- “Man, 28, arrested over ‘murder’ of Ann Widdecombe at her home” – A 28 year-old man has been detained in South Yorkshire in connection with the suspected murder of Ann Widdecombe at her home, reports Elizabeth Haigh in the Mail.
- “Ann Widdecombe was principled, not ‘divisive’” – In UnHerd, Georgia Gilholy argues that Ann Widdecombe – staunch social conservative, Celebrity Big Brother contestant and climate sceptic – deserves to be remembered as a woman of principle rather than dismissed as a divisive figure.
- “Prominent British climate sceptic and Christian activist Ann Widdecombe murdered in her home” – Ann Widdecombe, one of only five MPs to vote against the Climate Change Act 2008, has been murdered at her home, writes Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
- “Ann Widdecombe, the conservative warrior” – Paul Collits pays tribute in TCW to Ann Widdecombe as a true conservative warrior.
- “Ann Widdecombe and I famously fell out, but we later made up. I will greatly miss her” – Michael Howard in the Telegraph recalls his famous falling-out with Ann Widdecombe – and the reconciliation that followed – in the wake of her tragic apparent murder.
- “Hard-Left rejoices at Ann Widdecombe’s death with sick posts” – Activists posted hateful messages about the former Tory minister turned Reform UK supporter within hours of her death being announced, reports the Mail.
- “RIP Ann Widdecombe – and shame on her haters” – The vile reaction to Ann Widdecombe’s murder reveals a deep moral rot on the Left, writes Tom Slater in Spiked.
- “Adam Boulton apologises for calling Ann Widdecombe a ‘spinster’” – The former Sky News presenter issued the apology on X after making comments about Ann Widdecombe, who was found murdered on Thursday, says the Mail.
- “Burnham will scrap Lammy plans to curb jury trials” – Removing the controversial reforms is said to be the only way to get the courts bill passed by MPs, according to allies of the Prime Minister-in-waiting, reports the Telegraph.
- “Burnham will push ahead with Chagos deal” – Mauritian ministers have been assured the handover will go ahead by a senior Foreign Office official, notes the Telegraph.
- “Ambulance service allows trans workers to defy Supreme Court ruling” – An ambulance service is permitting transgender staff to use single-sex lavatories in direct defiance of last year’s Supreme Court ruling on biological sex, reports the Telegraph.
- “Militant trans group targets Streeting” – Militant transgender group Back Back has urged supporters to target Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s office as part of a direct action campaign, says the Telegraph.
- “Can Reform survive without Nigel Farage?” – Farage’s by-election gamble raises the defining question of whether Reform voters are loyal to his populist party or simply to the man himself, writes the Telegraph.
- “Here’s the real reason why Labour’s never had a female leader” – It’s more awkward than mere sexism, says Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
- “Algerian caught trying to rape woman was let go by police” – A judge has described the police investigation into Ramzi Barkat, an Algerian national caught in the act of attempting to rape a woman and subsequently released, as a “catalogue of incompetencies”, reveals the Telegraph.
- “Henry Nowak’s final moments: ‘I’m not a racist’” – Henry Nowak was heard protesting his characterisation as a racist as he lay dying, reveals the Times.
- “Two in five Britons think Muslims cannot integrate in UK, poll finds” – Scepticism about Muslim integration has become a “mainstream view” in Britain, reports the Guardian.
- “Villages where asylum seekers could be housed at ex-military barracks” – Residents of Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire and Barnham in Suffolk face having hundreds of migrants moved into disused military accommodation under Government plans, reports the Mail.
- “South Africa’s immigrant-hunting mobs: ‘Arrest all foreigners on sight’” – Mass unemployment has turned vigilante mobs on African foreigners across South Africa, with communities that once united against apartheid now demanding that migrants be detained on sight, notes the Times.
- “My pupils asked me about abortion. I was sacked for my response” – A Catholic teacher in Scotland who told her class she personally opposed abortion is pursuing legal action after being dismissed with immediate effect for the remark, reports the Times.
- “The problem with the Timms review” – In the Spectator, Shimeon Lee argues that the interim report of the Timms review of PIP is a walking contradiction, failing to resolve how a benefit costing an extra £41 billion by 2030 can be made fair without being cut.
