Newslinks for Wednesday 25th June 2025

Labour rebels at the ready – and Badenoch offers a way out

“Rachel Reeves has warned Labour MPs they will devastate the government if they vote against plans to cut Britain’s £80 billion sickness benefits bill, amid a last ditch effort to salvage the reforms. In an attempt to see off a rebellion by more than a hundred Labour backbenchers, the chancellor told MPs in a series of calls that defeat would damage Sir Keir Starmer’s authority to such an extent that it had effectively become a confidence vote in the government. Privately, some close to the prime minister are preparing to delay next Tuesday’s vote in an attempt to buy time and find concessions to win enough of the rebels around. One minister described the mood in government as one of “panic”.” – The Times

• Kemi Badenoch offers to rescue Keir Starmer in welfare crisis – Daily Express
• Starmer faces growing Labour rebellion over welfare cuts – Financial Times
• Labour leadership caught out by scale of rebellion on cuts – The Times
• Back me or forget getting promoted – Starmer’s warning to welfare rebel MPs – The i
• Keir Starmer faces humiliating threat to his authority as Labour MPs revolt on flagship benefits cuts with 120 vowing to sink the bill – Daily Mail
• Voters’ trust in the government hits record low – The Times

Comment:

• This is how you get the sick back to work – Polly Mackenzie, The Times
• Rachel Reeves faces £5bn black hole if Labour rebels win today – YOUR taxes will fill it – Harvey Jones, Daily Express
• Labour U-turn on benefits reforms would be embarrassing for Starmer – but a tragedy for taxpayers – The Sun says

> Today: Mel Stride: Labour will be putting up taxes and borrowing more – but they won’t admit it

John Redwood: Big headlines about bad public sector spending are not actually how you save money

> Yesterday: Lana Hempsall: It will be tough to reform welfare – and only the Conservatives will do so

UK increases nuclear defence capabilities

“British fighter jets are to carry nuclear warheads for the first time since the Cold War era, after a deal with the US. At a Nato summit in the Hague on Wednesday, the Prime Minister will announce that Britain will buy 12 F-35A fighter planes. Unlike the F-35B jets the UK currently possesses, they can carry nuclear weapons. Sir Keir Starmer said: “In an era of radical uncertainty, we can no longer take peace for granted, which is why my Government is investing in our national security, ensuring our Armed Forces have the equipment they need and communities up and down the country reap the benefits from our defence dividend.” The agreement marks the first time since the retirement of the Tornado in 1998 that the UK will have a plane capable of dropping tactical nuclear weapons on the enemy.” – Daily Telegraph

• UK to buy 12 nuclear-carrying F-35A jets from the United States and join NATO nuclear mission – CNN
• UK ‘must prepare now for wartime scenario’, security report warns – The Times
• UK would drop US tactical nuclear weapons in war with Russia using new stealth jets – The i
• Keir Starmer hints at tax rises after next election to fund defence – The Times

Comment:

• Elect me twice more and I’ll sort out our defences, says Starmer – Tom Sharpe, Daily Telegraph
• Trump comes, not to bury Nato, but to save it – Nile Gardiner, Daily Telegraph

As US reject claims Iran attack only set back nuclear programme by months

“The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by seven people briefed on it. The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, one of the sources said. The analysis of the damage to the sites and the impact of the strikes on Iran’s nuclear ambitions is ongoing, and could change as more intelligence becomes available. But the early findings are at odds with President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also said on Sunday that Iran’s nuclear ambitions “have been obliterated.” Two of the people familiar with the assessment said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed. One of the people said the centrifuges are largely “intact.” Another source said that the intelligence assessed enriched uranium was moved out of the sites prior to the US strikes.” – CNN

• Strike Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by Only a Few Months, U.S. Report Says – The New York Times
• Trump rejects leaked intelligence that says strikes did not destroy Iran nuclear programme – BBC News
• Does Iran’s nuclear programme have a future? – Financial Times

Comment:

• If Vladimir Putin won’t help, Ayatollah Khamenei looks sunk – Roger Boyes, The Times
• Israel-Iran ceasefire could be a diplomatic triumph for Trump and see him remould Middle Eastern politics – Michael Clarke, The Sun
• Iran will never recover from its humiliation at Trump’s hands – Paul du Quenoy, Daily Telegraph

> Yesterday: Where is Keir Starmer’s moral courage?

Crackdown on migrants working illegally from asylum hotels

“The Home Office vowed to target the racket after ­yesterday’s investigation by The Sun triggered widespread outrage. Meanwhile, asylum seekers continued to brazenly cycle out of taxpayer-funded asylum hotels in Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats uniforms. Police and immigration officers pledged to arrest offenders on street corners and outside their hotels. And Facebook shut down groups flogging illicit Deliveroo and Just Eat accounts. They included a forum with 20,000 members in which dozens of accounts were offered for sale or rent every day. Cops will seize dangerous e-bikes and officials will target the busiest eateries visited by the illegal workers. And next week Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats will be hauled in to Westminster to meet with Border Security and Asylum Minister Angela Eagle, who will demand they step up in combating the scandal. The moves come after The Sun revealed migrants can start earning up to £1,000 a week on apps like Deliveroo and Just Eat within hours of arriving in Britain.” – The Sun

• Shocking moment police check migrants at illegal camp are OK instead of evicting them – Daily Express
• End of hotels for asylum seekers unrealistic, borders chief says – The Times
• Furious Lee Anderson demands end to ‘soft-touch Britain’ as asylum seekers work illegally – Daily Express

Comment:

• Furious Tories demand ‘racket’ of asylum seekers working illegally must end now – Chris Philp, Daily Express
• Blatant law-breaking of illegal migrant delivery riders is scam Del Boy would be proud of… I have five ways to stop it – Alp Mehmet, The Sun
• Women will pay the price for Labour’s open borders – Isabel Oakeshott, Daily Telegraph
• Britain is running out of patience with our woefully incompetent police – Rory Geoghegan, Daily Telegraph

News in brief:

• ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ exposes Britain’s sclerotic state – Henry Hill, CapX
• The Church of England needs to lead – Julia Lopez, The Spectator
• The crumbling of Britain’s welfare state: Labour rebels are delaying the inevitable – Mary Harrington, Unherd
• Hello, Hello, We’re at a place called Birmingham – Fred Sculthorp, The Critic