Morning Briefing Wednesday 20th November

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This is your time's morning briefing for Wednesday the 20th of November. The Times is reporting that secure stammer has appeared to suggest it's just a matter of time before British long-range missiles could be used by Ukraine against Russia. Downing Street originally said only that it wouldn't comment on operational matters, but the Prime Minister has since added we must ensure Ukraine has what it needs for as long as it needs to win this war.

The relaxation of language comes after President Biden authorized Kiev to use American long-range missiles. The Kremlin warned it could trigger a nuclear response under a new doctrine approved by Vladimir Putin, but the former senior Russian affairs analyst Stephen Diel told Times Radio Moscow was bluffing.

It's trying to make the West think, oh, you know, made a mistake. The Americans have made a mistake by allowing attackers to be used against Russian targets on Russian territory. It is bluff, I'm afraid. I simply see it as yet another bluff. Putin knows that ultimately he is in a weak position were he to be in a war, God forbid, with NATO, because he knows that Russia would be wiped out.

Ministers have acknowledged that cuts to winter fuel payments will push up to 100,000 pensioners into poverty by 2027. The Department for Work and Pensions figures show the decision stripped millions of pensioners of the payment will result in about $50,000 of people in poverty at any time. As temperatures plunge this week, Rachel Reeves was warned by Labor MPs that refusal to reconsider the policy could soon lead to more deaths.

The government is bracing for a difficult winter in which fuel cuts are blamed for harming older people and putting extra pressure on the NHS. Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket has splashed down in the Indian Ocean somewhere off the coast of Western Australia. SpaceX was hoping the rocket's booster would return to its base and be caught by a pair of robotic arms, but that ended up in the Sea of Mexico.

The president-elect Donald Trump was watching earlier as the craft blasted off from its launch pad in Texas. The Wall Street Journal's Tim Higgins told Times Radio this was the moment Musk had been working towards.

who is going to be in awe of what he is trying to do, trying to reach the stars, trying to get to Mars. Somebody who can help him perhaps clear a path to do that through getting rid of the regulations that he say are making this harder than it needs to be. A moment to be marked after several months of campaigning and pushing to get Donald Trump reelected and put back on the White House.

Ansakir Starmer has denied waging a class war and refused to back down after thousands of farmers took to the streets of London in protest against new levies on farms. They say they feel betrayed by the government over planned changes to agricultural inheritance tax announced in last month's budget. Gareth Wind-Jones, who's a hill farmer in North Wales, warned the government don't bite the hand that fit you.

This is the beginning of the end for sustainable food production and for affordable food within the UK. And it's trying government started to understand, do not bite the hand that feeds you. Because if you do, you are in a lot of trouble, especially with what we've got with the climate problems. And we are living in a country which is very good at seeing food. It's probably one of the best countries in the world with a growing population that we need to feed affordably and they're not listening.

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