The UK has sanctioned a Russian military officer accused of helping poison former double agent Sergei Skripal with novichok in Salisbury.
The Foreign Office has imposed 56 new sanctions on people and entities linked to Russia, including those in the Wagner mercenary group that operates unofficially on Vladimir Putin’s behalf, and companies based in China, Turkey and central Asia supplying parts to Russia.
Denis Sergeev, who the Met Police charged over the attempted murder of double agent Mr Skripal, has been sanctioned under the chemical weapons sanctions regime.
“Sergeev provided support in the preparation and use of the chemical weapon novichok in Salisbury…and provided a coordinating role in London on the weekend of the attack,” the Foreign Office said.
Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in March 2018.
Police said nerve agent novichok was applied to the front door of his home.
More on David Lammy
Related Topics:
Three Russians, who police said are GRU military intelligence officers, have been charged in absentia over the incident.
Sergeev was the last to be charged after police said he was acting under the alias Sergey Fedotov.
Advertisement
A public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, a woman unwittingly killed after coming across a sample perfume bottle containing novichok, heard Mr Skripal believed Mr Putin had ordered the attack on him.
Moscow has repeatedly rejected British accusations the Kremlin was involved.
Also included in the latest sanctions round are companies supplying Russia with military equipment being used in its war against Ukraine.
Ten companies based in China, and a handful from Turkey, Estonia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, are on the list for supplying and producing machine tools, microelectronics and components for drones used by Russia in Ukraine.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:35
North Korean troops near Ukrainian border
Russian-based mercenary groups operating in sub-Saharan Africa with links to the Kremlin are also on the list.
The Foreign Office said they have threatened peace and security in Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic, and have committed widespread human rights abuses across Africa.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Today’s measures will continue to push back on the Kremlin’s corrosive foreign policy, undermining Russia’s attempts to foster instability across Africa and disrupting the supply of vital equipment for Putin’s war machine.
“And smashing the illicit international networks that Russia has worked so hard to forge.
“Putin is nearly 1,000 days into a war he thought would only take a few. He will fail and I will continue to bear down on the Kremlin and support the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom.”
The Church of England needs to “kneel in penitence” and “be changed”, the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell is expected to say in his Christmas Day sermon.
It comes at a challenging time for the Church which has faced criticism over how it handled a number of abuse scandals.
Mr Cottrell will next month effectively become the Church’s temporary leader in place of the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
But Mr Cottrell has himself also faced calls to quit after revelations David Tudor, a priest at the centre of a sexual abuse case, was twice reappointed under him while he was serving as bishop of Chelmsford.
With Mr Welby not giving the 25 December sermon, the focus has moved to what Mr Cottrell will say at York Minster.
He is expected to say the Church must “kneel in penitence and adoration” this Christmas and “be changed”.
He will say about Jesus: “At the centre of the Christmas story is a vulnerable child; a vulnerable child that Herod’s furious wrath will try and destroy, for like every tyrant he cannot abide a rival.
“The Church of England – the Church of England I love and serve – needs to look at this vulnerable child, at this emptying out of power to demonstrate the power of love, for in this vulnerable child we see God.
“If you’re in love, show me. If you have love in your hearts, embody and demonstrate that love by what you do.”
‘Put the needs of others first’
The archbishop will add: “This is what we learn at the manger. Put the needs of others first – those who are cold and hungry and homeless this Christmas.
“Those who are victims of abuse and exploitation. Those who, like the little holy family, have to flee oppression and seek refuge in a foreign land.”
With regards to the Tudor case, Mr Cottrell has acknowledged things “could have been handled differently, and regrets that it wasn’t”.
But Tudor’s victims have branded Mr Cottrell’s response to the case “insulting and upsetting”. They have suggested it’s “inevitable” that he resigns or is forced out of his role.
Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley questioned how Mr Cottrell could have any credibility, and Bishop of Gloucester Rachel Treweek declined to publicly back him.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, is giving the sermon at Canterbury Cathedral in place of Mr Welby and will speak of the birth of Jesus as a triumph of “light and hope” over “fear and darkness”.
Around half of accident and emergency departments, polled by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), have said they are “full to bursting” this Christmas.
The vice-president of the RCEM, Dr Ian Higginson, told Sky News’ Gareth Barlow on Christmas Eve that the situation for the NHS in the UK is “pretty grim” at the moment.
