Newslinks for Sunday 15th June 2025

RAF jets to be deployed to Middle East

“Britain is sending more fighter jets to the Middle East over fears that fighting between Israel and Iran will erupt into a war that engulfs the region. Sir Keir Starmer announced that he would bolster the RAF’s presence to defend British interests should the skirmishes between the two powers escalate. The Prime Minister made the announcement on Saturday aboard a government plane as he headed to Canada for what will be crisis talks with G7 leaders. Israel unilaterally moved against Iran on Friday, launching hundreds of bombing strikes which continued into Saturday.” – Sunday Telegraph

• UK jets move to Middle East – FT
• Britain on a war footing as more Iranian missiles hit Israel – Sunday Times
• UK moves jets to Middle East as Starmer refuses to rule out defending Israel – Observer
• RAF jets scrambled to Middle East – Sun on Sunday
• Children among eight killed in fresh Iranian missile barrage – Sunday Telegraph
• Ten killed in Iranian strikes on Israel – Observer
• Middle East descends into all-out war – Mail on Sunday
• Night of hell – Sun on Sunday
• Trump threatens attack on Iran – Sunday Express
• Iran’s supreme leader faces fury from within – Sunday Telegraph
• Protesters march through London waving Iranian flags – Sunday Telegraph

Comment

Starmer bows to pressure to hold national grooming gangs inquiry

“Sir Keir Starmer has announced that he will commission a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal following months of demands from his political opponents. The Prime Minister said he would accept the recommendation made by Baroness Casey, who has been carrying out a “national audit” into the grooming gangs. It is a significant change in position from Sir Keir, who for months has resisted taking the move, instead allowing five councils to set up their own investigations. The Tories and Reform, which has surged in support this year, have been calling for a nationwide inquiry. The Tories on Saturday demanded that Sir Keir apologise for initially resisting the move.” – Sunday Telegraph

• PM announces national grooming gangs inquiry – Sunday Times
• Inquiry into grooming gangs announced – FT
• Starmer finally orders inquiry into grooming scandal – Sun on Sunday

Comment

Badenoch: Reform is Corbynism with a flag

“I confess I shudder every time I hear that word. Yet politicians from Keir Starmer to Nigel Farage are now gleefully chanting “nationalisation!” as a solution to every economic challenge in the utterly deluded belief that the answer to our problems is getting civil servants to take control of business. The Conservative Party knows that the state is already too big, much too slow, and doing far too much and doing it badly. Some of that happened under previous Conservative governments. It’s my job to fix this and to ensure that those mistakes are never repeated.” – Sunday Telegraph

>Today:

Reeves braced for OBR forecasts to blow £20bn hole in tax and spending plans

“Rachel Reeves is braced for revised forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to blow a £20bn hole in her tax and spending plans before the autumn budget. Even without changing the totals the chancellor set out in her spending review on Wednesday, a weaker forecast from the Treasury’s independent watchdog could force her to find significantly more money at the budget to meet her “non-negotiable” fiscal rules. Reeves has said repeatedly that flexing her fiscal rules – designed to provide certainty over UK public finances – is not an option even if the economic outlook deteriorates.” – Observer

Police search for suspect after Democratic lawmaker shot dead and another wounded

“A prominent Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota and her husband were killed and another Democratic state lawmaker and his wife were shot in the early hours of Saturday. State representative Melissa Hortman died, as has her husband, Mark, the state’s governor, Tim Walz, confirmed at a press conference on Saturday. Walz said the shooting “appears to be a politically motivated assassination”. Hortman was the top Democrat in the Minnesota house and the former speaker. The Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were both shot multiple times and are out of surgery, and Walz said he was “cautiously optimistic” both will survive.” – Observer

Trump military parade met with empty seats amid nationwide protests

“President Trump said it was “about time” America celebrated its military victories as a mass parade to mark the US army’s 250th anniversary was held against a backdrop of nationwide protests. Washington DC was locked down and the capital’s airspace closed to flights as 6,500 troops marched down Constitution Avenue and helicopters flew overhead, fulfilling a long-standing ambition of President Trump to stage a military parade — the first held in the American capital in more than 30 years. The celebrations came just hours after a Democratic politician and her husband were shot dead in their Minnesota home by a man believed to be impersonating a police officer. Threats against other politicians in Texas were made on a day of widespread unrest and protests against the Trump administration, timed to coincide with Saturday’s $46 million event.” – Sunday Times

• Millions across US turn out for ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump – Observer
• Protesters cast a storm cloud over Trump’s military parade – Sunday Telegraph

>Yesterday:

Hannan: Britain is turning into a Third World country

“It was little things that made me fall in love with Britain. You didn’t have to count your change in shops. You almost never saw private security guards. You could drink from the tap. You could flick a switch and the light would actually come on. You could get into a taxi, confident, not only that you wouldn’t be mugged, but that you’d be driven by the shortest route and charged the correct fare. If you stopped at a red light, you would not have every car behind you hooting in fury. You could send valuables by post. That, at least, was how it used to work – to the wonder of foreign visitors throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. But our social capital is flooding away.” – Sunday Telegraph

Other political news and comment

• Streeting: ‘I won’t shrink away from opening NHS to private sector’ – Sunday Telegraph
• Prioritise British workers if you want government contracts, Labour tells companies – Sunday Telegraph
• I didn’t love my private school, but I detest Labour’s evil war on them – Zoe Strimpel, Sunday Telegraph
• Khan’s London is crumbling. Reeves may have just sealed its fate – Sunday Telegraph
• Starmer must intervene over Thames Water crisis, say creditors – Sunday Telegraph

News in Brief