Starmer supports arrest of Netanyahu…
“Benjamin Netanyahu faces arrest if he visits Britain after Sir Keir Starmer backed the International Criminal Court. The Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister as well as Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister, and Mohammed Deif, a Hamas commander, on Thursday over the Israel-Gaza conflict. Britain, along with the other 123 members of the ICC, is responsible for enforcing arrest warrants it issues. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government respected the court and refused to rule out that Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he was to come to the UK, in comments widely interpreted as supportive of the decision… The Conservatives called on Sir Keir to dismiss the ICC’s arrest demand.” – The Daily Telegraph
- The Israeli Prime Minister faces arrest if he flies into Britain – The Times
- Netanyahu accuses ICC of anti-Semitic hatred after arrest warrants – The Daily Telegraph
- Khan: ICC chief accused of a ‘one-man campaign’ against Netanyahu – The Times
- Italy and the Netherlands vow to follow court orders and arrest Netanyahu – The Daily Telegraph
- The ICC is giving succor to Hamas – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph
- Arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant issued by the International Criminal Court falsely equate them with the terrorists of Hamas – Editorial, The Times
- ICC puts its reputation on trial by chasing Netanyahu – Paul Niki, The Daily Telegraph
- The deluded, partisan International Criminal Court has gone too far this time – Leo McKinstry, The Daily Mail
- Netanyahu arrest warrant shames the ICC and makes international justice a laughing stock – Angela Epstein, Daily Express
- The ICC’s anti-Israel arrest warrants are a travesty – we must stand with Netanyahu – Ian Austin, The Daily Telegraph
…as he meets BlackRock boss Fink in Downing Street
“Sir Keir Starmer has held talks in Downing Street with BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink, as the UK prime minister seeks to rebuild relations with business leaders after last month’s tax-raising Budget. Several executives from the board of the world’s largest asset manager — including Mark Wilson, former boss of insurer Aviva, and Chuck Robbins, CEO of tech group Cisco — joined the meeting in Number 10 alongside chancellor Rachel Reeves and investment minister Poppy Gustaffsson on Thursday. Starmer and Reeves asked for suggestions to boost growth rather than giving a sales pitch, according to people in the meeting. BlackRock executives expressed concerns about regulatory delays for businesses…” – The Financial Times
Ukraine front line weakened by fresh onslaught, warns Healey…
“Ukraine’s front line is now “less stable” than at any time since the Russian invasion in 2022, the defence secretary has warned, as he said Britain was stepping up support…John Healey refused to confirm the use of Storm Shadow missiles by Ukraine but said that the “actions on the battlefield speak for themselves”. He warned that Ukraine was facing a “serious moment” and needed all the western support it could get to hold back Russian gains over the coming months. “Defence intelligence will reveal today that the front line is now less stable than at any time since the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022,” he told MPs…. Senior government officials are particularly concerned about the significant territorial gains Russia is making in southern and eastern Ukraine.” – The Times
- Defence Secretary: UK military equipment just not good enough – The Daily Telegraph
- Is Britain ready to repel a cyberattack from Russia? – The Times
- Inside UK’s strategy to isolate Putin – as British troops ‘train for wider war’ – The I
…as Lammy vows ‘relentless’ fight against Putin as new missile fired
“The UK and France vowed to “relentlessly” fight Russia’s aggression after Vladimir Putin hit Ukraine with a new ballistic missile in a dramatic escalation, warning that failing to do so threatens peace beyond just Europe. Writing exclusively for i, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his French counterpart said Russia’s actions threaten “not only” European security “but the world at large” due to Moscow’s campaign of “Putinisation”. While their article is not aimed at Donald Trump, the ministers’ comments came as some of the president-elect’s allies and supporters argue that the Ukraine war is Europe’s problem and that America should withdraw military aid. Lammy and French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot argued that Putin’s ultimate aim is to “annihilate” the international order…” – The I
- Russian ballistic missile attack a ‘severe escalantion’, says Zelensky – The Guardian
- Putin can’t end the war in Ukraine without Russia collapsing – Samuel Ramani, The Daily Telegraph
- Can we defend against a Putin missile strike? – Edward Lucas, The Daily Mail
- The UK is making this too easy for Putin – Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, The I
- Who rules in Washington? The question now haunting the world as bumbling Biden stokes World War fears – Mark Leonard, The Daily Mail
- Labour’s cuts, our risk: Britain’s security on the chopping bloc – Grant Shapps, Daily Express
- UK and France will relentlessly fight ‘Putinisation’ – David Lammy and Jean-Noel Barrot, The I
>Comment:
Reeves’s NI tax raid ‘will undermine fight against worklessness’
