it is 7:00 good to see you this morning all eyes will be on th chancellor today to see whethe he will put a spring i everybody step by helping families with his budget for the government the - who will be with us shortly. we'll be asking the shadow t secretary to the treasury -- how they'd fix the crisis. plus, fresh reports th president putin's forces could

be stalling. we'll be joined by the ukrainian ambassador to the uk it is wednesday, the 23rd of march. >> i'll bring you the latest inflation figures do any momen as the cost of living crisis continues to buy, affectin prices not at the pump, but ou kitchen tables >> all that, as the chancellor prepares to reveal his sprin statement. will he help families by cutting fuel - or raising the national -- russian off the course of -- as the pentagon warns of increased activity in the blac sea. a city destroyed ukraine's president says 100,000 people in mariupol are without food, water or medicin and under constant bombardment >> i'm in central ukraine wher the human cost of war is

evident on every single street corner >> a game of two halves. william and kate all smiles in jamaica, but protesters ar accusing the royal family of benefiting from the blood, sweat and tears of slaves. >> mister william, i see you have to dance with the black people and you love to frolic, but speak some truth on this trip speak truth for what it's worth. >> two years on from the first covid lockdown, we ask the world health organization with the future holds the bar tea party is over. world number one tennis player announces her retirement, ag 25 also, on the program, coul your local - abe speaking to the presiden of the national federation o

fish fryers with warnings of - and the cost of living crisis. and, gulliver's travels. we'll be speaking to the scottish couple said to cycl around the world to raise mone for hospitals across ukraine morning all. it is a very big day today, as the chancellor prepares to reveal exactly how is going to help hard-pressed families survive the cost of living crisis there are reports that he coul raise the national insurance threshold, or cut fuel duty. in the last minute, we've ha the latest inflation figures which will paint a picture o how much more families are going to get squeezed. our business correspondent i at the petrol pumps, where prices have been skyrocketing. good to see you. in terms of inflation, whateve we got and what are we

expecting? >> well neo-or, expectin inflation to be very big unfortunately, the figures hav been disappointed. inflation up by 6.2% in the 12 months to february that's actually slightly highe than what economists wer predicting to put that in context, th bank of england like to aim to keep inflation debt 2% it's 6.2%, a hugely significan rise there's a few pushes, a fe factors behind this that w know about food and household service really pushing up. we know about fuel and energ costs, very significant. this is a really worryin figure this is the figure for february people have been talking about the war in ukraine and the impact that's having on prices of course, that's been ver significant, is pushed up th price of wholesale gas and oil

but, remember, the invasion of ukraine only came right at the very end of february this is the figure fro february what happens in march, wha happens in april, when we know that the energy prices are already going up and bill se to rise by over 15%, wha happens in those months is set to be even more painful, eve more significant than this figure for february. someeconomists are predictin that when we get to april, tha inflation will be well over 8% potentially, up to 10% really worrying times, indeed. this will be paying heavily on the minds of the chancellor as he delivers his spring statement. the very intensity of this crisis and what's happening is only meant to be a very shor fiscal update. it's been expanded into more o a mini budget with prope measures expected. that's because of the severity of the crisis that people ar facing and their lives people desperately strugglin to afford to make ends meet.

remember, there are othe causes to this certainly not just the war for the february figures things like the labor shortage that we've been hearing so muc about. the problems of the supply chain. all of this stuff feeding to businesses that put the prices up that have to pass them on very worrying times for lots o people >> indeed. helen, thank you we will of course have ful coverage of the chancellor spring statement throughout th day on sky news. our live coverage starting a 11:00. what i am very pleased to sa the conservative mp, mar harper, joins us on th program. mr. harper, very good mornin to you i hope you don't take this the wrong way, but when i wa considering the list of name that the government put up their interview, yours was not at the top of the list you will understand why it wasn't that long ago that yo are being pretty openl critical about boris johnson and his longevity. i'm wondering, - back to being bff's?

