- “Failed asylum seeker can stay in UK – because she joined terror group” – A Nigerian woman who tried and failed eight times to secure asylum in Britain has finally been granted the right to stay after joining a terrorist organisation to boost her claim, reports the Telegraph.
- “Gaza immigration judge’s father is ex-Guardian journalist who campaigns against Israel online” – The immigration judge who made the controversial decision to grant a Palestinian family the right to live in Britain is the son of a former Guardian journalist who campaigns against Israel, according to the Telegraph.
- “Judicial reform is now long overdue” – Keir Starmer is right to say that Parliament should make the rules on immigration, says the Telegraph in a leading article. It is within his power to make this happen.
- “How to fix our immigration laws” – Instead of hiding behind unwelcome judicial decisions, perhaps it is time to put Parliament back in charge of our immigration system, writes Alexander Horne in the Spectator.
- “Report finds Prevent case into Sir David Amess’ killer was closed ‘too quickly’” – A bombshell report reveals that the Government’s counter-terror programme closed MP Sir David Amess’ murderer’s case too soon, reports the Mail.
- “The Islamist threat to free speech in Sweden and the UK” – Western governments are retreating from defending free speech out of fear of violent backlash, says Potkin Azarmehr in Focus on Western Islamism. In doing so, they betray the very values that make liberal democracy worth defending.
- “‘I identify as a llama, and you should respect me’” – Keir Starmer’s new Health minister Ashley Dalton has raised eyebrows by backing the idea of people identifying as llamas, reports the Mail.
- “Children who identify as animals ‘should be shown empathy’” – According to guidance funded by the Home Office, children who identify as animals and walk on all fours should be shown “empathy”, according to the Times.
- “Inside the Labour WhatsApp group that got two MPs suspended” – In the Times, Aubrey Allegretti reports on the secret WhatsApp group that has shocked Westminster.
- “Rachel Reeves launches investigation into damning OBR leak” – Rachel Reeves has launched a leak inquiry after it emerged the official spending watchdog has warned the Chancellor is on track to break her fiscal rules, reports the Telegraph.
- “Richest households shoulder more than half of Britain’s income tax bill” – The richest fifth of households are paying more than half of Britain’s income tax bill, says the Telegraph.
- “Labour’s high-tax Britain on the brink of generational decline” – Britain’s soaring taxes are driving birth rates to historic lows and threatening long-term economic stability, reports the Telegraph.
- “Labour MPs push for Government to support four-day working week” – A dozen Labour MPs are pushing ministers to introduce a four-day working week as part of the Government’s overhaul of workers’ rights, says the Times.
- “Is this the real reason Rachel Reeves is adorning her walls with ghastly lockdown art?” – In the Telegraph, Robert Taylor slams Rachel Reeves’ replacement of historic portraits with ugly lockdown art as an absurd tribute to a disastrous era that wrecked lives but handed Labour the keys to power.
- “In defence of Badenoch” – As she clocks up her 100th day, Kemi needs a loyal party, says Tom Harris in the Telegraph.
- “Who were Richard Hermer’s worst clients?” – In the Spectator, Steerpike digs into Richard Hermer KC’s dodgy legal career, defending figures like Gerry Adams, al-Qaeda associate Rangzieb Ahmed and the mother of an ISIS “Beatle”.
- “Reform UK sets up dedicated ‘defections unit’” – Reform UK has set up a new unit to vet potential Conservative and Labour defectors ahead of the local elections, reports the Express.
- “Sue Gray’s peerage is a shameless reward for failure” – The House of Lords is not supposed to be a plush retirement scheme for political cronies, says Nigel Farage in the Telegraph.
- “Football doesn’t need a regulator” – Starmer should heed what Premier League leaders are saying about the unintended consequences of the Football Governance Bill, writes Len Shackleton in the Spectator.
