Boris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s post-Brexit deal with the EU to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol row, claiming that it doesn’t take back control from Brussels. The former PM is urging Sunak to consider using his bill to unilaterally override the protocol if it ‘doesn’t work’. He added, ‘I will find it very difficult to vote for something like this because I believe we should have done things differently no matter how much plaster came off the Brussels ceiling. We have got to hope it works.’ Boris said he understood why people want to move on from Brexit rows and accept the deal: ‘I get that.’ Meanwhile, the European Research Group said it could take two weeks for the Brexiteer group to carry out its own ‘legal audit’ of the deal. Mr Sunak wants to give the DUP and Tory Eurosceptics space and time to consider the deal before holding the commons vote.

Concerns have been raised that the growing use of vapes among young people may lead to them smoking cigarettes. Kent County Council has urged businesses and residents to report to trading standards officers any illegal vapes and underage sales. Vaping products containing nicotine are required by law to carry a warning label on the box, and sales of vaping products to those under the age of 18 are banned. The Local Government Association wants new measures to regulate the display and marketing of vaping products in the same way as tobacco. England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said some products are intended to appeal to those who are underage, and that the UK should do ‘everything we can’ to reduce vaping among children. A grammar school headteacher said shops ‘entice’ young people with bright and colourful advertising.

The amount suppliers charge for energy was cut by Ofgem to £3,280 as wholesale prices fell. But bills will still rise in April as government help eases. Ofgem's announcement does not affect each household’s payment for energy units but it reduces costs that the government faces. Average household bills will rise from £2,100 to £3,000 annually in April because government help (Energy Price Guarantee) becomes less generous and a £400 winter discount on bills ends. The TUC’s general secretary said, ‘Energy bills are out of control. The government must cancel April's hike. As costs of wholesale gas plummet, ministers have no excuse for not stepping in.’ Under the government guarantee, a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity in England, Wales and Scotland is paying £2,500 a year. Without state support, that annual bill would have been £4,279 since January.

Ukraine was very much on everyone’s hearts, and some Ukrainian sisters and young Russian brothers came to the conference. It was not an easy situation for them, a Ukrainian sister expressed the deep wounds and pain caused to Ukrainians through the losses they are suffering day in and day out, by Russians. Then a young Russian Christian who helps drug addicts and social fringe groups testified how his fellow ministry leaders had suffered persecution after scrutiny by Russian authorities. In their own ways, both sides were ‘victims’ of the same autocratic state, and their pain was palpable. We prayerfully surrounded them, and during our intercessions, they were eventually able to reach out and embrace one another. It was deeply moving to witness these tentative steps of reconciliation between Ukrainian and Russian Christians. Reconciliation at the cross is a powerful weapon against the ‘real enemy’. Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.