News Round-Up

• “Starmer’s social media ban branded ‘a rush job’” – Sir Keir Starmer’s social media ban has been labelled a “rush job” amid widespread criticism over how it will actually work in practice, reports the Telegraph.
• “How popular will Starmer’s social media ban actually be?” – In the Spectator, John Power notes that while 83% of Britons support some form of restriction on social media for young people, the true political calculus behind Starmer’s ban is far more complex than the headline figures suggest.
• “Banning social media won’t protect our children” – In a last-minute attempt to secure a legacy, Starmer is rushing through legislation that will not be meaningfully enforced, says Suzanne Moore in the Telegraph.
• “Social media ban is Starmer’s desperate scramble for a legacy” – Despite its broad public and political support, Starmer’s wide-reaching social media ban is being driven by his own desperate need to leave a mark, claims the Telegraph.
• “Starmer’s under-16s social media ban reeks of desperation” – With the Makerfield by-election looming this Thursday, the Prime Minister is keen to look like he is in control, says To Harris in the Telegraph.
• “Parents need all the help they can get” – The case for Starmer’s social media ban rests on the simple reality that parents are struggling to protect their children online and urgently need legislative support, argues Isabel Oakeshott in the Telegraph.
• “Two men guilty of plotting attacks on property linked to Keir Starmer” – Two Ukrainian men hired by a mystery Russian figure set fire to the Prime Minister’s family home, a former car and another London property linked to him, reveals the Mail.
• “Russian spy orchestrated arson attacks on PM – then started wild conspiracy theory that it was revenge by two Ukrainian rent boys” – The man behind the Starmer arson plot was a young Russian diplomat called Evgeny ‘EL’ Lyukshin, a senior official’s son, according to the Mail.
• “Arrested protesters devastated after appeal court rules ban on Palestine Action is lawful” – The proscription of the direct action group has already led to more than 700 people being charged under the Terrorism Act, reports the Guardian.
• “More than 100 PA supporters arrested after judges rule ban lawful” – Protesters holding signs reading “I support Palestine Action” were arrested on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed group following the court’s ruling, says the Mail.
• “We’ve been too tolerant of Palestine Action for too long” – Palestine Action’s campaign posed a very real risk of injury to people and property, and the case for proscription has always been stronger than its critics admitted, writes Alexander Horne in the Spectator.
• “Putin bombs UNESCO World Heritage Site cathedral in night of attacks” – Church bells rang in defiance as a drone strike set ablaze the main Assumption Cathedral at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a site dating to the 11th century, reports the Mail.
• “Iran will unlock $300 billion reconstruction fund if it gives up uranium” – J.D. Vance has revealed that Iran will gain access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund in exchange for surrendering its uranium stockpile, says the Telegraph.
• “Trump’s Iran ‘deal’ is a warning to Ukraine” – With no published text yet available, the contours of Trump’s agreement with Iran carry an unmistakable message for Kyiv that cannot be ignored, writes Charles Moore in the Telegraph.
• “Trump can forge a lasting peace in Iran” – A deal between Trump and Iran offers a genuine opportunity to curtail the country’s nuclear ambitions and serve broader regional interests, argues Daniel McCarthy in the Spectator.
• “Britain is a two tier state – against white people” – British people fundamentally expect a fair deal, but there is nothing fair about the way white people have been treated by their governments, writes Nigel Farage on Substack.
• “Reform threatens to strip Serco of public sector contracts” – Reform has threatened to remove all of outsourcing giant Serco’s government contracts in a row over the party’s mass deportation plans, reports the Telegraph.
• “Tories pledge to strip judges of immigration powers” – Chris Philp is set to announce that the Conservatives would scrap immigration tribunals and leave the ECHR in order to speed up removals, says the Telegraph.
• “Swiss population cap failure won’t ease voter immigration concerns” – Swiss voters narrowly rejected the Right-wing SVP’s proposal to cap the country’s population at 10 million, but the result does little to resolve deep public anxieties over immigration, notes Lukas Leuzinger in UnHerd.
• “Sweden shows that not all immigrants are the same” – Sweden’s experience as a destination for immigrants from vastly different backgrounds reveals that origin and culture matter enormously to outcomes, writes Atbin Moayedi in the Spectator.
• “Reform pledges to increase tax on foreign workers” – Robert Jenrick has revealed that Reform’s proposed foreign workers’ tax would be levied at a higher rate for lower-paid employees, making it costlier for employers to hire overseas staff, reports the Telegraph.
• “Henry Nowak killer Vickrum Digwa’s sentence will be reviewed” – Solicitor General Ellie Reeves has referred the sentence of Vickrum Digwa to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, saying “this case horrified me”, reports the Mail.
• “Teacher guilty of murdering and sexually abusing baby he was adopting” – A secondary school teacher has been found guilty of the shocking sexual abuse and murder of a baby he and his partner were in the process of adopting, reports the Mail.
