Polish PM Tusk says Kyiv must be involved in Ukraine peace talks
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Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Melania Trump writes private letter to Putin
Melania Trump has sent a private letter to Vladimir Putin about the plight of abducted Ukrainian children, it has been revealed. The note was hand-delivered to the Russian leader by her husband, Donald Trump, as the two sat down for peace talks in Alaska on Friday night. While the specific contents of the letter have not been made public and Mrs Trump was not on the trip, two White House officials told Reuters that she had written a message for Putin. Russia's abduction of Ukrainian children has been one of the most important issues for Ukraine since the war began. It is not clear exactly how many children are still missing but a report from the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, said nearly 19,500 children had been deported to Russia. Kyiv has called the abductions a war crime and genocide under a definition by the United Nations. Moscow said previously it had been 'protecting' children from a war zone. In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him of war crimes, including abducting Ukrainian children. Mr Trump revealed earlier this year that his wife had been influential in pushing him to secure peace in Ukraine. 'Wonderful conversation' 'My conversations with him [Putin] are always very pleasant. I say, isn't that a very lovely conversation? And then the missiles go off that night,' Mr Trump said at the White House last month. 'I go home, I tell the first lady: 'I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation'. She said: 'Really? Another city was just hit'.' The Slovenian-born first lady, who grew up in the former Yugoslavia, has been supportive of Ukraine since Putin launched his invasion in 2022. Shortly after the war started, she called on her social media followers to donate to the Red Cross and said it was 'heartbreaking and horrific to see innocent people suffering'. Ukrainians and some US Republicans have praised her for seemingly influencing Mr Trump to push Putin for peace. 'Well, I'm glad that the president has pivoted on Ukraine,' Don Bacon, a Republican Congressman, said in an interview after the president threatened to impose secondary sanctions on Russia last month. 'I think we owe Melania some thanks here. Even the president said that his wife reminds him every day that Russia is bombing Ukrainian cities every night,' he continued. The talks between the two leaders in Alaska lasted for nearly three hours, but failed to secure a ceasefire. 'There's no deal until there's a deal,' Mr Trump said.
Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
If Labour gives £2.3bn of our cash to retired British Coal staff, it has truly lost the plot
How big is the black hole in Britain's public finances? The respected think tank National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has just forecast a £50bn gap, which the Chancellor will be forced to plug by lower spending or higher taxes. Meanwhile, as Rachel Reeves tries to balance the books by saving every penny, her deputy, Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, casually told Parliament in July that he is 'considering proposals' to hand out £2.3bn of taxpayers' money to the 40,000 members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS). He added: 'I will be looking at those issues in more detail over the summer, and I hope to say more in the autumn.' What is this possible £2.3bn giveaway? The BCSSS, for above-ground managers, and its sister scheme, the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS), for those below ground digging out coal, were set up after the coal industry was nationalised in 1947, at a time when it employed 700,000 people. By privatisation in 1994, British Coal had shrunk drastically to just 13,000 staff. The BCSSS and MPS became stand-alone trusts, with the Government guaranteeing all pension entitlements, including annual inflation increases. In return, the Government receives half of any 'surplus' calculated at the three-yearly actuarial valuations, with the other half used to increase pensions. The average BCSSS pension of £15,000 a year is over twice the average MPS pension of £7,000, reflecting much higher pay for British Coal managers compared to the miners. The taxpayers' share of surpluses was also calculated at privatisation, which remained in both schemes as a reserve against poor investment performance. The £2.3bn the Government is now 'considering' giving to BCSSS members is the taxpayers' share of surpluses at privatisation, which under the BCSSS rules will be paid back to the Government in 2033 – in only eight years' time. The BCSSS trustees' argument for a £2.3bn giveaway is that last October, as revealed by Telegraph Money, the Government gave £1.5bn of taxpayers' money to the 112,000 MPS members, boosting their annual pensions by 32pc. This was all part of the rhetoric to end what Labour called an 'historic injustice' and fulfilled Labour's election manifesto pledge, repeated by Ed Miliband at the 2024 Labour Party conference. The BCSSS Trustees' argument simply rests on ' the similarities between MPS and BCSSS'. But the £1.5bn given away to MPS members didn't 'belong' to them in the first place. Just like the BCSSS' £2.3bn, it was the Government's share of surpluses at privatisation. Under the MPS rules it would have been paid back to the Government in 2029. Since privatisation in 1994, all BCSSS and MPS members have received every last penny of the pensions promised to them, including inflation increases. More than that, under the rules set up at privatisation, half of valuation surpluses have been given to members as 'bonus' pensions. To add insult to injury, after receiving the £1.5bn, the MPS trustees are now lobbying for all of any future surpluses to go to members, rather than half going to the Government. And handing over the £2.3bn of taxpayer money to the BCSSS members would not be in exchange for giving up the Government guarantee. If that money is to be handed over, it should at least be on the understanding that BCSSS pensions become a defined contribution plan, entirely dependent on the performance of scheme assets like other private sector schemes. But the trustees say they would 'not consider giving up the guarantee in exchange for the investment reserve… The guarantee does not form part of our discussions with the Government. It will remain in place, whatever decision the Government makes'. This would be an extraordinary case of: 'heads BCSSS members win, tails taxpayers lose'. As guarantor, the Government must step in to make payments if there is a future deficit. Once money is used to increase pensions the only way any future deficit to be plugged is for taxpayers to write a cheque. And because 85pc of BCSSS and MPS assets are in 'risky', that is, not index-linked bonds to match liabilities, any current surplus could easily become a deficit. The Government, and specifically Mr Miliband, still have some serious explaining to do about the £1.5bn already handed over to MPS. If Labour hands over another £2.3bn of taxpayers' money – £3.8bn in all – then surely this government will lose any shred of fiscal credibility left. Rachel Reeves should tell Darren Jones, in plain language, to stop 'considering' this proposal and say a polite 'no' to the BCSSS trustees, and the Labour MPs pushing it.
The Guardian
23 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump says Xi told him China will not invade Taiwan while he is in office
The US president, Donald Trump, has said that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News on Friday, ahead of talks with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. 'I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don't believe there's any way it's going to happen as long as I'm here. We'll see,' Trump said during an interview on Fox News' Special Report. 'He told me, 'I will never do it as long as you're president'. President Xi told me that and I said, 'Well, I appreciate that', but he also said, 'But I am very patient and China is very patient',' Trump said. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump and Xi held their first confirmed call of Trump's second presidential term in June. Trump also said in April that Xi had called him but did not specify when that call took place. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to 'reunify' with the democratic and separately governed island, by force if necessary. Taiwan strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims. Although Washington is Taiwan's main arms supplier and international backer, the US – like most countries – has no formal diplomatic ties with the island.