The group, representing emergency doctors, put a call out to senior managers on Friday night. Dr Higginson said half responded and “all but two of them said that the emergency departments were absolutely full to bursting”.
“Normally just before Christmas, we’d expect a bit of a lull. So I’m afraid things are looking pretty difficult out there for our patients and for our staff,” he added.
The NHS has warned that hospitals are under severe pressure because of winter flu cases and a so-called “quad-demic”, combining respiratory infections with norovirus.
Commenting on the challenges facing the NHS, Dr Higginson said: “We simply don’t have enough beds in our hospitals for patients who are admitted as emergencies.
“We don’t have enough staff for those beds and we don’t have any headroom at all. So if something like flu hits as it has done, it makes a bad situation even worse.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:14
Hospitals are being flooded by winter flu cases
England ‘about 10,000 beds short’
Dr Higginson added he believes the answer is “strategic solutions and strategic investment”.
He said: “In England alone, we reckon we’re about 10,000 beds short in our hospitals to deal with the predictable, urgent and emergency care… the equivalent of approximately two wards in every hospital.”
Recently the RCEM also attacked the “nonsensical” guidance on how to treat patients in corridors – describing it as “out of touch” and “normalising the dangerous”.
Dr Higginson said recent pressures mean “we’ve got patients all the way through our corridors because we can’t admit them to hospital when they need to”.
He added: “It may be that their ambulance is outside in car parks because those patients can’t get into our emergency departments.”
And he argued that social care is “in a really difficult place at the moment” – needing investment to prevent older patients from remaining in hospital longer than they need to.
“When they’re ready to leave hospital, they get stuck in hospital, and that contributes to that shortage of beds even more,” he said.
Since its election victory in July, the Labour government has acknowledged the NHS needs investment with the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying it is “broken”.
In October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £22.6bn increase in day-to-day spending on the NHS in her budget.
Commenting on rising pressures within the NHS, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We inherited an NHS that is broken but not beaten, and staff are already working hard to tackle an increase in admissions this winter.”
“For too long, an annual winter crisis has become the norm. We will deliver long-term reforms through our 10-year health plan that will create a health service that will be there for all of us all year round,” he added.
The UK’s oldest man has celebrated his 110th birthday with a special performance from opera singer Alfie Boe at his care home in Derbyshire.
A party was laid on for Donald Rose – who’s now ranked as a ‘supercentenarian’.
Mr Boe joined the bash in Ilkeston by video call and sang happy birthday, adding it was “a pleasure” to perform for him.
Mr Rose, who served in the Second World War with the Queen’s Royal Regiment, said: “Today is the best day I’ve ever had.”
Canal Vue Care Home announced his birthday with a post on Facebook: “Today we’re celebrating a remarkable milestone. Our beloved Donald is turning 110 years young!”
Activity coordinator Naomi Allsop also shared a touching tribute on Facebook: “Happy 110th birthday to my amazing best friend, the UK’s oldest man and a remarkable WWII and D-Day veteran!
“We’ve shared so many incredible experiences together, and there’s still so much more to come!”
“Donald is a lovely character – and a true national treasure,” said the Mayor of Erewash, Councillor Kate Fennelly, who also paid him a visit.
Mr Rose, who was born in 1914 in Westcott, Surrey, also received a card from The King and Queen, which he proudly showed off.
Other performances at the care home included Kate from D-Day Darlings, an all-female singing group who reached the finals of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.
She sang Dame Vera Lynn’s The White Cliffs of Dover and We’ll Meet Again.
On 5 December, the war hero was among 200 veterans and their guests to attend a Christmas reception at St James’s Palace, hosted by the Duke of Gloucester.
The event was organised by The Not Forgotten veterans’ charity, which aims to combat isolation and loneliness in the armed forces and those who have served through social activities and holidays.
Mr Rose served as a sniper and Desert Rat in North Africa in the Second World War, according to The Gerontology Research Group, and was part of the liberation of Italy and France.
He earned a number of medals during his service including the Legion D’Honneur – France’s highest honour.
After working various jobs as a labourer, lorry driver and bin man he moved to Derbyshire in 2000 following the death of his wife, and at the age of 106 moved into his care home in Ilkeston.