Martin Lewis right to warn of “deliberate narrative shift” on rising cost of living

Three people including a child were killed and 17 others injured in a Russian strike on a maternity and children’s hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to officials. President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the attack a war crime. Almost every day brings with it a more monstrous development. Keir Starmer, who has gone to meet British troops in Estonia and reaffirm Labour’s commitment to NATO, made the case earlier this week for a Nazi-style special tribunal to prosecute Putin. Boris Johnson has pledged more support for Ukraine and vowed to “hold Putin to account for his terrible crimes”. But it all feels horribly lacking.

Labour will unveil a new five-point plan for “energy security and sovereignty” today. On a visit to the University of Salford with Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband is set to declare that it is “time to turbocharge the shift to green energy”. Changes to the UK’s approach to energy are more urgent than ever in the context of spiralling prices and Russia’s invasion. Amid reports that Johnson could open the door to fracking in response, Miliband says this would be a “dangerous lurch”. Martin Lewis warned on BBC Radio 4 this morning, expressed in a way far clearer than I’ve heard from any politician, that we may be seeing a “deliberate narrative shift” to blame the cost-of-living crisis on the war in Ukraine, which is “not correct”.

We know you come to LabourList for Labour news that you can’t get anywhere else, however. You’re in luck, as we have exclusively revealed the 14 seats that the party will allow to select their parliamentary candidates early. The list agreed by Labour’s ruling body includes four Labour retirement seats (currently represented by Kate Green, Alan Whitehead, Barry Sheerman and Rosie Winterton, all of whom are standing down at the next election) and ten Tory seats. I have a good idea of who is likely to slot into half of those constituencies, and my Twitter followers have already been very helpful, but if you have a tip for who is looking to be selected in any of the 14, please get in touch via Twitter so I can get the fullest picture possible before LabourList reveals the runners and riders.