News Round-Up

• “Trump lashes out at Putin as Ukraine ceasefire talks stall” – The US President is said to be ‘p—ed off’ as Putin demands that Volodymyr Zelensky be replaced as a condition of ceasing hostilities, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘Very angry’ Trump threatens Putin with tariffs if no peace deal” – The US President has warned Putin that he will face tariffs if he doesn’t agree to end the war in Ukraine, says the Times.
• “Hamas tortures protester to death and leaves body on family’s doorstep” – Hamas kidnapped Uday Al Rabbay shortly after he took part in protest against war in Gaza, then tortured him to death and left him outside his family home, according to the Telegraph.
• “Germany’s largest rocket since V-2 crashes and explodes seconds after launch” – Uncrewed Spectrum rocket was described as first attempt at an orbital space flight to originate in Europe – and it blew up after 45 seconds, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘Liberal elite’ Guardian editors ‘helped cause Southport riots’ by ‘ignoring’ white working-class Britons, top peer claims” – The Guardian fomented the riots last summer by ignoring the concerns of working class communities about illegal immigration, blaming the ‘far-Right’ for the civil disorder and encouraged Muslims to think of themselves as ‘victims’, Lord Sewell told the Oxford Literary Festival, according to GB News.
• “Judges in revolt over ‘cack-handed’ sentencing guidelines” – The Government is planning to rush through an emergency law to block the ‘two-tier’ sentencing guidelinces and are considering curtailing the powers of the Sentencing Council, reports the Times.
• “Ethnic minority suspects given priority for bail” – A fresh two-tier justice row has erupted as judges have been advised to take account of ‘historical’ racial trauma suffered by black suspects when considering bail applications, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘We’re being taken for fools’: How soaring migration came back to bite Ireland’s political elite” – With finite housing and overstretched public services, the Irish Government’s ‘cack-handed’ border policies have triggered a wave of public anger, writes Michael Murphy in the Telegraph.
• “Police arrest parents for complaining about a school” – On his Substack, Paul Sutton tries to get his head around the fact that Hertfordshire Police sent six officers to arrest a middle-class couple who complained about their children’s school in a WhatsApp group.
• “Police risk ‘curtailing democracy’ by stopping MPs doing their job” – After two parents were arrested in Hertfordshire over messages in a WhatsApp group criticising their children’s school, Oliver Dowden MP says elected officials must not be threatened for representing local people, according to the Times.
• “It’s becoming obvious that Starmer simply isn’t a leader” – As our economy tanks, the state is struggling to fulfil basic tasks, and our social fabric is fraying, writes Robert Jenrick in the Telegraph. We have to ask if anyone is running Britain, because Labour clearly isn’t?
• “Starmer’s petty hatred for private schools is about to take a sinister turn” – Two-tier Keir is about to play his next card in the total humiliation of private schools, forcing them to pay full business rates, says Michael Mosbacher in the Telegraph.
• “Nearly 20 councils in England ‘at risk of insolvency’ due to Send costs” – Councils are facing multibillion-pound debts thanks to years of ‘overspends’ on SEND provision, according to the Guardian.
• “Exempt disabled children from private school VAT, peer urges” – “Chucked out of the state system” as a child with brittle bone disease, the Conservative peer Lord Shinkwin says imposing VAT on independent school fees will unfairly hit pupils with special needs, reports the Times.
• “Parents of special needs children fight VAT on private school fees” – People are working long hours and taking on second jobs to send their SEND children to private schools that can cater of their needs, while councils are failing to meet the rising cost of private education, according to the Times.
• “The ‘anti-woke’ alternative to the National Trust that’s growing by 10,000 members a year” – Historic Houses offers cheaper access than the National Trust to more than 300 locations across the UK, according to the Telegraph.
• “Safeguarding courses for flower arrangers? The Church of England is heading for oblivion” – Are you a charitable parishioner offering to help your church and community? Thou shalt first log on to the online learning portal, writes William Sitwell in the Telegraph.
• “Microsoft’s £2.5bn investment in Britain at risk from creaking power grid” – The tech giant faces a decade-long wait to connect new data centres to the National Grid, reports the Telegraph.
• “Reeves asks Whitehall to fund loss-making projects despite spending cuts” – Whitehall departments have to foot the bill for any projects backed by the Chancellor’s National Wealth Fund, says the Telegraph.
• “The assisted dying bill was doomed almost from the start” – Few recent pieces of legislation are as divisive as the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, according to a leader in the Sunday Times.
• “Stop scapegoating Britain’s landed classes” – Right to roam activists should be mindful about what they wish for, says the Telegraph.
• “New poll data shows Farage and Reform genuinely have a chance to govern” – The public have ranked Nigel Farage the ‘best PM’ in a new poll, convincing the Telegraph’s Kamal Ahmed that Reform UK could form the next government.
• “We win if the Right unites: that is the lesson from Canada and Australia for the Tories and Reform” – Our two closest allies are heading to the polls. The Tories sister parties were sure of victory until Trump came along, writes Dan Hannan in the Telegraph.
• “Emma Barnett complained about ‘overbearing’ Today co-host Nick Robinson” – The main presenters of Radio 4’s flagship morning news programme have fallen out, according to the Telegraph.
• “The shameful silencing of Rangers fans” – In Spiked, Freddie Attenborough writes about the shameful attempt to impose lifetime bans on fans holding up an anti-woke banner at a recent European match.
• “A bitter blow? British pubs, restaurants and hospitality firms brace for rise in NICs” – An increase in national insurance and a rising living wage is leading to predictions of a hiring freeze across the hospitality sector, reports the Guardian.
• “This clause could accelerate the erasure of the good old British pub” – Watch me on GB News raising the alarm about Clause 20 of the Employment Rights Bill – the ‘banter clause’ that could be the final nail in the coffin of the pub trade. Write to a peer to save our beer by clicking here.

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