- āSouth faces triple the bills of the North under Burnhamā ā Andy Burnhamās support for a land value tax system could see households in the South paying triple the bills of those in the North, says the Telegraph.
- āBlair warns Burnham: donāt raise capital gains taxā ā Tony Blairās think tank has warned Labourās leader-in-waiting that targeting investors will damage the economy, reports the Telegraph.
- āAndy Burnham is making Manchester look like a jokeā ā Manchester deserves better than becoming the fall guy because of one manās misplaced determination to prove that government is not solely the preserve of Westminster, says Angela Epstein in the Spectator.
- āAndy Burnham has already fallen into the Labour trapā ā Burnhamās plan to fund the Armed Forces through growth rather than hard fiscal choices repeats the same trap Labour has always fallen into, writes Kemi Badenoch in the Telegraph.
- āBurnham has a chance to break Whitehallās grip on Britain. I fear heāll squander itā ā The PM in waiting is right, the UK is overcentralised, says Daniel Hannan in the Telegraph. But true local accountability means permitting a āpostcode lotteryā on tax and policy.
- āThe unbearable lightness of Burnhamā ā Burnhamās pitch amounts to little more than rhetoric, with few clear ideas and nothing adequate to the big challenges facing the country, argues Neil OāBrien on his Substack.
- āI am most proud of lifting two-child benefit capā ā Sir Keir Starmer has declared that lifting the two-child benefit cap is his proudest achievement as Prime Minister, reports the Sunday Times.
- āNigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminalā ā Gabriel Pogrund goes after Nigel Farage in the Sunday Times.
- āProtesting against illegal immigration isnāt āfar-Rightāā ā The automatic labelling of anyone who protests against illegal immigration as āfar-Rightā is a smear that distorts legitimate public concern, says Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
- āRochdale ringleader ācannot be deported because he tore up his passportāā ā Pakistan is refusing to take back a ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang on the grounds that he is no longer a citizen of the country after ripping up his passport, reports the Telegraph.
- āTerrorist linked to 7/7 bombings released from mental hospitalā ā Haroon Aswat, jailed for 20 years for plotting to establish an extremist training camp, has been released despite being deemed a danger to national security, says the Express.
- āOxford Union ball investigated over alleged link to Hamasā ā The Oxford Union ball is under investigation over its alleged connection to Zaher Birawi, a figure sanctioned by the US Treasury over his links to Hamas, according to the Telegraph.
- āSingle mothers āĀ£10,000 worse off if they marryāā ā New research finds that a single mother stands to lose nearly Ā£10,000 a year in benefits if she marries, says the Express.
- āMinister taken off puberty blocker trial after expressing safety concernsā ā The Health Secretary has stripped responsibility for a puberty blocker trial from a junior minister after she raised safeguarding concerns, reveals the Telegraph.
- āThe Wuhan lab of British politicsā ā On his Substack, Ed West draws a parallel between Scotland and what he calls small Anglophone country syndrome, and the outsized political contagion it generates.
- āUkraine strikes St Petersburg oil terminalā ā A major oil terminal in Russiaās second city of St Petersburg has been struck overnight by Ukraine, according to the BBC.
- āPope urges Trump to welcome immigrants in July 4th appealā ā Pope Leo XIV has used a July 4th message to tell Donald Trump that āprotecting and assisting immigrantsā is the Catholic way, says Newsweek.
- āBritain is amazing but itās been failed by its leadershipā ā In a wide-ranging interview with Katy Balls in the Sunday Times, J.D. Vance says Britain has been āfailed by its leadershipā, opens up about faith, Trump and why he thinks Ukraine now has a tactical edge.
- āA UK road trip with my wife changed our outlook on lifeā ā In an extract from his new book in the Sunday Times, the US Vice President describes how visits to rural churches in England and Wales sparked some deep personal reflection.
- āThe most important thing to happen in 1776ā ā On his Substack, Matt Ridley argues that the conventional story of 1776ās most consequential event has been got backwards.
- āAmerica would be even greater if it was still part of Britainā ā The counterfactual case that the 13 colonies would have flourished more ā and abolished slavery sooner ā had they remained within the British Empire is put to readers by Andrew Roberts in the Telegraph.
- āThe Archbishops must not let safeguarding be weaponised to shut down debateā ā In Christian Today, Julian Mann warns that revisionists within the Church of England are exploiting safeguarding rules to cancel a General Synod event backing non-affirming therapy, in what he calls a neo-Marxist bid to silence debate.
- āLabour accused of raid on sustainable farmingā ā Farmers have accused Labour of threatening their efforts to protect Britainās wildlife as the Government reins in spending on sustainable agriculture, says the Telegraph.
