News Round-Up

• “There’s going to be an all-out attempt to decapitate Farage” – In the Spectator, Dominic Cummings warns that the establishment will stop at nothing to destroy Nigel Farage and Reform before they can win power.
• “Police investigate Reform donations by mother of fraudster who bankrolled Farage” – Fiona Cottrell, mother of George Cottrell who has been funding Nigel Farage’s operations, gave £500,000 to Reform UK before the last election and is now under police investigation, says the Times.
• “Who is the real Count Binface? Comedian’s policies and odds of winning Clacton” – Count Binface, who has fought two general elections, two London mayoral races and two by-elections, gets the full profile treatment from Emma Yeomans in the Times.
• “Count Binface is just not funny” – The novelty candidate’s campaign against Farage in Clacton exemplifies the hollow, pointless state of modern British political satire, says Gareth Roberts in the Telegraph.
• “Burnham’s coronation begins: would-be PM gets 322 nominations from MPs” – Nearly 80% of Labour’s MPs have nominated Andy Burnham to replace Keir Starmer as party leader, reports the Mail.
• “Andy Burnham is Britain’s Biden” – In the Spectator, Alex Morton argues that Burnham’s pitch as a return to an older, pro-worker Left carries an uncomfortable echo of Joe Biden’s ill-fated comeback story.
• “The real story of Manchesterism isn’t the one Andy Burnham is telling” – In the Spectator, Tali Fraser takes apart Andy Burnham’s claim that his brand of ‘Manchesterism’ is a genuine alternative to neoliberalism, arguing the evidence just isn’t there.
• “David Miliband gives speech backing Andy Burnham” – As speculation mounts over the composition of Andy Burnham’s cabinet, ex-Blair minister David Miliband has set out his views on foreign policy, devolution and electoral reform, reports Claire Ellicott in the Mail.
• “Disability benefits not fit for purpose, major review finds” – Labour insists that the welfare bill does not need to be reduced, despite a Government review finding that Britain’s main disability benefit was “not fit for purpose”, says the Telegraph.
• “Labour’s £15 billion push to extend free childcare to those on benefits” – Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is set to overhaul the free childcare scheme by extending 30 hours of support to families on benefits at a cost of £15 billion, according to the Express.
• “The false allegations against fathers that made me quit my police work” – In TCW, a former police investigator describes how encountering false allegations against fathers ultimately led them to leave the force.
• “National Association of Muslim Police has outlived its purpose” – In the Jewish Chronicle, Fiyaz Mughal says the National Association of Muslim Police has blown its credibility by backing the claim that Zionism is a form of anti-Muslim hatred.
• “Loyalists place replica mosque on top of bonfire” – A 56 year-old man has been arrested after a replica mosque was placed on top of a bonfire in Northern Ireland, reports Sky News.
• “The truth about the French drownings” – In the Spectator, Gavin Mortimer writes that the spate of drownings in France this year is not just because of the heatwave.
• “Hyperdemocratic European Parliament reimposes mass electronic surveillance regulation after a majority votes it down three times” – The European Parliament has reimposed a mass electronic surveillance regulation despite a majority voting it down three times, notes Eugyppius on Substack.
• “Report by Royal Sussex expert casts doubt on Lucy Letby verdicts” – A report co-authored by an expert on newborn children has cast further doubt on the safety of Lucy Letby’s convictions, according to Brighton and Hove News.
• “Would you trust a doctor who helps people die?” – The question of what kind of doctor chooses to specialise in assisted dying – and whether patients can trust them – warrants serious consideration, says Katie Musgrave in the Telegraph.
• “Heatwaves forcing surgeons to pause operations midway through” – Some surgeons are having to de-scrub mid-procedure to cool down and rehydrate before returning to finish operations, reports the Telegraph.
• “Climate change reparations could wreck Britain” – In the Spectator, Richard Ekins warns that the UK stands dangerously exposed to an avalanche of spurious and hugely expensive legal claims from other states over climate change reparations.
• “Badenoch purges would-be MPs who back Net Zero” – Kemi Badenoch is vetting prospective Conservative candidates to exclude those who back Net Zero, saying she wants teachers and builders rather than failed politicians wedded to old policies, reports the Telegraph.
• “Britain’s longest-ever heatwave? Weather could surpass 16-day record” – Parts of South East England have been in an official heatwave since Saturday, with forecasters believing the threshold will continue to be met well into next week, says the Mail.
• “Eurostar prepares for 55°C summers” – The Channel Tunnel operator is ordering trains capable of withstanding Saharan temperatures of up to 55°C following a series of blistering heatwaves, according to GB News.
• “No, Paris, US air conditioners did not cause Europe’s heat wave” – Europe’s ruling elites have chosen to prevent families and businesses from installing affordable air conditioning – not America – and the blame-shifting reveals a great deal about elite climate politics, says Paul Driessen at Climate Change Dispatch.
• “G7 climate realism signals policy progress” – Energy price shocks caused by conflict in the Middle East have pushed G7 leaders to put energy security and reliable fossil fuel supplies ahead of ambitious emissions targets, writes Vijay Jayaraj for CO2 Coalition.
• “Confronting the climate Jeremiahs” – In the Spectator, Toby says the worst thing about the heatwave, if you’re a recognisable climate contrarian, is the number of eco-zealots who buttonhole you asking you whether you still think climate change is a hoax.
• “Turning kids into crackpot crusaders” – A new AI-powered Australian school lesson platform run by Cool.org is training teachers to deliver climate propaganda to children, claims Tony Thomas at Climate Scepticism.
• “Texas forces cleanup of thousands of illegally dumped wind blades” – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured an injunction halting wind turbine blade dumping and forcing the cleanup of over 3,000 illegally stockpiled blades, according to Climate Change Dispatch.
• “Drag queen entertains sex offenders at prison’s LGBT sports day” – HMP Moorland invited a drag artist to perform for sex offenders at an LGBT sports day, reports the Telegraph.
• “Met pays Graham Linehan £25,000 over Heathrow arrest” – The Met Police has paid Father Ted creator Graham Linehan £25,000 in compensation after he was detained by five armed officers over anti-trans tweets, according to ITV News. It’s another victory for the Free Speech Union.
• “How can we de-programme the police?” – In the Spectator, Mary Wakefield argues that ideological capture has so thoroughly distorted British policing that a fundamental cultural reset is now urgently needed.
• “Ruth Ellis was a murderer. She doesn’t deserve a pardon” – The decision to grant Ruth Ellis a posthumous conditional pardon for the murder of her lover David Blakely sets a troubling precedent that risks distorting justice in the name of sentiment, warns Theodore Dalrymple in the Telegraph.
• “Rupert Lowe tells podcast that Dunblane massacre was just ‘one murder’” – The leader of Restore Britain has been urged to apologise after describing the Dunblane school shooting as “one murder” on the Joe Rogan podcast, according to BBC News.
• “England star suffers World Cup blow” – FIFA have slapped Jarell Quansah with a two-match ban, according to the Mail.
• “No new Keirs were born last year” – New baby name figures for 2025 show that not a single child was named Keir, adding a final ignominious footnote to the outgoing Prime Minister’s tenure, says Guido Fawkes.
• “Keir Starmer accused of packing the Lords with 19 new peers” – Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to pack the House of Lords with nearly 20 new Labour peers in one of his last acts as prime minister, reports the Times.
• “Ditch DEI loyalty tests for judges” – In the Lords, Toby argues that we need to stop making judges and Silk applicants pledge allegiance to DEI if we want to restore public trust in the senior judiciary.

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