POLITICS: Newslinks for Monday 22nd December 2025 – USSA News

Streeting backs Britain rejoining customs union

“Wes Streeting has defied Sir Keir Starmer and suggested Britain should join a customs union with Europe, as a poll for The Times shows eight out of ten Labour voters support the move. The health secretary’s comments will be seen as a direct challenge to Starmer, who has ruled out a change in policy on a customs union twice in the past month. Government sources accused Streeting of “setting out his stall” for a leadership challenge in a newspaper interview, as polling suggested his European policy would have the overwhelming backing of the voters who gave Labour its landslide victory… Starmer has ruled out such a move, saying that joining a customs union is a “clear red line” for the party and would undo trade deals struck by the government with India and the United States… However, in an interview with The Observer, Streeting said joining a customs union would give the party a distinctive message to take on Reform at the next election.” – The Times

• Wes Streeting hints he will back rejoining the customs union with ‘closer trading relationship with EU’ – as he refuses to rule out bid for No10 – Daily Mail
• Wes Streeting pushes for Brexit unravelling claiming Britain should join EU customs union – Daily Express
• Streeting: Starmer must go further to undo Brexit – Daily Telegraph
• Streeting faces criticism as he appears to back joining customs union with EU – ITV News
• Starmer has no coherent social mobility plan, says top government adviser – The Guardian

Comment:

• Reversing Brexit won’t save Starmer’s skin – Annabel Denham, Daily Telegraph
• Labour will unleash a blizzard of lies to drag us back under the heel of Brussels. It’s time for Brexiteers to wake up – Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
• Whatever Streeting says, it’s clear he’s preparing a leadership bid – Anne McElvoy, The i
• Rejoining the EU customs union is not the fix the economy needs – The Times View

Don’t call migration a threat, says EHRC chief

“The new head of the equalities watchdog has attacked those who describe migration as a risk to Britain. Mary-Ann Stephenson, the chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), used her first major intervention since taking the job at the beginning of December to warn against the demonisation of immigrants. Dr Stephenson, who was chosen by Sir Keir Starmer’s administration to succeed Baroness Falkner of Margravine, also said that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – the treaty that has been blamed by critics for blocking migrant deportations – would be a mistake. Her comments signal a shift in approach from her predecessor, who warned last year that integration in Britain appeared to be failing. Record levels of both legal and illegal migration in recent years have led to concerns about their impact on community cohesion, with protests taking place outside migrant hotels this summer, as well as their cost to the taxpayer.” – Daily Telegraph

• ‘Disgrace!’ Tories slam Keir Starmer’s equality chief over defence of mass migration – Daily Express
• Demonising migrants is risking lives, warns new equalities chief – The Times
• New equalities boss warns against ‘demonisation’ of migrants in UK – The Independent
• Labour’s ‘stop the boats’ promise in tatters as more than 41,000 migrants have arrived in Britain on small boats in 2025 – Daily Mail
• More than 800 small boat migrants cross Channel in single day in highest number for 2 months – The Sun

Comment:

• Britain’s broken asylum system is failing genuine refugees and putting the public at risk – The Sun Says

Retail staff face Christmas theft epidemic – as shoplifters get away with stealing every minute

“Retail staff are facing a Christmas shoplifting epidemic, with 810 offences going unsolved every day. Some 295,589 cases were closed with no suspect identified in the past year, House of Commons Library research shows. The figure, which is more than half of the 530,439 thefts reported, is up 65 per cent on the previous 12 months. And the research found that fewer than one in five of shoplifting cases led to a suspect being charged or summonsed to court. Politicians last night warned retail workers have been left in fear and risk putting themselves in danger by trying to tackle thieves themselves… Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp slammed “Labour’s lawless Britain”, where he said “shoplifting is spiralling out of control, petty criminals go unpunished and shopworkers put in danger”.” – The Sun

• Shoplifters get away with stealing every minute in theft ‘epidemic’ – Daily Telegraph
• Shoplifters steal every minute as retail theft ‘epidemic’ spirals – GB News
• Facewatch: The controversial tech that retailers have deployed to tackle shoplifting and violence – Sky News

Tories overtake Labour in polls for first time since Johnson

“The Conservatives have overtaken Labour in the polls for the first time since Boris Johnson was in office. The Telegraph’s poll tracker now has the Tories on 18.5 per cent, the party’s highest average score since May and an early sign of recovery under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership. Labour, meanwhile, has fallen to 18 per cent – just over half of its share of the vote at the last general election – following another torrid few weeks for Sir Keir. It is the first time the Tories have led Labour since the end of 2021 as Mr Johnson’s popular support began to implode amid party in-fighting and the partygate scandal. The Telegraph’s poll tracker balances the latest data from a range of respected pollsters, including YouGov, Opinium and Savanta, with how well each firm predicted the last election.” – Daily Telegraph

• Kemi Badenoch is closing in on Nigel Farage, poll finds… but Reform and Tories combined are still only level with horror coalition of parties on the Left – Mail on Sunday

Comment:

• Has Kemi Badenoch steadied the Tories’ sinking ship? – Financial Times
• Kemi Badenoch is giving Starmer kicking he deserves – she’ll have one hope this Christmas – Duncan Barkes, Daily Express
• Nigel Farage wouldn’t like being PM. But president… – Trevor Phillips, The Times

News in brief:

• Kemi Badenoch can’t evade the coalition question forever – Peter Franklin, UnHerd
• We need the freedom to criticise faith – Hardeep Singh, The Critic
• Banning trail hunting is part of Labour’s endless culture war – Melanie McDonagh, The Spectator
• How the Green Party is professionalising – Megan Kenyon, The New Statesman

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