Sunday newspaper round-up: Kemi Badenoch, RNLI, Heineken, Informa, Rightmove, Chiltern Railways, Nigel Farage
Kemi Badenoch accused Andy Burnham of "fiddling while Europe is at risk of burning" as Russia steps up its hybrid campaign against Western allies, The Telegraph reported. The Conservative leader said the prime minister must stop "dithering and delaying" and commit to "proper" defence funding, arguing the Government was acting as if Britain still lived in a "carefree" world. Her comments followed warnings from European leaders that Vladimir Putin had intensified drone incursions, cyber attacks, propaganda efforts and even threats of missile strikes against countries supporting Ukraine.
Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteers have been warned their personal information may have been compromised in a cyber‑attack on a third‑party software provider, according to The Telegraph. The charity said names, contact details and records of interactions could have been exposed after a breach at Beacon CRM. The warning comes amid heightened hostility from far‑Right agitators, with RNLI members facing online and physical abuse after rescuing 120 migrants from the Channel earlier this month.
Heineken's UK pubs arm was said to be close to acquiring around 300 sites from Stonegate in a deal worth roughly £300m, The Times reported. The Dutch brewer, which already operates about 2,350 pubs under its Star Pubs & Bars division, has been in talks with Stonegate over the summer. Stonegate has been seeking buyers for its so‑called "platinum" group of 1,000 top‑performing pubs as it looks to raise up to £1bn to reduce its heavy debt burden.
Activist investors have taken sizeable positions in Rightmove and Informa worth a combined £1.6bn, fuelling speculation over potential takeover interest, The Sunday Times reported. Sachem Head, the US hedge fund led by a protégé of Bill Ackman, has acquired a 6% stake in Rightmove and was said to believe the recent AI‑driven sell‑off has been overdone. One major shareholder told the paper that Sachem Head has been encouraging the company to take on debt to fund buybacks, signalling it sees the business as undervalued. Meanwhile, Parvus Asset Management, run by Jersey‑based investor Edoardo Mercadante, has quietly built a 13% holding in Informa, the FTSE 100 events group behind Cannes Lions, London Tech Week and several major US comic‑book conventions.
Chiltern Railways became the latest operator to enter public ownership on Sunday as Labour moved closer to renationalising all major passenger rail services, The Guardian reported. The commuter operator, which runs services between London Marylebone and Birmingham, was the sixth to be taken over by the state, with the remaining four expected to follow by the end of 2027. The Department for Transport said the move would improve reliability and ease overcrowding, promising more services and seats, new trains, upgraded stations and better onboard facilities including improved wifi.
Nigel Farage said he wanted to "hijack" Donald Trump's hardline immigration adviser Tom Homan and bring him to the UK "to secure our borders", according to The Guardian. Speaking at an event in the US where Homan was present, the Reform UK leader urged Europe to take a "more sensible view" of the Trump administration rather than treating it as "villainous". Homan, a key adviser on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has faced scrutiny over the agency's aggressive enforcement tactics following several fatal shootings by ICE agents earlier this year.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com