Jeremy Hunt: Russian government creating a ‘smokescreen of propaganda’

On Friday night, a terrorist attack at a large concert in Moscow led to at least 133 deaths. Russian officials vowed revenge and suggested Ukrainian involvement, despite Islamic State claiming responsibility. On Sky News this morning, Trevor Phillips asked Jeremy Hunt how much Russia’s version of events could be believed. The Chancellor said it was always a tragedy when innocent people lost their lives, but that the UK had ‘very little confidence in anything the Russian government says’. He suggested they were creating a ‘smokescreen of propaganda’ to justify their invasion of Ukraine.

Hunt guarantees Tories will keep triple lock on pensions

Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, Hunt was unequivocal in stating that the ‘triple lock’, which guarantees that rises in the state pension keep pace with inflation, would remain in place for the whole duration of the next parliament if the Tories were to be re-elected. Hunt said that in 2010, pensioners were more likely to be in poverty than other income groups – whereas the opposite is now true. He admitted that keeping the triple lock is an ‘expensive commitment’, but claimed that the Tories’ plan for economic growth would allow them to fund it.

Anneliese Dodds: ‘Labour is going to ban zero-hours contracts’

Phillips questioned Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds over her party’s approach to zero-hours contracts. He suggested that shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves had not been explicit in her speech that Labour was going to stick with its policy of banning them. Dodds disagreed, saying Labour had always been clear that there needed to be flexibility in some kinds of work. When pressed by Phillips to clarify Labour’s position, Dodds said the party was indeed banning zero-hours contracts, and that Reeves had been very clear in stating how important such a measure was to improve productivity in the country.

Hunt: ‘With the Waspi women, it is genuinely more complicated’

This week a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found that Waspi pension campaigners were entitled to compensation for the poor governmental communication, which led to many women being tens of thousands of pounds worse off than they expected to be at retirement. Kuenssberg asked Hunt if he would commit to compensating those affected. Hunt claimed that the situation was complex, as a 2020 High Court ruling said the Department for Work and Pensions had not discriminated against the Waspi women. He said they needed to get to the bottom of the ‘apparent difference’ between the two findings, and said there was no ‘secret vault of money’ for compensation.

Paddy Harverson: Princess of Wales ‘always had this great strength’

Finally, a social media storm speculating about the welfare of the Princess of Wales ended on Friday when she announced that she has been diagnosed with cancer. Paddy Harverson, Prince William’s former communications secretary, told Kuenssberg that this instance of media intrusion was the worst he’d ever seen, but said that the Prince and Princess were a strong couple and would be coping ‘better than people realise’. Harverson pointed out that families need time when confronted with cancer, and said he was convinced they would have announced the news in the same way even if the ‘madness’ on social media hadn’t happened.