Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has called for ex-prime minister Sir Tony Blair to give evidence to MPs about what he discussed in a White House meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Thursday 28 August 2025 14:04, UK
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We’re creeping towards the end of recess, when parliamentarians will rush back to Westminster for the start of the political term.
But the break hasn’t slowed down the news agenda this week.
The Russian ambassador to the UK, Andrey Kelin, was today summoned by the Foreign Office after strikes on the British Council building in Kyiv overnight.
A guard for the building was injured but “stable”, the group’s chief executive said, with photographs from the scene showing major damage.
Kelin’s meeting lasted a matter of minutes, before he departed the Foreign Office.
Seema Malhotra, the immigration minister, has dismissed Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s deportation plans as a “gimmick”.
His party yesterday suggested sending money to the Taliban to return migrants.
Also today, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has urged Sir Tony Blair to disclose details of his talks with US President Donald Trump to MPs.
It was confirmed on Wednesday that Blair had been to the White House to discuss the future of Gaza.
Davey said: “Tony Blair needs to come before parliament to give evidence about his discussions with the Trump administration about the ongoing war and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Seema Malhotra, the immigration minister, is the latest politician to criticise Nigel Farage’s deportation plans, which he unveiled in detail this week.
Among Reform UK’s proposals is the potential for money to be sent to the Taliban to return migrants.
Speaking today from Portsmouth, Malhotra said: “I’m not commenting on individual countries in this way.
“What I will say is that we have a policy of returning people to their countries where they are safe or, as we’ve seen in the agreement with France, to safe third countries.
“What’s also the case is that we’ve seen Reform’s plan unravel after just two days, and if that’s their specialist subject to see their plans unravel on the basic facts and figures, one has to ask the question about what other plans they might have.
“Whether it’s for our NHS or any other areas of our public services, what we are committed to is taking the serious action that we need and not gimmicks.”
Russian ambassador Andrey Kelin has just arrived at the Foreign Office after being summoned by the British government.
It followed damage that was inflicted to the British Council building in Kyiv overnight.
Kelin’s meeting was short, lasting less than half an hour before he departed.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has confirmed our reporting that the Russian ambassador Andrey Kelin is being summoned after last night’s strikes on the British Council building in Kyiv.
Sky News understands this meeting will be with officials, rather than ministers.
Here’s what Lammy had to say…
The Russian ambassador to the UK will be summoned by the Foreign Office, Sky News understands.
It comes after the British Council building in Kyiv suffered major damage in Russian strikes overnight.
The group’s chief executive, Scott McDonald, said their guard for the building was injured but “stable”.
“At the insistence of my amazing colleagues, we will continue operations in Ukraine today wherever possible,” he added.
“Their resilience is awe-inspiring and I am deeply thankful they are all safe.”
Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer said: “My thoughts are with all those affected by the senseless Russian strikes on Kyiv which have damaged the British Council building.
“Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace.
“This bloodshed must end.”
What is the British Council?
The British Council is an arms-length body from the government.
It claims to “support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide”.
The group facilitates schemes like working, living and learning abroad for British people.
Most of its funding comes from the fees it charges people for its services, but it does also get funding from the FCDO.
Yesterday, it was confirmed that Sir Tony Blair had been to the White House to discuss the future of Gaza.
Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, is now calling for the former PM to give evidence to MPs about what was discussed.
He said: “Tony Blair needs to come before parliament to give evidence about his discussions with the Trump administration about the ongoing war and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
“If he has special insight into Trump’s intentions, it’s only right that parliament and the government are made privy to this.
“Trump has a unique power to help end this war, get the hostages out, and get the desperately needed aid in to relieve the horrendous human suffering in Gaza.
“We must leverage all the information and resources at our disposal to make him do the right thing.”
We now know a little bit more about changes in the backrooms of Downing Street.
As we reported earlier, Starmer’s principal private secretary Ninjeri Pandit is leaving that role.
However, Sky News understands she will stay on in Downing Street to help with policy delivery and working on the PM’s “priorities”.
She is also understood to still have the full trust and backing of the prime minister.
There’s nothing yet on who might replace her as Starmer’s PPS, but an internal recruitment process is underway.
We’ve been reporting that Ninjeri “Nin” Pandit is leaving her role as Sir Keir Starmer’s personal private secretary.
A civil servant, she is very much someone who has operated behind the scenes in government – with even pictures hard to come by.
She is also apolitical, having worked in Downing Street since Boris Johnson’s time in office.
In fact, Johnson’s ex-chief of staff Dominic Cummings said Pandit was “one of the many brilliant young women” in Downing Street during the COVID pandemic.
Pandits’ expertise lies in health policy, having worked as lead policy adviser to the chief executive of NHS England earlier in her career, and worked as digital services lead at NHS UK.
She focused on health policy in Downing Street, including during the pandemic, with Cummings saying she helped set up the COVID dashboard.
From 2022 – just after when Rishi Sunak became prime minister – Pandit was the director of the Downing Street Policy Unit.
She got the PPS role as part of the Downing Street’s reshuffle of his back office after Sue Gray left government in October 2024.
It is not clear what her next job will be – although the BBC is reporting it will still be within in government.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has refused an invitation from King Charles to a state dinner with Donald Trump in protest over Gaza.
Davey, who has been vocal in his disapproval of the US president, said he “thought and prayed long and hard” about whether to accept the invitation to the state banquet at Windsor Castle during Trump’s historic second visit next month.
“I have come to the conclusion that on this occasion I must refuse,” he wrote in The Guardian.
The Lib Dem leader said it is an “enormous honour” to receive an invitation from the king, and he takes “very seriously my duty to our sovereign”.
“To refuse an invitation like this goes against all my instincts,” he added.
But, he said he fears Trump will be honoured with a “lavish dinner at one of our finest palaces and nobody reminds him that he has the power to stop the horrifying starvation, death, and captivities in Gaza”.
Sir Keir Starmer’s principal private secretary, Ninjeri Pandit, is leaving her role, Sky News understands.
She has been in post less than a year.
The BBC reports the PM had “become concerned” that Pandit was “ineffective” in the role.
A Downing Street source insisted that Pandit retained Starmer’s “trust and confidence”.
She is the third senior aide to Starmer to leave their role in 12 months, after chief of staff Sue Gray and director of communications Matt Doyle.
It is worth nothing that Doyle and Gray were political appointees, while Pandit is a civil servant.
According to her biography on the government website, Pandit was the director of the Downing Street policy unit from late 2022, when Rishi Sunak was prime minister.
Before that she worked on health policy in Downing Street, and was chief of staff and lead policy adviser to the NHS England CEO.
Downing Street refused to comment.
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