“Business leaders have warned the Government that its National Insurance raid will undermine the fight against worklessness by harming job creation. Alison McGovern, the employment minister, was warned during a private call with employers’ lobby groups on Thursday that a pledge to get Britain’s employment rate to an unprecedented 80pc would be held back by the Government’s tax raid. “Normally, we would be sitting here ready, willing and able to help the 80pc employment target but the message [on the call] was that recruitment is now much more challenging with a National Insurance regime that penalises hiring,” one source said.”… Businesses have been fighting back against Rachel Reeves’s £25bn increase in employer National Insurance contributions…” – The Daily Telegraph
- Workless youth push up sickness benefits bill – The Times
- Almost one million under-25s out of work as Labour plots benefits crackdown – The Daily Telegraph
- ONS faces fresh scrutiny over flawed UK labour market data – The Financial Times
- Mass immigration is masking the true scale of our worklessness crisis – Fraser Nelson, The Daily Telegraph
Cooper to set out crackdown on antisocial behaviour, including jail terms
“People who persistently demonstrate antisocial behaviour will face up to two years in jail under Labour’s Respect orders, the home secretary will say on Friday. Yvette Cooper will also announce that police will be given new powers to immediately seize off-road bikes, e-scooters on pavements and street-racing cars as part of the clampdown. The changes, which are meant to deal with rowdy youths, problem drinkers and unruly hooligans, might not be rolled out across the whole of England and Wales before 2026, Whitehall sources said. They will be introduced in the crime and policing bill in the new year but will be piloted in a specific area before further implementation across other police forces. As well as a prison sentence, courts could hand out unlimited fines…” – The Guardian
- ‘Respect orders’ signal the return of the Asbo – The Times
- The ‘non-crime hate incident’ is both sinister and monstrously absurd – it must be scrapped – Editorial, The Sun
Reed ‘faces down’ suicide warning from farm tax protestor
“The environment secretary has told landowners “we have to keep an eye on the future” after a farmer confronted him at a conference and said the “one sure way” he could avoid Labour’s farm tax was to “kill myself”. Tom Allen-Stevens, an Oxfordshire arable farmer, got to his feet during the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) conference and told Steve Reed he faces a £400,000 bill, which “I cannot afford”. He was protesting against the introduction of 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth more than £1 million from April 2026. Experts say the effective tax-free allowance for individual farm owners will be £1.5 million and for couples around £2.5 million… The state of mental health among farmers has been a concern in the agricultural community for years…” – The Times
- Starmer ‘relied on two blokes with a calculator at BBC Verify to back farming figures’ – The Daily Telegraph
- Farmers aged 80 and above could get exemption from inheritance tax – The Guardian
- Watch: Minister fails four times to say how many farms will be hit by inheritance tax raid – The Daily Telegraph
- Damning new poll reveals Labour has hit rock bottom support after farmers protest – Daily Express
>Today:
Social media ban of UK under-16s ‘not on the cards’ for now, says minister
“A social media ban for under-16s is “not on the cards at the moment”, a minister has said, as teenagers urged him to rethink plans to follow Australia’s lead and restrict access to sites such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. Peter Kyle, the secretary of state for science and technology, is trying to convince social media platforms to do more to prevent online harms, with new laws coming into effect next year that could result in heavy fines and even jail in cases where online safety is breached. He told the Guardian: “There’s no work programme at the moment on banning smartphones to children,” and he added: “It’s not my preferred choice.” His comments came as he met a group of teenagers at the headquarters of the NSPCC in London on Thursday.” – The Guardian
- Unlike Blair, Starmer’s a pragmatist on tech – Tom Baldwin, The Times
Reform MP McMurdock was jailed for repeatedly kicking girlfriend
“A Reform MP is facing accusations of misleading the public after it emerged that he was jailed 18 years ago for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend. James McMurdock, a former investment banker, was elected this year as MP for South Basildon & East Thurrock, after beating the Conservative candidate Stephen Metcalfe by just 98 votes. McMurdock was convicted of assaulting his then girlfriend in 2006 while drunk outside a nightclub and spent 21 days in a young offenders’ institution after admitting to the attack. He had not publicly disclosed the conviction before he was elected as an MP and downplayed the attack as a “teenage indiscretion” when details first emerged in the weeks after the election. The Times applied to the courts for information from the official record of his conviction…” – The Times
News in Brief:
- The ICC has destroyed its own credibility – Yuan Yi Zhu, The Spectator
- The French government is on the brink – again – Peter Franklin, UnHerd
- Join the escalation? – Ben Sixsmith, The Critic
- Can the Tories learn from Trump? – Simon Clarke, CapX
- Labour will always need a Prescott – Andrew Marr, The New Statesman
- New look Conservatives and constitutional policy – Stephen Lynch, The Constitution Society