>> no, look, it's very clear i've had some differences with the -- how it's handled the covid pandemic i would've preferred we got in the economy firing on al cylinders a little bit earlier than the government. obviously, before christmas, a little bit of a rebellion abou the restrictions i think that was the right thing to do. i think it meant the governmen held its nerve over christma and we've seen that the figure have remained the same we've got the economy firing o all cylinders and than goodness we did. it was only a few hours betwee getting all of those restrictions lifted and then w saw the appalling russia invasion of ukraine. we've gone from one crisis straight into another, which provides a very difficult an challenging job for th chancellor, as he sets out a spring statement >> it certainly does, but at the same, time you also did sa

-- you did say that you wanted to wait for the conclusion of the metropolitan ten police inquiry, we are not the point again, i will say, it does fee that was happening in ukrain has perhaps, to some extent, shape your view of the prime minister >> i've been very clear on the issues around how downin street dealt with the part gate i'm prepared to wait the prime minister wants t judge him on the facts, i've said all way for the conclusio of the - which is ongoing, and the full sue gray report when she completes that and it' published. that's a judgment for anothe day. we've got this important ukraine situation ongoing, and the governments obviously doin a good job on bleeding on that we've got a very important spring statement today party gate hasn't gone away, but it's not for its, dates fo a day in his future when the mets finish this inquiry me. >> indeed. let's go straight on to th

economics of it all. we have had those inflatio figures -- certainly feels like we ma well be on track for 8%, a predicted in april do you think it's an inevitability that will hi double figures at some point >> i think what is certain i the economic pitch is very uncertain, because of what's happening in europe with the ukrainian situation. i think, anyone who thinks tha they can forecast what's going on autumn is likely to b wrong. would it does illustrate, -- hulu says a situation facing consumers and businesses, bu he also needs to make sure tha they inflation outlook - the fact that interest rat pressures are going upwards, and debt interest is higher. he also needs to build and som resilience to deal wit whatever the future may thro at us. those challenges are all

competing. i think that's the judgmen that i'm confident that he'l get right, when he sets out statement at lunchtime >> of course, we have hear from the chancellor. he's facing quite a lot of pressure over the pendin increase that it will go ahead and there is a necessity to it you would concede, i'm sure, that the cabinet is not united isn't -- let alone the party. is there some wiggle room fo richie sunak and tinkering wit the threshold, in terms of national insurance >> i can't comment on th specifics of what's going to b announced, but on the national insurance issue, it's very clear. we said will put an extra 12 billion pounds into the health service to deal with the backlogs that have arise because of the pandemic, and then a long term funding sentiment for social care. if you're going to say you'r against the national insurance rise taking place, either this year on the future, you've got to say whether you're prepared to not put that money into sel

-- or come up with some other way to pay for it. people say they want to put of these rises, but still want to get ahead with the tax rises and the spending increases they're not being serious. -- >> it's not as if he does no wanting to play around with. we are talking about tens of billions of extra revenu sitting in the - >> i think one of the proble is, everybody is looking at th upside point there may well be, i haven't seen the forecast, there may well be extra revenue. people are forgetting there ar also extra costs there are cost pressures on' public services. also, we've had to borrow very significant amount of money to deal with the economi impact of the pandemic that means that the economy is vulnerable to rise in interest rates and inflation. we saw yesterday, very significant debt interes payments the chancellor has been mindfu of that when he's making

decisions. we were able to help consumers with an announcement t february of nine billion pounds dealing with a big chunk of th big rising energy costs. that was only possible because the chancellor had som resilience built into th system given the uncertain outlook fo the rest of the year, i want t make sure that there is certain amount of resilience built-in so that we can do wit whatever shocks thrown at us and the government can respond >> sure, but a very specific question from your perspective, it is a point with the chancellor coul rely on extra borrowing or should we be using the surpluses? surpluses to pay down some o the debt >> i think pretending that you can continuing borrowing the level that we have been over the pandemic, i think that's not serious. we borrowed for a one-off shock, which was the big economic

shock for 300 years. that was the right thing to do to protect millions of jobs an thousands of businesses. that was successful. if you look at the recover from the pandemic, we've got some of the best numbers acros the world. we've got a record number of people on payrolls we've got very low unemployment businesses of starte recovering we've got to make sure that we continue that sensible economi management and build some resilience into the system to deal wit whatever the world throws at us the chancellor, i'm sure, will help to look consumers and businesses where he can and hi on people side, but i thin he's also got to be mindful of the very uncertain positio coming in the future i think the public would expec him to build that resiliency and the security into th public finances so that he can look at dealing with whateve problems arise in the future >> one of the things that th world is throwing at us at the moment is the violence tha we're seeing and in around