- “A guide to the BBC’s anti-Trump bias – from immigration to trans rights” – The national broadcaster is obliged to remain impartial yet its coverage of the US President has been less than flattering, says Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
- “Starmer’s Britain is no longer a democracy” – We will soon find out whether we are living through the last gasp of a dying, authoritarian, elitist technocratic regime, or whether Britain’s democracy is truly finished, writes Allister Heath in the Telegraph.
- “‘This Government is destroying free speech!’” – On the latest episode of the Winston Marshall Show, Winston sits down with Toby to discuss Labour’s draconian free speech curtailments.
- “Our politicians should be taught how to govern” – Smart young people are more likely to work in finance, law or tech than go into government, perhaps because politics provides very little real preparation, says Munira Mirza in the Times.
- “Council staff get day off after facing residents’ wrath over LTN” – Council officers defending a low-traffic neighbourhood faced such hostility that some were left “in tears” – and all got a day off, according to the Standard.
- “Reform declares war on renewables” – In the Spectator, Lucy Dunn reports on Reform UK’s bid to scrap ”Net stupid Zero” and tax renewables to win over voters hit by high energy bills.
- “How the sun and cosmic rays change our climate” – On the Freedom Research podcast, Danish astrophysicist Henrik Svensmark explains how changes in solar activity and cosmic rays can influence our climate.
- “Could judge U-turn wreck assisted dying Bill?” – Hopes are rising that a new law legalising assisted dying could be defeated by MPs unhappy at plans to “water down” safeguards, according to the Mail.
- “‘I was part of the panel that reviewed the Lucy Letby case. I believe the trial was fundamentally flawed’” – The Lucy Letby trial was fundamentally flawed, and action must be taken before it causes yet more suffering for those involved, says Prof Neena Modi in the Guardian.
- “Inside the People’s Vaccine Inquiry – part three” – In TCW, Dr Clare Craig exposes the suppressed evidence surrounding the Covid vaccines, revealing how the narrative of their safety and efficacy was driven by faith, not science.
- “The MHRA papers have been republished” – On the TTE Substack, Dr Tom Jefferson and Prof Carl Heneghan note that the MHRA has secretly republished its withdrawn meeting minutes – all but highlighting what it wanted to hide.
- “Israel gears up for new war with Hamas: IDF sends troop reinforcements” – Israel is making preparations to resume the war in Gaza after giving Hamas an ultimatum to hand over the remaining hostages or see the ceasefire end on Saturday, reports the Mail.
- “Trump has backed Hamas into a corner” – The message from Trump and Netanyahu is unmistakable: the era of appeasement is over, writes Jonathan Sacerdoti in the Spectator.
- “Euro judges could end Denmark’s plan to break up ‘non-western’ ghettos” – A bid to break up “ghettos” of “non-Western” immigrant communities in Denmark is set to be challenged in the EU’s top court after residents accused the Government of racial discrimination, reports the Mail.
- “New bill to protect free speech after passing of tougher hate speech laws” – A bill to enshrine freedom of speech in the Australian Constitution has been tabled in the Senate after the passing of tough new hate speech laws, reports Rebekah Barnett on her Substack.
- “Trump and Putin to begin talks on ending Ukraine war ‘immediately’” – President Trump and President Putin have begun talks to end the war in Ukraine three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to the Hill.
- “Delight in Moscow, fear in Kyiv. Will Trump sideline Ukraine?” – Putin will take Trump’s contact as a tacit approach to rebuilding bridges with his country — and as a boost to his ambitions to retain Ukrainian territory, says Marc Bennetts in the Times.
- “Trump’s Defence Secretary delivers bombshell blow to Ukraine” – In a devastating blow to Kyiv, the Trump administration has said that America will no longer bear the lion’s share of aid to Ukraine, reports the Mail.
- “Journalists barred from Oval Office over refusal to use ‘Gulf of America’” – Trump has blocked journalists from the Oval Office for refusing to follow his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, according to Fox News.
