Defence secretary tells Sky News his 'message' to Putin - and reacts to 'shocking' Channel crossings

Disposable vape ban begins - here's everything you need to know

A ban on disposable vapes is now in force across the UK.

The ban on selling or supplying disposable vapes, announced in January last year, applies both in shops and online.

Vapes have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, with usage growing by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, according to the government.

But why is the government cracking down on disposable ones, what are the punishments for continuing to sell them - and could there be wider vape bans in the future?

The Wargame: New Sky News and Tortoise Media podcast series simulates a Russian attack on UK

A top team of former government ministers and military and security chiefs have taken part in a wargame that simulates a Russian attack on the UK for a new podcast series by Sky News and Tortoise Media.

Among the line-up, Sir Ben Wallace, a former Conservative defence secretary, plays the prime minister; Jack Straw, a former senior Labour politician, resumes his old job as foreign secretary; Amber Rudd steps back into her former role as home secretary and Jim Murphy, a secretary of state for Scotland under Gordon Brown, takes the position of chancellor.

The defence secretary is played by James Heappey, a former armed forces minister.

Lord Mark Sedwill is the national security adviser - a position he held for real under both Theresa May and Boris Johnson, while General Sir Richard Barrons, one of the leaders of a major defence review that is due to be published in the coming weeks, plays the role of chief of the defence staff, the UK's top military officer.

Baroness Helena Kennedy, a barrister and expert on human rights law, appears as attorney general, while Lieutenant General Sir David Capewell resumes his former role as chief of joint operations, the UK's warfighting commander.

Dominic Cummings: If Farage listens to me, he'll be the next PM

Nigel Farage could "definitely" become prime minister at the next general election.

That's according to Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, who says he has held meetings with the Reform leader and advised him on how to win the keys to Downing Street.

On the Sky News Daily, Liz Bates speaks to Cummings about the current state of British politics, why the public feels let down, and who Farage needs to recruit if he wants to be the next prime minister.

'I've been called everything from a vigilante to Batman'

Next, Robert Jenrick is asked about his decision to apprehend fare dodgers in Stratford station - for a video he later shared on social media (see previous post).

Jenrick says: "I've been called everything from a vigilante to Batman in the last few days."

But Trevor Phillips asks if this stunt was aimed at the fare dodgers - or the police officers who did not approach them?

He says: "It's both the fare dodgers and the authorities [who] are supposed to be taking action against it.

"Particularly in London's case that do nothing mayor Sadiq Khan. I was fed up. 

"I could see that people were dodging their fares and law abiding fare paying people see that and they feel silly. They feel foolish. 

"Why are we paying when other people are getting away with it?"

Jenrick says he wants the authorities to "step up" and "take action".

That's all for our coverage of Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

Watch: Jenrick confronts TfL passengers who haven't tapped in

One of the stranger moments of this week - and a moment that very much screams "recess" - is a video Robert Jenrick published on social media.

The shadow justice secretary and former Tory leadership hopeful shared footage of him confronting people going on the London Underground who appear to have not paid their fare.

Dressed in a chequered shirt and jeans, and armed with a microphone, Jenrick asks the people why they have not paid.

He is met with a variety of responses - including an expletive-ridden tirade.

The former minister asks the people if they would consider paying. At one point, staff can be seen taking over the situation.

Prisons are 'in crisis', Jenrick warns - and admits Tories 'should have built more'

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick is now joining Trevor Phillips.

He is asked about the justice secretary's plan to make space in prisons through early release, which the Conservatives have criticised. 

Jenrick says: "Our prisons are in a crisis right now, but we do need to find extra spaces. 

"The justice secretary said that she needs to find around 9,500 additional places in the coming years, and she presents it as having no choice but to release prisoners early."

Jenrick warns this would be putting "dangerous people onto our streets".

The shadow minister is then asked what he would do to resolve the issue with prison places.

He insists the Conservatives "actually built 13,000 extra prison places". 

"The mistake was decommissioning the old Victorian jails too quickly," Jenrick says.

"But you're right -  we should have built more prisons. What we need to do now is get the 10,800 foreign national offenders who are in our prisons, out of our country.

"If Justice Secretary [Shabana Mahmood] brought forward emergency legislation to supply the human rights laws, for example, to do that, we would back her tomorrow."

Reform chair: Starmer is 'panicking' over polls

Sir Keir Starmer is "panicking" over Labour's performance in recent polls, the Reform UK chairman has said.

Zia Yusuf tells Trevor Phillips: "The prime minister is panicking because he's now well behind us in the polls. 

"He won a big majority last year, he's now eight points behind in the gold standard YouGov poll."

Yusuf is asked about major cuts proposed by Reform UK, and where exactly these would come from.

He claims there is a "lack of accountability" in government budgets, with money being spent "like a drunken sailor".

"It's totally unfair on the British taxpayer".

Yusuf suggests that cuts amounting to £300bn over five years are possible.

Healey on UK's message to Putin - as he says new munitions factories should open 'very soon'

As part of the Strategic Defence Review, which will be published on Monday, the government has pledged £1.5bn to set up at least six munitions factories.

Labour also plans to support the procurement of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons.

Asked when these factories will open, Defence Secretary John Healey says we should expect to see them "very soon".

