Newslinks for Tuesday January the 6th 2025 | Conservative Home

Conservatives kick off new Parliamentary session with attack on Labour over immigration, housing and the EU

“Immigration demanded the equivalent of one in three new homes built during Labour’s first year in office, a damning new analysis shows. Net migration stood at 204,000 people in the year to June while only 237,630 new homes were completed. With an average household made up of 2.36 people, new immigrants would require the equivalent of 86,441 of the newly-built properties, or just over 36 per cent, a Conservative study said. The Conservatives said the figures revealed ‘the full scale of Labour’s housing crisis’ and that the Government had ‘failed to build anywhere near enough homes to match the levels of immigration they have allowed in their first year’.Calculations by the Opposition indicate the problem will deepen by 2030. By then, the equivalent of 50 per cent of new homes constructed will be required to accommodate newly-arrived migrants. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Labour have opened the door to record immigration without any plan to deal with the consequences. They let numbers surge, they let removals collapse, and now British families are paying the price in higher rents, longer waiting lists and fewer homes.” – Daily Mail

• Home Secretary refuses to use powers to deport ‘extremist’ – Daily Telegraph
• Town where hundreds of male migrants are to be housed in barracks is to splurge more than £15,000 to bulk up its CCTV – and will ask the Home Office to help pay for it – Daily Mail
• When will Government end asylum hotels – and how many have been closed – The i
• Ryan was bound with tape and killed by her father and brother for being too westernised. Will the coward who drowned his own daughter in a stream then fled to Syria ever face justice? – Daily Mail
• Badenoch boosted, Jenrick retreats – but does anybody care about the Tories? – The i
• Keir Starmer prepares post-Brexit bill to transfer powers to EU – The Times
• Starmer plots ultimate Brexit betrayal to hand swathes of power back to EU – Daily Express
• EUr warned. Labour will flop at next election if it backslides on Brexit, own MP warns as PM is accused of pandering to Remainers – The Sun

Editorial

• Sir Keir Starmer MUST focus on delivering a better economy and safer society instead of giving up control again to EU – The Sun

Comment

• Goodall’s car-crash phone-in exposes the smug ignorance of liberals – Brendan O’Neill, Daily Telegraph

Today

Former Venezuelan President in court, insists he still is, as Trump worries Europe over Greenland

“Nicolás Maduro smiled as he entered the Manhattan courtroom. Wishing his supporters “a Happy New Year”, he shuffled to his seat, shackled at the ankles. But his temper boiled over at the conclusion of the hearing on Monday when he was confronted by Pedro Rojas, a dissident who had secured a seat in the public gallery to watch the former president of his country answer to US charges of narco-terrorism. Mr Rojas, 33, was imprisoned by the Maduro regime for months in 2019. As the former leader left the court, Mr Rojas revelled in the moment, shouting that he was an “illegitimate” president and he would “pay”. Raising his finger, Mr Maduro shouted back: “I’m a man of God” and claimed he was “a kidnapped president” and “a prisoner of war”. Appearing in front of 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein, a federal judge appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton almost three decades ago, the deposed president was asked to confirm his name. Through a translator, he told the court: “I am Nicolas Maduro. I am President of the Republic of Venezuela. I am here, kidnapped, since Saturday January the 3rd.” Judge Hellerstein cut him off, ordering him to confirm his name only. It was a humbling moment for a man who, three days earlier, was a head of state.” – Daily Telegraph

• Desperate Dictator. Defiant Maduro fumes he’s ‘still president’ & a ‘prisoner of war’ as tyrant appears in court & Venezuela ‘replaces’ him – The Sun
• The drugs case against Maduro – FT
• Gunfire and anti-aircraft blasts heard near Venezuela’s presidential palace as chaos unfolds after Maduro’s ouster – Daily Mail
• Chaos as security forces ‘fire on drones’ spotted over presidential palace – Daily Express
• Venezuela launches wave of repression after US seizure of Nicolás Maduro – FT
• The Latina Lady Macbeth: Why Maduro’s wife was the power behind the throne – Daily Telegraph
• Yvette Cooper sidesteps criticism of US over Nicolás Maduro capture – The Times
• Colombian president says ‘I will take up arms again’ if US invades – Guardian
• Colombian president issues ominous battle cry as Trump contemplates next target: ‘Unleash the jaguar’ – Daily Mail

