Dominic Raab – ‘Serious consequences’ if Russia invades Ukraine

The Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab took to the TV studios this morning after another turbulent week for the government. Perhaps the most pressing issue on the agenda is deciphering the motives of Vladimir Putin, as a reported 100,000 Russian troops envelop Ukraine’s eastern border. Trevor Phillips asked Raab what was being done in the West to try and face Putin down as the icy Ukrainian winter threatens to heat up:

There will be very serious consequences if Russia takes this move to try and invade, but also install a puppet regime… It will involve a range of financial and economic sanctions.

“There will be very serious consequences if Russia installs a puppet regime in Ukraine”.

Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab says Ukraine is a ‘free country and should decide its own fate’. #Phillips https://t.co/T9mK8F9oiq

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— Trevor Phillips on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) January 23, 2022

There will be ‘full transparency’ around Sue Gray report

So-called ‘Partygate’ has already wrought considerable damage on the Prime Minister’s reputation, and it may yet have even more stark consequences for his premiership. On Sunday Morning, Raab batted away Sophie Raworth’s questions about if the government was preparing for a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s leadership. However, he promised that the government would not try to hide any damaging aspects of the Sue Gray inquiry into the matter, which is expected to be published early next week:

There will be full transparency around this, so that people can see, and actually we would welcome that transparency. We need to learn the lessons.

“Next week… could you be Prime Minister?”

Sophie Raworth asks Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab if he anticipates Boris Johnson’s departure following the expected report into lockdown parties at Downing St https://t.co/Pi0eI5jaWO #SundayMorning pic.twitter.com/0RDKtTupe0

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) January 23, 2022

Nusrat Ghani ‘should make a formal complaint’ over Islamophobia

Raworth challenged Raab over the allegation made by the Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani that she had been sacked from her job as a whip in 2020 because she was a Muslim. The Sunday Times has reported that Ghani was told at the time that her ‘Muslim woman minister status was making colleagues feel uncomfortable’. Raab said that the party took the matter ‘very seriously’:

There can be no discrimination… in the Conservative party… She should make a formal complaint… That’s when the procedures kick in.

Emily Thornberry – Putin will ‘take advantage of any disunity’

The Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry joined Trevor Phillips, who also asked for her analysis of the situation in Ukraine. Thornberry said that Labour would be backing the government on this issue, and urged them to make use of creative sanctions to crack down on wealthy Russians in the UK who have links to Putin’s regime:

We have to… [make] sure that in Britain, we stand unified against this threat. Because in the end, Putin will take advantage of any disunity and any weakness that we show.

“Putin will take advantage of any disunity and any weakness that we show”.

Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry says the UK must be “unified” in its response to Russia and get “more imaginative” with the sanctions they threaten to impose.#Phillips https://t.co/T9mK8F9oiq pic.twitter.com/x7fSUf308Q

— Trevor Phillips on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) January 23, 2022

Nicola Sturgeon – Referendum still on course for 2023

The First Minister of Scotland surprised no one by telling Raworth that work towards another independence referendum was still ongoing, and could still take place within the blink of a political eye:

The preparatory work… is underway, and we’ll determine the precise date for introducing that legislation in due course… That referendum [will be] before the end of 2023.

Nicola Sturgeon says “the preparatory work… is underway” to hold an independence referendum before the end of 2023

The First Minister says she hopes Scotland is on the “downward slope” of Omicron, which “clears the way”
#SundayMorning https://t.co/Lj4JMkBAec pic.twitter.com/X3olNpfWUg

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) January 23, 2022

Vadym Prystaiko – Ukraine is ‘prepared to fight’

Phillips spoke to the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, who had a very direct message concerning the gravity of his country’s situation:

Very unfortunately, we are prepared to fight. We are gathering our forces… but we are not that well equipped for a long fight with the Russians.

“We are prepared to fight”.

Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko says his country is prepared to defend itself but admits it’s not “well-equipped for a prolonged fight with the Russians”.#Phillips https://t.co/T9mK8F9oiq

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— Trevor Phillips on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) January 23, 2022