‘The devil is not going to win,’ train attacker told passengers
“A knife-wielding attacker told passengers the “devil is not going to win” as he launched a rampage on a high-speed train to London. A British-born suspect was questioned by police on Sunday evening over the 14-minute stabbing spree, which left 11 people with injuries requiring hospital treatment. A “brave” train worker remained in a life-threatening condition after attempting to stop the knifeman, while the driver was praised for diverting the service into an emergency stop at Huntingdon station. Both were hailed heroes for saving the lives of passengers.” – Daily Telegraph
- Police ‘forced to disclose ethnicity of suspects to counter far-right speculation’ – The Guardian
- Police ‘should have released nationality of train stabbing suspect sooner’ – Daily Telegraph
- There’s no escape. That’s why, for the millions who take a train every day, this attack couldn’t be more terrifying – Kevin Hurley, Daily Mail
- Train stabbing fuels UK public’s feeling of insecurity – Financial Times
>Today: ToryDiary: I’m deeply concerned politicians overuse “deeply concerned” simply to avoid saying much else
>Yesterday
Philp: More stop and search is vital to defeat knife crime
“We need to take far more knives off the street. That means we have to dramatically increase the use of stop and search. The Left says that stop and search is wrong because those searched are disproportionately black when compared to the whole population. Are they seriously saying that the perpetrator of the Huntingdon train atrocity should not have been stopped and searched if encountered? In fact, far from being disproportionate, Policy Exchange research shows the use of stop and search in London is proportionate to the offending population. In other words, it rightly reflects the demographics of people committing crime, not the whole population. And the success rate for stop and search – the proportion of searches where something illegal is found – is broadly the same across ethnic groups. That shows categorically that no one ethnic group is being unfairly picked on.” – Chris Philp, Daily Telegraph
- Police finances squeezed to meet crime targets – The Times
>Today: Chris Philp on Comment: Facial recognition technology, hot spot policing and ‘stop and search’ are proven ways to tackle crime
Farage pledges to prioritise lower borrowing over tax cuts…
“Nigel Farage is to position Reform UK as the party of “alarm clock Britain” by championing workers — but will concede he will only be able cut taxes once the deficit is under control. The Reform leader will deliver his first speech on his vision for the British economy on Monday. Senior party sources believe that Kemi Badenoch has promised tax cuts she cannot deliver. While Reform has faced criticism of its own policies — the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the sums in its manifesto last year did “not add up” — Farage will say: “Above all we will be responsible and realistic.” Reform insiders believe the economy is only going to worsen before the next election, and the Tories will end up having to abandon many of their promises to cut taxes. “The Tories and Labour have wrecked the public finances. Reform will restore them,” Farage will say. “However, our economy, as I said at the beginning, is in a very bad place. After this budget, it will be even worse. Goodness knows what sort of mess this country’s going to be in in two years’ time.” – The Times
- Tax rises and drop in investment predicted to limit UK growth – The Guardian
- Labour to stop Reform councils taking credit for deprivation cash – The Times
- The black hole of Brussels: Ministers have no clue what the billions of pounds in post-Brexit payments to EU have been spent on – Daily Mail
- Tories issue fresh attack on ‘left-wing’ Reform hours before major Nigel Farage speech – Daily Express
>Yesterday: Video: “We are the only party that is right of centre on the economy” – Hollinrake
…his speech will also pledge deregulation
“Nigel Farage will promise a bonfire of business regulation as he spells out his party’s economic policies in more detail than ever in an attempt to bolster its reputation for fiscal credibility. The Reform leader will give a speech in London putting deregulation at the heart of his economic agenda, while also dropping a commitment made at the last election to deliver £90bn of tax cuts…Farage will say: “When it comes to Brexit … we have not taken advantage of the opportunities to deregulate and become more competitive. The harsh truth is that regulations and regulators, in many areas, are worse than they were back in 2016.” – The Guardian
Badenoch warns shadow cabinet “to stay on message”
“Kemi Badenoch has warned shadow ministers not to stray from her “core messages” in a veiled criticism of Robert Jenrick and a party rising star, Katie Lam. The Tory leader said a breakdown in message discipline was “not helpful” during a private meeting with her frontbenchers. She raised concerns about colleagues diverting attention from her attacks on Sir Keir Starmer over grooming gangs and the economy.” – The Times
