Starmer gave up Chagos Islands despite private US warnings…
“Sir Keir Starmer has renounced sovereignty of the Chagos Islands despite private warnings from the United States and concern among officials that doing so could hand China a strategic spying post, The Times has been told. The islands, which have been British since 1814, have been handed over to Mauritius in a deal that the government said would safeguard the future of a US airbase that has been under threat …While publicly ministers and the US both welcomed the deal, The Times has been told that privately the Americans raised concerns about it. The islands include Diego Garcia, which hosts the strategically important US-UK military base. It comes after the Foreign Office previously found itself at odds with the US over its decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel.” – The Times
- Deal comes after 50 years of wrangling over the remote but strategically important archipelago – The Financial Times
- ‘America will be furious and Beijing delighted’: How Starmer handed Chagos to China – The Daily Telegraph
- A brief history of the Chagos Islands – and why they still matter – The Times
- Fears over Gibralter and Falklands’ future after Starmer’s Chagos giveaway – The Daily Telegraph
- The Chagos surrender is a national scandal – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph
- Chagos surrender is a risk to security – Editorial, The Daily Mail
- Day of shame for naïve Labour as it gives away strategically vital Chagos Islands and leaves taxpayers with endless boll – Editorial, The Sun
- Is Starmer really the man to rediscover our backbone over the Falklands? – Christopher Smithers, Daily Express
…as Tory leadership rivals flag Cleverly’s role in Chagos islands ‘retreat’
“Conservative leadership rivals are hoping to use Britain’s decision to hand over the Chagos islands to dent James Cleverly’s newfound momentum in the race, as MPs head into a crucial week of voting. Cleverly — the standout candidate from this week’s Tory conference in Birmingham — was foreign secretary at the time talks began over the Indian Ocean islands, something that fellow contender Tom Tugendhat branded a “disgrace”. The former home and foreign secretary is now a target for his rivals ahead of votes next week by Tory MPs to whittle down four leadership contenders to a shortlist of two…Talks on the sovereignty of the archipelago started during Liz Truss’s brief premiership in 2022 when Cleverly was foreign secretary.” – The Financial Times
- Senior Tories demand answers over Chagos Islands ‘surrender’ – The Daily Mail
- Labour’s Chagos surrender shows we need a stronger China strategy – Robert Jenrick, The Daily Telegraph
- Cowardly, wretched, and self-hating Labour fools are surrendering to a Chinese puppet state – Daniel Hannan, The Daily Mail
- Labour is putting the jewel of our strategic crown in the Indian Ocean at risk – Tom Tugendhat, The Daily Telegraph
- Lammy has traded away our global standing with one move – Tom Tugendhat, Daily Express
- Conservatives should pick Cleverly. Here’s why they won’t – Stephen Bush, The Financial Times
>Today:
Ministers accuse Starmer of ‘letting freebies row drag on’
“Ministers have privately raised concerns about Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the row over freebies, fearing that he has allowed it to drag on for too long. Starmer attempted to draw a line under the issue on Wednesday, announcing that he was repaying £6,000 for hospitality and gifts he had received since entering No 10. However, he has decided to keep more than £40,000 worth of suits for himself and dresses for his wife…He has given his cabinet no advice on whether they should accept hospitality and gifts, which has caused confusion… Sarah Jones, the industry minister, told Times Radio that she was investigating whether she can repay tickets to the Proms. An analysis by The Times found that cabinet ministers took more than £250,000 in freebies over the past 18 months.” – The Times
- How freebies furore went from bad to worse for Starmer – The Times
- Starmer won’t ban his Cabinet from accepting freebies – The Daily Mail
- Freebies row is a self-inflicted wound. Why is Starmer letting it fester? – The Times
- UK clothing donations: Only five MPs disclosed gifts in past decade – The Financial Times
- How much did each Labour cabinet member take in freebies? Find out here – The Times
- Labour faces fresh row after offering companies breakfast with Business Secretary for £30,000 – The Sun
- Can Starmer pay his way out of the freebie row? – The Times
- Rayner and Lammy won’t be forced to pay back money for freebies – The I
- Rayner under growing pressure to cough up cash for her £836 Ibiza jolly – The Sun
- As the scandal over free gifts and hospitality continues to dog the prime minister, questions must be asked about the capability of his closest political aides – Editorial, The Times
- Starmer has shot himself in the foot with two of the worst policies of all time – Sam Brodbeck, The Daily Telegraph
David Frost: Starmer’s EU reset is built on a lie. It won’t bring a better deal for Britain
“It’s almost like the old days after the Brexit referendum. The Prime Minister and his emissaries go back and forth to Brussels for talks with the EU Commission. There are warm words in public about the close UK/EU relationship, but behind the scenes there is the familiar disdainful sneering at the UK’s negotiating strategy, the curt dismissal of British expectations, the setting of preconditions on issues of interest to the EU before the UK can hope to talk about anything else. All we need to complete the retro feel is the return of Olly Robbins… Labour’s naivety about how international relations are really conducted, coupled with the instinct of much of our establishment and bureaucracy to doff the cap to Commission negotiators, means this process is unlikely to end well.” – The Daily Telegraph
Reeves ‘raises hopes of investment surge’ as she attacks Tory plans
“Rachel Reeves has attacked her predecessor for cutting back on planned investment as she cleared the way for billions of pounds of extra capital spending in this month’s Budget. Forecasts produced under the Conservative government in March pointed to a succession of cuts in public sector net investment as a share of the GDP, Reeves told reporters on Thursday. “Investment was not prioritised by the last government. I am not going to make those mistakes,” said the UK chancellor. Reeves declined to set out details of her ambitions on public investment. Keeping it at this year’s level as a share of GDP would imply £24bn of extra annual spending by 2028-29. Avoiding real-terms investment cuts over the same period would imply an £18bn top-up to spending by that year.” – The Financial Times
