Grant Shapps was forced to abandon a visit to a port city in Ukraine after British intelligence warned of a credible missile threat from Russia.
Officials told the defence secretary Russia had become aware of his travel plans to Odesa, where a convoy carrying Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greece’s prime minister had narrowly avoided an airstrike.
That news raised the threat level to Mr Shapps’s safety from substantial to critical, according to The Sunday Times, which had access to the delegation and was the first to report the abandoned plans.
Mr Shapps, travelling with chief of the defence staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and a small team of British officials, took an overnight train from Poland, arriving in Kyiv on 7 March.
But the planned onward journey to Odesa was called off after an intelligence update revealed the Kremlin’s knowledge of it.
“Putin has shown himself to be reckless, ruthless and careless,” Mr Shapps, who instead travelled back to the UK via Poland, told the Sunday Times.
“The fact that he came perilously close to essentially assassinating two Western leaders, it doesn’t matter whether that is deliberate or accidental.
“What the hell is he doing, and why the heck would the West allow him to do that kind of thing?”
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Five people were killed in the airstrike that just missed Mr Zelenskyy’s convoy, according to Ukrainian authorities, which happened on 6 March, the day before Mr Shapps arrived in Kyiv.
It was the senior Tory’s second trip to Ukraine as Defence Secretary and his third since the outbreak of the war in February 2022.
It comes as Mr Zelenskyy faces waning enthusiasm in the West for supporting Kyiv.
European countries are struggling to find enough weapons and ammunition to send to Ukraine, and US help worth $60bn (£47bn) is stalled over political differences in Washington.
Read more: What happened to Putin’s most vocal critics Finland lays out plans to block asylum seekers from Russia
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “On a recent trip to Ukraine, the defence secretary did not make a planned visit to Odesa for security reasons.
“The UK continues to provide strong support for Ukraine and the defence secretary’s visit and engagements only underscored the importance of this support in the face of Putin’s aggression.”
Five officers and three former officers are being investigated over their handling of the police probe into murders by serial killer Stephen Port.
The officers are being investigated for gross misconduct, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.
In April a report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) warned that the Met had still not learned from its “calamitous litany of failures” in the Port case – meaning the force could have missed other murders.
The “Grindr killer” drugged his victims Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor with overdoses of GHB and dumped their bodies near his flat in Barking, east London, between June 2014 and September 2015.
Despite what many now see as the obvious links between these deaths, it wasn’t until the final victim’s body was found, with the grieving families carrying out their own investigations, that local police finally realised they had a serial killer on their hands.
Image: (Clockwide from top left): Daniel Whitworth, Jack Taylor, Gabriel Kovari and Anthony Walgate
IOPC regional director Steve Noonan said: “Our re-investigation has been, and continues to be, thorough and detailed. We recognise it has taken some time to reach this stage, but these are complex matters, involving multiple officers and four investigations into unexplained deaths and then the subsequent murder investigation into Port.
“Though we have found an indication that the behaviour of these eight individuals may have amounted to gross misconduct, this does not necessarily mean disciplinary proceedings will automatically follow. Based on the evidence, at the conclusion of our investigation we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary proceedings.”
He added that the families of the men killed had shown “considerable patience”.
Commander Jon Savell from the Met reiterated the force’s “heartfelt” apologies for its blunders in the case.
A lawyer for the families said the development was a testament to their “determination and perseverance”.
Families of three of Port’s victims had previously received payouts from the Met after settling civil claims.
Read more: How the ‘Grindr killer’ murdered four men
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4:43
Could ‘Grindr killer’ have been stopped?
Neil Hudgell, of Hudgell Solicitors, said: “The families of Anthony, Gabriel, Daniel and Jack very much welcome today’s announcement that eight officers are to be investigated for gross misconduct.
“Given the history of this case and frustrations of the past, they are cautiously encouraged by the reopening of the investigation, which must be seen to be full and fearless, and with the complete cooperation of the Metropolitan Police Service and the officers under scrutiny. No comment interviews simply will not do.
