Newslinks for Tuesday 19th of August 2025

Jenrick warns Starmer people are fed up with illegal immigration

“A furious blame game erupted over the migrant hotel crisis as Sir Keir Starmer was warned protests could sweep the country. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Express the Prime Minister is “deluded” if he thinks people “won’t notice” asylum seekers being moved into communities across the country. The former Immigration Minister joined protesters in Epping on Sunday, adding “people are right to be fed up of illegal migration”. Ministers are scrambling to close 210 asylum hotels amid fears over the extortionate cost to taxpayers, with tens of thousands of people set to be moved into “dispersal accommodation” – houses, flats and bedsits – over the coming years.” – Daily Express

• Border farce. Illegal migrants brought to UK in ‘dangerous’ £350 dinghies sold online by backstreet factories in China – The Sun
• Waitrose worker faces jail for violent disorder at Epping protest – The Times
• Waitrose worker admits taking part in ‘violent disorder’ outside Epping migrant hotel and is told he now faces jail – Daily Mail
• Labour condemns Robert Jenrick’s visit to rally attended by far-right activist – Guardian
• Migrant hotel tycoon dubbed ‘Goldfinger’ to go on trial for fraud – The Times

Editorial

• Worried about illegal migrants being housed in your high street? Labour councillors think you’re racist – The Sun

After meeting European leaders Trump moves towards talks between Zelensky and Putin

“Donald Trump said the US would help arrange European security guarantees for Ukraine if peace could be agreed with Russia, as he pledged to set up a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin. Writing on social media on Monday evening after a day of intense diplomacy in Washington, Trump said America would provide “co-ordination” for Europe’s security guarantees — but stopped short of a full-throated commitment of American military support for Kyiv. The Kremlin also did not confirm that Russia would arrange for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet, leaving the centrepiece of Trump’s proposal in doubt.” – FT

• Keir Starmer abandons holiday to perform impossible balancing act – The Times
• Macron and Merz challenge Trump on Ukraine ceasefire – The Telegraph
• Zelensky declares he’s ‘ready’ to sit down for face-to-face peace talks with Putin as Trump refuses to rule out boots on the ground – as US President convenes historic Oval Office love-in with united European leaders – Daily Mail
• Trump says Russia will accept security guarantees for Ukraine, but talks of ‘possible exchanges of territory’ – Guardian
• ‘We all want peace’: Starmer says US security will protect all of Europe – The i
• Keir Starmer snubbed as Donald Trump makes him sit at end of table – Daily Express
• Will Putin chicken out? Vlad refuses to commit to showdown talks with Zelensky to end Ukraine war – The Sun

Editorial

• An incompetent way to pursue peace in Ukraine – FT

Comment

• Trump should walk away from Ukraine before it’s too late – Christopher McCallion, Unherd
• The Ukraine summit ignored the difficult questions – Owen Matthews, Spectator

Reeves eyes property tax raid on the wealthy to fill her economic black holes

“Rachel Reeves is drawing up plans for a fresh raid on homeowners in the Budget as she struggles to balance the books and grow the economy. Treasury officials are expected to push the Chancellor to consider a mansion tax on property sales as well as more radical options including annual levies that would disproportionately hit homeowners in London and the South East. It is understood Ms Reeves has ordered officials to review Britain’s complex web of property taxes ahead of the Budget in order to identify ways to boost the economy. Economists have warned that the current system is holding back growth. Improving productivity will form a key plank of Ms Reeves’s second Budget and changes to the property tax system are expected to form part of these plans. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) have both called on Ms Reeves to scrap stamp duty on house sales, with the think tank branding the levy Britain’s “worst and most damaging tax”. – Daily Telegraph

• Reeves considers replacing stamp duty with new property tax – Guardian
• Fury among environmental groups as Rachel Reeves ‘looks to strip back protections for bats and newts’ in Labour’s scramble for growth – Daily Mail
• Shield first-time buyers on lower incomes from inheritance tax raid, Reeves told – The i
• Rachel Reeves eyeing huge tax change and your home is in ‘firing line’ – Daily Express
• Taxing Times. Reeves’ tax grab on grieving families will cost households £82,000 – Sun

Comment

• The abolition of stamp duty can’t come soon enough – Maxwell Marlow, Spectator
• How much Britain is really paying for Labour’s addiction to debt – Neil Record, Daily Telegraph

>Today

Reeves’ rumoured property levy could add up to merely yet another tax on younger people

Starmer backs people putting up St George’s Cross amid council row

“Sir Keir Starmer said he “absolutely” supported people putting up English flags after Tower Hamlets became the latest council to take them down. A campaign calling itself “Operation Raise the Colours” has raised hundreds of St George’s Cross and Union flags on lampposts and telegraph poles across the country. The trend started in southwest Birmingham in a show of “patriotic outpouring” and has now spread to London, York, Bradford, Newcastle, Norwich and Swindon. Local councils taking the flags down “on safety grounds” have been accused of double standards after allowing Palestinian flags to be flown after war broke out in Gaza.” – The Times

• Flag Fury. Starmer wades into flag row after SECOND woke council vows to remove St George’s Cross as he backs patriotic locals – The Sun
• You can fly St George’s flag, Sir Keir Starmer says amid rows between furious locals and councils – Daily Mail
• How Dale Vince’s giant Palestinian flag is dividing a Cotswolds town – Daily Telegraph
• Sally Rooney could be arrested under Terrorism Act after pledging royalties to Palestine Action – Guardian

Sultana claims Corbyn ‘capitulated’ on antisemitism as Labour leader

“The co-founder of Jeremy Corbyn’s new political party has accused him of “capitulating” on antisemitism while being leader of the Labour Party. Zarah Sultana said Corbyn should not have accepted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism because it “famously equates it with anti-Zionism”. Labour incorporated the definition into its code of conduct in July 2018, but did not include all its examples, including claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour. Corbyn was eventually stripped of the Labour whip after refusing to acknowledge a report on the prevalence of antisemitism during his leadership of the party between 2015 and 2020, claiming it was “dramatically overstated for political reasons” – The Times

• Jeremy Corbyn ‘capitulated’ over anti-Semitism while Labour leader, claims co-founder of his new party – Daily Mail

Woman who stood up to shoplifters, says injuries and experience have ruined her life

“When Emilie Martin reported a gang of shoplifters at a Tesco in Hackney for stealing, she had no idea she would be dealing with the fallout for the next decade. Ms Martin, then 29, noticed a group of teenagers stealing sandwiches and, seeing there was no security guard, she approached the store manager and informed them of the theft. The staff member said there was nothing they could do and admitted the gang raided the east London store on a near-daily basis. What Ms Martin did not know was that the gang had overheard her. Walking outside, Ms Martin, an event manager, was surrounded by the teenagers, sprayed with a drink, and when she threatened to call the police, she was punched in the face.Last week, Matthew Barber, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, called for the public’s help in tackling shoplifters. After seeing his comments, Ms Martin, now 39, felt she had to speak up and let the public know what the realities of standing up to criminals could be like.” – Daily Telegraph

News in Brief

• Can Milei-style shock therapy save the Tories? – Ted Newson, Cap X
• How sororities seduced the online Right – Poppy Sowerby, Unherd
• Britain’s cost of living crisis has been made in SW1 – Maurice Cousins, The Critic
• I can’t help liking Bonnie Blue – Julie Burchill, Spectator

The post Newslinks for Tuesday 19th of August 2025 appeared first on Conservative Home.