ukraine. -- for a significant increase i defense spending at the moment particularly given the amoun of ammunition, material that were provided to the ukrainian at the moment? >> there is. we've had that very significan increase in spending in th budget that was the largest increas over the next few years fo some time. the governments integrated review had russia as the top security threat. >> let it rather proceed the violence in ukraine though >> it did. but it recognize russia as a threat it's a very significan increase in defense spending and we remain the second largest spender in nato. what's been very welcome is th what's happened in europe ha meant that european nations wh have been spending the 2% of gdp, which we more than exceed have also been decided to --

decrease their spending. what's important is that nato, as a whole, has the resource in funds to deal with th threats we face. i welcome those increases, but we made a very big commitmen to defend spending in the >> and budget just a few months ago can we tal about covid. two years now since the firs lockdown so many of us of course ha been affected individually personally, we all know people who have been ill. many of us knows people wh have died. -- what lessons have you taken away from the past two years >> i think first of all it's been a very difficult year for many people, and a huge number of people have had very very difficult personal circumstances to deal with i am very mindful of that, i'm also very conscious that our scientists and our healt services responded incredibl well so we could develop th

vaccines, get them rolled out, we're now in a position with vaccines and antivirals. we're in a position we hav been able to enable people t get back to normal living with the virus. it's going to be with us forever, it's not going away we've had to deal with that, i think the country, individua people, and some of our system have responded very well there will be lessons to learn which is why i am pleased that the public inquiry has been se up the chair of that inquire is concerning on the terms of reference, they are very broad they will look at th government's decision-making the evidence, how unbalanced things, and wait things, i loo forward to that inquiry. i will be delighted to hea evidence in due course it will set up when it reports the lessons to be learned from the future >> we do have to let you go, before you do. you will have noted that the royals are currently touring the caribbean of the moment. they have been - jamaica way -- i'm wondering given that, is now the time fo the royal family to apologiz

in its role in benefiting from slavery? >> i think the royal famil sets out these things very well, when it goes on its tours. i don't think it's right for the royal family to ge involved in politics that's a matter for th government and decisions about the future of jamaica's constitutio status are a matter for people of jamaica and the government of that country, it's a democratic country. and that's right and proper, i think it's much better if th royal family stays out o politics and leaves that th politicians. and they maintain that constitutional status, where they can unite the country i think from her majesty the queen downwards, in her jubile year, i think the royal family do that fantastically well >> great to have you on th program this morning, great fo being with us. >> pleasure, thanks needles, cheers, pele >> let's see through the front pages we have. and we begin with the th financial times, the chanc

that -- set aside in large par of it unexpected 20 -- rathe than using it to help families hit by the cost of livin crisis here is the mail, it focuses its attention on calls for the chancellor to act, what's been branded the worst tax rise i history. the mirror leads for a ple from help from a strugglin family to the chancellor on th cost of living crisis. here is the guardian, ashes of a dead land read their headline words of ukrainian officials who accuse vladimir putin' forces on indiscriminate fir against civilians and mariupol the max exits of the cit intensifies. the daily telegraph report that ukraine has regained ke territory. forcing the russian army t retreat in several cases raising fears that president putin may soon turn to chemica weapons.

here is the times, it leaves with a rather less hopeful headline ukrainian troops are running low on weapons -- still to come on th program. as we look ahead, to thi spring statement former chancellor will b joining us, that's just afte half past seven. -- talk about what rishi sunak can do in his spring statement to address the rising cost o fuel two years on from the uk going to its first and covid lockdown, we will be speaking once again to the world healt organization before all, that ukraine's president has accused russia o sabotaging efforts to evacuate civilians from the besiege city of mariupol volodymyr zelenskyy says

100,000 civilians remain there with no food, no water, no medicine and of course under constant bombardments the m.o.d. says russian forces remain static in the north o ukraine. and are likely reorganizin before launching another large scale offensive. western intelligence says th russian military is also attempting to envelop ukrainia forces and the east of the country. the ukrainian agency responsible for chernobyl says that russian forces have destroyed a laboratory at th nuclear power plant. that's responsible for the management of radioactiv waste. president biden is expected to announce new sanctions against russia, when he visits brussel for a nato summit. sky news has verified this video taking off the coast o -- the largest city in crimea. it shows missiles being fire from a ship not too far from harbor pentagon spokesperson john kirby said in a briefing, that the u.s. has seen increase