- “Jeffrey Epstein ‘client list’ among files to be declassified” – Jeffrey Epstein’s “client list” is set to be released by a new Trump administration task force charged with the declassification of federal secrets, reports LBC.
- “Epstein files: ‘It’s a bigger story than the world has ever known’” – The paedophile financier has been linked to countless famous people but what could Trump’s task force uncover about his crimes and contacts? asks Josie Ensor in the Times.
- “Is Pope Francis Rory Stewart in a frock?” – The Pope’s intervention against Trump feels like a metaphor for the elites’ moral preening on the immigration question, says Brendan O’Neill in the Spectator.
- “From Trump to Europe’s populists, it’s not fascism that’s rising – it’s anger at broken politics” – The voters are rebelling against the failed, internationalist visions of both Left and Right, writes Robert Tombs in the Telegraph.
- “The coming British civil war” – On the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast, Louise Perry talks to Prof David Betz about his fear that a civil war could break out in Britain within the next five years.
- “Founder of Surrey Pride had sex with 12 year-old boy, trial hears” – Stephen Ireland, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, has been accused of multiple child sex offences including raping a child and causing a child to engage in sexual activity, according to the Mail.
- “NHS staff considered reporting nurse to police for ‘misgendering’ trans doctor” – NHS staff considered calling in police to investigate a nurse who complained about having to share a changing room with a trans doctor, reports the Scottish Express.
- “Nicola Sturgeon has left Scotland a land where words mean nothing” – In the Times, Alex Massie slams the Humpty Dumpty politics of Scottish self-ID laws, where words mean whatever the ruling class wants.
- “NHS trust unveils ‘nonsense’ new rainbow Pride badge despite government funding cut” – An NHS trust has developed a new rainbow Pride badge a year after government funding was cut for the previous one, reports the Sun.
- “Welsh museums promoting woke activism cost taxpayers more than £75 million over two years” – Wales’ cash strapped national museums have been accused of wasting public money on “woke exhibitions”, says Dia Chakravarty in the Telegraph.
- “Is even Disney moving away from trigger warnings?” – Disney is reportedly removing its patronising trigger warnings from many of the films on its streaming service, writes Tom Slater in the Spectator.
- “‘Readers don’t care about cultural appropriation’” – In the Telegraph, Claire Allfree talks to author Alexander McCall Smith on fictionalising African culture, ‘offensive’ writing and his mind-blowing work ethic.
- “Jailed for the crime of loving my children?” – In the New Conservative, Frank Haviland relays his harrowing divorce battle, in which fighting for his children’s well-being risks making him a criminal in the eyes of the court.
- “This is not satire” – Worcester, Massachusetts has voted to become a “Sanctuary City for Transgender and Gender Diverse People”. The City Council Meeting before the vote was… interesting.
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Wednesday Morning Nine Mile Ride & New Wokingham Road Wokingham
https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-war-threat-europe-within-5-years-danish-intelligence-ddis-warns/
Today’s ‘spot the connection’ special.
Can you spot the connection?:
‘If Moscow perceives NATO as weak, Russia could be ready to wage a “large-scale war” in Europe within five years.’
And
“Negotiations to purchase Aster 30 have concluded and a contract placement is expected imminently,”
https://www.naval-technology.com/news/uk-contract-for-aster-30-missiles-expected-imminently-says-mod/
How does Ukraine destroy incoming ballistic missiles?
Can you spot the connection?:
https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/russia-ukraine-war-donald-trump-call-zelensky-putin-nhd9p5snj
President Trump said that he would “probably” meet in person with Putin in the near term, suggesting that a meeting could take place in Saudi Arabia.
Asked specifically about Ukraine being an equal member in a potential peace process President Trump responded, “Interesting question. I think they have to make peace.”
And
‘All is over. Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. She has suffered in every respect by her association with the Western democracies…’
Winston Churchill
Was Politico not one of the beneficiaries of USAID’s largesse? Are they still publishing?
