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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has received a standing ovation and cheers from parliament as he called on the UK and the West to provide Ukraine with fighter jets during a surprise visit to London.

The Ukrainian president is the first foreign leader to address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of parliament, since former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now in jail, in 2012.

Wearing his usual outfit of military fatigues, Mr Zelenskyy entered the famous hall, where the Queen’s coffin lay in state, to a standing ovation and cheers from MPs and peers.

Zelenskyy makes direct appeal for UK to send jets – live politics latest

He said: “We will always come out on top of evil.

“We know freedom will win. We know Russia will lose.”

He thanked “all the people of England and Scotland, of Wales and Northern Ireland” for their support, on behalf of “our fighters who are now in the trenches under enemy artillery fire”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak received a handful of mentions from his Ukrainian counterpart, especially as he thanked the PM for providing more equipment to his country.

After saying he will “have the honour” to meet King Charles, Mr Zelenskyy presented the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, with a signed helmet from “one of our most successful” Ukrainian Air Force pilots.

“He’s one of our kings,” he said.

“And the writing on the helmet reads: ‘We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it’.”

He added: “In Britain, the King is an air force pilot and in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is a king.”

Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands in Westminster Hall with Sir Lindsay Hoyle
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands in Westminster Hall with Sir Lindsay Hoyle
Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle (left), holds the helmet of one of the most successful Ukrainian pilots, inscribed with the words "We have freedom, give us wings to protect it", which was presented to him by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he addressed parliamentarians in Westminster Hall, London, during his first visit to the UK since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Stefan Rousseau/PA)should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
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Sir Lindsay Hoyle held up the pilot’s helmet given to him by Mr Zelenskyy

Tea jokes and plea for planes

Mr Zelenskyy said he hoped the symbol of the helmet will help for their “next coalition of planes”.

He added: “I appeal to you, and the word is simple, and the most important words: Combat aircraft for Ukraine are wings for freedom.”

The Ukrainian president finished his speech by thanking parliamentarians for their support.

“And leaving British parliament two years ago, I thanked you for delicious English tea,” he said to laughter.

“And I will be leaving the parliament today thanking all of you in advance for powerful English planes.

Zelenskyy’s powerful message to MPs achieved a rare feat


Liz Bates is a political correspondent

Liz Bates

Political correspondent

@wizbates

Westminster Hall has hosted some of the world’s most iconic political figures and today was no exception.

On the famous steps where Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela have previously stood, President Zelenskyy addressed an enraptured audience of MPs and Parliamentary staff.

For a man who has been thrust onto the world stage under the most horrifying circumstances he continues to conduct himself with strength, poise and a sense of humour.

He told the story of his first state visit to London in 2020, when he visited Buckingham Palace and Parliament and was invited to sit in a chair in Churchill’s war room.

Back then he said he could not put the feeling into words but now he knew it was “how bravery takes you through unimaginable hardship to victory”.

Later he joked that back then he was thankful for the “delicious English tea” he had been given, but that this time it was the “powerful English planes” for which he was most grateful.

The Ukrainian President went on to pay tribute to Britain for being the first to stand side by side with him and his people in the face of Russian aggression.

In particular he thanked Boris Johnson for rallying international allies when the conflict began almost a year ago, and Rishi Sunak for the ongoing military support, more of which has been announced today.

Looking ahead to his meeting with King Charles he said that the monarch was “a King who had been an air force pilot” and that in Ukraine “every air force pilot is a king”.

At that moment he presented Parliament’s Speaker Lindsay Hoyle with a gift – the helmet of one of Ukraine’s most successful fighter pilots, inscribed with an arresting phrase: “We have freedom, give us wings to protect it’”.

The address went on for no more than half an hour but it was undoubtedly a moment that will last in the minds of those present and beyond.

And its powerful message achieved that rare fete – uniting Westminster, in admiration for the Ukrainian President’s resilience and determination to support him to victory.

“God bless Great Britain and long, long live the King. Slava Ukraini.”

