News Round-Up

• “Supreme Court to rule on definition of ‘woman’ – what’s at stake?” – The Scottish Supreme Court is due to deliver its landmark judgment on the definition of a “woman” today, reports the Times.
• “Harvard hit with $2 billion funding freeze after defying Trump” – The President of Harvard University said he would not “surrender” to Trump’s demands to ditch DEI as a condition of receiving federal funding, says the Telegraph.
• “Donald Trump stopped border crossings. Then came the small boats” – San Diego coastguard faces a new challenge trying to intercept illegal migrants entering the US by water, according to the Telegraph.
• “Israeli settlers emboldened by Trump lay siege to West Bank village” – Oscar-winner Hamdan Ballal’s home of Susya in a West Bank village has become a cause célèbre for those fighting against the displacement of Palestinians, says Henry Bodkin in the Telegraph.
• “China blocks Boeing deliveries in retaliation to Trump tariffs” – Beijing has banned aircraft imports from US companies in retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to the Telegraph.
• “Beijing fires extraordinary trade war broadside after JD Vance’s slur” – Beijing has branded the US tariffs “extremely shameless” and warned that bullying has never worked on Chinese people, reports the Mail.
• “JD Vance: My message to Europe” – After a week of turmoil on financial markets triggered by Trump’s tariffs, UnHerd has published an interview with JD Vance by Sohrab Ahmari in which the Vice-President says “it’s not good for Europe to be the permanent security vassal of the United States”.
• “Job vacancies plunge below pre-Covid levels as bosses freeze hiring” – Job vacancies have fallen below pre-Covid levels for the first time, according to the Telegraph, and British employers are blaming the “twin threat” of National Insurance and minimum wage rises.  
• “‘Globally significant’ Covid vaccine study biobank to be destroyed” – According to Dystopian Down Under, the Queensland Government says there is “no longer a scientific and public health need” for a valuable Covid vaccine study biobank and linked data.
• “As vaccine funding is slashed, the emotional blackmail begins” – Paula Jardine of the Conservative Woman reports that the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has submitted plans to Congress to terminate $1.6 billion in funding pledged by the Biden administration to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.
• “China given access to UK patients’ health data” – The Telegraph reports that Chinese researchers will be granted access to NHS data despite MI5’s fears that Beijing’s regime could acquire sensitive information.
• “Britain’s ‘bonkers’ Net Zero plan puts us at China’s mercy” – The British Steel crisis has exposed the UK’s growing reliance on Beijing, reports the Telegraph.
• “We have more to fear from Net Zero than from Xi Jinping” – The threat by the Chinese company Jingye to close down Britain’s last two blast furnaces is yet another reminder of the perils of doing business with a potentially hostile state, says Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “How one Just Stop Oil supporter’s Net Zero obsession tore a church apart” – A rural church in the Peak District has been left in the cold since 2023 when an activist energy adviser refused to install a boiler, according to the Telegraph.
• “Increased bills for higher earners could fund UK energy upgrade, Ofgem says” – The energy regulator Ofgem says that wealthier households could be made to shoulder higher costs for running and upgrading the UK’s network of energy cables and pipes to help low-income bill payers, according to the Guardian.
• “Shocking Katy Perry video resurfaces, undermining Blue Origin claims” – Eco-warrior Katy Perry has been slammed as a hypocrite after she went to space aboard Blue Origin’s rocket, the Mail reports.
• “Why this space she-caper was a step backwards for womankind” – In the Mail, Jan Moir reflects on the overblown guff spoken about Katy Perry’s rocket trip.  
• “TfL cuts ties with Accenture over DEI rollback” – Transport for London has reportedly stopped working with the consulting firm Accenture after the consultancy scaled back its DEI policies, reports HR Magazine.  
• “Business in ‘state of despondency’ as confidence plummets” – Trump’s tariffs and Rachel Reeves’ tax rises are responsible for uncertainty among British firms, says the Telegraph.
• “Rachel Reeves’s tax return raises very awkward questions” – Rachel Reeves has published her tax return for the year 2023-24 and it reveals that she earned only £64 of taxable savings interest. We can only pray that our Chancellor has more than a few thousand pounds in the bank, says Ben Wilkinson in the Telegraph.
• “Liz Truss to launch ‘uncensorable’ social media platform” – Liz Truss’ is launching a new site this summer with an emphasis on building a “grassroots movement”, reports the Telegraph. Truss Social?
