News Round-Up

• “Iran rejects peace plan and mocks Trump” – Iran has rejected a 15-point US peace proposal and mocked Donald Trump, even as the White House insists dialogue remains open and warns it is prepared to “unleash hell” if Tehran refuses to negotiate, reports the Telegraph.
• “Iran rejects Trump’s peace plan as 7,000-strong US ground invasion force masses on Tehran’s doorstep” – The US has massed around 7,000 troops – including 2,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division – after Iran snubbed the peace proposal with a series of demands the White House dismissed as “ridiculous”, says the Mail.
• “Starmer can’t publish his defence plan because it is tantamount to an admission of defeat” – The Strategic Defence Review has been exposed as little more than wishful thinking, with its plans almost certain to prove unaffordable given the scale of cuts already baked in, says the Telegraph.
• “Depleted British Army only strong enough to seize a small market town ‘on a good day’ warns general – as Royal Navy is forced to use German warship to lead Nato deployment” – General Sir Richard Barrons has warned that UK land forces are incapable of anything “substantial” in a war and would be reduced to minor supporting roles in US or Nato-led operations, reveals the Mail.
• “Shabana Mahmood’s immigration reforms face yet another setback as migrant campaigners prepare to launch major new legal challenge” – Plans to reform indefinite leave to remain face immediate legal action the moment they are unveiled in detail, with campaigners already preparing their case, claims the Mail.
• “MPs urge Mahmood to block decriminalising of late abortions” – Dozens of MPs and peers have written to Shabana Mahmood and Wes Streeting to protest against proposals to decriminalise abortion up to birth, says the Telegraph.
• “Abortion numbers are soaring – and that is not a sign of a healthy society” – The abortion rate has climbed relentlessly since 2022, reaching 23 per 1,000 women in 2023, pointing to deep social dysfunction that policymakers are unwilling to confront, writes Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
• “Farage suspends Reform candidate who mocked Jewish group” – A Reform UK mayoral candidate who likened a Jewish community patrol group to “Islamists on horseback” has been suspended by the party pending an investigation, reports the Telegraph.
• “Labour on course for humiliating election defeat in Wales as new poll suggests nationalists Plaid will control Senedd with Reform leading opposition” – Labour is projected to collapse to just 12 Senedd seats, leapfrogged by both Plaid Cymru and Reform, says the Mail.
• “Morgan McSweeney didn’t tell police he was Starmer’s Chief of Staff when he reported theft of phone containing Mandelson messages” – A Cabinet minister has admitted it was a “cock-up” that sensitive exchanges between McSweeney and Peter Mandelson were lost when the phone was stolen, notes the Mail.
• “Nottingham police ‘too worried about being called racist to’ act on Calocane warnings” – Families of Valdo Calocane’s victims have accused Nottinghamshire Police of failing to act on warnings out of fear of being labelled racist, says the Telegraph.
• “Former Labour aide admits possessing 500 indecent images of children” – Former councillor and Labour MP’s researcher Conor McGrath has pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children between June 2024 and March 2025 at Stevenage magistrates’ court, reports the Telegraph.
• “Crispin Blunt admits possessing crystal meth” – A former Conservative MP has admitted four charges of possessing Class A and Class B drugs at Westminster magistrates’ court, with sentencing expected to follow, says the Telegraph.
• “ITV bosses step in ‘at the very top’ after row erupts over Ed Balls’s Good Morning Britain interview with antisemitism campaigner after Golders Green attack” – Senior ITV executives have become directly involved in a growing internal row after Ed Balls was accused of “whataboutery” during a controversial interview with an antisemitism campaigner, reveals the Mail.
• “‘Anti-Semitic’ art exhibition put target on my back, says journalist” – Investigative journalist David Collier says his personal safety was put at risk by a drawing in the antisemitic exhibition, which has prompted a formal complaint and sparked a wider debate about publicly funded art, notes the Telegraph.
• “Row over ‘Islamic prayers’ at Church of England primary school” – A Church of England primary school has found itself at the centre of a controversy after parents alleged that children were asked to participate in a Muslim prayer during lessons, says the Telegraph.