Conservatives will keep the triple lock, pledges O’Brien
“The Conservatives will fight the next election on a commitment to keep the triple lock, the party’s policy supremo has told The i Paper. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has faced calls to scrap the triple lock in order to win back younger voters and slash the welfare bill. Despite those calls, the Tories will not touch the policy at the next election, Neil O’Brien, Tory MP MP for Harborough, Oadby, and Wigston said. “We’re not going to touch it. We’ve been super clear about this,” O’Brien said in an interview. “That’s going to be our policy at the next election.” – The i
Young Britons’ attitudes hardening on crime and welfare…
“UK attitudes towards benefits claimants and criminals are hardening, according to a survey that reveals younger generations’ growing discontent with the country’s “broken social contract”. For the first time in a decade the majority of British adults believe the generosity of the welfare system stops people from supporting themselves, according to the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). The share who strongly agreed that less generous benefits would mean people “learn to stand on their own two feet” has surged to 23 per cent, the highest level since records began in 1987. Among young adults the share jumped from 13 per cent to 28 per cent in the past year.” – Financial Times
- Benefit system still needs reform – Leader, The Times
…Workers who lose jobs will get higher benefit payouts than those who have never worked
“Employees who lose their jobs will get higher benefit payouts than those who have never done a day’s work in Labour’s welfare overhaul. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden is drawing up a Bill to give bigger, short-term payments to people who paid National Insurance before becoming unemployed. Officials hope the new system will help people back into jobs faster while cutting the welfare bill. The plan will replace the current policy with a simpler “Unemployment Insurance” scheme, paying about £140 a week up to a year.” – The Sun
- The Budget on November 26 is set to unleash more pain and misery as Labour targets the hard-working to fund a rising welfare bill – Giles Sheldrick, Daily Express
Scotland’s new super-prison ‘too small’ despite £1bn cost
“Scotland’s new £1bn super-prison will be too small to solve an overcrowding crisis despite costing the same to build as a five-star Dubai hotel, Anas Sarwar has warned. The Scottish Labour leader published an analysis showing HMP Glasgow will have 357 more places than HMP Barlinnie, the Victorian jail it is replacing. A further £209m is being spent on the new HMP Highland, which will provide 107 more prisoners than the design capacity of Inverness Prison.” – Daily Telegraph
Coutinho: Implement new guidance on single-sex spaces without delay
“The guidance is clear: single-sex spaces must operate on the basis of biological sex. That means no more men in women’s changing rooms or prisons, conducting police strip searches on women, or competing in women’s sports. This is not just common sense, it’s the law. And every day the government refuses to do its job and approve the guidance is a day that those breaking that law can plead ignorance of it. Every day of delay puts the dignity, privacy, and even safety of women at risk. I even wrote to Phillipson months before the ruling, urging her to start work on clarifying the guidance. Worse still, this backsliding on women’s rights extends far beyond the EHRC guidance. New rules on single-sex changing rooms in the NHS, gender and sex identity in official data collection, and schools guidance for gender-questioning children are nowhere to be seen.” – Claire Coutinho, The Times
Reeves 1) Horse racing “will be spared from gambling tax rise”
“Horse racing will be spared in Rachel Reeves’s gambling tax rises, The Telegraph understands. The Chancellor will protect the industry from a broader raid on betting, with plans being worked up to increase taxes on slot machines in bookmakers’ shops and online gaming. Bets placed in-person at the races have, in effect, no duty but those placed on the horses in betting shops or online are subject to a levy. Neither is expected to be raised in the Budget.” – Daily Telegraph
- City bosses warn on pay as minimum wage closes in on graduate salaries – Financial Times
- Reeves’s 5% VAT cut on electricity bills will backfire, experts say – The Guardian
- Sadiq Khan calls on Reeves to bring ‘authentic’ Labour budget that boosts green investment – The Guardian
- Reeves ‘weighing up more than a hundred tax and spending plans’ – The Times
- Britain has had enough of Rachel Reeves raiding workers with Labour’s endless tax-and-spend betrayal – Leader, The Sun
Reeves 2) Glover: Why hasn’t she been sacked yet?
