Newslinks for Monday 18th August 2025

It’s up to Zelenskyy to end the war, says Trump

“The final stand for thousands of soldiers, rich in coal but ruined by war — no other territory in Ukraine has seen a similar toll as the eastern Donbas region. Its fate may now decide the future of the war during today’s meeting in Washington. Ukraine has clung to this industrial heartland ever since fighting erupted there in 2014, when pro-Russian separatists first began to clash with Ukrainian troops and declared Donetsk and Luhansk self-styled independent “people’s republics”. Central to President Putin’s war aims, after the full-scale invasion of 2022 the war in Donbas escalated into a huge battle of attrition, costing hundreds of thousands of casualties on either side, reducing settlements to rubble and swathes of land into territory reminiscent of the mud-churned battlefields of the First World War. Battles for Donbas cities such as Bakhmut became graveyards of Ukraine’s regular and volunteer units as troops died attempting to stem human wave Russian assaults. Yet now, despite holding on to 22 per cent of Donbas — about 6,600 sq km of land — Ukraine may be expected to surrender its most fortified defence lines after Putin demanded that it hand over this remaining territory, including strategic heights and fortified cities, as a condition to ending the war. It is not a condition that President Zelensky is expected to be willing or able to accept. Politically and militarily, the Ukrainian president would be unable to cede the Donbas territory to Russia, even if he wished to, without leaving Ukraine in a more precarious position than the one in which it now exists… Zelensky’s meeting in Washington, where he will be accompanied by the main European leaders, Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, and Sir Keir Starmer, comes after Trump told allies that Putin wanted Ukraine’s Donbas as a condition to ending the war.” – The Times

• Trump rules out Ukraine reclaiming Crimea or joining Nato ahead of Zelensky White House talks – BBC News
• Outline emerges of Putin’s offer to end his war in Ukraine – Reuters
• Top Trump envoy: ‘Substantial progress’ made in summit with Putin – CNN
• How Starmer taught Zelensky to speak Trump – Daily Telegraph
• Ukrainian mood hardens as MPs insist country should not be forced to surrender – The Guardian
• Trump dropped ceasefire demand ‘because so much progress was made’ – The Times
• London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan says Donald Trump is ‘not a force for good’ – The Independent

Comment:

• Zelensky’s days are numbered – leaving Starmer in a perilous position – Anne McElvoy, The i
• For Putin, an outbreak of peace means certain death. Like any gangster, he has only one hope of survival – William Browder, Daily Mail
• Trump’s Putin dalliance places Taiwan in peril – Iain Duncan Smith, Daily Telegraph
• Be under no illusion: Trump’s betrayal of Ukraine is a shocking tragedy – Ian Birrell, The i
• Trump wants out of Ukraine and doesn’t really care who takes control… I fear he’ll give Putin what he wants to get peace – Andrew Neil, Daily Mail
• The butchering of Ukraine’s borders will haunt Europe for generations – Katja Hoyer, Daily Telegraph
• Trump’s cynical bluster has echoes of Vietnam – Max Hastings, The Times

> Yesterday: Lord Ashcroft: Was Trump’s Alaska summit Europe’s moment of truth?

Migrant hotel protests show British public has snapped, says Jenrick – as Tory MPs split over own asylum policy

“Migrant hotel protests show the British public has “snapped” over illegal Channel crossings, Robert Jenrick has said. The shadow justice secretary declared “enough is enough” as he attended a protest on Sunday against the continued use of a hotel by asylum seekers in Epping. His visit came days after the BBC was forced to drop a Thought for the Day segment on the Today programme in which a guest accused the Tory frontbencher of xenophobia. Mr Jenrick joined around 100 protesters outside the Bell Hotel in Essex, which has been at the centre of weeks of protests amid concerns over community cohesion. In July, an Ethiopian asylum seeker staying at the hotel was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old schoolgirl days after arriving in Britain. A Syrian man, also living in the hotel, appeared in court last week charged with sexual assault after being accused of kissing a man on the neck. Mr Jenrick told The Telegraph: “I think the patience of the British public has snapped. Frankly, it snapped a long time ago. People are absolutely sick to their back teeth of what’s happening here and up and down the country and for good reason. In the last 100 days alone, there have been almost a dozen serious sexual offence allegations. This problem has been going on for six years – 170,000 people, mostly undocumented young men, have broken into our country. Each one of them is going to cost us half a million pounds if they stay. This has to come to an end, and I wanted to come here today to show my support for the fair-minded patriotic people here who are out protesting every weekend. They’re right to do so. They’re right to be angry and frustrated, and they’re right to be demanding change, because this has got to stop. Enough is enough.”” – Daily Telegraph

