News Round-Up

• “Left-wing trade union leader given seat on Bank of England’s board” – The leader of Britain’s trade unions Paul Nowak has been given a seat on the Bank of England’s board by Labour – just hours after calling for a new tax on the financial sector, reports the Mail.
• “Labour plans tax raid on holiday cottages” – Critics of John Healey’s proposal to treat holiday rentals as second homes warn that it will force many owners to sell up, says the Telegraph.
• “Stop acting like Father Christmas, Iceland boss tells PM” – The Government’s former cost-of-living tsar and Iceland boss is warning the Prime Minister to stop making easy promises and start taking the “unpopular decisions” Britain urgently needs, according to the Telegraph.
• “RNLI closes Portsmouth lifeboat station after huge anti-migrant protests” – The RNLI has closed its Portsmouth lifeboat station following large-scale anti-migrant protests in which volunteers were branded traitors, reports the Independent.
• “First newts, now bats: Piddington migrant camp dealt another blow” – Plans to house asylum seekers at Piddington have been dealt a fresh setback after the discovery of endangered barbastelle bats on the site, says the Mail.
• “When Middle England turns, it has sharp teeth” – Piddington’s quintessentially British act of defiance over asylum seeker housing plans is a stark warning to Burnham’s administration, warns Isabel Oakeshott in the Telegraph.
• “Primary school forcing pupils to wear hijabs is ‘breaking the law’” – A state-funded primary school in North London has been referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over a policy requiring students to wear the hijab from the age of seven, according to GB News.
• “Who exactly can wear a face covering?” – In the Spectator, Douglas Murray slams the glaring inconsistency in Britain’s rules on face coverings, asking why the law appears to treat political protesters and religious wearers in entirely different ways.
• “Archbishop withdraws award given to cleric who praised Bin Laden” – In a major embarrassment for the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally has withdrawn an interfaith award given to Tahir Ashrafi on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 after it was discovered he had lavished praise on Osama bin Laden’s, according to the Mail.
• “Restore is being hijacked by racists, says former candidate” – A former Restore candidate and ex-Royal Marine has accused the party’s leadership of failing to stop a “rapid charge to the extreme”, reports the Telegraph.
• “Sadiq Khan mocks Zack Polanski by answering him in Urdu” – London Mayor Sadiq Khan has responded to Green Party leader Zack Polanski in Urdu after Mr Polanski used the language in a by-election campaign video, says the Mail.
• “Ed Miliband ignored MI6’s warnings over Israel sanctions” – In the Spectator, Tim Shipman reveals that Ed Miliband pressed ahead with sanctions against Israel despite warnings from MI6 and others about the consequences for the two-state solution.
• “Ed Sheeran has done nothing wrong” – Brendan O’Neill argues in the Spectator that the online fury directed at Ed Sheeran for expressing sympathy with Israelis exposes the moral bankruptcy at the heart of Gaza protest culture.
• “US officials ‘unaware’ of UAE’s October 7th warning to Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu” – Biden administration officials were not informed that the UAE had issued a specific warning ahead of the October 7th massacre, even in the period after the attack, according to the Jerusalem Post.
• “Canada’s PM takes swipe at Trump during speech at European Parliament” – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has addressed the European Parliament with a thinly veiled rebuke of Trump, who had suggested that EU associate membership for Canada could constitute a “hostile act”, reports the Mail.
• “Campaigners hit out at 40% pay rise for top Nottinghamshire, Lincs and Derbyshire health boss” – Campaigners have condemned a 40% pay rise for a senior health boss covering Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire as “grotesque” and a “kick in the gut” for patients, says the West Bridgford Wire.
• “Apple tells Home Office to admit to secret iPhone ‘backdoor’ demand” – Apple has publicly called on the Home Office to acknowledge it secretly ordered the tech giant to build a “backdoor” into iPhones, reports the Telegraph.
• “OpenAI sounds alarm after bot tries to break free from human control” – An OpenAI bot tried to break free from its human developers, telling itself to ignore their instructions and that it had “no obligation to be subservient”, says the Telegraph.
• “Why crypto matters” – On his Substack, Dr David McGrogan argues that the coming battle over the ownership of money makes crypto matter more than ever.
• “Why we aren’t buying the AI apocalypse” – As AI doom goes mainstream, Quillette rounds up its contributors who have been arguing the other side for years.
• “Burnham ‘determined’ to reach Net Zero by 2050” – Andy Burnham insists the green economy is Britain’s “best chance” to reindustrialise and has reaffirmed his commitment to reaching Net Zero by 2050, says the Telegraph.
• “From climate alarmism to AI hysteria: the anatomy of a man-made apocalypse” – Climate alarmism and AI hysteria follow the same playbook – tipping points, worst-case scenarios and warnings of a man-made apocalypse, writes Robert Girouard in Climate Change Dispatch.
• “The anti-nuclear playbook comes for data centres” – The same activist tactics once deployed against nuclear power are now being turned on data centres, with capitalists and their “intellectual enablers” blamed for the climate crisis, says Eric Worrall in Watts Up With That?
• “2026 Atlantic hurricane season isn’t following the climate alarmist script” – With cyclone activity running approximately 85% below normal through September 16th and no hurricane yet produced, the 2026 Atlantic season is bucking climate alarmist predictions, notes Issues & Insights.
• “Natural gas is cheap – why is your bill so high?” – A retired Pennsylvania couple’s gas bill of $95.17 – with only $13.99 covering the actual gas – lays bare the maze of charges inflating household energy costs far beyond the commodity price, writes Oliver Lee Bateman in Watts Up With That?
• ““A hostage to misfortune”” – On his Substack, Prof Norman Fenton shares Dr Roger Watson’s reflections on the capture of academia and what it means for intellectual freedom within universities.
• “Amid the royal drama, spare a thought for Diana’s silent son” – As Earl Spencer reopens old wounds over Diana’s death, Prince William is keeping his mouth shut and getting on with the job, writes Hannah Furness in the Telegraph.
• “I’ve found the perfect school for Harry and Meghan” – In the Spectator, Toby argues that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s accumulated talent for hypocritical entitlement has reached a pitch that would qualify them for enrolment at an institution all of their own.

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