Mr Zelenskyy was then driven to Buckingham Palace to have a meeting with the King, who was seen dashing back from an appointment through Westminster.

Following the speech, Mr Sunak asked Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to investigate what jets the UK could give to Ukraine.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes MPS hands after his speech
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy greeted his good friend Boris Johnson after the speech
Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets King Charles
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets King Charles

UK doesn’t have fighter jets to offer Ukraine

By Prof Michael Clarke, defence and security analyst

Volodymyr Zelenskyy clearly wants to do what he can to get these jets from the UK as quickly as possible.

But he won’t be getting any jets from the UK because we don’t have any that we can offer.
The Eurofighter isn’t the right type, the Typhoon isn’t the right jet for him.

What he needs are Gripen fighters and F-16s, the American fighter, maybe Mirage fighters.

But what he will get from Britain, and get quite a lot of, is pilot training because we have very good simulation training. We could train up existing fighter pilots, those who are flying MiG-29s now in Ukraine could be trained on to American or other European or NATO fighters through simulation techniques within a matter of weeks – three or four weeks probably.

His demand for fighters is addressing the wrong country because we literally don’t have them to offer. However, his demand, in a way, is to the whole of the Western alliance.

Boris Johnson gets personal thanks

Former prime minister Boris Johnson, who has a close relationship with Mr Zelenskyy and has been one of Ukraine’s most vocal backers, was spotted in the crowd of politicians.

The Ukrainian leader singled out Mr Johnson, thanking him personally for extending “your helping hand when the world had not yet come to understand how to react”. They then shared a long handshake and brief chat as the Ukrainian left the hall.

Following the speech, Mr Johnson reiterated his calls for the UK to increase its support for Ukraine with longer-range missiles and artillery, as well as more tanks and Typhoon jets.

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Watch Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s full address to Westminster Hall

Mr Zelenskyy added to parliament that the UK “showed your grit and character” and the “strong British character” at the beginning of the war.

“You did not compromise your ideals and thus you didn’t compromise the spirit of this great alliance. Thank you very much,” he added.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses parliamentarians in Westminster Hall, London, during his first visit to the UK since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Winston Churchill’s war chair

He received one of many ovations after saying: “Do you have a feeling that the evil will crumble once again? I can see in your eyes now we think the same way as you do.

“We know freedom will win. We know. We know Russia will lose.

“And we really know the victory. The victory will change the world. And this will be a change that the world has long needed.”

Rishi Sunak welcomes the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to 10 Downing Street where he was greeted by staff. Picture by Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street
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Mr Zelenskyy was clapped into Downing Street. Pic: Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street


Winston Churchill also got a mention as Mr Zelenskyy said two and a half years ago he came to London, when he had just been made president, and sat in Winston Churchill’s armchair “from which war orders were given” at the Churchill War Rooms.

“I certainly felt something, but it is only now that I know what the feeling was – and all Ukrainians know it perfectly well too,” he told parliamentarians.

“It is the feeling of how bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your bravery, from all of us.”

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Rishi Sunak welcomed Zelenskyy

Surprise visit

The unannounced visit was only Mr Zelenskyy’s second outside Ukraine since Russia invaded last February. He travelled to the United States just before Christmas and stopped off in Poland on the way back.

Moments after Mr Zelenskyy arrived, the UK imposed further sanctions on companies supplying equipment to Russia for the war and Russians connected to “nefarious financial networks”, helping the Kremlin elites maintain wealth and power.

Mr Sunak also announced an “immediate” surge of military equipment for Ukraine, an offer to train 20,000 more Ukrainian troops, plus training for fighter jet pilots so they can fly NATO-standard fighter jets, and a training programme for marines.

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Scientists embark on crucial study to save Britain’s bees

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Scientists embark on crucial study to save Britain's bees

Scientists from Kew Gardens are using a new study to track which trees bees prefer to try to stem the decline in our vital pollinators.

Bee populations are falling all over the world due to a mixture of habitat loss, climate change, and the use of pesticides, with a devastating impact on our biodiversity and food production.

