World

Friday

Andrew Tettenborn

How Starmer was stitched up over the Chagos islands

Yesterday, following a last-minute flurry of lawfare, the government published the text of its Chagos agreement with Mauritius. Future history books may well cite it as the perfect example of Britain ceasing to be a country that can be taken seriously. This lousy deal essentially amounts to a massive gift from British taxpayers to the Mauritian government, in exchange for being allowed to give up territory The agreement transfers to Mauritius the entire Chagos archipelago, including the Diego Garcia airbase, subject to a 99-year leaseback of the latter. The small print is worth noting. Mauritians and Mauritian companies are to have preference in employment on the base; it is to

Thursday

James Snell

The Chagos deal is a disgrace

It has been in the background for a few months, but it seems Keir Starmer has now decided to resurface and sign his deal to pay Mauritius billions to take ownership of a British territory. The Chagos Islands, and the broader British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), are strategically significant. On Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands, the only population either staffs or supports a joint British-American base. A base which is often used by the Americans; the base from which the B-2s ordered to bomb Iran’s nuclear programme might take off. But all of this is to be surrendered to Mauritius and then rented back by Britain. Why? Because

James Heale James Heale

The Chagos deal will haunt Keir Starmer

After months of negotiation, the UK has today signed a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Under the terms of the agreement, Britain will lease back the military base there for an annual rate of £101 million. The net value of the payments from the UK under the treaty will reach £3.4 billion. Keir Starmer insisted that the Chagos deal is in Britain’s best interests The Prime Minister insists that the deal – which involves a lease on the base for 99 years ‘and beyond’ – is in the country’s national interest. It comes after an ‘advisory opinion’ by the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ), that the Chagos Islands

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

This is what it means to ‘globalise the intifada’

‘Globalise the intifada,’ they chanted. This is what that looks like. Two Israeli embassy staffers gunned down as they left the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgram had been attending an event for young Jews working in foreign policy organised by the American Jewish Committee. One of the focuses of the evening was finding a way to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. Yaron and Sarah were not only colleagues but a couple. Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, says Yaron had bought an engagement ring and was planning to propose to Sarah next week in Jerusalem. There will be no next

Jonathan Sacerdoti

The Washington shooting is a chilling warning to Jews everywhere

Waking early on Thursday in London, I read the news on a half-lit phone screen: two people, Israeli embassy staff, gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. A man shouted “Free Palestine,” – of course he did – after he had fired his weapon and walked inside the building – where, in an extraordinary confusion of roles, guests offered him water and comfort, believing he too had been a victim. In a way, maybe he had. A man shouted “Free Palestine,” – of course he did – after he had fired his weapon Though our airwaves and streets have been filled with talk of genocide, that word

Matthew Lynn

Will Wall Street jitters stop Trump’s budget bill?

Donald Trump has already caved in on tariffs, pausing the ‘retaliatory levies’ he announced on ‘Liberation Day’ at the beginning of April. Now the President is under pressure from the markets on spending. As his ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ on the budget goes through Congress, investors are panicking over the mix of spending and tax cuts, with bond yields spiking sharply upwards and equities falling. President Trump will now have to decide whether to yield to Wall Street again – or tough out a potential crash.  The US remains the biggest economy in the world, so investors cannot abandon it completely The post-tariff recovery on Wall Street came to a juddering

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

What we know about the Israeli diplomat shootings in Washington so far

The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, was seen pacing around Washington DC’s Jewish Museum in the minutes before last night’s attack. According to Pamela Smith, DC’s chief of police, he then shouted ‘Free Palestine’ before shooting and killing two Israeli embassy staffers – a couple, named as Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who reportedly were soon to be engaged. He then walked into the museum, where he was briefly mistaken for an innocent bystander before being apprehended by the police.  The murdered couple had been attending an event inside the building, described online as a ‘Young Diplomats Reception’ for Jewish professionals between the ages of 22 and 45. Israel’s ambassador

Eliot Wilson

Could the EU sideline Britain in its defence loan scheme?

