News Round-Up

• “Reform chairman Zia Yusuf resigns after burka ban row” – Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has been dealt a major blow after the party’s chairman resigned following a row over banning the burka, reports the Standard.
• “It seemed as though nothing could stop the Reform juggernaut, but Yusuf may have done it” – Nigel Farage must find a new chairman very quickly and show that the party is capable of unity, says Sherelle Jacobs in the Telegraph.
• “Reform’s non-stop psychodrama threatens to drive voters away” – Zia Yusuf’s resignation comes at a time when the party is desperate to convince the public that it is a credible political force, writes Tony Diver in the Telegraph.
• “Women should not be veiling their faces in Western society” – Even the ECHR agrees that burqas are not compatible with Western culture and can be banned, says Suella Braverman in the Telegraph.
• “‘I saved a drowning woman. I feared they’d arrest me for it’” – Award-winning officer Lorne Castle tells the Telegraph’s Will Bolton that Dorset Police “put a target on my back” after sacking him for swearing during the arrest of a knife-wielding teen.
• “‘The police are revolting against the people’” – Our police chiefs have now quite obviously grown too big for their helmets, says Peter Hitchens in the Mail.
• “Tommy Robinson denies harassment causing fear of violence” – Tommy Robinson has pleaded not guilty to charges of harassment causing fear of violence against two Daily Mail journalists, reports the Mail.
• “Our two-tier justice system is turning Lucy Connolly into a martyr” – Keeping a childminder locked up over a tweet while people avoid jail for far worse is eroding public faith in how we deal with criminals, warns Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “Trump has shown up Britain’s border weakness” – A person’s country of origin can be highly informative about how they’re likely to behave and migration policy should reflect this, says the Telegraph in a leading article.
• “Trump is right to protect American citizens. We should protect ours” – What is the British Government going to do to set our own house in order? asks Jake Wallis Simons in the Telegraph.
• “US tells Britain it must spend 5% on defence” – The US has urged Britain to raise its defence spending to 5% as NATO members meet in Brussels to agree new targets, reports the Mail.
• “Elon Musk wanted to stay in White House but was rejected” – According to two sources close to the world’s richest man, Elon Musk wanted his work at the White House to be extended but was rebuffed, according to the Telegraph. 
• “Elon Musk drops Epstein ‘bomb’ in worst slur yet against Trump” – Elon Musk claims that President Trump is “in the Epstein files” in a dramatic escalation in their burgeoning feud, reports the Mail.
• “Elon hits Trump way below the belt as he spirals out of control” – Elon Musk and President Trump’s spat has quickly turned personal with Musk posting that Trump would have lost the 2024 election had it not been for him, says the Mail.
• “Private school pupil numbers drop by 11,000 after VAT hike” – Private school pupil numbers have dipped by 11,000 this year – but Labour still claims its tax raid on fees has not caused the exodus, according to the Mail.
• “Labour is doing almost everything badly, say voters in new poll” – A survey of more than 8,000 Britons shows that the public thinks Labour is handling almost every major issue poorly, reports the Mail.
• “Richard Hermer’s campaign against Britain” – Perhaps the day will come when privileged men like Lord Hermer stop seeking a place in history, writes Douglas Murray in the Spectator. That day cannot come soon enough.
• “Is the London Stock Exchange under threat?” – London has become too bogged down in governance codes and listing rules to make a stock market quote worthwhile, says Matthew Lynn in the Spectator.
• “Birmingham bin strikes could last until Christmas after new vote” – Birmingham bin strikes could last until December after union members voted to continue industrial action, reports the Mail.
• “Five million pensioners still won’t keep winter fuel money after Labour U-turn” – Five million pensioners face paying extra tax to claw back their winter fuel allowance under Labour’s humiliating climbdown, says the Mail.
• “How Italy is luring Britain’s fed-up millionaires” – Italy is attracting disenchanted multi-millionaires from overseas to embrace la dolce vita, thanks to its flat tax regime, writes Liz Rowlinson in the Telegraph.
• “The collapse of Reeves is near: the Labour Left are primed and ready” – The Chancellor’s status has never been more vulnerable, says Tom Harris in the Telegraph.
• “Kemi’s one chance at recovery? Trussonomics” – We may look back on the council elections as being the most significant in a century, writes Rod Liddle in the Spectator.
• “Life as Mrs Gove, and falling out with the Camerons” – In an interview with the Times, Sarah Vine – Michael Gove’s ex-wife – talks to Janice Turner about her new memoir, How Not to Be a Political Wife, and the personal cost of political ambition.
• “Starmer intervenes over plans for higher energy bills in the South” – Sir Keir Starmer has intervened in Net Zero proposals to make homes and businesses in the South pay more for power than those in the North, reports the Telegraph.
• “What James Cleverly gets wrong about Net Zero” – Badenoch has come in for plenty of criticism since she became Tory leader, but her stance on energy is the right one, says Andrew Willshire in the Spectator.
• “Ed Miliband is laying a trap for Nigel Farage” – Reform’s pledge to scrap Net Zero has triggered a race to future-proof Labour’s green agenda, writes Sam Ashworth-Hayes in the Telegraph.
• “Strip Net Zero costs from energy bills, bosses urge Miliband” – Bosses have told Ed Miliband to scrap Net Zero costs from energy bills as Britain’s businesses suffer the highest electricity prices in the world, reports City A.M.
• “Cargo ship carrying 3,000 cars catches fire with ‘smoke seen rising from deck loaded with EVs’” – A cargo ship carrying around 3,000 vehicles, including more than 750 electric and hybrid cars, has been abandoned by its crew after a fire broke out, according to GB News.
• “Alastair Campbell’s anti-Brexit newspaper drops ‘European’ branding” – The anti-Brexit newspaper the New European, edited by Alastair Campbell, is dropping its European branding nine years after the UK voted to leave the EU, reports the Telegraph. Henceforth it will be called the New World.
• “Should we be above cancelling the cancellers?” – In the Spectator, Toby wrestles with whether free speech defenders should take the high ground or fight fire with fire, as the US considers banning foreign censors from entering the country.
• “No analysis of misinformation laws’ free speech risk” – Ireland’s Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has confirmed that it hasn’t conducted any analysis or research into the potential free speech impact of misinformation and disinformation regulations, reports Gript.
• “German YouTuber faces €16,000 fine for mispronouncing the word ‘quality’ in the latest insane speech crime prosecution to hit the Federal Republic” – Just when you think it’s hit rock bottom when it comes to free speech, somehow things always manage to get worse in Germany, writes Eugyppius on Substack.
• “IDF airstrikes hit Beirut as it targets ‘underground drone factories’” – Israel has attacked sites in Lebanon’s capital Beirut that it claims are Hezbollah Unmanned Aerial Vehicle factories, reports the Mail.
• “NHS chiefs forced to rip up trans guidance” – Advice that told hospitals to allow trans people to use whatever toilets and changing rooms they liked has quietly been updated, says the Telegraph.
• “Why woke failed” – The ‘woke’ movement was based on flawed understandings of human nature, writes Michael Shermer on the Persuasion Substack.
• “Why corporate wokery refuses to die” – The hypothesis that women (or indeed people of colour) bring better performance remains unproven, says Rupert Redwald in the Spectator.
• “‘I will remember you…’” – The collapse of Musk and Trump’s ‘bromance’ has meme-makers working overtime – including a video on X showing the pair reflecting on the good times.

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