News Round-Up

• “Shabana Mahmood knew Israeli football fans faced ban” – The Home Secretary knew last week that Israeli football fans faced a ban from Villa Park, The Telegraph reveals.
• “The Maccabi ban is the most shameful example of two-tier policing yet” – The news that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans are to be banned from attending Aston Villa’s Europa League match in Birmingham is perhaps the highest profile example yet of two-tier policing, says David Spencer, Policy Exchange’s Head of Crime and Justice and a former Detective Chief Inspector with the Metropolitan Police, in the Telegraph.
• “What is happening in Birmingham is a sinister vision of Britain’s future” – With the proposed ban on Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a football match, the police are surrendering to an anti-Semitic hate mob, writes Isabel Oakeshott in the Telegraph.
• “Boss of council behind ban on Tel Aviv fans ‘used anti-Semitic slur’” – The boss of the council behind a ban on Israeli football fans from Villa Park was previously accused of calling a property agent “a massive Jewish b—end”, reports the Telegraph.
• “I was right about Birmingham” – The decision from West Midlands Police to ban Jewish football fans from Villa Park marks a new low in our recent history, writes Robert Jenrick in the Telegraph.
• “China really is a threat to Britain” – The truth is that China poses a greater strategic threat to Britain than any state since the Second World War, writes Sam Olsen in the Spectator.
• “China has been an enemy of Britain for decades: here is the proof” – Successive naive governments have allowed China to infiltrate our economy, institutions and security, says Charles Moore in the Telegraph.
• “China creating fake job adverts to lure Britons into spying, MI5 says” – In a new escalation, hundreds of thousands of suspicious job ads are appearing on online platforms offering bumper salaries in exchange for ‘unique insight’ reports, according to the Mail.
• “Starmer faces ethics inquiry over Chinese super-embassy” – Sir Keir Starmer faces an inquiry into claims that he struck a secret deal with Beijing to approve a new super-embassy in London, reports the Telegraph.
• “Dominic Cummings: ‘Starmer’s rubbish at politics and will be gone next year’” – The former aide to Boris Johnson pulls no punches in his assessment of the current state of British politics in the Times.
• “Nigel Farage: Putin is a very bad dude” – Nigel Farage has called Vladimir Putin “a very bad dude” following accusations that he is “soft” on Russia, according to the Telegraph.
• “Is the grooming gang inquiry headed for a whitewash?” – Four months after Starmer bowed to pressure, the Home Office has confessed that a chair of the inquiry still hasn’t been appointed, reveals the Spectator.
• “BBC Gaza documentary breached Ofcom code” – The BBC has been accused of “catastrophic failures” after using the son of a Hamas official to narrate the programme, reports the Telegraph.
• “Migrant with ‘Adam’s apple’ wins £25,000 after court rules he’s a child” – A migrant – who came to Britain on a small boat – has been awarded a payout after an immigration judge ruled that officials were wrong to conclude he was over 18, says the Mail.
• “Covid scientific misconduct rages on at the world’s top medical journals” – JAMA just published a study designed to bury a severely disturbing truth – that Covid vaccine policy victimized pregnant women by killing an untold number of their babies, writes Pierre Kory on his Substack.
• “Study proves that Covid masks completely ruined a generation of young children” – Ian Miller rails against forcing children to wear masks on his Susbtack.
• “The battle for free speech in universities has only just begun” – What’s happening at Durham and Leeds sits at one end of a spectrum – the overt, documentable end. But much of the problem lies elsewhere, writes Edward Skidelsky in the Spectator.
• “Cambridge academic: I’m on a mission to ‘end the tyranny of wokeism’” – Nathan Cofnas was sacked after attacking the ‘DEI devil’, but the university has now said his controversial views on IQ and race are lawful, writes Ed Cumming in the Telegraph.
• “Students shouldn’t be arrested for speech ” – In the Spectator, Laurie Wastell argues that the Oxford student who chanted ‘Gaza, Gaza make us proud, put the Zios in the Ground’ shouldn’t be penalised.
• “Avian mortality: industrial wind in ecological trouble” – The Biden administration greenlit scores of ‘green’ projects, in spite of the threat wind turbines posed to endangered bird species, reports Master Source.
• “U.S. blocks global shipping carbon tax, delays IMO vote one year” – The Trump administration successfully blocked a global shipping carbon tax, according to Climate Change Dispatch.
• “State of the climate 2024: ‘No runaway warming, no climate crisis’” – Observational data shows global temperatures, sea levels, and other climate trends remain within normal ranges, with no sign of an emergency, says Climate Change Dispatch.
• “How do you like it? JSO activist moans after her mural is painted over” – Holly Astle, an illustrator from Falmouth, Cornwall, accused the local council of whitewashing her art on a wall at the Lawn Steps in her hometown for “political’ reasons”, reports the Mail.
• “British Gas owner among 491 firms who paid less than minimum wage” – Centrica, EG Group and Holland & Barrett are on a list of employers named by the Government for underpaying tens of thousands of staff, reports the Times.
• “Extra 1.1 billion barrels of oil found in North Sea” – An extra 1.1 billion barrels of oil and gas have been found in the North Sea, a regulator’s report has revealed, threatening to stoke a row over Ed Miliband’s ban on new drilling, says the Telegraph.
• “Rare earths refiner Pensana scraps plans for $250 million Hull plant” – Promise of a £5 million UK Government grant was insufficient to make a rare earth refinery project viable, according to the company chairman, and it now aims to build the plant in America, reports the Times.
• “How regulator is navigating choppy waters over North Sea deal” – A sea of claims and counterclaims raises questions over whether Francesco Mazzagatti’s Viaro Energy should be permitted to buy $500 million of assets from Shell and Exxon, says the Times.
• “Birthday cake banned at nurseries under Labour crackdown” – New guidance advises schools and nurseries to promote healthier eating habits with fruit platters rather than cake to mark birthdays, reports the Telegraph.
• “We need to scrub the concept of ‘hate crime’ from British law” – Lord Moynihan of Chelsea urges the Government to get rid of the concept of ‘hate crime’ at the second reading of the Crime and Policing Bill.

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