naval activity in the northern black sea. these are the latest satellite images from max our tech showing the extent of th damage on apartment blocks factory buildings, in mariupol smoke can be seen in several o the images, with fires continuing to burn the southern ukrainian port ha become a focus of presiden putin's, due to its strategi significance skies john parks, joining us this morning good to see you. i suppose the best thing to as you is an update on the very latest we've had the m.o.d. briefing, suggesting in some parts of th country, the russians ar regrouping, and preparing for large-scale assault. in other parts of the country, it feels like you're under a constant assault already >> good morning neil i think the emojis are right certainly from our travels we've come back to dnipro from

the city in thenortheast called kharkiv, large city ver close to the russian border. it was clear to us that th russian assault ha significantly slowed their military is essentiall parked in the northern suburbs with both sides essentiall taking hot shots at each other from the woods it's clear to us that thei advance has significantl stalled i think it's also clea that the russians have taken significant losses in terms of personnel, and terms of equipment as well but there is intense fightin going on, actually not very fa from here. about 200 kilometers to th northeast of dnipro, in a city called --. it's in the kharkiv region, th kharkiv state. it's a small city, stands on the banks of the donetsk river intense fighting over the last couple of days, ukrainia troops trying to hold th western bank of that river

there are also reports unconfirmed reports, of very heavy russian casualties a well again, a note of real caution, they are in circulation. reports of 400 dead russia troops, have to be cautiou about that in the southeast, in mariupol, the horror continues there i think the name of that cit will live long in infamy 100,000 people according to th ukrainian president zelenskyy, 100,000 people in the center o that city without food, withou water, without any services. the fighting raging around them, a small number of ukrainia troops essentially fighting to the death in the middle of tha city we understand that about 700 people got out, in a sort of a hawk convoy, a series of ad ho convoys yesterday. those people taking their live into their own hands, taken th lives of their families into their own hands, when they mak that decision to leave the city the ukrainians said they try t

send a humanitarian convoy int that city, with the prio agreement of the russians, the ukrainians say 11 buses go into the city. and the drivers of those buses the emergency services workers on board were then taken prisoner by the russians so really, a very blea situation down in mariupol >> thank you very much indeed. a little bit of breaking news, reaching us from inside th kremlin. dimitri melas the death, man will remember from the forme president -- became prime minister. he's been talking, he says thi the west has acted in disgusting criminal, and ana way, in relation to russia war of words clearly continuing let's turn our attention t royal news prince william and kate have been greeted by protesters i jamaica. they're demanding an apology and reparations for slavery. just a warning, this repor

from our royal correspondent i jamaica, does contain flas photography. >> for four days, they hav been cleaning up trench tone ready for william and kate t walk into the birthplace o reggae and into a country questioning what's their futur relationship with the roya family should be looking in, it's not a debat on everyone's mind >> i still want the queen to b my representative here >> they have come into thi town that's it. >> many indifferent, just here to enjoy the spectacle and see other jamaican stars like england footballer -- and for you growing up, ho important was jamaica'

relationship with the roya family and do you have much to sa about the debates going on a the moment >> [inaudible] >> these royal tours - [inaudible efore they had even landed protesters gathered outside th british high commission. demanding that prince willia apologize for the role playe by the royal family in slavery >> mister william, i see you love to dance with the black people and you love to frolic, bu

speak some truth on this trip. speak truth for what it' worth. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> on his first trip here, william is expected to acknowledge the painful past but stopped short of a apology. we wait to see if that in an way can satisfy his audience sky news >> before heading to jamaica the duke and duchess o cambridge, took the plunge to swim with sharks and belize this video posted to their official instagram page. shows the royal couple, that's william on the left, and that' the shark. they're visiting the world's second largest barrier reef, t see ocean conservation wor being done there in the video, prince william praises the conservation efforts of the beliz government and communities looks like a fantastic trip fo those two. two years ago today, can you believe it, this happened. >> from this evening, i must

give the british people a very simple instruction you must stay at home, because the critical thing you must do to stop the disease spreadin between households, that is wh people will only be allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes >> feels a lot longer, but i was two years ago today that the country went into its firs national lockdown. to mark the second anniversary a series of events will take place across the uk. it comes as a comprehensiv analysis of excess deaths in england and wales, has reveale that covid caused fewe fatalities than in many othe european nations our science correspondent ha more >> people have been just die during the pandemic because of the virus, they died of othe causes too and that's made clear by the most complete analysis so fa of excess deaths according to the office fo national statistics, almos

