News Round-Up

• “Fears over free speech as Labour gives definition to Islamophobia and announces its first ‘anti-Muslim hostility’ tsar” – Fears have been raised for freedom of speech after Labour launched a major crackdown on Islamophobia, reports the Mail.
• “‘Anti-Muslim hostility’ policies risk splitting society, Labour told” – Ministers’ introduction of an official definition of anti-Muslim hostility risks worsening community tensions by allowing Islamists to “undermine our values”, the government’s former anti-extremism tsar has warned, says the Times.
• “Labour’s anti-Muslim hate plan ‘safeguards free speech’ – but they really don’t want to discuss it” – Anyone might think that recent election results had scared the Government into action, writes Tom Harris in the Telegraph.
• “Britain’s aircraft carrier may need French escort” – HMS Prince of Wales might have to rely on a French warship to escort it if it heads to the Middle East because the Royal Navy is so rubbish, according to the Express.
• “Now Saudi cuts oil production as Brits ‘face highest ever petrol pump prices’” – Brits are being urged to drive less amid fears the Middle East crisis will send pump prices to record highs, reports the Mail.
• “The pro-Khamenei groups operating within Britain’s universities” – Student Islam societies at 27 UK universities have been running pro-Khamenei protests and posting tributes while offering grief counselling to classmates, says the Mail.
• “The days are numbered for Iran’s new Supreme Leader” – Tehran has just named Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader. His time at the top could be very short, writes Jonathan Sacerdoti in the Spectator.
• “Iran’s malevolent new Ayatollah shows the regime has learnt nothing” – Iran’s rulers have picked a successor to Khomeini who looks every bit as unhinged as the old man, and the case for getting rid of the whole regime has rarely looked stronger, says Jake Wallis Simons in the Telegraph.
• “Iran’s Supreme Leader is just as bloodthirsty as his father” – Iran’s new Supreme Leader suggests the Islamic Republic’s grim, blood-soaked tradition isn’t going anywhere, warns Jason Brodsky in the Spectator.
• “Iran ‘won’t surrender’ and fighting until regime collapse may not ‘be in our interest’, says Israeli official” – A senior Israeli official has warned that even if the US and Israel flatten Iran the regime still won’t give up – and pushing all the way to collapse might actually backfire, reports the Mail.
• “Donald Trump warns Australia not to let Iran’s female soccer stars return home” – Donald Trump has told Australia not to send the Iranian women’s footballers back home after they asked for protection, insisting they’d probably be killed if they returned, says the Mail.
• “British influencer in Dubai admits: ‘I’m far more scared of being jailed for posting the ‘wrong’ content than I am of missiles’” – In the Mail, a British vlogger living in Dubai confesses he’s way more frightened of being locked up for the “wrong” social-media post than he is of actual missiles flying overhead. But by the UAE or the UK?
• “Syrian becomes first person in UK charged with crimes against humanity” – A former Syrian intelligence officer living in the UK has become the first person to be charged with crimes against humanity in Britain, reports Reuters.
• “Free speech is about principle, not political convenience” – Free speech has to be defended because it’s the right thing to do – especially on university campuses, argues Alan Sokal in the Critic.
• “Cabinet revolt deals fresh blow to Starmer’s digital ID scheme” – Health and education ministers have told Keir Starmer “no thanks” to sharing data for his new digital ID app, according to the Times.
• “Labour MPs ‘in talks to defect to Green Party’” – Zack Polanski’s Green Party has started informal talks with Labour MPs who might be thinking about jumping ship, reports the Telegraph.
• “Ministers admit Keir Starmer’s ‘reset’ with EU will hammer thousands of businesses, sparking fresh accusations of Brexit ‘betrayal’” – Keir Starmer’s big EU ‘reset’ has already forced ministers to admit it will dump expensive Brussels rules on thousands of British firms – even the ones that never sell to Europe, says the Mail.