- āRenewables supplied just 6% of global primary energy in 2025ā ā The 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy shows that fossil fuels supplied 86% of global primary energy in 2025, while renewables accounted for just 6%, writes Robert Lyman at Clintel.
- āPBS News is wrong, climate change is not causing Georgiaās droughtā ā Data show that Georgiaās recent drought is far from unusual in historical terms and is not even particularly severe, says Linnea Lueken in ClimateRealism.
- āThanks to climate panic, itās 100 degrees inside a āflagshipā hospital buildingā ā A German hospital where patients and staff are enduring triple-digit temperatures is held up by Samuel Short in the Western Journal as a stark warning of the real-world consequences of Left-wing energy policy.
- āClimate change is existential threat to aviation, says Heathrow executiveā ā Heathrow Airportās Director of Sustainability has warned that climate change has become an āexistential threat to UK aviationā, according to the Telegraph.
- āSenior BBC executive suspended amid explicit image posted on Instagramā ā A senior BBC executive has been suspended after an explicit image of male anatomy appeared on his Instagram page, reports the Mail.
- āTCW: an announcementā ā After 12 years, the Conservative Woman is closing on July 18th, with editor Kathy Gyngell saying funding pressures and censorship have made the site unsustainable.
- āIs civil war really coming to Britain?ā ā On Outpostās latest episode of Brazier, Colin Brazier delivers a sharp, unflinching look at the UKās deepening fractures.
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āI am most proud of lifting two-child benefit capā
Who are the main beneficiaries of this? Given that the indigenous are, broadly speaking, popping out sprogs at less than replacement levels, apparently?
I feel I know, or can guess, the answer but what does the demographic evidence actually prove?
“Climate change is existential threat to aviation, says Heathrow executive”
Are there no airports in other hot places around the world, cold places, wet places, high places? I would suggest, with its moderate climate, that Heathrow would be one of the last airports to be affected by weather related problems!
Well exactly!
The VC-10 plane was designed in the 1950s and entered service with BAOC in 1964, specifically for āhot and highā destinations with short runways of Africa and Asia along the Empire Route.
However by the time it entered service the Empire Route (UK to India with stops on the way, used largely by the British Colonial Service and wealthy colonials.) was largely gone. It was successful on routes to South America with hot, humid, high airports.
I flew on VC10s to the Far East, back in the day, when you were allowed to use the ashtray in the seat arm as it was intended and they sprayed us all will bug-killer, probably DDT, now I think of it, before the Australian leg!
My father flew, what you call the Empire Route, to Malaya for his job, soon after the warā¦ that apparently took 5 days in a Sunderland flying boat.
As an aside: isnāt it strange how odd the letters BOAC now look? A sad state of affairs for what was, once, undoubtedly, the worldās premier airline.
“Single mothers āĀ£10,000 worse off if they marry”
Dependent on whom she marries, a fetless grifter would no doubt be on benefits too whereas a hard worker would earn way more than her benefits per year, bit of a pointless statement really!
Nigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminalā
We’ve been talking about ‘Crypto Cotters’ on here for years…
So the government is trying to take control of YouTubes algorithm. The Uk state is building a censorship by proxy regime using the language of on-line safety.
āClimate change is existential threat to aviation, says Heathrow executiveā It is climate change policy that is the threat, not virtually non-existent climate change.
āNigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminalā erm, it is not secret.
Ukraine strikes St Petersburg oil terminalā
Anatoly fumed about the Kremlinās military miscalculations…Ukraine āgot us good. They donāt knock, they kick the door,ā…even the Kremlinās most outspoken supporters have changed their once-triumphant tune.
āWe have to get ready for hardships and self-sacrifice,ā Vladimir Solovyov…Military bloggers are even more pessimistic…Prizrak Novorossii (The Ghost of New Russia), wrote…āforesee big changes and possible cataclysms because of, to put it mildly, the unfavourable dynamics of hostilities.ā Kseniya, a mother of two from the western city of Tula…āWeāve been told a thousand times that Putin brought stability, and instead, we see total chaos. Turns out, the emperor has no clothes,ā
re: TCW – sorry to think it, but it may also have been the word āWomanā in the name. Still scary to almost half the population. Hope the substack thrives.
I assume you’re bleating about the same half of the population that appears to contribute to about 80% of its readership, which probably translates to about 80% of its donations? Men don’t find women ‘scary’, most are just sick to their back teeth of six decades of whining nonsense like this. And it’s this very perennial victimhood that’s allowed a global elite to abolish the nation state and tear my country to pieces. So thanks for that.
Thanks for that.
Very much doubt it. I’ve read almost every issue for over 5 years, as I have DS. KG’s (and Laura Perrins) writing and opinion pieces are first rate as are most of the rest of content. ‘Woman’ didn’t really come into it.
