News Round-Up

• “The ‘quiet and shy’ 28 year-old held over the murder of Ann Widdecombe” – The Mail reports on Joshua Kerry, the lift engineer pictured for the first time who is accused of targeting 78 year-old former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe in her Devon home in a suspected terrorist attack.
• “Build a safe room at home, MI5 advises vulnerable MPs” – Guidance issued before the killing of Ann Widdecombe and suggesting measures such as fog machines and bulletproof walls has been brought into sharp focus, reports the Times.
• “Left-wing group deletes article branding Widdecombe ‘homophobic’” – Hope Not Hate has quietly removed a web page accusing Ann Widdecombe of a “long history” of homophobia in the wake of her murder, says the Telegraph.
• “Andy Burnham to scrap Starmer’s digital ID scheme” – The Mail reveals that Burnham will scrap Starmer’s digital ID scheme, with his team describing the move as a “reset of priorities”.
• “How Andy Burnham will start: digital ID axed, cabinet post for AI” – Four decades after the rise of Thatcherism, Labour’s new leader has vowed to roll it back while governing in a T-shirt – but he also has his eye on tech, notes the Times.
• “Burnham to announce plans for new North Sea oil and gas drilling” – Andy Burnham is set to unveil plans for new North Sea oil and gas drilling despite Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledge to issue no new licences, reports BBC News.
• “Ed Miliband has become one of Andy Burnham’s biggest problems” – Ed Miliband’s tenure as Energy Secretary has seen domestic oil and gas policy become a self-inflicted disaster, says Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph.
• “Andy Burnham to put failing Thames Water in special administration” – Andy Burnham is expected to push Thames Water into a special form of administration in an unprecedented government intervention, writes the Times.
• “Thatcher’s ‘genius’ put backbone in Britain, says Badenoch” – Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has defended Margaret Thatcher’s legacy after Andy Burnham attacked the former Prime Minister, reports the Telegraph.
• “The voters demand an election, Mr Burnham – let them have one” – Andy Burnham’s unscrutinised rise to power makes North Korea’s political process look open by comparison, says the Mail in a leader.
• “Andy Burnham’s embrace of Hope Not Hate is deeply concerning” – Andy Burnham’s reported appointment of Hope Not Hate’s former director of campaigns as his No. 10 Political Strategy chief signals an unmistakable ideological direction for a future Burnham premiership, writes Emma Schubart in UnHerd.
• “Everything you wanted to know about Hope Not Hate (but were afraid to ask)” – Hope Not Hate is an organisation that continuously flirts with criminality while enjoying apparent CPS immunity, and which exploits English law to further the ambitions of the Labour Party, according to Michael Reiners.
• “US vows to ‘punish’ Iran with airstrikes after American fatalities” – The United States has pledged retaliatory airstrikes against Iran after an attack on a base in Jordan left American servicemembers killed and more than 430 wounded as the ceasefire between the two countries collapses, reports the Mail.
• “J.K. Rowling ‘burning with fury’ after Amnesty blacklists women’s charity” – J.K. Rowling says she is “burning with fury” after Amnesty International blacklisted Beira’s Place, her charity for women, notes the Telegraph.
• “Polanski says Rochdale grooming gang leader should not be deported” – Green Party leader Zack Polanski has claimed it “doesn’t make sense” to deport Rochdale grooming gang leader Ahmed, 73, who was convicted of multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls as young as 13, reports the Mail.
• “Deporting Albanian former drug dealer ‘would be unfair on’ wife” – A judge has ruled that an Albanian former drug dealer who evaded deportation can remain in the UK because removing him would be unfair on his wife, reports the Telegraph.
• “Police made to write ‘reflective essays’ on racism as part of DEI training” – Surrey officers are being ordered to submit 500-word written reflections on how they can help “build an anti-racist police” as part of their diversity, equity and inclusion training, says the Telegraph.
• “Councils use taxpayer money to cover staff parking fines” – Local authorities across the country are footing the bill for their employees’ parking fines using public funds, as figures show nearly 800,000 penalty charge notices were issued by London councils alone in 2024-25, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Pupil awarded £4,000 from taxpayer after burning on a hot marshmallow” – Figures from local councils show £3.75 million was paid out over two years across 6,000 cases in which schools were sued by parents over what campaigners describe as “ordinary childhood accidents”, writes Matt Davis in the Mail.
• “Bridget Phillipson’s £500k bill to scrap university free speech laws” – The Education Secretary spent £500,000 of taxpayers’ money pursuing a legal battle to dilute Conservative legislation requiring universities and student unions to actively promote free speech on campuses, notes the Mail.
• “Top 10% of earners pay nearly 60% of income tax” – Frozen tax thresholds and rising incomes mean HMRC is expected to collect £202 billion from the top 10% of earners – up £156 billion since 2000 – laying bare the extraordinary concentration of the income tax burden, reports the Times.
• “British Jews ‘complicit in Israel’s crimes’, say Palestinian Christians” – A Christian Palestinian movement given fresh prominence by the Church of England has accused the British Jewish community of being “complicit” in “the suffering of Gaza’s children”, reports the Telegraph.
• “Hamas terrorises civilians at UN food centres” – Terrorists are maintaining control over Palestinians through a “dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction” at UN food distribution centres across Gaza, and even the UN has started to complain about it, notes the Telegraph.
• “Near-blackouts after energy chiefs didn’t plan for heatwave” – Grid managers who assumed electricity supply would hold during the recent heatwave were forced to make emergency calls for power from Europe to avert near-blackouts, reveals the Times.
• “Households face higher bills as grid project costs soar 500%” – A Net Zero overhaul of Britain’s electricity grid is at risk of becoming “the next HS2” as project budgets spiral by almost 500%, threatening to land households with higher energy bills, writes the Telegraph.
• “Aussie renewable energy retailer collapse blamed on President Trump” – An Australian renewable energy retailer has collapsed and its failure is being pinned on President Trump – despite the implausibility of any connection, note Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
• “AI data centres are the heroes, not the villains” – Far from draining America’s resources, the data centres powering AI are financing the nation’s future, says Gilbert Hyatt in Watts Up With That?
• “The AstraZeneca files” – Dr Ros Jones examines the AstraZeneca files in TCW.
• “BBC’s 10-part Brexit series featured only one Brexiteer” – Radio 4’s documentary Politically: Ten Years After Brexit interviewed 19 people who spoke only about the negative consequences of leaving the EU, featuring just a single Brexiteer, reports the Telegraph.
• “TCW’s 12-year culture war and a not quite final goodbye” – In TCW, Kathy Gyngell reflects on the publication’s 12-year engagement in the culture war and offers a not quite final goodbye as she promises to continue on Substack.
• “If you’re wondering why the Left seem so deluded it’s because they literally do not see the problems in our country” – On X, Basil the Great posts a clip of Alistair Campbell openly admitting he doesn’t think two tier policing is real, despite the evidence.

If you have any tips for inclusion in the round-up, email us here.