• “Why is the National Trust so obsessed with race?” – Britain’s heritage has once again fallen victim to progressive ideology, writes Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “Resident doctors to strike for six more days after Easter” – Junior doctors in England have announced a further six-day walkout beginning on April 7th, reigniting the long-running dispute over pay and jobs just as patients prepare for the Easter break, says the Times.
• “Co-op threatens to sack staff who tackle shoplifters” – Co-op employees have been warned they face disciplinary action if they intervene to stop thieves, notes the Telegraph.
• “FA hits back at Reform’s ‘utter woke nonsense’ claim” – The Football Association has defended its target for 30% of coaches to come from ethnic minority backgrounds after Suella Braverman branded the policy “inherently racist”, says the Telegraph.
• “Teenagers to face full social media ban in first trial of its kind” – A six-week pilot programme has been announced to test varying levels of social media restrictions on British teenagers, reports the Telegraph.
• “Apple asks British iPhone users to prove they are over 18” – Apple has begun asking UK users to verify their age, a move that signals a broader industry shift as Britain tightens online child safety regulations, says the Telegraph.
• “Meta and Google damaged girl’s mental health, landmark trial concludes” – A court has found Meta and Google responsible for a teenage user becoming addicted to their platforms – including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube – in a ruling with sweeping implications for the tech industry, notes the Times.
• “Google AI bots can get locked in a ‘depressive spiral’ and refuse to carry out tasks if they are repeatedly told they are wrong” – Researchers have found that some Google AI chatbots exhibit increasingly stubborn and uncooperative behaviour when corrected repeatedly, raising new concerns about the unpredictability of large language models, reports the Mail.
• “Disney abandons $1 billion deal with OpenAI after it cancels ‘AI slop’ app” – Disney has pulled a $1 billion investment in OpenAI after the tech giant shut down its AI video application just six months after launch, says the Telegraph.
• “Badenoch demands North Sea oil and gas is ramped up now as she accuses Starmer of letting Net Zero zealot Ed Miliband ‘run the Government’” – In a bruising PMQs, Kemi Badenoch insisted Keir Starmer could approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw projects within months and deliver a meaningful increase in domestic energy production, reveals the Mail.
• “The oil crisis is exactly what the Net Zero brigade wants” – Energy scarcity has always been the primary mechanism for forcing the public into Net Zero compliance, and the current crisis is delivering precisely the outcome its proponents want, says Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph.
• “Britain risks missing out on the great coal revival” – As the Iran war drives up global gas prices, countries with accessible coal reserves are racing to mine cheaper energy sources while Britain remains hamstrung by its Net Zero commitments, notes the Telegraph.
• “Labour bans Chinese wind turbine maker over national security concerns” – The Government has barred a Chinese wind turbine manufacturer from the UK market, scuppering its plans to build a £1.5 billion factory, in a rare security intervention by the Labour administration, says the Telegraph.
• “The god of climate apocalypse is dying – Trump pulled the plug” – Sweeping cuts to US Government funding have dealt a devastating blow to climate alarmism, reports Public.
• “I’m a car salesman. The zero-emissions vehicles target is a joke” – A frontline car dealer tells the Telegraph the zero-emissions vehicles mandate is detached from reality, with the charging infrastructure absent and public demand stubbornly low despite Government pressure.
• “Thames shipwreck loaded with explosives is ‘sitting duck’ for drone attacks” – Security experts have warned that the sunken SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames estuary is uniquely vulnerable to a drone strike and an explosion could devastate nearby communities, notes the Telegraph.
• “Letby investigator praised police officer who helped put her behind bars” – Shaun Edwards, who was working on Lucy Letby’s Criminal Cases Review Commission application, previously praised the detective whose evidence helped secure the nurse’s conviction, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Comedian faces $27 million lawsuit for joking about The Lion King” – Learnmore Jonasi, a Zimbabwean comedian who has long criticised Hollywood’s depiction of Africa, faces a ruinous legal claim over remarks he made about the film’s lyrics, says the Times.
• “Kemi Badenoch asks Keir Starmer if he’ll approve licenses for North Sea oil and gas fields” – Watch Kemi Badenoch at PMQs skewer Starmer over Labour’s emasculation of the oil and gas industry.

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