News Round-Up

• “Israel’s defence system halts barrage of Iranian missiles” – As Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel, its defence system stood strong, reports the Mail.
• “U.S. promises ‘severe consequences’ after Iran attacks Israel” – The White House promised that Iran would face “severe consequences” for its ballistic missile attacks against Israel – but refused to detail what those might be, according to the NY Post.
• “Now everyone can see Iran is the aggressor” – It has become completely clear that Israel is not the problem – the mullahs are, says the Telegraph in a leading article.
• “Mishal Husain failed to challenge guest over antisemitic conspiracies, BBC admits” – The BBC admits that it failed to sufficiently challenge an Iranian guest who accused Israel of being an “ethno-supremacist” state that is committing a “holocaust” in Gaza, reports the Telegraph.
• “Migrants fuel surge in HIV cases to 15-year high” – New HIV diagnoses have hit a 15-year high after a surge in the number of cases among migrants coming to England, says the Telegraph.
• “We will not allow Starmer to cherry-pick new Brexit deal, EU vows” – Keir Starmer says it has never been more important for Britain to be “in lockstep” with the EU before meeting the European Commission President for Brexit talks, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘Gloomy’ Reeves triggers worst slump in British factory confidence since Covid” – Uncertainty ahead of the Budget is weighing on U.K. industry, says the Telegraph.
• “Universities at risk of being dragged into Labour’s private school VAT raid” – University students could be dragged into paying tax on tuition fees from January due to loopholes in Labour’s draft VAT legislation, reports the Telegraph.
• “It’s too expensive! Let’s make it more expensive!” – Labour’s diagnosis of British education hasn’t changed since Corbyn; that’s why their prescription will only make matters worse, says Mr. Chips on his Substack.
• “Why is the Prime Minister picking a fight with Elon Musk?” – Attacking the world’s richest man is not the way to encourage inward investment, writes Eliot Wilson in CapX.
• “Mr. Cleverly’s shoulders rolled – he was Eric Morecambe in a beard…” – By some measure, Conservative activists gave Mr. Cleverly the most enthusiastic response of any of the four contenders at the Tory party conference, notes Quentin Letts in the Mail.
• “‘Ordinary lad’ Jenrick is still Tory frontrunner – but for how long?” – At the Tory party conference, Badenoch courts controversy, Tugendhat has a 1,000-yard stare and Cleverly does press-ups in the corner, reports Tim Stanley in the Telegraph.
• “Let’s hear it for ambition and ruthlessness in politics and for their latest alpha exponent – Robert Jenrick” – The new Tory leadership favourite has become a compelling figure with genuine potential to change our country for the better, says Patrick O’Flynn on his Substack.
• “Robert Jenrick reveals his daughter’s middle name is ‘Thatcher’” – Robert Jenrick revealed his daughter’s middle name is ‘Thatcher’ as he tried to woo the Tory faithful, reports James Tapsfield in the Mail.
• “Kemi Badenoch claims up to 10% of civil servants are ‘very bad’” – Kemi Badenoch says that between five and 10% of government officials – of whom there are more than 500,000 – are so bad that they “should be in prison”, according to the Mail.
• “‘Conservatism is in crisis, and we need to be serious about getting it back on track’” – More and more jobs are related not to providing goods and services in the marketplace, but are instead focused around administering government rules, says Kemi Badenoch in Conservative Home.
• “The Tories are in denial: without the right leader, they face oblivion” – The mood in Birmingham is surprisingly upbeat. But this is not a good sign – the party needs fresh ideas, says Philip Johnston in the Telegraph.
• “‘I won’t do deal with Tories – Reform is here to stay’” – Reform U.K. is the only party that can legitimately oppose Labour’s socialist agenda, says Nigel Farage in the Telegraph, rejecting talk of an electoral pact with the Tories.
• “‘I’m 28 and earn more than £60,000 – but I still can’t afford to have children’” – “Why do successful young women like me feel that motherhood is out of reach?” asks Lottie Moore in the Telegraph.
• “What we have lost” – The cause of British decline, painfully evident to everybody in the country, is more spiritual and moral than it is political or economic, argues Dr. David McGrogan on his Substack.
• “Miliband’s Net Zero sprint risks destabilising the grid, warns EDF” – A leading EDF executive has warned that Ed Miliband’s bid to move the U.K. on to green energy risks destabilising the National Grid, according to Investing.com U.K.
• “‘I’ve seen how Ed Miliband’s Net Zero dream turns into a nightmare. It will destroy Britain’” – Our proud nation is being martyred on the altar of green by our Energy Secretary – it’s only a matter of time until it blows up in his face, says Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
• “‘I regret buying our family an electric car’” – In the Independent, Esther Walker explains why she was happy to give up her electric car for a third-hand Volvo.
• “No evidence that AI disinformation or deepfakes impacted U.K., French or European elections results” – There is no evidence that AI enabled misinformation meaningfully impacted recent U.K. or European election results, according to research by the Alan Turing Institute.
• “COVID-19 mRNA vaccines increased the risk of asthma in children, a study of 200,000 kids shows” – A new study suggests that children who received mRNA Covid shots were more likely to develop asthma in the next year than kids who didn’t take them, writes Alex Berenson on his Substack.
• “Amazon retracts ban of Dr. Paul Marik’s book, Cancer Care” – On the Courageous Discourse Substack, John Leake congratulates Dr. Paul Marik on his victory for free speech, following the retraction of Amazon’s ban on his book Cancer Care.
• “Head of Met’s Black Police Association faces sacking over ‘racist’ texts” – The chair of the Met’s Black Police Association is facing the sack after allegedly sending and receiving “misogynistic, racist and violent” WhatsApp messages, reports the Standard.
• “‘I’m surprised by an outbreak of common sense at the Metropolitan Police’” – Another laughable attempt to wokeify one of Britain’s institutions has failed, writes Celia Walden in the Telegraph.
• “J.K. Rowling is right: these trans fanatics are an embarrassment to Labour” – Keir Starmer should beg Rosie Duffield to return – and get rid of trendy nitwits like Nadia Whittome, says Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “Netflix cancellations almost triple after streaming boss endorses Kamala Harris” – Netflix saw cancellations spike after co-founder Reed Hastings said he was backing Kamala Harris, reports the Mail.
• “How Canada’s Right came back from the ashes to crush Trudeau” – Canadian opposition leader Pierre Poilievre is trouncing the governing Liberals in polls – and gaining admiration from conservatives abroad, says Ben Wright in the Telegraph.
• “Kemi Badenoch says ‘five to ten per cent’ of civil servants ‘should be in prison’” – At a Spectator event at the Tory Party Conference, Kemi delivers some truth bullets about the Civil Service.

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