News Round-Up

• “Peter Mandelson given access to top secret intelligence” – Peter Mandelson was given access to top secret intelligence despite failing vetting, reports the Times.
• “Mandelson lobbied Government for blacklisted Chinese company” – Peter Mandelson’s lobbying firm advised a blacklisted Chinese company with military links over a takeover of a British manufacturer, according to GB News.
• “Olly Robbins could take Government to tribunal over sacking” – Olly Robbins has signalled he could take the Government to an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal, says the Times.
• “Tories threaten showdown if Starmer won’t come clean about Mandelson” – The Tories have threatened a Commons showdown unless Sir Keir Starmer comes clean over the Mandelson vetting scandal, reports the Mail.
• “Now ministers claim Starmer would have U-turned on making Mandelson UK’s top diplomat if told of peer’s vetting failure – as PM is branded ‘unfit to govern’” – Ministers have defended Sir Keir Starmer over the Mandelson vetting fiasco, according to the Mail.
• “Labour peer tells Starmer to resign” – Senior Labour peer Lord Glasman has become the most prominent party figure to call for Sir Keir Starmer to resign over the Mandelson vetting fiasco, reports the Telegraph.
• “The five ways MPs could oust Sir Keir Starmer” – As the Prime Minister rejects calls to quit, the Telegraph lists the mechanisms that could force him to go.
• “The key battlegrounds that will decide Starmer’s fate” – In the Telegraph, Dominic Penna sets out five unanswered questions that could lead to the Prime Minister’s exit over the Mandelson scandal.
• “No invite for Starmer? Rayner and Burnham spotted holding late-night meeting in Manchester” – Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham have fuelled leadership speculation after holding a secret late-night meeting in Manchester, reports the Mail.
• “Is Britain really a democracy? These days I’m not so sure” – The Starmer Government’s EU reset raises fresh doubts over whether Britain remains a true democracy after Brexit, writes Robert Tombs in the Telegraph.
• “I fear Chancellor’s coming for the triple lock” – The Chancellor could be coming for the triple lock very soon, warns Jeff Prestridge in This is Money.
• “Labour is intent on killing our prized religious schools” – It’s not the elite who suffer from Reeves’s VAT raid, says Michael Mosbacher in the Telegraph. It’s smaller schools and their pupils.
• “‘We cannot tax our way to growth,’ says CBI boss Rain Newton-Smith” – CBI chief Rain Newton-Smith may be the epitome of tact, but her warning is unmistakable: pile on costs, taxes and excessive regulation and growth will be the casualty, writes Ruth Sutherland in This is Money.
• “Britain at breaking point over Chancellor’s tax attack, top finance chiefs warn” – Finance officials in Washington are warning that Britain may be close to ‘peak taxation’, says This is Money.
• “Labour has committed an unforgivable sin: it’s given Britain a useless prime minister” – Like the Tories after Liz Truss, the entire party will be blamed for Sir Keir Starmer’s incompetence and lack of control over Government, writes James Frayne in the Telegraph.
• “David Lammy meets with Alex Soros” – On Substack, Charlotte Gill discusses David Lammy’s recent meeting with Alex Soros at the Global Progressive Mobilisation Summit in Barcelona.
• “Reform said they would pay my energy bills. They haven’t” – Reform UK’s headline energy bill stunt has failed to deliver after promising to pay bills for an entire street, reports the Telegraph.
• “Hundreds of small boat migrants arrive in Dover” – Hundreds more small boat migrants have arrived in Dover, pushing Channel crossings past 6,000 so far this year, reports the Mail.
• “Reform pledges to send 400,000 asylum seekers home” – A Reform government would revoke up to 400,000 refugees’ right to asylum and send them home if they entered the UK illegally, according to the Telegraph.
• “Restore or Reform?” – In the New Conservative, Russell David explains why Reform deserves your support.
• “Don’t laugh at the Greens: they’re Stalin with a nose ring” – Zack Polanski’s party has jettisoned reality altogether in its quixotic quest to ‘be kind’, warns Tim Stanley the Telegraph.
• “Zack Polanski is branded ‘authoritarian’” – Zack Polanski has been branded ‘authoritarian’ after he said on his Bold Politics podcast that society may be better off if people on the Right are excluded from it altogether, reports the Mail.
• “Green Party candidate’s property firm convicted of ‘environmental vandalism’” – A Green Party candidate’s property firm has been convicted of “environmental vandalism” after illegally burning waste to cut costs, according to the Mail.
• “Universities that muzzle free speech could face fines of £500,000 amid fears speakers are being ‘cancelled’ for opposing gender idealogy” – Universities that muzzle free speech could now face fines of up to £500,000 or even be struck off, reports the Mail.
• “Weak-willed parents to blame for naughty children, says schools tsar” – Weak-willed parents have been blamed for rising classroom violence and naughty behaviour by the schools tsar, according to the Telegraph.
• “Homelessness charity cuts ties with Sharon Osbourne after support for Right-wing rally” – Homelessness charity Centrepoint has announced it will no longer work with Sharon Osbourne, after she said she would attend next month’s Unite the Kingdom rally, says the Independent.