The Security and Defence Partnership which the government agreed with the European Union this week has had more spin applied to it than a thousand cricket balls. The central argument in its favour, apart from vacuous reiki-like attempts to change the ‘mood’ of relations with the EU, was that it would allow the UK defence sector to engage with the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loan instrument providing €150 billion (£127 billion) for defence procurement over the next five years. It does not do that. You would be hard pressed to realise that the partnership has not succeeded in what many saw as its central purpose. Weasel words came in

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Trump’s skewering of Cyril Ramaphosa was pure theatre

We got another round of extraordinary scenes coming out of Donald Trump’s Oval Office yesterday. During his meeting with ​​Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s President, Trump asked his staffers to press play on video footage showing what appeared to be violent chants against white farmers. ‘We have thousands of stories talking about it, we have documentaries, we have news stories,’ the US President said over the audio. He would not let President Ramaphosa look away. The footage went on, to which President Ramaphosa finally responded: ‘This is not government policy.’ President Trump did not let up. ‘They’re being executed and they happen to be white, and most of them happen to

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Starmer’s EU deal, Lineker’s BBC departure and an outbreak of camel flu

Home Sir Keir Starmer was joined by EU representatives in London to celebrate new agreements with the bloc. EU access to British fishing grounds would now be in place until 2038, but it would be easier to export fish from Britain. The government said agreements on food exports and energy trade would benefit Britain by £8.9 billion a year by 2040 – 0.3 per cent of GDP. The government emphasised a defence and security pact and gave a lunch aboard the frigate HMS Sutherland. Use of e-gates by British travellers would in future be decided by each EU state. A youth mobility scheme transmogrified into a youth experience scheme and

Wednesday

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

The UN’s claim about babies dying in Gaza is unravelling

Just when you thought Israel couldn’t be any more evil, yesterday we learned that thousands of babies are set to perish under its ruthless writ in Gaza. Fourteen thousand to be precise. All in the next 48 hours. Thousands of innocent lives snuffed out as the Jewish State, that most wicked of states, looks the other way. Now we know, the cry went up, just how barbarous the State of Israel can be. Israelophobia is out of control. It is the most dangerous bigotry of our times This story spread like a pox through the internet yesterday. It infected influencers everywhere. Everywhere you looked you’d see those cruel numbers –

Fabian Hoffmann

Will Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile shield ever be built?

Donald Trump has outlined his plans for a ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence system over the United States. The aim is to establish a shield capable of defending against all types of missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems, cruise missiles and nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. The name is a nod to Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ missile defence system, which protects Israeli territory against short-range rockets and projectiles, including mortar and artillery rounds. The Golden Dome envisioned by Trump is very unlikely to be realised within the next three years According to the plan, the US Congress is being asked to provide an initial ‘down payment’ of $25 billion, followed by an additional $175

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer

Is monarchism a threat to the German state?

Last week a man called Peter Fitzek was apprehended by police. He calls himself King Peter I, and he is the head of the ‘Kingdom of Germany’, the largest of a number of groups that don’t accept the legitimacy of the current German state and want to replace it with their own. Monarchism may not be widespread in Germany, but the idea certainly has a dedicated following. Police came down hard on Fitzek’s realm in coordinated morning raids last Tuesday. Over 800 police officers stormed and searched properties in seven German states, leading to the arrest of ‘King Peter’ and three other people deemed to be the ringleaders of the

Martin Howe KC

Starmer has surrendered to the EU

Sir Keir Starmer boldly claimed in the House of Commons this week that his ‘reset’ deal with the EU would ‘release us from the tired arguments of the past’. The truth is that it will do the exact opposite. The country will need to confront yet again tired old arguments which we thought had been resolved. Brexit was all about getting back control of our laws, our borders and our money. A Brexit in which we formally leave the European Union but still follow its laws is senseless. We lose our freedom to choose our laws, and we don’t even have a vote on the shape of the laws which

