Newslinks for Wednesday 30th July 2025

July 30, 2025

US backs Israel in response to Starmer’s announcement on Palestinian statehood

“Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of rewarding Hamas after vowing to recognise a Palestinian state within weeks. The Prime Minister said the UK would act by September unless Israel agrees to end the “appalling” crisis in Gaza. He issued the blunt ultimatum to Benjamin Netanyahu after an emergency Cabinet meeting and under mounting pressure from Labour ministers and MPs. But Donald Trump and political rivals slap down the move – warning it risks rewarding Hamas for its terror attacks. The US President claimed the PM did not even raise the controversial move when they met on Monday. Speaking aboard Air Force One as he flew back to the US from Scotland, Mr Trump said: “We never did discuss it.” He added: “You’re rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don’t think they should be rewarded.” Tory leader Kemi Badenoch fumed: “It’s disgraceful that Keir Starmer recalled his Cabinet to try and sort out a political problem for the Labour Party. Recognising a Palestinian state won’t bring the hostages home, won’t end the war and won’t get aid into Gaza. This is political posturing at its very worst.” And a Reform UK spokesman added: “Recognising Palestine as a state does little more than reward Hamas for their actions on October 7.” – The Sun

America backs Israel in blasting Keir Starmer for ‘rewarding Hamas’ – ‘Slap in the face!’ – GB News
How cabinet pressure drove Starmer towards recognising Palestine – The Times
Starmer’s four demands of Israel, and why they won’t be met – Daily Telegraph
Keir Starmer is accused of ‘rewarding Hamas’ after announcing Britain will recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel ends ‘appalling’ crisis in Gaza: Furious Netanyahu says move will ‘threaten Britain’ and ‘will NOT happen’ – Daily Mail
Starmer’s plan to recognise Palestinian state labelled ‘appeasement towards jihadist terrorists’ by Netanyahu – Sky News
Arab world tells Hamas to lay down arms and end rule of Gaza – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

Virtue signalling of the most toxic kind that’ll do untold harm – Mark Almond, Daily Mail
This is the darkest day in British foreign policy since the invasion of Iraq – Jake Wallis Simons, Daily Telegraph
Recognising Palestinian state now would only serve to embolden extremists who want to bring terror to UK streets – John Woodcock, The Sun
Starmer’s Palestine position is perverse – Jonathan Sacerdoti, The Spectator

Trump hits out at Starmer’s North Sea oil policy

Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on Sir Keir Starmer’s North Sea shutdown as he said Britain was wasting a “treasure chest” of oil and gas. The US president accused the Labour Government of driving away energy companies with a barrage of high taxes, which is piling pressure on households in the form of inflated energy costs. Writing on Truth Social on Tuesday morning, Mr Trump said: “North Sea Oil is a TREASURE CHEST for the United Kingdom. The taxes are so high, however, that it makes no sense. They have essentially told drillers and oil companies that, “we don’t want you.” Incentivize the drillers, FAST. A VAST FORTUNE TO BE MADE for the UK, and far lower energy costs for the people!” His criticism comes just a day after Mr Trump held an hour-long press conference with Sir Keir at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. During the meeting, he told the Prime Minister to cut taxes and stamp out illegal immigration if he is to beat Nigel Farage at the next election. It comes after energy companies in the North Sea have been hampered by the Government’s decision to increase the oil and gas windfall tax from 75pc to 78pc last year, while also extending the levy for an extra year to 2030. This has been compounded by Ed Miliband’s decision to ban all new drilling in the North Sea, as the Energy Secretary seeks to prioritise renewables to help Britain achieve net zero.” – Daily Telegraph

Donald Trump demands UK drills for more oil, blasts high taxes on North Sea energy firms – The Sun
Trump hits out at Starmer over taxes hours after their meeting in Scotland – The Independent
Trump opens golf course in Scotland after ‘stopping a war’ – The Times

Comment:

Labour are making 1 huge mistake when it comes to UK energy security – John Lamont, Daily Express
Trump is right about North Sea oil – Ross Clark, The Spectator
Our insane net zero policies are actually increasing carbon emissions – John Redwood, Daily Telegraph

> Today: Claire Coutinho: Scrap the bureaucracy, save nuclear

Grooming gang victims accuse police officers of abusing them

“Five women who were exploited by grooming gangs in Rotherham as children say they were also abused by police officers in the town at the time. One says she was raped from the age of 12 by a serving South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officer in a marked police car. He would threaten to hand her back to the gang if she did not comply, she says. “In a world where you were being abused so much, being raped once [by a police officer] was a lot easier than multiple rapes [by the gang] and I think he knew that,” she tells the BBC. We have seen written accounts from these women, plus testimony from 25 other victims of grooming gangs, with some of those women saying that corrupt police officers worked alongside the gangs or failed to act on child sexual exploitation. At least 1,400 children were abused by men in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 – the landmark report from Prof Alexis Jay found in 2014. “From the evidence we read and heard, the majority of victims identified their perpetrators as being of Pakistani heritage,” Prof Jay told us. A new criminal investigation into the involvement of police officers in the Rotherham grooming scandal is now being led by SYP’s major crime unit, under the direction of the police watchdog.” – BBC News

Rotherham grooming gang victims ‘were also abused by police’ – The Times
Five survivors of Rotherham grooming gangs say they were also raped by police officers – The Guardian
Rotherham grooming gang survivors have ‘no faith’ in South Yorkshire Police – ITV News

Tommy Robinson leaves UK after man left unconscious in London station assault

“The far-right activist Tommy Robinson has left the country as police seek to question him over a serious assault at St Pancras railway station on Monday night. Robinson flew out of the country hours after video footage emerged of him walking back and forth next to a motionless man lying face down at the station at about 8.40pm. Police have opened an investigation and said that Robinson, 42, from Luton in Bedfordshire, had boarded a flight and left the country in the early hours of Tuesday. In the video Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, says “he come at me bruv, you saw that, he come at me”. The British Transport Police (BTP) said that officers had found a man on Monday evening with “serious but non-life-threatening injuries”… On social media, Robinson, who is the co-founder of the now disbanded far-right group the English Defence League, retweeted supportive posts in the hours after the BTP statement was released, but did not make any comment himself. A report by the BBC said that one of its female journalists had contacted Robinson for comment and he had responded with a message that said “slag”.” – The Times

Tommy Robinson ‘shouted “come at me” before punching man unconscious’ at St Pancras station, witness claims – as police hunt for hard-right activist ‘who fled UK overnight’ – Daily Mail
Tommy Robinson leaves country after being filmed at alleged assault – Daily Telegraph