Israel 1) UN warns ‘civil order is breaking down’ as Tel Aviv bombards Gaza
“The phone lines and radio masts were shut down on Friday evening. That was just before the “second phase” of Israel’s war on Hamas began…Hamas said that two columns of tanks and supporting troops had entered from the northern and eastern sides of the strip, and been met with resistance by its fighters. Those battles were continuing on Sunday night. Amid the wreckage, and with only small aid convoys being allowed to cross into Gaza from Egypt, people were becoming desperate. The United Nations said that thousands of people had broken in to warehouses belonging to its Relief and Works Agency, seizing flour and other basic supplies. “Civil order is starting to break down,” it warned.” – The Times
- Netanyahu blames army as public support drains away – The Times
- Hamas blocks foreign nationals from leaving Gaza – The Daily Telegraph
- Iran warns it may be ‘forced’ to enter the conflict – The Daily Mail
- Muslim mob in Dagestan storm airport hunting Jews – The Guardian
- Palestinians across the world despair as entire families die – The Times
- Mobs of Palestinians break into UN warehouses – The Daily Mail
- Hamas ambushes Israel from tunnels near Gaza border – The Daily Telegraph
- Up close with Israeli settlers in Hebron as Palestinians flee homes – The Times
- Why Netanyahu won’t mention the ‘I’ word – The Daily Telegraph
- Gaza tunnels: Israel’s mission has echoes of Iraq – The Times
- Israeli air force says it has struck 600 targets in a day – The Guardian
- Israeli hostage task force fears repeating past mistakes – The Times
- Forces advance in northern Gaza, as aid trickles from the south – The Guardian
- Israel to cut ties with Starlink over Musk’s offer – The Times
Editorial and Comment:
- The Iranian regime has hugely benefited from its backing for Hamas – Editorial, The Times
- We must not let Hamas off the hook – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph
- Is this a just war? Let’s apply some tests – Philip Collins, The Times
- To smash Hamas’s headquarters, Israelis must go underground – Richard Pater, The Daily Mail
- The Armageddon is on hold for now. But is Biden up to his job as leader of the free world? – Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun
- Thatcher can teak Starmer and Sunak how to deal with a crisis in Israel – Ian Birrell, The I
>Yesterday:
Israel 2) Emergency Cobra meeting to address ‘accelerated’ terror threat in UK
“Ministers will hold an emergency Cobra meeting today amid fears that the Israel-Gaza conflict has “accelerated” the threat of terrorism in Britain. Suella Braverman, the home secretary, will meet national security officials and police at No 10 to assess the domestic security risk in the first such meeting since the Hamas attack on Israel 23 days ago. The meeting will take place after Britain’s most senior police officer warned that events in the Middle East were having a serious knock-on effect in Britain. Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said his force was facing a “particularly challenging time”. He cited a surge in hate crime and unrest being stoked by Iranian agents, as revealed by The Times on Saturday, which was adding to the security threat.” – The Times
- Braverman orders review of terrorism and extremism laws after police call for clarity over language used at pro-Palestinian demonstrations – The Daily Mail
- Israel-Hamas war is accelerating terrorism in the UK, says Rowley – The Daily Telegraph
- Hizb ut-Tahir ‘could be banned’, he suggests – The Daily Mail
Israel 3: Nick Timothy: British society will pay a terrible price for indulging extremism
“The desire to play things down, to convince ourselves that this is all about a quarrel in a far away country, might be understandable, but it is profoundly wrong. The people chanting this hatred are almost certainly mostly British nationals. They are doing so in such huge numbers that the police have opted not to enforce the law for fear of wider public disorder. And while the hatred for now is targeted at Jews, it is also meant for the rest of us. One man yelled, “white trash!” at those who lined up to protect the Cenotaph from protesters. One speaker promised an intifada “from London to Gaza”… This extremism…with its ethnic tensions and imported hatreds, means the assumptions that informed traditional British policy…no longer hold.” – The Daily Telegraph
Israel 4) Labour’s ‘leading Muslim’ to press Starmer on Gaza ceasefire
“Labour’s only Muslim shadow cabinet minister is lobbying Sir Keir Starmer to take a more pro-Palestinian stance as the party’s leader comes under fresh pressure from MPs to back a ceasefire. Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, has been arguing internally for a shift in Labour’s official position on the conflict. Many MPs have approached Mahmood, the most senior Muslim in the party at Westminster, in their attempts for Starmer to change his position. A total of 20 Labour-run councils are now backing a ceasefire, nine of which are in Andy Burnham’s region of Greater Manchester. Seven Labour councillors in Blackburn resigned yesterday, taking the total to 34…Muslim MPs and peers are to hold fresh talks today…” – The Times
