Newslinks for Monday 28th July 2025

Starmer to meet Trump in Scotland – and press him on Gaza

“Sir Keir Starmer will seek to use a meeting with President Trump on Monday to increase diplomatic pressure on Israel over humanitarian aid to Gaza. Trump has expressed concern about images of suffering in Gaza and on Sunday said he had spoken to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Trump has broadly indicated support for Netanyahu’s handling of Hamas, which he has accused of stealing food aid, including Netanyahu’s threats of further action if the remaining hostages are not released. Starmer will hold an emergency cabinet meeting on Gaza this week as he comes under mounting pressure from within his government to recognise a Palestinian state. Israel on Sunday made key concessions on the delivery of aid in response to international pressure triggered by images of emaciated children last week. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) set up protected corridors for UN lorry convoys to travel through the war zone and daytime pauses in the fighting to allow residents to receive it.” – The Times

• Donald Trump insists Gaza is not just ‘US problem’ as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to push him to end war – The Sun
• Keir Starmer challenged to commit to oil and gas jobs ahead of Donald Trump’s Aberdeenshire visit – The Press and Journal
• Starmer to Meet Trump to Discuss Trade Deal, Gaza Ceasefire – Bloomberg
• Trump: wind farms are a ‘con job’ – Daily Telegraph
• Starmer to push US president to resume role in Gaza ceasefire talks – The Independent
• Keir Starmer to recall cabinet for emergency meeting on Gaza crisis – The Guardian

Comment:

• Starmer is right to reject demands to recognise a Palestinian state. But how long can this master of the U-turn hold firm? – Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
• Trump has just triumphed over the EU – Matthew Lynn, Daily Telegraph
• Convenient timing for a trade deal, I suggested. Only you would think that, Trump replied – Rob Crilly, Daily Telegraph

Asylum spending, demonstrations spreading, and Britain stuck in a ‘doom loop’

“Bankrupt Birmingham Council is offering small boat asylum seekers hefty discounts on leisure activities — including swimming, golf and trampolining. The Labour-run authority, which is locked in a bin strike now in its seventh month, is giving migrants up to 25 per cent off through its Passport To Leisure scheme. Migrants, many of whom have crossed the Channel by boat before claiming asylum on reaching the UK, can also get a fifth off on the use of council swimming pools. Martial arts classes are subsidised for migrants under the initiative, as are courses on trampolining, golf, gymnastics and football. The price of a trip to a council wellbeing centre for fitness, yoga, squash and badminton sessions is also cheaper. The council even offers £1 tickets to Aston Villa matches for migrant children, as long as they are accompanied by a full paying adult. In a further slap in the face for taxpayers, asylum seekers get ten per cent off at most council leisure sites, meaning cheaper trips to the theatre, museum and city’s botanical gardens… The council is £3.9billion in debt and declared itself effectively bankrupt in September 2023 with the issue of a Section 114 notice, limiting it to essential spending only. It is also under fire over its handling of a bin strike which has seen mountains of rubbish pile up on the city’s streets.” – The Sun

• Now shut migrant protest hotel: As demonstrators clash again in Epping, Tories demand that Labour listen to local concerns and move asylum seekers – Daily Mail
• Demonstrators clash at Epping hotel as protests spread nationwide – The Times
• Britain is stuck in a ‘doom loop’, warns hedge fund chief – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• Two-tier policing is the nail in the coffin for Britain’s social contract – Sam Ashworth-Hayes, Daily Telegraph
• Police must be nimble in preventing flashpoints at migrant hotels – The Times View
• ‘Racist, far-Right’ protesters: a Sikh, a Chinese man and a veteran with mixed-race kids – Michael Murphy, Daily Telegraph
• The state will do anything but fix the migrant crisis – Laurie Wastell, The Spectator

> Today: Rupert Matthews: The shadow of Enoch Powell hangs over our two-tier justice system

Further NHS strikes loom as Badenoch pledged to ban doctors from striking

“Kemi Badenoch has pledged to ban doctors from striking as she insisted Britain needed to cut spending to “live within our means”. The Conservative leader said she would extend rules that prevent police officers and soldiers from striking to deal with what she called the increasingly “militant” British Medical Association (BMA). Labour is scrapping Tory rules that would have allowed ministers to set out minimum levels of service staff would have to provide during strike action in the NHS and other public services. Badenoch said she would restore these for other NHS staff and go even further on doctors. “The BMA has become militant. These strikes are going too far and it is time for action,” she said. Describing the measures as “common-sense proposals to protect patients and the public finances”, Badenoch said: “These strikes will have a significant economic effect, but they will also mean cancelled operations, worry for families of the sick and suffering for those who are unwell. We know that previous strike action by doctors even led to some patients losing their lives.”” – The Times

• Nurses set to reject pay offer as further strike action looms – Daily Telegraph
• Wes Streeting ‘thought he had struck deal to halt strike by doctors’ – The Guardian

Comment:

> Today: Richard Fuller: How a Conservative government would end the scourge of NHS strikes

News in brief:

• Call it the Kemi Badenoch conundrum: it’s why the Tories are going nowhere fast – Henry Hill, The Guardian
• Why couldn’t Britain have dealt with the EU like Trump? – Ross Clark, The Spectator
• Who will watch the “anti-Muslim bias” watchdogs? – Damon L. Perry, The Critic
• Will Keir Starmer recognise Palestine? – Megan Kenyon, The New Statesman