- “Britain’s mad lockdown experiment has damaged a generation” – The loss of social contact outside the immediate family during lockdown has caused lasting harm to the emotional maturity of a generation of young people, says Janet Daley in the Telegraph.
- “The Smithsonian hates America” – In the Spectator, Roger Kimball writes that a new White House report lays bare how the Smithsonian has systematically worked to distort and undermine Americans’ understanding of their own history.
- “Reasonable Doubt: Examining the case of Lucy Letby” – Christopher Morris has a new book, titled Reasonable Doubt: Examining the Case of Lucy Letby.
- “Ed Miliband ‘deluded’ – terrifying expert warning shows he’s about to wreck UK” – In the Express, Harvey Jones notes that experts are warning Ed Miliband’s energy policies would prove catastrophic for Britain, even as he is touted as a potential Chancellor under Andy Burnham.
- “The climate scaremongers: in the real world, emissions are still on the rise” – Despite Net Zero rhetoric and green energy pledges, global emissions continue to climb, writes Paul Homewood in TCW.
- “Battery storage for grid backup: better keep working on it” – The idea that battery storage can simply absorb excess renewable power and discharge it on demand to keep the grid stable remains far from reality, reports WUWT.
- “Make serving vegan food a legal requirement, say Greens” – The Green Party is considering using the Equality Act to compel certain organisations to provide vegan food options, says the Telegraph.
- “Count Binface is no laughing matter. He embodies why Britain is in such a mess” – The novelty candidate’s persistent electoral appeal is a symptom of a deeper national malaise – a collective unwillingness to live within our means, says Dan Hannan in the Telegraph.
- “Palace ‘jaws were on the floor’ after Prince Harry’s judiciary attack” – Prince Harry’s post-trial outburst against the judiciary caused “profound upset” at the Palace, even as a reunion with King Charles raises hopes that he may finally be willing to put down his sword, reveals the Times.
- “Plot to destroy the press: the real story of Harry’s hacking trial” – A group of celebrities spearheaded by Prince Harry joined forces with other claimants to sue the Mail‘s owner, Associated Newspapers, in a case whose full backstory is only now coming to light, reports the Times.
- “My problem with Gary Stevenson, the millionaire who wants to tax the rich” – A new 72-minute documentary fronted by millionaire trader Gary Stevenson makes the case for a 2% wealth tax on fortunes above £10 million – but not everyone is convinced, says Charlotte Ivers in the Times.
- “First rule of the establishment? Pretend you’re not a member” – The establishment’s defining trait is its members’ insistence that they are outsiders, even as they quietly shape every decision that matters, suggests Craig Brown in the Times.
- “Khan criticised for picking ‘American socialite’ to design Tube map” – Sadiq Khan faces sharp criticism after selecting an “American dinner-party socialite” to design the front cover of London’s iconic Tube map, reports the Telegraph.
- “John Humphrys criticises successors on BBC Radio 4” – Former Today presenter John Humphrys accuses the programme’s current hosts of conducting a “gushing contest” with interviewees rather than holding them to account, notes the Telegraph.
- “On the moralisation of football” – On his Substack, Aaren argues that the France-Paraguay controversy has exposed football’s deepest cultural divide: who gets to decide what the game ought to be.
- “They’re actually celebrating Ann Widdecombe’s murder over on Bluesky” – “It’s just endless,” says Basil the Great on X. “I just cannot comprehend why someone would do that”
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“Can Reform survive without Nigel Farage?”
My understanding is that the party’s constitution allows for the leader not to be an MP?
In which case, in the event that he was to lose his seat, Farage could continue as leader. It may even benefit them to operate outside the restrictions of the House. Being an MP of a minority party seems pretty pointless, given the nonsense they have put up with at question time, for instance.
I guess most Telegraph readers are much more sympathetic to Reform and Farage than they are to the Tory party’s doings over the past 25 years. So when they seek to undermine Reform and make early calls on its demise they are attacking their own market.
Is it any wonder it is losing money and readers, just like the Speccie where Fraser Nelson led attacks on anyone not sufficiently globalist for his taste.
My own guess is Reform will not only survive but prosper. I anticipate more votes for Reform than the Tories at the General Election.