But it’s feared that not enough comprehensive, global research is being done to understand the issue or find solutions.

Pollination Research Lead, Dr Janine Griffiths-Lee told Sky News “Nearly 90% of our flowering plants depend on the contribution of pollinators, but in the UK the population of flying insects in the last 20 years has decreased by around 60%. 
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The study is building up heat maps of the most popular trees


 

Now, scientists based at Wakehurst in Sussex (Kew’s “Wild Botanic Garden”) have begun placing advanced bioacoustics sensors in some of their trees, to track which ones the bees are more drawn to.
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Non-invasive monitors track the buzz created by bees’ wing beats

UK becoming a no-fly zone

Researchers based at Wakehurst in Sussex, known as Kew’s “Wild Botanic Garden”, have begun placing advanced bio-acoustics sensors in some of their trees to track which ones bees favour.

They hope it’ll help urban planners know which trees to plant in built-up areas, as a way of combating the worrying decline in bee numbers.

Pollination research lead Dr Janine Griffiths-Lee said: “Nearly 90% of our flowering plants depend on the contribution of pollinators, but in the UK the population of flying insects in the last 20 years has decreased by around 60%.

“It’s really hard to be able to put a figure on the decline of our pollinators, but we do know that globally the number is declining.

“And with that comes crop yield instability and the loss of an essential ecosystem service.”

Their new, non-invasive monitors listen for the buzz created by bees’ wing beats, building up heat maps of the most popular spots.

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bees
kew gardens
Kew scientists are using a ‘brand new’ study to track which trees bees prefer - to try and stem the decline in our vital pollinators.
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Bio-acoustics sensors are placed in trees to track which ones the bees are more drawn to

‘We’re facing twin crises’

Dr Griffiths-Lee said: “If you think about the tree’s footprint, it’s very small, but they’re huge 3D structures covered in pollen and nectar, which are essential resources of pollinators.

“So we really wanted to think about which are the best trees for bees for us to plant, and that can inform landscape planners, urban architects.”

Eight different species of tree were chosen for the study, including horse chestnut and lime trees, with a mixture of native and non-native species.

The scientists have also been gathering DNA from pollen, which also helps them to map which plants and flowers the insects prefer.

Wakehurst’s director, Susan Raikes, calls the 535-acre estate a “living laboratory”, and said the project’s all about searching for nature-based solutions to the impacts of climate change.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher, really. We know that we’re facing these twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change,” she added.

“We need to be able to understand, as the climate changes, which plants from warmer climes will be good here in the UK for pollinators in the future.

“If all of our native plants are struggling, then we need to find new sources of pollen – for us all to survive.”

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Gary Neville out of Sky Sports’ Premier League finale after ‘unprecedented action’

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Gary Neville out of Sky Sports' Premier League finale after 'unprecedented action'

Football pundit Gary Neville is to miss coverage of the Premier League finale on Sunday after being banned by Nottingham Forest, whose owner he recently criticised.

Neville had been due to commentate on Forest’s game against Chelsea on Sky Sports, which is being billed as a Champions League qualification shoot-out with both teams aiming for a top five finish.

But posting on Instagram, the former Manchester United and England defender said the broadcaster told him on Thursday that Forest “would not give me an accreditation or access to the stadium as a co-commentator”.

“I’ve had no choice but to withdraw from the coverage,” he added.

“I’ve dished out my fair share of criticism and praise in the last 14 years of doing this job and have never come close to this unprecedented action.”

Screengrab from the X feed of Sky Sports News of an incident between Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo and club owner Evangelos Marinakis after the Premier League match at the City Ground, Nottingham. Picture date: Sunday May 11, 2025. See PA story SOCCER Forest. Photo credit should read: Sky Sports/X/PA Wire. NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or fa
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Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis (R) with manager Nuno Espirito Santo after the Premier League match against Leicester. Pic: Sky Sports News/PA

Sky backs Neville’s decision

Neville said while Forest “have every right to choose who they let into their own stadium”, it was “disappointing that a great club […] have been reduced to making such a decision”.