134,000 more people died up to the end of last year in englan and wales, than expected, from the five year average. much of that rice has been i men, up more than 17%. and women the rise was jus under 11%. if you look at the timeline, you can see out excess death have fluctuated above and belo you can see big peaks and apri 2020 in the first wave and in january 2021, during th second strip out the deaths o coronavirus, and the results get more intriguing. there was still a piece and no covid access deaths, here in light blue probably because a lack of testing, some deaths caused by the virus were attributed to other medical conditions on th death certificate. excess deaths from other cause dipped sharply during th second wave, partly becaus lockdown were at low levels. remain high for the second hal of last year probably because they have

something going again in the autumn and lots of people wer vulnerable overall, looking at the whol period, there were almost seve and a half thousand if you wer non covid deaths than expected what really stands out is th difficulty people with underlying health conditions had in accessing health care for example, deaths from dementia and alzheimer's ros 71% at home. but they fell 31% in hospitals and this from colon cancer ros almost 37% at home, but they fell almost 19% in hospices. when you look at a map, there' lots of variation in exces deaths, but no obvious geographic pattern and no clea link with deprivation. then - in rural areas in slightly fewer in towns and cities. how does all this compare with other countries? earlier this month, a stud looked at excess deaths around the world and found the uk ranked ninth in western europe

with a rate of just under 12 per 100,000 people rates were higher in italy and spain, but slightly lower in germany in france. the pandemic has taken a dreadful toll on most countries, and understanding th statistics will be key t learning the lessons >> thomas moore. i've decided to stretch my legs -- let's take a look at this in the guardian a special report on alicia usman, off the russian oligarch. he claims to have placed hundreds of millions of pounds -- potentially leaving establishe by the - of the western governments he is said to be connected t at least six luxury properties in the uk and won centra london office building collectively, we're told tha all those buildings are wort

more than 170 million pounds a slight change in tone. do you take a cheeky nap whe working from home? never. the sun reports on a - staff switch op around three times a week it wouldn't happen on th sunrise breakfast team the research also found that people take a social media for a scroll around nine times every day. i think it's been more times than that for us they also said non work relate messages, eight times a day. yeah, i think i might be slightly higher than that. also in this on this morning don't look down. these are pictures of people posing for selfies, hundreds o feet up in the air the woman on the center, if yo can just about make it out that's not the, poll that' your friend whose shoulder she standing on. the former shadow chancellor john macdonald, will be joinin

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just a reminder as to our to stories. inflation is rising to 6.2%, a the chancellor prepares to giv his spring statement

the uk facing the greatest cos of living crisis in generation ukraine's president is accused russia of trapping thousands o civilians in inhuman conditions, and the besieged city of mariupol two years on from the firs covid lockdown, the uk will be holding the -- well, head of the strait - the chancellor is facing calls to acts the planned hiking national insurance families face a cost of living crisis i as a conservative mp, mark harper, whether there were any plans to tinker with this. >> the economic picture is ver uncertain because of what' happening in europe, with ukrainian situation. i think anybody who thinks tha they can forecast what's going on in the autumn is likely t be wrong would it does illustrate is th chancellors got competin

pressures. if you're going to say you'r against the national insurance rise taking place, either this year or in the future. you've got to say whethe you've got - or social care or come up with some other way to come up with it people say they want to put of these rises, but still want to go ahead with the tax rises an the spending increases, they'r not being serious. >> as you can see, tomorro cohen joins us good to see you this morning we just heard mark harper -- if you say you're agains national jurors, there are plenty of people that ar against the national insurance hike within the cabinet and th conservative party >> there are plenty of peopl who are against it one former cabinet minister wa suicidal to go ahead with it given the pressures of massively increased energy bills. we know they're going up by 70 pounds this year and inflation -- in the shops as well the chancellor has said that h understands the acute spending squeeze on households, but we've had two years of big spending during covid. we're not hearing him say that he's going to do whatever it

