Ghey 1) Sunak ‘refuses to apologise’ to murdered child’s father over PMQs trans jibe
“Rishi Sunak has refused to apologise to Brianna Ghey’s father and said it was “sad and wrong” to link his jibe about transgender people to the murdered teenager’s case. The prime minister doubled down on his comments on Thursday morning, saying it was “the worst of politics” to link them to the trans teenager’s case. Sunak has been urged to apologise after accusing the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, of having difficulty “defining a woman” at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday. He made the remark after he was told by Starmer that Brianna’s mother, Esther Ghey, was in the public gallery. Brianna’s father, Peter Spooner, said Sunak’s comment had been “dehumanising” and urged him to apologise… The prime minister’s remark drew fierce criticism from opposition parties…” – The Guardian
- The Prime Minister says his remarks to Starmer at PMQs were ‘absolutely legitimate’ – The Times
- He lashes back at Labour’s ‘ddirty tricks’ in trans row – Daily Express
- He is ridiculed over ‘David Brent’ campaign video – The Daily Telegraph
- He reveals his mother pushed him to take extra drama classes so he spoke ‘properly’ – The Daily Mail
- A new low for PMQs – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph
- It’s Starmer who should apologise for weaponizing Ghey’s tragic case – Julie Bindel, The Daily Mail
- Sunak’s video reveals another priority: learn to spell – Tom Peck, The Times
Ghey 2) Parents could get alerts if children access harmful websites in wake of murder, under plans ‘being considered by ministers’
“Parents could get alerts if their children try to access harmful websites following calls for tougher safeguards from the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey. Plans being considered by ministers would aim to stop young people from viewing damaging content by tipping off their parents to any troubling online activity, allowing them to intervene. It comes after Brianna’s mother, Esther Ghey, called for similar protections to be put in place, as well as a ban on under-16s accessing social media on their smartphones. Policymakers are sceptical about the benefits of further limiting children’s access to certain content, as anyone willing to use the dark web – as in Brianna’s case – could find a workaround.” – The Daily Telegraph
John Burn-Murdoch: Young people’s desertion of conservatism is not a global phenomenon
“The extent to which young people tend to vote more for leftwing parties and older people for conservatives is often overstated. For all the talk of Donald Trump’s toxicity to America’s diverse youth, almost 40 per cent of 20-something US voters backed him in 2020, and the same share plan to do so this November. More than a third of young adults voted for the right in the most recent elections in France, Germany and Spain. There is generally an age gradient…but its steepness is often exaggerated. Britain today requires no such caveat. While the Tories have slumped with almost all demographics, the near-complete desertion of Rishi Sunak’s party by young Britons is astonishing. According to…polling, only one in 10 under-40s will vote Conservative at the next election.” – The Financial Times
- How to make the Tories popular – Sebastian Payne, The I
Putin ‘threatens World War Three’ if US deploys troops in Ukraine, as he accuses Johnson of having sacrificed a peace deal
“Vladimir Putin has threatened the United States with a global war that will “bring humanity to the brink” if it deploys troops to Ukraine. The Russian president appealed to the US to stop the fighting in Ukraine and push for peace, telling US TV personality Tucker Carlson: “We have to look for a way out of this situation.” Speaking in his first interview with a Western media figure since invading Ukraine in February 2022, Putin appeared to signal for the first time that Washington and Moscow were involved in back-channel peace talks on the war. “Certain contacts are being maintained,” Putin told Carlson, but declined to go into further detail… Putin, 71, also accused Boris Johnson of sabotaging a peace deal with Ukraine in the spring of 2022.” – The Daily Telegraph
- He blames the war on US in first western interview since invasion – The Times
- He warns AI development is moving too fast and calls for worldwide regulations – The Daily Mail
- In Russia, you don’t interview the president. The president interviews you – Tim Stanley, The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
Biden kept classified documents – but ‘memory too poor to face trial’
“President Biden last night angrily rejected a special counsel’s report that stated his memory is so poor he could not recall when his son died or when his term as vice-president ended. Details of the 81-year-old US president’s lapses were cited as one reason why he could not be put on trial for hoarding secret documents because no jury would convict a man with such poor recall, even though there was evidence he “wilfully” retained the material. Biden hastily arranged a White House press briefing to hit back at Robert Hur, the special counsel, whose report concluded: “We have also considered that, at trial, Mr Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”…Speaking through clenched teeth, Biden became emotional as he mentioned his son Beau, who died aged 46 from brain cancer in 2015.” – The Times
