Newsnight, followed by Weather

In the lead story, Newsnight covered Prime Minister Andy Burnham's first foreign trip to Kyiv, where he marked Ukraine's Independence Day and handed over blueprints for British cruise missile components to be manufactured in Ukraine. Russia accused the move of adding fuel to the fire, and Burnham responded rhetorically. The panel discussed the scale of escalation, with the Economist's geopolitics editor noting how far Western policy had moved. Andrei Fedorov, a former Russian deputy foreign minister and current adviser to President Putin, said there was public pressure on Putin to act against the UK, suggesting possible cyber attacks, diplomatic steps, or semi-military incidents, though he acknowledged risks given the UK's NATO and nuclear status. Other panelists argued the move showed alliance and self-interest, with Ukraine sharing battlefield AI data with UK companies in exchange, and emphasized that the UK was acting with allies like Finland, Luxembourg, and the European Council president.

In other news, 12 people were arrested over Saturday's fatal crash on the A66 near Middlesbrough, which killed seven, including two police officers. Police said there was no evidence it was filmed for TikTok, but Prime Minister Burnham criticized the wider trend of social media posts glorifying dangerous driving, calling it truly reprehensible. An interview with Calvin Buckley, whose pregnant partner and unborn daughter were killed by a speeding driver filming himself, described the impact and called for stricter social media restrictions and proactive reporting of dangerous content. BBC investigations correspondent Marianna Spring explained that while dangerous driving videos exist and can be recommended by algorithms, they do not necessarily constitute a widespread trend, and highlighted concerns about reactive moderation and design of platforms.