• Robert Jenrick under fire over support for Epping asylym hotel protests – LBC News
• The leaked WhatsApp messages that expose Tory splits over ‘silly’ asylum policy – Daily Telegraph
• The migrant hotel flashpoint in the heart of London’s banking district: How Canary Wharf has become an asylum seeker ‘dumping ground’ with ‘terrified’ locals scared to leave homes – Daily Mail
• Illegal migrants brought to UK in ‘dangerous’ £350 dinghies sold online by backstreet factories in China – The Sun
• Judge who let knife-wielding migrant stay in UK was on board of pro-asylum charity – Daily Telegraph
• Tory MP dodges question on whether Robert Jenrick would do a better job than Kemi Badenoch – GB News
• Why are so many MPs doing the ‘Westminster walk-and-talk’? – The Times

Comment:

• The Conservatives must push what is falling – Tom Jones, The Critic

> Today: The law might well be correct, but concerns about justice aren’t going to go away that easily

> Yesterday: Leaked messages reveal internal Tory row over asylum perks tweet

Private schools acquired by Chinese investors

“The Chinese Communist Party is behind a spate of takeovers of British private schools, officials believe. More than thirty independent schools have been bought by Chinese investors in the past decade and other big purchases are being examined by regulators. Officials within the Department for Education and security services are thought to be concerned by the trend but sources say they have been hampered by a failure to include China on an enhanced list of countries that pose a risk to the UK’s national security. A senior government source said: “China is playing the long game and doing all the things we used to do as an empire. They targeted universities before but have realised it’s easier to start younger. It’s ideological warfare. These children will grow up and be helpful to the Communist Party.” … Analysis of Chinese investment in UK schools published last year by a Beijing-based company called Venture Education said the strong demand among Chinese families for British education was the primary driver behind the acquisition of schools. The report said that the model adopted between 2017 and 2020, under which 17 schools were bought, was to “buy distressed schools and either try to fill them with Chinese students or use the brand in China”. The Covid years led to a more hands-off approach but from 2022 there was a notable increase and a total of 30 schools had been bought by Chinese investors by the end of last year. These latter purchases were seen as long-term investments with potential for sustainable growth and returns, Venture said.” – The Times

• China’s Communist Party is ‘behind spate of takeovers’ of British private schools – with more than 30 now in hands of foreign investors – Daily Mail

Comment:

Reform bans local branches organising events on WhatsApp, as Labour figures urge party not to panic

“Reform UK has banned its local branches from organising political events on WhatsApp after fears of infiltration from the far right. Rules handed down to local affiliates last month, seen by The Times, will force branch officers to sign non-disclosure agreements and prevent them from opening their own bank accounts. It hands sweeping powers to the national party to override the rules and suspend members. Sources familiar with the rules said the strict approach was needed to prevent potential entryism from the far right. The branch rules were initially published in December under Zia Yusuf, then party chairman, who had been brought in to professionalise the party’s operation. However, a tightened version, including the restrictions on social media use, was published last month. It added that branch officers “are not permitted to use social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, etc, to communicate party and branch operations and activities to members and/or supporters”. Communications should instead be limited to email and to branch meetings, it said. Despite the apparent ban on Facebook, there appear to be dozens of groups for local Reform branches actively operating on the platform. The previous version of the rules said the party could suspend or expel members if they brought Reform into disrepute “by association with, or membership of, any organisation which the board has declared to be incompatible with membership of the party”. However, in the updated version of the document, the threat of suspension or expulsion has been expanded to include “association with any individual … whether public or private”.” – The Times

• Continually absent Reform UK councillor in Cornwall is asked to attend meetings – Cornwall News
• Nigel Farage defiantly ignores Angela Rayner after ‘desperate’ new attack – Daily Express
• Jack Straw urges Labour not to panic about threat of Nigel Farage – The Guardian
• Neil Kinnock brands Nigel Farage’s Reform UK ‘poisonous’ – ‘more organised attack needed’ – Daily Mirror

Comment:

• Farage is not selling out, he is just preparing Reform for government – Tim Stanley, Daily Telegraph

News in brief:

• Is Theresa May your hero? – Henry Hill, The New Statesman
• Britain doesn’t need a strongman, it needs a spine – Emma Schubart, The Critic
• How to solve Britain’s shoplifting epidemic – Ian Acheson, The Spectator
• Will America abandon Israel? – Christopher Caldwell, Unherd