David Petraeus, who led the US spy agency under Barack Obama, told The i Paper that Vladimir Putin feels too vulnerable to risk directly attacking a Nato member, but is open to “using gang members to carry out something that would not be as clearly attributable to the Russians”.
His warning coincides with Andy Burnham agreeing to provide Ukraine with designs to produce Storm Shadow cruise missiles, capable of hitting targets up to 150 miles inside Russian territory.
The Prime Minister travelled to Kyiv on Monday to make the announcement with Volodymyr Zelensky, after it was recently revealed that Ukraine had been using British-made drones for long-range attacks on targets in Russia – which has threatened “consequences” in return.
Reform wants to change social housing priorities – what to know
Reform UK unveiled plans to change the way social housing is allocated if it enters government.
It pledged to prioritise British-born workers under 35, veterans and married couple with children.
What does Reform say it will do?
Deputy leader Richard Tice said this morning the party would build 50,000 affordable social homes every year for a decade to fix the “broken” housing situation.
This would be funded through a new Right to Buy scheme which would allow tenants to purchase their council homes for a 30 per cent discount after five years, or 40 per cent after ten years. Two would be built for every one sold.
Who would get to live in the housing?
- People with jobs, veterans and those married with children would be prioritised, Reform said.
- Foreign nationals would be evicted and the unemployed deprioritised.
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The flaws in Reform’s plan
Rules are already tight
Most migrants are not eligible for social housing, meaning the vast majority of social tenants are UK citizens.
Homelessness risk
The current rules allocate to those with most urgent need first, so these people would be at risk from a change.
Low-income renters
The plan wouldn’t help those being pushed out of the private market by rising rents.
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Will this week’s rain end the drought?
While the UK will see some wetter weather this week, experts say it won’t be enough to undo the effects of the successive heatwaves.
Weeks or months of rainfall will likely be needed before hosepipe bans can be lifted.
Where will it rain this week?
Whilst Monday remains dry for most, showers will start arriving across southern England and Wales Tuesday.
By Wednesday, there will be rain across much of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with Scotland remaining largely dry.
Thunderstorms and hail are forecast from Wednesday evening into Friday, mostly in the south.
The hard ground means flooding could be a risk in these areas.
Why won’t the drought end?
- A drought is officially over when reservoir levels return to normal.
- This usually takes several months of above-average rainfall.
- Reservoirs are currently 13.8 per cent below where they should be.
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When will hosepipe bans be lifted?
Hosepipe bans are the responsibility of water companies, while droughts are declared by the Environment Agency or its equivalent in devolved areas.
The Met Office has said a wet winter, which is looking likely, will replenish water resources.
Last year, despite a wet winter, some regions were in drought until January, and some hosepipe bans remained in place until February.
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Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ ball fetches £2.5m in auction
The football used by Argentina’s Diego Maradona to score his “hand of God” against England in the 1986 World Cup has sold for £2.5m at an auction in the US.
The ball was used in both goals in the quarter-final match to beat England 2-1.
Two iconic goals
The first goal saw Maradona punch the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton. As the referee and linesman didn’t see his hand touch the ball, the goal was allowed.
Maradona described it as scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.
He got past five England players to score the second goal.
How did the ball get sold?
- Referee Ali Ben Nasser collected it after the game and sold it for £1.7m in 2022.
- It was expected to fetch closer to £7.3m when it was resold this time.
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Snooker champion Graeme Dott found guilty of child sex abuse
Graeme Dott,49, was found guilty of lewd and libidinous behaviour towards a girl and a boy between 1993 and 2010 at the High Court in Glasgow.
Former world champion convicted
Dott, who won the 2006 snooker world championship, was found guilty today of sexually abusing a girl between 1993 and 1996 and a boy between 2006 and 2010.
Jurors heard from both of the victims during the trial that Dott told them not to tell anyone about the abuse.
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Adjourned for sentence
- A judge in Glasgow adjourned sentence until 29 September.