He said “it’s symptomatic of things that have happened over the last 12 months with the club”.

Sky Sports described Forest’s move as “an unprecedented and unwelcome step” and said it has decided “to present the game from Sky Studios in west London.

“As he was no longer able to commentate from the ground, Gary has chosen to not be part of the coverage on Sunday – a decision fully supported by Sky.”

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Neville has been highly critical of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.

He described Marinakis walking on to the pitch and exchanging words with head coach Nuno Espirito Santo after the club’s draw with Leicester earlier this month as “scandalous”.

Neville urged Nuno to quit the club and his social media post further enraged Marinakis, who had threatened Sky with legal action over comments made by the pundit earlier in the season.

After Forest’s 2-0 defeat at Everton last year, the club issued a statement on social media questioning the integrity of video assistant referee Stuart Atwell after claiming they had been denied three penalties.

Neville’s response to that, comparing Forest’s actions to those of a “mafia gang”, prompted an apology from Sky after they had been contacted by Marinakis’ lawyers.

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Labour say there’s been a ‘massive increase’ in NHS appointments – this begs to differ

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Labour say there's been a 'massive increase' in NHS appointments - this begs to differ

“The target was never particularly ambitious,” says the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) about Labour’s plan to add two million extra NHS appointments during their first year in power.

In February, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced they had achieved the feat early. He recently described the now 3.6m additional appointments achieved in their first eight months as a “massive increase”.

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But new data, obtained by independent fact checking charity Full Fact and shared exclusively with Sky News, reveals this figure actually signalled a slowing down in new NHS activity.

There was an even larger rise of 4.2m extra appointments over the same period the year before, under Rishi Sunak’s government.

The data also reveals how unambitious the target was in the first place.

We now know two million extra appointments over the course of a year represents a rise of less than 3% of the almost 70 million carried out in the year to June 2024.

In the last year under Mr Sunak, the rise was 10% – and the year before that it was 8%.

Responding to the findings, Sarah Scobie, deputy director of independent health and social care think tank the Nuffield Trust, told Sky News the two million target was “very modest”.

She said delivering that number of appointments “won’t come close to bringing the treatment waiting list back to pre-pandemic levels, or to meeting longer-term NHS targets”.

The IFS said it was smaller than the annual growth in demand pressures forecast by the government.

What exactly did Labour promise?

The Labour election manifesto said: “As a first step, in England we will deliver an extra two million NHS operations, scans, and appointments every year; that is 40,000 more appointments every week.”

We asked the government many times exactly how it would measure the pledge, as did policy experts from places like the IFS and Full Fact. But it repeatedly failed to explain how it was defined.

Leo Benedictus, a journalist and fact-checker at Full Fact, told Sky News: “We didn’t know how they were defining these appointments.

“When they said that there would be more of them, we didn’t know what there would be more of.”

Leo Benedictus, journalist and fact checker at Full Fact, obtained the key data from the NHS after a Freedom of Information request
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Leo Benedictus

Even once in government, initially Labour did not specify their definition of “operations, scans, and appointments”, or what the baseline “extra” was being measured against.

This prevented us and others from measuring progress every month when NHS stats were published. Did it include, for instance, mental health and A&E appointments? And when is the two million extra comparison dating from?

Target met, promise kept?

Suddenly, in February, the government announced the target had already been met – and ever since, progress on appointments has been a key boast of ministers and Labour MPs.

At this point, they did release some information: the definition of procedures that allowed them to claim what had been achieved. They said the target involved is elective – non-emergency – operations excluding maternity and mental health services; outpatient appointments and diagnostic tests.

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Why has Starmer axed NHS England?

However, we still did not have a comprehensive baseline to measure the two million increase against.

The government data instead relied on a snapshot: comparing the number of appointments carried out from July to November 2024 with the number from July to November 2023, and adjusted them for the number of working days in each period.

This did not tell us if the NHS had already been adding appointments under the Conservatives, and at what pace, and therefore whether this target was a big impressive ramping up of activity or, as it turns out, actually a slowing down.