- Starmer ‘under fire’ for refusing to discipline ‘from the river to the sea’ MPs – The Daily Telegraph
- Pressure on Starmer is real. He must prove he can make hard choices – Editorial, The Sun
- Labour’s turmoil over the Middle East could be as bitter as Major’s Tory rift on Europe – Dominic Lawson, The Daily Mail
Sunak to go ‘anti-green’ for King’s Speech in ‘move away from Labour’
“Pro-car policies and measures to expand North Sea oil and gas exploration will feature in the King’s Speech, The Times understands. Local authorities will find it harder to introduce 20mph speed limits and schemes like London’s ultra-low emission zones (Ulez), under measures being introduced by Rishi Sunak. The prime minister is expected to reinforce his move against the green agenda to create clear dividing lines between Conservatives and Labour. With a general election expected within a year, the King’s Speech on November 7 is expected to be “intensely political” given the lack of time to introduce measures into law. A new annual system for awarding oil and gas licences is expected as part of the prime minister’s policy of “maxing out” North Sea reserves.” – The Times
>Today:
Hunt ‘considering inheritance tax cut’ in Autumn Statement
“Jeremy Hunt is considering an inheritance tax cut in the Autumn Statement, following positive projections about the state of the nation’s finances. The Chancellor is open to bringing forward plans for non-inflationary tax cuts next month if independent figures show he has enough headroom. It comes after the Office for Budget Responsibility calculated that a reversal in fortunes means the Treasury is now around £5.5 billion in the black. The economic watchdog said a fall in the cost of government borrowing and a surge in tax takings is expected to boost the Exchequer’s coffers.Mr Hunt has ruled out personal tax cuts in next month’s Autumn Statement over fears that they would undermine efforts to bring down inflation.” – The Daily Telegraph
- He ‘rejects calls’ to make corporate investment tax cut permanent – The Guardian
AI 1) Sunak ‘ramps up spending’ on AI chips to £400 million, ahead of Bletchley Park summit
“Rishi Sunak is poised to increase taxpayer spending on artificial intelligence chips and supercomputers to £400m as he strives to boost Britain’s technology credentials. The Government is quadrupling a planned investment package to secure equipment for a national “AI Research Resource”, The Telegraph understands, which will also be used to launch a new facility in Cambridge and improve a site in Bristol. The increased investment comes as the Prime Minister seeks to present Britain as a global hub for AI safety…at a summit at Bletchley Park on Wednesday and Thursday. Mr Sunak’s ambitions for the project have grown dramatically in recent months, which has sparked a four-fold increase in the amount of taxpayer cash being spent on AI.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
A1 2) It will lead to job losses, Donelan warns
“Artificial intelligence will inevitably lead to job losses, a cabinet minister has indicated, as the government rolls out new tools to help teachers harness the rapidly-developing technology. Speaking ahead of the government’s AI safety summit, the technology secretary, Michelle Donelan, said it was not about “taking away people’s jobs” — but she warned that the labour market would change…AI also has the capacity to reduce the “admin, the bureaucracy” in work, allowing doctors to focus on patients and teachers to spend more time in the classroom, she said. The government has also promised more money to develop AI tools for teachers, such as generating lesson plans and classroom quizzes.” – The Times
AI 3) Philp ‘wants officers to double their use of facial recognition technology’
“Police are being encouraged to double their use of retrospective facial recognition software to track down offenders over the next six months. Policing minister Chris Philp has written to force chiefs suggesting the target of exceeding 200,000 searches of still images against the Police National Database by May using facial recognition technology. He also is encouraging police to operate live facial recognition cameras more widely. Mr Philp said the advances would allow police to “stay one step ahead of criminals” and make Britain’s streets safer. The call comes ahead of the UK Government hosting a global artificial intelligence (AI) safety summit this week at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire.” – The Daily Telegraph
- Police failing to solve 3 in 4 burglaries and car thefts – The Times
- Burglars and drug dealers to get given a clean record and will not have to inform employers about their past crimes ‘under plans to cut reoffending’ – The Daily Mail
