News Round-Up

• “Starmer is playing Russian roulette. Every time he refuses to answer a question, another chamber of the gun rotates” – Sir Keir Starmer has finally come clean and revealed to the House of Commons who was responsible for appointing Peter Mandelson, despite the objections of the security services – it was the fault of everyone but him, says Dan Hodges in the Mail.
• “Starmer admits Mandelson fiasco ‘beggars belief’” – Sir Keir Starmer admitted to Parliament that the Mandelson vetting fiasco “beggars belief”, prompting a chorus of jeers from MPs, reports the Telegraph.
• “Badenoch’s questions to Starmer in full – and his responses” – Kemi Badenoch put six questions to Sir Keir in the Commons on his handling of the Lord Mandelson scandal; the Telegraph summarises his less than impressive answers.
• “Foreign Office chief sacked over Mandelson vetting scandal to be grilled by MPs: Sir Olly Robbins to maintain he did nothing wrong” – Sir Keir faces fresh scrutiny today over the Mandelson vetting scandal as the mandarin he sacked is grilled by MPs over the affair, according to the Mail.
• “Police to pay IT director £34,000 in compensation” – Police have been ordered to pay an IT director £34,000 in compensation after wrongfully detaining him overnight over a blog post, reports the Mail.
• “Unemployment to top two million for first time in more than a decade” – Unemployment has been forecast to top two million for the first time in more than a decade as the Iran war hits Britain’s weak economy, says GB News.
• “Ex-parliamentary employee arrested” – A former parliamentary employee has been arrested under anti-hacking laws, says the Times.
• “The uncomfortable truth of what has gone wrong in Oldham” – Oldham has been torn apart by grooming gang cover-ups, paedophilia and intimidation while both Labour and the Tories have effectively given up on the town, reports Robert Hardman in the Mail.
• “Firebomb attacks on black churches would be national emergency” – Kemi Badenoch claims there would be a national emergency if black churches were attacked in the same way as Jewish synagogues, according to the Telegraph.
• “These antisemitic attacks are just the canary in the coal mine” – If Tehran is responsible for criminal damage at London synagogues then we are witnessing Iranian terror plots being played out on UK soil, writes Stephen Pollard in the Telegraph.
• “Farage says Reform would give migrants up to £1,000 each to leave the UK” – Nigel Farage says a Reform government will offer migrants up to £1,000 each to leave the UK as part of a plan to remove 400,000 failed asylum seekers, according to the Mail.
• “Bullied, harassed and cast out: what it’s like to be a Reform student” – Reform-supporting students face bullying, harassment and exclusion on British campuses from the #BeKind brigade, writes Tali Fraser in the Telegraph.
• “Populism curve: what is the supply side of Britain and Europe’s decline?” – European and British governing elites have spent a decade obsessing over quashing the demand side of populism while ignoring the supply side, i.e., their own failures, says Blake Neff in the Spectator.
• “This may lead to additional tensions” – On Substack, Dr David McGrogan examines how, after Epsom, officials use language to manage perceptions, suppress dissent and monopolise the truth.
• “West Africans are leaving ‘unattractive’ Britain” – Actress Michaela Coel claims that West Africans are leaving Britain because they now find it a less appealing place to live than West Africa, according to the Telegraph.
• “This teaching method, backed by conservatives, is on the rise” – Classical education has been rising in popularity as a conservative-backed teaching method focused on Western ideals, says the Washington Post.
• “Petrol shortages aren’t coming for Britain” – Petrol shortages can be ruled out for Britain even if Gulf supplies are disrupted, writes John Power in the Spectator.
• “Pro-Russian fighter pilot wins crushing victory in Bulgaria election” – A pro-Russian ex-fighter pilot has won a crushing victory in Bulgaria’s election, potentially ending years of political instability, reports the Mail.
• “It’s highly unlikely I’ll extend ceasefire” – Donald Trump says it’s highly unlikely he will extend the ceasefire with Iran and has threatened to resume bombing if no deal is reached, according to the Hill.
• “Papal fallibility” – In Country Squire, Sean Walsh explains why the Pope and anti-Trump commentators are wrong on Iran.
• “Apple CEO Tim Cook abruptly resigns and names successor” – Apple CEO Tim Cook has abruptly resigned and named his successor in a surprise leadership handover, reports the Mail.
• “Apocalyptic tech chiefs have created a violent monster” – AI doomsters and CEOs of tech companies sound alike because they emerged from the same intellectual swamp, explains Andrew Orlowski in the Telegraph.
• “Our diminished Armed Forces are paying the price for Net Zero” – Britain’s Armed Forces have been dangerously weakened because Net Zero policies have been prioritised over the energy needs of hard power, says Maurice Cousins in the Telegraph.
• “EV industry reached $70 billion in losses in 2024” – The electric vehicle industry has racked up $70 billion in losses in 2024 due to delusional green ideologies, writes P. Gosselin on NoTricksZone.
• “New food pyramid: another blow to climate activism” – Taste, texture and smell matter in the real world, rain or shine, says Robert Bradley Jr. on Master Resource.
• “US opens dome facility in Idaho to test mini nuclear reactors” – For the first time, the US has created a place where developers can test mini nuclear reactors under real-world conditions, reports Climate Change Dispatch.
• “Wrong, the Independent, the Atlantic current isn’t on the brink of collapse” – In Climate Realism, Anthony Watts debunks claims that the Atlantic current is on the brink of collapse. It’s alarmist speculation based on unreliable models.
• “The high price of climate virtue signalling is destructive” – Achieving Net Zero emissions will result in significant costs, loss of freedoms and lower living standards, warns Paul Driessen in Climate Change Dispatch.
• “Baby taken in by gay couple died after torture and sexual abuse, court told” – A 13 month-old baby was “routinely physically and sexually abused” by his adoptive gay parents before being murdered by one of them, reports the Telegraph.
• “Allowing tracksuits in class is ‘more inclusive’” – MPs have recommended relaxing school uniform rules to allow tracksuits and trainers in class in the name of ‘inclusion’, says the Sun.
• “I still believe in gender self-ID” – Stonewall’s new Chair, ex-Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, “still believes” in gender self-ID despite the Supreme Court ruling that a person’s sex is defined as biological, reports the Times.
• “Grace Campbell is almost as much of a misogynist as her father Alastair” – With Grace Campbell’s abuse of the campaigners who bravely fought to protect women’s rights, it’s clear the apple didn’t fall far from the family tree, says Suzanne Moore in the Telegraph.
• “Jolyon Maugham claims he was ‘friends’ with JK Rowling because she sent him a message once” – While Starmer’s premiership is imploding Jolyon Maugham is busy having a protracted argument over whether he was friends with writer J.K. Rowling, according to Guido.
• “This has been a long time coming” – On X, Toby welcomes the new HEFSA complaints scheme but says it still misses the mark, leaving students out and only covering England.

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