Just why would Russia want to wage any sort of war in Europe? To gain access to NHS’s transgender surgery perhaps? Or access to expensive US LNG? To be able to drive on the left of the road? Would Putin prefer Buckingham Palace to the Kremlin?
Just why would Russia want to bankrupt itself and kill its citizens purely to wage war somewhere?
And why are you promoting such rhetoric, especially since you equally state we cannot protect ourselves anyway?
How about promoting peace? How about extolling how beneficial it would be to develop friendly relationships with all countries of the world, especially Russia and China, rather than trying to out-arm them?
Ukraine has committed disgusting crimes against its own citizens, and Ukraine has additionally been disgracefully exploited and misused by USA and ourselves to weaken and threaten Russia. Do you regard either of these facts as honourable?
And Trump and Kellogg will both soon learn that the world no longer runs according to the whims of aggressive and merciless US politicians.
‘International audiences often struggle to understand the true nature of Russian imperialism because they have been encouraged to view Russia as a nation rather than an empire.
While academics and historians have always made clear distinctions between Great Britain or France and their colonial possessions, for example, this has not usually been the case when dealing with Russia.
Instead, occupied countries within the Tsarist and Soviet empires such as Ukraine and Georgia have often been treated as ethnic minorities rather than captive nations.’
‘Ukraine’s demise as an independent state would confirm the failure of the existing international security architecture. In its place, we would enter a new era of international affairs dominated by a handful of Great Powers seeking to establish their own spheres of influence, with smaller countries reduced to the role of buffer states.
A climate of insecurity would initially take root from the Baltic to the Balkans, and would soon spread to the wider world.
The collapse of the rules-based international order would inevitably undermine the credibility of the West.
Meanwhile, authoritarian regimes such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea would be significantly strengthened. Moscow would almost certainly escalate its ongoing hybrid war against the democratic world, and may seek further territorial gains in Central Asia, the Caucasus, or Eastern Europe.’
What ‘existing international security architecture’? There is only USA with Trump suddenly wanting to annex multiple, peaceful, allied countries.
And ‘a handful of Great Powers seeking to establish their own spheres of influence, with smaller countries reduced to the role of buffer states’? Welcome to the real world.
‘A climate of insecurity’ is certainly being propagated to great effect by the current US President, whereby he will soon be facing seasoned politicians who will surely put him in his place.
And, please, do not go on about the supposed ‘rules-based international order’, the phrase which every US politician throws out there to justify some completely outrageous and illegal US action.
And our wonderful ‘democratic world’, with its sad examples of Romania, Austria, …
‘But it also underlines the risk created by permitting the current fundamental instability in European security arrangements to remain in place.
Current trends are not heading toward a stable and predictable new dividing line in Europe between a dominant NATO alliance and a weak association of Russia with a handful of ambivalent partners.
Rather, they are on a course toward a renuclearized and volatile hybrid confrontation between a West that is less united and self-confident than it appears and a Russia that sees its stakes in this confrontation as existential and will, therefore, have incentives to exploit and exacerbate internal Western vulnerabilities.
The two sides have few channels of diplomatic communication through which to manage crises, and they have almost no formal and informal rules of the game akin to those that helped to keep the Cold War cold.
As a result, this unstable division in Europe will be constantly prone to new crises in battleground states such as Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kaliningrad, and elsewhere, any of which could escalate into catastrophic consequences.’
With USA now turning its back on Ukraine and telling Europe Ukraine is forthwith our problem, there is a certain likelihood that NATO will end up being dissolved, which would be a very good thing for world peace. Then there only remains the EU under Von der Leyen continuing its pathetic attempt to overturn Putin, with its 15 sanction packages, its illegal retention of billions of Russian assets, its provocations in the Baltic Sea, its provocations against Kaliningrad, against the so-called “Shadow fleet”, its meddling in the elections in Georgia and Moldova, as well as even in EU countries whose leadership is, or threatens to become, against such EU policies.
