News Round-Up

• “Kemi Badenoch ‘rips into’ Rishi Sunak over election blunders” – At the first meeting of the Shadow Cabinet, Kemi Badenoch criticised Rishi Sunak’s election campaign and Suela Braverman’s recent remarks, reports the Express.
• “Suella Braverman hits back at Kemi Badenoch over ‘nervous breakdown’ jibe as Tory leadership hopefuls engage in public spat despite pleas for party unity in wake of election thumping” – Suella Braverman has hit back at comments by Kemi Badenoch accusing her of having a ‘very public nervous breakdown’, according to the Mail.
• “Can Robert Jenrick save the Tories?” – Robert Jenrick’s star has been in the ascendant throughout this year, notes Patrick O’Flynn in the Spectator.
• “Senior Tory confronts new 1922 chairman in bar over centrist leader ‘plot’” – Mark Francois has confronted the new chairman of the 1922 Committee in a Commons bar, accusing him of a “plot” to install a centrist Tory leader, reports the Telegraph.
• “The Red Wall may never forgive the Tories” – The Conservative Party has yet to grasp the sense of betrayal felt by voters in ‘left-behind’ Britain, writes Miriam Cates in the Telegraph.
• “The Tories betrayed Britain – and too many still refuse to admit it” – The Conservatives need to own their defeat if they’re to hope to recover, says Allister Heath in the Telegraph.
• “‘We Conservatives must unite to win back the public’s trust’” – There is important work to do in holding Labour to account and giving people a reason to vote Tory again, says James Cleverly in the Times.
• “The problem with Rachel Reeves’s ‘National Wealth Fund’” – What Rachel Reeves is setting up doesn’t really deserve to be called a National Wealth Fund, says Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “Chancellor’s £7.3 billion green gamble to boost economy” – Rachel Reeves has set out plans to ­invest billions in high-risk projects to make the U.K. a world leader in green technology, according to Business Matters. Time to buy a diesel electricity generator.
• “Labour still doesn’t know what women want” – The Labour Party disregards gender at its peril, warns Sarah Ditum in UnHerd.
• “Labour MP opposes new homes in her first week on the job despite party’s housing plans” – A new Labour MP has opposed plans to build on the green belt in her first week despite it being a central part of the Government’s housing policy, according to the Telegraph.
• “‘I’m not a robot’, insists Reform candidate with AI-altered photo” – Reform candidate Mark Matlock has been forced to confirm he is a real person after a digitally altered image led to widespread accusations that he was AI-generated, says LBC.
• “Jolyon and the Guardian peddle crazed Reform conspiracy theory” – Some dark corners of the sanctimonious Left’s presence on Twitter/X have been frantically trying to come to terms with the fact that Reform did so well at the election by inventing conspiracy theories, says Guido Fawkes.
• “’I very much exist’ says Reform candidate after internet sleuths claim she is fake” – The Reform U.K. candidate for Glasgow North has been forced to insist “I do indeed exist” after internet sleuths claimed she was fake, says the Telegraph.
• “‘Conspiracy theorists say Reform’s candidates were AI avatars. If I were them, I’d feel flattered’” – A suspiciously sleek candidate photo has led to some bizarre claims being levelled at Nigel Farage’s party, writes Isabelle Oakeshott in the Telegraph.
• “On Call review: Anthony Fauci makes his case” – America’s top medical adviser during the pandemic seemingly has no regrets despite the collateral damage of lockdowns and school closures, writes John Tierney in the WSJ.
• “Jacob Rees-Mogg and family to star in fly-on-the-wall documentary” – Jacob Rees-Mogg and his family could become the ‘British Kardashians’ as they are set to star in a five-part series following their life, reports the Mail.
• “Jeremy Vine pursued by HMRC for disputed tax bills at BBC” – BBC presenter Jeremy Vine is the latest star to face a court battle with HMRC over a disputed tax bill, reveals the Mail.
• “Gary Lineker will not present BBC’s Champions League highlights, throwing future into doubt” – Gary Lineker’s future with the BBC has been cast into doubt following reports that he will not host their Champions League highlights programme, reports the Metro.
