Newslinks for Friday 10th October 2025

Release of China spying files blocked

“Jonathan Powell suppressed a major Whitehall investigation into Chinese spying after lobbying from the Treasury, The Telegraph can disclose. Mr Powell, Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser, decided in June that the Government would not publish details about espionage from the Foreign Office’s China audit, sources said. His decision came after Treasury officials said releasing information from the “comprehensive” analysis of China’s influence in Britain could damage trade and investment links. Sir Keir is facing calls to come clean over the extent of China’s grip on Britain. Earlier this week, the UK’s top prosecutor said a case against two alleged spies collapsed because the Government had failed to brand the country a threat to national security. The Telegraph can now reveal that details gathered in the China audit, a cross-Whitehall analysis of Britain’s relationship with Beijing, were deliberately kept private amid concerns about reprisals from China. Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “This is yet another example of cover-up and collusion within the Labour Government when it comes to foreign policy and China. Labour clearly cannot be trusted when it comes to national security.” On a trip to India on Thursday, the Prime Minister said no ministers had been involved in the decision to drop the trial of the alleged spies Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry last month. Sir Keir did not deny that Mr Powell was involved, despite Downing Street previously insisting that he was not responsible for decisions about evidence in the case.” – Daily Telegraph

• MI5 dossier on China threat ‘never passed to spy prosecutors’ – The Times
• National security adviser accused of torpedoing China spy case DID back charges, so why did he change his mind? – Daily Mail
• Foreign Office chief to visit China after collapse of high-profile espionage case  – The Guardian

Comment:

• Starmer’s failure to stand up to China is no surprise – Iain Duncan Smith, Daily Telegraph
• China spy fiasco reveals cowardice at No 10 – Edward Lucas, The Times

Trump declares peace in the Middle East

“Donald Trump has declared “peace in the Middle East” and announced that hostages would be freed early next week after Israel and Hamas signed a deal to end the war. He told a meeting of his cabinet at the White House on Thursday that he hoped to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt, joining Steve Witkoff, the White House’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law, who are the president’s two top negotiators. “We ended the war in Gaza,” he said, “and really, on a much bigger basis, created peace … hopefully an everlasting peace”. “It’s really peace in the Middle East,” he added. Under the deal, a ceasefire will begin on Friday, alongside the opening of a 72-hour window in which Hamas will free all the Israeli hostages. Late on Thursday night, the Israeli cabinet approved the agreement that will free the remaining hostages and stop the war in Gaza. The deal came together in a matter of days after Hamas began to view the hostages more as a liability than an asset, according to US officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. One of the officials added that negotiators had detected that “Hamas had enough”. The US will also deploy around 200 troops to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, the officials said.” – Daily Telegraph

• How Trump’s historic Gaza peace deal was brokered at ‘command center’ inside unlikely million-dollar mansion in Miami…with his son-in-law starring as architect – Daily Mail
• Israeli cabinet ratifies first phase of Trump’s peace plan – as US to deploy 200 troops for Gaza task force – Sky News
• Europeans, Arabs flesh out Gaza transition ideas to weigh on Trump plan – Reuters
• The five Norwegians with Trump’s Nobel prize dream in their hands – The Times
• Norway braces for Trump’s reaction if he does not win Nobel peace prize – The Guardian

Comment:

• Donald Trump proves peacemaking credentials that dwarf his predecessors – Nigel Farage, Daily Express
• Don’t expect pro-Palestine protests to stop with the Middle East peace plan… the rent-a-mob are only after one thing – Julia Hartley-Brewer, The Sun
• Peace won’t last until Palestinians accept that Israel is here to stay – Henry Donovan, Daily Telegraph
• This deal would never have flown without the force of nature that is Donald J. Trump – he created the weather that made it happen – Richard Littlejohn, Daily Mail
• Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize more than any American president in history – Nigel Jones, Daily Telegraph

> Yesterday: Garvan Walshe: Can Trump really force Netanyahu and Hamas to make peace?

Reeves’ economic woes continue

“Iconic venues that have hosted top acts such as Lady Gaga and The Rolling Stones are at risk of closing causing huge job losses from a tax shake-up. Bosses of London’s O2 and Manchester Co-op Live arenas have written to the Treasury saying they don’t have the ability to absorb extra business rate costs. From next year, the government will bring in higher levies for retail, hospitality and leisure properties with rateable values of £500,000 and above. Angry venue bosses say the policy fails to distinguish between “Amazon-style warehouses” it is intended for and live music venues. Affected smaller venues will also have a knock-on impact on the High Street as people stay in hotels and enjoy pubs and restaurants nearby. Lady Gaga has just completed a UK tour playing dates at both the 02 in London and the Manchester Co-op Live. The Rolling Stones played a string of dates at the venue in the capital in 2007 and 2012. It comes as Rachel Reeves has admitted facing hard choices at the Budget where she could have to find £30 billion to fill the financial black hole.” – The Sun 

• Rachel Reeves heads towards disaster with fresh ‘tax on working people’ – Daily Express
• Labour ‘considers bringing back mansion tax’ in Reeves’s Budget that could mean ordinary homeowners paying thousands of pounds every year – Daily Mail
• Raising income tax is ‘least damaging’ option for Reeves, says think tank – The Independent
• Reeves tax raid backfires again as councils feel the pinch from care homes – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• I’d vote for Kemi Badenoch and her sound economics – Emma Duncan, The Times
• Watch out for black swans: The trigger for financial crashes rarely is predicted by watchdogs – Alex Brummer, Daily Mail

> Today: Badenoch’s survival act worked in Manchester — but is revival beyond her?

> Yesterday: Abolishing Stamp Duty is an excellent idea – but will it win the Tories a hearing?

News in brief:

• Will Reform UK ever be the party of business? – Henry Hill, Unherd
• What will the Israel haters do now? – Brendan O’Neill, The Spectator
• On Conservative hauntology – Tom Jones, The Critic
• The Conservatives are rediscovering their roots – Joseph Dinnage, CapX