Zelensky makes direct plea to MPs, but UK resists calls for NATO no-fly zone

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The chamber was crammed when Volodymyr Zelensky delivered his speech via video link to the House of Commons yesterday. Headphoned MPs overlapped, sitting slightly on top of each other, so squeezed were the green benches. Russian invaders will be fought “in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets”, the Ukrainian President said in his unusual address made directly to MPs. When Zelensky finished, I watched the response carefully from high up in the press gallery, where there is no glass between us and the members below. Applause (also unusual) rang out from every single MP I could see, every member of the public, and even a handful of journalists joined the standing ovation. I saw one Labour MP wipe away tears from her cheeks as the party leaders reacted to the historic occasion.

Zelensky did not only use Churchillian rhetoric to get his message across to British lawmakers. As expected, he also made a plea. “Please increase the pressure of sanctions against this country, and please recognise this country as a terrorist state,” he told them. “And please make sure that our Ukrainian skies are safe. Please make sure that you do what needs to be done and what is stipulated by the greatness of your country.” Boris Johnson’s reply promised to “employ every method we can” to help Ukraine “until Vladimir Putin has failed in his disastrous venture” – but notably included a list of means: “diplomatic, humanitarian and economic”. The government is holding its position on a no-fly zone, which is to turn down requests for one. Today on LabourList, Toby Dickinson has written a detailed piece setting out why Labour is also right to resist calls for NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Also on LabourList, the biggest Labour news of the day was John Bercow being administratively suspended pending investigation. A new report into his conduct as House of Commons speaker found that he was a “serial bully” and “serial liar”, who mimicked and shouted at staff members. The former Tory MP is known to have been an active Labour Party member in recent months. There was also a row at the ruling body’s ‘Org Sub’ meeting yesterday, involving Angela Rayner and Anneliese Dodds. Whether MP selection applicants should get member lists at the longlisting or shortlisting stage of the process can prompt an incredibly heated discussion, it turns out. Catch up on all that and more before more news comes in today.

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