Rishi Sunak – live: PM insists small boats policy going ‘better than expected’ days after new crossing record

Friday saw record numbers of crossings for this year - with 686 arriving on UK shores

Rishi Sunak welcomes Joe Biden to Downing Street

Rishi Sunak has insisted his crackdown on small boats is going “much better” than expected, despite record numbers of boat crossings.

Speaking to reporters on his way to the Nato summit in Lithuania, the prime minister denied he was wrong to claim his small boats policy was working last month.

It comes after Friday saw record numbers of crossings for this year - with 686 arriving on UK shores.

The prime minister said he had always predicted that the numbers coming to Britain would rise during the summer.

He said his policy had to be judged on the trends when he took office.

“The fact that they (numbers) are down for five months of the year, the fact that they are still down, even if it’s less, than what people are expecting is a much better result than anyone was expecting,” he said.

He added: “We need to get people out of hotels, we need to save the taxpayer billions. We need to get the backlog down. But fundamentally we need to do what it compassionate and fair.”

Key points

• Sunak claims small boats crackdown going ‘much better than expected’ – despite upturn in crossings
• PM heads to Nato summit to urge allies to hike defence spending
• Biden meets Lithuanian President Gitanas ahead of Nato summit

[12 July 2023 17:53 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: Biden delivers remarks in Vilnius

[12 July 2023 18:01 · Oliver O'Connell]

Fired up Biden says ‘we will not waver’ in commitment to Ukraine

“We will not waver. I mean that. Our commitment to Ukraine will not weaken. We will stand for liberty today, tomorrow, and for as long as it takes.”

[12 July 2023 18:05 · Oliver O'Connell]

President Biden: “The defence of freedom is not the work of a day or a year. It’s the calling of our lifetime — of all time.”

[12 July 2023 18:06 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: Putin ‘still making a bad bet’ says Biden in landmark Vilnius speech

[12 July 2023 18:13 · Oliver O'Connell]

Biden: ‘We are steeled for struggle ahead’

[12 July 2023 18:23 · Oliver O'Connell]

There were Chants of “U-S-A” and “Slava Ukraini” as President Joe Biden wrapped up his speech at Vilnius University.

The White House, citing the mayor of Vilnius, says 10,000 people attended the speech, including the overflow spaces in the town square.

[12 July 2023 18:50 · Oliver O'Connell]

Why Nato’s Article 5 stands in the way of Ukraine’s admission to the alliance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may have gotten support and vague assurances from NATO leaders in Vilnius this week, but he ultimately returns home without a clear commitment that his country will be joining the club any time soon.

Instead, the alliance leaders said they were removing obstacles on Ukraine’s membership path so that it can join more quickly once the war with Russia is over.

For many, that argument gives Russia’s president a pretext to prolong the war, which President Vladimir Putin ostensibly launched to keep Ukraine from joining NATO.

But if Ukraine joins NATO in the middle of the war, then Russia is at war with the entire NATO alliance.

At the core of this conundrum is Article 5 - NATO’s common defense guarantee under which an attack on one member is considered an attack on them all.

Read more...

[12 July 2023 19:20 · Oliver O'Connell]

What was achieved at the Nato summit?

President Joe Biden and his Nato counterparts wrapped up a two-day summit Wednesday with pledges of long-term support for Ukraine but no offer of the country’s protection under the alliance’s security umbrella.

Results from the meeting in Lithuania, a nation on Nato’s eastern flank that borders Russia, were mixed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was grateful for the pledges of more arms and ammunition but disappointed that his country has no clear time frame for joining the world’s biggest security alliance.

After an evening of pre-summit intrigue, Sweden took a big step toward becoming NATO’s 32nd member country when Turkey signalled it would give its approval but not before October.

The allies also launched sweeping changes to their defence plans in case of an attack from Russia or by terrorists. They agreed to step up defence spending, too, but set out no timetable for meeting the targets.

Read more...

[12 July 2023 19:42 · Oliver O'Connell]

Biden says Nato summit accomplished goals they set out

President Joe Biden answers questions from the press prior to boarding the Air force One at the Vilnius International Airport on 12 July 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

Before boarding Air Force One for Finland at Vilnius International Airport, President Joe Biden took a few questions from reporters on the tarmac.

In response to a question about how the Nato summit went, Mr Biden said he “accomplished the goals we set out to accomplish”.

“One thing Zelensky understands whether or not he is in Nato now is not relevant” because of the commitments made by the Alliance, he said.

Mr Biden said he was briefed on Ukraine’s counteroffensive, but he was not at liberty to provide details and said he would consider authorising sending longer-range missiles to Kyiv, but noted that Ukraine already has an equivalent system and their need for artillery shells is more urgent.

The message Nato sends to Putin is that “we’re together,” the president said.

[12 July 2023 19:50 · Oliver O'Connell]

Comment: It’s ‘angry Joe’, not ‘sleepy Joe’ – don’t be fooled by Biden’s ‘nice guy’ image

John Rentoul writes:

One of the worst-kept secrets of Washington is that Joe Biden has a short fuse. According to Alex Thompson, who is writing a book on the president, “behind closed doors, Biden has such a quick-trigger temper that some aides try to avoid meeting alone with him”.

The president is prone to shouting and swearing at staff, and “there is occasionally a menacing and humiliating tone to his diatribes”, Thompson said.

Continued...