“This latest development is testament to the determination and perseverance the families have shown over the past eight years with regards to the Met Police’s investigations into the loss of their loved ones.
“We would not have reached this point without their dedication to ensuring to ensure full transparency and accountability.”
Basic errors by a string of detectives left Port free to carry out the series of murders as well as drug and sexually assault more than a dozen other men.
Inquest jurors found that “fundamental failures” by the police were likely to have contributed to the deaths of three of the men.
The Port of Dover has announced an end to its critical incident following a weekend of travel chaos which saw some coach passengers caught up in 14-hour-long queues.
The port declared a critical incident on Friday with coaches particularly affected by the traffic as passengers – including school pupils – waited to be processed at border controls.
Those hoping to get away for their Easter break on Sunday night faced a few more hours waiting to be processed at border controls before getting on a ferry.
But in its latest statement on Monday morning, the port said all coach traffic had now been processed through immigration controls.
“The critical incident has been stood down,” the port said in its statement.
“The Port of Dover continued working round the clock with the ferry operators and border agencies to get coach passengers on their way and the backlog is now cleared.
“Along with the final coaches being processed through the port, all tourist cars and freight vehicles were also processed successfully.
“We continue to offer our sincere apologies to all those affected by the prolonged delays that have occurred over this weekend.”
A “full review” will now be launched by the port to ensure “improvements are made” ahead of Easter weekend – typically one of the busiest travel days of the year in the UK.
On Monday, P&O Ferries also announced that a buffer zone – set up to control traffic entering the port – had been cleared.
P&O Ferries previously advised coach drivers to head straight to the port to wait in buffer zone queues, where advance passenger information (AP) would be taken, and warned there could be a 10-hour wait.
“All coaches that have just passed border control will be on the next crossing to Calais. We apologise again for the wait times experienced in Dover this weekend,” the company said in a statement.
Is Brexit a factor?
On Sunday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman denied Brexit was the main reason for the queues.
Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, she said: “I don’t think that is fair to say that this is an adverse effect of Brexit.
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19:47
‘Situation improving’ in Dover
“I think we have seen we have had many years now since leaving the European Union and there’s been, on the whole, very good cooperation and processes.
“But at acute times, when there’s a lot of pressure crossing the Channel whether the tunnel or the ferries, then I think there’s always going to be a backup.
“And I just urge everyone to be a bit patient while the ferry companies work their way through the backlog.”
The home secretary also downplayed fears that delays at Dover could become a regular occurrence that risks ruining school holiday plans, suggesting things have been “operating very smoothly at the border” in general.
But Conservative MP and former minister Sir Robert Buckland suggested Brexit had played a part in the disruption.
He said: “I think for my layman’s eye, looking on, it does seem that there’s a confluence of issues.
“I think that there’s no doubt that some of the increased checks that now are necessary since we left the EU will be a part of that.
Image: Sir Robert Buckland
“I think it’s all the authorities on both sides of the channel, both the French and the British authorities, have to work even harder to make sure that those short straits are working as effectively as possible at times of maximum pressure.”
Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, Tobias Ellwood, also blamed Brexit. In a Tweet, he wrote: “Of course, it’s connected to Brexit.
“Our current Brexit model resulted in an end to travel freedoms. But as they weren’t replaced with new ones – processing takes longer – hence the delays.
“To compound matters – in November fingerprint scans begin. Hence we need a Brexit upgrade.”
‘Carnage’
Extra sailings were run over the weekend in a bid to clear the backlog, but by Sunday morning the port still estimated some travellers would face waits of up to eight hours, depending on the ferry operator.
The port had previously declared a critical incident and said the delays were “due to lengthy French border processes and sheer volume”.
Port officials said they had been “working round the clock” with ferry operators and border agencies to try to get coach passengers on their way and more than 300 coaches left the port on Saturday, while the freight backlog was cleared and tourist cars had been successfully processed.
