News Round-Up

• “Free speech must not be sacrificed to appease Islamists” – Hamit Coskun’s fate is grotesque, says Robert Jenrick in the Telegraph; his treatment is the very definition of two-tier justice.
• “England now has a blasphemy law” – In the Spectator, David Shipley argues that the conviction of Hamit Coskun for burning a Koran marks the de facto return of blasphemy laws to England.
• “Welcome to the Islamic theocracy of Great Britain” – Hamit Coskun’s Koran-burning conviction is a shameful affront to liberal, Enlightenment values, says Tom Slater in Spiked.
• “France blames Brexit for Channel migrant crossings” – A leading member of France’s governing party has described Britain as an “El Dorado” for migrants with a “very weak asylum policy”, according to the Mail.
• “The French are the true enemy” – The French authorities seem curiously reluctant to stop Channel dinghies, remarks Isabel Oakeshott in the Telegraph.
• “The anti-migrant technology France is failing to use” – An ex-Border Force chief says that France could end the small boats crisis through better use of hi-tech surveillance, marine barriers and missions to intercept dinghies at sea, according to the Telegraph.
• “Fraudster can stay in UK because ‘his children do not speak Czech’” – A convicted fraudster from the Czech Republic has been allowed to stay in Britain after claiming that his children do not speak Czech, reports the Telegraph.
• “Last-ditch attempt to stop Chagos Islands giveaway” – Conservative peers have launched a last-ditch attempt to stop Sir Keir Starmer from giving the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, says GB News.
• “Rachel Reeves risks killing off the family business” – In trying to squeeze wealthy individuals for tax, the government may have unwittingly damaged a bedrock of the British economy, writes Michael Simmons in the Spectator.
• “FTSE pharma giant joins London stock market exodus” – Global pharmaceutical firm Indivior is the latest company to delist from the London Stock Exchange in favour of the US market, reports Shares Magazine.
• “New search for Madeleine McCann near house of prime suspect” – Fresh police searches are due to start near the spot where Madeleine McCann was last seen and at prime suspect Christian Brueckner’s former home, says the Standard.
• “Is Britain spending 3% on defence, or not?” – In the Spectator, Eliot Wilson takes aim at the Government’s muddled defence spending pledges.
• “MoD plots £1.5 billion radar upgrade as wind farms threaten to conceal attacks” – Military chiefs are planning a £1.5 billion upgrade of Britain’s radar defences amid fears that the growing number of wind farms risks leaving the country blind to attacks, reports the Telegraph.
• “Why is your pension fund so obsessed with Net Zero?” – In the Spectator, James Graham argues that Legal & General’s obsession with Net Zero is compromising pension returns and breaching its fiduciary duty.
• “Charting a new course for UK energy policy” – On Substack, Richard Lyon unveils a seven-point plan to ditch the Green agenda and embrace hydrocarbons and nuclear as the UK’s last shot at energy survival.
• “Disposable vapes are fantastic. Naturally, they’re demonised” – In the Spectator, Claire Fox slams the disposable vape ban as virtue-signalling lunacy that could drive ex-smokers straight back to cigarettes.
• “Why are NHS staff refusing to be vaccinated?” – It’s time flu jabs became a job requirement in the NHS, says Sam Leith in the Spectator.
• “Did governments mismanage the COVID-19 pandemic?” – On Substack, Prof Norman Fenton and 36 other international researchers call for a re-evaluation of pandemic strategies.
• “Pandemic reflections on why did they not follow the science?” – On Substack, Stephen Andrews argues that a major early UK study on COVID-19 ignored clear evidence of natural immunity shaping the virus.
• “Suicide pod activist takes his own life aged 47 after ‘trauma’ of arrest” – A right-to-die activist questioned for murder after the death of a woman using a suicide pod has died by assisted suicide, reports the NL Times.
• “On the hollow moral pleas and novel tabus deployed to prevent you from criticising or even describing the obvious looming catastrophe of mass migration” – On Substack, Eugyppius slams the weaponisation of ‘racism’ and ‘hate speech’ as cynical tools to silence anyone pointing out the obvious dangers of mass migration.
• “Ireland has been consumed by hatred of Israel” – It feels like the Jewish State has become a Satan substitute in post-Catholic Ireland, says Brendan O’Neill in the Spectator.
• “The rush to blame Israel is bad for journalism” – If the war in Gaza has taught the world anything, it is this: truth in war is rarely immediate, writes Jonathan Sacerdoti in the Spectator.
• “Greta Thunberg’s Gaza trip sums up the dangerous narcissism of our woke elite” – In the Telegraph, Brendan O’Neill slams Greta Thunberg’s trip to Gaza as a narcissistic stunt that shows how shallow and attention-seeking today’s activism has become.
• “Macron waxwork stolen from Paris museum by Greenpeace activists” – The much-ridiculed waxwork figure of President Macron has been stolen from a Paris museum by Greenpeace activists over France’s continued involvement with Russia, reports the Mail.
• “Ukraine has dealt a stunning blow to Russia” – Ukraine’s President does, despite everything, still hold some cards against Putin, says Lisa Haseldine in the Spectator, judging from Ukraine’s Pearl Harbour-like attack on Russia.
• “BBC accused of ignoring biology with name of new drama about trans teenager” – The BBC has been accused of ignoring biology in choosing the title What It Feels Like for a Girl for a new drama about a teenage biological male who imagines he’s a woman, reports the Telegraph. 
• “The BBC is spouting gender nonsense again with its new trans drama. When will it learn?” – The Supreme Court ruling that biological sex is real should have been a wake-up call, but the arts world still believes in fairy tales, says Suzanne Moore in the Telegraph.
• “Police accused of Nazi slur against feminist campaigners in new trans row” – Police Scotland at the centre of a storm of criticism after comparing feminist campaigners who oppose transgender policies to Nazis, reports the Mail.
• “Why Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who flopped” – Preachy scripts, CBBC-worthy villains, falling ratings… the 15th Doctor’s short trip in the Tardis was not a success, writes Michael Hogan in the Telegraph.
• “The Drenching Arms” – Paul Sutton presents the full and final draft of his hybrid novel/memoir (‘novoir’), The Drenching Arms, on his Substack.
• “Tasteless tweet: 31 months in prison; evil rapist; 28 months“ – Watch Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, highlight two-tier justice in the House of Commons.

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