted comments by the press, telling Trump that Starmer was an “an earnest, decent person” who the US president had the capacity to get on with.
Martin said:
Notwithstanding what has happened, the transatlantic relationship between Europe and the US is very, very important on a number of fronts. I think we have had issues over the last year or two but we have settled them …
Keir Starmer has done a lot to reset the Irish British relationship. I just want to put that on the record. I do believe he is a very earnest sound person who I think you have a capacity target on with.
Trump said he agreed with “almost everything” Martin had said, but launched back into fresh criticism of Starmer after being told by a GB News journalist that Starmer was not making the case to the British people for why the UK should join the US in its operations in the Middle East.
Zelenskyy ends speech saying Europe is ‘global force’ that can stand against any other power
Zelenskyy suggests Ukraine is also protected by its values.
We believe in people, in their rights and freedom. We believe in culture and we want nations to live in real peace, strong peace and communities in respect together.
Europe is a global force – one the world cannot do without and that no one can stand against.
Zelenskyy says European leaders must protect it so “that the future generations will say these leaders acted when it mattered and that people lived in safety.”
He goes on to urge the UK to work with Ukraine, so that in future in Kyiv and in London people will never have to “hide under a drone nest, or live under the concrete without a safe sky, safe land or safe seas, in a world where drones rule instead of people”.
He says that Britain needs “tools like this iPad” (the one he has been talking about them, used by the Ukrainians to coordinate their air defences and monitor attacks and the damage being caused in real time).
He ends by saying he met King Charles this morning, and presented him with one of the iPads. He says the king asked if he had another one. Unfortunately, he didn’t. So the king told him, in that case, he would share his with Starmer.
Zelenskyy says the “dignity of our people” is one of Ukraine’s great strengths.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine did not become expert in technology by chance.
It was a response to war lasting for year, and the result of hard work.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine is winning back territory from Russia.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine will be able to help its allies with its mastery of drone technology
Zelenskyy says Ukraine now has the technology to stop the cheap Shahed drones, used by Russsia. It can stop them in Europe, and in the Gulf, he says.
He explains how this could help Ukraine’s allies.
The evolution of threats never stops. For example, your military bases in in Cyprus. This is what our security proposal could look like. Our experts would place interception teams and set up radars and acoustic coverage, and these would all war if Iran launched a large scale attack similar to Russian attacks. We would guarantee protection. This is the kind of reinforcement we offer, and it may soon be needed across Europe.
And drones can be launched not only from land but also from ships at sea. Such long range strikes are no longer rare. Different countries already use them, and since European seas still have many targets, from Russia’s shadow fleet, launching drones from such vessels is no longer something unexpected.
Ukraine didn’t have a strong navy like Britain or some of our other partners, but we have pushed what is left of Russia’s fleet into distant base in the Black Sea, where the ships hide from Ukrainian sea drones. This is a completely new security reality in our sea. The Russian fleet, which was powerful, has no effective way to counter our drones.
Zelenskyy says soon weapons will run on AI, which can operate more quickly than any human.
He says, if Putin had been pushed back in 2022, the world might have avoided “mass drone warfare”, which is a threat to mankind.
He says some countries think missiles are enought to protect them from drones.
But, on their own, they are not enough. There are has to be a system in place, not just interceptors.
Ukraine needs about 1,000 interceptors per day. And it can produce them at this rate too, he says.
He says Ukraine also has radar that can keep working while signals are being jammed.