Read more UK news: Nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s killer to be sentenced Five-week walkout by Passport Office workers begins ‘Political correctness’ will not stop crackdown on ‘vile’ grooming gangs, says Sunak
Image: Coach and lorries waiting for French border checks on Saturday
One passenger, Rosie Pearson, described the travel scenes in Dover on Saturday as “carnage” as she was stuck for 16 hours with her husband and two teenagers.
The 50-year-old environmental campaigner from Essex was travelling to Val d’Isere in the French Alps on an overnight bus.
‘It didn’t need to be this way’
Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said “a range of factors” have caused the delays, but said the government had not planned for what was going to happen post-Brexit.
She told Sophy Ridge On Sunday that ministers had “known for a very long time that they needed to make sure that there were resources in place to deal with additional paperwork checks”.
“The point is not whether we left the European Union or not. The point was that we left with a government that made big promises and once again didn’t deliver,” she said.
“I really feel for the families that are trying to get away for an Easter break, people who have been caught up in this chaos, people whose livelihoods are threatened.
“It didn’t need to be this way. If the government got a grip, got down to brass tacks and started doing their actual job, all these things could be avoided.”
An eight-day strike at the UK’s biggest container port will go ahead after talks between bosses and unions broke down.
More than 1,900 members of Unite will strike from Sunday 21 August until Monday 29 August, unhappy with the 7% pay rise offered by Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company following a 1.4% increase last year.
A spokesman for the port authority said: “We are disappointed and regret that, despite our best efforts, we have still been unable to reach an agreement with the hourly branch of Unite.
“During talks yesterday the port further improved its position, offering a £500 lump sum in addition to 7%.
“The staff branch of Unite and the Police Federation of Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company have agreed to put a similar offer to their members.
“In contrast, the hourly branch of Unite has again rejected the port’s improved position and refused to put it to its members.
“We urge them to consult their members on the latest offer as soon as possible. There will be no winners from a strike which will only result in their members losing money they would otherwise have earned.
“Our focus has been to find a solution that works for our employees and protects the future success of the port. The union has rejected the company’s offer to meet again.”
Read more: Who is going on strike this month and when
Unite national officer Robert Morton said: “Felixstowe docks is massively profitable. In 2020 alone, it raked in £61m in pre-tax profits and paid dividends of £99m.
“It can afford to put forward a reasonable pay offer to our members but once again has chosen not to.
“That decision was driven by greed not need. Unite’s door remains open for further talks but strike action will go ahead unless the company tables an offer that our members can accept.”
Almost half of the UK’s container traffic comes through Felixstowe and Unite said the action would hit supply chains, the logistics and haulage sectors, as well as international maritime trade.
It is the latest round of industrial action by workers pushing for pay to keep up with the rising cost of living.
Workers at the UK’s biggest container port will go on strike for more than a week later this month in a dispute over pay.
More than 1,900 members of Unite union at Felixstowe will strike for eight days from Sunday 21 August until Monday 29 August.
The union said that employer Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company had failed to improve on its offer of a 7% pay increase, following only a 1.4% increase last year.
Almost half of the UK’s container traffic comes through Felixstowe and Unite said the action would hit supply chains, the logistics and haulage sectors, as well as international maritime trade.
It is the latest round of industrial action by workers pushing for pay to keep up with the cost of living.
Unite national officer for docks Bobby Morton said: “Strike action will cause huge disruption and will generate massive shockwaves throughout the UK’s supply chain, but this dispute is entirely of the company’s own making.
“It has had every opportunity to make our members a fair offer, but has chosen not to do so. Felixstowe needs to stop prevaricating and make a pay offer which meets our members’ expectations.”
‘Massively profitable and incredibly wealthy’
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said both Felixstowe docks and its parent company Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison are “massively profitable and incredibly wealthy”, adding: “They are fully able to pay the workforce a fair day’s pay.
“The company has prioritised delivering multi-million pound dividends rather than paying its workers a decent wage.
“Unite is entirely focused on enhancing its members’ jobs, pay, and conditions, and it will be giving the workers at Felixstowe its complete support until this dispute is resolved, and a decent pay increase is secured.”
More talks are due to take place on Monday.
