News Round-Up

• “Justice Secretary: PC Harper’s mother is right to be angry” – Andy Burnham has been urged to block the release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers by his mother, reports the Telegraph.
• “Mega-dinghy carrying 173 migrants catches fire in Channel” – An overcrowded mega-dinghy which caught fire while trying to enter Britain illegally was the most-packed vessel to ever make the journey, according to LBC.
• “Badenoch defends selection of ex neo-Nazi as Tory candidate” – Kemi Badenoch says the Conservatives “believe in second chances” as Jewish groups call on the party to drop a council candidate who was once a neo-Nazi and served time in prison for inciting racial hatred, reports the Telegraph.
• “London council omits antisemitism from list of hate crimes” – Tower Hamlets left antisemitism off an official list of hate crimes while including transphobia and numerous other forms of prejudice, says the Telegraph.
• “Boy George’s manager PK Kemsley says he is ‘behind’ the star” – Boy George’s manager and best friend P.K. Kemsley has broken his silence about the star’s exit from Jesus Christ Superstar following a row over his support for Israel, reports the Mail.
• “The monstering of Boy George” – In the Spectator, Brendan O’Neill defends Boy George against the mob baying for his head over his support for Israel, arguing that his real crime is refusing to submit to ideological conformity.
• “Forget Lords reform, MPs are failing their duty, says former chief clerk” – The former Chief Clerk of the Commons from 2011 to 2014 argues that singling out the Lords for reform is “the wrong target” and that Commons is in greater need of an overhaul, according to the Times.
• “Bank of England lets 1,000 employees work from abroad” – The Bank of England’s “extravagant” remote working policy is under fire after staff racked up nearly 13,000 days working from overseas, reveals the Telegraph.
• “They are celebrating the death of Rod Liddle on Bluesky” – Within moments of news of Rod Liddle’s death breaking, users on Bluesky were taking to the platform to besmirch his reputation and revel in his passing, notes Joanna Williams in the Telegraph.
• “Rod Liddle was the most exciting boss I ever had” – In the Spectator, Andrew Gilligan says that Rod Liddle, his editor at the Today programme, was the most thrilling and unconventional boss he ever worked for.
• “Rod Liddle was a brilliant friend” – In the Spectator, Tim Luckhurst pays tribute to Rod Liddle, his close friend of 42 years, recalling how they first met as parliamentary research assistants in 1984.
• “Four Ugandan boxers reported missing in Scotland after Commonwealth Games” – Police are investigating claims four Ugandan boxers have gone missing in Scotland after competing in the Commonwealth Games, according to GB News.
• “Don’t believe the spin – Spain hasn’t taken back control in Ceuta” – Ceuta brutally exposes the EU’s impotence on migration, says Tim Röhn in the Telegraph.
• “Irish PM’s jet can’t land in fog after Israeli system removed” – The Irish Taoiseach’s jet could struggle to land in foggy conditions after it was purchased without an Israeli navigation system he banned over the war in Gaza, reports the Irish News.
• “Israel and the neighbor who wants you dead” – On his Substack, Dr Robert W. Malone reflects on life on the Israeli frontier and the reality of facing neighbours committed to your destruction.
• “ADHD is not a medical condition” – The former President of the Royal College of General Practitioners Dr Iona Heath is facing a backlash after claiming that the learning and attention disorder ADHD “is not a medical condition”, reports the Mail.
• “Anyone can have autism now, says research pioneer” – A leading research pioneer has warned that autism diagnoses have now been expanded so broadly that virtually anyone can get a diagnosis, according to the Telegraph.
• “Britain will soon be Europe’s energy powerhouse” – Britain is on course to become the only major European country with a thriving energy system spanning the full technology spectrum, claims Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, rather optimistically, in the Telegraph.
• “Utopian dreams of Net Zero” – The case for fossil fuels as essential to both human progress and climate adaptation is laid out by Tore Andøl in Watts Up With That?
• “Don’t worry, matcha lovers, New Scientist’s claims are bunk, your tea isn’t going anywhere” – The New Scientist‘s alarming claims that climate change threatens matcha tea production are contradicted by data showing green tea is faring perfectly well, reports Linnea Lueken in ClimateRealism.
• “Claim: teaching university students decolonial pedagogy will solve the climate crisis” – Academics are claiming that introducing “decolonial pedagogy” into university curricula is the key to resolving the climate crisis. Eric Worrall at Watts Up With That? is not so sure.
• “Wildfires: beware of the experts” – On her Right Times Substack, Kathy Gyngell warns that while wildfires are reflexively blamed on climate change every summer, the more alarming threat comes from geo-engineers proposing to dim the sun or dam the Bering Strait.
• “Against the cooling hierarchy” – In the Critic, Ted Newson makes the case for air-conditioning.
• “London’s 20mph speed limits are crippling black cabs” – The expansion of 20mph speed limits across London is making roads less safe and unfairly targeting black cab drivers and disabled people, according to the Mail.
• “Code of practice provides weapon to defend single-sex spaces” – Organisations have long ignored the law on self-identity, say Kishwer Falkner and Akua Reindorf in the Times. The new EHRC guidance on single-sex spaces will not end this but are nevertheless a victory.
• “Three universities deny Cambridge row professor holds posts with them” – Three universities are disputing claims by Cambridge professor Jason Arday that he holds academic positions with them, reveals the Mail.
• “Police investigated journalist who tried to expose Cambridge professor” – A reporter for Times Higher Education was investigated by the Metropolitan Police for harassment after emailing questions to Prof Jason Arday, reports the Telegraph.
• “The Cambridge fantasist is proof that stupid intellectuals poison Britain” – Jason Arday’s tall tales are a devastating case study in how woke ideology turns supposedly brilliant academics into credulous dupes, writes Alison Pearson in the Telegraph.
• “Jason Arday: a Cambridge professor’s brutal unravelling” – The Professor of Sociology of Education is at the heart of a storm that threatens both his reputation and Cambridge University’s, writes Damian Whitworth in the Times.
• “Topless streaker figurine restored to model village” – A miniature topless streaker has been restored to her rightful spot at an Isle of Wight model village after the public overwhelmingly voted to bring her back, reports the Telegraph.
• “It didn’t start with the Batley teacher” – A video shared on X shows that Rod Liddle was warning about the growing intolerance of Muslims for people who refused to observe their blasphemy codes back in the 1980s – decades before the issue became mainstream.

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