Jonathan Reynolds says the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that was agreed on Wednesday is "hugely important" and is an overdue "moment of hope that the world has been waiting for". The business secretary adds that the UK's "steadfast" support for Ukraine will continue "for as long as it takes", until Russian forces withdraw. His comments come as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visits Kyiv to sign a new long-term partnership deal with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00That's hugely important. It's a moment of hope that I think the world has wanted to see.
00:04There is clearly a long way to go in terms of the hostages being released,
00:08Gaza reconstruction, people going to their homes. I would hope a longer two-state peace process
00:14that really resolves this conflict in a way that gives us confidence for the future. But this
00:18moment of hope is so important. It's overdue, but it's what the world has been waiting for.
00:22The UK's support for Ukraine has been steadfast. It's been cross-party.
00:26That will continue. We obviously hope to see the end of that conflict as well at some point,
00:31with Russian forces withdrawing from their illegal invasion. The UK is going to stand
00:35with Ukraine for as long as it takes to deliver that. The economy growing is good news,
00:39as was the news that inflation is coming down that we received yesterday. But there's no
00:43complacency in government. In fact, there's ambition and determination for the future.
00:47Everything this country needs in terms of our changes to planning, to skills, to industrial
00:52strategy, to trade, to regulation, the whole picture is about delivering that stronger growth.
00:57We've had a decade and a half of disappointing economic performance. So the task is vast,
01:01and I accept we've had to make some difficult decisions in terms of the black hole we inherited.
01:06But no one should underestimate just how determined we are to kick-start growth
01:09and how central that is to our plan for change.