live from london, this is bbc news. ukraine says it is "moving forward" on the battlefield in what appears to be the start of the much—anticipated counter—offensive. prince harry is accused of "wasting time" as lawyers criticise his absence — we will be live at the high court. this is in his civil privacy case against the mirror group newspapers. he will now give evidence on tuesday. and uk prime minister rishi sunak announces his additional barges for migrants and asylum seekers. the home secretary is due to speak in the next half hour. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories and checking out the truth behind them. lots to dig into in today's verifed live,

especially what is happening on the battlefiled in ukraine and what appears to be the start of the counter—offensive. kyiv says it is — quote — "shifting to offensive actions" in some areas. hanna malyar — ukraine's deputy defence minister — described the eastern city of bakhmut as the "epicentre of hostilities", and claimed russian forces are on the defence there, as well as in the south. the ukrainian army has released these images, showing what it says are ukrainian forces destroying russian positions in the direction of bakhmut, in the occupied eastern region of donetsk. in contrast, russia claims it's thwarted a major ukrainian attack in the same region. its defence ministry has released this video, that it says shows ukrainian armoured vehicles coming under heavy fire. moscow says 250 ukrainian troops were killed and a number of armoured vehicles were destroyed. the claims have not been verified by the bbc —

we'll hear from our verified team shortly. here's a map showing you some of the areas where ukrainian forces have made several probing attacks, along the south and eastern front line. around bakhmut and also the western part of the zaporizhzhia region, and in the eastern part of donetsk. in particular, around the town of vuhledar, some 150 km south—west of bakhmut. in the last hour, and ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, has been meeting with the british foreign secretary, james cleverley, in kyiv. let's show you the pictures of that meeting with the president banking for britain's support over the last year or more. the two men spoke to supporters, let's hear what they had to say. i spoke to supporters, let's hear what they had to say-— they had to say. i want to thank you for all of that _ they had to say. i want to thank you for all of that big _ they had to say. i want to thank you for all of that big support, - they had to say. i want to thank you for all of that big support, really - for all of that big support, really big support that the uk gave and is still giving. and we hope will

prolong their support to green. thank you so much and we have, during the last weeks, we had some conversations with the prime minister, some direct dialogue and i think very important decisions and i want to thank for the last one about opening training missions for pilots and fighterjets. and also the possibility to open discussion about a coalition of... archana shukla inaudible that is also very important. i am happy that all of their leaders understood that during this period of time when we have such big escalation by the taking of different kinds of rockets. it is a leasure different kinds of rockets. it is a pleasure to _ different kinds of rockets. it is a pleasure to come _ different kinds of rockets. it is a pleasure to come back- different kinds of rockets. it is a pleasure to come back to - different kinds of rockets. it is a

pleasure to come back to kyiv. l different kinds of rockets. it is a i pleasure to come back to kyiv. my last time _ pleasure to come back to kyiv. my last time he was in the winter and it was_ last time he was in the winter and it was cold — last time he was in the winter and it was cold and it was dark, but this time — it was cold and it was dark, but this time i_ it was cold and it was dark, but this time i can see there is more life in— this time i can see there is more life in the — this time i can see there is more life in the city, the traffic is heavier, _ life in the city, the traffic is heavier, which normally is a bad sign _ heavier, which normally is a bad sign in _ heavier, which normally is a bad sign in a — heavier, which normally is a bad sign in a city, but i think for me it demonstrates what i have known to be true _ it demonstrates what i have known to be true and _ it demonstrates what i have known to be true and that is that the ukrainian people are not going to allow— ukrainian people are not going to allow themselves to be broken by this. allow themselves to be broken by this ami — allow themselves to be broken by this ami i— allow themselves to be broken by this. and i think that... i think, you _ this. and i think that... i think, you know. _ this. and i think that... i think, you know, you are very much leading try you know, you are very much leading by example. — you know, you are very much leading by example, but for me it is fascinating to watch the ukrainian people. _ fascinating to watch the ukrainian people, even though there are drone attacks, _ people, even though there are drone attacks, even though there are alarms— attacks, even though there are alarms going off through the night, even though russia has tried throughout the winter to break the infrastructure of your country, to break _ infrastructure of your country, to break the — infrastructure of your country, to break the will of your people, the ukrainian — break the will of your people, the ukrainian people keep refusing to be broken. _ ukrainian people keep refusing to be broken, yourself included. and it is iovety— broken, yourself included. and it is ioveiy to— broken, yourself included. and it is lovely to see that in this city now, with the _ lovely to see that in this city now, with the better weather. but as i said to _ with the better weather. but as i

