News Round-Up

• “Is any Labour MP brave enough to admit the truth about Andy Burnham?” – In the Spectator, Stephen Pollard reports that there are plenty within the Labour Party who have grave doubts about Andy Burnham’s suitability for the job of PM.
• “The woke warrior heading for Downing Street” – James Purnell, the man who spent years promoting trans ideology at the BBC, is now Andy Burnham’s closest ideological adviser – and could soon be shaping policy from Downing Street, says Malcolm Clark in Spiked.
• “Burnham set to back Starmer’s Chagos giveaway” – Andy Burnham is apparently minded to push ahead with Labour’s disastrous Chagos Islands deal, according to Guido Fawkes.
• “Starmer never had a popular mandate – that’s why the blandest of politicians is so hated” – For the large majority who never voted for him, Sir Keir Starmer always looked like a leader wielding power he had no right to wield, says James Kirkup in the Telegraph.
• “Reeves’s final act as Chancellor is a blundering betrayal of Britain’s savers” – A thicket of new ISA rules and a blunt tax charge threaten to deter millions from investing, warns Andy Bell in the Telegraph.
• “My childhood rapist will be released early because of Labour” – A woman groomed and raped as a child has made a desperate appeal to the Government to abandon plans to release her rapist from prison nearly two years ahead of schedule, reports the Telegraph.
• “Nigel Farage set to be interviewed by standards watchdog over £5 million gift” – Nigel Farage is expected to be interviewed by Parliament’s standards watchdog within the next fortnight over a £5 million gift he received from a cryptocurrency billionaire, says the Times.
• “Nigel Farage sleaze report delayed until September” – A parliamentary sleaze inquiry into Nigel Farage will not conclude until September at the earliest, reveals the Telegraph.
• “All parties have funding embarrassments, but Farage is taking them to a new level” – The man who exposed NatWest’s failings is now half-tetchy and half-coy when his own financial dealings face scrutiny, notes Charles Moore in the Telegraph.
• “The gifts of gentle density” – With Britain millions of homes short, neighbourhoods fracturing and productivity growth stagnating, Nicholas Boys Smith argues in the Critic that “gentle density” is the answer to the country’s ever-more Gordian housing knot.
• “Anti-Zionism is repackaged antisemitism” – Denying the Jewish people the right to a state goes far beyond political disagreement and amounts to antisemitism in a new guise, says David Harris in the Telegraph.
• “Dutch woman, 35, and her friend are kidnapped, tortured and gang-raped” – A Dutch woman and her friend were abducted, tortured and gang-raped after travelling to Pakistan to meet a group of crypto investors, reports the Mail.
• “The purpose of the anti-AfD system is what it does” – The growing apparatus of political opposition arrayed against the AfD reveals more about Germany’s political culture than its organisers intend, says Eugyppius on Substack.
• “Germany’s suicide is a warning to the West” – On the Public Substack, Andreas Lombard argues that Europe’s post-war guilt has been weaponised to open the door to mass migration – and warns the wider West not to repeat the same mistakes.
• “Ailing Europe declares war on sick leave” – European governments are taking aim at soaring sick-leave rates across the Continent, reports the Telegraph.
• “Calls for Fifa’s Gianni Infantino to resign over Balogun red card at World Cup” – Pressure is mounting on Fifa President Gianni Infantino to step down following his reversal of a red card issued to Folarin Balogun under pressure from President Trump, says the Sun.
• “I got red card overturned” – Donald Trump has admitted personally lobbying FIFA President Gianni Infantino to cancel Folarin Balogun’s suspension because he “didn’t think it was a foul”, reports the Telegraph.
• “The World Cup has revived American soft power” – In the Spectator, Toby argues that the World Cup has reasserted America’s cultural dominance on the world stage.
• “Democrat with Nazi tattoo accused of sexual assault” – One of the Democrats’ top prospects in the mid-term elections has been accused of forcing a woman to have sex with him, according to the Telegraph.
• “What is wrong now was wrong before” – Former Australian PM Julia Gillard’s claim that the past cannot be judged by present moral standards is given the scrutiny it deserves by Victoria Smith in the Critic.
• “‘Monumental failure of government’ led to lost £11 billion for Covid PPE” – Labour’s counter-fraud commissioner says a panicked Government rushed to buy far more equipment than it needed, resulting in £11 billion of Covid PPE expenditure going to waste, according to the Times.
• “Consultants in England vote in favour of NHS strike action” – The BMA says consultants now have a mandate for strike action over the next 12 months following a ballot of NHS consultants in England, reports ITV News.
• “More than 100,000 get benefits for ADHD with no need to seek work” – Over 100,000 people with ADHD are receiving disability benefits with no requirement to look for work, a figure that has risen by 40% since last year, says the Times.
• “Your child doesn’t have special needs. They’re just naughty” – Britain’s rush to diagnose every instance of bad behaviour has trapped unruly children in a culture of excuses that serves neither them nor their families, warns Celia Walden in the Telegraph.
• “The Conversion Practices bill: vibes-based legislating” – On her Substack, Sonia Sodha says Labour MPs are rallying behind a dangerous bill that risks criminalising parents who refuse to consent to their child’s social transition.
• “Could there be a UK clampdown on X?” – Sadiq Khan’s appearance at a disinformation summit alongside Imran Ahmed raises serious questions about the future of free speech online, writes Charlotte Gill on her Substack.
• “Andy Burnham’s team confirms his stance on social media ban for under-16s” – Andy Burnham has confirmed his support for a social media ban for under-16s, with the Labour Government hinting at new VPN restrictions to enforce it, according to Birmingham Live.
• “Burnham urged to ditch Net Zero target by Blair” – The Tony Blair Institute is calling on Andy Burnham to abandon his pledge to almost completely rid the electricity grid of fossil fuels, reports the Telegraph.
• “Miliband to launch giant green energy subsidy campaign” – Ed Miliband is set to unveil a scheme guaranteeing renewables developers a minimum price for their power in a massive new green energy subsidy drive, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Amber health alert as temperatures set to rise above 30°C for 10 days” – The UK Health Security Agency has issued amber health alerts for the Midlands, eastern and southern England, warning of “significant impacts” on health and social care services as temperatures look set to exceed 30°C for 10 consecutive days, reports the Mail.
• “Soaring energy bills ‘risk factory closures’” – Ed Miliband’s Net Zero push is adding to soaring energy bills that risk triggering factory shutdowns and job losses, according to the Telegraph.
• “Green war on air conditioning is heating up” – In Watts Up With That?, Eric Worrall notes that climate academics are intensifying their push to restrict air conditioning, with one professor insisting “we cannot air condition our way out of climate change”.
• “CO₂’s warming effect is rapidly saturating” – Clintel flags claims by Drs William Happer and Richard Lindzen that CO₂’s warming effect is rapidly saturating, challenging the case for costly climate policies and Net Zero mandates.
• “Why gays turned against Pride” – Pride’s superficiality is most evident in the straight trans allies who attend as “incurious ideological groupies”, says Patrick West in the Spectator.
• “That is soviet levels of censorship” – On GB News, Toby slams Labour’s Deputy Leader Lucy Powell over plans to impose restrictions on social media and warns of the US’s likely response to any online censorship.

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