News Round-Up

• “West Midlands police chief steps down after row over Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban” – Craig Guildford has finally stepped down as Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, says Vikram Dodd in the Guardian.
• “How West Midlands Police ‘capitulated to Islamists’” – Critics have accused West Midlands Police of bending to Islamist pressure as its chief exits, according to the Telegraph.
• “West Midlands Police chief is set to retire with a full pension” – Craig Guildford has been allowed to retire with a full pension, notes the Mail.
• “Exclusive: Rail union boss sang pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine” – An RMT leader has been filmed singing pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine, reports the Telegraph.
• “The mugging kit of the Algerian phone-snatchers: How ‘highly organised’ migrant gangs are targeting City workers for luxury items they can sell in their bazaars back home” – Highly organised gangs are identifying vulnerable victims by their gilets, claims the Mail.
• “Criminal candidates, grooming gangs and petrol bombings – welcome to Oldham” – Oldham’s politics is snarled up with crime, grooming gangs and intimidation, notes Max Jeffery in the Spectator.
• “The state of the world is so terrible the only solution is to start drinking, says EU’s chief diplomat” – EU official Kaja Kallas joked that the only answer to the world’s woes is to start drinking, reports the Mail.
• “Trump official attacks Labour for cancelling local elections” – Sarah Rogers, Trump’s Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy has attacked Sir Keir Starmer for cancelling local elections, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Kemi Badenoch says she is ‘100% confident’ there won’t be more major defections to Reform as she trades blows with Robert Jenrick over his ‘lies’” – Kemi Badenoch has insisted no more major Tory defections to Reform are coming, claims the Mail.
• “Ministers bid to quell alarm over Nigel Farage’s vow to unveil a Labour defector to Reform next week” – Ministers have tried to calm nerves after Nigel Farage’s promised to unveil a Labour defector next week, says the Mail.
• “Robert Jenrick quit Tories for sake of his own career, voters say” – According to a Times-YouGov poll, a majority of voters think Jenrick defected for his own ambitions.
• “Meet Robert Jenrick’s fiercest supporter: Reform defector’s ‘force of nature’ wife who put MP on Ozempic – but let the mask slip and revealed fury when Kemi pipped him to top Tory job” – Michal Berkner, Robert Jenrick’s wife, is a major force behind his political moves, reports the Mail.
• “Badenoch: I will not make pact with Reform ‘liars’” – Kemi Badenoch has ruled out any deal with Reform after Jenrick’s departure, notes the Telegraph.
• “Kemi Badenoch: I am cleaning out the rubbish from the Conservative Party” – Kemi Badenoch says she’s clearing out the “rubbish” from the party after the second defection to Reform in a week, reports the Times.
• “Exclusive poll: Labour would face wipeout in cancelled elections” – Polling suggests Labour would have faced heavy losses in the elections it has now cancelled, says the Telegraph.
• “Keir Starmer ‘under pressure to sack Wes Streeting’ for disloyalty over leadership ambitions – as ministers call for him to be ‘brought to heel’” – Sir Keir Starmer is facing internal pressure to sack Wes Streeting, argues the Mail.
• “Bank of England Governor warns against populism” – Andrew Bailey has urged institutions to resist populism by getting “our houses in order”, notes the Times.
• “‘Women means women’: ex-commissioner lambasts delays on trans guidance” – Ex-EHRC commissioner Akua Reindorf has criticised the Government’s foot dragging over publishing the new trans guidance, reveals the Times.
• “Ban trans women from changing rooms now, nurses demand” – Nurses demand a ban on transwomen in women’s changing rooms after an Employment Tribunal found their dignity was breached over changing-room access, reports the Telegraph.
• “The Iron Lady understood the true threats facing us – do any of today’s leaders?” – In the Telegraph, Charles Moore says the Conservatives shouldn’t reduce politics to immigration while global crises intensify.
• “Driven by naked expediency, this sinister move to define ‘anti-Muslim hostility’ would only leave Britain even more fragmented” – In the Mail, Frank Furedi says the Government’s proposed definition of ‘anti-Muslim hostility’ is divisive and unnecessary.
• “Clamp down on charities spreading Iran’s hate in UK” – Several Iranian-linked charities are being investigated by the Charity Commission, according to the Times.
• “London is finally about to show its support for a free Iran” – Londoners are being urged to march for a free Iran and to condemn Islamist tyranny, says Brendan O’Neill in the Spectator.
• “Rush Job: Australia’s new hate speech bill set to be scuttled” – Australia’s proposed hate speech crackdown has been left in tatters following a free-speech backlash, report Rebekah Barnett and Andrew Lowenthal in the Network Affects.
• “Net zero is slowing growth, Bank of England warns” – The Bank of England has warned that Net Zero policies will hold back growth, notes the Telegraph.
• “New York’s Climate Act goes nuclear: bold promises, zero progress” – New York’s Climate Act has produced “zero progress” after seven years as leaders pivot to nuclear promises, says Francis Menton in the Climate Change Dispatch.
• “Wind farms championed by Starmer face the axe after Miliband snub” – BP-backed Irish Sea wind projects are due to be scrapped after missing out on taxpayer support, claims the Telegraph.
• “A Climatologist asks: where are all the climate-related disasters?” – Climate-related disasters have not risen despite higher CO2 and warmer temperatures, argues Matthew Wielicki in the Climate Change Dispatch.
• “New York’s ridiculous energy policy way off the edge of the cliff” – New York’s energy mandates have are impossible as deadlines loom without workable plans, writes Francis Menton in the Manhattan Contrarian.
• “The towns where the taps ran dry” – Parts of Kent and Sussex are without water, reports the Telegraph.
• “Pubs ‘dying out’ as more than 500 close under Starmer” – More than 500 pubs have closed since Labour came to power, claims the Telegraph.
• “Labour has a puritanical desire to wipe out pubs” – Labour isn’t trying to save pubs. It’s just offering them a slower route to oblivion, argues the Telegraph.
• “Have young men lost their ‘herd immunity’ to Christianity?” – What’s behind the Gen Z Christian revival? asks the Times.
• “Kathleen Kennedy was supposed to save Star Wars. Instead she ruined it” – Kathleen Kennedy’s tenure as the Star Wars chief has coincided with the franchise’s decline, says Robbie Collins in the Telegraph.
• “The Chief Constable has gone. But it isn’t over” – On X, Sir Nick Timothy, the newly-appointed shadow Justice Secretary, says there are still unanswered questions about the Islamist capture of West Midlands Police.

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