- The Chancellor will be forced into a ‘relaunch Budget’ after Labour chaos, says Osborne – The Daily Telegraph
- Pension tax breaks: what’s in the Budget line of fire? – The Financial Times
- More than 13,000 pupils leaving private schools as parents prepare for VAT on fees – The I
Our plan to capture carbon is not risky, insists Miliband
“The UK will pour £22 billion into carbon capture and storage technology to clean up the most polluting industries, despite concerns over its record. Ed Miliband…insisted there was no risk in his plan as he announced that the government had reached commercial terms with two carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects that are expected to create 4,000 jobs. He said: “I think it shows our ambition to build new industries for Britain, to protect existing industries as we decarbonise and to regenerate our industrial communities. We’re writing a new industrial chapter for Britain.”… CCS captures carbon emissions from industrial facilities such as cement works, steel plants and power stations and pipes it for storage, which…could be in former oil and gas reservoirs under the North Sea.” – The Times
- UK pledges £22 billion in funding for carbon capture and storage projects – The Financial Times
- Today, with out £22 billion pledge for carbon capture, Labour’s green revolution for Britain begins – Rachel Reeves, The Guardian
- I will not sacrifice Great British industry to the drum-banging, finger-wagging, Net Zero extremists – Keir Starmer, The Sun
- Putting Miliband and power together was always a bad idea – Esther McVey, Daily Express
Labour ‘to scrap plans’ for return to pre-pandemic maths exams
“Labour is seeking to scrap plans for children to return to memorising formulae and equations for select GCSE subjects following the pandemic. Bridget Phillipson…announced on Thursday that she will continue to allow pupils sitting their maths, physics and combined science GCSEs to bring in cheat sheets for three more years. The previous government said it would get rid of the sheets…for children sitting the exams next year, saying it was important to “get back to normal”. It was set to be lifted from next year, with the Department for Education saying in December that “there will be a return to normal exam arrangements for these subjects in 2025”. The measure was brought in to soften the impact of any learning disruption that children may have experienced during the pandemic.” – The Daily Telegraph
MPs to be given ‘historic’ vote on assisted dying bill
“MPs will vote within weeks on legalisation of assisted dying, bringing Britain a significant step closer to a change in the law. A bill to introduce a legal assisted dying process to Britain will be tabled this month and Sir Keir Starmer has promised to give time for it to become law if MPs vote to back it. Kim Leadbeater, the backbench Labour MP who will introduce the bill, said the present law was “cruel and unjust” and that her law would give terminally ill people a choice about how to end their lives. Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, has told ministers that the government will remain neutral, urging them to stay out of what is likely to be a heated public debate. MPs will have a free vote on a change, which polls suggest most voters would support.” – The Times
- Leadbetter says bill will give terminally ill adults choice and ensure stronger protections for loved ones – The Guardian
- When could assisted dying bill become law? – The I
Labour ‘snubs open hiring’ to appoint 65 civil servants without competition
“Dozens of civil servants have been appointed by the government without an open hiring process, it can be revealed. The Civil Service Commission (CSC) confirmed that Labour requested an exemption to go outside the normal recruitment process for civil servants on 67 occasions between the election and late August. All but two were approved. Under Whitehall appointment rules, civil servants must normally be hired through an process of “fairness and open competition”. Ministers must request an “exception” from the CSC, which regulates the civil service, if they want to deviate from the standard recruitment process. The rules apply where they wish to hire senior directors on a temporary basis, or more junior staff permanently, without competition.” – The Times
Johnson: UK needs referendum on the ECHR
“Britain should hold a referendum on its membership of the European Convention on Human Rights, Boris Johnson has said, in an intervention over the most contentious issue of the Tory leadership race. The former prime minister said there is now a “strong case” to give the public a say on the ECHR, which critics say is preventing Britain from having full control of its immigration policy. Membership of the ECHR has become a key battleground in the Conservative leadership contest. Robert Jenrick has promised to take Britain out of it, while the other three candidates are not in favour of doing so… In a wide-ranging interview ahead of the publication of his memoir, Unleashed, he also said that Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Donald Trump had been US president.” – The Daily Telegraph
- Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump was president, Johnson insists – The Daily Telegraph
- Unleashed: 15 things we learnt from Johnson’s memoir – The Times
- He insists he would have won July election in new book – The Guardian
- Listening device discovered in Johnson’s toilet just days after it was used by Netanyahu – The Sun
- Johnson’s memoir Unleashed reviewed – Kapow! Kaboom! – Tom Peck, The Times
- Johnson has exploded the myth that a Trump victory would be disastrous for Ukraine – Con Coughlin, The Daily Telegraph
News in Brief:
- Handing over the Chagos Islands is a great mistake – Richard Ekins and Tom Grant, The Spectator
- Will Badenoch be the new Johnson? – Henry Hill, UnHerd
- A craven surrender – Yuan Yi Zhu, The Critic
- Selfish politicians won’t think long-term – Tim Worstall, CapX
- The fury of history – Robert D Kaplan, The New Statesman