- The offences took place in the Glasgow area.
- Dott maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
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Burnham makes first overseas trip as PM to Ukraine – what to know
The Prime Minister arrived in Kyiv this morning to mark Ukraine’s independence day.
He is promising to share with Ukraine classified information to help build long-range missiles.
Burnham pledges support
- Burnham said UK support “will not waver” and Russia should be “in no doubt of our resolve”.
- He chaired his first meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, the group that would send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
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What is Burnham giving Ukraine?
Burnham will allow defence firm MBDA to release classified information on UK components for the British-French SCALP long-range missile, also known as Storm Shadow.
The missile has already been supplied to Ukrainian forces, but releasing the secret technical information will allow Ukraine – with French support – to manufacture locally.
How has Russia responded?
Earlier this month, Russia’s Embassy in the UK warned of “consequences” following confirmation that British-made drones were used in Ukrainian strikes on Russia.
The embassy said the “deeper [the UK’s] involvement in the conflict… the higher price it will pay”.
President Vladimir Putin has also threatened Britain over seizing Russian “shadow fleet” tankers.
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What to know about the head-on A66 crash that killed seven
Seven people died over the weekend after a police car crashed into another vehicle that was travelling the wrong way on a dual carriageway near Middlesbrough.
Families paid tribute to the victims, as police urged the public not to speculate on the crash. Here’s what we know.
No survivors
Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak, both 23, died when the Volkswagan Passat they were in collided with the police vehicle.
PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were also pronounced dead at the scene.
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Families pay tribute
The wife of PC Blades (R) said: “He gave his life in the line of duty, protecting and serving others with courage, dedication and selflessness.”
The family of PC Clough (L) described him as “our hero” who was “always on public duty throughout his short life”.
On Monday morning, a fundraiser set up to support the two families had raised over £300,000.
How did the crash happen?
- Cleveland Police launched a chase after the Passat, believed to be using cloned plates, activated an ANPR camera.
- PC Blades and PC Clough were not involved in the chase but were called to the area.
- The pursuit took just under seven minutes and was called off seconds before the crash when the Passat began travelling the wrong way.
- Blades and Clough’s car was driving the right way.
Don’t speculate, police say
These were brave officers protecting our communities and serving our residents who didn’t return home to their families at the end of their shift.
Whilst this investigation is ongoing… I would strongly urge people to avoid speculation and respect the privacy of the families.”
Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller
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A daily pill to treat diabetes that helps with weight loss is on sale from today.
The UK is the first country in Europe to approve this medicine.
Who can get the pills?
- Pharmacies across the UK will stock Foundayo, made by Eli Lilly.
- It is only available privately, though it is being assessed for a potential NHS rollout.
- It is for type 2 diabetes patients and those with a BMI of above 30, or 27 with a weight-related condition.
- The pill is taken at various dosage levels once a day, at any time.
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Counterfeit warning
Pharmacists welcomed the launch as a step forward for people who are eligible but can’t use weight-loss injections.
They warned people against fake weight-loss pills and reminded them only to buy from licensed pharmacies.
The approval of Wegovy, the UK’s first weight-loss pill, sparked a spate of counterfeit pills.
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Russia’s embassy in London has accused Britain of seeking to “inflict maximum damage” on the country, saying last week: “The deeper its involvement in the conflict… the higher the price it will pay.”
Petraeus believes Putin is becoming “more worried” about his “clear inability” to stop Ukrainian strikes on warehouses and oil refineries, “a very clear weakness that can’t be papered over”.
But the retired general thinks the Kremlin is prepared to hit British targets through hybrid warfare, under the cover of plausible deniability to avoid links to Moscow.
He also urged the UK to revolutionise its Armed Forces by replacing tanks with drones, and suggested the US may continue bombing Iran for “a long time” to make Tehran surrender comprehensively.
Petraeus became a household name while commanding coalition forces, including British troops, during critical periods of the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Speaking from the US state of Virginia, he said the Kremlin would be planning ways of hitting Britain that do not require a military strike or violent actions by Russian agents themselves.
