Newslinks for Friday 9th of May 2025

Trump hails Brexit for making UK trade deal possible

“Inside astonishing day that saw President blindside Starmer during Arsenal match and resulted in Tories deriding ‘Diet Coke’ agreement… Kemi Badenoch last night said Britain had been ‘shafted’ by the deal. ‘When Labour negotiates, Britain loses,’ she said. ‘We cut our tariffs – America tripled theirs.’” – Daily Mail 

• Kemi Badenoch slaps down Keir Starmer’s US trade deal: ‘We’ve just been shafted!’– Daily Express
• Trump cuts car and steel tariffs in UK trade deal — as it happened – The Times
• I was in the room when Trump let slip the real reason behind his 11th-hour UK trade deal – Daily Telegraph
• Winners and losers in UK-US deal revealed as firms still think they’re worse off than before Trump’s tariff blitz – The Sun
• Keir Starmer risked betraying British farmers – now ‘devil will be in the detail’ – Daily Express

Comment:

• Donald Trump has completely outmanoeuvred Keir Starmer – Sam Ashworth-Hayes, Daily Telegraph
• Britain hasn’t agreed a trade deal with the US – it’s ended a hostage negotiation – Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian
• Britain and America are leading the world once again – Nile Gardiner, Daily Telegraph
• This is why the UK-US trade deal is NOT the triumph that Starmer wants us to think it is – Alex Brummer, Daily Mail
• Trump has just put a dagger through the heart of the EU – Matthew Lynn, Daily Telegraph
• This trade deal is a win for Brexit, not Starmer. Leavers should welcome it – Daniel Hannan, Daily Telegraph

PM faces disability rebellion

“Sir Keir Starmer will be warned that he faces his biggest rebellion yet as up to a quarter of his parliamentary party raised concerns about cuts to disability benefits. More than 80 Labour MPs have signed a private letter laying out their worries about the scale and pace of welfare cuts, and dozens more have registered their concerns with ministers. The letter is understood to include unease that MPs will not be shown the full impact of the reforms until after a vote is due next month. It will be sent to Labour’s chief whip early next week. Forty-two MPs have also signed a separate public statement in which they warn that the reforms are “impossible to support”.” – The Times

• Rachel Reeves brings the era of big pay rises to a crushing end – Daily Telegraph
• Disability benefit cuts impossible to support, 42 Labour MPs tell Starmer – The Guardian

Comment:

• Wes Streeting, stop looking smug – NHS left me wondering if mum should still be alive – Mathew Hulbert, Daily Express

Hundreds of immigration offenders could be free to stay in Britain each year

“Convicted illegal migrants will avoid deportation after the approval of “lax” Sentencing Council guidelines, Robert Jenrick has claimed. The quango has gone ahead with the new guidelines despite warnings that migrants convicted of immigration offences will dodge deportation as a result. This is because the council’s “starting points” for sentences are below 12 months’ imprisonment, the point at which convicted migrants automatically face deportation. Mr Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said “watering down” the sentences meant hundreds of offenders would avoid the threshold for automatic deportation each year.” – Daily Telegraph

• Convicted migrants could avoid deportation under new guidelines – The Times
• Keir Starmer’s government has spent £566,000 on foreign visas for civil servants so far this year – putting them on track for a £4million bill by end of this Parliament – Daily Mail
• Labour accused of ‘humiliating U-turn’ over migration crackdown – Daily Express
• Labour accused of ‘ripping off’ Tory proposals on migration as it looks to introduce tougher requirements for staying in the UK – Daily Mail
• Reform to ask public for help rooting out wasteful spending – The Times

Comment:

• I abhor Reform but they’re right on one thing – Emma Duncan, The Times
• Asylum-seeking is one of Britain’s few growth industries – but its you the taxpayer pouring £4.5million a day into it – Julia Hartley-Brewer, The Sun
• Soft touch Britain is being left behind as the West hardens on immigration – Sherelle Jacobs, Daily Telegraph
• Immigration is not the boon they claimed it was – Juliet Samuel, The Times
• Only British citizens deserve the right to vote – David Frost, The Times

Boris Johnson: I’m not coming back … but Badenoch can beat Farage

“Boris Johnson has rejected calls to come back to save the Conservative Party following its catastrophic showing in last week’s local elections. The former prime minister, who is no longer an MP, said he had as much chance of returning to politics as he had of being “locked in a disused fridge”. And he told GB News he believed Kemi Badenoch had “every chance” of turning things around, although she needed time to “get going”. Mr Johnson claimed he did not believe Nigel Farage would be prime minister after the next election, and said he opposed a merger with Reform UK, likening it to a “monkey gland infusion from another party”.” – Daily Telegraph

• Kemi Badenoch blasted by George Osborne after local elections disaster: ‘No plan!’ – Daily Express
• ‘That’s for ding-dang sure!’ Boris Johnson hails Brexit for US trade deal win – Daily Express

Comment:

• There are three ways moderates could yet save the Tories. One is to renounce Brexit – Polly Toynbee, The Guardian
• Bins, potholes, asylum: this time Farage is serious – Patrick Maguire, The Times

News in brief:

• US Trade Chief: Brexit liberated the UK – Sohrab Ahmari, Unherd
• Why do some Irish people hate Israel so much? – Rory Hanrahan, The Spectator
• Send our mayors to Coventry: to witness a tram revolution – David Milner, CapX
• The irrational theatre – Daniel Sugarman, The Critic
• ​​UK financial services can still drive growth in a volatile world – Karim Haji, CityAM