takes, as he said during covid to help people out of it, bu he's announced a lot of suppor for energy bills already we're expecting some mor support today. i think most - don't expect him to scrap th national insurance hike, perhaps change the threshold t protect people at the bottom end. also, some action on fuel duty as well. there's talk of a five-piece cut. whether that's enough to touch the sides of how much extr money people are paying this year, is the question. he says it's all about securit and making sure that we have enough money there, in case of massive oil and gas spikes >> thank you someone with a view on all o that, former shadow chancellor john macdonald joins us live o the program. mr. mcdonald, it has been while. i hope you're. well >> very well. good to speak to you again >> let's talk spring statement if you have a crystal ball i front of you, you may well consulted, but you may have wish list. what do you want to see from

the chancellor today >> can i just addressed marc harper's point i think he's made a vali point. i would like the nationa insurance rise scrapped, but you have to say where else you can find the money for the nhs and social care. a number of think tanks, including the tea uc did recommend the transfer of th time when you can do, basically, ta wealth at the same rate as you're taxing income in other words, tax capita gains tax at the same rate a income tax that would bring in -- the estimate is 17 billion it would be ideally suited t cover the amount that th chancellor would want to raise that's just decide, because thought it was important tha mark made that point if you are going to scra something you, have to replace it with something else this could be the way in which we have a fair taxation system or a fair step towards it. i think the most important thing for me is protecting people inflation proof. those people are going to be

hit the hardest in the comin months, and there are people o pensions and benefits. also, the low paid as well therefore, you've got to inflation proof increases in pay as well. that's the first thing the second, i do think it is about controlling prices i think we need to make sure that we're capping the profits made by the energy companies we saw the figures from th think tank commonwealth. -- profit rates of some of th energy companies is 42, 45%. in addition to that, i think w need to look at other prices that we need to control. the mayor for london, said let's have a rent free forms - run control is a part of it. now is control of the buses. we make sure that we prevent t refer increase as well packages like that, where we protect peoples incomes, inflation prove them, then als reduce an element of the costs that are falling upon them,

think is absolutely key. the other issue for me - i do criticize the governmen for this, over a long period o time, we need to go for gree growth the first step on green growth and the way in which we coul help with the energy bills, is insulation we've been calling for this fo over a decade. if we can have capital investment in insulation programs now, it was increas the number of jobs we've got the prediction is abou 450,000. it would insulate peoples home and reduce their energy bills. i think that's the sort of package i like to see today. we've got to recognize how tough it is for people out there. therefore, they need assistanc now. >> sure. i think, both you and i, i would agree -- gets into the chance o statement to, you will be lucky man mr. mcdonald i wonder what you view is of borrowing -- you when i spoke an awful lo when you are shadow chancellor --

you often got criticize with that phrase, the magic money tree given what we've seen over the past couple years, in terms of borrowing, i wonder if you somewhat feel that your stance has been vindicated. >> it has. i told you - i want to look for the future. i think we've got to do is mak sure that we are responsible i everything that we do. the responsible way forward is to recognize that, in time like this, there's rea hardship out there people are suffering when talking about people -- it's true, people choosing between heating and eating we're talking about people who have had their wages virtually frozen for nearly 12 years it's tough out there yes, we've got to protec people in the short term, an that does mean an increase i borrowing in the short term, but the most important thing as borrowing to invest that's why investment in alternative energy sources, in

insulating or homes is the right thing to do at the moment. your reef such a huge reward and in terms of alternat knowledge energy sources and insulation, you will read them pretty quickly >> sure. mr. mcdonald, given ou previous conversation, you might not be happy about this, whenever we have talked, we've always ended up talk about what's going on within the labour party so it is again today recently, you did pull out the stock and bond rally after pressure from their leader office because of their stance over the extent to which nat is responsible for what's goin on in ukraine. were you entirely happy to withdraw from that event, an genuinely, what is your view o the extent to which nato i responsible for what we're seeing >> i withdrew my name from the statement, because the ledge of the labour party said so. also because the statement was out of date and i said then, w

were in a war situation, where we don't want is internal, political debates an discussions like that. it would be a complete distraction from the focus tha we should have on securing peace. we've got time to debate the issues around nato and russi for the long term, who admitte to know -- every word we use now has to b about securing peace we shouldn't be distracted from. too many people are sufferin at the moment. that is my focus it's my focus now. remember, people seem to forge that i was one of the people that helped set up the ukraine solitary campaign over ten and 11 years ago we were campaigning with ukrainian -- trying to secure the long term democratic future of the ukraine. i think that's the issue for m now. there will be a time when we debate the security systems fo the whole of europe in the future -- now, i think the focus has t be on securing peace >> unfortunately, we're out of