said to our— with the better weather. but as i said to ourteam with the better weather. but as i said to our team at the embassy, i recognise — said to our team at the embassy, i recognise that the sunshine and the leaves _ recognise that the sunshine and the leaves and — recognise that the sunshine and the leaves and the flowers shouldn't distract — leaves and the flowers shouldn't distract us from the fact that there are still, _ distract us from the fact that there are still, there is still very, very much _ are still, there is still very, very much work— are still, there is still very, very much work to be done. when we make the commitment publicly that we would _ the commitment publicly that we would continue backing you and your country _ would continue backing you and your country until you are victorious in your— country until you are victorious in your self— country until you are victorious in your self defence, we meant it. when we said _ your self defence, we meant it. when we said that _ your self defence, we meant it. when we said that we would do more and go further, _ we said that we would do more and go further, we _ we said that we would do more and go further, we meant it.— further, we meant it. well, james cleverley underlining _ further, we meant it. well, james cleverley underlining the - further, we meant it. well, jamesl cleverley underlining the continued support from western capitals. let's return to that developing line in the last hour or so, coming from ukraine's deputy defence minister, saying their forces are shifting to, offensive actions in some areas. our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse, is in kyiv for us. we have seen a real ramping up of claim and counterclaim. that is par for the course, but the rhetoric has

definitely heightened. we have had russia first off claim to have repelled three attacks now. it has gone up throughout the day, along the front line. kyiv haven't commented, but it is now claiming through itself, through the deputy defence minister of ukraine, claiming that its forces have shifted to offensive action. she said in a post, we are continuing the defence that started last year. in some areas, we are moving to offensive actions, in particular the bakhmut direction, but eastern city remains the epicentre of hostilities. there we are moving along a fairly wide front. we are successful, hanna malyar says, we occupy the dominant heights, referring to be more mountainous terrain on the western flank of the river. in the south, she claims the enemy is on the defensive, fighting sites of importance and that continues. it is unusual for kyiv�*s officials to make such claims, but officials to make such claims, but of course there is no letup in this information war. if you look at the

videos that have come out over the past weeks, as well as the rhetoric that have come out from the west in kyiv as well, they are trying to confuse moscow and so too is moscow with the west, so we do have to apply things with the salt, but there is an undeniable ramping up of military activity along the front line and along with continued unrest in the russian region of belgorod, with pro—ukrainian forces fighting there, i think we can say on balance that the early signs of ukraine's much anticipated counter offensive seems to be under way.— much anticipated counter offensive seems to be under way. james, bring us u- to seems to be under way. james, bring us up to speed _ seems to be under way. james, bring us up to speed in _ seems to be under way. james, bring us up to speed in terms _ seems to be under way. james, bring us up to speed in terms of _ seems to be under way. james, bring us up to speed in terms of any - us up to speed in terms of any official response to what moscow are saying about repelling those attacks and the sort of losses and numbers that certainly the kremlin have been putting out. have they been directly addressing those issues? timer;r putting out. have they been directly addressing those issues? they have, after a brief — addressing those issues? they have, after a brief delay. _ addressing those issues? they have, after a brief delay. we _ addressing those issues? they have, after a brief delay. we had _ addressing those issues? they have, after a brief delay. we had russia's l after a brief delay. we had russia's defence ministry claiming to have killed 250 ukrainian forces. it released footage appearing to show