The failure of Uniparty to stand in Clacton is not a sign of political sophistication but of fear of being publicly trounced.
“Burnham will push ahead with Chagos deal” – Mauritian ministers have been assured the handover will go ahead by a senior Foreign Office official…”
NO ONE has the right to give away chunks of British territory without A FULL VOTE IN BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
And it’s high time that British Citizens reminded their own Members of Parliament of this fact, so that everyone can see who the Traitors are.
F-ing well said sir/Madam 👏
“On the moralisation of football” – On his Substack, Aaren argues that the France-Paraguay controversy has exposed football’s deepest cultural divide: who gets to decide what the game ought to be.” Or rather: Who gets to decide which team will win the World Cup even before the opening ceremony?
I was completely wrong in my predictions for the England-Norway match last night. I thought they’d find some way to humiliate or neutralize Haaland, push Kane into the background, and give all the goals to Ethnic Africans to make the English bow down to their new “saviour” Bellingham the Overrated.
I was wrong: I thought they’d give Bellingham about 4 or 5 goals just to “rub our noses in diversity”, but they only gave him 2. It was enough. All these matches seem to be fixed beforehand. How hard is it to bribe a goalkeeper not to save at certain times, or star players not to try very hard, or referees to unfairly punish fouls or allow a “hand of God”? Or managers to sub off their star players or even goalkeepers at the worst possible time? Is that why so many end up as millionaires, for going along with the… Read more »
“Two in five Britons think Muslims cannot integrate in UK, poll finds”
And the other three are too scared to comment!
Are there five Britons left?
Adam Boulton apologises for calling Ann Widdecombe a ‘spinster’
Why should he apologise? She was unmarried. What do they put on marriage certificates these days (where appropriate)? Ours says Bachelor and Spinster. Yes, we thought the term comic at the time but it’s accurate.
He also was apologising for calling her an ‘old maid’. Ann Widdecombe is reputed to have had strong views on celibacy before marriage. Perhaps unusual views these days but unlike others it appears she actually lived by those views. At 78 years the term ‘old’ does not seem unreasonable and as far as anyone else is concerned ‘maid’ seems accurate too.
Where perhaps he should explain himself is apparently trying to use the terms to belittle her. If he had said these things while she was alive I reckon she’d have agreed with him and celebrated it.
Its called being tactful!
Oh. Sorry. Yes, she passed away.
It’s reported she was murdered, and there’s another bloke being held now as a suspect. I’d say there’s a distinction to be made between being killed and passing away. For instance: Henry Nowak didn’t just ‘pass away’.
Indeed. It appears she was killed. Yes, it seems the police are investigating her death as murder and are looking for the murderer. She is dead.
She had firm views and was prepared to debate them with others. I don’t think she would pussyfoot around the terminology used but would defend her views robustly and eloquently.
Most, or at least many, people laugh at the idea of celibacy before marriage but still seem to recognise it as an ideal. The number of brides wearing virginal white at register office weddings and even at church weddings which they rarely attend beforehand seems to back this view up.
You seem a bit confused about the difference between English words like “spinster”, “celibacy” and “chastity”, perhaps as a result of your upbringing… as, if I recall correctly, you once commented that your father was a Pakistani Muslim immigrant.
“Spinster” was once a respectable term for a type of employment, usually carried out by females.
It later became, and now still is, an insult to unmarried women, like “old maid”. It has been replaced by the modern acceptable term for both unmarried men & women as “single”.
“Chastity” is what the brides wearing virginal white you mentioned is about, which means sexual abstinence for both men & women outside of marriage. It does not involve renouncing all possibility of marriage.
“Celibacy” is both sexual abstinence and a vow to remain unmarried, usually for religious reasons, for both men & women.
The normal modern term for the late great Miss Ann Widdecombe would be “single” or with regard to her personal views “celibate”.
I do not think she would appreciate your attempt to defend people who deliberately insult her memory because of her personal religious decision to remain “celibate”.
you once commented that your father was a Pakistani Muslim immigrant
No. 2+2≠5
Colonial British in India born before partition. English, Irish and Scots ancestry. Had Pakistani citizenship thrust upon him by ‘virtue’ of being resident in Lahore at the time of partition. Em/Immigrated soon after, along with many other British Indians who wanted to remain British.
