News Round-Up

• “PM to announce emergency action in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs” – The Prime Minister will announce action this week to bolster UK businesses who have been stung by Trump’s 10% tariff on goods imported into America, reports the Mail.
• “Britain risks Greek-style debt crisis from Trump tariffs” – Investors have warned that Trump’s trade war risks plunging Britain into a Greek-style debt crisis, says the Telegraph.
• “Starmer has precious little time to save Britain’s carmakers from oblivion” – Punishing Net Zero targets have left the UK’s auto industry perilously exposed to Trump’s tariffs, warns Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph.
• “Trump’s tariffs have left Reeves in a hole of her own making” – Britain’s economic growth was already flatlining before America triggered its trade war, says Liam Halligan in the Telegraph.
• “Reeves faces legal action over tax raid on care homes” – Care homes are taking Rachel Reeves to court over her National Insurance rise, threatening to blow a £1 billion hole in her wafer-thin budget headroom, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘Bradford isn’t a holiday home hotspot, but I have to pay an extra £2,000 in council tax’” – In the Telegraph, Phil Mandeville rails against a blanket second home tax that’s hitting non-tourist towns like Bradford.
• “Birmingham councillors enjoyed freebies as rubbish piled high” – Labour councillors in Birmingham have been piling up the freebies – as rubbish piles high across the city due to a month-long bin strike, reports the Mail.
• “‘We’re not a third world country, we’re England’: anger rises as Birmingham’s bin strike takes toll on locals” – In the Observer, James Tapper lays bare Birmingham’s bin strike chaos.
• “David Lammy should keep on taking PJs” – MPs should be afforded all the luxuries they desire, including private jets – but they ought to expect to be called out for their hypocrisy, says William Sitwell in the Telegraph.
• “Starmer took things too far over Southport sentencing, says Badenoch” – Kemi Badenoch says that Keir Starmer went too far when he talked up tough sentencing in the wake of the Southport murders, according to the Telegraph.
• “Why Reddit is the new battleground that could swing elections” – Labour, threatened by the digitally savvy Reform, wants to break away from mainstream media to make contact with the scrappy, sceptical social network Reddit, reports Katie Gatens in the Sunday Times.
• “Tories plot to block peerage for former MP who spilled their sex secrets” – Tories have launched a revolt to stop their former chief whip getting a peerage – after he spilled their sex secrets in a tell-all book, says the Sun.
• “MP being probed over ‘sex assault’ at celeb hangout” – An MP is being investigated by cops over claims of a sex assault at celeb hangout the Groucho Club, reports the Sun.
• “Calls to ban wood-burning stoves ‘based on false claims’” – Industry experts say that calls for wood-burning stoves to be banned are based on false claims they produce more harmful emissions than traffic, according to the Mail.
• “The CCC clams up and goes insane” – On Substack, David Turver slams the Climate Change Committee for dodging FOI requests and cooking the numbers on Net Zero.
• “Hospitals have written off more than £250 million owed by foreign patients” – Escalating debts from health tourists – who have had everything from spinal surgery to heart care and cancer treatment – is creating a growing black hole in NHS finances, reports the Mail.
• “£250 million our NHS can’t afford to write off” – The Mail on Sunday argues that the NHS’s £256 million in unpaid foreign treatment costs exposes a glaring failure to charge for non-emergency care.
• “Will Labour’s Lord Covid ever tell us what he knew about Wuhan?” – In the Mail, Ian Birrell slams Lord Vallance as a hypocrite who preaches scientific transparency while stonewalling over his role in suppressing debate about Covid’s origins.
• “Brits should prepare survival kits for Russian sabotage, spies warn” – Security advisers have warned that fears of a plot by Russia to sabotage Britain’s energy pipelines means families should pack a 72-hour “survival kit”, reports the Mail.
• “Tory leader Kemi Badenoch backs Israel’s right to deport Labour MPs” – Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has become embroiled in a furious political row over her support for Israel’s right to refuse entry to two Labour MPs, says the Mail.
• “Kemi Badenoch defends Israel after Labour MPs refused entry” – Kemi Badenoch has been accused of hypocrisy after she defended Israel’s decision to deny entry to two Labour MPs who were detained by immigration authorities and flown back to the UK, reports the Times.
• “SNP considers shelving Sturgeon pledge to criminalise misogyny” – The SNP may ditch Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to criminalise misogyny, fearing it could ignite fresh culture wars before the Holyrood elections, says the Times.
• “Immigration, demographic change and a Dublin village” – Lucan is a striking, but not unique, example of the huge demographic change Ireland has witnessed over the past 25 years, writes Dr Matt Treacy in Gript.
• “Le Pen compares legal woes to Martin Luther King Jr’s civil rights struggle” – Marine Le Pen has likened a court’s decision to disqualify her from running for president to Martin Luther King Jr’s civil rights struggle, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘France is ready to revolt. The Le Pen affair could be the spark’” – With Marine Le Pen temporarily out of the picture, the leader of the French Left believes he’s the man to bring his country into the future, writes Henry Samuel in the Telegraph.
• “Alternative für Deutschland in historic first pulls dead even with CDU/CSU in latest INSA poll” – Alternative für Deutschland are no longer the second-strongest party in Germany, says Eugyppius on Substack. For the first time ever, they have pulled dead-even with CDU/CSU in a representative poll.
• “New report shows ‘massive’ EU funding for trans NGOs” – A new report has revealed that over €220 million in EU funds have been used to advance “a radical gender identity agenda” over the last decade, including support in the EU for adopting a strategy calling for gender self-ID for children, reports Gript.
• “Israel admits mistakenly shooting dead over a dozen aid workers in Rafah” – The IDF says it mistakenly identified a convoy of aid workers as a threat – following the emergence of a video which proved their ambulances were clearly marked when Israeli troops opened fire on them, according to Sky News.
• “Trump death threat by hardline newspaper divides Iran” – An Iranian state newspaper has issued a death threat against Donald Trump, as fears grow of war between Iran and the US, reports the Telegraph.
• “Anti-Trump protests erupt in all 50 US states” – Crowds of demonstrators gathered across all 50 US states on Saturday in what was expected to be the largest nationwide protest since Donald Trump began his second term, says the Telegraph.
• “Stop ‘catastrophising’ over Trump, urges US hotel giant” – The boss of one of the world’s largest hotel chains has urged the global travel industry to stop “catastrophising” over the impact of Donald Trump on tourism, reports the Telegraph.
• “Musk breaks with Trump on tariffs as he distances from the White House” – The Mail reports that Elon Musk has expressed hope for a future zero-tariff agreement between the US and Europe, as he steps down from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency.
• “Is the Isle of Man the wokest place in Britain?” – From last week, the Isle of Man became the first place in the British Isles to pass legislation that would permit assisted dying, says the Mail.
• “‘Wear a wig and you can compete against women. No one checks hormone levels’” – In the Telegraph, Oliver Brown reports on American fencer Stephanie Turner, who sparked global headlines by refusing to compete against a transgender opponent.
• “Conservative woman hits entitled trans person with brutal truth” – A clash between conservative commentator Arynne Wexler and a biologically male trans woman has reignited the culture war online following her blunt remark about bathroom etiquette, reports the Mail.
• “Met Police bans loud noises and spinning images in presentations” – Scotland Yard has issued guidance banning loud noises during presentations, in case they trigger a heart attack, says the Mail.
• “Looks like the French people want democracy” – A video on X shows a massive protest in France, as a huge crowd demonstrates against Marine Le Pen being banned from running for President in 2027.

If you have any tips for inclusion in the round-up, email us here.