News Round-Up

• “JD Vance claims free speech ‘in retreat’ in Britain and across Europe” – In an address at the Munich Security Conference in Germany , the Vice-President has warned European leaders that the greatest threat to Europe doesn’t come from China or Russia but from within, reports the Mail.
• “Read: JD Vance’s full speech on the fall of Europe” – Here’s a full transcript of the speech that JD Vance gave at the Munich Security Conference yesterday afternoon, courtesy of the Spectator.
• “JD Vance is right: the anti-democratic West is no longer worth defending” – In the Telegraph, Poppy Coburn says JD Vance is right: if Europe doesn’t rediscover its Western inheritance, it won’t be worth defending.
• “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s promise to make vaccines safer is basically armageddon” – On her Substack, Rebekah Barnett writes about the hysterical reaction to RFK jr.’s confirmation.
• “What I Saw At Kennedy Karaoke” – For Persuasion, Brendan Ruberry reflects on the meaning of RJK Jr.’s confirmation.
• “Tulsi Gabbard told to crush UK’s Apple data grab” – America’s new intelligence director has been warned by senior lawmakers that the attempt by the UK authorities to gain access to Apple user’s data amounts to a “foreign cyberattack”, according to the Telegraph.
• “So much for the art of the deal. Trump’s Putin call threatens disaster for Western security” – It is one thing to make concessions to Russia during talks to end the war – but there is no case for making them in advance, writes Charles Moore in the Telegraph.
• “Ukraine claims Russian drone hits Chernobyl power plant” – According to Volodymyr Zelensky, a Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead struck the shelter protecting the world from radiation, says the Mail.
• “Rory Stewart, Turquoise Mountain and the fall of woke colonialism” – Why were American workers funding a British charity that taught Afghan women about Marcel Duchamp? asks Brendan O’Neill in Spiked.
• “Reeves blows £8 billion hole in council budgets with tax raid” – The increases in the minimum wage and employers’ National Insurance contributions will blow an £8 billion hole in local authority budgets, according to the Telegraph.
• “Labour Britain is so broke we risk becoming a mere dependency of China” – This Government is poised to allow China to open its biggest embassy in Europe in the heart of London, warns Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
• “Badenoch tries to stop Rayner from cancelling local elections” – The Conservative Party leader is trying to stop Labour annulling local elections, says the Telegraph.
• “‘70% chance’ Reform and Tories will merge, says Conservative grandee” – Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh believes the odds of a deal being made between the Tories and Reform are “very high”, reports the Telegraph.
• “Boris Johnson eyeing up political comeback, allies claim” – the ex-PM is said to be “watching and waiting” to see how the fate of the Tories unfolds “to see if things drop into his lap”, reports the Telegraph.
• “Zimbabwean paedophile allowed to stay in UK because he would face ‘hostility’ back home” – An illegal immigrant cannot be deported because he’s a convicted paedophile, says the Telegraph, reporting on the latest insane decision by an immigration tribunal.
• “There should be no barriers to Britain taking back control of its borders” – We must end the abuse of our asylum system by judges who prefer activism to common sense, writes Guy Dampier in the Telegraph.
• “Ed Miliband only Cabinet minister to admit to having a heat pump” – The Government has been accused of “rank hypocrisy” for pushing heat pumps when Ed Miliband is the only member of the Cabinet who actually has one, reports the Telegraph.
• “Will Ed Miliband see sense and drill British gas?” – A little-known company has discovered 480 billion cubic metres worth of shale gas reserves, says Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “Miliband vows to ban fracking permanently after huge UK gas field discovered” – The Energy Secretary’s shunning of shale gas means a decade’s worth of fuel risks staying underground, according to the Telegraph.
• “The entire net-zero edifice is crashing to the ground” – If we had a serious government, Ed Miliband would be campaigning in favour of drilling the gas under our feet – not blocking it, writes Andy Mayer in the Telegraph.
• “Thirteen more oil and gas licences could be cancelled after Rosebank court ruling” – Exclusive: Future of further projects uncertain after Rosebank and Jackdaw licences were found to have been unlawfully granted, reports the Guardian.
• “We’re all going to drown!” – In his latest column for the Conservative Woman, Paul Homewood says it’s not true that we’re all going to drown if we don’t reduce carbon emissions.
• “Reversing our economic decline is not easy, but it is simple” – Dan Hannan reviews Return to Growth by Jon Moynihan, saying it contains the blueprint for the UK’s economic revival.
• “‘I’ve had it’: JP Morgan boss rails against Gen Z in expletive-laden outburst” – A recording has been leaked of Jamie Dimon ranting against workshy young employees, says the Telegraph.
• “Pro-trans activists walk out of gender-critical author’s Oxford talk” – A group of trans rights activists staged a protest at event with Helen Joyce at Balliol College, according to the Telegraph.
• “Where is the love?” – On her Substack, Lara Dodsworth laments the decline of public manners and the rise of hostility on British transport.
• “Covid inquiry ‘silenced’ discussion of regulatory failings, witnesses and experts say” – The vaccine injured were not allowed to raise concerns at the official Covid inquiry, says the Epoch Times.
• “State of the Army ‘increasingly worrying’, senior military sources warn” – While the Government fails to give a timeline for raising defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, military sources say the figure is not enough in first place, reports the Telegraph.
• “Protesters disrupt gender critical discussion at Oxford” – The author Helen Joyce was left briefly speechless as ­pro-trans students held up signs and staged a walkout during the event at Balliol College
• “The Government’s latest attack on the countryside proves Labour hates our way of life” – Labour’s plan to ban trail hunting is class war pure and simple, says William Sitwell in the Telegraph.
• “Rupert Murdoch ‘collapsed during breakfast with Rebekah Brooks’ amid Succession-style legal turmoil” – The media mogul reportedly fainted during a 2023 meeting due to stress and jet lag, according to the Telegraph.
• “Private school closes after VAT on fees proves ‘final challenge’” – The decision by Bedstone College in Shropshire to close in the wake of the Government’s VAT raid has shocked parents, says the Times.
• “Birbalsingh versus the Blob” – Will Orr-Ewing reports on the spat between Katharine Birbalsingh and Bridget Phillipson in the Critic, declaring Birbalsingh the winner.
• “There’s no such thing as a free breakfast” – in CapX, David Smith says calling school meals for children “free” is a misnomer.
• “In Britain and across Europe free speech, I fear, is in retreat” – Sky News reports on JD Vance’s speech telling European leaders to stand up for free speech.

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