News Round-Up

• “Badenoch pledges to scrap stamp duty” – The Tory leader has described stamp duty – the tax paid when a new home is purchased – as a “bad tax” and an “unconservative tax”, reports Sky News.
• “Why Kemi Badenoch is right to scrap stamp duty” – Kemi Badenoch’s announcement will allow many more people to move home, resuscitate the property market by boosting transactions and potentially add billions to the economy, says Noah Eastwood in the Telegraph.
• “Badenoch insists Tories can rein in Reform in conference speech” – Kemi Badenoch has been lauded for her bold plan to axe stamp duty, reports the Mail.
• “Kemi is right to preach fiscal responsibility” – With Labour spending and Reform’s maths in fantasy land, Kemi’s spot on about tightening the purse strings, writes Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “Mummy is moving to where the voters really are” – Kemi’s back, stamp duty’s out and the Tories have finally found their mojo, says Tim Stanley in the Telegraph.
• “Badenoch’s conference speech will calm Tory jitters” – Had Kemi Badenoch’s conference speech been a disaster, one can imagine a flurry of letters being triggered by nervy Tory MPs, writes James Heale in the Spectator.
• “Kemi Badenoch has just shown she is the right choice as Tory leader” – The 55-minute conference speech Kemi gave was a barnstormer, says Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
• “Kemi’s speech was good. But is anyone listening?” – By the standards of conference weirdness, the soundtrack aside, Mrs Badenoch was, well, quite normal, writes Madeline Grant in the Spectator.
• “Islamist terror suspects ‘plotted mass shooting of Jews’” – Two ISIS-inspired extremists stocked up on rifles, handguns and hundreds of rounds for a planned suicide attack on Manchester’s Jewish community, reports the Mail.
• “Starmer demands police crackdown on pro-Palestinian protest chants” – The Government could consider pursuing more curbs on protest laws, including targeting some of the chants used at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, according to the BBC.
• “NHS doctor who escaped ban ‘after Holocaust denial’ faces new tribunal” – An NHS junior doctor faces a new tribunal after being allowed to keep her job despite claims of Holocaust denial and making a throat-slitting gesture at Jewish protesters, reports the Mail.
• “Antisemitic doctors will be suspended before facing tribunal” – Antisemitic doctors will be suspended before facing a tribunal in new measures to root out racism in the NHS, says the Sun.
• “The Hamas death cult has taken over campus” – The students celebrating October 7th are monsters made by ‘progressive’ indoctrination, writes Georgina Mumford in Spiked.
• “Segregated Birmingham is everything migration critics warned us about” – Handsworth shows migration has driven deep segregation and economic strain; Jenrick’s blunt take is spot on, says Sam Ashworth-Hayes in the Telegraph.
• “Robert Jenrick is right – Britain feels more and more Balkanised” – It is not ‘racist’ to lament the rise of monocultural ethnic enclaves, writes Brendan O’Neill in Spiked.
• “The judiciary needs root and branch reform, and that must include sacking judges” – After 30 years of Blairite destruction it has become necessary for Parliament to wield its power, says David Shipley in the Telegraph.
• “Digital ID used for tax under Starmer plot to expand technology” – Digital ID cards are set to be used to access tax records under Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to embed the technology into everyday life, reports the Telegraph.
• “Simon Case challenges Starmer over China spy trial” – Sir Keir Starmer has blamed the Conservatives for the collapse of a Chinese espionage trial after the CPS this morning accused Labour of being behind its downfall, reports the Telegraph. 
• “This is the scandal that could bring down Keir Starmer” – From the Chagos deal to the proposed new super embassy, Labour is kowtowing to China, says Allister Heath in the Telegraph.
• “Britain misses out on £36 billion after Gordon Brown sold the gold” – Britain has missed out on around £36 billion after Gordon Brown decided to sell off half of the nation’s gold reserves a quarter of a century ago, reports the Telegraph. 
• “What my dispute with Owen Jones says about the modern Left” – In the Telegraph, Tom Harris calls out the modern Left’s obsession with outrage and its refusal to face reality.
• “The death of the Left” – The waning popularity of Labour in Britain reflects wider trends in Europe, notes James Crisp in the Telegraph.
• “In the UK the Net Zero consensus has crumbled” – Britain’s Net Zero dream is crashing, and voters are noticing, says Francis Menton on Manhattan Contrarian.
• “Buy electrons before bytes: a practical plan to power the AI boom” – AI’s appetite for power is exploding, and without smart energy planning, the grid – and public patience – will be tested, warns Theodor Engøy in WUWT?
• “A wooden stake to alarmist claims Europe’s pre-industrial climate was stable” – In NoTricksZone, P. Gosselin shows that extreme weather isn’t just modern.
• “The Pope blessing Arctic Sea ice reveals a curse” – On CFACT, Joe Bastardi says the Pope’s blessing of Arctic ice isn’t holy but hopeless.
• “The wildfire myth: historical data debunks climate’s role” – Wildfires aren’t getting worse, and rising costs reflect more buildings and wealth, not climate change, says Dr Matthew Wielicki on Substack.
• “Federal judge rules Biden’s massive offshore oil and gas ban was illegal” – A federal judge has ruled that Biden overstepped his authority when he blocked offshore oil and gas drilling across 625 million acres, reports Climate Change Dispatch.
• “Exxon is right again, Bloomberg, oil and gas will be needed for decades to come” – Oil giant Exxon is right to plan on developing oil and gas resources well into the future, which will be needed for a long time to come, says Linnea Lueken in Climate Realism.
• “Macron’s legacy in tatters as he prepares to abandon reforms” – Emmanuel Macron’s legacy could be irreversibly tarnished as he prepares to abandon his flagship pension reform in the hope of avoiding snap elections, reports the Telegraph.
• “Children could pick their gender at school under EU proposal” – Member states could be punished for challenging gender ideology under a new strategy unveiled by the European Commission, says the Telegraph.
• “Slovakia is defying the EU’s gender diktats” – Brussels will stop at nothing to impose its woke worldview on reluctant member states, writes Andrew Tettenborn in Spiked.
• “How Bari Weiss fought the woke and won” – Bari Weiss’s stunning success in independent media proves that something is rotten in corporate journalism, says Jenny Holland in Spiked.
• “The power theory of free speech” – In Persuasion, Yascha Mounk explains why widespread hypocrisy about free speech makes the First Amendment all the more important.
• “A global industry fuels scientific fraud in the US” – Paper mills are selling fake research and infiltrating academic journals worldwide, warns Vince Bielski in WUWT?
• “A country of love and peace and harmony” – On Substack, Dr David McGrogan mocks Gary Neville’s mushy call for “love and harmony”, saying it shows how clueless celebs have become about real politics.
• “The problem with Lenny Henry’s demand for reparations” – We are all descendants of sinners and the sinned against, says Patrick West in the Spectator.
• “Lenny Henry’s reparations demands won’t end racism. They’ll fuel it like never before” – Forcing Britons to hand over £18 trillion would deepen division on a horrifying scale and bankrupt the country in the process, warns Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “Prince Harry’s white saviour complex has been dealt another blow” – Prince Harry’s comeback is becoming a disaster, says Alexander Larman in the Spectator.
• “Charlotte Church turns to witchcraft as holistic venture loses money” – Charlotte Church has started offering witchy weekends at her holistic Welsh retreat, The Dreaming, after pumping more than £500,000 into the venture to keep it afloat, reports the Mail.
• “Her best 24 hours as Tory leader” – On GB News, Mark Littlewood praises Kemi Badenoch’s speech at the Tory Party Conference.

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