• “The eight missed chances to save baby Preston from evil adoptive fathers: Did political correctness play a role in failure to stop them?” – Serious questions are being raised about why Jamie Varley and his boyfriend John McGowan-Fazakerley faced so little scrutiny before little Preston Davey was placed in their care, says Liz Hull in the Mail.
• “Police log ‘hate incident’ against mother using trans child’s old name” – A mother has been hit with a ‘hate incident’ report after failing to use her transgender child’s new name, in a case that will alarm critics of how police forces are applying hate speech rules, reports the Mail.
• “Tories launch disability benefits review to cut welfare bill by £23 billion” – The review will focus on personal independence payments, which have doubled from £11 billion in 2019-20 to £22 billion for working-age claimants, notes the Times.
• “Assisted dying bill to return to Parliament” – Labour MP Lauren Edwards has agreed to use a Private Member’s Bill to reintroduce the assisted dying bill, bringing the contentious legislation back before Parliament, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Britain’s £1 billion tank delayed by gearbox flaws” – Problems with the turret gearbox – which under original designs is not strong enough to cope with the vehicle’s weight – have set back delivery of Britain’s flagship £1 billion tank, according to the Telegraph.
• “The socialist conquest of the Democrats: Liberals are lost” – In UnHerd, Alicia Nieves argues that socialist forces have completed their conquest of the Democratic Party, leaving liberals with nowhere to turn.
• “Is the ban on Anthropic’s Mythos model just a ruse?” – With Anthropic’s models potentially subject to government disfavour and bans at any time, the ban on its Mythos model may be less about safety than about sending a chilling signal to investors, writes Max Horder in the Spectator.
• “The model that works” – In WUWT, Willis Eschenbach discusses the implications of his peer-reviewed paper and sets out why he believes his climate model stands apart from the rest.
• “India’s record crops reject food, warming alarmism” – India’s agricultural boom, aided by CO₂-enriched air and favourable growing conditions, makes a mockery of climate doomsday predictions, writes Vijay Jayaraj in WUWT.
• “Climate alarmists now using natural phenomena to support their claims” – Alarmists are now switching to purely natural phenomena like El Niño to secure their positions, notes Pierre Gosselin in the No Tricks Zone.
• “Dartmoor ponies could be put to death under biodiversity plans” – Natural England’s demand that 75% of livestock grazing on Dartmoor land be removed is forcing farmers to choose between centuries-old tradition and their livelihoods, reports the Times.
• “Churchill’s biographer accuses gallery of ‘barefaced lie’” – A biographer of Winston Churchill has accused the National Portrait Gallery of a “barefaced lie” over its claims that the wartime Prime Minister deliberately starved Indians, says the Telegraph.
• “David Hockney’s lifelong battle with the dreary, joyless nanny state” – In Spiked, Christopher Snowdon celebrates David Hockney’s defiant, lifelong championing of the joys of living over the fear-driven dictates of the nanny state.
• “Hamas critic sacked, Hamas fans get a slap on the wrist at two-tier BBC” – The BBC’s starkly inconsistent treatment of staff – sacking a Hamas critic while merely reprimanding Hamas supporters – reveals an institution operating by two very different sets of rules, writes David Keighley for TCW.
• “GB News critics want to limit free speech to ‘liberal, Islington consensus’, Grade says” – Former Ofcom chair Michael Grade argues that opponents of GB News are ultimately seeking to restrict free speech to a narrow “liberal, Islington consensus”, notes the Guardian.
• “Jerry Seinfeld and the dark truth about ‘Free Palestine’” – In the Spectator, Brendan O’Neill argues that Jerry Seinfeld’s refusal to bow to the ‘Free Palestine’ mantra has exposed the intolerant and bullying nature of the pompous Left.
• “J.D. Vance: my childless cat ladies comment was the dumbest thing I ever said– J.D. Vance has admitted it was foolish to mock Democrats, including Kamala Harris, as “childless cat ladies” in a 2021 remark he now publicly regrets, reports the Telegraph.
• “Having a child at 25 was one of the best things I ever did. It made me an adult– Kara Kennedy in the Telegraph reflects on how becoming a parent at 25 taught her that there is genuine freedom in not waiting until life feels perfectly ready.
• “According to Chris Packham, if you don’t like parakeets, you might be racist” – Channel 4’s Chris Packham-hosted documentary on Britain’s parakeet population takes the baffling stance that disliking the birds’ raucous squawking is a symptom of innate xenophobia, reports the Telegraph.
• “World Cup referee accused of ‘neo-Nazi’ hand signal breaks silence” – The World Cup VAR official at the centre of a racism storm has broken his silence just before FIFA cleared him of accusations he made a hand gesture that resembles a white supremacist sign, notes the Mail.
• “The most prophetic novel of the century” – On his Substack, Nick Dixon argues that one novel stands out above all others as the most prophetic work of fiction of the 21st century so far.
• “Today a group of Muslims prayed next to the Ministry of Defence, facing the Iraq and Afghanistan memorial” – On X, Tory MP Nick Timothy reiterates that Muslims choosing to pray in this way in public is a political act. “It is a social statement and, yes, it is an act of domination.”

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