He says: "The message to [Vladimir] Putin is we take our defence seriously. 

"We're stepping up our deterrence. 

"We should expect to see new factories opening very soon. And we've already got strong munitions factories in every part of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

"The investment we're making will boost the jobs in those areas as well."

Healey: Spending plans are 'enough to deliver vision' set out in Strategic Defence Review

Next, the conversation with John Healey turns to the Strategic Defence Review, which will be published on Monday.

Trevor Phillips asks if there are plans to put tactical nuclear weapons on fighter jets, as has been suggested.

Healey won't speculate, but says: "This deal tomorrow will set out the new threats we face on the specifics of that story."

Pressed if this is being considered, the minister will not confirm or deny.

But he says: "For nearly 70 years, our UK nuclear deterrent has been the guarantor of our UK security. [It] is what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin fears most. 

"The threats that we face in the future mean that we will always have to do what we need to defend the country."

Healey goes on to reiterate that the government plans to hit its 2.5% defence spending target "three years earlier than anyone expected in 2027".

He insists: "That is enough to deliver the vision that sets out tomorrow. And that vision is a transformation of Britain's armed forces. 

"It's a transformation of our industrial base so that we get a defence dividend from the defence investment that brings jobs right across Britain."

He points to an extra £5bn put into defence spending by Chancellor Rachel Reeves this year, and another £6bn in munitions over five years.

Healey: Britain has lost control of its borders

John Healey was also asked about reports that hundreds of migrants are thought to have crossed the English Channel in small boats on Saturday.

At least six boats left France in the first attempted crossings to reach the UK in a week.

The defence secretary says these scenes are "shocking".

He adds that the UK has "lost control of its borders over the last five years".

Healey says the previous Conservative government "left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration". 

"I think yesterday tells us a really big problem, which is you've got French police unable to intervene and intercept the boats when they're in shallow waters."

Is an invasion of Taiwan by China 'imminent'?

Defence Secretary John Healey is now joining Trevor Phillips on Sky News, first discussing an American warning that an invasion of Taiwan by China is "imminent".

Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defence, delivered this warning on Friday, while urging Asian countries to boost defence spending to help deter war.

Asked if he agrees, Healey says Hegseth was just "restating what we all understand, which is the Chinese Communist Party have said that they want to reunify Taiwan with mainland China".

He says: "We've always argued that it should be diplomatic. We've warned against."

But does Healey think the threat to Taiwan is "imminent"?

"President XI has said to his military [that] he wants them to be capable and ready in two years time of taking Taiwan by force if needed," the minister says.

"Now, that's the risk that we face. But what Pete Hegseth was saying is don't take the military step. Take the diplomatic route."

Pressed again, Healey says the US was "right to strike this warning". 

"He's right to look at the growing assertiveness of China in the South China Seas and in the Indo-Pacific.

"And he's right, like we do, to warn China that the future of Taiwan must be settled peacefully and that any military action will destabilize the whole region."

The upcoming spending review provides a "natural point" to put the UK on the path to further boost defence spending, an economic thinktank has said.

Defence and NHS spending will dominate the review, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in an analysis.

It said Chancellor Rachel Reeves will face "unavoidably" tough choices on 11 June, when she announces the government's day-to-day departmental budgets for the next three years and investment budgets for the next four.

One of the central trade-offs will be how much funding goes to the NHS, as increasing it at anything like the historical average rate would mean real-terms cuts for other "unprotected" departments, the IFS said.

In the spending review, Reeves will confirm the path for defence spending.

"This would be a natural point for the government to put the UK on a path towards spending 3% of GDP on defence, or to speed up the timeline at which the UK will reach 2.5%, if it views this as necessary," the thinktank said.

Ministers previously set out the government's "ambition" to reach 3% in the next parliament, after meeting its pledge to ratchet up defence spending to 2.5% by April 2027.

Defence Secretary John Healey has said getting to 3% by 2034 is a firm commitment, telling The Times there was "no doubt" Britain would be spending 3% "in the next parliament".

IFS research economist Bee Boileau said funding elsewhere will likely slow to a "trickle" at the spending review.

UK to build weapons factories and buy thousands of missiles in £6bn push to rearm

The UK will buy up to 7,000 long-range missiles, rockets and drones and build at least six weapons factories in a £6bn push to rearm at a time of growing threats.

The plan, announced by the government over the weekend, will form part of Sir Keir Starmer's long-awaited Strategic Defence Review, which will be published on Monday.

However, it lacks key details, including when the first arms plant will be built, when the first missile will be made, or even what kind of missiles, drones and rockets will be purchased.

The government is yet to appoint a new senior leader to take on the job of "national armaments director", who will oversee the whole effort.

Andy Start, the incumbent head of Defence Equipment and Support - the branch of defence charged with buying kit - is still doing the beefed-up role of national armaments director as a sluggish process to recruit someone externally rumbles on.

Revealing some of its content ahead of time, the Ministry of Defence said the defence review will recommend an "always on" production capacity for munitions, drawing on lessons learned from Ukraine, which has demonstrated the vital importance of large production lines.

It will also call for an increase in stockpiles of munitions - something that is vitally needed for the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to be able to keep fighting beyond a few days.

-SKY NEWS