News Round-Up
- “Trump says US ‘armada’ heading for Iran” – Donald Trump says a US ‘armada’ is heading for Iran, reports the Telegraph.
- “Horrific new photos show brutality of Iran’s protest crackdown as death toll feared to reach 20K: reports” – Leaked morgue photos illustrate the brutality of Iran’s crackdown as the death toll rockets, reveals the New York Post.
- “Iran’s Weekend of Blood” – Internet blackouts, morgue data and medical testimony point to a five-digit death toll in Iran, says Shay Khatiri in the Quillette.
- “‘Insulting and frankly appalling’: Keir Starmer demands apology from Donald Trump in major transatlantic row over jibe at Britain’s Afghan war dead” – Keir Starmer has branded Trump’s comments on Britain’s Afghan war dead “insulting and frankly appalling” as a transatlantic clash deepens, reports the Mail.
- “Trump delays Chagos surrender: Starmer is forced to pull Lords debate on controversial handover after US concerns – raising hope of 15th U-turn” – Ministers have postponed a Lords showdown on the Chagos handover after US concerns spooked the Government, says the Mail.
- “How Trump could block the Chagos deal” – Legal constraints mean the UK cannot transfer Chagos’s sovereignty to Mauritius without US consent under a 1966 treaty, claims Richard Ekins in the Spectator.
- “Tories to fight Starmer in Lords over cancelled elections” – Conservatives have backed a Lib Dem motion in the Lords to give MPs the power to overturn local election delays as the Government faces a Commons revolt, according to the Telegraph.
- “Pro-Palestine group accused of threatening councillors over Israel” – The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has emailed every local councillor in the UK urging them to boycott Israel, reports the Times.
- “Lammy hints at U-turn over jury trials” – David Lammy has hinted he’s going to abandon his plan to curtail the right to trail by jury, reveals the Telegraph.
- “Robert Jenrick says Tory chief whip called him ‘bloodsucker’ in texts” – Robert Jenrick says the Tory Chief Whip branded him a “bloodsucker” in texts, notes the Times.
- “A week is a long time in politics, especially when you’ve changed from the Tories to Reform” – In the Telegraph, Robert Jenrick urges the Conservatives to put party loyalties aside and back Nigel Farage for No 10.
- “‘Stevenage woman’ voters who helped power Labour’s landside now favour Reform – but Farage’s Trump whispering puts them off” – Suburban ‘Stevenage woman’ voters have drifted towards Reform but are balking at Nigel Farage’s closeness to Trump, reports the Mail.
- “Police to face regular tests on how well they can do their job in order to keep new ‘licence to practise’ in major shakeup” – The Government has proposed regular competency tests and a renewable ‘licence to practise’ for every police officer in major shakeup, says the Mail.
- “Twenty-seven asylum seekers have their own private medical practitioner after being secretly bussed in at 3.28am as police brace for weekend of protests” – The Home Office has moved 27 asylum seekers into the Crowborough Army Camp in East Sussex as police brace for protests, says the Mail.
- “Non-crime hate incidents are a waste of time, says judge” – A senior judge has warned the time the police spend investigating and recording non-crime hate incidents distracts officers from tackling real crime, according to the Telegraph.
- “Ofcom more than doubles funding to monitor Brits’ VPN use” – New spending figures reveal Ofcom has nearly tripled funding to monitor VPN use as the Online Safety Act bites, reveals Guido Fawkes.
- “Time to make your mind up! Keir Starmer rival Andy Burnham given less than 24 hours to decide on by-election bid – as Angela Rayner ‘backs his campaign for a Commons comeback’” – Andy Burnham has been given an ultimatum to decide whether to stand in a by-election, claims the Mail.
- “Emotional JD Vance slams Europe for ‘refusing’ to tackle migration and defence and says Trump is trying to ‘preserve European civilisation’” – JD Vance has attacked Europe for “refusing” to get serious on migration and defence while insisting Trump wants to preserve European civilisation, says the Mail.
- “Zelensky is right to go after weak, divided Europe” – Volodymyr Zelensky has castigated a weak, divided Europe, reports the Telegraph.
- “Northern Ireland peace-broker visited North Korea” – Jonathan Powell visited North Korea with a European delegation for a back-channel dialogue, notes Eilish O’Gara in the Newsweek.
- “Canadian woman was euthanized ‘against her will’ after husband was fed-up with caring for her” – A Canadian woman was euthanised “against her will” due to family pressure, reveals the Mail.
- “Meghan Trainor’s picture lays bare the cruelty of surrogacy” – A celebrity surrogacy image has reignited anger at rich parents renting poorer women’s wombs, says the Telegraph.
- “Laurence Fox unleashes foul-mouthed rant as he claims school vaccinated his son without his consent and is taking legal action against ‘the ‘evil b******s’’” – Laurence Fox has claimed a school vaccinated his son without his consent as he threatens legal action, reports the Mail.
