News Round-Up

• “Devon and Cornwall Police let ‘unskilled officers’ lead investigations” – The police force that investigated the death of Ann Widdecombe has been criticised over the quality of its inquiries, says the Telegraph.
• “Trans ex-Labour candidate is charged over Ann Widdecombe post” – Trans ex-Labour candidate Heather Herbert has been charged over online posts about the death of Ann Widdecombe, reports the Mail.
• “The hijacking of Ann Widdecombe’s death” – It seems possible to say anything you like about somebody, living or dead, if they happen to be Right-wing, notes Douglas Murray in the Spectator.
• “Man arrested over threat to shoot Farage” – A suspect who described himself as a terrorist on social media and warned Nigel Farage “I am going to shoot you in the head if you win” has been arrested by police, according to AP.
• “Reform demands apology from James O’Brien over Nigel Farage attacks” – Reform is demanding a public apology from LBC host James O’Brien after he dismissed Nigel Farage’s security concerns and branded him a “horrible excretion… bobbing around in the toilet bowl of public life”, says the Mail.
• “Henry Nowak’s Sikh killer admitted repeatedly stabbing him” – Henry Nowak’s killer Vickrum Digwa confessed to stabbing the teenager multiple times as he travelled in a police van with his brother just days after the murder, according to Sky News.
• “Three in five Brits say Andy Burnham should call a general election” – A Savanta poll shows 61% of the public think Andy Burnham should hold a national vote within 12 months, says the Mail.
• “IMF warns Burnham against higher public spending” – The International Monetary Fund is urging the Prime Minister-in-waiting to prioritise reducing Britain’s deficit rather than increasing public expenditure, according to GB News.
• “Burnham’s plan to ‘rewire’ Lords will blow fuse, Speaker warns” – The Lord Speaker has warned that Andy Burnham’s plan to reform the House of Lords risks blowing a “constitutional fuse”, reports the Telegraph.
• “Burnham hires ex-Hope Not Hate director as No 10 political strategy chief” – Andy Burnham has appointed a former director of the leftist campaigning outfit Hope Not Hate as his new Head of Political Strategy, according to Guido Fawkes.
• “Meet Burnham’s new political strategist” – In the Spectator, Noa Hoffman reveals that Matthew McGregor, Burnham’s newly announced Head of Political Strategy, is a trustee of a charity that campaigns to repatriate ISIS brides and abolish citizenship stripping.
• “Andy Burnham’s cowardly Gaza position” – Burnham’s carefully calibrated posturing on Gaza exposes a politician performing courage rather than displaying it, says Jonathan Sacerdoti in the Spectator.
• “Mahmood backed 50p income tax” – Shabana Mahmood’s previous support for a 50p income tax rate is raising fears of a raid on the middle classes should she be appointed Chancellor, according to GB News.
• “First Labour Left-wing MP backs Miliband over Mahmood” – Rachael Maskell has become the first Left-wing backbencher to publicly criticise Andy Burnham’s potential choice of Shabana Mahmood as Chancellor, instead backing Ed Miliband, reports the Mail.
• “Labour nationalises British Steel” – The Government has confirmed it has seized formal control of the Scunthorpe steelworks from its Chinese owners, taking British Steel into public ownership, says the Telegraph.
• “Starmer’s parting gift to pet owners: quieter fireworks” – Ministers have proposed reducing the noise of consumer fireworks by approximately 50% in a concession to pet owners, reports the Telegraph.
• “Britain needs an establishment but not this rotten unpatriotic lot” – Too many politicians and civil servants appear to put their own priorities ahead of the national interest, says Robert Tombs in the Telegraph.
• “Hunt for robber who was sentenced to facility before escaping ward” – An urgent manhunt has been launched for violent robber Marwan Jumaa, who is on the run after he escaped custody while being transported to hospital, reports the Mail.
• “Imam calls women ‘wild animals’ after Government fails to ban him from UK” – A hate preacher has described women as “wild animals” in a sermon that went ahead after the Home Office rejected calls to ban him from the UK, reports the Telegraph.
• “The Church of England and Israel/Palestine” – In Psephizo, Ian Paul looks at the Church of England’s bruising General Synod row over the Kairos II Palestine document and what it says about where the Church is heading.
• “The capture of the General Synod: how political activists overran the Church of England” – On his Substack, C.J. Strachan argues that the Church of England’s General Synod has been seized by ideological activists at the expense of theological seriousness.
• “Trump drops part of his BBC lawsuit” – Donald Trump, who is demanding $10 billion in damages over claims the BBC defamed him with a misleading edit in a Panorama documentary, has dropped part of his lawsuit against the broadcaster, reports LBC.
