Featured Newslinks Newslinks October 2025

Newslinks for Tuesday 7th October 2025

October 7, 2025

Grassroots Tories want pact with Reform, poll finds

“Most Conservative members want a pact with Reform, a poll has found. The survey, published on the second day of the Tories’ annual conference, found the grassroots were significantly more sympathetic to an agreement than Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader. Mrs Badenoch and Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, have both repeatedly ruled out any arrangement between the two parties. Reform is currently enjoying a comfortable poll lead while the Conservatives languish in third, which has led some senior Tories to call for a deal between the two. A slew of defections from the Tories to Reform has not helped, with one Conservative donor who funded Mrs Badenoch’s leadership campaign changing sides this week. And on Monday, a shadow minister urged the Tory leader to “work together” with Reform.” – Daily Telegraph

Poll shows two in three Tory members want a pact with Reform at the next election – Daily Mail
Badenoch nightmare as Tory members divided over leadership future – Daily Express
Reform announces new wave of Tory defections in blow to Badenoch – Daily Express
Badenoch slaps down BBC presenter in Tory conference row: ‘Simply not true!’ – Daily Express
Reality of election defeat hits home at party conference – FT
Tories set a low bar after misspelling Britain on conference chocolate – Guardian
Tax authorities examine finances of key Farage ally – Guardian
Has Badenoch sounded the death knell for one nation Conservatism? – Guardian

Comment

Jenrick 1) Jenrick warned ‘don’t do a Burnham’ as he bides his time over a leadership bid

“The one question for supporters of Robert Jenrick in the Tory party is not if but when they should make a move to oust Kemi Badenoch. But luckily for them, they saw a trial run of one of their potential strategies at the Labour conference which led to a late change in their plans to use this conference in Manchester as a platform. And so the message to Mr Jenrick from his supporters going into this conference was “don’t do an Andy Burnham”. Labour’s mayor for Greater Manchester has actually been speaking at the Tory conference on housing and other matters in a fairly disobliging manner about prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. But his attempt to turn the Labour conference into a platform for a push to replace Starmer badly backfired”. – The Independent

Jenrick 2) Shadow Justice Secretary accuses 35 judges of pro-migrant bias ahead of conference speech

“Robert Jenrick will pledge on Tuesday to sack “activist” judges in a crackdown on “pro-migration bias” in the judiciary. The shadow justice secretary has compiled a list of more than 30 full-time and part-time judges whom he says have previously volunteered help or provided free legal services for open-border organisations. He said some have continued to post comments in support of open borders on social media since assuming their judicial roles. He will announce that a future Tory government would introduce reforms enabling judges caught campaigning for open borders to be automatically sacked, as well as returning the responsibility for appointing judges to the Government via the Lord Chancellor.” – Daily Telegraph

Jenrick says he would sack 35 ‘activist’ judges – The Times

Jenrick 3) Jenrick complained of ‘not seeing another white face’ in Birmingham neighbourhood

“Robert Jenrick complained about visiting an area of Birmingham where he “didn’t see another white face”, and said it was not the kind of country he wanted to live in. After highlighting the lack of white people, the shadow justice secretary said it was not about “the colour of your skin or your faith”, and he wanted people to live alongside each other. However, he has been criticised by the area’s MP for suggesting he could tell whether Handsworth was “properly integrated” based on whether there were any white people in the area during a 90-minute period. Jenrick made the comments, which were recorded, during a dinner at the Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association dinner on 14 March after he had recorded a video for GB News about litter in the suburb.” – Guardian

‘I won’t shy away from this issue’ – Jenrick defiant – Daily Mail

Conservatives promise to scrap Sentencing Council

“The Conservatives have pledged to abolish the Sentencing Council and give ministers the power to issue guidelines to courts in England and Wales. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick will set out the plans that would put ministers in charge of sentencing policy, in a speech at the party’s conference. Jenrick will say the council is “not fit for purpose” and argue its guidelines have created a “two-tier nightmare”, with people treated differently by the courts. The announcement comes after a public dispute earlier in the year between the Sentencing Council and the government over pre-sentence reports for offenders from certain minority groups.” – BBC News

Tory plan to scrap judge-led Sentencing Council criticised as ‘bonkers’ – Guardian

Stride attacks ‘socialist’ Farage and pledges £47bn in spending cuts

“Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, accused Farage of “marching to the left” on economics in an effort by the Tories to distinguish themselves from a party that has outflanked them on immigration. Stride promised tax cuts funded by reducing public spending and insisted that the Conservatives were “the only party that will stand up for fiscal responsibility”. He said he would scrap business rates for shops and pubs, and promised young people a £5,000 national insurance rebate towards buying a first home.” – The Times

Tories pledge to scrap business rates for shops and pubs – FT
Tory divisions erupt over state pension triple lock as MP blasts policy – Daily Express

Comment

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Tories to give wider stop-and-search power in crime hotspots

“Officers would be given sweeping powers to stop and search anyone in the 2,000 areas of the country with the highest crime rates under Conservative proposals. Police will for the first time be allowed to search people without first having grounds for suspicion, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, will announce on Tuesday. The powers would be used in the areas with the highest rates of robbery, theft, burglary, violence, drug dealing and antisocial behaviour. Police forces would be threatened with funding cuts if they refused to use the powers, which would be combined with an “intensive” deployment of live facial recognition cameras installed on police vans and fixed to lampposts.” – Daily Telegraph

Comment

Chancellor doesn’t have a ‘credible plan’ for the economy, warns ex-OBR official

“Rachel Reeves does not have a credible plan to grow the economy and get debt down, one of Britain’s most respected economists has said. Sir Charlie Bean, who has held senior posts at both the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the Bank of England, said he did not believe that Ms Reeves’s policies could arrest the recent upward lurch in UK borrowing costs. His intervention comes as economists warn that Ms Reeves will have to raise taxes by at least £30bn to balance the books in her November Budget. The predicament is partly of the Chancellor’s own making after costly about-turns blew a hole in her finely balanced plans.” – Daily Telegraph

Reeves steps up efforts to secure more company listings for the UK – FT

PM tells students to shun ‘un-British’ October 7 protests

“Sir Keir Starmer will warn students not to take part in “un-British” protests marking the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacre and accuses those who call for violence against Jews of a “total loss of empathy and humanity”. Writing in The Times, the prime minister says that Britain has become indifferent to antisemitism, posing a profound threat to the nation and its values. He accuses those taking part in the protests of a lack of respect for others and urges the police to use the “full force of the law” against those who call for violence against Jews. “This is not who we are as a country,” he wrote More than a dozen protests will be held at British universities to mark the anniversary on Tuesday.” – The Times