armoured vehicles coming under heavy artillery fire as they moved across fields, and what kyiv has said it is, do not rely on information coming from russia's defence ministry. if you want up—to—date details, come to us, it isjust an attempt to undermine our actions. i think the russian defence ministry would say the same, but for moscow to be putting out this kind of messaging, it is clearly trying to seize control of the narrative and that usually happens when there are developments on the ground. we saw it last year with the liberation of the southern city of kherson, where we were drip fed information, access would follow and then we would realise that liberation was taking place and what was uncovered where the familiar marks of russian occupation. i expect that to happen again, albeit over a longer time line because russia have had time to prepare and there are no guarantees that ukraine will make the gains it daily wishes to.— daily wishes to. that was james waterhouse. _ the situation is so fluid on the

ground. the bbc tech his verified team going through the video and the various strands of information coming in to try to verify exactly some of those images we have already seenin some of those images we have already seen in terms of the claim and counterclaim that james was just taking us through, so we should have more from our team in the next while, but the officials in kyiv have made it clear that in the past few hours they have been no formal announcement of the start of the counter offensive. the new hidden diaw ukraine's military has released a cryptic video, but we will return to that in a little while because we are going to break away from that to head to the houses of parliament here in the uk because the home secretary, suella braverman, just talking about immigration, so let's put a microphone is up and hear a bit of what she is saying.— what she is saying. to help disru -t what she is saying. to help disrupt the _ what she is saying. to help disrupt the people _ what she is saying. to help disrupt the people smuggling l what she is saying. to help - disrupt the people smuggling gangs upstream. secondly, by freeing up immigration enforcement officers, illegal working rates increased by more than 50% betweenjanuary and

march this year, compared to the same period in 2022. since the introduction of the nationality and borders act injune 2022, immigration enforcement have doubled the number of arrests, charges and convictions, compared to the same period in the preceding year. we have established the uk's first cross government ministerial task force on immigration enforcement, so that only those here lawfully can work, receive benefits or access public services. meanwhile, data sharing with the financial sector recommenced in april, as we crackdown on illegal migrants accessing banking services. third, the asylum initial decision backlog is down by 17000 and we are on track to abolish all legacy cases by the end of this year, having doubled the number of asylum decision—makers over the last two years. we continue

to improve the system and aim to boost the productivity of caseworkers by simplifying the process with shorter interviews and removing unnecessary steps. fourth, mr speaker, the current accommodation system is unsustainable and hugely unfair to taxpayers. we recently set out to this house, our plans for a more fairer, more cost—effective asylum accommodation system, starting with former mod sites where and scampton. we will see a accommodation barge arrived in portland within the next fortnight and we have secured another two barges to accommodate another two barges to accommodate another 1000 individuals. we are also making more efficient use of hotels, by asking people to share rooms where appropriate. fifth, mr speaker, on the internationalfront,

we have signed the biggest ever small boats bilateral deal with france and strengthened cooperation with a range of other european partners, including belgium, italy and the eu. in 2023, so far, more small boat migrants have been intercepted by france then have reached the uk's shores. french interceptions this year are more than double what they were two years ago. additional drones, aircraft and other surveillance technologies will be deployed to support french law enforcement. french forces have increased the proportion of small boat launches that are prevented and arrested more than 200 people smugglers so far this year. as part of the new deal, france will establish a new zonal coordination centre in lille that operates 2a/7, including permanently embedded british officers. 0ne

including permanently embedded british officers. one of my ministers was in france last week to discuss first—hand uk funding and to discuss first—hand uk funding and to discuss our plans to intensify our engagement in the channel as we move into the summer. mr speaker, the government continues to prioritise the return of individuals with no right to remain in the united kingdom. we established through the nationality and borders act, a disqualification from modern slavery protection for individuals who meet specific criteria, including foreign national offenders with custodial sentences of 12 months or more and individuals convicted of terrorist offences. betweenjanuary individuals convicted of terrorist offences. between january and individuals convicted of terrorist offences. betweenjanuary and march offences. betweenjanuary and march of this year, over 4000 people with no right to be in the uk were removed or departed voluntarily, an increase of over 50% compared with the same period last year. we recently signed the uk — georgia readmissions agreement and has made significant progress with our