• “Tim Davie leaves the BBC in a state of crisis” – Tim Davie has walked away from the BBC after leaving it in worse shape than when he arrived – especially when it comes to the impartiality mess management still can’t fix, writes Danny Cohen in the Telegraph.
• “Why is it so difficult to fire bad civil servants?” – Getting rid of useless civil servants is ridiculously hard thanks to all the rules and protections still in place, explains Neil O’Brien in the Spectator.
• “Did you hear about the two Yanks claiming asylum in Co Clare?” – Two American trans women have rocked up in Ireland claiming asylum because they’re scared of what the Trump administration might do, and taxpayers are now putting them up in Co Clare while their cases are heard, according to Fatima Gunning in Gript.
• “Gorton and Denton – the Aussie version” – Britain and Australia have ended up weirdly in sync with their recent by-elections, showing the same mix of failing establishment parties, immigration backlash and rising insurgent Right-wing and Green challengers, notes Paul Collits in the Conservative Woman.
• “Fraudtism” – The huge rise in autism diagnoses has largely been fuelled by money-driven over-diagnosis and outright fraud, claims Randall Bock on his Substack.
• “Inside Canada’s assisted-suicide machine” – One in every 20 deaths in Canada are due to the Government’s assisted-dying programme, reveals Rupa Subramanya in the Free Press.
• “In India, a team of transgender women lead a vaccination revolution” – Transgender outreach workers in India – known as the “Sakhee didis” – are encouraging thousands of kids to get vaccinated, writes Shuriah Niazi in Gavi.
• “What will Ed Miliband do when the lights go out?” – Ed Miliband’s all-in renewable push has left Britain horribly exposed to blackouts and wild fossil-fuel price swings with almost no storage buffer, warns Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “Britain extends climate proselytisation to people with learning difficulties” – As if scaring children wasn’t bad enough, the UK has rolled out special climate change training courses aimed at people with learning disabilities, writes Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
• “Stupid people in Baden-Württemberg hand massive electoral victory to the Greens so they can continue to sacrifice their industry to the weather gods” – Voters in Baden-Württemberg have given the Greens a huge win, basically signing up for more policies that put green ideology ahead of keeping factories open, says Eugyppius on Substack.
• “Survey shows majority of Germans now favour postponing climate targets!” – A new survey has found that most Germans reckon it’s time to push back the 2045 climate neutrality goal to 2050 because the economy just can’t take the hit right now, writes P. Gosselin on NoTricksZone.
• “Is global warming really accelerating?” – On his Irrational Fear Substack, Matthew Wielicki considers two recent studies looking at exactly the same temperature data that have come to totally opposite conclusions.
• “Good news, CBS News is dialling back the climate alarm, Media Matters complains” – CBS News has toned down the climate panic in its coverage, prompting Leftie press watchdog Media Matters to lodge a complaint, reports Anthony Watts in ClimateRealism.
• “Even Canada is walking back environmental funding” – Canada has slashed more than 800 jobs at its Environment and Climate Change Department, notes Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
• “ABC’s unscientific attack on Trump and CO₂” – In Watts Up With That?, Just Facts tears into an episode of ABC’s World News Tonight for mangling the science on CO₂ while slamming Trump for supposedly ditching science altogether.
• “Poverty in Africa: without fossil fuels growth is impossible” – Green policies have locked Africa into ongoing extreme poverty instead of letting it grow its way out, claims Vijay Jayaraj on Clintel.
• “Queen Charlotte really was black, Bridgerton star insists” – One of the Bridgerton cast members has doubled down and insisted Queen Charlotte really was black, says the Mail.
• “Just when you think this Government couldn’t get any more authoritarian…” – As the Government presses ahead with restricting the right to trial by jury, Toby is joined on this week’s Free Speech Union podcast by Labour MP and former Shadow Attorney General Karl Turner MP, who is leading a rebellion against David Lammy’s Courts and Tribunals Bill in the Commons.

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