When asked how two navy ships collided yesterday in the Gulf, the defence secretary says he "doesn't know".

"Accidents happen and investigations are under way," he adds, without giving any details.

On Saturday, the Royal Navy said that it was looking into how two UK warships ended up colliding at a port in Bahrain.

Video widely shared on social media appeared to show HMS Chiddingfold reverse into HMS Bangor off the coast in the Middle Eastern port.

Questions move on to Ukraine and recent comments from the German defence minister, who claimed "there could be war with Russia in five years".

He answers: "This is still in our hands."

Referring to financial support for Ukraine, he adds: "Now, not just the US, but Europe needs to step up to make sure that Ukraine can continue to defend themselves."

Shapps is asked if the UK is preparing for an operation against Russia.

He explains that the UK is part of a European scheme called Steadfast Defender which consists of 40,000 personnel, of which the UK is providing 40% of the groundforce.

Shapps says the UK is leading 31 other nations in that action because we "always need to be prepared".

He adds that the UK is always carrying out military exercises, but this is the largest of its kind.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is up now, and he's asked first about his comments last week when he said we were "living in a more dangerous world".

Shapps says there were more conflicts in the world last year than the year before, and there might be more conflicts in the years to come. He says the point he was making was that "we need to be ready, we need to be prepared, we need to understand the era in which we are living".

He adds that the world must be prepared for what states and non-state actors can do, highlighting how - in the current climate - non-state actors, such as the Houthis, are joining together with others and using more sophisticated weapons.

Today's programme begins with questions to the panel, who are presenter Simon Reeve, businessman Sir Tom Hunter and Baroness Nicky Morgan.

Morgan is asked about heightened tensions across the world - she says it casts a shadow over everything else.

She adds domestic issues are important, but leaders can't help but be distracted by events elsewhere.

Hunter says we have little control over such matters, but he believes the geopolitical risk is the highest he's seen in his lifetime.

It’s that time - Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is now live on BBC One, the BBC News channel and BBC iPlayer.

Press Play above to watch the show and we’ll bring you live text updates, clips, reaction and analysis right here on this page.

As always, you’ll be able to watch Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg live at 09:00 without leaving this page - just hit Play at the top.

If you’re on your phone and can’t see the button, simply refresh your feed and it should appear.

The programme will also be available on BBC One and iPlayer.

We’ll bring you live updates, clips, reaction and analysis right here. Stay tuned.

As ever, there will be a panel of guests in the studio to help Laura Kuenssberg pick apart this week’s interviews and look more broadly at the issues raised.

Sharing their thoughts this week will be:

• Simon Reeve, travel journalist and presenter. He’s looking at the wildest areas of the planet in his new series Wilderness on BBC Two - he says they're his “toughest journeys yet”
• Tom Hunter is a philanthropist and businessman. He was declared to be Scotland's first home-grown billionaire in 2007 and has given away much of his fortune to educational projects
• Baroness Nicky Morgan is a former culture secretary and equalities minister. Although she stood down as an MP in 2019, she later served in Boris Johnson’s government as a member of the House of Lords

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Something strange is happening in part of the UK.

Normally, when we ask politicians who they think will win an election they are performatively shy.

"Ooh, I couldn't possibly say," or, "You should know far better than to ask before a single vote has been cast, Laura!"

But there is one prominent politician who claims to know the outcome of the upcoming general election. They say it's "inevitable" that Sir Keir Starmer will be the next PM - and they're not even in the Labour Party.

You voters are a volatile bunch and polling suggests swathes of the public are yet to make up their minds. So what is exactly is the First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, up to when he proclaims so confidently that Starmer will reach Downing Street - and that the Labour leader "doesn't need Scotland" in order to do it?

The great polling guru Sir John Curtice tells me that, as thing stands, Yousaf is technically right. Based on current numbers, Labour does not have to win dozens of seats in Scotland to get back into power. "Frankly the Labour Party at the moment is going to go walkies without needing to do particularly well" with Scottish voters, he says.

Read Laura Kuenssberg’s full piece here

A variety of stories feature on the front pages of today’s newspapers, with HS2, the Post Office scandal and the Royal Family all making headlines.

Here’s a flavour of some of them:

• "HS2 back on track" reads the headline in the Sunday Express. The paper reports secret government talks are being held next week to get the scrapped northern leg of the high-speed rail link completed. A cross-party plan has been drawn up to ensure the private sector - not taxpayers - foots most of the bill for the Birmingham to Manchester section, it adds
• The Sunday People says the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have sent get well messages to the King and Princess of Wales. Amid reports of strained relations with the Sussexes, the People says the couple are supporting King Charles, who is due to go to hospital for treatment on his enlarged prostate, and Kate, who has undergone abdominal surgery
• The lead story for the Sunday Times reports the increase in measles cases in England and Wales, with the paper saying nearly a third of under-16s are vulnerable because they are not fully vaccinated
• And the Observer reports London Mayor Sadiq Khan is calling for an overhaul of post-Brexit travel and work restrictions to allow young people to be able to move freely around the EU

Image source, EPA

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will be grilled by Laura Kuenssberg this morning.

On Friday, he arrived back from visiting British armed forces in the Red Sea, after Iran-backed Houthis said they would continue targeting shipping vessels, including those from Britain.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper is also on the programme.

Last week Cooper said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s authority was “in tatters” following threats of a Tory revolt over his flagship Rwanda immigration bill. She also called the Home Office’s admission that it had lost track of nearly 6,000 asylum seekers as “staggering”.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf made headlines this week for saying he was uncomfortable with “national” being in own party’s name.

In an interview with Nick Robinson, Yousaf said he didn’t think the founding members of the SNP had any far-right inclination but that “it can be misinterpreted”.

He said: “We are the Scottish National Party, we have a very strong brand, very strong identity. But we’ve worked really hard to make it really clear that we’re a civic national party.

“We’re a party that believes it doesn’t matter where you come from, what’s important is where are we going together and there’s no doubt about our politics being rooted in the centre-left.”

Image source, EPA

Yousaf also faced backlash for inviting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Scotland.

A freedom of information release to The Herald, external showed the offer was made at a controversial meeting between the pair at the COP28 summit in December.

Those talks sparked criticism from within the SNP due to concerns about Erdogan's treatment of Kurds.

Yousaf said he would raise human rights concerns with Erdogan were they to meet in Scotland.

The invite has been criticised by the SNP's government partners, the Greens.

Marita Moloney
Live reporter

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of this week’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

It’s going to be another busy morning, featuring an interview with Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf. Yousaf faced criticism this week for both inviting Turkey’s president for a visit to Scotland and saying he’s uncomfortable with the SNP’s own name.

It’s also been a week of high stakes in Westminster, where the government faced a rebellion over its flagship Rwanda bill, which ultimately got through the Commons.

The immigration policy is likely to be discussed again this morning when we hear from Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper.

As ever, a panel will also be on hand to chat through the news of the week and their reaction to what the guests have to say. Today it’s presenter Simon Reeve, businessman Tom Hunter and Baroness Nicky Morgan.

Stay with us over the next few hours, and remember you can watch the programme live from 09:00 GMT by hitting the Play button at the top of this page.