News Round-Up

• “Why Keir Starmer’s speech is his final and fatal blunder” – The exuberant mood at Labour conference, which followed the PM’s full-frontal attack on Nigel Farage, has been replaced by one of alarm, writes Dan Hodges in the Mail.
• “Was Keir Starmer’s latest speech written by AI?” – Sir Keir Starmer took to the stage at the Labour conference and delivered a speech that sounded like a word salad mash up of Yes, Minister’s Sir Humphry and 1984’s O’Brien, writes Laura Dodsworth on her Free Mind Substack.
• “Lammy’s Hitler Youth slur is proof that Labour has lost the argument to Farage” – The Deputy PM’s baffling outburst suggests his party is now at desperation point in its battle with Reform, says Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “Is Keir Starmer calling Reform voters racist?” – It’s as if Starmer has looked at the 2016 US presidential election, seen Hillary Clinton labelling Trump voters “deplorables” and decided that was a good attack line for Labour, writes Stephen Pollard in the Spectator.
• “Reform’s hypocrisy over Labour rhetoric” – In the Spectator, Steerpike lists 15 times Farage and Zia Yusuf have used the same fiery language they’re now slamming Starmer for.
• “Labour conference is more deluded than a Doctor Who convention” – Keir Starmer’s cabinet of misfits seem genuinely to believe in magic money, says Gareth Roberts in the Spectator.
• “Getting consent for a handshake? Woke Labour should read the room” – For the PM and his disciples, it appears even the most platonic interactions offer scope for victimhood, says Isabel Oakeshott in the Telegraph.
• “Reform says Nigel Farage’s security has been cut” – Nigel Farage has had his government-funded security protection cut, in a move that Reform UK blames on the Prime Minister, reports the Mail.
• “One in ten affluent families ditch private school over VAT” – Parents are switching children to state schools, home schooling or making lifestyle changes to afford higher fees, according to the Times.
• “Why has Starmer dropped Blair’s university target?” – The effects of Blair’s arbitrary university target are there for everyone to see: large numbers of graduates working in McDonald’s, or other jobs that don’t require a degree, writes Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “No need for guilt, she’s already on the moral high ground” – Real education should be about choice, ambition and supporting children – not one-size-fits-all, argues Isabel Paterson on Substack.
• “Starmer to restrict migrants’ use of ECHR to fight deportation” – Sir Keir Starmer wants to change how international law is interpreted so it can no longer be used to stop deporting illegal immigrants, reports the BBC.
• “Scotland Yard chief apologises over alleged ‘racist’ comments by cops” – Britain’s biggest police force is reeling after an undercover Panorama investigation at Charring Cross police station showed officers calling for immigrants to be shot, says the Mail.
• “Algerian small boat migrant pickpockets ‘abused Britain’s kindness’” – A furious judge has condemned Algerian migrants for “abusing Britain’s kindness” after they snuck across the Channel and stole £4,000 worth of gadgets from City workers, reports the Mail.
• “Officer who snatched Union Jack flag accused of ‘two-tier’ policing” – A police officer has been accused of ‘two-tier’ policing after snatching a Union Jack flag from a teenage girl’s hands at an anti-migrant demonstration where Palestine flags were allowed to fly, says the Mail.
• “Cabinet backlash against ‘expensive and complicated’ digital ID scheme” – Sir Keir Starmer is facing a cabinet backlash against his plans for digital ID cards as fears grow that they will drive Left-wing Labour voters into the hands of the Lib Dems and the Greens, reports the GB News.
• “The battle behind digital IDs” – In this debate over information control and secrecy, both Left and Right are currently tilting at strawmen, says Toby Green in UnHerd.
• “Human rights and the two-way mirror” – On Substack, Dr David McGrogan explains how and why the human rights lobby fails.
• “UK industrial electricity prices still highest” – We can but hope that reality dawns on Sir Keir Starmer and he follows the advice of union leaders and sacks Ed Miliband before it’s too late, says David Turver on his Eigen Values Substack.
• “Wasted wind power costs Britain £1 billion” – Britain has spent more than £1 billion on wasted wind power this year, raising questions over Ed Miliband’s plan to build thousands of new turbines across the UK, reports the Telegraph.
• “Ed Miliband tells Elon Musk to ‘get the hell out of British politics’” – Ed Miliband has called for Elon Musk to “get the hell out of our politics” as he accused the Right of waging a “war” against clean energy, according to the Times.
• “An energy Trojan horse” – In WUWT?, Kevin Kilty exposes a local clean-energy op-ed full of hot air and shows its “nonpartisan” authors are anything but.
