Inside Politics: West probes claim Russia used chemical weapons in Mariupol

Liz Truss warns Putin he will be ‘held to account’ following reports unknown chemical substance deployed in beseiged port city, writes Matt Mathers

A resident looks on near a building destroyed in the course of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in Mariupol (Reuters)

Putin’s war with Ukraine may have taken yet another grim turn, with reports emerging overnight that his troops allegedly used chemical weapons in the besieged city of Mariupol. Several western countries – including the US and UK – say they are investigating the claims but have so far been unable to verify them. Back at home, Labour is cranking up the heat on Rishi Sunak over his household’s tax arrangements and a Tory MP sparked outrage after defending his colleague who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. Elsewhere, MPs have condemned the “unacceptably low numbers” of prosecutions for rape. Sir David Amess’s killer has been convicted of murder.

Inside the bubble

Parliament is in Easter recess, so not much on the Westminster agenda. George Eustice, the environment secretary, will publish a report boasting that 314,000 homes have been better protected from flooding, part of a six-year flood and coastal defences programme, which is estimated to have reduced national flood risk by 5 per cent. The Scottish Greens launch their local election campaign at 10.30am. And Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, is guest presenting on LBC from 10am.

Coming up:

– Armed forces Minister James Heappey on ITV GMB at 8.30am

– Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire on Times Radio Breakfast at 8.35am

Daily Briefing

• CHEMICAL WEAPONS CLAIM: Liz Truss has warned Vladimir Putin he will be “held to account” following reports that his troops used chemical weapons in Mariupol, the port city in Ukraine’s southeast which has been under siege for nearly 50 days and where more than 10,000 people are reported to have been killed since the war broke out. “We are working urgently with partners to verify details,” the foreign secretary said. “Any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict and we will hold Putin and his regime to account,” she added. Reports say Russian troops deployed an unknown substance in the Black Sea city, with officials there saying some people had shown signs of chemical poisoning, including respiratory failure. It comes just a day after Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, warned the conflict could be entering a “new stage of terror”. In its latest update issued earlier this morning, Britain’s Ministry of Defence warned that fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify in the coming weeks as the Kremlin focuses its efforts there. “Russian attacks remain focused on Ukrainian positions near Donetsk and Luhansk with further fighting around Kherson and Mykolaiv and a renewed push towards Kramatorsk,” the MoD added. “Russian forces continue to withdraw from Belarus in order to redeploy in support of operations in eastern Ukraine.” We’ll have all the latest updates on our liveblog.

• ROLL UP, ROLL UP: The Independent is launching a new US news newsletter bringing the biggest stories, exclusives and explainers to your inbox. Details of how to sign up here.

• CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: The only heat Rishi Sunak was hoping to feel this Easter was from the California sun but the opposition continues to raise the temperature over his household’s tax arrangements and finances. Keir Starmer accused the chancellor of “hypocrisy” for putting up taxes while his wife claims non-dom status and called for Boris Johnson to confirm whether any other government minister have used the measures to reduce their tax payments in the UK. When quizzed on this subject yesterday George Eustice, the environment secretary, could only say that “I’m not the accountant for cabinet colleagues”. Starmer said it was “sloppy” of the prime minister to appoint two chancellors with what he termed “suspect” tax affairs, after Sajid Javid, the health secretary, revealed that he had also held non-dom status when he was a banker. Downing Street confirmed on Monday morning that Johnson had asked Lord Geidt, at Sunak’s request, to conduct an inquiry into whether the chancellor’s interests had been correctly declared. Sunak continues to insist that he broke no rules and followed all guidance, a conclusion Lord Geidt himself will probably reach. The issue for Sunak, however, is that the controversy is being framed by opposition parties and critics as one of fairness.

• KHAN ROW: Not a great day for the Conservative Party yesterday. First, Imran Khan was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy at a house in Stafford in 2008. He has since been expelled from the party. His team is appealing his conviction. If he’s jailed for more than a year Khan will be automatically disqualified from being an MP and a by-election would be held in his Wakefield constituency. A sentence of less than a year means he would be allowed to continue, although he could face a recall petition. Just hours after the jury delivered its verdict Crispin Blunt, a Tory MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on global LGBT+ rights and a former minister, sparked outrage by defending his colleague. Without producing evidence, Blunt claimed that Khan’s conviction was an “international scandal” and a “miscarriage of justice”, adding the decision would have “dreadful wider implications for millions of LGBT+ Muslims around the world.” Opposition parties branded Blunt’s remarks “disgraceful”. He has this morning removed the comments from his website and Twitter following warnings from Tory chiefs to remove them.

• ‘UNACCEPTABLY LOW’: Long delays could be to blame for almost two-thirds of adult rape investigations being dropped because the victim wants to discontinue the case, MPs have warned. A damning report by the Home Affairs Committee discovered 63 per cent of adult rape investigations were terminated between July and September last year because the victim decided to drop their case. The research found some 63,136 rape offences were recorded from September 2020 to September 2021, with MPs noting this is an “all-time high”. Alongside that, the amount of completed rape prosecutions plummeted from 5,190 back in 2016-17 to only 1,557 in 2020-21.MPs condemned the “unacceptably low numbers” of prosecutions for rape and sexual offences as they argued the collapse in rape prosecutions is not likely to be tackled unless victims are provided with improved support and proper nationwide funding is rolled out.

• AMESS KILLER CONVICTED: The Isis-supporting terrorist who killed Sir David Amess has been convicted of murdering the MP and plotting attacks on other politicians. Ali Harbi Ali, 26, said he murdered the Conservative politician because he had voted for airstrikes against Isis in Syria and Iraq. He had been plotting to murder an MP since May 2019, researching other potential targets including Michael Gove, Conservative Mike Freer and Labour’s Starmer. A jury convicted Ali of murder and preparing acts of terrorism after deliberating for just 20 minutes on Monday. Justice Sweeney said he would be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.

On the record

“I am utterly appalled and distraught at the dreadful miscarriage of justice that has befallen my friend and colleague Imran Ahmad Khan, MP for Wakefield since December 2019. His conviction today is nothing short of an international scandal, with dreadful wider implications for millions of LGBT+ Muslims around the world.”

Tory MP Crispin Blunt questions Khan conviction.

From the Twitterati

“It’s been a bad few days for Rishi Sunak but not sure this helps…

denying broadcasters access to event

taking along £60k vanity photographer

telling journalists in advance not to ask about financial situation

ducking questions when they do.”

Daily Mirror politics editor Pippa Crerar on Sunak’s woes.

Essential reading

• Sean O’Grady, The Independent: Sunak has referred himself to the independent regulator – but is the damage done?
• Poly Toynbee, The Guardian: Labour has shelves of winning policies. Now the party must get people to listen
• Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic: The other threat to democracy in Europe
• Mary Dejevsky, The Independent: The most important thing in the French election? Securing Mélenchon’s votes

Sign up here to receive this free briefing in your email inbox each weekday