Read more: London Tube strike announced for 19 August in row over jobs and pensions Two more days of rail strikes announced in row over jobs, pay and conditions
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1:18
‘We need to remove power of militant unions’
In a statement supplied to Sky News, a spokesperson for the port said: “The company continues to actively seek a solution that works for all parties and that avoids industrial action.
“We understand our employees’ concerns at the rising cost of living and are determined to do all we can to help whilst continuing to invest in the port’s success.
“Discussions are ongoing and the company’s latest position in negotiations is an enhanced pay increase of 7%. We are meeting again on Monday 8 August with Acas and the union.
“The port has not had a strike since 1989 and we are disappointed that the union has served notice of industrial action while talks are ongoing. The port provides secure and well-paid employment and there will be no winners from industrial action.”
The Department for Transport has also been contacted for comment.
Felixstowe welcomes approximately 2,000 ship each year, according to its website, including some of the world’s largest container vessels.
Around 17 shipping lines operate from the port, offering 33 services to and from more than 700 ports around the world.
A UK-French taskforce has been set up to tackle travel chaos in Kent after holidaymakers spent hours in gridlocked traffic trying to cross the Channel last weekend.
The Passenger Working Group has been established to minimise queue times and avoid further disruption for people travelling to either side of the border.
The group will meet weekly throughout the summer to avoid a repeat of scenes last Saturday, when families reported being stuck at the Port of Dover for up to 11 hours due to heavy congestion.
It follows a row over who is to blame for the huge tailbacks building up at both Dover and the Eurotunnel entrance at Folkestone, which has been dubbed the “hotspot of holiday hell”.
The UK has said there are not enough French border officers on duty to process British travellers, while the French say Brexit means passport checks take longer.
Authorities from both countries met this week to discuss the preparations being put in place to ease further disruption, which includes extra traffic enforcement to keep roads passable around Dover and Folkestone.
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0:39
Traffic leading to Port of Dover
The taskforce is part of a package of measures to ease travel disruption after the start of the summer holidays was marred by rail strikes, flight cancellations and border delays.
The AA has issued an “amber” traffic warning for this weekend – the first time it has issued the alert ahead of time.
Roads are expected to be “extremely busy” across Britain due to a combination of factors including train strikes, the start of the English Football League season, the Commonwealth Games and summer holiday getaways.
To ensure people can still easily get to the Commonwealth Games, the government said contingency measures have been put in place, including extra capacity on rail lines that are running and laying on coaches for spectators.
Ministers said flight cancellations have also recently fallen back to their 2019 levels after slot rules were relaxed to help airlines make sensible decisions about their schedule.
Read More: People should go on holiday to Portugal to avoid queues at Dover, says minister Liz Truss blames France for “appalling” queues
The government has faced criticism for not doing enough to get a grip on the chaos, with authorities in Kent calling for more money to handle the disruption.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and lead minister for resilience Kit Malthouse said: “I am working with ministers and officials right across government, as well as our partners and industry, to assess and mitigate any disruption, including any knock on effects from the rail strikes.
“We have already taken action, and continue to work with the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel, and the French government, National Highways, local police and the Kent Resilience Forum on minimising traffic disruption, and also with our airport operators to avoid last minute cancellations, and we will continue to take all the necessary steps to help people travel easily.”
Traffic into the Port of Dover is returning to normal following days of queueing for France-bound travellers.
The port said on Twitter that, as at 2.15am on Sunday, the system brought in temporarily to handle traffic had ended, and that freight traffic was now able to travel straight to the site.
It added that tourist traffic was also “clear” and the approach roads – the A2 and A20 – “are flowing normally”.
Travellers setting out at the start of the British school summer holidays, as well as the usual flow of goods lorries, had faced long delays because of slow border checks.
The UK government had blamed a shortage of French border staff, and the French government had argued that passport checks were taking longer now that the UK is no longer part of the European Union.
On Friday, 8,500 cars were processed, but by lunchtime on Saturday, the number processed had already reached more than 17,000.