- “Fraud squad urged to investigate ‘catastrophic’ £4.6 billion Net Zero scheme” – Investigators have been urged to probe a “catastrophic” £4.6 billion net zero insulation scheme after thousands of homes were left defective, reports the Telegraph.
- “‘Pray your boilers don’t fail’: the Church of England is in the grip of eco-zealots” – Net Zero diktats have left parish boiler replacements tangled in costly bureaucracy as eco rules bite, says Ysenda Maxtone Graham in the Spectator.
- “South Korea’s Developing Net Zero Debacle” – South Korea has been warned it is sabotaging its own energy security by ditching coal and gas in pursuit of Net Zero, according to the CO2 Coalition.
- “Church of England in net-zero crackdown on flowers” – The Church of England has tightened Net Zero rules on church flowers by insisting on British-grown blooms and banning floral foam, reveals the Telegraph.
- “A short history of the New York Times being wrong about everything” – The New York Times has consistently got everything wrong, says Ed West in the Spectator.
- “UK University student funding prioritises BAME and Chinese students and asylum seekers” – University funding has prioritised BAME and Chinese applicants and asylum seekers under diversity schemes, according to Norman Fenton and Martin Neil in Where Are the Numbers?
- “Prestigious Cotswolds school closes after 100 years because it’s no longer ‘financially viable’ to remain open” – Rendcombe College has announced it is shutting after 100 years as it becomes financially unviable, reports the Mail.
- “The ‘banter ban’ is coming to a pub near you. But what does it actually mean?” – Watch me oppose the ‘banter ban’ in the House of Lords.
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“Police to face regular tests on how well they can do their job in order to keep new ‘licence to practise’ in major shakeup”
No chance of applying the same philosophy to Civil Servants, I suppose?
This is another way the elites will impose their values and priorities on policing. Another move towards homogeneous authoritarianism.
up and down tick icons often missing from comments.
You have a visible uptick, but no other comment.
Licence to practise?
Used to be known as ‘management’.
No good at your job? Won’t/can’t improve? Piss off and do something else.
Exactly – it’s part of their training process surely? Zero need for another layer of crap to be added on top of – implement and enforce the existing process
I approve of the sentiment but that would be a very dangerous step – just like giving the power to assess police (civil servants) to assessors outside the management chain is a very dangerous step. It’s rather like appointing political police (and crime) commissioners: How soon before your licence is revoked because you have a ‘Vote Reform UK’ sticker in your private car.
There’s a notorious precedent.
(Oh, and by the way Godwin’s law does not say what too many people think it says).
Friday Morning Nettlebed
My soon to be 28 year old agrees!
and so do I but he reached his position all by himself – hope it was good parenting…….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/amp/news/article-15491799/Stevenage-woman-turns-Farage-cosiness-Trump.html
Maybe if our media collectively actually told the truth about Britains decline and explained that our place in the world is now to be part of an Empire, Stevenage woman would realise that having a good relationship with the US president isn’t a nice to have unless she enjoys coming under ever greater Chinese domination. Hint: for historical reasons I think China is gleefully watching our destruction by our traitors in government.
I drove to Stevenage last night. Still plenty of England and UK flags flying.
You lived to tell the tale!
I’m selective about when and where I visit in Stevenage. I wouldn’t want to live there but it serves a purpose – affordable (for the South East), easy to drive in, lots of shops.
Also in Epsom and ewell
“Non-crime hate incidents are a waste of time, says judge”
Who knew? But for the victims, they’re a waste of time, livelihood, reputation and money.
I wonder if there is any sales opportunity for T-shirts with an “Ask me about my NCHI” logo? Instead of being supressed be proud of Free Speech.
“Church of England in net-zero crackdown on flowers”
This, and the policy on heating, reveals the C of E as an authoritarian organisation rather than a Church. If there has to be a hierarchy (and as a Baptist I say there’s no need) its job is to ensure that doctrine and practice are in accordance with the 39 Articles. It fails to do that, yet lords it over local congregations on matters of spiritual indifference like boilers and flower pots.
The Bishop involved is the assistant Bishop in my neck of the woods. The Diocese seems captured by the net-zero cult. The son of the clergyman leading the net-zero drive has received a suspended sentence for disruption caused as a member of Scientist Rebellion, and the daughter of the local vicar is a member of Extinction Rebellion. If I speak up against their agenda, I’m half worried I might be placed on their action list! Basically, this Diocese is the Green Party at prayer, and they have no qualms about guilting you in to going along with it.
The C of E hierarchy seems to have lost interest in Christianity.
Long ago…
Well done for mentioning The 39 Articles, which every Protestant in the land seems to have forgotten about, especially in the Protestant Church of England, which blithely violates them by allowing Catholic Subversive Vicars to call themselves “Father” instead of “Reverend”, lifting up and worshipping wafers, insisting on transubstantiation, and erecting huge Catholic Crucifixes depicting Jesus nailed to the cross, breaking both the First and Second Commandments:
1) I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.