time so we can't even debate i here john macdonald, good to have you on the program once again. do take care >> thank you >> now, of course, with this cost of petrol reaching record highs, all eyes on ricky sunak later today to see wha provisions he puts in place to help ease the ongoing cost o living crisis. let's speak to simon williams. simon, good to see you thi morning. you've taken the lead for th rnc on fuel. it's pretty horrific at th pumps, at the moment >> it really is. the average price of petrol is now one 67 per liter -- 97 for diesel. the cost of living crisis is very much driven by th increase in the price in the pumps. we're calling on the chancello to take action today he's talking about a 5% peacoc in duty which would be a dro in the ocean that would take us back to a price we paid last week. when uses that

it's something, but i think he needs to go further. in fact, he might be better of cutting the 80, because that's attacks on top of the 58 pensively to were paying -- that 5% cut would not serv immensely. if prices go higher, he coul go further to. >> a random question tha occurs to, me simon. -- i'm wondering, if you're seein people, because of the price at the pumps, avoiding going t the pump for as long a possible and breaking down a increase in numbers. >> we haven't seen an increase in breakdowns in active fuels. people are pretty good at that obviously, people are -- we know from a survey we publish today, 25% of people are saying that they're having to cut back on other things to put fuel into their cars a third of people are saying

that cutting our - because of the expense this is really starting to her something needs to be done t ease the burden. we know how important drivin is to this country obviously, the price of petrol -- everything we have in ou shops. all the services we have com to our door, everything is moved by road, and therefore petrol and diesel. >> simon williams, from the rnc, great to have you on the program. now, the world tennis number one, ashboro the, has announce her retirement from the game at the age of 25 the australian at the top of a game after winning wimbledon o the australian open said tha she was retiring to chase othe dreams >> i'm so grateful t everything that tennis is give me it's given me all of my dreams plus more. i know that the time is righ now for me to step away an chase other dreams and to pu

the rockets down >> fox sports news reporter, joins us now from sydney great to have you on the program this morning remind me, we've been here before with ash, haven't we? this one feel slightly different though >> yeah, it certainly is a little bit different incredible news. to be frank with you, we are still trying to understand the 25 year old's announcement it comes as a huge shock to me i suppose because that's of th high seas reached, including the australian open, back in january, and the wimbledon las year while her talent on cour speaks for itself, it's th champion woman and role mode away from women who makes us a australian so proud to call or hours. she doesn't get mirage in th fact that she sponsored by veggie might she's also featured in multipl advertisements and campaigns for terrorism australia. she was -- one of australia's most iconic

and culturally important landmarks after she won th aussie open, to help indigenou kids learn more about tennis and inspire the younge generation as an indigenous woman herself she's very passionate an involved in assistin indigenous communities tha will help her and he retirement as for what's next, she didn't reveal much, but as you said earlier, she has actuall played cricket before fo brisbane she then returned to tennis an took it to a whole new level and she's got a fantasti career and involve she certainly got -- we will see we lose a head for action board >> luis, many thanks two years ago, this very day the prime minister told us t stay at home at the anna verse re-of th first lockdown, a series o events will take place in th uk joining us now doctor david --

dr. navarro, always good to se you. it has been a little while since we last chatted, which would usually mean that things have been going relatively wel with covid two years on from the firs domestic lockdown in the uk, globally, what's the picture like >> we're still in the middle o a quite unpleasant pandemic. other things have dominated th news recently. my quick summary, the virus is continuing to move there are still an awful lot o people getting sick and dyin each week. we cannot be complacent. i like to ask everyone, do continue, if you can, to wea face masks do continue to maintai physical distancing. if you all vulnerable, and tha means you have other diseases, do please shield yourselves. the most important way to do that, get vaccinated we are living with the virus and is still causing a lot o

problems >> i don't know the last tim that you might have spen amount of time in london o anywhere else in england right now, it doesn't feel lik anyone, or very few people, ar appealing to those recommendations. they remain recommendations fo the government - [inaudible [inaudible

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♪ it is 8:00 good to see you this morning all eyes will be on the chance today to see whether it will put a spring in everyone's step by helping hard-pressed families. he's faces calls find out what the mp mark harper told us why that will be difficult in a couple minutes. i'll be speaks to the shadow chie