News Round-Up

• “What the Government said in secret court sessions – and what it’s saying now” – The Mail reveals that while ministers claimed in secret court sessions they were relocating up to 42,000 Afghans at a £7 billion cost, they now tell Parliament it’s under 7,000 people and less than £1 billion.
• “Afghans in data leak have no right to claim asylum, says Healey” – Defence Secretary John Healey says that only 6,900 of 18,000 Afghans exposed in a military data leak qualify for secret UK asylum, according to the Telegraph.
• “Rael Braverman quits Reform after attacks on Suella” – In the Spectator, Steerpike reports that Rael Braverman has quit Reform UK in protest after the party publicly attacked his wife over a £7 billion Afghan data leak scandal she allegedly helped cover up.
• “UK population to grow faster than any major EU country – because of immigration” – According to UN predictions, Britain could be home to 75 million people by the end of the century, reports the Mail.
• “‘Britain can no longer be treated like a charity’” – For years, the broadcast media have pushed the narrative that mass migration is a net benefit, says Nigel Farage in the Mail. What we’ve seen instead has been very different.
• “Reform has proven again it is unfit to tackle our immigration crisis” – Nigel Farge’s party may be a sheep in wolf’s clothing, warns Tom Jones in the Telegraph.
• “How migrant hotel at centre of violent protests has long plagued town” – Five years ago, a shabby run down hotel on the edge of the Essex market town of Epping became the subject of unwarranted attention, writes David Pilditch in the Mail.
• “Girl ‘dragged into garage and raped before Ballymena riots’” – Details of the sex attack which sparked three days of riots in Ballymena last month have been revealed for the first time, reports the Mail.
• “Britain can’t afford to let migrants live on benefits” – Britain has become the benefits office of the world, says Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “Letter sent to parents before girl in Union Jack dress was sent home” – A letter to parents reveals that pupils at a school – where a girl was sent home from a culture day celebration for wearing a Union Jack dress – were told to “proudly represent their heritage”, according to the Mail.
• “This was too little, too late from the ‘iron’ Chancellor” – Labour is struggling to grasp that business has not forgotten the Budget betrayal, says Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph; Reeves’s Mansion House speech won’t change that.
• “State schools receive 100 enquiries in 48 hours after private school closes” – State schools in Kent received almost 100 enquiries in the 48 hours after a private school closed citing the VAT raid, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘I can’t get a job as a doctor after seven years of training. It’s a waste of taxpayer investment’” – In the Telegraph, Sue Quinn highlights the plight of Dr Luke Craddock and thousands of newly qualified doctors left unemployed despite extensive training and an NHS desperate for staff.
• “Fears mount over free speech as Labour plans to define Islamophobia” – Fears are mounting that Labour’s moves to create an official definition of Islamophobia will have a “chilling effect” on free speech, reports the Mail.
• “Bob Vylan dropped from European tour after Glastonbury controversy” – Bob Vylan has been dropped from a European tour after the controversy caused by their performance at the Glastonbury festival, according to the NME.
• “How DEI unleashed the monster of antisemitism” – A new report has found that Jew hatred is rife among Britain’s lanyard classes, writes Brendan O’Neill in Spiked.
• “Britain is no longer a civilised country” – The rise in shoplifting is just the tip of the iceberg, says Annabel Denham in the Telegraph; we’re abandoning our basic moral principles.
• “Britain can’t tell its national story” – Our culture needs more than cricket, argues Christopher de Bellaigue in UnHerd.
• “The flaw in the CofE’s £150 million victims’ fund” – In the Spectator, Andrew Tettenborn argues that the Church of England’s £150 million abuse redress scheme is a well-meaning but dangerously vague exercise in financial guilt-offloading.
• “Miliband to unleash new gas plants to back up patchy wind and solar” – Ed Miliband has opened the way for a fleet of new gas-fired power stations to back up Britain’s wind and solar farms, reports the Telegraph. 
• “Natural gas is America’s strategic advantage fuelling the AI race” – Policymakers must recognise the critical intersection of energy and AI competitiveness, writes Karen Harbert in WUWT?
• “Drivers will pay more for state’s ‘managed decline’ of oil and gas production” – On PRI, Kerry Jackson warns that California’s war on oil is no accident but a state-sanctioned purge.
• “White lies, damn lies and California lies” – In WUWT?, Willis Eschenbach slams Gavin Newsom’s energy boasts, arguing California’s “clean energy” claims are built on cherry-picked stats.
• “The arts should learn to love fossil fuels” – On Net Zero Watch, Andrew Montford argues that without fossil fuels, the arts would collapse.
• “Trump has launched as many air strikes in five months as Biden did in four years” – Donald Trump has overseen nearly as many air strikes in the first five months of his second term as Joe Biden launched in his entire presidency, reports the Daily Beast.
• “Trump ‘doesn’t understand’ why anyone wants Epstein files released” – Donald Trump has labelled the Jeffrey Epstein files “boring” and says he cannot understand why people remain interested in the case, according to the Mail.
• “Nurse who complained about trans doctor cleared of gross misconduct” – Sandie Peggie, the nurse at the centre of a landmark employment tribunal, has been cleared of all gross misconduct allegations against her, reports the Mail.
• “‘I can’t even be sure of my own sex, equalities officer tells tribunal’” – An equalities officer who advised that a trans doctor should be allowed to use a hospital’s female changing room says she cannot be sure of her own biological sex, according to the Telegraph. 
• “ITV stand by under fire John Torode following his BBC axing” – ITV are standing by under fire John Torode, despite his BBC axing from MasterChef following an allegation of racism, reports the Mail. 
• “John Torode has been scapegoated by incompetent BBC managers” – By sacking the popular MasterChef presenter, the BBC is trying to look decisive after years of inaction over Gregg Wallace, writes Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
• “Gregg Wallace doesn’t deserve this performative pile-on” – Clearly the Masterchef presenter behaved badly, says Brendan O’Neill in the Telegraph, but there’s something deeply distasteful about the glee of the mob hounding him.
• “The endless wokeness of Hollywood” – The white male villains and everyone-else heroes, the global warming speeches, the people-of-colour pep talks – they’re so deep in studio DNA now we hardly notice them, writes Alex Berenson on his Substack – until we do.
• “Musk launches AI girlfriend available to 12 year-olds” – A girlfriend chatbot launched by Elon Musk’s tech group is available to 12 year-olds despite being programmed to engage in sexual conversation, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘This is called ‘adding’’” – In a re-edited version of a clip from Blackadder, Edmund tries to teach Rachel Reeves how to count.

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