News Round-Up

• “Healey resignation torpedoes Starmer” – John Healey dramatically quit as Defence Secretary, claiming the Prime Minister was “unable” and the Treasury “unwilling” to spend the money needed on defence, says the Telegraph.
• “Al Carns follows Healey out the door, saying Labour ‘failing’ forces” – Armed Forces Minister Al Carns resigned hours after Defence Secretary John Healey, declaring the long-delayed defence document was “not built for the threat we face”, writes the Mail.
• “A weapon of mass destruction delivered on House of Commons notepaper” – John Healey’s resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer, in which he states he had “no other option” but to quit as Defence Secretary, is a devastating political broadside, notes the Times.
• “Keir Starmer’s leadership in chaos as defence ministers quit” – Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership is plunged deeper into turmoil after John Healey resigned as Defence Secretary and accused him of failing to meet the demands of the current security environment, reveals the Times.
• “Starmer under fire as John Healey quits in almighty row over defence spending” – Reform UK MP Danny Kruger joins commentators piling pressure on Sir Keir Starmer as John Healey’s resignation throws the Government into further disarray over defence spending, according to the Telegraph.
• “How migration surge changed Belfast” – A surge in migration across Northern Ireland had already caused racial tensions to spiral long before Monday night’s knife attack, says the Telegraph.
• “Mass migration has exposed the lie at the heart of Sinn Féin” – Sinn Féin’s enthusiasm for newcomers from sub-Saharan Africa sits in sharp contrast to its historic hostility towards Unionists, exposing a profound contradiction at the party’s core, writes the Telegraph.
• “Restore to hand Burnham victory, leaked poll suggests” – A leaked poll suggests Restore is on track to split the Right-wing vote and deliver the Makerfield by-election to Andy Burnham, says the Telegraph.
• “Trump health mystery deepens as army of doctors check president” – Trump’s personal physician Navy Captain Sean Barbarella made a curious submission after the President visited Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, deepening questions about his health, reveals the Mail.
• “How the battle to keep Hormuz open sank Trump’s ceasefire” – An Iranian Shahed drone striking a US Apache helicopter in the dead of night off Oman’s coast set off the chain of events that ultimately doomed Trump’s ceasefire efforts, writes the Telegraph.
• “Iran’s fanatical regime would rather embrace death than peace” – The ayatollahs’ callous disregard for their citizens’ welfare has produced some of the darkest moments in modern Iranian history, says a Telegraph editorial.
• “Meloni’s staff strike after WFH allowance halved” – The 3,000 staff at the Italian Prime Minister’s secretariat have been told they can only work from home once a week, prompting a strike in protest at the cutback, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Labour’s rail nationalisation dream hurtles toward disaster” – Despite ministers’ upbeat assessments, the mounting debacle surrounding Britain’s ailing railway system suggests Labour’s nationalisation ambitions are heading for a costly reckoning for taxpayers, writes the Telegraph.
• “Piketty’s eco-Marxist utopia: why degrowth and global redistribution will trap the poor in poverty” – Thomas Piketty and the World Inequality Lab have unveiled their Global Justice Report at a Paris conference, arguing for degrowth and global redistribution – a programme critics say would condemn the world’s poorest to permanent poverty, reports RealClearEnergy.
• “But she’s got high hopes” – A paper intitled “Do climate emotions matter? Investigating their role in pro-environmental behavior,” was published this month in the Journal of Environmental Psychology by Paula Blumenschein and colleagues.
• “Smartphones given ‘kill switch’ to deter thieves” – The new measure stops thieves from reactivating stolen handsets rather than permanently disabling them, in a bid to curb Britain’s surging phone theft epidemic, notes the Telegraph.
• “Wegovy pill weight-loss drug approved for use in Britain” – The tablet form of the once-weekly Wegovy injection has been greenlit by health officials, offering a new oral option for patients seeking weight-loss treatment, reports the Mail.
• “How the British state came to turn its back on the white majority” – On his Substack, CJ Strachan argues that a key clause in the Equality Act, rushed through Parliament in the dying days of Gordon Brown’s government, has driven the toxic spread of DEI across Britain’s public institutions.
• “What you need to know about folic acid part one: the deficiency that wasn’t” – A Substack challenges the case for mandatory folic acid fortification, questioning whether the supposed deficiency it is designed to address ever truly existed, writes HART UK.
• “Are Suboxone and methadone (to addicts) “as insulin is to diabetics”?” – A Substack takes on the widely repeated clinical claim that Suboxone and methadone are to addiction what insulin is to diabetes, with the author’s verdict being an unambiguous no, says Randoctor.
• “The libertarian case for restricting social media’s access to children” – In the UsForThem Substack’s Broken Custodians podcast, contributors make the case that curbing children’s exposure to harmful social media is not an attack on free speech but a prerequisite for preserving it for adults.
• “Are we allowed to feel angry yet?” – The political and media class’s instinct to direct public fury at convenient figures like Katie Hopkins rather than confront the real causes of popular discontent is laid bare, says a Spectator editorial.
• “About That Climate Emotions Study” – Charles Rotter debunks another alarmist climate paper on Whats Up With That?
• “Don’t hang England flags on public property, councils tell fans” – Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and Shropshire are among the councils warning fans not to attach England flags to lampposts or signs without prior permission ahead of the World Cup, reports the Mail.
• “How ‘woke’ storylines turned Doctor Who into a ‘toxic brand’” – With a planned Christmas Special scrapped and the show put out to tender for new producing partners, the Mail examines how divisive storylines under Ncuti Gatwa turned one of Britain’s most beloved franchises into a damaged property.
• “Moses and the 613 health and safety commandments” – Miriam Elia’s satirical exhibition retells the story of Moses receiving not the Ten Commandments but over 613 health and safety regulations, notes JW3.
• “Moses & the health and safety commandments – commercial edition” – A surreal illustrated retelling of the Exodus story in which Moses receives over 613 health and safety laws – from slippery-when-wet signs to protection from hurt feelings – is now available as a commercial edition, reveals the Dung Beetle Books Online Shop.
• “Peter Hitchens gloriously pushing back against the idea that five year-olds shouldn’t be made to learn poetry by heart” – Peter is challenged on BBC Question Time to recite a poem and knocks it out of the park.

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