One family with three children in the car told Sky News they were stuck for nearly 11 hours, while another said they had been queueing for three hours, but they still had a long way to reach border control.
Natalie Chapman from haulier group Logistics UK said some lorry drivers had waited “in excess of 18 hours” to cross the Channel.
Read more: Bumper-to-bumper traffic in Dover as UK and France argue over who is to blame for disruption Nine tips to reduce how much fuel you use London Southend Airport offers to host flights being cancelled by bigger, struggling airports
French regional prefect Georges-François Leclerc was asked by BFM TV if French customs officers were to blame for the delays seen on Friday and Saturday.
He said they were not, adding: “The Port of Dover, which is a private port, found it easier to blame the French police.”
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is competing to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, said: “This is a situation that has been caused by a lack of resource at the border.
“That is what the French authorities need to address and that is what I’m being very clear with them about.”
Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party chair, said the government had failed “to get a grip” on the problem, labelling it “chaos”.
Holidaymakers are stuck in long queues heading into the Port of Dover – with French immigration being blamed for causing a “critical incident”.
The delays are “in excess of four hours”, P&O Ferries said, adding: “Please arrive prepared for a prolonged wait. Carry snacks and additional water with you.”
One traveller said they were moving “50 metres per hour”, tweeting: “At this rate it’ll be 34 hours before I get to the port!”
Another said: “Sat in lanes waiting to get to border control. Zero movement.”
The port said “woefully inadequate” French staffing was to blame for “major disruption” and a “critical incident” had been declared.
Its chief executive, Doug Bannister, told Sky News: “The cause of it is French immigration controls.
“We’ve been let down this morning despite the planning of the last several months to get ready for this day.”
The port said it had shared predicted traffic volumes with the French authorities “in granular detail” as it prepared for the summer holiday season.
Mr Bannister added: “This is causing major disruption. French border controls are not properly staffed.”
Foreign Office minister Graham Stuart agreed with the port’s assessment, telling Sky News the “French authorities” were to blame and it was not a “Border Force problem”.
The French have added “three additional booths”, he said, and “by yesterday morning, they had two of the three up and running”.
The transport secretary and French ambassador have both been involved, Mr Stuart said.
Image: People are queuing for several hours
In a long statement, the port said it had “worked so hard in good faith” with local and government partners over the course of several months as it prepared for the “busy summer”.
It added: “We are deeply frustrated that the resource at the French border overnight and early this morning has been woefully inadequate to meet our predicted demand.”
Dover said it had “trained a new team of passenger champions to be on hand and assist customers at the port”.
It went on: “We know that resource is finite, but the popularity of Dover is not a surprise.
“Regrettably, the Police Aux Frontieres (PAF) resource has been insufficient and has fallen far short of what is required to ensure a smooth first weekend of the peak summer getaway period.”
The port said it was stressing the “importance of adequate French border resource for the coming days and weeks on which we had previously been assured”.
It concluded: “We have to work as a team.”
Roads to watch for delays over the weekend
M25 anticlockwise Junction 4 Bromley to Dartford
M4 eastbound Junction 30 Cardiff East to Junction 24 for the A449 Monmouth
M25 anticlockwise Junction 17 Maple Cross to Junction 12 for the M3
A303 westbound past Stonehenge
M25 clockwise Junction 7 M23 to Junction 16 for the M40
M5 southbound Junction 15 Almondsbury Interchange to Junction 23 for the A38 Bridgwater
M25 anticlockwise Junction 17 Maple Cross to Junction 12 for the M3
Source: RAC
Elsewhere, a “slow-moving convoy” has joined the M5 in a protest against high fuel prices, police have said.
The Avon and Somerset force said a “protest convoy of about 10 vehicles” had entered the motorway northbound at J24 for Bridgwater.
Police warned previously that the M4 and M32 could also be affected.
Fuel Price Stand Against Tax, a Facebook group with 53,000 members, shared a post suggesting activists will assemble “nationwide” to make their voices heard.
Protests are planned in Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, London and Manchester.