- No amount of spin can hide it: Biden’s mental capacity is just not up to the job – The Daily Telegraph
Starmer ‘slashes’ £28 billion spending pledge to £4.7 billion in major U-turn
“Sir Keir Starmer has slashed Labour’s flagship green spending plan from £28bn annually to just £4.7bn a year as he sought to close down a political dispute about how much his party would borrow if in power. As Starmer dismantled his party’s signature policy pledge, the Labour leader sought to pin the blame for his U-turn on constrained public finances resulting from Liz Truss’s disastrous premiership in 2022. “As conditions change, you adjust your position,” he said on Thursday. Starmer said half of the vastly reduced annual spending pledge would be funded from Labour’s previously promised windfall levy on North Sea oil and gas, with the other half from additional government borrowing. The shift…is intended to leave Labour less vulnerable to Conservative attacks…” – The Financial Times
- He announces Labour will now spend less than £15 billion on green projects a year if it wins election – The Guardian
- Reeves’s humiliation of Miliband shows where power lies in Labour Party – The Daily Telegraph
- Reeves wins big battle with Starmer – The I
- Labour would still decarbonize electricity by 2030, leader promises – The Times
- Blunkett blasts Starmer’s green pledge U-turn – The Daily Telegraph
- Inside Labour’s green investment saga: ‘The plan was to blame Tories’ – The Times
- How Starmer dropped £28 billion ‘albatross’ – The Financial Times
- Labour plots to protect top public sector workers from pension tax raid – The Daily Telegraph
- Brown: Starmer should scrap two-child benefits cap – The Daily Telegraph
- Labour Muslims warn Starmer ‘nosediving’ support is ‘full blown crisis’ for party – The I
Editorial, Comment, and Sketches:
- Labour’s drawn-out announcement of its £28 billion green infrastructure plan has squandered political capital at a time when clarity is more important than ever – Editorial, The Times
- How can the public trust spineless Starmer after dozens of cynical U-turns? – Editorial, The Sun
- The public are sick of politicians’ dishonesty about what Net Zero entails – Robert Jenrick, The Daily Telegraph
- The bad blood behind Starmer’s £28 billion U-turn – Patrick Maguire, The Times
- Starmer’s gamble on ultra-cautiousness could store up trouble – Stephen Bush, The Financial Times
- Labour’s pension tax plot will create a new era of retirement inequality – Baroness Altmann, The Daily Telegraph
- Why the secrecy over Labour’s £28 billion green U-turn? – Quentin Letts, The Daily Mail
- Labour took a machete to their £28 billion flagship policy – Harry Cole, The Sun
- Labour has managed to lose both is economic and environmental credibility – Andrew Fisher, The I
- Labour recycles outrage as green pledge heads for the landfill – Madeline Grant, The Daily Telegraph
- Let’s be relieved Starmer’s big £28 billion green plan is dead – Ross Clark, Daily Express
- Starmer built his plan for government on sand. Its collapse has only just started – Fraser Nelson, The Daily Telegraph
- Circumstances have changed, our ambitions have not. That’s what you need to know now about our green plan – Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, The Guardian
Matheson leaves Yousaf’s leadership in new crisis
“Humza Yousaf’s leadership of the Scottish government is facing a fresh crisis after his health secretary quit in disgrace and it emerged that the SNP had lost thousands of members. After three months of controversy Michael Matheson quit over an £11,000 roaming charge he ran up using his iPad on holiday with his family. It is understood that a parliamentary report on his expenses claim found he had misled Alison Johnstone, Holyrood’s presiding officer, and David McGill, parliament’s chief executive. Matheson, 53, tendered his resignation to Yousaf shortly before first minister’s questions at Holyrood yesterday. He had not received a draft of the report when he quit but did later in the day and has two weeks to respond.” – The Times
- MSP had been facing parliamentary inquiry into use of work table on family holiday – The Financial Times
News in Brief:
- Rory Stewart is the wrong man to revive Oxford’s fortunes – William Atkinson, The Spectator
- How Biden can still beat Trump – James Kanagasooriam, UnHerd
- Should there be set texts for MPs? – Christopher Howarth, The Critic
- Buying wine for MPs is one of the best investments Brits could make – Henry Hill, CapX
- February 1974: the general election which changed Northern Irish politics – Eliot Wilson, The Ideas Lab
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