News Round-Up

• “Nigel Farage leads tributes as respected journalist and GB News contributor Patrick O’Flynn dies aged 59” – Nigel Farage leads the tributes following the sad death of respected journalist and former Express political editor Patrick O’Flynn, reports GB News.
• “‘The judges should be ashamed of themselves. It’s cruel and twisted’” – In an exclusive interview, Allison Pearson speaks with Lucy Connolly, revealing the anguish of a mother branded a political prisoner.
• “Lucy Connolly is in prison because of her politics” – In the Spectator, Ed West argues that Lucy Connolly is in prison not for inciting violence, but for holding the wrong political views in the wrong political moment.
• “Lucy Connolly’s sentence is symptom of authoritarianism” – Sometimes, something happens that is so truly shocking, so deeply disturbing, that it makes you ask: “What kind of country am I living in?”, writes Matt Goodwin in the Mail.
• “Lucy Connolly is the victim of a great injustice” – In the Spectator, David Shipley blasts Lucy Connolly’s sentence as a state-backed assault on free speech, punishing raw grief and rage because it dared to defy the political script.
• “We have just surrendered to the EU” – In the Telegraph, Nigel Farage blasts Keir Starmer’s EU deal as a shameless Brexit betrayal that sells out sovereignty, surrenders to Brussels and guts British fishing for nothing in return.
• “Keir Starmer has walked into the same Brexit trap as Theresa May” – Keir Starmer’s “deal” with the EU is more of a repeat than a reset, says Oliver Lewis in the Spectator – a continuation of a long story of sellouts.
• “Ursula’s disbelief and glee at Deer Keer’s cave-in” – In the Mail, Quentin Letts observes how Sir Keir Starmer’s submissive posture at the UK–EU summit reveals Britain’s humiliating political captivity under Brussels.
• “No leader for 300 years has done more to undermine our interests than Starmer” – For the first time in three centuries, we are ruled by an political and administrative elite that does not put this nation first, says Robert Tombs in the Telegraph.
• “Reeves backs down on plans to cut ISA limit” – The Chancellor has bowed to mounting pressure from banks and building societies and backed down on plans to reduce the tax-free ISA savings allowance, reports the Express.
• “Hundreds of thousands of pensioners hit with HMRC tax bills” – Hundreds of thousands of pensioners have been walloped with unexpected tax demands after being caught in a trap of frozen income tax thresholds and triple-lock pensions, according to This is Money.
• “Reeves hints at winter fuel allowance shift” – Rachel Reeves has hinted she may move on the winter fuel allowance, saying she is “listening” to Labour MPs, reports the Mail.
• “Greggs’ security crackdown is a sign of broken Britain” – In the Spectator, Alexander Larman paints a bleak portrait of modern Britain, where even Greggs is forced to lock up its sandwiches.
• “GB News being punished to appease Left-wing activists, says co-owner” – GB News’ co-owner Paul Marshall has accused Ofcom of unfairly targeting the broadcaster with a string of investigations, reports the Telegraph.
• “Mass immigration is making Britain thirsty but new reservoirs are years away” – Pressure on UK water supplies is building following decades of underinvestment, says the Telegraph.
• “Blow for struggling factories as Starmer ties Britain to EU carbon tax” – Factories face higher taxes under Sir Keir Starmer’s EU “reset” deal amid warnings that heavy industry is already being crushed by sky-high energy costs, reports the Telegraph.
• “Britain is not in charge of its energy” – While much of Westminster gets up in arms about fish, the major change in Starmer’s EU deal is going under the radar, says Michael Simmons in the Spectator.
• “Miliband’s wind farms won’t ease Britain’s sky-high energy prices” – In the Spectator, Ross Clark argues that Ed Miliband’s obsession with wind farms won’t fix Britain’s extortionate energy bills.
• “Ryanair warns of higher prices as Net Zero costs top €1 billion” – Ryanair has warned that travellers face paying more for flights this summer as the budget airline battles soaring Net Zero costs, reports the Telegraph.
• “NATO base in Britain ‘would be knocked out’ by undersea cable attack” – A parliamentary committee has been warned that a major NATO base is at risk of being knocked out by a coordinated attack on the subsea cables serving Britain, says the Telegraph.
• “Cambridge college cuts ties with arms firms after Gaza protests” – King’s College, Cambridge, has announced it will divest from arms companies after long-running student protests over the war in Gaza, according to Rayo.
• “UK suspends trade talks with Israel over Gaza offensive” – Britain has halted trade negotiations with Israel and summoned its ambassador in protest of the country’s renewed offensive in Gaza, reports the Standard.
• “Britain threatens Israel with sanctions over Gaza operations” – Britain, France and Canada have threatened Israel with sanctions unless it relents on plans to expand military operations in the Gaza Strip, says the Mail.
• “Eurovision ‘rigged’ in favour of Israel” – Pro-Palestine supporters have accused Eurovision of permitting vote-rigging after Israel came close to winning this year’s dramatic showdown, reports the Mail.
• “Putin will get a big trade deal if he ends the war, Trump suggests” – Donald Trump appears to have offered Russia a “large-scale trade” agreement in exchange for ending its war with Ukraine, according to the Telegraph.
• “The Deep State Goes Viral: the real Covid story” – On Rebekah Barnett’s Substack, Debbie Lerman reveals how her book, The Deep State Goes Viral, exposes the Covid response as a counterterrorism op disguised as public health policy.
• “To get a medical article published, simply mention Long Covid” – In TCW, Dr Roger Watson takes aim at the surge of low-quality COVID-19 research, arguing that simply invoking “Long Covid” in a medical article practically guarantees publication.
• “WHO pandemic agreement approved by member states, ushering in a dangerous new world health order” – On the Focal Points Substack, Nicolas Hulscher says the new WHO treaty hands over national control to a global health regime of rushed vaccines, censorship and surveillance – and that the US is wise to have left.
• “Pandemic treaty adopted via consensus” – On Substack, Meryl Nass reacts to the WHO’s pandemic treaty being adopted by consensus – despite Slovakia’s call for a vote.
• “Police considering Gary Lineker investigation over antisemitic Instagram post” – Gary Lineker could face a police investigation over the antisemitic Instagram post that led to his departure from the BBC, reports GB News.
• “Gary Lineker backed by Muslim Council of Britain, Kneecap and ex-wife” – Gary Lineker has been lauded by republican rappers Kneecap, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and his ex-wife following his BBC exit – but support from his Match of the Day colleagues has been muted, says the Mail.
• “Will Gary Lineker please take the BBC with him when he goes?” – The BBC’s flurry and worry about holding on to Gary Lineker, viewed from the outside, has been very strange, writes Gareth Roberts in the Spectator.
• “Why do liberals like Gary Lineker insist on talking about things they know nothing about?” – Gary Lineker lives in a bubble populated by fellow Lefties who think they know better than everyone else, says Suzanne Moore in the Telegraph.
• “Houses of Parliament refuses to ban trans women from female lavatories” – Parliament has declined to bar trans women from female lavatories, despite the Supreme Court’s gender ruling, according to Parliament Politics.
• “People could be asked to prove biological sex under new EHRC code” – The BBC reports that, under a revised Equality and Human Rights Commission code, sports clubs and hospitals could request birth certificates if there’s “genuine concern” about a person’s biological sex.
• “Shops told they can ask trans people’s biological sex in changing rooms” – The equalities watchdog says that shops and leisure centres can question trans people about their biological sex before allowing them to use changing rooms, according to the Telegraph.

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