“Kemi Badenoch declared war on ‘poisonous’ woke ideology and the Left’s ‘useful idiots’ as she warned the fabric of Western civilisation must be defended before it is lost. The Tory leader launched a staunch defence of traditional values she said were being eroded – namely free speech, free markets and the rule of law – and proclaimed the current generation of conservatives ‘must lead the world back from the precipice’. In a fiery speech at the ARC conference – she said the culture of ‘endless compliance’ to progressives amid the ‘threat of legal challenge’ must end. Promising to shut down ‘loopholes’ in immigration law, she said: ‘If we get this right, we stand at the dawn of the new conservative century with so much opportunity and possibility. If we throw this opportunity away because of anger or self-doubt or weakness, our country and all of Western civilisation will be lost.” – Daily Mail
>Today
For all the flak Badenoch got about PMQs, she asked the right question – and Starmer has no answer
>Yesterday
“For those of us who seek leadership, we must do better” – Badenoch’s ARC speech in full
“Sir Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure from Labour MPs to raise the government’s defence spending target beyond 2.5 per cent of GDP. The prime minister has been told by Labour backbenchers that he may need to go “further and faster” after offering to deploy British troops to Ukraine as part of a European peacekeeping force. Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the British army has shrunk by a third to 74,000 troops. However, Ukraine’s President Zelensky has estimated that a “minimum” of 200,000 European troops will be needed to preserve a ceasefire with Russia. Britain has indicated that it would be willing to commit about 20,000 soldiers. Ordinarily, about a third of that figure would be deployed in Ukraine at any one time, with the rest rotating through.” – The Times
Comment
Grant Shapps: The days of Europe hiding behind America’s coattails are over – we need to spend more on defence before it is too late – The Sun
UK troops in Ukraine is an empty promise – Henry Hill Unherd
British troops won’t help Ukraine – Spectator
US Vice President is right. Europe is heading towards a dictatorship of liberals who are not ‘liberal at all’ – Ross Clark The Sun
Europe’s military weakness means nobody is paying it any attention – Richard Kemp Daily Telegraph
>Today
“Volodymyr Zelensky says he’ll ignore any US-Russia peace plan made without him – and will be in Saudi to wait in the wings of crunch talks. The rattled Ukrainian president claims Kyiv “didn’t know anything” about the talks in Saudi Arabia [today], adding that Ukraine “cannot recognise” any agreements made without them. Trump repeatedly vowed to end Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine during his presidential campaign. But Zelensky has insisted his nation would never accept any peace deals reached without Kyiv’s involvement. The Ukrainian president met with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi for key economic cooperation discussions on Monday. Meanwhile talks between US and Russian officials will kick off in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.” – The Sun
>Yesterday
Lord Ashcroft: My latest polling shows Ukrainians view peace talks with as much trepidation as hope
“Rachel Reeves will have to raise taxes by an extra £12bn if she wants to boost defence spending to 2.5pc of GDP and avoid a fresh round of austerity. Economists warned that meeting Sir Keir Starmer’s ambition to bolster the defence budget implied the Chancellor would have to raise taxes or cut spending by £6bn a year alone if she wanted to hit the target by the end of the decade. Ensuring that no Whitehall department faces real-terms falls in day-to-day spending during this parliament would mean that £12bn of tax rises will be needed, according to the Resolution Foundation.Ben Zaranko, at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said additional tax rises were the “most likely path” for a Chancellor already likely to face pressure from unions on public sector pay rises less than a year after sanctioning a series of inflation-busting increases.” – Daily Telegraph
“Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is a “dangerous surrender” to China, a senior US senator has said. Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the Senate’s foreign relations committee, described the American naval base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago, as “indispensable”. Risch, 81, an ally of Donald Trump, said handing over the islands would create an “unneeded risk to our military position in the Indian Ocean”. “Ceding ground to China is dangerous surrender, and the US and the UK need to work together to push back on this,” he told Policy Exchange, on a visit to London. “While this is ultimately a British decision, retaining sovereign control over Diego Garcia is imperative for our collective security.” – The Times
“Hotels are set to continue to be used to house asylum seekers for up to the next four years, the Home Office’s top civil servant has admitted. Sir Matthew Rycroft, the Home Office’s permanent secretary, said the department’s “overarching aim” was to “exit” hotels by the end of the Parliament, which is due at the latest by August 2029. His statement to MPs on the Commons home affairs committee contrasts with a declared pre-election ambition by Labour to “end the use of hotels for asylum seekers within 12 months” of recruiting 1,000 caseworkers to tackle the backlog of applications. The party’s manifesto did not set a similar timescale and simply stated that a Labour Government would “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds.” Since coming to power, Labour ministers have acknowledged that it “will take time” and pledged their “intention” to end asylum hotels “as soon as possible.” – Daily Telegraph
News in brief
Apocalyptic Reaganism. Can ARC escape its paradoxes? – The Critic
The end of the transatlantic alliance. Europe has lost its way – Unherd
Can Europe stand on its own two feet against Russia? – Spectator
Lawyers are good at politics – but not if you want growth – Tom Jones CapX