Newslinks for Sunday 3rd August 2025

Reeves making bigger mistakes than Truss, says Badenoch

“Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are making “even bigger mistakes” than those made by Liz Truss and have not learnt the lessons of her mini-budget, Kemi Badenoch has warned. Writing in The Telegraph, the Tory leader accuses the Government of taking Britain’s finances “to the brink” over concerns that it is pushing the country into a “debt spiral”. Comparing Labour to Ms Truss marks Mrs Badenoch’s first major public criticism of the former Conservative prime minister, whose tax-cutting 2022 mini-budget was followed by a market meltdown. Mrs Badenoch says: “For all their mocking of Liz Truss, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have not learnt the lessons of the mini-budget and are making even bigger mistakes.” – Sunday Telegraph

Comment

• The logic behind the deregulation push by Reeves is flawed – John Plender, FT
• Starmer’s not the issue. But nor were Johnson, May, Brown… – Robert Colvile, Sunday Times
• Farage would make real the broken Britain myth – Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times

Home Office tried to silence Jenrick after small boat terror claims

“The Home Office tried to silence Robert Jenrick after he said terror suspects had arrived in Britain on small boats. In an article for The Telegraph last year, Mr Jenrick, the former immigration minister, claimed that individuals linked to Islamic State had “waltzed right in” to Britain across the Channel. It can now be revealed that a fortnight later, the Home Office’s most senior civil servant reprimanded him over the disclosure. Sir Matthew Rycroft, the department’s then permanent secretary, wrote to Mr Jenrick to tell him the information “should not have been made public” and warned him against “any further disclosure” of sensitive information from his time in government.” – Sunday Telegraph

>Today:

• ToryDiary: The country doesn’t just have an immigration problem – it has an emigration one

Cooper’s fast-track asylum plan revealed as protests erupt again

“The home secretary is set to introduce a new fast-track scheme to tackle the asylum backlog so that decisions can be made in weeks rather than years. As the pressure to cut the number of people waiting in hotels for asylum decisions grows, Yvette Cooper is expected to introduce a new law this autumn to overhaul the appeal system. It comes as the first 60 migrants were moved into the four-star Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf, east London, on Friday night under cover of darkness. There was a small anti-migrant protest outside the Britannia on Saturday afternoon”. – Sunday Times

Labour targets anti-migrant protesters with terrorist tracking software

“A Whitehall “disinformation” unit used tools created to hunt for jihadists to find critics of asylum hotels, The Telegraph can reveal. The secretive team was this week revealed to have flagged “concerning” narratives about migrants to tech platforms during the Southport riots. The disclosure prompted the Trump administration and US congressmen to warn of a free speech crackdown in Britain. The Telegraph can now reveal that some of the tools used by the National Security and Online Information Team (NSOIT) were originally developed to hunt terrorists.” – Sunday Telegraph

• Two Afghan asylum seekers have been charged over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in quiet Warwickshire town – Mail on Sunday
• Britain First protestors storm streets – Sunday Express
• Regret, resentment and Reform UK: jailed Rotherham rioters one year on – Observer

Comment

• Populists will break the law to halt migration unless we change it – Matthew Syed, Sunday Times
• Signs for a migrant hotel should not have been covered up – Editorial, Sun on Sunday

Streeting should ‘channel Thatcher’ and introduce prostate screening

“Wes Streeting should “channel Margaret Thatcher” and introduce screening for prostate cancer without delay, one of the world’s leading experts has said. Prof Jonathan Waxman, the founder of the charity Prostate Cancer UK, says the Health Secretary should learn from Thatcher’s decision to introduce routine mammograms for women, which he said had saved 3,000 lives a year since they were introduced in 1988. The Telegraph has launched a campaign calling for the introduction of targeted screening for prostate cancer so those at high risk are automatically offered tests.” – Sunday Telegraph

Sick children to be evacuated from Gaza war for NHS treatment

“Hundreds of seriously ill children will be evacuated from Gaza and treated by the NHS, under plans to be announced within weeks. The government will allow up to 300 young people to enter the country and receive free medical care, according to a senior Whitehall source. This will operate “in parallel” with a scheme run by the group Project Pure Hope, which was set up by volunteer medical professionals to bring sick and injured Gazan children to the UK for treatment. Only three children have been granted medical visas since war started in October 2023. The approvals followed months of work by the group, which is funded by private donations.” – Sunday Times

• Recognising Palestinian state would destabilise international law, Starmer told – Sunday Telegraph
• How the Gaza crisis engulfed Starmer from all sides – Sunday Times
• Israel closes 88% of cases of alleged war crimes or abuse without charges – report – Observer
• Labour MP under investigation over Israel-Palestine trip – Sunday Express

Comment

• Palestinians are prisoners of geography, but statehood is possible – Tim Marshall, Sunday Times

Corbyn has a big ego and his new party will fail, claims Reeves

Rachel Reeves has accused Jeremy Corbyn of having a “big ego” and insists his new Left-wing party does not present a threat to Labour. The Chancellor said voters had resoundingly rejected the veteran socialist twice and “will have the same reaction” again at the next election. At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on Saturday, she also acknowledged a “risk” voters would turn to Reform because of anger with the two main parties. Mr Corbyn, who led Labour to election defeats in 2017 and 2019, is setting up a new populist movement to challenge his old party from the Left.” – Sunday Telegraph

Other political news and comment

• How a VIP contract introduced by Tory peer left government owed £24m – Observer
• Rayner, the housing tycoon and his £100m cladding bailout – Sunday Times
• Ukraine uncovers drone procurement corruption scheme – Sunday Telegraph
• Labour’s Civil Service proposals are unfair and misguided – Editorial, Sunday Telegraph
• Capitulate to unions, and you undermine democracy – Suella Braverman, Sunday Telegraph
• Lord Desai, genial LSE Marxist who resigned from the Labour Party over Corbyn – Sunday Telegraph
• Where is the progressive Left’s outrage over foreign sex offenders? – Zoe Strimpel, Sunday Telegraph
• A sinister Left-wing cabal is turning Britain into a dystopia – Janet Daley, Sunday Telegraph
• Despite our ever-growing number of laws, this country is becoming lawless – Daniel Hannan, Sunday Telegraph

News in Brief

• Who can rescue the Right? – Henry Hill, The Critic
• Could the Scottish Tories do a deal with Reform? – Lucy Dunn, The Spectator
• Ignore the doomsayers: capitalism is saving the planet – Mark Brolin, CapX
• The Middle East doomsday scenario – Christopher de Bellaigue, UnHerd
• The cost of apathy in England’s mining towns – Sacha Hillhorst, New Statesman

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