Dr Will Jones: Britain Signs Deal to Deploy Troops to Ukraine

Britain has signed a deal to deploy boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a proposed ceasefire deal backed for the first time by the United States. The Telegraph has more.

David Farrar: Own goal by Starmer

Alaa Abdel Fattah has been a prisoner in Egypt on dubious charges, and may have been tortured there. It is right and proper for the UK Government to advocate (as he gained British citizenship) for his human rights to be respected.

But Starmer did a huge own goal by going beyond that and declaring that he is delighted Alaa Abdel Fattah is in the UK and that his case has been a top priority for the Government.

Bruce Logan: Palestinian State

In the late 1940s and the early 1950s, we were entertained in our childish way by watching movies featuring the Three Stooges, Moe, Larry, and Shemp. The farce and slapstick were frequently about one Stooge hitting one of the others on the head with a rubber hammer, which always seemed to be conveniently nearby. Well, I think it was rubber. Each bang on the head was accompanied by a resounding boing, apparently to emphasise the emptiness of the skull being struck. All nine or ten years of us laughed uproariously.

Point of Order: Much more than a minerals deal

Full credit to European politicians: they know how to brief.

Latest in London’s Daily Telegraph is that “Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have together pulled off a remarkable feat of high statecraft” in shaping the US – Ukraine minerals deal signed a few days ago. There are even some nice words for Boris Johnson’s contribution.

Who knows, it could even be true. But it’s perhaps more important that they’re thinking that way.

Robert G Patman: Peace in our time?....

Peace in our time? Why NZ should resist Trump’s one-sided plan for Ukraine

Is it possible to reconcile increased international support for Ukraine with Donald Trump’s plan to end the war? At their recent meeting in London, Christopher Luxon and his British counterpart Keir Starmer seemed to think so.

Mike's Minute: Free trade will survive these tariffs

Keir Starmer is fast becoming a new political hero.

For a bloke who stumbled into office not on his brilliance or a nationwide passion for the Labour Party, but more because the Tories had spent 14 years slowly messing the place up, he turns out to be quite the operator.

Sallust: Is the UK Heading Towards a Cultural Collapse?

Spectator Australia has a piece by Julie Sladden on ‘a nation in crisis?‘ No prizes for guessing which nation that is. She reluctantly visited Britain in February this year to attend a conference. There’s nothing like seeing how your nation appears to others:

I was right to be worried. As I crisscrossed the country after the conference, I visited with friends and family, made new friends and spoke with strangers, taxi drivers, locals, farmers and fellow travellers. What I saw and heard shocked me. The change that had taken place over a few short years could only be described as alarming.

Julian Mann: Is Labour Bending to US Pressure on Free Speech?

Labour’s General Election victory last July filled me with pessimism about the future of free speech in the UK. But has there been a change in the Government’s attitude to free speech as a result of US pressure? An unlikely statement from Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson this week suggests this may be the case.

Mike's Minute: Labour need to follow the Keir Starmer blueprint

If the New Zealand Labour Party wants to get real about re-election, they should look no further than the UK Labour Party.

Keir Starmer blew up the NHS on Friday because he said it doesn't work. He says the bloating of the numbers has not improved anything.

Jobs will be lost.

Dr Will Jones: Save Free Speech or Face Trump Tariffs, Farage Warns

Britain is at risk of tariffs from Donald Trump unless it eases its restriction on free speech, Nigel Farage has warned. The Telegraph has more.

The Reform Party leader, a close ally of the US President, suggested that the nation’s free speech “problem” could put it firmly in the crosshairs of the White House.