Now you know way too much about me…
“Spinster” was once a respectable term for a type of employment, usually carried out by females.
It later became, and now still is, an insult to unmarried women, like “old maid”. It has been replaced by the modern acceptable term for both unmarried men & women as “single”.
You mean the registrar was insulting my wife? What a bitch! I’ll track her down… BTW does anyone have an answer to my question as to what gets put on a marriage certificate or register entry these days for a never previously married woman? Or is it, as you say, the rather uninformative term ‘single’?
Chastity/Celibacy. Distinction noted. Not sure that my father’s colonial upbringing would explain my ignorance on that point. My fault, not his. Nor yet a grievous fault.
Edit: Why would ‘old maid’ be an… Read more »
I’m talking about Adam Bolton bringing her marital status and sexuality in to his so called commiserations, what on earth is this to do with her death? A professional reporter should know better and should fully apologise, at least to the family!
Agreed. The headline reads: Adam Boulton apologises for calling Ann Widdecombe a ‘spinster’
The interpretation is obviously that ‘spinster’ is a hurty word or is a characteristic which is demeaning. It’s not the term that needs an apology. It’s the belittling of her values.
If you’ve not met Aussified English patriot, Pete, here he is giving it both barrels. He’s got opinions on this matter 😂;
Gotta love Pete. Talking about the comments made by lefties about Ann, he says “you’re all a bunch of fcking c**ts”;
https://x.com/jomickane/status/2075919018230272371
I think its the way that Boulton chose only to pick ‘unkind’ things to say about a woman who had a life of distinguished public service, cruelly ended in a violent act. He was giving the impression that she was less than that, and that because of her beliefs, opinions and convictions she didn’t deserve respect and wasn’t someone to be cared about. Words are important.
^This I definitely agree with.
Edit: Characterising his apology as for using the terminology spinster and old maid misses the point entirely.
It was ill-mannered. Bad manners are never acceptable.
“Farage’s by-election gamble raises the defining question of whether Reform voters are loyal to his populist party or simply to the man himself, writes the Telegraph.”
Depends what you mean by “loyal”. Speaking personally it seems to me that their policies represent by far the best reflection of “right wing” views among the parties currently likely to win lots of seats, a leader who has a proven track record of persisting with and achieving an objective in the face of huge opposition, and they are not stained by decades of betrayal while in office. That is my I believe rational assessment, and I can’t be the only one. Does “loyal” mean that I will stick to my probable intention to vote for them unless their policies or something else material changes, regardless of what nasty things the Telegraph writes? Yes. Does “loyal” mean I will continue to support them if they betray those who voted for them repeatedly? No, because I am not an idiot or deluded, unlike the Tory-supporting Telegraph who are desperate to snipe at Reform, here scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Populist: a person or political Party that develops policies based on what the people tell them they want to serve their interests, and/or they want to change.
Populism: when the people decide who governs them and how.
Democrat/democracy: a member or Party of the ruling elite which decides what they want which best serves their interests, then tells the people what they must vote for, because otherwise they are Far Right.
Democracy also means ignoring what the electorate voted for, and/or were promised if it does not suit the ruling elite.
Loyalty. True leaders inspire loyalty.
https://x.com/telegraaf/status/2075959020859347079?s=20
The Red Cross and an asylum organisation have pulled their staff out of the migrant detention centre in Ter Apel (NL) on the basis that is has become too dangerous.
In the meantime the migrants are still allowed to move freely in town.
Well somebody wishing somebody else dead says a lot about themselves. In fact it reveals an enormous amount about those individuals wishing somebody else dead. Very odd and revealing.
Sadly it’s the case for some time. When Margaret Thatcher was at death’s door, Dan Hodges wrote a piece asking for lefties to not rejoice when the end came. He was aiming it specifically at Glenda Jackson, who, true to form did just that. Sick
The Left (the ideology and it’s adherent, not necessarily Labour voters) are vile. They think they’re the nice ones, but time and time again they happily and with no sense of irony prove the opposite.
“The Left” is Socialism. Socialism is the root on which Fascism, National Socialism, Communism and Labour grow.
Each is just a different means of delivering the end result. Like the various Christian sects are all rooted in the same beliefs and aims, just different ideas about going about it.