• “Brit tourists who screamed vile abuse at Israelis in Vietnam seen in new videos” – British tourists who abused Israelis in Vietnam have been caught in new videos chasing Jewish holidaymakers, reports the Mail.
• “Leo Varadkar slammed for disparagement of farmers” – Former Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has come under fire for disparaging comments he made about farmers and other people living in rural Ireland, says Gript.
• “Why I learnt how to use a gun when I moved to France” – In the Times, Alix O’Neill reveals why she decided to learn how to use a gun after moving to France.
• “Fury in Italy after Nigerian immigrant cooks cat in park” – Public anger has erupted in Italy after a Nigerian immigrant was caught cooking a cat on a makeshift barbecue in a children’s playground, according to the Noticer.
• “DOJ blocks France’s X probe” – The US Department of Justice has blocked France’s probe into X by citing the First Amendment, reports Reclaim The Net.
• “Trump’s troops blow hole in Iranian cargo ship amid US blockade” – US naval forces have blown a hole in an Iranian cargo ship’s engine room during a blockade in the Arabian Sea, according to the Mail.
• “Trump’s hidden ‘method to his madness’” – Donald Trump’s expletive-laden social media threats and unusual messages during the Iran conflict are explained by Sophie Gable in the Mail as being part of a deliberate strategy.
• “Pope Leo’s plea for peace sounded like a Year 7 essay” – In the Sunday Times, Rod Liddle slams the Pope’s “vapid” foray into politics.
• “Musk’s SpaceX urges Trump to crack down on EU satellites” – Elon Musk’s SpaceX has urged Donald Trump to crack down on EU satellite rules that could harm American firms, says the Telegraph.
• “Zohran Mamdani gets positively giddy about taxing the rich” – In the Manhattan Contrarian, Francis Menton marvels at New York’s socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani’s enthusiasm for heavily taxing the rich.
• “Australia’s most decorated soldier vows to fight war crimes charges” – Australia’s most decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has vowed to fight the war crimes charges against him, says the BBC.
• “Drivers on Cape Town’s ‘hell’ highway to be protected by six-mile-long wall” – Cape Town has announced plans to build a six-mile-long wall to shield drivers from armed robbery on its notorious ‘hell’ highway, reports the Telegraph.
• “The case against assisted dying” – Kim Leadbeater’s bill may have run out of time in the House of Lords, but could yet be resurrected, warns Claire Fox on the Academy of Ideas Substack.
• “Government urges millions to book new Covid jabs” – The Government is urging millions of elderly and vulnerable people to book their new Covid jabs, reports the Mail.
• “One Born Every Minute? They should change the name to One Killed Every 11 Hours” – In the Mail, Jennifer Ruby gives voice to widespread anger at NHS maternity failures as Channel 4 revives One Born Every Minute.
• “MI5 called in to protect Britain from breakthrough AI threat” – MI5 has been brought in to defend Britain’s critical infrastructure against advanced AI-powered hacking threats, reports the Telegraph.
• “AI receptionists stopping patients from making GP appointments” – GPs have replaced human receptionists with AI chatbots that are blocking patients from booking appointments, according to the Telegraph.
• “BP chairman faces major revolt over green snub” – BP is braced for a significant shareholder revolt as opposition mounts to its climate change targets and a controversial plan to hold online-only meetings, reports This is Money.
• “BP’s new boss prepares for battle with oil giant’s green investors” – In the Telegraph, Jonathan Leake examines how BP’s new boss is preparing for conflict with the company’s green investors.
• “The cult of Ed Miliband” – From North London geek to Net Zero crusader, the Energy Secretary now appears virtually untouchable, writes Matt Oliver in the Telegraph.
• “No, WHYY, a heat wave is not a ‘fingerprint of climate change’” – In Climate Realism, Linnea Lueken debunks claims that a recent heat wave was due to climate change.
• “Beginning to see the light? – part 2” – Signs are emerging that people may finally be questioning Net Zero orthodoxy, says Mark Hodgson in Cliscep.
• “Does the Church of England have a death wish?” – If the CofE is serious about its survival and the health of its congregations, it needs to put its clergy first, writes Bijan Omrani in the Telegraph.
• “The reason people are turning away from the church” – Power-crazed ladies in padded gilets are driving people away from the church, says Caroline Bullock in the Mail.
• “ITV’s Mark Pougatch says ‘disaster’ should not be used in football reporting” – ITV commentator Mark Pougatch says the word ‘disaster’ should be avoided in football reporting because of its association with tragedies like Hillsborough, according to the Telegraph.
• “Labour MP who wants Britain to have a ‘summer of sex’ endorses porn site that fails to block children from viewing adult content” – A Labour MP campaigning for a “summer of sex” has endorsed a porn site that fails to properly block children, says the Mail.
• “The ugly truth about modern dating” – In Gript, Freya India lays bare the ugly truth about modern dating in conversation with Jonathon Van Maren.
• “Saying ‘raining cats and dogs’ offends foreign patients, doctors told” – Doctors have been told to avoid common phrases like ‘raining cats and dogs’ because they might offend foreign patients, reports the Mail.
• “For Mothin Ali, Islam comes first” – Listen to Shahrar Ali, former Deputy Leader of the Green Party, talking to Connie Shaw about Islamist infiltration of his old party in the Free speech Union’s podcast.

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