returns relationship with pakistan. we are also continuing to progress our returns relationship with india, following implementation of our migration and mobility partnership. and since the prime ministers signed a joint communique with prime minister rama in december, nearly 1800 albanian nationals without the right to be in the uk have been returned to albania. we are not complacent, mr speaker. we will continue to monitor this as we enter the summer, but the number of albanians arriving by small boats so far this year is almost 90% less than in the same period last year. last month, we delivered a ground—breaking new arrangement, whereby albanian prisoners will be sent home to serve the remainder of theirjail sent home to serve the remainder of their jail sentences. sent home to serve the remainder of theirjail sentences. seventh, sent home to serve the remainder of theirjailsentences. seventh, mr speaker, we continued to prepare to deliver the government's migration and economic development partnership

with rwanda. this partnership is an innovative international solution to an international problem. the home office has always maintained that this policy is lawful and the uk high court upheld this in december 2022. legal proceedings are ongoing, but we are committed to delivering this policy and getting flights going as soon as legally practicable. i visited going as soon as legally practicable. ivisited kigali in march and saw that rwanda is more than ready to help people thrive in a new country. these efforts demonstrate our commitment to doing all that we can within the existing legislative framework. but we have also been clear that to stop the boats, we must go further and that the framework needs to change. and thatis the framework needs to change. and that is why, lastly, mr speaker, we are reforming our laws. this is what the public once and all politicians should get behind our bill. the

public wants this. our illegal migration bill will make it clear to anyone coming here illegally that they will not be able to build a life in this country. instead, they will be liable to be detained and will be liable to be detained and will be liable to be detained and will be swiftly removed, either to their home country or relocated to a safe third country like rwanda. this is the deterrent factor we need to break the people smugglers' business model. we will introduce new safe and legal routes for those at risk of war and persecution to come to seek refuge and protection in the uk within an annual quota, to be set by parliament and informed by consultation with local communities. mr speaker, the british people are generous and welcoming, but they rightly expect immigration to be controlled. coming here illegally from other safe countries is

unnecessary, unsafe and unfair. it must stop. we have a long way still to go and we are not complacent. but unlike the benches opposite, we have a plan. we are delivering that plan and we will not rest until we stop the boats. to speaker, may ijust say before i finish, i want to offer my apology to the opposition for the late delivery of this statement? and with that, i commend this statement to the house. with that, i commend this statement to the house-— to the house. secretary of state, yvette c00per- — to the house. secretary of state, yvette cooper. thank _ to the house. secretary of state, yvette cooper. thank you, - to the house. secretary of state, yvette cooper. thank you, mr . yvette cooper. thank you, mr speaker. _ yvette cooper. thank you, mr speaker. for _ yvette cooper. thank you, mr speaker, for your— yvette cooper. thank you, mr speaker, for your response i yvette cooper. thank you, mr. speaker, for your response and yvette cooper. thank you, mr - speaker, for your response and thank you to the home secretary for her apology. mr speaker, the prime minister flew apology. mr speaker, the prime ministerflew to apology. mr speaker, the prime minister flew to dover today to congratulate himself and to tell us that his plan is working. even though the asylum backlog he promised to clear is at a record high, decisions are down, caseworkers have dropped, hotel uses up, returns are down, only 1% of last year's small boat cases have

been processed and 7500 people arrived on dangerous, small boats in the last few months alone. the massive gap between the tories�* rhetoric and reality show is the home secretary still has no grip on the system and this conservative chaosis the system and this conservative chaos is letting everyone down. the prime minister claims today he is stopping the boats, but the 7600 people who have arrived in the last few months alone is three times higher than two years ago and eight times higher than before the pandemic. all of us hope the limited reduction in the winter months, compared to last year, will be sustained when the weather improves, but criminal gangs have already made an estimated £13 million in the last few months alone from putting lives at risk and undermining our border security as a result of the conservative failures to go after the gangs and maintain back border security. the home secretary boasted about an increase in enforcement, but compared to the covid period,

