Newslinks for Sunday 20th April 2025

Zelensky: Russia is already breaching ‘Easter truce’

“Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of failing to uphold an “Easter truce” announced by Vladimir Putin. Ukraine’s president said his forces would abide by the ceasefire if the Kremlin did the same, but said Russian artillery fire had not stopped and its attempt to seize territory continued. “Russian assault operations continue on several front-line sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided,” Mr Zelensky wrote on social media an hour and a half after the truce was meant to begin. “Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow.” – Sunday Telegraph

• Zelenskyy says Russia still firing on Ukraine despite ‘Easter truce’ – Observer
• RAF intercepted Russian jets to defend Nato airspace – Sunday Telegraph

Comment

Chancellor vows to avoid wealth tax

“Rachel Reeves has insisted she will not raid the wealth of British households with new taxes this autumn as she grapples with the consequences of Donald Trump’s trade war. In an attempt to quell speculation ahead of her Budget later this year, the Chancellor said capital gains tax would not be changed. She also promises she will not use an emergency break in her fiscal rules on borrowing that allows for a temporary pause, despite the growing pressure on public finances. The comments will lead to heightened expectation that public spending could take a further hit, even as Labour backbenchers consider rebelling over Ms Reeves’s recent welfare cuts.” – Sunday Telegraph

• ‘The whole policy is wrong’: rebellion among Labour MPs grows over £5bn benefits cut – Observer
• Reeves left red-faced as teachers threaten strike after huge pay rise – Sunday Express

Supreme Court victors receive death threats in gender ruling backlash

“The campaigners who won the Supreme Court battle over the legal definition of a woman have been inundated with death threats and misogynistic abuse since the landmark judgment. On Wednesday five judges sided with the campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS), which argued that single-sex spaces and protections should apply only to people born female. It marked the end of a long-running legal battle and is expected to have big implications for how transgender issues and sex-based rights are applied across Britain. The three women behind FWS’s campaign revealed they have since been subjected to an outpouring of hatred online. They also talked about how their opinions damaged their employment and business interests.” – Sunday Times

Comment

Miliband in blistering attack on Farage’s net zero ‘nonsense and lies’

“Ed Miliband has torn into Nigel Farage and the Tories for peddling dangerous “nonsense and lies” by suggesting the UK’s net zero target is responsible for destroying Britain’s businesses, including its steel industry. Cabinet ministers are determined to fight back against the way Reform UK and the Conservatives have unceremoniously lambasted the climate crisis agenda for what they believe are nakedly political reasons before important local elections next month. Both Farage and the Tories have blamed the perilous situation at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant on high energy costs, saying renewable energy prices have put the company on the brink.” – Observer

• Energy Secretary accuses net zero opponents of ‘nonsense and lies’ – BBC News

Griffith: Starmer wants to rejoin EU by the back door

“Sir Keir Starmer wants to rejoin the EU by the back door. And he is using the most boring-sounding law to do it. His weapon? The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill currently before Parliament – a bureaucratic snooze-fest to bore Britain out of Brexit. But we have caught him red-handed. The British people voted to break free from the EU to have the freedom to make our own rules, not grovel for Brussels’ leftovers. That means making our own laws that allow our country to thrive and its economy to grow. That doesn’t mean kowtowing to Brussels and swallowing their rules.” – Sunday Telegraph

Other political news and comment

• Farage speaks left’s language with calls for more nationalisation – Sunday Times
• Welcome to the Tory heartland where no one says they’re Tory – Sunday Times
• Two-party politics is dying in Britain. Voters want more than just Labour and Tories – Observer
• Reform leader just as likely to be next PM as Starmer, poll finds – Mail on Sunday
• Calling Farage racist only fires up his troops – Jason Cowley, Sunday Times
• Private schools face wave of strikes over cuts to pay and pensions – Sunday Times
• Macron to make UK state visit months before Trump – Sunday Times
• Britain needs us to defeat Islamist extremists, says Israeli foreign minister – Sunday Telegraph
• Protesters fill the streets in cities across the US to denounce Trump agenda – Observer
• The US’s malaise is entirely homemade — tariffs won’t fix it – Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times
• Trump is making it very difficult for conservatives – Simon Heffer, Sunday Telegraph
• Trump’s latest attack is straight out of Nixon’s playbook – Jeremy Warner, Sunday Telegraph
• Not even pub banter is safe from Labour – William Sitwell, Sunday Telegraph
• The tide has not turned against woke. The backlash is the mirror of what it dislikes – Daniel Hannan, Sunday Telegraph
• We must never allow prisoners the freedom to rule in our prisons – Editorial, Sun on Sunday
• Our constitution may be unwritten, but at least it’s working – Janet Daley, Sunday Telegraph

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