Newslinks Tuesday 12th August 2025

Badenoch suggests housing asylum seekers in ‘camps’ instead of hotels as Labour target Reform

“Kemi Badenoch has suggested migrants should be homed in ‘camps’ as an alternative to hotels. Some communities feel unsafe as a result of migrant hotels, the Conservative leader said during a visit to Essex. It is expected that official figures will today show more than 50,000 migrants have crossed the Channel since Labour came to power. Speaking yesterday in Epping – which has been the centre of anti-asylum seeker hotel protests – Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?’ She added: ‘As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don’t have all the answers; it’s important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved.’ During her visit, Mrs Badenoch warned that some communities ‘don’t feel safe’. Speaking about the possibility of putting asylum seekers in camps, she said: ‘We need to make sure that communities like Epping are safe. ‘What a lot of the parents – the mothers and even some of the children – have said to me is that they don’t feel safe. ‘It is unfair to impose this burden on communities… lots of people here have been talking about being harassed by a lot of people in the hotels.’” – Daily Mail

• Broken Borders .Small boat crossings under Labour to surge past 50k as migrant arrives every 11 mins despite Starmer’s clampdown claim – The Sun
• Inside Home Office’s information war to stop small boats – and beat Reform – The i
• Inside Paris’s latest migrant camp: Families sleep on the floor beneath tarpaulin sheets outside French capital’s city hall as they wait to be given housing – Daily Mail
• Deliver-Boo. First migrant to be convicted of illegally working for Deliveroo since our probe has been fined just £26 – The Sun
• Villagers verbally abuse Scouts they mistook for migrants – Daily Telegraph
• It’s no surprise we are seeing vigilante groups on Britain’s streets, warn Reform women who dub themselves ‘Farage’s Fillies’ – Daily Mail
• Reform’s women praise men protecting wives from ‘abusive migrants’ – The Times
• Labour councillor ‘called for far-Right protesters’ throats to be cut’, court told – Daily Telegraph
• ‘Sick Threat’. Labour councillor called far-right protesters ‘Nazi fascists’ & told crowd ‘we need to cut their throats’, court told – The Sun

Comment

• Keir Starmer’s small boats deal is about as robust as death-trap dinghies migrants use – Nick Ferrari, Daily Express
• Small boats deal shows Labour’s technocrats have no clue what they’re doing – Eliot Wilson, CityAM
• Labour has forgotten its obligation to prioritise us Brits… the Far Right aren’t the ones causing civil unrest, they are – Matt Goodwin, The Sun
• Expanded deportation scheme could be a big win for Labour – Henry Hill, Unherd
• Why is Labour giving an amnesty to foreign criminals? – Richard Ekins, Spectator

Meanwhile ….Badenoch weighs in on ‘covered up’ costs of Labour’s Chagos Islands ‘surrender’

“The Conservatives have accused ministers of trying to cover up the full costs of a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands, after officials admitted it would cost almost £35 billion in cash terms. After officials acknowledged the figure for the first time, the Tories renewed their attack on the “surrender” deal to relinquish control over the islands. However, ministers insist it is misleading to use a cash figure for a century-long payment scheme, saying that standard Treasury methods put the present cost at £3.4 billion. Sir Keir Starmer struck a deal in May to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in exchange for a 99-year lease of the Diego Garcia military base. The prime minister said at the time the agreement was “absolutely vital for our defence and intelligence” to protect the UK-US base from legal challenges over British sovereignty. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, accused Starmer of “bankrupting the country”, saying: “Our research has uncovered the government’s own figures showing Labour’s Chagos surrender is costing the country another £35 billion. Add that to their £50 billion black hole, and it’s clear: when Labour negotiate, Britain loses.” – The Times 

Jenrick doubles down as Number 10 say Starmer wouldn’t call shoplifters ‘scumbags’

“Sir Keir Starmer would not call shoplifters “scumbags”, Downing Street has said.The Telegraph revealed on Friday that police officers had told a shopkeeper to take down a sign calling shoplifters “scumbags”. North Wales Police were forced to clarify the law on Monday, confirming that putting the sign up was not illegal. Asked if Sir Keir held the same view as Rob Davies, the owner of Run Ragged retro shop in Wrexham, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It is not the language I would directly use but we have been very clear through our actions we take shoplifting seriously, we understand the blight that shoplifting has on our high streets and local businesses.” Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: “Of course shoplifters are scumbags. I would use stronger terms than that. They are ruining livelihoods and destroying high streets across the country. The police need to go after each and every one of them because right now the odds of a shoplifter being caught are next to zero. Crime should never pay.” – Daily Telegraph