compared to before the pandemic, enforcement visits are down 22% and arrests are down 17%. this is not an achievement. the home secretary also says that she has cut the backlog, but the backlog is at a record high of 170,000. it has gone up, not down, since december. there has been an 18% drop in asylum decisions in the last quarter and it is no good complaining, no good claiming that they are only claiming a so—called legacy backlog of cases beforejune from last year. what about the growing backlog of 60,000 people or more who arrived in the last 12 months? they are still in the asylum system, still in hotels, still in limbo. i backlog is a backlog, no matter how much they try to spin it away. the only legacy we are talking about is the legacy of tory failure to tackle the problem. in fact, all the home secretary has managed to do is take a few decisions on cases that are more than a year old. that

is not an achievement. that is her job. the prime minister and home secretary promised to end hotel use, but it has gone up 47,000 people, higher than the 40,000 the home secretary told us about in december. the prime minister also said in december he had all got locations for accommodating 10,000 more people, but now the home secretary says it is only 3000 from the end of this year and what she hasn't admitted is this is instead of hotels. it is additional because of their failure and the consequence of their failure and the consequence of the new immigration bill, the bigger backlog bill, which isjust going to make the backlog worse because today's press release reveals the truth. it says that these accommodation changes could, quote, could reduce the need to source an additional 90 hotels. an additional 90 hotels? why are they in such a mess they need to be thinking about sourcing an additional 90 hotels?

why have they so totally lost any grip that the backlog and costs are getting worse and worse? 0n returns to and forced returns are actually lower than pre—pandemic and the 24,000 people begun and has now tried to return to safe countries they have travelled through, only 23 people have actually been returned and even for albania, where there is and even for albania, where there is a return agreement, 12,000 people arrived on small boats last year, but less than 1% of those cases have been decided and barely a few hundred people have been returned. as for rwanda, as my honourable friend has said, the government has actually sent more home secretary and asylum seekers and no one expects those numbers to be high. the taxpayers already footing the bill for conservative failure... matthew: we are going to come away from the house of commons, yvette cooper responding to the home secretary, suella braverman, iwill return to what we have been listening to in a moment, but before that i want to return to a couple of lines of stories that were coming on

as we were listening to that, which are worth marking, first to the united states because the former vice president, mike pence, will seek the 2024 republican presidential nomination. that is according to a filing in the last little while with the federal election commission. so the various teams we have in washington looking at that, but it was much talked about. mike pence, who is 63, launching his campaign. apparently he will launch his campaign with a video and a speech on wednesday, in the early nominating state of iowa. that is coming from three sources familiar with the situation, who have talked to writers and of course that will pit him against donald trump, —— they have talked to reuters news agency. that will pit him against donald trump, who of course has been pretty loyal, whom mike pence has been pretty loyal to,

but failed to back him when he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results, so mike pence throwing his hat in the ring in a bid to take on donald trump, the frontrunner for the bid to take on donald trump, the frontrunnerfor the 2024 bid to take on donald trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 republican presidential nomination. that news just coming in. one other completely different story, lovely news coming in that princess eugenie has given birth to a boy named ernest george ronnie brooks bank. that has been posted on her instagram account in the last little while, so a baby boy for princess eugenie. as promised, let's return to that political story we were just on there at the house of commons, with the home secretary, the shadow home secretaryjust talking and jonathan blake was listening to that in westminster. just sum up where we are bare because of course conservative saying labour don't have a plan and the labour opposition saying this is continued conservative chaos when it comes to basic numbers here. yes. continued conservative chaos when it comes to basic numbers here. yes, we have seen an —

