Tory MP Chris Philp said details of plans to allow British families to host Ukrainian refugees will be worked out “in the very near future”.

The Minister of Technology said Sky News: “We will be making announcements in the very near future about a scheme for UK local authorities, and indeed UK families, to welcome Ukrainian refugees, we have announced this principle and the details of how it will work will be worked out in a very near future.

The UK said Russian forces were likely looking to “reset” for a new offensive and that this “will likely include operations against the capital Kiev”.

In an intelligence update on Friday morning, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said it was still “highly unlikely” that Russia had succeeded in its invasion plan.

He said: “Russian ground forces continue to make limited progress. The logistical problems that hampered the Russian advance persist, as does strong Ukrainian resistance.

“Russia is likely looking to reset and reposition its forces for renewed offensive activity in the coming days. This will probably include operations against the capital Kiev.

More to follow here from Joe Middleton:

A digital minister this morning accused Moscow of spreading disinformation online to stoke a “false narrative” that Ukraine is preparing to deploy chemical weapons.

But MP Chris Philip added that the move is a possible pretext for a “barbaric” Russian attack.

He said Sky News“We’ve seen over the last 24 or 48 hours what appears to be pieces of disinformation published by Russian state media, including in fact the Russian Embassy here in London, highlighting things like information on Twitter that seem to create a false narrative that Ukrainians are considering using chemical weapons, which is clearly ridiculous and totally untrue.

“Sometimes they do it in preparation, but I hope that’s not what they envision, the use of chemical weapons in any theater of war, certainly one where there are a lot of civilians. , is completely unacceptable.

“I’m not going to talk about intelligence but using chemical weapons in an area that has a lot of civilians would be a barbaric thing to do and I would tell Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime not to cross that line, not to do this for Ukrainian civilians.

It is still “highly unlikely” that Russia has achieved the goals set out in its invasion plan, but it will likely “reposition” for a new offensive, the Defense Ministry said.

“Russian ground forces continue to make limited progress. The logistical problems that hampered the Russian advance persist, as does strong Ukrainian resistance,” the Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update.

“Russia is likely looking to reset and reposition its forces for renewed offensive activity in the coming days. This will probably include operations against the capital Kiev.

Money-saving expert Martin Lewis has accused the UK government of trying to blame the war on Ukraine for the UK’s cost of living crisis.

The aid website founder pounced on the business secretary arguing that Britons ‘are prepared to endure hardship’ as the backlash from the invasion sends fuel and food bills skyrocketing.

He noted that bills were already skyrocketing and people were already coping with the worst, saying: “It’s aggravating the situation – it’s not the cause of the situation”.

“We are seeing what could be a deliberate narrative shift that actually says that the whole cost of living crisis is due to Ukraine and therefore we all have to make sacrifices and that is not correct,” he said. he warned.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has cited the Windrush scandal as a reason for not allowing open entry to Ukrainian refugees amid heavy criticism from the opposition.

Speaking in the Commons on Thursday, she told MPs the visa restrictions imposed by the Home Office were necessary because of “something known as the Windrush scandal”.

The scandal arose because the government’s ‘hostile environment’ policies forced people to show documents they had never been issued when they arrived in the UK.

The MP for Birmingham Yardley concluded by telling the chamber: “The list is painfully long but in reality the list is much longer. We can shorten it, let’s act faster.

She told ministers that these demands would be included in the “Families for Change Manifesto”, which she and Labor are working on with the families of the victims.

The British government is preparing to ask the British public to open their homes to refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine.

Refugees entering via the new route will be allowed to stay for an initial period of 12 months during which they will have the right to work, claim benefits and access public services.

Finance Secretary Rishi Sunak is expected to take limited action to tackle the cost of living crisis in this month’s spring statement.

Given growing pressure from his party and concerns about inflation hitting 10% within months, he asked Treasury officials to find options to soften the blow to customers, The Guardian reported.

However, the Chancellor is likely to reject calls to boost her much criticized energy bill reduction programme.

Tony Blair’s former chief of staff said the West must be ready to join the war in Ukraine if Russia uses chemical or nuclear weapons.

Jonathan Powell has become the first senior official to warn that failing to respond vigorously after a chemical attack – as happened with the Assad regime in Syria in 2012 – would be “catastrophic appeasement”.

Referring to Assad’s use of chemical weapons “with Russian backing”, Mr Blair’s top adviser for 10 years said: “We said we were going to act and then we didn’t act.”