Newslinks for Wednesday 18th February 2026

Reeves’s key job changes branded ‘silent killer’ as UK joblessness soars

“Job taxes imposed by Rachel Reeves have been branded the “silent killer of British aspiration” after unemployment across the UK hit a near five-year high. Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride took aim at Ms Reeves following the release of official figures on Tuesday which showed the rate of joblessness rose to 5.2% – or over 1.8 million people – in the three months to December. The figure had stood at 4.1% – or over 1.4 million people – when Labour took office in 2024, promising economic growth. For those in work, wages are still rising faster than prices but the rate at which they are growing continued to slow. Sir Mel said: “In a year of economic incompetence, Starmer and Reeves have presided over a P45 Government that has seen 134,000 payrolled jobs vaporised. Unemployment has climbed to 5.2% – the highest it’s been since the pandemic, and the dream of a steady paycheque is slipping away for thousands. This decline is not an accident, it’s a choice.”” – Daily Express

• Gloom for UK workers as incomes flatline and jobs market falters – The Guardian
• Sterling rocked by Labour jobs crisis: Pound slips below $1.35 as youth unemployment soars – This Is Money
• Fears for a generation as youth unemployment hits 11-year high – The Times
• Women hardest hit by soaring unemployment with 51,000 more out of work in four months – The Standard
• ‘It’s soul-crushing’: young people battle to find any work in bleak jobs market – The Guardian
• Labour may drop minimum wage pledge over youth jobless fears – The Times

Comment:

• Rachel Reeves is killing jobs and crushing Britain’s future with her incompetence – Mel Stride, Daily Express
• Labour’s own goals on jobs – Financial Times
• Rachel Reeves tips UK into death spiral – today Angela Rayner delivers the killer blow – Harvey Jones, Daily Express
• Why does Labour hate the young? – Alistair Osborne, The Times
• Britain’s shocking unemployment surge can be traced to one thing. This is why I now fear we will find it impossible to escape this doom loop of job market catastrophe and soaring benefits – Alex Brummer, Daily Mail
• We could have managed the AI jobs apocalypse. It is too late now – Philip Johnston, Daily Telegraph

> Today:

Reeves blocking defence cash boost

“Rachel Reeves is resisting pressure from military chiefs to spend billions more on defence, The Telegraph understands. The Chancellor has rejected requests from the Ministry of Defence to increase its budget amid fears of a £28bn funding shortfall. Talks over the defence budget have now hit a roadblock, as Ms Reeves faces warnings from service chiefs that existing plans will not be enough to meet Britain’s spending commitments over the next four years. Sir Keir Starmer has set a target of spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by April 2027, with an “ambition” to increase this again to 3 per cent after the next election. It was reported this week that Downing Street wanted to speed up this increase to hit 3 per cent by 2029. However, sources later insisted this was misinterpreted. It is thought the Treasury was concerned about any suggestion of going faster.” – Daily Telegraph

• Rachel Reeves rejects calls to boost defence spending amid fears of £28bn shortfall – GBNews

Comment:

• The British Army’s secret weapon that nobody has ever heard of – Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, Daily Telegraph
• British troops were wiped out by Ukrainian drones in exercises. Defence spending must rise – Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, Daily Telegraph

Chagos Islanders back after 50 years of exile

“A rig skimmed across the surface of the Indian Ocean, a flag of blue and white stripes with a Union flag in the upper left corner fluttering behind it. For the men and women on board, it marked the end of 50 years in exile. The boat’s crew were a band of British Chagossians who have defied an exclusion zone to make a dramatic landing on the white, sandy beaches of their homeland. The “advance party” led by Misley Mandarin, the elected Chagossian first minister, has vowed to establish a permanent resettlement on Île du Coin, part of the coral atoll of Peros Banhos. “We, the people of the Chagos Islands, stand today on the soil of our homeland,” the party announced in a “Declaration of Return”, adding: “We are the advance party. Hundreds more are following. We have come home.” Captured on video wearing a Make Britain Great Again hat as the arrivals unloaded boxes of food and Starlink communications equipment, Mr Mandarin announced: “We are not visitors, we are belongers and we are here to stay forever.God save the King, God save the United States of America.”” – Daily Telegraph

• Starmer’s friend ‘paid from £8.3m Chagos Islands handover budget’ – The Times
• Starmer’s friend made millions from Chagos deal – Daily Telegraph
• Four Chagossians return to islands in attempt to stop British transfer to Mauritius – The Guardian
• Ex-MP leads beach landing on Chagos Islands blasting Starmer’s deal – ‘crazy!’ – Daily Express

Reform unveils spokespeople, including two Tory defectors

“Nigel Farage unveiled Reform’s first ‘shadow cabinet’ as he pitched his party as the opposition to Labour. Declaring Reform no longer a one-man band, the leader announced that Robert Jenrick would become his chancellor-in-waiting. He made Richard Tice his deputy as well as the spokesman for business, trade and energy and Zia Yusuf his home affairs representative. Mr Jenrick’s fellow Tory defector Suella Braverman was named education and skills spokesman and handed responsibility for the equalities brief. Writing for the Daily Mail, he said it was time to boot out Sir Keir Starmer and his ‘rag-tag collection of sixth-form common room socialists’. ‘For far too long, politics in this country has been defined by short-termism, timidity and a refusal to confront the big questions,’ he said… Barely a month after leaving the Conservatives, Mr Jenrick was handed responsibility for the party’s approach to the economy. The former shadow justice secretary thanked Mr Farage for allowing him to ‘oppose the wrecking ball that is Rachel Reeves’.” – Daily Mail

• Nigel Farage unveils ‘shadow cabinet’ with two Tory defectors on Reform UK’s frontbench – The Standard
• Reform will repeal the Equality Act if elected, says Braverman – Daily Telegraph
• Jenrick vows Reform will ‘restore stability’ in the economy in first speech to the city – Daily Mail
• PM takes swipe at Reform and antivaxers after measles outbreak – The Times

Comment:

• Farage wants Reform to be party of future – but can its new top team distance itself from a Tory past? – Alexandra Rogers, Sky News
• Farage’s new shadow quartet is both brilliant and bizarre – Sherelle Jacobs, Daily Telegraph

> Today:

News in brief:

• Farage is preparing for power: Reform is on a mission to professionalise – Aaron Bastani, UnHerd
• On the highs and Lowes of the Restore Britain launch – Adam James Pollock, The Critic
• How many right-wing parties do we really need? – Gareth Roberts, The Spectator
• Labour are waging war on British jobs – Andrew Griffith, CapX