• “Hashem Abedi should never have been in this country” – Stephen Daisley of the Spectator says that the British state failed to protect its citizens from men like the Manchester arena bomber and his brother.
• “Life in prison wings so dangerous that officers fear being beheaded” – The Mail reports on the unit where Hashem Abedi’s assault took place: HMP Frankland, which houses a small number of the most radical terrorists.
• “Civil servants given bonuses after failing to prevent Labour freebie scandals” – According to the Telegraph, almost 100 members of the Cabinet Office group that vets ministers have been given bonuses despite their failure to flag up freebie-taking Labour ministers.
• “Why the British Right needs economic nationalism” – The Pimlico Journal says that Trump has driven a stake through the heart of Britain’s economy, making the case for a revival of economic nationalism.
• “Labour faces summer of union discontent” – Teachers, NHS workers, civil servants and university staff could all stage walkouts in the coming months as union leaders lay the groundwork for widespread strikes, reports the Telegraph.
• “Asylum seeker ‘threatened to kill Nigel Farage while travelling to the UK’” – The illegal immigrant with a Kalashnikov tattoo on his face who threatened to murder Nigel Farage on TikTok has been held in custody after a court appearance, reports the Telegraph.
• “Workers’ bill ‘will stop UK firms doing US-style diversity rollback’” – The Times says that Labour’s Employment Rights Bill will open businesses up to “adverse findings of discrimination” in the courts.
• “Philip K Dick’s nightmares are becoming our reality” – Philip K Dick imagined dystopian tales of precrime and high-tech surveillance, and they resonate all the more today, according to Patrick West in Spiked.
• “MPs who deny the existence of two-tier policing are naive at best, anti-British at worst” – The conclusion of this week’s Home Affairs committee report into the Southport riots – there’s no ‘two-tier’ policing in Britain – are laughable, writes Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
• “Nigel Farage clashes with teaching union over ‘far right’ claim” – The BBC reports that National Education Union members have called for union funds to be used to help campaign against ‘far Right’ Reform candidates.
• “So, Ange, do you still want to hand more power to the unions?” – Annabel Denham of the Telegraph warns us to brace for a summer of discontent, as Labour continues to put the needs of the public sector before those of the beleaguered British taxpayer.
• “Properties burn as turf war rages in Edinburgh and Glasgow” – A violent turf war between rival criminal gangs in Scotland’s Central Belt is believed to be the reason for a spate of house fires in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Telegraph reports.
• “A pact with Reform would give its best people a chance to audition – for the Tories” – Henry Hill in the Telegraph says that if Tory candidates stand aside in some local election wards, we’ll see whether Nigel Farage’s candidates are actually capable of governing.
• “Why the silence over the MP banned from Hong Kong?” – Israel barred two Labour MPs, Abtisam Mohammed and Yuan Yang, from entry, and it caused an outcry. Stephen Pollard of the Spectator points out that no one has mentioned Hong Kong’s rejection of Lib Dem MP Wera Hobhouse.
• “The Transition” – In his Substack, Ed West analyses the Great Awokening and argues that we have entered a “new age of rigid morality and censorship”.
• “If black actors can play white people, why not the other way round?” – Michael Deacon of the Telegraph questions the double standard emerging in casting since the summer of Black Lives Matter whereby it’s okay to cast black actors in white roles, but not vice versa.
• “Should Benny Hill stay cancelled? Gen Z viewers give their verdict” – Benny Hill was one of Britain’s most popular entertainers for some two decades, but his show was cancelled when societal attitudes changed in the 80s. But Gen Z viewers still find his work funny, says the Mail.
• “JD Vance: Good chance of ‘great’ US-UK trade deal” – According to the Telegraph, JD Vance says there is “a good chance” of the US agreeing a “great” trade deal with Britain because Donald Trump has a deep “cultural affinity” with Britain.
• “Starmer’s EU reset risks US trade deal” – British negotiators are close to signing up to Brussels’ food and veterinary standards, the Telegraph reports.
• “Professor James Orr is sceptical about the US-UK trade deal” – Talking to GB News, Professor James Orr expresses doubt about a successful US-UK free trade agreement when the British government is pursuing a “Brexit reset” with the EU and refusing to guarantee free speech.

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