News Round-Up

• “Legal aid spending for immigration cases surges 40%” – Ministry of Justice figures show £18.8 million of taxpayer money was spent on immigration legal aid between April and June this year – up 40% on the same period last year, according to the Mail.
• “Record small boat figures for the year as 800 arrive on single day” – Nearly 800 small boat migrants have reached Britain in a single day – the highest daily figure recorded so far this year, reports the Mail.
• “Tories on track to win more seats than Reform at general election” – Despite Reform leading the Conservatives by 22.8% to 20.3% in the polls, a new MRP model suggests the Tories are on course to secure more seats at the next general election, says the Telegraph.
• “Reform threatens Electoral Commission with legal action over funding row” – Reform Chairman Lee Anderson has written to the Electoral Commission threatening legal action over the watchdog’s review of campaign spending limits, according to Guido Fawkes.
• “Justice system prioritising paedophiles before children” – Sir Mark Rowley has attacked the criminal justice system for bailing a child sex offender to a flat near children, warning it is prioritising paedophiles over their victims, reports the Telegraph.
• “Andy Burnham’s Ministry of Truth” – Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s proposed ‘National Centre for Information Defence’ is drawing alarm from the US Government, notes David Shipley in the Spectator.
• “Use of courts to stifle free speech is a bit rich” – The growing use of costly legal threats by the wealthy to silence critics is an affront to free expression that demands urgent scrutiny, says Edward Lucas in the Times.
• “Are we the baddies? The BBC censors Mitchell and Webb” – On his Substack, C.J. Strachan argues that the BBC’s decision to cut Mitchell and Webb’s burqa sketch exposes the glorious stupidity of trying to censor the internet.
• “The ministry of mirth” – The BBC’s cuts to Mitchell and Webb’s comedy series are yet another example of ideologues attempting to rewrite the past, says Andrew Doyle on his Substack.
• “Farah Ahmed and the useful idiots of Cambridge University” – In the Spectator, Andrew Gilligan reveals that Cambridge University has appointed as assistant professor a former senior activist in the racist, separatist and now banned terrorist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.
• “The Left is conspiring with extremists in the disappearance of British women” – The silencing of female voices in public life brings back memories of my conservative Muslim childhood in Bangladesh, writes Dia Chakravarty in the Telegraph.
• “I like a good hypocrite” – In the Spectator, Douglas Murray cheers Nikole Hannah-Jones for admitting her daughter’s progressive school was failing her – but asks why she and other activists still won’t question the crazy ideas behind it.
• “Tony Blair tells Labour to commit to rejoining EU within a decade” – Tony Blair has called on Andy Burnham to abandon Labour’s red lines and negotiate with Brussels to enter another “formal relationship” with the EU, reports the Mail.
• “Burnham’s Chagos plan? Wait for Trump to leave office” – Andy Burnham is planning to delay reviving the Chagos deal until Donald Trump has left office, reveals the Telegraph.
• “I saw a breathtaking glimpse of what Britain could have become” – A visit to booming Florida serves as both an inspiration and a stark reminder of how different the UK would look had it not moved to the Left, says Allister Heath in the Telegraph.
• “Miliband announces £88 million in aid for Palestinians” – Ed Miliband has announced an £88 million package to deliver healthcare, clean water and protection for the people of Gaza, reports LBC.
• “Merz plans to restrict early retirement to German blue-collar workers” – Germans may only be granted early retirement if their job requires manual labour under tough reforms, says the Telegraph.
• “Cleric honoured by Archbishop ‘linked to extortion gang’ in Pakistan” – A Telegraph investigation reveals that Tahir Ashrafi – a cleric honoured by the Archbishop of Canterbury – has a brother alleged to lead an extortion gang that has abducted and tortured dozens of people in Pakistan.
• “Three year-old child bride sold to 60 year-old man in Pakistan” – A father in Pakistan has been arrested for allegedly marrying off his three year-old daughter to a 60 year-old man for less than £7,000, according to the Mail.
• “Xi Jinping is hit with fresh online health rumours” – Video footage of Xi Jinping apparently clutching his wife’s hand for support as he descended a plane’s steps has reignited speculation about the Chinese leader’s health, reports the Mail.
• “Leaked Fauci pardon papers cast doubt on claims he never asked Biden for clemency” – On his Substack, Paul D. Thacker reveals that leaked Justice Department documents appear to contradict a 60 Minutes report claiming Fauci never sought a presidential pardon from Biden.
• “Royal College of Nursing claimed eunuch was a gender identity” – Guidance issued to medical staff by the Royal College of Nursing, which described ‘eunuch’ as a gender identity, has been disclosed at Sandie Peggie’s employment tribunal, says the Telegraph.
• “Khan’s pursuit of perfect air is making London utterly joyless” – Lord Khan’s plan to ban log burners across large swathes of London is stripping the capital of simple pleasures, writes James Baxter-Derrington in the Telegraph.
• “Green council bans airline adverts – then flies leader to New York” – The Green Party leader of Bristol council flew to New York for a climate change conference just days after the authority banned flight adverts, notes the Telegraph.
• “The animal rights nuts want to ban your woolly jumper. There’s just one problem” – In the Telegraph, Michael Deacon reacts to extraordinary reports that animal rights activists are campaigning to have wool classified as an unethical material.
• “Fool us once” – On his Substack, Roger Pielke Jr. argues that a coordinated effort is under way to smuggle the discredited RCP8.5 emissions scenario back to the centre of climate science and policy under a new guise.
• “The Left’s climate crusade fuels the affordability crisis they claim to fight” – Left-wing fossil fuel bans and Net Zero mandates are directly responsible for soaring energy prices in New York – the very affordability crisis their proponents claim to be solving, writes Daniel Turner in the Washington Examiner.
• “The politics of persuasion” – At Climate Scepticism, John Ridgway takes a critical look at the use of pre-bunking as a political persuasion tool in the climate debate.
• “Chinese carmaker’s new EV battery will charge in under five minutes” – Volvo’s Chinese parent company Geely has unveiled an electric car battery capable of charging in just four-and-a-half minutes, a development that could transform the case for EV adoption, says the Telegraph.
• “Two years of turmoil that left BBC Sport bitterly divided” – In the Telegraph, Ben Rumsby lays bare the full extent of the turmoil to engulf the BBC’s sports department.
• “Staff mutiny at ‘toxic’ BBC Sport as boss set to cut jobs” – BBC Sport’s chief has told staff at the broadcaster’s Salford HQ that 41 roles are to be made redundant in a bid to save £2.5 million, reports Katie Hind in the Mail.
• “Boots worker suspended for racism and given final warning after singing viral ‘Chicken Banana’ kids’ song while at work” – A Boots pharmacy worker has been hauled before bosses and accused of racism after singing a popular children’s song on the shop floor, says the Sun.
• “The English are a mongrel people, not an Aryan master race” – In the Spectator, Jacob Rees-Mogg argues that even England’s greatest aristocrats descend from Norman conquerors, making the notion of a pure-bred English bloodline a complete fiction.
• “What happened to Nadiya Hussain?” – In the Telegraph, Nicole Lampert charts Nadiya Hussain’s fall from Bake Off darling to professional grievance merchant.
• “Muslim activists attempt to cancel national treasure” – The Free Speech Union’s Connie Shaw slams Muslim activist groups for trying to have John Cleese’s Birmingham comedy show cancelled over claims of “Islamophobia”.

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