Since then, a number of organisations, like Full Fact, have been fighting with the government to release the data.

Mr Benedictus said: “We asked them for that information. They didn’t publish it. We didn’t have it.

“The only way we could get hold of it was by submitting an FOI request, which they had to answer. And when that came back about a month later, it was fascinating.”

This finally gives us the comparative data allowing us to see what the baseline is against which the government’s “success” is being measured.

Full Fact passed the data to Sky News because it had seen our reporting about how the information published by the NHS in February was not sufficient to be able to assess whether things were getting better or worse.

What the government says now

We put our findings to the government.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “On entering office last July, the secretary of state [Wes Streeting] was advised that the fiscal black hole meant elective appointments would have to be cut by 20,000 every week.

“Instead, this government provided the extra investment and has already delivered 3.6 million additional appointments – more than the manifesto commitment the British public voted for – while also getting more patients seen within 18 weeks.

“In the nine months since this government took office, the waiting list has dropped by over 200,000 – more than five times as much as it had over the same period the previous year – and also fell for six consecutive months in a row.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting leaves 10 Downing Street, London, following a Cabinet meeting. Picture date: Tuesday May 6, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Aaron Chown/PA Wire
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Pic: PA

We put this to Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak’s chancellor during his last two years as prime minister, and health secretary for six years under David Cameron and Theresa May.

He said: “What these numbers seem to show is that the rate of appointments was going up by more in the last government than it is by this government. That’s really disappointing when you look at the crisis in the NHS.

“All the evidence is that if you want to increase the number of people being treated, you need more capacity in the system, and you need the doctors and nurses that are there to be working more productively.

“Instead what we’ve had from this government is the vast majority of the extra funding for the NHS has gone into pay rises, without asking for productivity in return.”

Jeremy Hunt told Sky News that "the vast majority of the extra funding for the NHS has gone into pay-rises, without asking for productivity in return"
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Jeremy Hunt speaks to Sky’s Sam Coates

Edward Argar, shadow health secretary, accused the government of a “weak attempt […] to claim credit for something that was already happening”.

“We need to see real and meaningful reform that will genuinely move the dial for patients,” he added.

Is the NHS getting better or worse?

New polling carried out by YouGov on behalf of Sky News this week also reveals 39% of people think the NHS has got worse over the past year, compared with 12% who think it’s got better.

Six in 10 people say they do not trust Keir Starmer personally on the issue of the NHS, compared with three in 10 who say they do.

That is a better rating than some of his rivals, however. Just 21% of people say they trust Nigel Farage with the NHS, and only 16% trust Kemi Badenoch – compared with 64% and 60% who do not.

Ed Davey performs better, with 30% saying they trust him and 38% saying they do not.

Ms Scobie of the Nuffield Trust told Sky News “the government is right to make reducing long hospital treatment waits a key priority […] but much faster growth in activity is needed for the NHS to see a substantial improvement in waiting times for patients.”

The government is correct, however, to point out the waiting list having dropped by more than 200,000 since it’s been in office. This is the biggest decline between one July and the following February since current waiting list statistics were first published under Gordon Brown.

The percentage of people waiting less than 18 weeks for treatment is also falling for the first time, other than a brief period during the pandemic, for the first time in more than a decade.

There is still a long way to go, though. Figures released last week showed the total number of people waiting for NHS treatment in England had risen again in March, following six months of positive progress.

The latest figures show 6.25m people waiting for 7.42m treatments (some people are on the list for more than one issue). That means more than one in 10 people in England are currently waiting for NHS treatment.

There continues to be a fall in the number who have been waiting longer than a year. It’s now 180,242, down from almost 400,000 in August 2023 and over 300,000 in June 2024, the Conservatives’ last month in power.

But that number is still incredibly high by historical standards. It remains over 100 times higher than it was before the pandemic.

The government has a separate pledge that no more than 8% of patients will wait longer than 18 weeks for treatment, by the time of the next election. Despite improvements in recent months, currently more than 40% wait longer than this.


The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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