News Round-Up

• “Police investigate ‘drone threat’ to Israeli embassy” – Scotland Yard has launched an investigation after an Iran-linked militant group claimed two drones carrying radioactive materials were directed at the Israeli embassy, prompting the closure of Kensington Gardens, reports the Telegraph.
• “Trump brutally rebuffs NATO after Hormuz reopens and oil prices plunge: ‘Stay away’” – Donald Trump has told NATO to keep out of the Strait of Hormuz dispute oil prices tumble following, says the Mail
• “Merz splits with Macron over Strait of Hormuz plan” – A rift has opened between Berlin and Paris over how to police the vital oil route, with the German chancellor pushing for US involvement while the French president insists that “belligerent countries” should be excluded, reports the Telegraph.
• “Detention camp migrants banned from heading into town under Reform plans” – Reform’s blueprint for asylum seekers entering the country illegally would see them deprived of freedom of movement and confined to detention sites, notes the Telegraph.
• “Labour pushed to cancel PMQs after Keir Starmer’s Commons meltdown” – Parliamentary sources have revealed that Labour tried to end next week’s Commons session early to spare Sir Keir another bruising clash with Kemi Badenoch, reveals the Mail.
• “Starmer wanted Mandelson. We acted on his decision, Robbins said” – Sir Olly Robbins has told a Commons committee that it was “clear that the Prime Minister wanted to make this appointment himself” well before the formal vetting process concluded, says the Telegraph.
• “In defence of Olly Robbins” – The case has been made that Sir Olly has been left to bear sole responsibility for a process in which the Prime Minister was himself the driving force, according to the Spectator.
• “I was vetted like Mandelson. Even if Starmer isn’t lying, he’s still to blame” – A former senior official has argued that the Prime Minister pre-empted the vetting process by announcing Peter Mandelson’s ambassadorship in December 2024 and that the responsibility for the resulting chaos lies squarely with him, claims the Telegraph.
• “All the times Starmer called for resignations over ministerial code” – Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly demanded that ministers quit for breaching the ministerial code – a record that now sits uncomfortably alongside his Government’s current difficulties, reports the Telegraph.
• “Riot police on a Surrey High Street. A ‘gang rape’ with more questions than answers. And a snapshot of a nation losing faith in authority” – Officers deployed against a crowd of a hundred ordinary members of the public – including mothers with prams – have provided a disturbing illustration of a country in which trust in authority has collapsed, says Fred Kelly in the Mail.
• “Rape outside Epsom church not linked to migrants, say police” – Surrey Police have acknowledged local frustration but say there is no evidence that asylum seekers were involved in the attack, even as community tensions remain high, reports the Telegraph.
• “Gender ideologues run rings round Bridget Phillipson” – The equalities minister has still not published statutory guidance on single-sex spaces, leading critics to suspect she is hoping a reshuffle will spare her the political pain, notes the Times.
• “Labour plans will encourage ‘lunch-hour’ abortions, critics claim” – Campaigners have warned that Wes Streeting’s drive to incentivise clinics to offer same-day treatments will leave women with insufficient time to reconsider their decision, reports the Telegraph.
• “Why is this Green candidate sharing an anti-semitic post?” – A Green Party council candidate in Lambeth has promoted a video claiming a vehicle attack on a synagogue was “not anti-semitism” but an act of revenge for Israeli killings, reveals Andrew Gilligan in the Spectator.
• “Starmer is making life impossible for the Chagos Islanders” – British state agents have boarded a resupply vessel and confiscated basic goods bound for the six Chagossians living on their ancestral island, in what critics say amounts to a deliberate policy of attrition by the Government, reports the Spectator.
• “Miliband’s fight against North Sea drilling is far from over” – The cabinet stand-off between Reeves and Miliband over new North Sea licences has continued unresolved, with the Energy Secretary still resisting new drilling even as the Chancellor quietly dismantles early carbon levies, says the Spectator.
• “‘People are at breaking point’: on the road with the Irish fuel protestors” – Farmers and hauliers blockading Ireland’s only oil refinery have articulated a fury that goes far beyond fuel prices, speaking of a country “captured by a treasonous government,” says Liz Walsh in the Spectator.
• “Violence erupts between Right and Left-wing protesters in Spanish city” – Clashes have broken out at a hard-Right Vox rally in Granada, with activists from both sides coming to blows in scenes that reflect Spain’s deepening political polarisation, reports the Mail.
• “London has fallen” – Sa Leith was wrong to take Sadiq‘s claims at face value, according to me in th Spectator.
• “Patriotic landlord wins battle to keep giant St George’s cross on wall” – A pub landlord has successfully fought off a complaint that his giant St George’s cross looked racist, in a victory that supporters say reflects the right to display national symbols without censure, reports the Mail.
• “Ah the Sky News/BBC ‘adults are back in the room’ edit we’ve all been waiting for” – Alex Armstrong posts a video clip of various useful idiots saying Sir Keir and co would be ‘grown ups’, etc.

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