UK Column News - 21st May 2025

Source: ukcolumn

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

Today’s livestream experienced a technical failure as we were discussing the Lucy Connelly ruling and why she’s in jail, while Huw Edwards by contrast received no jail time.

 

Sold Out to Brussels: The UK-EU Deal Is Done

00:00 Financial Times: UK and EU agree post-Brexit reset at showpiece summit (Archived)

GOV.UK: PM’s remarks at press conference with EU leaders: 19 May 2025

GOV.UK: UK-EU Summit - Explainer

European Council: EU-UK summit 2025: outcome documents

The Fishing Daily: Disaster for UK Fishermen as Labour Government Sells-Out Fishing

Guardian: Nigel Farage missed debate on Brexit reset because he is holidaying abroad

The Scotsman: Why Keir Starmer’s EU deal may have already doomed Labour to election defeat (Archived)

UK Parliament: Hold a UK referendum before joining any defence and security pact with the EU

 

The Special Forces Cover-Up No One Wants to Talk About

08:44 Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case appeal dismissal judgment released by Federal Court

Federal Court of Australia: Ben Roberts-Smith - Online file (the Appeal)

Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan: An independent statutory inquiry to investigate matters arising from the deployment of British Special Forces to Afghanistan between mid-2010 and mid-2013

The Telegraph: When will we see a general take responsibility for Special Forces killings? (Archived)

GOV.UK:  General Sir Gwyn Jenkins KCB OBE RM has been appointed as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, and Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty

Forces News: UK Special Forces are the best of the best and we must give them our support

 

Rent A Terrorist To Run Syria Former Al Qaeda Commander

15:03 Fontline: The Jihadist (Season 2021: Episode 3)

Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs (YouTube): Syrian Rebels Win – Now What?

Hussain Abdul-Hussain (on X): Robert Ford in Damascus January 2025

Middle East News: The former American ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, in coordination between the Damascus government and the Syrian Democratic Forces

The Wall Will Fall (2016): Disseminating Fake Information: Conversations with State Department Propagandist Robert S. Ford, Former US Ambassador to Syria

The Lemniscat (on X): Ford Okaidi ISIS

The National: ‘This is not going to end well’: Former US envoy to Syria warns of new government’s friction with SDF

Sana: Britain welcomes formation of the transitional justice and missing persons’ commissions in Syria

Al Majalla: My Syria visit: Rays of hope and fears for the future

TRT World (YouTube): Former US Ambassador Ford: Where we went wrong on Syria

Sana: Defense Minister Discusses Issues of Common Interest with a Delegation from UK Military Attaché

New Rules Geopolitics (on X): Jolani Administration all HTS

This is Beirut: UK’s Defense Senior Advisor Reaffirms Lebanese Armed Forces as the Sole Legitimate Defender of Lebanon

GOV.UK: UK’s Defence Senior Advisor ends visit to Lebanon

UK Column: The UK Private Security Boom in Syria under Al Qaeda Regime - Part 1

The Jerusalem Post: Britain holds first high-level military talks with Syria since 2011

 

Pandemics on Demand: WHO Holds the Trigger

24:13 Reuters: Slovakia to challenge adoption of ’critical’ global pandemic agreement (Archived)

Research Gate: One Health is in the mission for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

EFSA: One Health: EFSA joins forces with EU agencies

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (on X): Photo of Tedros and Bill Gates

 

UK Column Is Fully Member Funded, Please Join Us

31:05 Support Independent Journalism from the UK Column with only £5 a month

UK Column article: The Secret Society Dedicated to a New World Order: the Fabians

Access UK Column News Extra Today—UK Column Community

UK Column shop: UK Column On Location Livestream Access

UK Column article: The Steel Trap by Charles Malet

Event: Stand In The Light Festival - 23rd – 26th May 

The Light Paper: The Light, Issue 57 - May/June 2025 (PDF)

Event: Sounds Beautiful Festival - 26th to 29th June

Event: Thetford Truth and Freedom Festival - 18th July 

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

 

Lucy Connolly Jailed in Free Speech Crackdown — Proof We Need Trial by Jury to Protect Justice

33:59 The Telegraph: Lucy Connolly: ‘The judges should be ashamed of themselves. It’s cruel and twisted’ (Archived)

BBC: Woman jailed for race hate post on X loses appeal

 

State Threats: Governments Label Critics as Far-Right Extremists

37:05 Crown Prosecution Service (CPS): Three men charged with National Security Act offences

Security service MI5: Joint State Threats Assessment Team

Politico: The AfD is a right-wing extremist group, German intelligence agency says

BBC: Far-right leaders attempting to hijack success of Reform

 

FCDO Questions: What’s Really Behind the UK’s Syria Strategy?

41:40 GOV.UK: UK–Syria development partnership summary, July 2023

Cowater: Syria Independent Monitoring II (SIM II)

Landell Mills: Our history

Arab News: Rubio says Syria could be weeks away from ‘full-scale civil war’

Reuters: Trump envoy Witkoff cites US ’red line’ with Iran against uranium enrichment (Archived)

 

Somerset Council — Where Has the Money Gone? Don’t Councillors Have to Declare Interests?

45:58 Glastonbury Town Deal: Project: The Life Factory

The Red Brick Building: Building C Regeneration & ‘The Life Factory’

In 2022, the Red Brick Building secured c.£3.6 million in the Glastonbury Town Deal to refurbish and save from collapse the derelict wing of the Red Brick Building, known as Building C.

GOV.UK: Managing Public Money May 2023 (PDF)

BBC: Glastonbury: ‘Fiasco’ youth regeneration project is paused

The Glastonbury Town Deal Website: Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE

FE Week (2015): Dr Lynne Sedgmore to step down from 157 Group executive director role

 

BioNTech’s Billion-Pound AI Boost—AI Set to Use One-Third of UK Water Supply

52:47 GOV.UK: £1 billion BioNTech investment sets way for jobs, growth, breakthroughs

The Academy of Medical Sciences: Outstanding return on investment in medical research

Techerati: UK AI expansion strategy raises concerns about water supply

GOV.UK: AI Growth Zones: open for applications

BBC: Work on new reservoir could get under way in 2031

Microsoft: Microsoft finds underwater datacenters are reliable, practical and use energy sustainably

 

MHRA Accelerates Clinical Trials — Trading Safety for Speed as Industry’s Enabler, Not Regulator

58:11 GOV.UK: Building a faster, more effective clinical trials system

[…] which could speed up vital parts of our clinical trial application review from 3 hours to just 35 seconds.