Petraeus said: “Putin has been willing to do everything up to and including assassinations in the past, as the UK knows very well, having experienced that… He has been carrying out various grey-zone activities.”
He added: “There should be expectations of more of that kind of activity.”
He suggested that two incidents in Europe this month which have been blamed on Russia – an alleged plot to kill a US citizen in Poland, and an attempted drone attack on a German airport – indicate the methods that could be used. The Russian authorities have not commented on the Polish case but said the drone claim was “contrived provocation” intended to help Ukraine.
German investigators say a trace of DNA appears to link the drone bomb to a plot in 2024 that caused a fire at a warehouse in Birmingham in 2024 and could have blown up a plane bound for London, after explosive devices were sent across Europe in air-mail parcels. Five men are currently on trial in Lithuania for their alleged part in that case, charged with carrying out terrorist offences on behalf of Russian intelligence. They deny the charges.
The MI5 Director, Sir Ken McCallum, has previously cautioned that Russia is “turning to proxies for their dirty work, including private intelligence operatives and criminals”.
Why Putin will be feeling ‘very worried’
Petraeus believes Putin has “real limits” on any bigger ambitions against Nato while his forces are suffering “horrific losses” of more than 1,000 troops being killed or wounded every day in Ukraine.
He said it was significant that the Kremlin had deployed paramilitary units to guard petrol stations amid widespread fuel shortages, after “the Ukrainians have so impressively hit every single refinery within 3,000 kilometres”.
Attacks on huge distribution warehouses, including sites run by the country’s biggest internet retailer Wildberries, are also having a “devastating impact” on the Russian war effort and its economy, he said.
Petraeus added that Putin is “very worried” about Crimea, the Ukrainian territory which Russia annexed in 2014, because the peninsula’s fuel and energy supplies have been “cut off”.
“That was his crown jewel, and it is now becoming an albatross around his neck,” he said.
“The Ukrainians have taken out every refinery, fuel storage location, electrical generation… The lights are literally going off on a regular basis. The internet is out, and there’s no gasoline for sale to civilians.”
Asked if he thinks Putin may be paranoid about being ousted in a coup, he said: “As with all authoritarian regimes, it is inconceivable that it could be toppled until the day after it’s been toppled, when you say it was inevitable.”
Petraeus added that a fresh security crackdown ahead of parliamentary elections next month suggests Putin is “worried that opposition will not only emerge but then reach a critical mass” if it is not suppressed.
How the UK military should turn from tanks to drones
A graduate of the famed military academy at West Point, Petraeus holds a doctorate on American failings in Vietnam and co-wrote the US Army’s manual on counterinsurgency fighting.
He led coalition forces during the US troop surge in Iraq from 2007 to 2008, before overseeing Nato operations in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011.
He was then appointed CIA director, running the intelligence agency for just over a year. He resigned in late 2012 over an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and pleaded guilty to providing her with classified information, being fined $100,000.
He remains one of the world’s most respected experts on military strategy, lecturing on global affairs at Yale University, and is co-author of the book Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza with British author Andrew Roberts. He is also a partner at the investment firm KKR.
Next month, Petraeus plans to address the House of Lords on how the Ministry of Defence should embrace technology – including autonomous weapons – to radically modernise the Armed Forces.
Although there are “legitimate” concerns about the army, navy and air force being weakened by years of underfunding, he believes they are “nimble” enough to reform quickly.
“The UK is positioned almost uniquely to carry out urgent, revolutionary, transformative, institutional change in its military that doesn’t require vast new sums of money or large numbers of troops,” he said.
This would involve “not just giving drones to a tank unit, but actually replacing it,” he explained, because conventional forces “find it difficult to survive on the battlefield in Ukraine, which is the laboratory for the future of war”.
Petraeus has visited Ukraine 10 times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022 and said the way its military had adapted in that time was “breathtaking”.