News Round-Up

• “Labour minister falsely linked journalists to ‘pro-Kremlin’ network in emails to GCHQ” – Labour minister Josh Simons, who said he was “surprised” and “furious” at a PR firm that he’d hired to investigate journalists going beyond its brief, had in fact helped name them to British intelligence and falsely linked them to pro-Russian propaganda, reveals the Guardian.
• “Judge blocks Starmer’s removal of Chagos Islanders” – Sir Keir Starmer’s Chagos deal has hit another crisis after a judge ruled to temporarily block an order to remove Chagossians who landed on the island earlier this week, reports GB News.
• “Abandon the deal to surrender Chagos” – Does Keir Starmer really want to sacrifice the special relationship with the US by giving away the Chagos Islands? asks the Telegraph in a leading article.
• “Why won’t Starmer U-turn on the ‘Chagos Surrender’” – The Chagos dispute has begun to look like a political trap the Prime Minister cannot escape, writes Mark Almond in the Mail.
• “The Prime Minister’s legalistic Chagossian mistakes” – Sir Keir Starmer’s reliance on international law over Chagos has reduced Britain’s utility as an ally, warns the Telegraph.
• “HMRC wants freelancers to file their finances four times a year. They’d rather quit” – The self-employed are weighing up whether Making Tax Digital’s quarterly burden is worth it, writes Ruby Cline in the Telegraph.
• “Minimum wage is making people worse off” – Pub boss Tim Martin has argued that rising minimum wages have reduced investment and hiring, reports the Telegraph.
• “Why was I attacked for questioning the role of religion in sexual abuse?” – Discussing the use of religion in coercive and sexual abuse is hardly taboo – so why should it be any different when the perpetrators are Muslim? asks Emma Webb in the Telegraph.
• “Immigration: 60 years of manifesto pledges” – Lion & Unicorn has put together extracts from the manifestos of the victorious party in each of the general elections from 1964 to 2024, to see if the claim that “no one voted for mass immigration” is true.
• “From safe seat to warning sign” – Labour’s once rock-solid grip on parts of Greater Manchester has started to look shaky, says Tom Scotson in the Critic.
• “Has Kemi Badenoch bounced back?” – Kemi Badenoch seems to have gained some momentum as Tory leader, observes Geraldine Scott in the Times.
• “There’s only one threat to Farage on the Right, and it’s not Rupert Lowe” – It will take more than a flash in the pan to bring down Reform, reckons Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
• “Reform MP refuses to vacate constituency office after defecting” – A Reform MP is locked in a battle with his old party over the use of his constituency office, reports the Times.
• “The hunting of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor” – Destroying the principles of Enlightenment just to get one over on a posh bloke you don’t like is human folly of the most demented kind, says Brendan O’Neill in the Spectator.
• “What happened to Speakers’ Corner?” – Anyone who has visited Speakers’ Corner lately will have glimpsed a terrible truth, writes Brendan O’Neill in the Spectator.
• “German publisher backs last-ditch Telegraph bid” – A German media group has thrown its weight behind a last-minute attempt to buy the Telegraph titles, reports Bitget.
• “Kaja Kallas is Europe’s most insufferable girlboss” – The EU foreign policy chief is the Jacinda Ardern replacement liberals have been searching for, says Brendan O’Neill in the Telegraph.
• “Musk’s X to challenge €120 million DSA fine in top European court” – Elon Musk has kicked off a major legal fight with Brussels over a €120 million fine, according to Brussels Signal.
• “A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them” – Western intelligence services uncovered Russia’s invasion plans early but struggled to persuade allies the threat was real, reveals Shaun Walker in the Guardian.
• “Trump’s total blockade buries Cuba in rubbish” – In Cuba’s capital, only 44 of 106 rubbish trucks are operating, following Trump’s ban on oil or money reaching the island’s shores, reports Lily Shanagher in the Telegraph.
• “Autism and ADHD fuel surge in employment tribunal cases” – Workplace disputes involving autism and ADHD have climbed sharply in recent tribunal figures, says the Telegraph.
• “Scientists are on the verge of a ‘holy grail’ universal nasal vaccine for deadly viruses, bacteria and allergies” – Researchers have moved closer to a needle-free nasal vaccine that could tackle multiple illnesses, says the Mail.
• “Puberty blocker trial paused over ‘new concerns’” – A major study into puberty blockers for children has been halted after fresh worries about the trial design, reports GB News.
• “India doubles down on coal and natural gas as climate goals recede” – India has pushed ahead with more coal and gas while quietly pushing its Net Zero target further into the future, writes Vijay Jayaraj for RealClearMarkets.
• “The $16 trillion climate tab – and the poor got left in the dark” – Massive global climate spending has produced little measurable impact and plenty of victims, claims Stephen Moore on Climate Change Dispatch.
• “Germany’s ‘energy transition’ hits the ice: LNG crisis exposes the costs of shunning nuclear and baseload power” – Germany’s dash for renewables has collided with reality, writes Charles Rotter in Watts Up With That?
• “Solar’s land use problem is much worse than you think” – The sheer amount of land required for solar power has turned out to be far bigger than most people realise, say the Energy Bad Boys on Substack.
• “The Cult | a Net Zero Watch short film” – In Not a Lot of People Know That, Paul Homewood returns with Colin Brazier for their second short film on the cult of Net Zero and how it protects its “green” policies from scrutiny by clamping down on free speech.
• “Starmer’s new Cabinet Secretary made staff join non-binary book club” – Civil servants were cajoled into joining a gender-themed book club as part of workplace inclusivity programmes, says GB News.
• “Sussex must stop force-feeding students woke history” – History teaching at Sussex has become driven by progressive ideological dogma, warns Nigel Biggar in the Spectator.
• “Council pays £20,000 for one child’s horse therapy in SEND plan” – A council has spent nearly £20,000 a year for a single child to receive horse therapy to help with their special educational needs, reports the Times.
• “Well done to the police officer” – Patrick Christys praises a WPC for standing up to a Muslim mob objecting to a Christian street preacher in London’s East End.

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