News Round-Up

• “Government arms embargo on Israel faces legal challenge” – U.K. Lawyers for Israel has sent a formal letter to the Government threatening legal action unless it cancels the decision to suspend around 30 licences for the export of arms to Israel.
• “How Israel learned to fight Hamas deep under ground” – The 300 miles of tunnels beneath Gaza form a remarkable subterranean world – and call for military tactics never attempted before, writes Jake Wallis Simons in the Telegraph.
• “The BBC cannot ignore this shocking evidence of bias” – The BBC should not be allowing the perception to take hold that it is acting as a useful idiot of the enemies of the West, says the Telegraph in a leading article.
• “Keir Starmer slams Southport rioters” – Keir Starmer has blasted “racist” rioters who took to the streets after the Southport child murders and says they will not dictate Government policy, reports the Mail.
• “Racism? Poverty, drink and social media? We still don’t know why Britons rioted a month ago – and we need answers” – After all that violence, we face the choice that confronted Cameron and Thatcher: to seek real explanations or move blindly forward, says criminologist Tim Newburn in the Guardian.
• “Domestic abusers will be freed under early-release programme” – Two men who inflicted years of physical and mental abuse on their partners are among 1,700 prisoners to be released early from prison, reports the Times.
• “Europe has finally realised the enormous costs of mass migration” – Britain is the odd one out as country after country adopts harsh measures to control their borders, notes Daniel Johnson in the Telegraph.
• “Islamist terrorism is staging a barbaric comeback” – From Solingen to Moscow to Hartlepool, jihadist attacks risk becoming the new normal, warns Tom Slater in Spiked.
• “PM removed No.10 Thatcher portrait because she was ‘staring down at me’” – Keir Starmer removed a portrait of Margaret Thatcher from a No.10 study, saying he didn’t like the fact that she was “staring down at me”, according to the Mail.
• “What is the point of the Conservative Party?” – The members should be front and centre of what the Conservative Party does, and it should be delivering the conservatism they wish to see, says Christopher Howarth in Conservative Home.
• “The Labour Party does not understand the most basic rules of economics” – Labour believe it can interfere with prices and wages without any cost, writes Daniel Hannan in the Telegraph.
• “Charlie Mullins selling penthouse as he flees Britain before tax raid” – Britain’s richest plumber has put his £12 million London penthouse on the market as he prepares to flee Britain ahead of a mooted Labour tax raid, reports the Mail.
• “Keir Starmer is governing as the prisoner of Labour’s Leftist factions” – This isn’t Blair Mark II. Why isn’t the PM behaving with the courage his electoral win would seem to justify? wonders Janet Daley in the Telegraph.
• “Farage’s new boss: we’re serious about winning the next election” – The Reform Party’s new Chairman Zia Yusuf has set a goal of nothing less than making Reform the next government, writes Tim Shipman in the Times.
• “Don’t ditch the dukes” – The House of Lords, as Gilbert and Sullivan put it, “does nothing in particular and does it very well”. Until they have a proposal for something better, Brits should stick to what works, says Dan Hannan in the Washington Examiner.
• “Starmer under mounting pressure to U-turn over winter fuel cash cuts” – Keir Starmer is facing a major cross-party effort to kill off plans to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners, reports the Mail.
• “‘We’re going to be unpopular over winter fuel payment cut’” – Keir Starmer has declared his Government is “going to have to be unpopular” amid a backlash to his decision to cut winter fuel payments, says the BBC.
• “How you have paid over £2,000 more than inflation in water bills” – Ofwat’s forecasts reveal that customers will pay an average of £473 this year, £67 more than the £406 they would have paid if bills had matched inflation, reports the Mail.
• “What the AR6 auction results mean for consumers” – The Government’s AR6 renewable auction results are being hailed as a “great success”, but they’ll really just hike bills and benefit foreign investors, says David Turver on his Eigen Values Substack.
• “Electric vehicles contribute more to river pollution than other cars” – Heavier electric vehicles are a key driver of the nearly 20% of river pollution in England from road run-off, reveals the Mail.
• “Calls to free Lucy Letby are crass and insensitive” – The Health Secretary says that, unless the courts suggest otherwise, we should continue to regard Lucy Letby as a “convicted killer”, according to LBC.
• “800,000 children on ‘broken’ NHS waiting lists” – A review by eminent surgeon and independent peer Lord Darzi is expected to highlight how children are being let down by the health service, reports the Mail.
• “Working from home is good for the U.K. economy says Business Secretary” – The new Business Secretary has backed remote working, saying it is good for the economy because people are more productive when they are “happy at home”, according to the Mail.
• “Police Scotland confirms it allows rapists to self-identify as women” – Police Scotland has been slammed for allowing rapists to “self-declare” their gender identity to foster “a strong sense of belonging”, reports STV News.
• “Labour won’t close biological sex ‘loophole’ in Equality Act” – The Government will not carry forward plans to rewrite the Equality Act 2010 that were aimed at protecting single-sex spaces, says the Telegraph.
• “The week that sent trans fanatics into retreat” – After years of kowtowing to extreme ideology, Britain’s institutions are finally questioning some of the trans lobby’s most dangerous ideas, writes George Chesterton in the Telegraph.
• “British taxpayers foot £825,000 bill for study on monarchy’s future” – British taxpayers have footed an £825,000 bill for a study on the monarchy’s future in the Caribbean as anti-royal activists continue to agitate for its abolition, reports the Mail. 
• “Young people will not fight to save a country they’ve been taught to hate” – The collapse in pride in our history will have serious consequences, warns Simon Heffer in the Telegraph.
• “When you separate boys and girls, there always has to be a reason. That reason can’t be set aside because a child is confused about their sex” – Helen Joyce, Director of Advocacy at Sex Matters, talks about the group’s new guidance for teachers on how to navigate trans issues.

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