• “Germany is on a ‘fatal path’” – On NoTricksZone, P. Gosselin flags a recent interview in which Prof Fritz Vahrenholt sheds light on the drastic consequences of Germany’s transition to green energies.
• “Ford CEO expects EV sales to be cut in half after end of tax credits” – Ford CEO Jim Farley says he expects US demand for all-electric vehicles will crater next month as federal incentives end, according to CNBC.
• “Claim: renewable Australia will have no problem with zero generation days ” – To avoid blackouts, Australia must overbuild renewables, stash a week of backup and bet on a hydrogen export industry that doesn’t exist – when simply refurbishing coal would eliminate the risk for a fraction of the cost, writes Eric Worrall in WUWT?
• “Climate change is not making the South Asian monsoon more dangerous, Phys.org” – Phys.org oversimplifies contributing factors to the South Asian monsoon season in order to make a climate connection, says Linnea Lueken in Climate Realism.
• “Panic first, facts last” – On Substack, Dr Matthew Wielicki exposes how fear-based climate journalism breeds anxiety.
• “Company linked to Michelle Mone must repay Government £122 million” – A company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone must repay the Government almost £122 million for breaching a PPE contract, reports the Mail. 
• “UK’s Nimbus Covid wave? Cases of variant with unusual symptoms soar” – A croaky voice and a sharp, “razor blade” sore throat are emerging as telltale signs of the latest Covid variant now sweeping Britain and the US, says the Mail.
• “For all women of reproductive age considering vaccination with Comirnaty” – On the TTE Substack, Dr Tom Jefferson and Prof Carl Heneghan warn women of reproductive age to think twice before rolling up their sleeves.
• “Netherlands doubles citizenship requirement for migrants” – The Dutch Government plans to double the wait for citizenship, demanding 10 years of uninterrupted residence and “full integration”, reports China Daily.
• “Hamas expected to reject Trump’s Gaza plan” – Hamas is expected to reject Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, with a senior figure claiming it “serves Israel’s interests” while “ignoring those of the Palestinian people”, reports the Times of Israel.
• “Israel sends warship to intercept Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla” – Activists on a flotilla which is trying to breach Israel’s naval blockade say they’re back on course after a reported confrontation with an Israeli warship, according to the BBC.
• “Hamas documents prove links with Gaza flotilla leaders” – Documents found in Gaza and released by Israel’s Foreign Ministry have traced direct Hamas involvement in organising and financing Greta Thunberg’s flotilla, reports the Jerusalem Post.
• “Intelligence agency alleges ‘pro-Russia’ TikTok accounts are interfering in Czech elections” – An intelligence agency has alleged that “pro-Russia” TikTok accounts are trying to influence the Czech elections, though there’s still no evidence linking the accounts directly to Russia, reports the Public Substack.
• “Trump has set the Democrats up for a shutdown humiliation” – The President has trapped his political opponents, says Charles Lipson in the Telegraph: they can either surrender to the White House or accept swingeing cuts to the bureaucracy.
• “Harvard ‘pays $500 million’ to end Trump feud” – Harvard University has agreed to pay $500 million to end its feud with the Trump administration, reports Newsweek.
• “BBC ditches Boat Race amid claims Director of Sport ‘views it as elitist’” – The BBC has lost the television rights to the Boat Race after the corporation’s Director of Sport appeared to show “very little enthusiasm” during negotiations, says the Express. Apparently, it’s ‘elitist’.
• “Wokery in action as BBC delivers gut-punch by ditching Boat Race” – The Boat Race brings texture to Britain’s cultural and sporting life and deserves to be treated with respect, not cut adrift, writes Simon Briggs in the Telegraph.
• “NHS Fife bans trans women from female spaces as nurse tribunal looms” – A Scottish NHS board that threatened to sack a nurse for objecting to sharing a changing room with a male doctor has banned trans women from female facilities, reports the Scotsman.
• “Trans athletes should be able to compete in some women’s sports, suggests Nandy” – The Culture Secretary says that the issue of whether trans athletes should be allowed to compete alongside biological women is far from clear cut, according to the Mail.
• “The Bar Council’s black internship scheme is racist” – The wider general public is coming to see the corrosive consequences of diversity schemes, says Patrick West in the Spectator.
• “Burberry sacks diversity chief in jobs shake-up” – Burberry has parted company with its diversity chief after the luxury fashion house announced plans to cut 1,700 jobs worldwide, reports the Mail.
• “That’s when my mind was made up about the moral clarity of the Israeli-Palestinian debate” – On the Honestly podcast with Bari Weiss, a reporter tells her how he was left shocked after interviewing a Palestinian woman who’d twice had her life saved by Israel.

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