News Round-Up

• “The rapists, paedophiles and terror offender given shorter sentences than Lucy Connolly” – Britain’s ‘two-tier justice system’ means you can get more jail time for an ill-judged tweet than for some of the worst offences imaginable, writes Eleanor Steafel in the Telegraph.
• “How can the punishment for a social media post be more severe than for raping a child, asks Lord Young” – On LBC, Toby condemns the denial of Lucy Connolly’s appeal, asking how a mother’s jail term for an offensive tweet could exceed that of men convicted of child rape and violent disorder.
• “Boris warns that Starmer’s Britain is ‘turning into a police state’” – Boris Johnson says criminals convicted of far more serious offences than Lucy Connolly have received significantly shorter sentences, reports the Mail.
• “Lucy Connolly and why we fail defending free speech” – On Substack, Paul Sutton says we’ve lost the plot on free speech – Lucy Connolly’s in prison for an opinion, and the real scandal is how her defenders keep apologising for it.
• “Starmer’s winter fuel U-turn is the surest sign yet of more tax rises” – In the Telegraph, Matthew Lynn argues that Sir Keir Starmer’s humiliating U-turn on scrapping the winter fuel allowance signals the collapse of Labour’s welfare reform plans and all but guarantees further tax rises.
• “Starmer’s winter fuel U-turn is a big mistake” – In the Spectator, Ross Clark slams Starmer’s winter fuel U-turn as a panicky climbdown that makes him look weak and economically clueless.
• “Starmer has surrendered to the EU” – This reset agreement is a disaster for Brexit, for the UK and for the future relationship between the UK and the EU, says Martin Howe KC in the Spectator.
• “Starmer to hand Mauritius billions in Chagos deal” – Sir Keir Starmer is about to sign away the Chagos Islands and give Mauritius billions of pounds, according to the Telegraph.
• “Labour is burning Britain to the ground in a desperate attempt to cling to power” – If Starmer’s scorched earth policy is left unchecked, what will remain of our nation in four years time? asks Allister Heath in the Telegraph.
• “Inflation surges to 3.5% in huge blow to Reeves” – UK inflation has surged to its highest level for more than a year in ‘Awful April’ after households were hit by a raft of bill increases, reports the Mail. 
• “Thank God Angela Rayner isn’t Chancellor” – There are Cabinet ministers who are more hostile to low taxes than Reeves, warns Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “Is Angela Rayner the greediest politician in Britain?” – The Deputy PM seems to see the destruction of small businesses as her highest political calling, writes Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
• “Restrict migrant access to state pension, Rayner urges Reeves” – Angela Rayner urged Rachel Reeves to consider restricting access to the state pension for recently arrived immigrants, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Migrant crossings to hit record high, warns leading data scientist” – Based on current weather trends, researcher Dr Richard Wood has forecast that small boat arrivals will hit nearly 46,000 this year, which will be on a par with 2022’s record and 20% up on last year, reports the Telegraph.
• “Britain’s borderless betrayal” – On Substack, Frank Haviland casts Keir Starmer as the latest baton-holder in Britain’s decade-long relay of border betrayal.
• “Banning pointed kitchen knives won’t make us safer” – Violent, dangerous men will always find a way to improvise weapons, says David Shipley in the Spectator.
• “Britain is already an ‘island of strangers’” – Immigration is hardly the only thing tearing society apart, writes Rakib Ehasan in Spiked.
• “Kneecap’s Liam O’Hanna is charged with terrorism offences” – Kneecap’s Liam O’Hanna has been charged with terrorism offences after he was accused of displaying a flag in support for Hezbollah at a London gig, reports the Mail.
• “Tommy Robinson charged with harassing two men” – Tommy Robinson, after being told he‘s scheduled for early relase in he contempt case, has been charged with harassment causing fear of violence against two men, according to the Sun.
• “Richard Tice rows back on Reform’s £90 billion tax cut pledge” – Richard Tice has backed away from Reform UK’s promise to enact £90 billion of tax cuts within 100 days if the party wins the next election, reports the Express.