In other words, the only current threat to world peace is from our corrupt, western leaders.
Trump’s Defence Secretary delivers bombshell blow to Ukraine
Mr. Hegseth told them that President Trump “intends to end this war by diplomacy and bringing both Russia and Ukraine to the table.” But for Ukraine to try to regain all of the territory Russia has seized since 2014, as it insists it must do, “will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,”
The body language at the meeting between the U.S. Defence Secretary and NATO and Ukrainian defence ministers was terrible.
Unsurprising.
Europe, including Britain’s posture on defence has been frankly pathetic and the chickens are now coming home to roost.
How many formed armoured divisions can those NATO defence ministers put in the field?
None. Not one.
Poland will shortly be able to but they are only now receiving the requisite equipment and what does Poland see when it looks behind it?
“Look at the British Army right now. I mean, it makes me want to cry, almost.”
Former US National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster
Britain is pitied……..
Britain didn’t see this ‘sell out’ coming?
Why not?
‘“A second Trump administration would define China as a “formidable military and economic adversary.” It would start from the understanding that “the Chinese Communist Party, represents the most comprehensive threat to our national security since the fall of the Soviet Union three decades ago.”
Sure, start beating the war drums against China now …
‘The negative rethink on China dominant today was not driven by hostile know-nothings who wanted to see Beijing fail, but by many of those who had been closest to China and wanted to see China succeed.
Like Small, they now view China as a scary place and the CCP as a determined and dangerous global adversary.
Small warns that Western success can be secured only if the West’s leaders now focus like a laser on this implacable and determined rival.
By extension, joint force leaders must prioritize the growing Chinese military as the pacing, near-peer threat.
They must innovate, organize, and train the joint force primarily to counter a CCP-led China that the October 2022 U.S. National Security Strategy identifies as the only country with both the intent to reshape the American-led international order and, increasingly, the power to achieve it.’
Is China a military threat to UK? No, UK is thousands of miles away from China and I am sure China has no interest in invading UK – why on earth would they want to?
Is USA a military threat to China? Yes, US has troops stationed on an island just four miles off the Chinese mainland, as well as troops stationed on Taiwan. Why? Who is the aggressor in this case? Right, USA, because China is not happy with your idea of an ‘American-led international order’ and why should they be? USA is also thousands of miles away from China.
USA has its military bases all over the world. If you think that is a good situation, I do not. USA acts in the interests of USA and USA alone.
“Inside the People’s Vaccine Inquiry – part three”
Summarising lines at the end:
“The benefits were an illusion. The harms were real. And those who dared to speak out have been attacked. History will not look kindly on those who refused to listen.”
Trump and Putin to begin talks on ending Ukraine war ‘immediately
“Biden’s preference for using the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war to hurt Russia rather than help Ukraine win the war is also why the United States has done nothing to promote a cease-fire or a peace agreement… Under an America First approach to the Ukraine conflict, once it became a stalemate and a war of attrition, it was in the best interests of Ukraine, America and the world to seek a ceasefire and negotiate a peace agreement with Russia.”
Good luck with that.
We know the Russian negotiating position. It is the same as every other Russian negotiating position.
‘While Westerners will often approach negotiations with a cooperative attitude, the Russian businessman or politician will approach it with force and a confrontation mentality. This difference often prevents the two sides from reaching common ground for the duration of the negotiation.’
‘The confrontation with Russia is a reality and will last decades.’ Kellogg
What happens next?
Oil prices just dropped by 2%
‘WTI crude oil is trading at $70.68, holding within a descending channel that continues to define its bearish trend.’
