Badenoch grills Burnham on Brexit comments

News in brief

• Kemi Badenoch asked Andy Burnham at PMQs if he agrees with MI5’s assessment that talking up Russian interference is a mistake.
• Burnham said there would be no pact with the Green party as long as they kept their ‘Zionism is racism’ policy. 
• Russell Brand is a ‘sexual predator’ with an ‘insatiable desire’, prosecutors have alleged at the opening day of his trial. The comedian denies rape and sexual assault.
• Elon Musk has turned on Ukraine by turning off some of his Starlink network, Volodymyr Zelensky’s advisers have said.
• A Saudi national has been charged with planting a bug in the Canadian offices of OpenAI.

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On Coffee House today…

Gareth Roberts calls Greta Thunberg a protest addict, while Alexander Kolyandr counts the true cost of Trump’s diesel deal with Putin. Sarah Langford explains how regenerative farming could save rural Britain, while Alexander Fiske-Harrison calls the reactions to the Yorkshire tiger attack grotesque and misanthropic. Joanna Williams says the BBC is not censoring Strictly Come Dancing, and Daniel Thorpe asks if Azerbaijan’s hijab ban will drive a permanent wedge with Turkey.

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In pictures

London, United Kingdom: Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court today

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Most read on The Spectator

Reactions to the tiger attack have been grotesque and misanthropic – Alexander Fiske-Harrison

The BBC is not censoring Strictly Come Dancing – Joanna Williams

Will Azerbaijan’s hijab ban drive a permanent wedge with Turkey? – Daniel Thorpe

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In words

‘Does he ever get tired of putting his foot in his mouth?’

– Kemi Badenoch says Andy Burnham has had a ‘busy few weeks’ after saying national security shouldn’t come at the expense of social security, the Man City row and his Brexit comments

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