News Round-Up

• “Labour MP’s partner arrested on suspicion of spying for China” – The partner of a Labour MP has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, reports the Telegraph.
• “Miliband led Cabinet revolt against Trump’s Iran war” – Ed Miliband led Cabinet opposition to US military action in Iran and the use of Britain’s bases, reveals the Telegraph.
• “The weak and flabby state of Britain’s defences has been exposed” – The delay in the HMS Dragon’s deployment to Cyprus is a symptom of greater decay and neglect in our nation’s national security machine, writes John Hemmings for LBC.
• “Fury as MPs dance in Parliament amid Iran crisis” – MPs have been performing the cha-cha-cha in Parliament despite the deepening crisis in the Middle East, according to the Mail.
• “Rachel Reeves could be forced to raise taxes again despite OBR warning burden is already hitting economy” – Rachel Reeves could be forced to hike taxes yet again as the Middle East crisis threatens to wreak more havoc on the economy, reports the Mail.
• “Hiring a young person to cost almost £7,000 more under Labour” – Rachel Reeves has unveiled plans to hike the minimum wage for young workers, which will add nearly £7,000 to the cost of taking one on, says the Telegraph.
• “Families on benefits the main winners under Labour despite Rachel Reeves’ claims” – A leading think-tank has found that families on benefits have gained the most under Labour’s policies so far, while middle-income households look set to become poorer for years to come, reports the Mail.
• “Mahmood suspends student visas from four countries” – Shabana Mahmood has slammed on the brakes and suspended student visas from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Sudan and Myanmar, says the BBC.
• “Why Starmer cannot afford to lose more Muslim voters” – Data shows the Muslim vote has the power to deliver a devastating blow to Labour at the ballot box, reveals Ollie Corfe in the Telegraph.
• “Britain has never needed an ‘Islamophobia’ definition less” – Britain doesn’t need an official Islamophobia definition, especially when it’s being weaponised to shut down normal opinions, argues Brendan O’Neill in the Spectator.
• “Hundreds of cases of child abuse involving beliefs in witchcraft go unreported every year in UK, experts reveal” – Experts have warned that hundreds of horrific child abuse cases linked to beliefs in witchcraft and evil spirits continue to go unreported across the UK each year, says the Mail.
• “Reform UK is most disliked party in Britain” – New polls reveal that Reform UK has shot to the top spot as the party most Brits would most like to block tactically, according to UnHerd.
• “How to fix Britain’s broken protest law” – Parliament’s got yet another chance to sort out our completely messed-up protest laws and really should grab it this time, suggests Richard Ekins in the Spectator.
• “Ban on English speakers on new 15-home estate in Welsh coastal village is illegal” – Planners have ruled that trying to ban English speakers from snapping up homes on a new 15-house estate in a Welsh village is illegal, reports the Mail.
• “Ayaan Hirsi Ali launches Restoring the West” – Ayaan Hirsi Ali has launched a new Substack publication called Restoring the West to stand up for Western civilisation.
• “Iran is ‘running out of missiles’” – Iran seems to be running low on missiles after its rocket barrage dropped off a cliff, likely due to strikes smashing its launch gear, says the Telegraph.
• “Thousands of Kurds launch ground offensive in Iran” – Kurdish fighters based in Iraq have reportedly crossed the border and launched a ground offensive inside Iran amid the escalating regional conflict, reports the Mail.
• “Man killed himself ‘under orders from Google chatbot’” – Google is being sued by the family of a Florida man, who says its Gemini AI chatbot, which he came to view as his “wife”, drove him to suicide, according to Reuters.
• “Climate change will cut sheep, goat and cattle farming in half by 2100” – Potsdam Institute researchers are warning that large parts of the world could lose up to half their suitable grazing land by the end of the century due to climate change. Utter nonsense, says Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
• “AOC’s former climate change activist changes tune, distances herself from climate alarmism” – Lucy Biggers, who once helped push Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, has publicly stepped back from climate alarmism and embraced a more sensible approach, reports Bryan Hyde in American Greatness.
• “Hairdressers could be a secret weapon in tackling climate change, new research finds” – When the US Government is funding research to fine tune ways to turn hairdressers into green propaganda agents, we know they have far too much of our cash, says Jo Nova.
• “UN-backed climate club relaunches after mass exodus, antitrust scrutiny” – The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative has quietly relaunched with relaxed membership rules after dozens of big companies walked away amid US antitrust investigations, according to Climate Change Dispatch.
• “Hunga Tonga eruption and climate impacts: cause of the global anomalies?” – Dr Javier Vinós argues that the massive 2022 Hunga Tonga underwater eruption injected enough water vapour into the stratosphere to explain much of the unusual warming and weather patterns seen in 2023–2024, reports Clintel.
• “Aussie climate minister’s ‘let them eat cake’ moment” – Australia’s Energy Minister has suggested drivers simply switch to electric vehicles if they’re so worried about petrol prices spiking over tensions in the Middle East, reports Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
• “This is why Western feminists are silent on Iran” – Western feminists have bought into a crude Third Worldist narrative in which the US is the origin of all wickedness, Israel the ultimate villain and anyone opposed to them must be virtuous, says Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
• “The Left only cares about the slave trade when it’s perpetrated by Europeans” – The same folks who bang on about colonial wrongs have gone pretty quiet now that artefacts are being returned to ancestral African kingdoms that grew rich on the backs of slaves, writes Jake Wallis Simons in the Telegraph.
• “Describing workplaces as ‘competitive’ is too masculine, says Labour” – Labour has told recruiters that words like “competitive” and “ambitious” are too masculine for job ads and should be avoided, reports the Telegraph.
• “Keir Starmer has finally taken drastic action on Iran, by unleashing Britain’s most deranged Net Zero zealotry on the regime” – Sir Keir Starmer has personally dispatched Ed Miliband to Tehran to carpet the place in hundreds of wind turbines and lecture the ayatollahs into submission.

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