Around the World

Conservative leader defends plan to extend free childcare to high earners, as Tory conference begins in Birmingham todayOn Friday the Times revealed that Katie Lam, the communities secretary, told a meeting in private earlier this year that the state pension system needs a fundamental overhaul.Speaking in June, when she was a frontbencher but not yet in the shadow cabinet, Lam was asked at a meeting with activists if she thought the pensions triple lock was sustainable. She replied:Ultimately I think what we will need in the end is an entirely new pension system.I mean, a baby that is born today has a 20% chance of living to be 100 and I don’t think we can fund one in five people half of their lives, you know, for the first 20 and the last 30 years. But obviously if you are 90 you probably can’t go out and get a job right, so I think you have to be realistic about how you would taper that and bring that in across the population.The fact is, the triple lock and pensions are things that people have contributed to.Conservatives believe that if you have contributed, then you deserve to get your state pension. Continue reading...

German chancellor tours city with president Zelenskyy after Moscow strikes city’s North Bridge this morning amid his arrivalGermany is Ukraine’s largest donor and has sent Kyiv more than €43.3 billion ($48.8 billion) since the war began, along with equipment and weapons. Zelenskyy thanked Merz for visiting the Ukrainian capital describing him as “A leader of a country that consistently demonstrates leadership in protecting the lives of Ukrainians from Russian strikes. We are grateful for all the support, and today we are preparing decisions to give us in Ukraine, and all of Europe, greater capabilities to defend ourselves. There will be important agreements between Ukraine and Germany. Russia must be stopped together.”Zelenskyy in the past hour has been tweeting about the strikes and the German chancellor’s visit, thanking Merz for his support. On the Kyiv strike this morning he confirmed it had been a drone on the Northern Bridge (Pivnichnyi Bridge). He noted too a drone attack on a pharmaceutical warehouse in Sumy which killed one person and a strike on a communications facility in Dnipro. Continue reading...

Rallies have been mainstay of president’s brand but even some in his own party fear voters are sick of the sight of him“Get your asses in that car.” That was Donald Trump’s order, he later recalled, to his motorcade after foul weather grounded Air Force One in Texas on Thursday. The 85-mile dash to Oklahoma at nearly 100mph was proof that nothing can keep Trump from a Trump rally.Which might not be the good news for Republicans it once was. As the US president embarked on a 32-day campaign blitz aimed at helping them defend narrow congressional majorities in next month’s midterms, some fear that he is driving them towards an electoral wipeout. Continue reading...

Trump supporters may be surprised to learn the state takeover of means of production is not driven by the leftAmericans will never accept the Democratic party’s slide to the left, or so desperate Republicans are hoping.With the midterm elections fast upon us, Zohran Mamdani’s promise of a few city-run bodegas in New York City will scare the bejeezus out of middle America. Disgust over the democratic socialists’ unicorn-and-puppy promises of a world without capitalism will keep the Republicans in power. Continue reading...

Former Tory minister defends UK decision to enter war in podcast with US rightwinger and Putin sympathiserThe former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has found himself defending Britain’s decision to fight against Adolf Hitler after inviting the US rightwinger and Vladimir Putin sympathiser Tucker Carlson into his home for an interview.During the encounter, Carlson repeatedly suggested the west was to blame for inviting aggression from Russia and said of the prospect that Britain could have lost to Hitler: “Who cares?” Continue reading...