Boris Johnson has compared Vladimir Putin to “the fat boy in Dickens” who wants to “make our flesh creep” with threats of using nuclear weapons.

The former prime minister said that the Russian President “wants us to think about” the potential for nuclear weapons to be unleashed but that “he’s never going to do it”.

Speaking at a breakfast event on Ukraine at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Johnson said: “Putin wants to present it as a nuclear stand-off between between Nato and Russia.

“Nonsense. He’s not going to use nuclear weapons, okay. He’s like the fat boy in Dickens, he wants to make our flesh creep. He wants us to think about it. He’s never going to do it.”

The comment is a reference to The Pickwick Papers, the first novel written by Charles Dickens, in which a boy tells an old lady that he intends to “make your flesh creep”.

Mr Johnson said the use of nuclear weapons would put the Russian President into “a complete economic cryogenic paralysis” and “terrify the Russians”.

The former premier also told the audience to “stop worrying about Kremlinology”, as he joked: “It’s difficult to work out what’s gonna happen in UK politics, let alone in the Kremlin.”

You can follow the latest updates below. 

07:56 AM

Boris Johnson: ‘Tell Putin to get the puck out of Ukraine’

Boris Johnson said Russia should “get the puck out of Ukraine” after a fellow panellist used an ice hockey analogy during an event at the World Economic Forum in Davos this morning.

Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland called for more Western support for Ukraine, saying: “I don’t skate to where the puck is. I skate to where the puck is going. This puck is going to Ukrainian victory, so let’s skate there.”

Mr Johnson then joked “tell Putin to get the puck out of Ukraine”, prompting laughter from the audience.

07:54 AM

Levelling up cash will help ‘overlooked and undervalued’ areas

Rishi Sunak is today announcing £2billion of funding for more than 100 projects across the UK as he reiterates his commitment to the Government’s levelling up agenda.

Analysis of the funding announcements by The Telegraph revealed that Mr Sunak has directed more levelling up cash to the South East and South West than his predecessor Boris Johnson (you can read the full story here).

Mr Sunak and Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, are visiting Blackpool today to launch the funding and the latter said this morning that it is about helping parts of the country which have been “overlooked and undervalued” in the past.

Speaking to Sky News, he said: “The reason I am here is that we want to level up the whole country. We want to make sure that in areas like Blackpool that have been overlooked and undervalued in the past there is an investment in the future.”

07:47 AM

Giving in to every pay rise demand would leave public finances ‘out of control’ – Gove

Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, said the Government cannot agree to every pay rise demand being made in the public sector because doing so would lead to the public finances becoming “out of control”.

Speaking on the second day of a nurses’ strike over pay and conditions, Mr Gove told Sky News: “What we can’t do is necessarily accede to every demand in the public sector for pay increases because we don’t want to be in a position where the public finances overall are out of control.”

07:44 AM

Michael Gove disagrees with Simon Clarke over nurse foodbank comments

Simon Clarke, the former Cabinet minister, was criticised by the Royal College of Nursing yesterday after he told nurses that “something is wrong with your budgeting” if they are relying on handouts from foodbanks.

Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, was asked this morning if he agreed with the sentiment and he told Sky News: “No, I would never put it that way.

“I think we appreciate that nurses, everyone that is working on the front line in the National Health Service, is not only doing an amazing job and my thanks and gratitude to nurses today is something I want to express very deeply and personally.”

07:31 AM

‘Stop worrying about Kremlinology’

Boris Johnson said Vladimir Putin will not deploy nuclear weapons because doing so would put the Russian President into “a complete economic cryogenic paralysis” and “terrify the Russians”.

He told the event at the World Economic Forum in Davos: “He’s not going to do it. Don’t go down that rabbit hole, stop it.”

Mr Johnson also told the audience at the event on the situation in Ukraine to “stop worrying about Kremlinology” as he joked: “It’s difficult to work out what’s gonna happen in UK politics, let alone in the Kremlin.”

07:30 AM

Boris Johnson compares Vladimir Putin to ‘fat boy in Dickens’

Boris Johnson has compared Vladimir Putin with “the fat boy in Dickens” who wants to “make our flesh creep” with threats of using nuclear weapons.

Speaking at a breakfast event on Ukraine at the World Economic Forum in Davos this morning, the former prime minister said: “Putin wants to present it as a nuclear stand-off between between Nato and Russia.

“Nonsense. He’s not going to use nuclear weapons, okay. He’s like the fat boy in Dickens, he wants to make our flesh creep. He wants us to think about it. He’s never going to do it.”

07:29 AM

Good morning

Good morning and welcome to today’s politics live blog.

Boris Johnson has been speaking at an event on Ukraine at the World Economic Forum in Davos and Rishi Sunak is due to deliver remarks later on his new levelling up push.

We also have Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, on the broadcast round.

It promises to be a busy day in British politics and I will do my best to guide you through the key developments.