Limor Simhony Philpott

More than anything, Israelis want the hostages home

The war in Gaza, now in its 19th month, has reached a tipping point. On Monday, the UK, France, and Canada issued a stark warning to Israel, threatening ‘concrete actions’ if it doesn’t halt its renewed offensive and lift aid restrictions. The EU followed, with top diplomat Kaja Kallas announcing a review of trade agreements with Israel. Hamas gloated predictably, calling the statement ‘an important step’ toward restoring international law – as if the terror group ever cared about any law but Sharia. But this diplomatic pile-on risks emboldening the group and alienating an ally without offering viable solutions. Israel’s war against Hamas is messy, costly, and increasingly unpopular at

Jonathan Sacerdoti

Israel is prepared to go it alone in Gaza

As Israel presses ahead with Operation Gideon’s Chariots, its most ambitious military campaign in Gaza since the war began, the political landscape surrounding the conflict is shifting – and not in Israel’s favour. Britain’s suspension of trade talks, the summoning of Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, and coordinated statements of condemnation from the UK, France and Canada mark the strongest international censure yet. For many in Jerusalem, this is not only short-sighted but morally confounding. Israel’s operation, launched with the stated aim of eliminating Hamas’s military infrastructure and securing the return of its hostages, comes after months of inconclusive ceasefires, failed negotiations, and mounting frustration. The January truce, welcomed at the

Tuesday

Stephen Pollard

Britain is playing into Hamas’s hands

Keir Starmer’s government has suspended trade talks with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador over the ‘intolerable’ offensive in Gaza. To be honest, I’m surprised it’s taken ten months for any doubt to be cleared up. But now it is entirely clear where the government stands vis-à-vis our supposed great ally in the Middle East, Israel, and the Islamist death cult which seeks to wipe Jews – yes, Jews, not Israel – off the face of the earth: it stands with Hamas. Don’t rely on my take, but on the words of Hamas Don’t rely on my take, but on the words of Hamas, who last night issued a statement in response to the

Jonathan Miller Jonathan Miller

Could (bottled) Watergate sink Macron?

History repeats itself. In the beginning there was Watergate and then one gate followed another: Camillagate, Partygate, Monicagate. Hundreds, thousands of gates. And now, it’s Watergate again, in France this time, as a wave of allegations about the cover up of a bottled water treatment scandal threatens to submerge President Emmanuel Macron.  What did Macron know and when did he know it? What did Macron know and when did he know it? A French Senate investigation this week found that Nestlé used unauthorised purification methods (such as ultraviolet treatment and microfiltration) on products labelled as ‘natural mineral water’. EU and French law says bottled water must remain untreated. The Senate

Owen Matthews

Why the Trump-Putin dialogue is so dangerous for Ukraine

“Look, are you serious? Are you real about this?” That question, according to US vice president J.D. Vance, was the essence of yesterday’s phone call between his boss Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. What Vance meant was to question whether Putin was serious about peace. But turning the question on its head would actually be far more revealing. Is Putin serious about winning the war? Absolutely. Is he real about fighting on until he achieves his goal of subjugating Ukraine? Also very much yes. Is Trump serious about pressuring Russia into ending the war? There’s a second way to flip the question, and that’s to ask: is Trump serious about pressuring

James Heale James Heale

What has reaction been to the UK-EU deal?

18 min listen

Fallout continues from yesterday’s summit and the announcement of a deal between the UK and EU – or is it fair to call it ‘fallout’ as, despite criticism over the deal from Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, has the public got Brexit fatigue?  James Heale and Michael Simmons join Patrick Gibbons to talk about the reaction to the deal. Fisheries has taken up most discussion but Michael points out a lesser talked about commitment to energy policy. And, with the government keen to talk about it in tandem with recent deals with India and the US – and Gulf states soon, according to Rachel Reeves this morning – what’s the