• Starmer wouldn’t call shoplifters “scumbags” in latest surrender rhetoric issued by No 10 – Daily Express
• ‘Wanted’ posters of shoplifters cause offence, says data watchdog – The Times
• Shoplifting has ‘got out of hand’, Labour admits amid fury at data watchdog’s advice NOT to share pictures of thieves because it ‘breaches data protection’ – Daily Mail
• Sir Keir Starmer would not call shoplifters ‘scumbags’, No 10 says in the wake of ‘data protection’ saga – Daily Mail
• Shop Horror. Man, 52, dies after ‘attacking Co-op workers’ and being ‘restrained’ by shopper – as cops make arrest – The Sun

Comment

• In Lawless Britain the ‘rights’ of scumbags are put ahead of innocent shopkeepers and abused Jewish women – Richard Littlejohn, Daily Mail

>Today

The most offensive thing about shoplifting isn’t the word ‘scumbag’

Tories accuse Labour of another example of ‘cronyism’ over £5m contract awarded to donor

“Labour is facing fresh “cronyism” allegations after a party donor won a £5 million contract for a project partly overseen by its former employee. Emily Middleton sits on the government oversight panel for a project which handed the consultancy firm Public Digital millions of pounds to improve the UK’s digital public services. Middleton, a former Public Digital employee, was seconded before the general election to the staff of Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, to help write Labour’s tech policies. She has since moved to a role as director general at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), in a post that pays upward of £125,000 a year. It can now be revealed Middleton is on the board of the Whitehall project for which Public Digital won its largest-ever government contract… Public Digital has been given £10.2 million of government contracts since Labour won the election. The Conservative Party has already called for an independent investigation into the links between Labour and Public Digital. Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, said Middleton’s role with the Test, Learn and Grow project represented a “a serious potential conflict of interest”. – The Times

• ‘Did No 10 not know how bad it looked?’ Inside Labour turmoil over rent row minister – The i

Trump and Putin to meet as Ukraine signals it might give up territory ahead of Alaska summit

“Ukraine could agree to stop fighting and cede territory already held by Russia as part of a European-backed plan for peace. Volodymyr Zelensky told European leaders that they must reject any settlement proposed by Donald Trump in which Ukraine gives up further territory – but that Russia could be allowed to retain some of the land it has taken. This would mean freezing the front line where it is and handing Russia de facto control of the territory it occupies in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea. The softening of the negotiating position comes ahead of talks between Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. “The plan can only be related to the current positions held by the militaries,” a Western official said, characterising a frantic weekend of diplomacy between Kyiv and its allies. Ukraine and Europe have become increasingly concerned that Mr Trump and Putin could negotiate an end to the long-running war over Mr Zelensky’s head.” – Daily Telegraph

• Starmer warns Trump: Don’t trust Putin – as Zelensky faces giving up Russia-held land – The i
• Keir Starmer warns Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin can’t be trusted ‘as far as you can throw him’ ahead of US President’s talks with Russian leader – Daily Mail
• Putin cannot be trusted, No 10 warns before his summit with Trump – The Times
• ‘Manipulative’ Putin vs ‘emotional’ Trump: what past summits reveal about Alaska meeting – FT
• Russia economy meltdown as towns left abandoned and industries collapsing – Daily Express
• Europe builds for war as arms factories expand at triple speed – FT

Comment

• Will Putin win the Alaska talks? The peace terms will be monstrous – Bethany Elliot, Unherd

Israel says it was targeting “Hamas terrorists” in strike that killed Al Jazeera journalist

“Five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City on Sunday in what the IDF claimed was a targeted hit on ‘the head of a Hamas terrorist cell’ posing as a reporter. The broadcaster, which is primarily based in Doha in Qatar, said two reporters and three cameramen died in the blast.  Al Jazeera named the dead as correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. The other man slain was Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, 28, who has extensively documented the release of Israeli hostages.  Al-Sharif also made headlines in January after footage of him removing his armoured press vest and helmet went viral following the announcement of a ceasefire. Only last month, the journalist spoke about his fear that he could be assassinated for exposing the truth of the situation in Gaza. The correspondent said he operated with ‘the feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment’ because his coverage of Israel’s operations ‘harms them and damages their image in the world’.” – Daily Mail

• Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif & four colleagues killed in Israeli strike that hit media tent near Gaza hospital – The Sun
• Britain and France discuss UN peace keeping force for Gaza – The i
• Israel kills prominent Al Jazeera reporter in Gaza – FT
• The full story of why Palestine Action was proscribed as a terror group – Daily Telegraph
• Most Palestine Action protesters unlikely to face prison, officials say – FT

Comment

• Do the Palestine Action protestors really care about Palestine? – Stephen Pollard, Spectator

News in Brief