• “Royal Society of Literature faces summer party boycott” – Over 20 fellows are snubbing the Royal Society of Literature’s summer party in protest against a year of management gaffes and free speech troubles, says the Times.
• “Starmer is turning Britain into a vassal state” – Labour is beating Nato’s drums of war, writes Thomas Fazi in UnHerd.
• “Disorderly ‘refugees’ turn commuter rail line into a daily hell of physical assaults, threats and fights; police respond by offering special classes on ‘railway rules’ and ‘German customs’” – Apparently not stabbing and spitting on conductors is a peculiar Central European cultural norm unknown to our guests from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey, says Eugyppius on Substack.
• “Why a crack addict-filled Zombieland really does sum up Germany’s national disaster: ROBERT HARDMAN sees for himself how Germans’ pride in their competence and efficiency has been shattered as the nation goes off the rails” – Step out of Frankfurt’s magnificent central railway station, and within a one-minute walk you are inside what looks like the set of a dystopian film about a zombie apocalypse, reports Robert Hardman.
• “France has ended up with a socio-political Frankenstein” – Macron must now play second fiddle to an ideological Left that poses a much greater threat to economic sanity than Le Pen’s National Rally, says Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Telegraph.
• “Emmanuel Macron is cornered” – All the world’s a stage for Macron but voters from the Left and Right aren’t buying it. And even the Centre is having its doubts, writes Jonathan Miller in the Spectator.
• “Putin is about to deliver Nato’s final humiliation” – The critical summit in DC this week is the last chance for NATO to show its strength in the face of the new Axis of Evil, says Hamish de Bretton-Gordon in the Telegraph.
• “The New York Times fact checks Biden” – To measure the terror now gripping the mainstream media in the wake of the Biden-Trump debate, consider this: the New York Times is now fact-checking Joe Biden in favour of Donald Trump, writes Heather Mac Donald in City Journal.
• “End your run now, George Clooney tells Biden as he hosts NATO leaders” – George Clooney has issued a damning call for Joe Biden to quit the U.S. presidential race hours after senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi swerved questions about whether he should continue, reports the BBC.
• “Synchronised messaging – the expanding phenomenon on behalf of those in power” – The media is failing to provide independent, critical perspectives on power, says Theo L. Glück on the Freedom Research Substack.
• “‘Pragmatic’ Democrats fall in behind President” – President Biden has been bolstered by a series of endorsements as he battles to save his re-election campaign, reports the Times.
• “Biden is not too old, suggests Starmer” – Keir Starmer has denied that his plans to force peers to retire at the age of 80 means Joe Biden is too old to remain in office, says GB News.
• “Just Stop Oil activist who sprayed paint at World Snooker Championship spared jail” – A Just Stop Oil activist has dodged prison after throwing orange powder on a snooker table at the World Championship, reports the Telegraph.
• “Police Federation demands ITV changes ‘grossly offensive’ title of Piglets show” – ITV has been accused of being “grossly offensive” for planning a comedy about police cadets called Piglets, reports the Telegraph.
• “Poll finds only 36% of Americans have confidence in higher education” – Americans are increasingly sceptical about the value and cost of college, with most saying they feel the U.S. higher education system is headed in the “wrong direction”, says ABC News.
• “‘Key campaigner’ for pro-Gaza MP who unseated Jonathan Ashworth charged with terrorism offence” – Former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth has called on the man who took his seat to “provide a full account of all his dealings” with one of his supporters who has been charged terrorism offences, reports Sky News.
• “Oxford students are mocked for closing their pro-Palestine encampment as students break up for summer holidays” – Oxford University students have been ridiculed after the city’s pro-Palestine encampment ended in time for summer getaways to the south of France, says the Mail.
• “Birmingham and Nottingham universities win fight to close pro-Palestine encampments” – Two universities have won the right to start eviction procedures against pro-Palestine protesters who set up encampments for weeks, reports the Mail.
• “The Killers celebrate England’s Euro win in style” – On X, Henry Moeran posts a clip of the Killers celebrating England’s victory against the Netherlands last night at their O2 concert.

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