Comment

• Trump is forcing us to confront the world as it really is. That’s a good thing – David Blair, Daily Telegraph
• The world is not a morality play – Patrick Porter, The Critic
• Starmer delivers masterclass in hedging his bets after Venezuela raid – Pippa Crear, Guardian
• How Venezuela could spin out of control – Roland Oliphant, Daily Telegraph
• How to make Venezuela great again – Mani Basharzad, CapX
• Maduro’s capture wasn’t about oil – Doug Stokes, Spectator
• With so many of Labour’s troops deserting him, the PM may need a few bodyguards of his own from Cuba – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail

Meanwhile, concerns grow that America might try to seize Greenland by force

“Sir Keir Starmer has picked a side, on Greenland at least. Mike Tapp, a junior minister, repeatedly refused to say if the government would criticise Donald Trump if he attempted to annex Greenland. He told Sky News: “Diplomacy is delicate, which means we’re not here to give a running commentary in the news.” It is one thing for the government to tread carefully on Donald Trump’s military offensive in Venezuela and capture of Nicolás Maduro. It is quite another to remain silent on the issue of Greenland given it is a Danish territory. Denmark, a fellow member of Nato, has made clear that the annexation of Greenland would be unacceptable. Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said that Trump has “no right” to the territory.” – The Times

• Stephen Miller declares Greenland should be part of US and ‘nobody will fight’ over country’s future – Daily Mail
• Denmark PM warns NATO is finished if Trump takes Greenland – Daily Express
• US attack on Greenland would mean end of Nato, says Danish PM – Guardian
• Isle back you! Starmer sides with Denmark in Trump row over Greenland takeover – after President vowed to annex island – The Sun
• Donald Trump’s renewed ambition to seize Greenland triggers alarm in Europe – FT
• As Trump is warned Greenland raid will finish Nato, who could the US President target next? – Daily Mail

Comment

• Donald Trump should leave Greenland alone and stick to sorting out communist hell holes like Venezuela – Harry Cole, The Sun
• If we can’t defend Greenland, Europe is truly finished – Sam Ashworth-Hayes, Telegraph

Starmer’s promise of an economic new year feel-good factor fails to convince

“Sir Keir Starmer’s economic ‘reset’ has been dealt a blow by a further squeeze on the cost of living and weak business confidence, according to figures. The Prime Minister said yesterday ‘what matters more than anything is the cost of living’ and this year Britain would be ‘turning a corner’. But a retail sector report showed food price rises accelerated last month, putting more pressure on households – and warned of continued inflation pain in 2026, much of it thanks to Labour’s policies. Meanwhile, Bank of England data revealed hard-pressed families pushed consumer credit to a two-year high of £2.1billion in November as they turned to borrowing to pay for festivities. In a further blow, a poll for the Institute of Directors (IoD) showed business confidence was near record lows last month, with hiring and investment slashed. And another survey, from the Jobs Foundation, showed nearly four in five family business owners are dejected about the economy – with many believing times are tougher than in the 1970s.” – Daily Mail

• Reeves humiliated in new poll as she’s rated worse than Jeremy Corbyn – Daily Express

Comment

• Britain is facing a ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ in 2026 thanks to Starmer and Reeves… and this is the ‘triple whammy’ that will raise unemployment, kill off struggling firms and put a generation on the dole – Richard Littlejohn – Daily Mail

Today

Reform’s flagship council, Kent, is described as ‘riven with infighting’ by their own

“It was meant to be the showcase local authority that would prove Reform UK would be capable of governing should it win the next general election in 2029. But instead the bitter and public infighting among former and current Reform councillors risks doing exactly the opposite. Two of the nine councillors suspended by Reform after a public row last October have now condemned the current leadership in Kent as “narcissistic lunatics” with one claiming appeals to Nigel Farage to be reinstated have been ignored. Councillor Brian Black was one of five councillors expelled from the party in October after infighting on the council became very public following a leaked video. The reason for his expulsion was for showing “a pattern of dishonest and deceptive behaviour”. He has now told The i Paper that appeals to Farage for reinstatement have been ignored, and they have so far received no response after lodging complaints over their suspensions and expulsions from the party. “I think they’ve just sat on them. I don’t think Nigel Farage has seen them” – The i

Today

News in Brief

• Britain needs an aristocracy of talent – let’s create it – John Penrose, CapX
• Will Marco Rubio take the fall if Venezuela ends in disaster? – Michael Cuenco, Unherd
• The Chagos Islands deal is even worse than it looks – Richard Edkins, The Critic
• The fall of Venice carries a warning for Starmer’s Chagos deal – Madeline Grant, Spectator