“She is a woman whose probity has already been questioned far more often than that of any other current minister over numerous broken promises on tax, her shameless rewriting of her CV, and a book in which she merrily plagiarised several sources without acknowledgment. Sir Keir Starmer wrote in a foreword to the Ministerial Code only last month: ‘For too long politicians have acted as if service was an entitlement.’ You can say that again. It’s getting worse. There must be an independent inquiry, as the Tories suggest, to ascertain whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and second most important figure in the Government, has told a blatant lie.” – Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research
“China waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation directed at a UK university to get it to shut down sensitive research into alleged human rights abuses, documents seen by the BBC show. Sheffield Hallam University staff in China were threatened by individuals described by them as being from China’s National Security Service who demanded the research being done in Sheffield be halted. And access to the university’s websites from China was blocked, impeding its ability to recruit Chinese students, in a campaign of threats and intimidation lasting more than two years. In an internal email from July 2024, university officials said “attempting to retain the business in China and publication of the research are now untenable bedfellows.” – BBC
Other political news
- NHS must stop hiring so many foreign doctors while Brits struggle to get jobs, review led by Chris Whitty warns – Daily Mail
- Eton calls on Labour to approve its state schools – The Times
- Bank of England expects closely fought meeting over interest rate cut – Financial Times
- UK should scrap oil rules to be best ally to US, says ambassador – The Times
- Czech Eurosceptic Andrej Babiš to agree coalition deal with far-right – Financial Times
- Under-nines exposed to Nazi and jihadist propaganda on Roblox – The Times
- Councils spending thousands cleaning ‘flag wars’ graffiti – The i
- Pupils with ‘lower-level’ special needs may lose one-to-one support – The Times
- Government admits botched climate projects could be greenwashing – Daily Telegraph
- Welsh government draft budget to be published – BBC
- Civil servants run up £170,000 bill as they enjoy ‘boozy’ work trip on French Riviera – Daily Mail
- Trump’s evangelical base wants him to send troops to Nigeria – The Times
- Northern Ireland Edication Minister looks set to face no confidence motion – BBC
- Quarter of jailed foreign sex offenders come from just five countries – Daily Telegraph
Johnson: Badenoch’s path to victory
“She should reaffirm, at every opportunity, her commitment to freedom. Ever since Mrs Thatcher plonked down Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty and told her querulous shadow cabinet “This is what we believe!”, the Conservative Party has been for liberty or for nothing. Unless Mrs Badenoch can persuade voters that she alone is serious about liberating them from the shackles of the state, the Tories will continue to languish in the polls….The self-employed, the farmers and the small business owners are desperate for a champion who will save them from an insatiable zombie state…This warrior queen is quite capable of leading a Conservative comeback. Kemi Badenoch for Prime Minister by 2029? Don’t bet against it.” – Daniel Johnson, Daily Telegraph
- Tory patience wears thin as Badenoch’s critics count down to May elections – The Guardian
News in brief
- How can Kent Council succeed? – Jacob Rees-Mogg, Substack
- End the fiction of fiscal rules – Henry Hill, The Critic
- Britain’s trains are dangerously exposed – James Tidmarsh, The Spectator
- Should the Cambridgeshire train stabbings be classed as terrorism? – Joan Smith, UnHerd
- UK’s National Debt grows at fastest rate of any advanced economy – Richard Eldred, Daily Sceptic
