Newslinks for Wednesday 25th February 2026

Mandelson held to stop him fleeing Britain

“Lord Mandelson was arrested after police were warned that he was about to flee the country. Metropolitan Police officers detained the former Labour Cabinet minister on Monday afternoon after receiving a tip that he was about to move to the British Virgin Islands. Lord Mandelson was forced to surrender his passport as part of his bail conditions, following seven hours of police questioning. A spokesperson for Lord Forsyth of Drumlean denied claims that the Lord Speaker was responsible for the tip-off. In a statement on Tuesday evening, lawyers for Lord Mandelson described allegations that he was planning to flee the country as “baseless”. Police launched an investigation into the disgraced peer three weeks ago after it emerged that he appeared to have leaked sensitive government documents to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet. The arrest was another blow for Sir Keir Starmer, whose judgment has been questioned over the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US. On Tuesday, officials confirmed they would release documents related to Lord Mandelson’s work in government and appointment as ambassador early next month. However, The Telegraph can reveal that ministers will have the final say over which files will be released, despite promises that the public would be given “maximum transparency”.” – Daily Telegraph

• Police feared Peter Mandelson ‘was about to flee to the British Virgin Islands’: Disgraced ex-minister denies he was a ‘flight risk’ – Daily Mail
• Keir Starmer to face MP grilling for first time since Lord Mandelson’s arrest as PM refuses to release vetting files – GB News
• Starmer to face questions in Commons for first time since Mandelson arrest – ITV News
• Mandelson complains arrest followed ‘baseless suggestion’ he was about to flee the country – The Guardian
• Andrew files may reveal Mandelson’s influence in trade envoy role – The Times
• The constitutional showdown that could finish Keir Starmer – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• The Epstein cover up is under way. Starmer’s actions damn him – Dan Hodges, Daily Mail
• Peers should be screened in full public view – The Times View

Greens plan to hand illegal migrants free house, a wage and NHS care

“Illegal migrants would be given a free house and paid a wage with no requirement to work under the Green Party’s immigration policy. Zack Polanski plans to let arrivals use the NHS for free the moment they enter Britain. And they will be allowed to work ‘with no restrictions’ under plans for ‘a world without borders’. It comes as a bombshell poll put the Greens in second place nationally ahead of an increasingly fraught Gorton and Denton by-election tomorrow. Unearthed policy proposals seen by the Daily Mail show the Greens plan to ‘abolish’ immigration detention and grant a full amnesty to illegal migrants to stay in Britain, even if their asylum claims are rejected. The internal documents state that ‘migration is not a criminal offence under any circumstances’. Last week, the party’s plans to legalise drugs including crack cocaine and heroin for recreational use were exposed. According to the immigration proposals, the Greens seek ‘to establish a system that recognises that all migrants are treated as citizens in waiting and therefore supports and encourages them to put down roots in their new home’. Last night the Conservatives, Reform UK and Labour derided the ‘open border plans’, branding them ‘financially reckless but also dangerous’.” – Daily Mail

• Green Party pledges to grant illegal migrants amnesty – Daily Telegraph
• How events in Gaza could swing Gorton and Denton by-election for the ‘sinister’ and ‘openly sectarian’ Green Party – The Sun
• Labour accuses Greens of ‘whipping up hatred’ among Muslim voters – The Times
• From legal heroin to badgers – five Green policies so insane they sound made up – Daily Express
• ‘Virtue-signalling’ Greens want Britain to pay billions of pounds in slavery reparations over UK’s colonial past – Daily Mail
• Gorton and Denton prediction: parties just hundreds of votes apart – The New Statesman

Comment:

• If the Greens win in Manchester, they could replace Labour nationwide – James Frayne, Daily Telegraph
• Do the British left’s hopes lie with the Greens, Labour or even Your Party? The answer could be all three – Joe Todd, The Guardian
• Green Party leader Zack Polanski is the biggest creep in British politics. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing – Sarah Vine, Daily Mail
• We have betrayed the young. It’s no wonder they are flocking to the Green Party – Ken Costa, Daily Telegraph
• By-election could herald sunset years of our party system – Vernon Bogdanor, The Times

> Today:

Brexit reset must go further, urges EU chief

“Britain and the EU must go “even further” than the Brexit reset to build closer relations, the president of the European Parliament has said. Writing for The Telegraph, Roberta Metsola called for British “common sense” as she urged deeper economic, energy and defence ties. Evoking the spirit of Margaret Thatcher, Ms Metsola argued for a “stronger and more pragmatic” relationship ahead of a visit to London. “Margaret Thatcher believed sovereign nations should work together when it suited their interests. Co-operation, in that sense, was not weakness but leverage,” she wrote before talks with Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday. The Prime Minister used a speech at the Munich Security Conference in January to call for closer alignment with the EU’s single market and deeper security co-operation with the bloc.” – Daily Telegraph

• Starmer’s Brexit reset could blow £15billion hole in Britain’s economy amid warning over EU’s ‘growth-destroying’ rules – The Sun
• Rachel Reeves issued horror warning as Brexit reset ‘could blow £15bn hole in economy’ – Daily Express
• Will Starmer’s flagship smoking ban be extinguished by the EU? As the PM begs for a Brexit ‘reset’ member states argue tobacco prohibition contravenes current deal – Daily Mail
• Keir Starmer warned against key Brexit betrayal by UK farming boss – Daily Express
• UK has ‘done little to diverge’ from Europe since Brexit – CityAM

Comment:

• Britain’s is ‘still a hostage’ to Brussels – but it’s ‘not too late’ to make Brexit work – David Williamson, Daily Express

> Today:

News in brief:

• Labour are levelling down British education – Harry Phibbs, CapX
• Things can’t get worse in Gorton and Denton: Voters are angry and hopeless – Tanya Gold, UnHerd
• How the police eats its own – Dominic Adler, The Critic
• Can ‘calamity Lammy’ fix the justice system? – Danny Shaw, The Spectator
• It’s better for a church to become a mosque than a shell – Anoosh Chakelian, The New Statesman