Socialism = elevation of the State above the individual therefore abolishing individual sovereignty, collective ownership of property (what you earn belongs to the State which will decide his much you can keep), collection of wealth to the centre for redistribution around the collective, central economic planning and control, oppression of political dissent and suppression of freedom of speech.
Any of that sound familiar? Any recent experience of that?
There is no Hard, Far, Centre Left just as there was no Hard, Far, Centre Nazi or Fascist – they are all infected with the Socialist greed-creed – taking other people’s wealth, spite, envy.
What do Labour voters want? Your money to pay for their health care, children’s education, old age, big wages in the bloated public services, your money to pay them if they are out of work or off sick, and plunder the undeserving rich and Tory… Read more »
“Make serving vegan food a legal requirement, say Greens”
You can make many lovely dishes with just vegan ingredients. However, as the number of vegan meals is usually a fractional percentage (I’m in the industry, its nowhere near as popular as its suggested), then why should food businesses go out of their way to satisfy them. They will offer something highly processed, full of chemicals to replicate the function of animal ingredients and stored in a packet at the back of the freezer, ready to microwave just in case one of these weirdo’s comes in to fuel up for their performative existence. Vegetarian = Fine, Vegan = Pantomine
Oh, here we go again…
As you say, it’s perfectly possible to cook good food using vegetables, most of it even I can knock up in about half an hour, and I’m sure a cook with better knife skills and an organised kitchen could do it faster.
Which makes it even more of a mystery that all that was on offer for my vegan friends at a restaurant recently was a rocket salad, hold the Parmesan, and a bowl of olives…
And, I don’t agree that it’s performative.
They chose, for any number of reasons, not to eat animal based products and at least, by and large, they stick to that. Whilst, on the other hand, vegetarians will happily eat dairy products: eggs and milk, believing somehow that they are sourced without animal suffering… now THAT’S pantomime.
Believing that any food can be sourced without some animal suffering and deaths is pantomime in my view. And whilst you might find vegetarians hypocritical, they will be less likely to suffer from serious nutritional deficiencies – especially if they eat eggs.
As the story is about forcing food establishments to provide Vegan food, I think we can discount your efforts at a charming and delicious, Sprout and Mushroom casserole. A lot of veggie I know prefer veggie as they don’t like the texture or flavour of meat. They don’t have the vapours every time they think about the poor chicken being shoved through a machine and turned into meat and mince. I have no issue with that.
If you’ve served as many vegans as I have who were wearing leather shoes or carrying leather handbags, and asking for cream to put on their cheesecake dessert, then it pretty soon becomes obvious that they learned about veganism from ‘Cosmopolitan’ in the same way that they went nuts for ‘Gluten Free’. The genuine vegans don’t tend to announce themselves as though looking for approval that they are a better and more moral person. The rest are ‘Vegan’ when there is someone to impress.
Personally I don’t care why someone is or isn’t vegan – it’s entirely their shout, and neither should have to defend it. So long as we all have a choice. Serving vegan only food anywhere is an abomination and should be called out as such.
It’s more complicated than that. Avocado are not vegan, nor is some, but not all, honey, because… reasons.
Shower gel, shampoo, hand cream, for example, has to be “suitable for vegans” even though they don’t eat them.
It is a clear case of compulsive disorder and not to be encouraged.
I don’t like the taste of meat, never have even as a child and have been vegetarian since 1982. You had to give three days notice if you wanted a meal out in those days, but even now it is not very imaginative.
Potatoes, carrots and a portion of cabbage. Isn’t that a vegetarian meal?
Pubs: next to their sausages, steak pie, etc there will be a whole array of vegetables and salad: baked beans, peas, chips, mashed potato, rice, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sweetcorn, beans – for example.
So that seems ample choice. You can have what everybody else is having, minus the meat.
No, that is a vegan meal. Yet another person who cannot tell the difference.
“The problem with the Timms review”
If this is the interim report, then thank Stephen Timms for his work and send him home. There’s no point in him doing anything more if he isn’t going to grasp this pretty obvious nettle.
“Burnham will scrap Lammy plans to curb jury trials”
Enough of trying to carve enough bits off this bill to slide it past the backbenchers. Its bad law. Bin it.