‘U.S. crude inventories surged by 4.1 million barrels, exceeding analyst expectations of a 3-million-barrel increase, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). A rise in inventories signals weaker demand and excess supply’
https://www.fxleaders.com/news/2025/02/13/oil-prices-drop-2-as-peace-talks-rising-u-s-inventories-weigh-on-wti/
‘Russia’s fiscal breakeven oil price (the amount to balance the external current account) …$77 per barrel by 2025…….the external breakeven oil price (the amount to balance budget spending for extraction), currently at $41 per barrel,’
Oops!
This only ends one way.
‘“Trump dissuaded Putin from invading neighbouring states because his leadership and foreign policies promoted deterrence and peace through strength. Putin saw in Trump a strong and decisive president who was prepared to use all tools of American power—peaceful and coercive—to defend U.S. interests.”’
https://www.russiamatters.org/analysis/keith-kellogg-russia-and-ukraine
“Peaceful and coercive”? You are joking.
Trump never approaches negotiations with a co-operative attitude. He starts off high and hard, with threats stated or implied, every time.
That video is something else. It’s quite the coalition of the mentally ill.
The trans and queer strike me as incredibly passive aggressive people.If all they asked is to be allowed to get on with their lives however they want, that would be absolutely fine. But they don’t.
They want to change your behaviour too. They want you to act in a certain way, say certain things, accept or believe certain ideas. Basically they demand that you see things the way they do and demand you alter your behaviour accordingly.
So if they say they are a llama, or a cat, or a different “gender” you have to play along with that madness. They don’t accept that you don’t agree with them and treat them as you see them.
It’s a very weird, very modern day form of aggression.
And they demand we pay for their lifestyles.
“Children who identify as animals ‘should be shown empathy”
It’s not called showing identity it’s called pretend, you know, playing!
They should be fed the animal’s diet and stabled on straw.
They’re not well. They should be taken to the vet.
A faster service than at the GP and cheaper than private medical care!
To the child, yes, it’s pretend playing.
But to the adults pushing these “furries”, animal “onesies” and costumes for children and adults, it is leading down the garden path toward The Normalization of Bestiality.
“The coming British civil war”
It’s almost as if the government is pushing for this very outcome by the policies they are forcing on the British, then when it comes, its standing army of imported soldiers can be mustered to lay down the insurrection quickly and invoke marshal law.
Lockdowns and dictatorship, sorted!
I might have made similar points previously Dinger.
There is a lot of ridiculous commentary on the promise of peace talks over Ukraine. People are already drawing conclusions after only hearing one side of the story.
Unusually it is Trump’s view that is being taken at face value, contrary to the usual practice of ridiculing every pronouncement.
I suggest waiting until we hear the position of both (all three, four, five?) sides before embarrassing ourselves with predictions.
For clarification, the primary participants should be Ukraine and Russia, but also batting for Ukraine will be UK, NATO and Western Europe. The other European nations each have their own agenda depending on their relationships with Russia.
Trump is on Trump’s side and his major driver appears to be getting America’s money back from Ukraine
As always, take what DJT says seriously but not literally.
That’s so bang on. I’m going to borrow it.
What is the point of a News Round-up where 90% of the featured articles are paywalled?
Telegraph, Times, Spectator…yawn.
I agree, it is irritating, but at least we get to hear the basics.
https://archive.ph/ will allow you to view them. And as for the DT my Brave browser always bypasses (not with Spectator nor Times)
I use Brave browser but it does not get round the paywalls.
Thanks
I suspect the DS gets funding for it. I have no clue if that is the case and could be totally wrong.
Stewart, I think you must be right.
“BREAKING: Worcester City Council votes to become a transgender sanctuary city.”
So now we have Sanctuary Cities for various minority groups, such as Third World Immigrants and Transgender People, in which the city defies the national government edicts and “laws”.
Therefore, no one should object to a Sanctuary City for White People, defying the national government edicts and “laws” on diversity, equality and inclusion.
“NHS trust unveils ‘nonsense’ new rainbow Pride badge despite government funding cut”
When are they going to promote a new “Adultery Pride” badge, for example?