- Bikes stolen from rail stations up by 40 per cent in a year – The Times
Thinkers on the right – including Gove, Badenoch, and Kruger – meet at ‘Alliance for Responsible Citizenship’ conference to ‘bring society together’
“Right-wing thinkers from around the world will gather in London today to try to solve the “fragmentation, division, polarisation, and intolerance” they believe afflicts society. Politicians and intellectuals from 72 countries will meet in Greenwich to discuss issues including family values, affordable energy and free enterprise. Guests at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference include Jordan Peterson, the Canadian psychologist whose ideas on women, masculinity and gender identity have caused controversy…Other guests include Michael Gove, levelling-up secretary, and Kemi Badenoch, business and trade secretary and minister for women and equalities. MPs from the Tory right, such as Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger, will also speak.” – The Times
Johnson ‘favoured Swedish-style approach to Covid over lockdowns’, scientist says
“Boris Johnson told scientists he was in favour of a Swedish-style approach to the pandemic, rather than more lockdowns, in Autumn 2020, an Oxford University epidemiologist has told the Covid Inquiry. As the inquiry prepares to hear from Mr Johnson’s closest advisers this week, evidence from Professor Sunetra Gupta suggests that the former prime minister was persuaded by a Swedish expert that lockdowns could be avoided by implementing less restrictive rules. Professor Gupta took part in a “round table” with Mr Johnson, Rishi Sunak and several other scientists in September 2020 as the government debated how to tackle Covid. At the time, restrictions had been eased.” – The Daily Telegraph
- UK Covid inquiry reaches week of ‘potentially damning testimony’ – The Guardian
- Ministers and Number 10 aides are using disappearing WhatsApp messages ‘despite transparency concerns’ – The I
- The Covid inquiry should answer, above all, whether the lockdown cure was worse than the disease – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph
Will Lloyd: TV made Johnson, but will it now break him?
“Johnson was made by television. His return to the medium with GB News, announced on Friday, is a fitting capstone to a personal narrative that no longer makes much sense. The details are bewildering…Johnson, like Mussolini, Churchill, and Theodore Roosevelt, was a print journalist who became a politician. But television, not dead-tree media, was where he whetted his image, flattered the nation, and won his fame. He never would have been prime minister without the box…The line between politics and entertainment was always permeable. Gore Vidal used to call Ronald Reagan an “indolent cue-card reader” for a reason…Johnson knew this too. When he made his ascent, television was the only political gallery that mattered.” – The Times
>Today:
Gray’s son to run for ‘winnable Labour seat’
“The son of Keir Starmer’s new chief of staff has announced his plans to try to become the Labour MP for a winnable seat. Liam Conlon, Sue Gray’s son, is running in one of south London’s newest constituencies, Beckenham and Penge, created after the Boundary Commission review and thought to be a comfortable Labour win. Conlon, a Crystal Palace resident, is the vice-chair of Lewisham West and Penge CLP and chair of Labour’s Irish Society, a group formerly led by Starmer’s director of communications, Matthew Doyle. Conlon announced his candidacy on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Conservative party has selected Bob Stewart, the current MP for Beckenham, as its candidate. “ – The Guardian
- Welsh government plans to redefine women to include transgender females – The Daily Telegraph
Calls for Sturgeon ‘to be fine or jailed’ if her Covid WhatsApp messages were deleted
“Nicola Sturgeon has been warned she faces a fine or even prison after it was alleged key WhatsApp messages from the pandemic were manually deleted from her mobile phone. Sources close to the UK Covid public inquiry said the former first minister is among the senior SNP figures to have confirmed to the inquiry that their messages had been wiped. They are also said to include Humza Yousaf, her successor as first minister and the former Scottish health secretary, and John Swinney, the former deputy first minister. Bereaved families in Scotland said they deserved the truth about the SNP government’s response to Covid and warned they had asked the inquiry to issue a Section 21 notice compelling the messages to be handed over.” – The Daily Telegraph
News in Brief:
- Activist curators are spoiling Britain’s museums – Lara Brown, The Spectator
- The World at War’s unbearable poignancy – Aris Roussinos, UnHerd
- A minister for men? – Tom Jones, The Critic
- Why Britain needs a new Thatcher – Alys Denby, CapX
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