• “The problem isn’t Kemi, it’s the Tory Party” – Another Tory leadership contest would be a spasm of self-interest rather than an honest reckoning, says Tom Harris in the Telegraph.
• “Remembering Patrick O’Flynn” – Patrick O’Flynn, who has died at the age of 59, was a fine journalist, a true gentleman and one of the nicest people you would ever meet in public life, writes William Clouston in the Spectator.
• “Patrick O’Flynn helped make Brexit possible” – Patrick O’Flynn wasn’t just interested in Brexit, says Gawain Towler in the Spectator – he believed in it, heart and soul.
• “Gary Lineker is a wally, not a criminal” – That London’s finest are even considering investigating preening pundit Gary Lineker shows just how trigger-happy Britain’s thought police have become, writes Fraser Myers in Spiked. The FSU has offered to help!
• “Parliament told to obey ‘law of the land’ over trans ban” – The equalities watchdog has told Parliament to obey the “law of the land” after the House of Commons refused to ban trans women from women’s lavatories, reports the Telegraph.
• “Raise taxes or gas bills to save Net Zero, Miliband urged” – The Government’s climate change quango has warned that Ed Miliband must consider raising taxes or gas bills if the UK is to have any hope of hitting Net Zero, reports the Telegraph.
• “Steamroller of wind farm development puts democracy on pause” – On the Freedom Research Substack, Triin Bergmann exposes how Dutch wind farm expansion tramples democracy, harms health and fails to deliver on its green promises.
• “Brent Council’s twinning with Nablus ‘may risk compounding anti-Semitism’ according to its own report” – In the Telegraph, Dia Chakravarty slams Brent Council for twinning with Hamas-linked Nablus, calling it a reckless publicity stunt that risks fuelling anti-Semitism.
• “David Lammy is wrong to halt trade talks with Israel” – Instead of bringing ‘Global Britain’ to the Jewish State, Foreign Secretary David Lammy prefers to spout platitudes about Israel, writes Matthew Lynn in the Spectator.
• “More than anything, Israelis want the hostages home” – Israel’s war against Hamas is messy, costly and increasingly unpopular at home – but eliminating the terror group is imperative, says Limor Simhony Philpott in the Spectator.
• “Sweden bans buying OnlyFans content” – Sweden has passed a law banning the purchase of sexual performances for viewing online, including those on platforms like OnlyFans, reports Euractiv. Will that work? What about VPNs?
• “Trump shames South African president by playing ‘white genocide’ video” – President Trump has staged a dramatic confrontation in the Oval Office, reportedly showing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa video clips he claimed were evidence of a “white genocide” in South Africa, according to the Mail.
• “Trump orders weapons into space under $175 billion Golden Dome” – Donald Trump has ordered weapons to be deployed to space under a futuristic “Golden Dome” missile defence system plan, reports the BBC.
• “Trump issues extraordinary defence of Joe Biden’s immigration stance” – President Trump has issued an astonishing defence of Joe Biden while revealing who is actually responsible for a “treasonous” betrayal of the American public, says the Mail. 
• “Steven Bartlett ad for health food banned for ‘misleading’ claim” – An advert featuring Steven Bartlett has been banned over false claims that a supplement did not contain any ultra-processed ingredients, reports the Mail.
• “WHO Pandemic Agreement formally adopted by member states” – On Substack, Rebekah Barnett says that while the WHO’s Pandemic Agreement has finally been adopted, it’s already copping flak for draining budgets and eroding national sovereignty.
• “The FDA is moving towards an evidence-based approach in the registration of COVID-19 vaccines” – On the TTE Substack, Dr Tom Jefferson and Prof Carl Heneghan highlight Dr Vinay Prasad’s pivotal role in steering the FDA towards a more transparent, evidence-based approach to COVID-19 vaccine regulation.
• “Sighing at a work colleague in frustration is harassment” – A panel has ruled in the Employment Tribunal that sighing in frustration at a co-worker can now be classed as ‘harassment’, according to the Mail.
• “Yes, Prime Minister – Climate Change!” Brilliant sketch exposing the climate change scam.

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