• “England players stunned by Tuchel tactics” – Some England players were left baffled by head coach Thomas Tuchel’s defensive changes while a goal up against the defending champions, says the Sun.
• “World Cup might not be ours but Falklands definitely are” – Sir Keir Starmer has slammed the Argentina players who brandished a ‘Malvinas’ banner after their victory over England in the World Cup, according to the Standard.
• “No 10 demands FIFA probe into Argentina’s ‘Malvinas’ banner” – Downing Street has demanded a FIFA probe into Argentina players wielding a ‘Malvinas’ banner after England’s defeat, says the Mail.
• “Argentina stars face nervous wait after holding up ‘Malvinas’ banner” – Several Argentina players, including two based at English clubs, face potential FIFA bans after brandishing a ‘Malvinas’ sign following their 2-1 semi-final victory over England, reports the Mail.
• “Revoke the visas of these Argentinians” – In the Spectator, Robert Taylor argues that Argentina’s players disgraced themselves after beating England in the World Cup – and their visas should be revoked as a consequence.
• “Lying Sturgeon destroyed Salmond to save her own skin” – Sir David Davis has accused Nicola Sturgeon of trying to destroy Alex Salmond to prevent him uncovering her husband’s embezzlement of SNP funds, reports the LBC.
• “How Amnesty turned its back on free speech” – In the Telegraph, Nicole Lampert takes a deep dive into how Amnesty International abandoned its founding commitment to free expression.
• “Burka to be banned in Danish schools” – Denmark is moving to ban the burka in schools and universities as part of its ongoing crackdown on “parallel societies”, says the Telegraph.
• “Why Zelensky has fired the man beating Russia” – The controversial dismissal of Ukraine’s modernising Defence Secretary has sparked a rare wartime protest against Zelensky’s Government, notes Roland Oliphant in the Telegraph.
• “Barry Neufeld and the Human Rights Tribunal crisis” – During my time chairing the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, I sometimes felt like the agent of a state-funded extortion ring, says David Thomas in Quillette.
• “NHS must learn from Letby hospital failings ‘or more babies will die’” – MPs have been warned that more children will die if the Letby Inquiry fails to fully examine NHS failings at the Countess of Chester Hospital, reports the Telegraph.
• “A social media curfew? Labour’s authoritarianism has reached farcical heights” – Labour’s social media curfew plan is less about solving problems and more about expanding state control, argues Jack Coulson in the Telegraph.
• “Whistleblowers claim Britain was on brink of shutting down” – Whistleblowers say that Britain came close to blackouts during last month’s heatwave – but energy bosses tried to hide it, according to the Mail.
• “The Guardian is upset that nobody wants climate in their weather anymore” – After years of relentless messaging linking every hurricane, flood and hot day to climate change, public appetite for climate-infused weather reporting has collapsed – and the Guardian is not happy about it, notes Anthony Watts at Watts Up With That?
• “‘Irrational’ Natural England loses pheasant shooting legal fight” – BASC has won its High Court challenge against Natural England, with Mr Justice Ritchie ruling that the regulator acted outside the law in its approach to the licensing of gamebird releases.
• “The retreat continues” – On his Substack, Roger Pielke Jr reveals that climate modellers are quietly updating their projections downward once again, after CMIP7’s highest emissions scenario was found to have less than half the CO₂ of RCP8.5.
• “New York State bans new data centres to rescue their underpowered green energy grid” – New York Governor Kathy Hochul has put a halt on new data centres to ease pressure on the state’s struggling green energy grid – a move Eric Worrall at Watts Up With That? says shows the real-world costs of chasing Net Zero.
• “Japan chooses reliable energy over climate nonsense” – Having once pledged to become a global leader in decarbonisation, Japan is now abandoning that path in favour of energy security, notes Vijay Jayaraj at CO2 Coalition.
• “The gay party boat that got caught between Islam and the West” – A gay cruise ship barred from Turkey and Egypt has sparked a row over LGBT rights, tourism and rising intolerance, reports Josie Ensor in the Times.
• “Calling an American a ‘Yank’ is racial harassment, court rules” – A Scottish court has ruled that calling an American colleague a ‘Yank’ constitutes racial harassment, says GB News.
• “Jolyon Maugham deletes his Bluesky account” – After a bruising week that saw him apologise to trans activists following the Good Law Project’s controversial new ad campaign, serial litigant Jolyon Maugham has now quit Bluesky altogether, notes Guido Fawkes.
• “A truly magnificent defence of free speech by Daniel Hannan” – In the Lords, Daniel Hannan delivers a masterful, history-rich defense of free speech in Parliament, invoking Britain’s great tradition of liberty from Milton and Mill to push back against censorship on platforms like X.

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