The Telegraph: Trump: Zelensky must be ousted. White House anger at Ukrainian strikes on fuel facilities threatens to deepen strain with Britain. The US president’s comments threaten to exacerbate tensions between the US and the UK, as Andy Burnham has offered Mr Zelensky his full support and pledged stronger sanctions on Moscow.
Comment: It may be just because President Trump has been snubbed in terms of getting a Nobel Peace Prize, or simply because he is short of diesel ahead of the US midterms, but it would appear that his Ukraine counterpart is not in his good books. That said, given that Russia is supposed to be the enemy, buying 300,000 tons of diesel from President Putin, does seem to be tantamount to sleeping with the enemy. It will also fuel (so to speak) that Trump is effectively an asset of Russia and is allowing the Ukraine war to continue. At least Zelensky, while he remains President, has the UK Prime Minister as a steadfast ally, someone Putin suggests is hated by his people and cannot control his own borders…
Sky News: Wes Streeting calls Houthi attacks a 'dangerous escalation' - and asserts backing for Saudi Arabia after Riyadh airport attack. Strikes on Riyadh overnight that have killed 12 and injured more than 300 are a "dangerous escalation"
Comment: The danger, that has proved to be the case, was that an incomplete offensive against Iran would lead to a stalemate as far as the US move on the country. It could also inspire the cauldron that is the Middle East to become even more unstable than previously, with incidents being sparked on an indefinite basis. While the Houthis may only be a hit and run type threat, the real issue is whether anyone is prepared – especially the Americans, to put boots on the ground to extinguish further threats.
The Observer: Drumcree went viral, and for once the world was watching. The contentious Orange Order parade through a Catholic area was once seen as a microcosm of the Troubles. This year social media reminded people why.
Comment: Those who are perhaps 60 and above will remember the 1970s and how the Troubles, apart from the horrors of the violence, provided them with an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of place names in Northern Ireland, and always for the worst reason. We have not seen either Drumcree or Portadown in the headlines since the Good Friday Agreement, three decades ago. Therefore, it was disheartening to see opposing sectarian protagonists back in the news, with Sein Fein and the Orangemen at loggerheads. The controversial march has been belatedly called off by the Northern Ireland Secretary, but not without threatening to re-open a Pandora’s Box that most want to remain closed.
Sunday Times: Voters like IHT cuts, but economists? Not so much. Kemi Badenoch’s inheritance tax pledge would turn older homeowners into the ‘bed blockers’ of housing.
Comment: While we have just been assured that the Mansion Tax will not have its threshold lowered from £2m to £1.5m, potentially bring another 130,000 households into a sitting duck tax trap, an even more hated tax could have its days numbered. The abolition of Inheritance Tax was a key component of Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s keynote speech at the party conference this week. However, a problem with Conservative tax cuts is that they lose the numbers game. Put simply, there are far more poorer voters than rich. Hence, a £1 off a bus far – the Burnham initiative, potentially buys more votes than saving “Waitrose Woman” a few hundred thousand pounds when mummy / daddy pass on. Given that Badenoch is expecting a general election as soon as the end of this year, we shall see whether the proof of the Christmas pudding is in the eating.
BBC: Asos has told its customers that hackers are in possession of detailed profiles of potentially millions of the online store's users. It issued the update after BBC News told the retailer it had been contacted by cyber criminals who said this week's breach went beyond the "basic contact details" Asos previously said might have been accessed. Names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, customer numbers and dates of birth are now in the hands of criminals.
Comment: One might have thought that after scores of hacks on major companies, this issue might be settled once and for all with definitive cybersecurity. Companies who leave the door open may believe that being hacked is just a part of doing business, or that in the end no platform is “unhackable”. Nevertheless, to expose customers in such a way still gives off the whiff of negligence even if stolen data does not deliver lasting damage.
Sunday Times: Zack Polanski faces calls to resign after his by-election loss, and a backlash over the Greens anti-Zionist policy. Can this social media creation spin his way out of trouble?
Comment: Those of us who were unfortunate enough to wake up in the early hours of Friday were treated to a rather more high-profile by-election than they might have bargained for. Certainly, for political insomniacs the spectacle of Green leader walking the plank of defeat was box office. However, while the media are questioning his leadership, getting 8,000 votes versus the Labour candidate’s 12,000 was nothing to baulk at. Indeed, if the anti-Zionist policy was a vote loser, one wonders how close the margin would have been without it? At the same time, although Polanski may be a social media creation, he has been a highly effective one in putting the Greens on the map, controversial policies or not.
GOV.UK: Drivers are set to save at the pump as near real-time petrol and diesel prices are included on Google Maps for the first time today (Thursday 8 October). Checking local fuel prices is now as simple as opening Google Maps and searching for a forecourt nearby, with near real time prices for petrol and diesel displayed on the app – supporting millions of drivers to access the cheapest fuel in their local area. At a time when the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has been pushing up fuel prices for drivers, comparing prices can save households who own a car around £40 a year. This marks the latest step in the government’s work to tackle the affordability crisis, after the VAT cut to electricity bills and a £2 cap on bus fares, giving families some breathing space with the cost of living.
Comment: It is too hard to resist HM Government getting in on the act of making its own news story, something which clearly underlines that Prime Minister Andy Burnham is determined to be the first truly 21st century British Prime Minister? While one might raise an eyebrow regarding Gov.uk providing spin / propaganda, it is very slick. It almost makes one forget that the bulk of the cost of fuel is tax, and that we are not so much in a cost of living crisis, but a cost of taxation crisis. Oh yes, and there is the fiscal crumb of the £2 cap on bus fare again.
ITV News: At least 20 arrests have been made as thousands of protesters march through central London in the latest show of support for Palestinians days after the third anniversary of October 7. Demonstrators - many wearing keffiyehs and some with Palestine flags - gathered on the Embankment. A woman and a man with placards declaring support for proscribed organisation Palestine Action are among those arrested. Metropolitan Police officers imposed conditions on the event starting at midday on Saturday.
Comment: Given the alleged bias of the police, one might say that it is surprising that there were any arrests made. Perhaps in a parallel universe the march might not have been allowed at all. However, whatever one’s views on Palestine / Israel, the controversy and the activism surrounding this issue remains as heightened as ever, 3 years after October 7.
The Guardian: Christa Pike out of hospital and back in prison after botched execution attempt. Pike’s lawyers said she is back in same prison she’s lived in for last 30 years and will continue to receive medical care.
Comment: A story that is enough to put anyone off the idea of capital punishment for life – so to speak. While she may be a murderer, it seems to be the case that you can only potentially die twice, and then it is back to prison. A double jeopardy death penalty. One can only imagine what the family of the victim are going through.
Oxford Mail: Queen Camilla has shared a heartfelt tribute to Oxford-educated author and former politician Jeffrey Archer following his death at the age of 86. In a statement, she described him as an "irrepressible life force" whose life contained as many twists as the plots of his bestselling novels.
Comment: It is perhaps telling that the great and the good have chosen to airbrush the late author’s conviction and jail time. This may be partly due to the fact that the late peer of the realm sold 300 million books, and was the Conservative party’s fundraiser in the 1980s, or perhaps an acknowledgement that his conviction appeared to have all the hallmarks of a celebrity witch hunt.