Protestants wear The Empty Cross.
“Ofcom more than doubles funding to monitor Brits’ VPN use” – New spending figures reveal Ofcom has nearly tripled funding to monitor VPN use as the Online Safety Act bites.”
What can the government do about VPN usage? Preumably, they could force fibre, cable and 4G / 5G networks in the UK to monitor traffic through their switches, routers and network backbones and potentially ban VPN usage if too many people start deploying them to circumvent government restrictions.
They forget about Musk. How would they be able to easily monitor traffic on the Starlink network – particularly if the network backbone and devices are outside the UK? Already Starlink prices are starting to compete against mobile, fibre and cable companies. Speeds are perfectly adequate for most people’s usage. Draconian crackdowns on internet usage will just drive customers to Starlink and financially affect the viability of UK ISPs – risking tens of thousands of British jobs. A classic case of unintended consequences and Starmer’s revers Midas touch.
If they really want to they can ban people paying VPN providers or Starlink.
only if we had an authoritarian, totalitarian government with CBDC and digital ID in place…. Oh wait!
Young people with ‘normal’ mental health conditions ‘should be in work’ says the Telegraph.
One in eight young people are not in education, employment or training
Yes. Teenagers who get emotional is nothing new. Telling them they have a mental health disease does them no favours. It sets them up to fail in their twenties. They fail in their twenties what chance do they have in their thirties?
BS. The language of Socialism is ‘we can have it all’.
Re Trump’s comments on NATO (non US troops) in Afghanistan I think it is important to accept that he has very poor concentration so is prone when processing information to either only absorb parts of what he is being told or misunderstand what he has been told.
It is accepted in Afghanistan that German troops operated under German government restrictions which sought to limit casualties to a minimum, for instance German troops usually did not take part in operations after dark. The operations carried out by British troops were on a par with those of US troops and Trump should acknowledge that and apologise, also he should seek further operational details and apologise to other NATO troops who also fought on the front line, particularly the Danish army which fought alongside the UK in Helmand province and whose country is now in Trump’s eyesight over Greenland.
…it is important to accept that he has very poor concentration…
Yeah. Bit of a shame that he has the big red button (Spitting Image and Ronnie Reagan style).
The red button was of course super safe in the hands of a bloke with senile dementia, eh?
Trump’s smarter than any of our leaders. Way smarter. So he’s a slob and says inappropriate things? Who cares? He gets thing DONE. Our lot simply mouth and blabber. And do nothing. Starmer for example, his response to Iran is to tell them to “exercise restraint”. Trump’s? Send the US Navy.
BTW, in WWII the USA had many military bases in Greenland. All he wants is the same again, and he’s right – the EU is unable to defend anything. So he aske for the lot, and gets what he needs.
Excellent!
Nurse! Nurse! Where’s that call button?..
You have made some very crucial points, especially about Helmand! Here is a further explanation:
“During the first five years of the war, the vast majority of coalition deaths were American, but between 2006 and 2011, a significant proportion were amongst other nations, particularly the United Kingdom and Canada which had been assigned responsibility for the flashpoint provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, respectively. This is because in 2006, ISAF expanded its jurisdiction to the southern regions of Afghanistan which were previously under the direct authority of the U.S. military. The UK in particular suffered a high number of deaths relative to other countries, having been in charge of the highly hazardous Helmand region; both Denmark and Estonia, which were part of the British-led Task Force Helmand also suffered high death rates, with Danish troops having the highest death rate of any country in the war as of 2009. In later years, Georgia became the largest non-NATO contributor to Afghanistan and paid a heavy toll with the highest casualty rate, with all of the 32 deaths occurring in Helmand.”
Coalition casualties in Afghanistan – Wikipedia
Perhaps Trump should be asking Catholic Ireland why they REFUSED to send Irish troops into battle at all, and why the following was Ireland’s only contribution to the Allied “Operation Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan:
“IRELAND permitted US military aircraft to use Shannon Airport as a refuelling hub. Also, IRELAND had SEVEN TROOPS DEPLOYED TO THE ISAF’S HEADQUARTERS IN KABUL.”
That’s right: SEVEN IRISH TROOPS, all safe and snug at ISAF headquarters in Kabul.
Also, Trump and his advisers should remember that the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland) is only about the size of Oregon, so expecting the UK to match US forces is the same as expecting Oregon to send as many troops as the whole of the US Army.
https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FXGniMeFgjsc%3Fsi%3DOvtbO_MHgh-nQ3Nm%3AK_nNduNLXeuuMiIU0vvSaPasdxc&cuid=7594221
It would appear that Laila Cunningham’s mother is housing illegal immigrants.
Popcorn time. 😀😀😀
“This is another way the elites will impose their values and priorities on policing. Another move towards homogeneous authoritarianism.”
That moment passed MANY years ago… starting with Blair
I wonder how many pieces of silver the “medical practioner” at Crowborough Barracks is extracting from British tax payers?