Seconded šš
I doubt it – many of their writers and commentators were men. I stopped visiting some time ago for two reasons – firstly it seemed they had a lot of ‘opinion pieces’ rather than the sort of well-researched article found on alternative sites – there is more competition now. Second, I’m not a Christian so found that whole strand of their output off-putting.
It is a blog to air opinions not EncyclopƦdia Britannica.
A very sad day. TCW and DS genuinely got me through the Scamdemic so I will be forever grateful for all that Kathy Gyngell accomplished via TCW. It was a shining beacon during the dark days. I have signed up to the Substack so let’s hope the spirit continues.
Despite the downticks, I think Rose may have had a point, in that some people would find the title word ‘Woman’ offputting, and personally I think it was pretty unnecessary. I’d have changed it (in the way that DS evolved from ‘Lockdown Sceptics’) to ‘The Conservative Thinker’. And that’s nothing to do with whinging about womens’ rights, but pure marketing.
Where do you see āwomanā in TCW?
It was changed some time ago from āThe Conservative Womanā to TCW.
In the URL perhaps… https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/
I avoided it for several years because I thought it was only for Conservative women not by one of them. I thought it a kind of right wing Mumsnet.
I avoided it because it sounded kind of twee, like ‘The Vicars’ Wives Tea Party’ or some such.
“..sorry to think it,”
You’re another one. Why on earth start a post by apologising in advance for your opinion? š¤Ø Why the trepidation about making a suggestion? Your contribution to a discussion is just as valid as anyone else’s, especially as you’re being respectful and civil about it, unlike plenty of other posters generally.
If you’re going to share your views then do so with conviction and own your stance, please.
I’m not sure what’s with women on this platform but I guess I must’ve been off school the day they gave out passivity and conformity to the girls. Frustrating.š¤¦āāļø
A bit harsh – especially as Rose got many downticks for her opinion. I’ve been there and it didn’t bother me (too much….).
I think her comment was a bit misunderstood. Anyway this issue does seem to have stoked up some emotions, probably because it is sad that the site has closed down. I was still a contributor up to now, and it did help me through lockdown, just as DS did.
Not harsh at all. I am just aware of the disparity between how men communicate and act on here compared with women, with the exception of your’s truly, obv. Women self-censor and apologise for even having an opinion which might not meet with the approval of the DS Boys Club, who think they rule the roost. They hate me because I’ll dump my posts, am always challenging them, and zero f*cks are given if anyone agrees with me or not. It doesn’t change a damn thing because my aim is not to please.š
No emotionally mature adult should give a stuff about ššš, or let other posters reactions influence their activity on here, but then I’m not all about needing accepted or fitting in. I hate cliques. I’m all about viewpoint diversity and reasoned debate.
I just find it funny how the free speech frauds out themselves with no effort from anyone else at all. They display their intolerance to people with differing opinions all the time, yet they’ll be the first to cry censorship if they’re the ones coming off worst. The “free speech for me but not for thee” hypocrites, as I call them. All views must align… Read more »
Feeling slightly better for getting that off your chest? š
Not sure if you’ve observed the same but this site has evolved quite a lot since we were all sat around, very much singing from the same hymn sheet, moaning about being locked down, masks, talking about viruses and hating on Bill Gates. Now it’s just morphed into a safe place for men to chat shit about women with impunity and racist people to express their hostility towards all the non-white people, and be assured they’ll get their views affirmed and validated by other like-minded posters. It’s basically now a free-for-all hang-out for all the prejudiced people to try and normalize their bigotry. Dissenters be damned! Hence why I often compare it to an echo chamber or exclusive club. It’s not about if you’re wearing the right shoes but more: ”If you’re not voicing the right opinions you’re not coming in’!”
I feel it should be named something else because the ‘Sceptic’ part no longer seems a good fit as it’s not appropriate any more.
There have been some racist and misogynistic views on here from time to time (in my subjective opinion), but like you say, we shouldn’t expect an echo chamber.
Yes it’s certainly changed, but then so has life and so have I, insofar as life has moved on from the days I went marching in London with life minded people, who then turned out to have certain views that were not very compatible with mine. But I”m glad I was amongst the dissenters, and now I just accept that amongst a large cross-section you are never going to find all like minds, and some opinions may not sit well. Me? I’ll carry on here for now and I’m still grateful for the sanity it gave me during those dark days.
Can you refer to one of the ‘misogynistic’ views, so I have something to calibrate to? Can you also comment on whether you think stating that half the entire population – men – find women scary is an example of misandry? Although I’m going to guess that’s just airing a legitimate view, right? It’s the rank hypocrisy that men are sick of. To attack half the population with the same silly, completely fabricated, type of comment that men have been listening to for decades is hardly conducive to unity is it? There are a couple of hardcore feminists on this site, one particularly unpleasant individual, that thinks any view that runs contrary to their own must be aggressively attacked – normally by insulting the individual personally. I don’t think that makes that person a ‘strong, independent woman’, as she clearly believes she is, I think it makes that person an absolutely vile individual.
