News Round-Up

• “Southport ‘attacker’ charged with having Al-Qaeda material and making ricin poison” – The Free Speech Union news blog offers some useful advice about what you might get into trouble for saying on social media about the latest revelations in the Southport murder case.
• “Tories accuse police of Southport ‘cover-up’” – The two Conservative leadership candidates have accused the police and the Government of withholding information about the Southport attacker amid claims of a cover-up, reports the Times.
• “We deserve to know the full truth about the Southport massacre” – The authorities need to be honest with the public – and with the families of the three innocent victims of the Southport massacre, writes Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
• “U.K. and other countries ‘actively’ helping Hamas by funding UNRWA, Israel claims” – Israel has accused the U.K. and other UNRWA funders of “actively helping” Hamas, claiming the agency is compromised by terrorist infiltration, reports inews.
• “Starmer condemns ‘gravely concerning’ UNRWA ban as Israel faces international backlash” – Keir Starmer says he is “gravely concerned” over Israel’s decision to ban the main Palestinian aid agency from the country, reports the Telegraph.
• “U.K. could halt Israel arms sales after UNRWA ban, minister hints” – Development Minister Anneliese Dodds has hinted that Britain could suspend more arms sales to Israel if its ban on the UN’s Palestinian aid agency operating within Gaza and the West Bank goes ahead, according to the Telegraph.
• “CNN guest pulled off air for making Hezbollah pager jibe” – A panelist was kicked off CNN after he told Mehdi Hasan, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off” while discussing Trump’s recent New York City rally, says Newsweek.
• “Zimbabwean killer allowed to live in U.K. under ECHR because of illicit love child” – A Zimbabwean jailed for killing a man in a car crash has been allowed to remain in the U.K. under the ECHR after it was discovered he had an illicit love child, reports the Telegraph.
• “Labour will neuter Parliament in the name of modernity” – Starmer’s quest to sweep away “outdated practices”, i.e., the English constitution, risks ending proper parliamentary oversight, warns Madeline Grant in the Telegraph.
• “Budget 2024: business warns Rachel Reeves of ‘perfect storm’” – Business leaders warn they face a “perfect storm” in the budget as they are hit by more taxes, higher wage bills and the cost of implementing Labour’s overhaul of workers’ rights, according to the Times.
• “Reeves replaces portrait of Nigel Lawson with Communist Party co-founder” – Rachel Reeves has swapped a portrait of Margaret Thatcher’s Chancellor for one of a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, reports the Express.
• “Badenoch ramps up media appearances amid ‘low Tory leadership voter turnout’” – Kemi Badenoch says she is ramping up her media appearances in the final days of the Tory leadership contest because “people aren’t turning out to vote”, according to the Telegraph.
• “‘My plan to win back power for the Tories’” – In the Spectator, Kemi Badenoch sets out her plan to revive the Tory party’s electoral prospects.
• “Russia carries out test for ‘massive’ nuclear strike on West” – Vladimir Putin has staged a mock nuclear war, launching scores of missiles capable of unleashing a “massive” strike in a stark warning to the West, reports the Mail.
• “Reeves to make Bank of England put climate change and growth on equal footing” – Rachel Reeves is expected to call on Threadneedle Street to reinstate climate change as one of the Bank’s key priorities, reports the Telegraph.
• “Health Secretary says he changed his mind on assisted dying over poor NHS palliative care” – The Health Secretary has told MPs he will vote against the Bill to legalise assisted dying over concerns that the poor quality of palliative care in the U.K. will make people feel they have no choice by to euthanise themselves, according to the Independent.
• “Lucy Letby barrister banned from Thirlwall Inquiry” – Lucy Letby’s barrister has been banned from attending the Thirlwall Inquiry, despite concerns that erroneous statements about the nurse are going unchallenged, reports the Telegraph.
• “Federal Covid Inquiry finds vaccine mandates had biggest negative impact on public trust” – Australia’s Covid Inquiry reveals that extreme health restrictions and secretive decision-making have tanked public trust. Apparently, we need experts and a federal inquiry to state the bleedin’ obvious, writes Rebekah Barnett on her Substack.
• “Covid handouts are to blame for male worklessness, says former Trump secretary” – In an interview with the Telegraph, President Trump’s former Commerce Secretary says that welfare payments given to furloughed staff during the pandemic were a “disease” that is now driving male worklessness.
• “BMA attack on Cass review was ‘based on blog’, Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer says” – Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer says that a British Medical Association attack on the Cass review into child gender services was based in part on a blog that lacked scientific credibility, reports the Telegraph.
• “Give white children more money in Monopoly to teach racism, councils say” – Councils have advised parents that white children playing Monopoly should be given more money and less jail time to teach them how privileged they are, says the Mail. 
• “Wokism is just beginning” – Millennials, zoomers and elites remain firmly on the side of DEI and cancel culture, warns Nathan Cofnas on his Substack.
• “Flag-burning is free speech. Get over it” – The Trumpist calls to ban flag-burning reveal the Right’s snowflakery, says Tim Black in Spiked.
• “The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media” – In the Washington Post, owner Jeff Bezos announces his paper will no longer endorse presidential candidates.
• “Journalism dies in lockstep” – The reaction to the Washington Post and LA Times’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate reveals how entrenched partisanship and biased reporting have overshadowed genuine journalism, says Heather Mac Donald in City Journal.
• “What does ‘fascism’ actually mean?” – The term ‘fascism’ is now so overused that it has lost all its meaning, writes Andrew Doyle on his Substack.
• “‘I’m going to shoot myself’” – On X, the latest Downfall parody shows Hitler lighting up as a futuristic projector reveals Nazi rallies thriving under Trump – until he notices all the Jews in the crowd.

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