From the magazine

Portrait of the week: Gaza ceasefire, unemployment increases and a Gen Z uprising

The Spectator
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 18 October 2025
issue 18 October 2025

Home

Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, praised President Donald Trump for the Gaza ceasefire agreement while in India accompanied by a trade delegation of 126. He then flew off to Egypt for the summit at which the peace declaration was signed. Sir Keir asserted that the dropping of a prosecution against two men for spying for Beijing (which they deny) was because China had not been a ‘threat to national security’ when they were accused of espionage between December 2021 and February 2023; Lord Case, the former cabinet secretary, said it definitely had been, and two former heads of MI6 agreed.

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, was seen to be more cheerful since her well-received speech at the party conference proposing the abolition of stamp duty. Unemployment rose from 4.7 to 4.8 per cent. The International Monetary Fund said higher inflation and a weak economy meant real growth per person in Britain would be 0.5 per cent in 2026, compared with 1.8 per cent in America and 1.2 in Japan. Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million after it delivered only 77 per cent of first-class post on time. The Competition and Markets Authority allowed five water companies to increase charges. Ninety-eight per cent of homes that had external wall insulation installed under the Energy Company Obligation scheme have problems that will lead to damp and mould, the National Audit Office found. Reform UK took its first seat on Redcar and Cleveland council in a by-election with 65.3 per cent of the vote, leaving the Conservative candidate with only 13.9 per cent. Ian Watkins, the former Lostprophets singer, was stabbed to death in Wakefield Prison, where he was serving 29 years for child sex offences; two men were charged with his murder. Shirley Abicair, the Australian zither player who found fame in Britain, died aged 96.

In one day 1,075 migrants reached England in small boats; nine migrants were deported the next day. Fayaz Khan, an Afghan national who came to Britain on a small boat, was sentenced to five years in prison for threatening to kill Nigel Farage in a video on TikTok. New guidance on the treatment of constipation recommended eating two or three kiwi fruits a day.

Abroad

The last 20 living hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were returned to Israel. The whereabouts of some of the remains of 28 dead hostages was said to be unknown. As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel transferred 1,968 Palestinian prisoners. Donald Trump enjoyed a signing ceremony at Sharm el-Sheikh with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which negotiated the deal. He met world leaders there, and shook hands with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. He said Hamas had been ‘given approval’ for the time being to carry out internal security operations in Gaza; Hamas then executed at least eight ‘collaborators’ in public. Earlier Mr Trump had said of Sir Tony Blair’s place on the transitional ‘board of peace’: ‘I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.’ Thousands held a rally in Tel Aviv, unfurling a banner that read ‘Nobel President Trump’. The Nobel peace prize went to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Thousands of Palestinians made their way back to Gaza City. Hamas mobilised 7,000 members after the Dughmush clan shot some of its men.

Russian missiles and drone strikes caused power cuts in Kyiv; tents in the street supplied hot water and mobile chargers. Mr Trump said he would impose additional 100 per cent tariffs on imports from China next month in response to Beijing’s decision to restrict exports of rare earths. The US government seized $14 billion worth of bitcoin while pursuing fraud charges against a British and Cambodian businessman called Chen Zhi. The Dutch government took control of Nexperia, a Chinese-owned chipmaker based in Holland.

French President Emmanuel Macron asked Sébastien Lecornu to return as prime minister four days after he resigned, having spent 26 days in the post; the big problem remained agreeing a budget. A munitions factory in Tennessee exploded, killing 16. The Taliban said they had killed 58 Pakistani soldiers on the border with Afghanistan in ‘an act of retaliation’. President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar fled after a so-called Gen Z uprising, backed by the military. Diane Keaton, the actress who appeared in several Woody Allen films, died aged 79.                      CSH

Comments