comes to basic numbers here. yes, we have seen an effort _ comes to basic numbers here. yes, we have seen an effort today _ comes to basic numbers here. yes, we have seen an effort today by _ comes to basic numbers here. yes, we have seen an effort today by the - have seen an effort today by the government to put this issue of small boats crossing the english channel front and centre. the prime ministers visited the kent coast this morning and held a news conference there and now we have the home secretary speaking in parliament. really, in substance, there isn't a huge amount new to say, but the government is keen to demonstrate it is making some kind of progress, stopping the boats, as the prime minister puts it, is one of his five main priorities in government. and there is some evidence, as he said this morning, that the plan is working, but he said there is much more to do. 0verall, said there is much more to do. overall, the prime minister and the home secretary in the house of commonsjust home secretary in the house of commons just now pointed to a 20% reduction in the number of people crossing the channel in small boats and arriving in the uk illegally up until the end of may this year, compared with the same period last year. and over and above that specifically, the government has struck a deal with albania, from

where a large number of these people are coming, which has seen the prime minister claimed a 90% reduction in the number coming to the uk from that country, compared with last year. there are many factors at play here and it may not be possible to put a clear picture on the reduction or otherwise, change in the number coming until we have the official figures published, which show a country by country breakdown and looking at the year as a whole, indeed, because the weather and all sorts of factors can play a party. but one other thing we heard is you heard suella braverman saying just send to mps the bring in to new barges to houses some of the asylum seekers that make it to the uk. we don't yet know where they will be moored, but as you heard, that bill putting people up in hotels is costing the government several hundred million pounds a day. thanks ve much. hundred million pounds a day. thanks very much- we _ hundred million pounds a day. thanks very much. we are _ hundred million pounds a day. thanks very much. we are going _ hundred million pounds a day. thanks very much. we are going to _ hundred million pounds a day. thanks very much. we are going to take - hundred million pounds a day. thanks very much. we are going to take a - very much. we are going to take a short break, when we are back we

will have more than that mike pence story and the latest coming to us from ukraine as well. all of that yearin from ukraine as well. all of that year in the next moment or two, don't go away. —— all of that here. hello. the weather patterns across the uk have been very static for the last few weeks, meaning many a garden grower are asking, "when is it going to rain?" well, the answer could and only could be with this cloud here affecting madeira and the canary islands. this is storm 0scar, which is going to bring some very wet and windy weather during the rest of today and tomorrow. butjust notice how that area of low pressure pushes towards our shores as we head towards the weekend, bringing the chance of showers and thunderstorms. however, it does not guarantee rain everywhere. that rainfall could be fairly sporadic. what it will do is change weather patterns — instead of air coming round the north of the uk, it's going to come from the continent, bringing warmer and more humid air. and this weekend, temperatures widely across the uk in the mid if not high 20s and certainly warmer by night too. so that's coming our way. at the moment, many central and western areas have blue skies throughout the day. cloud has again been there

towards the east of the country and that cloud will continue to roll back in through the night after retreating towards the coast through the day. notice how it becomes extensive across much of england, towards east wales, good parts of central and eastern scotland too towards dawn tomorrow. clear skies in the west. temperatures down into low or single figures for many, but in many parts it'll be 7 to 10 degrees to start tuesday morning. if anything, though, those grey skies are a bit more abundant on tuesday. best of the breaks in the west to begin with, the clouds shrinking away in scotland, western england, wales and the south, but could be a bit more stubborn this time across parts of the midlands, yorkshire, lincolnshire and east anglia, pushed in again by that rather nagging east to north—easterly wind, which has been with us for a few weeks now, keeping things cool along those eastern coasts, still again warms to the west, west of scotland to the west of loch lomond, western northern ireland. highs of 23. pollen levels continue to rise across much of england, wales and northern ireland. grass pollen season fully getting underway,

as it will be again on wednesday. wednesday, signs that low cloud will shrink a bit quicker and be more lingered across parts of north—east england, many southern and western areas. the sunshine will feel a bit warmer as well. highs again, western scotland, northern ireland and increasingly the south—west of england. but as i mentioned, towards the end of the week, those temperatures will rise further, a chance of a few sporadic showers into the weekend, but that more humid feel by day and by night.