UK Column News - 16th July 2025

Mike Robinson, Charles Malet Vanessa Beeley and Sandi Adams with Wednesday's UK Column News.

Sources:

July Propaganda Drop: British Intel Committee Unleashes Iran Report Right on Schedule

00:44 Independent.gov: Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament

Independent.gov (2020): Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament – Russia (PDF)

The committee found it astonishing that no-one in government had sought beforehand to protect the referendum […]

UK Parliament: Institute for Statecraft: Integrity Initiative - Hansard

Intelligence And Security Committee Of Parliament: Press Notice

The Guardian: Iran's threat to UK on a par with Russia's, security report finds

The Times: Iran 'now poses higher risk to our security than Russia'

 

Tony Blair’s Role in the Abraham Accords: Diplomacy or Digital Dominion?

10:26 Embassy of the United Arab Emirates: The Abraham Accords: Unlocking Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Across the Middle East

Vanessa Beeley (Substack): UAE-run and US-style Torture Sites in southern Yemen

New York Times: Mohammed bin Zayed’s Dark Vision of the Middle East’s Future (Archived)

Tony Blair Institute for Global Change: How the Abraham Accords Are Shaping a New Technological Covenant

Engelsberg Ideas (2022): Digital dictatorship: a brutal examination of the UAE

Coalition for Regional Security: The Abraham Shield Plan

Financial Times: Tony Blair’s staff took part in ‘Gaza Riviera’ project with BCG (Archived)

World Economic Forum (YouTube): A Conversation with Sir Tony Blair

UK Column: The Blair-Bush Project in Syria That Brought Al Qaeda to Power

Kalam at Chatham House: The rise of digital authoritarianism in MENA

 

Darfur: The Forgotten War – Ethnic Cleansing, Humanitarian Blockades, and International Inaction

22:40 GOV.UK: Humanitarians need safe, sustained and unhindered access to all those in need across Sudan: UK statement at the UN Security Council

International Criminal Court: Statement of Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan to the United Nations Security Council on the Situation in Darfur, pursuant to Resolution 1593 (2005)

PBS: Sudan forces accused of ethnic cleansing in Darfur

GOV.UK: The UK welcomes the Office of the Prosecutor’s continued focus on Darfur: UK Statement at the UN Security Council

The Guardian: Leaked UN experts report raises fresh concerns over UAE’s role in Sudan war

The Observatory of Economic Complexity: Gold in South Sudan Trade

British International Investment (2021): We’re partnering with DP World to chart a stronger course for African trade around the world

Grain: Land and power grabs in Sudan

UN News: UN warns of worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan as displacement, hunger and disease escalate

 

We Can Only Do What We Do With Your Support - Please Join Us

32:20 Support Independent Journalism from the UK Column with only £5 a month

Access UK Column News Extra Today—UK Column Community

UK Column shop: UK Column On Location Livestream Access

Event: Thetford Truth and Freedom Festival - 18th July 

Event: Hope Sussex Community: HOPE Freedom Music Festival - 22nd to 25th August

Event: Freedom Fest 2025 - Leicestershire - 1st to 3rd of August

Event: UK Column: On Location - Saturday, 18 October 2025, York (Tickets on sale soon!)

Dissident meet-up: South West: Sunday 20th July 2025 - Goffin Land, Grays Barn EX49JL (9:30 to 4:30pm)

 

Devolution Deception: Local Mayors or Global Players?

35:11 Plymouth Knows Better: A City Mayor is bad for Plymouth

UK Column: The Global Parliament of Mayors and the Abolition of the Electorate

UK Column: Meet the Urban 7, the bridge from ‘global cities’ to world-governance policy circles

UK Column: Distraction Politics And The Long March Towards Global Government

Financial Time: Can England’s new breed of mayors help fix its left-behind regions? (Archived)

GOV.UK: English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: Guidance

GOV.UK: English Devolution White Paper

Legislation: Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016

Global Covenant of Mayors: Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy

C40 Cities: C40 Cities is a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world's leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis

Centre for Food Policy: The past and future of English devolution: Opportunities for food systems change (PDF)

 

Warm Weather, Hosepipe Bans, Finger-pointing, Climate Alarmism - It Must Be Summer

46:01 GOV.UK: More areas of country move into drought with dry weather set to continue

GOV.UK: National Framework for Water Resources 2025

John Wiley & Sons: International Journal of Climatology - Volume 45, Issue S1

State of the UK Climate 2024

AgriTrade News: Millers report no “strike” disruption of UK wheat supplies

UK Parliament: Parliamentary Bills: Climate and Nature Bill

 

From Cradles to Cash: The Prince and Princess’s Early Years Enterprise

51:11 Centre for Early Childhood: Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood

The Royal Foundation (YouTube): The Duchess of Cambridge is set to announce the results of the 5 Big Questions survey

Unicef: The LEGO Group and the LEGO Foundation