I genuinely hope Rose’s comment was just a clumsy way of breaking the bread, but it’d be good to remember who we’re breaking the bread with.
I’ve much respect for Katharine Birbalsingh due to what she unapologetically stands for and what she’s managed to accomplish. She gets a lot of hate and abuse on her Twitter page from the far-Right because 1) She’s female, 2) She’s not white, 3) She’s not English, 4) 50% of her pupils are Muslim and the white pupils are a tiny minority, and 5) She’s running a school which is undeniably a success. This article talks about the very real and very progressive phenomenon of ”white guilt”;
”Far from being a manifestation of compassion and humility, liberal white guilt is a form of showy self-regard. Ostentatious displays of self-flagellation, as epitomised in that endless parade of Guardian articles by white people living in rich, ethnically homogenous parts of London who celebrate diversity, are essentially acts of vainglory. Their primary purpose is to signal allegiance to an elite echelon while flaunting oneās morally self-aware superiority to an uncouth white working class and the unsophisticated, suburban readers of the Daily Mail.
Their navel-gazing peacocking has proved destructive because it has fostered resentment among both ethnic minorities and the white populace. Among the former, it encourages further grievance, entrenching the misperception that the odds… Read more »
My criticism of Birbalsingh is that she normalises a slop authoritarian inauthentic non-culture. No meat allowed due to muh-offence, no real authentic culture, strict rules to ensure peace is kept. I hate that this is the most we can hope for. Not her fault of course but I see it for what it is.
Well it is a school, and children need strict guidelines. She isn’t trying to impose her rules on the general populace. And the results speak for themselves.
And yet the success of her school is well-documented and speaks for itself, year after year, despite all that. And how that must rankle for people like you. Perhaps you’d prefer a state school where the teachers are all shit-scared of the pupils because there’s zero respect, certainly no discipline due to all the abuse they receive, knives brought in and assaults occurring on a daily basis, where kids are indoctrinated with woke ideology and their Ofsted results are perpetually crappy, but as long as they have assemblies, serve meat and their headteacher is a white English man then it’s all good, right? Because I know which school I’d find preferable to send my kid to;
”In the 2025 dataset, Michaela achieved an Attainment 8 score of 77.6. The Progress 8 score of 2.56 is exceptional, indicating students make well above average progress from their Key Stage 2 starting points. The school achieved the highest Progress 8 score in England for three consecutive years (2022, 2023, 2024), a remarkable feat for a non-selective intake in a deprived area. 72.6% of pupils achieved grades 5 or above in English Baccalaureate subjects. 97.4% achieved grade 5 or above in English and mathematics… Read more »
āI am most proud of lifting two-child benefit capā
One of the few actions he was brave enough to carry through. Everything else he kowtowed to his backbenchers in flaccid submission. Total non-entity.
He promised to keep it before the 2024 election, voted against scrapping it (and suspended those that voted otherwise) when SNP tried to in July the same year, so I’m not sure about bravery…
It’s yet another benefit which rewards being dependent on the State, rather than encouraging hard work and self-sufficiency. It should be reabolished in my view.
I don’t see what is so brave about giving handouts funded by other people.
āNigel Farage secretly funded by convicted criminalā
Gabriel Pogrund doesn’t half write some nonsense.
āBurnham has a chance to break Whitehallās grip on Britain. I fear heāll squander itā
Dan Hannan doesn’t half write some nonsense.
Civil war is not coming to Britain.
There is something that seems to be widely misunderstood. Civil wars don’t start because the public is angry. That is civil unrest, which is invariably crushed by the state.
Civil wars kick off when elites fall out and decide to go to war against each other. And they use or rile up the population for their fight. But without a rift in the elites and their explicit decision to settle it by war.
I agree. However, if Reform were to win a democratic majority, I could see something more like civil war happening as the far-left groups that are currently in charge tried to reassert dominance. Funded by external (mainly US) sources, they could become violent under the #BeKind banner.
Sort of #Be kind later, kill for now!š
Iām not so sure. Not civil war in the sense of massed armies perhaps but a situation akin to Ulster in the 1970s and 1980s is highly plausible. It would be unwise to under-estimate just how evil leftists are and how determined they are to impose their will on the citizenry. Every institution of the state has been corrupted and will defy the will of an elected right leaning government. At some point the choice will be to accept subjugation or resist.
So what we are looking at is a āpeasantsā revoltā which doesnāt involve quarrelling elites. That is, enough of the mob with rise up and decorate lamp posts and trees with the elites.