France has now finally claimed it will intercept small boats as they prepare to cross the Channel, although only before they’ve picked up passengers. According to Le Monde, the escalation is a result of a sustained ‘pressure campaign’ from the UK government. Starmer reportedly wrote to Macron encouraging him to back tougher measures, saying “it is essential that we deploy these tactics this month… We have no effective deterrent in the Channel”. Quite the admission from Starmer; was ‘smashing the gangs’ and the potemkin ‘one in, one out’ deal not enough?
A UK government spokesman said:
“We continue to work closely with our French partners on the shared challenge of illegal migration, and we have already worked to ensure officers in France review their maritime tactics so they can intervene in the shallow waters.”
The proof will be in the pudding…
Peter Whittle, founder and director of The New Culture Forum, has died aged 64. The NCF released the following statement:
“It is with deepest sorrow that we announce the passing of Peter Whittle, founder and director of the New Culture Forum. Peter passed away yesterday evening surrounded by his loved ones. It is hard to overstate the impact Peter and the NCF have had on Britain’s cultural and political landscape since he founded the NCF twenty years ago. Peter’s courage, passion, integrity, wit and intellect inspired millions in Britain and around the world to think critically, challenge cultural orthodoxies, and champion free speech. The NCF will continue to honour Peter’s vision and values.”
Rest in peace…
After the UK rejected a demand from Brussels to pay €6.75 billion to join the SAFE defence fund talks have officially broken down. Just before the end-of-November deadline…
EU relations minister Nick Thomas Symonds said “it is disappointing that we have not been able to conclude discussions on UK participation in the first round of SAFE… Negotiations were carried out in good faith, but our position was always clear: we will only sign agreements that are in the national interest and provide value for money.” Translation: the bill was too high…
The British counter-offer was an €82 million contribution plus other fees. The EU didn’t bite…
Downing Street has been busy scrubbing articles from the page of the Prime Minister’s Office. The most prominent of which was titled “What does the Employment Rights Bill mean for you?”…
That article advertises at the top of its page:
“Basic rights from day one
We’re putting in place measures to give employees basic rights from their first day in a new job.
Our new Bill will give greater protection against unfair dismissal from day one, ensuring that the feeling of security at work is no longer a luxury for the privileged few.”
The bill has now of course been gutted. Sad times for Rayner…
Downing Street’s clean-up of its website has taken place since 23 November, as Budget week began. The page was basically stale, having uploaded no new main stories on its landing page for many months. Analysis from Web Archive shows activity on the site dropped markedly from Spring this year onwards…
Only the plan for change from last December remains as a main article on the page. A convenient clean-up…
Employing young workers will now cost businesses an extra £4,000 according to fresh figures from the Centre for Policy Studies. Thanks to Reeves’ minimum wage hikes in the last two Budgets, hiring a full-time 18-20 year-old will jump from £15,652 in 2024 to £19,747 in 2026. A two-year rise of 26%…
From April 2026, a business wanting to employ a full-time minimum-wage worker over 21 will be staring down a bill of £25,852 – up 15% since 2024, or an extra £3,414. CPS Tax and Fiscal Researcher Daniel Herring warned:
“Instead she has piled up the cost of employment. Businesses faced with difficult operating conditions will be less likely to take a chance on a younger worker, or someone with fewer skills to offer, now that the cost of hiring them has skyrocketed.”
Meanwhile, youth unemployment already sits at 15.3% for 16-24 year-olds, the highest level since the pandemic. That number is only heading in one direction…
The Trump administration is telling US diplomats in Britain to review “human rights abuses” committed by migrants, with an internal memo claiming Brits have been “let down” on immigration by both the Tories and Labour. Similar instructions were shared to embassies across Europe, Canada, Australia and Canada, although the UK was singled out as an outlier. Particularly on the failure to tackle “organised rape gangs”…
A US State Department official wrote:
“The British government in particular, time and time again we’ve seen governments — whether it be Conservative governments, Labour governments — say that they’re going to take action to solve the mass migration crisis… And time and time again, despite the people continuously voting for a resolution or at least some sort of relief from the pressures of mass migration, nothing has really happened…
“Everything from violent rape gangs and organised rape gangs in the United Kingdom to targeting of young girls in other countries. We also see instances of human trafficking, antisemitic and anti-Christian attacks, largely by people of radical Islamic backgrounds.”
Trump himself has hardly been shy in offering Starmer public advice on cracking down on illegal immigration. Doesn’t look like the White House thinks he paid too much attention…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”