News Round-Up

• “Why this winter won’t be as bleak as the last” – “Most experts believe that barring an unexpected hiccup – such as a new variant which can dodge the vaccine or a catastrophic failure with the booster campaign –  it seems increasingly unlikely that the NHS will be overwhelmed by Covid cases this winter,” writes Joe Pinkstone in the Telegraph.
• “The budget is more proof that Britain is turning into an elderly care system with a state attached” – “As many of us pointed out when Sunak introduced the health and social care levy, we were getting not a one-off package to support the NHS in the aftermath of an unexpected disaster but a permanent increase in tax and spending to support an ageing population,” argues Robert Colvile in the Times.
• “The NHS needs structural change, not more tax-payer’s money” – “If the NHS is struggling this much, then there is more than just a staff issue; instead there is an administrative and structural issue,” argues William Parker in Bournbrook Magazine.
• “Winners and losers in the lockdown stakes” – “To paraphrase Orwell, it is worth remembering that in terms of lockdowns all animals are equal but some are more equal than others,” Bill Wright examines the groups that have gained and lost the most through lockdown in the TCW.
• “Covid — vaccinations and masks — a comprehensive analysis of the substantial risks to health” – The use of vaccinations and masks are ineffective against a virus we are still trying to understand as well as bring negative health effects, argues Andrew J. Green in his latest Medium blog.
• “2021 Covid vaccine rollouts are associated with worldwide increases in Covid death rates above 2020 levels” – “Covid vaccine rollouts have not slowed the rate of serious Covid disease or Covid deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2 viral variants,” Kathy Dopp investigates the ineffectiveness of vaccines in Trialsite.
• “The country needs a dose of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to battle Covid” – “Florida has the lowest Covid case rate in the country. They did it without vaccine mandates, without mask mandates in school and with no restrictions on businesses,” Karol Markowicz argues that other political leaders should follow the Florida Governor’s lead in the New York Post.
• “DeSantis sues Biden over federal contractor vaccine mandate” – “The complaint, filed in federal district court in Tampa, calls the policy a ‘radical intrusion on the personal autonomy of American workers,’ and seeks a preliminary nationwide injunction to block it from taking effect,” reports the Hill.
• “Kamala Harris gets her Covid booster shot” – Vice President Kamala Harris jumped the queue as the White House declares that her busy schedule and frequent travel places her in a ‘high risk’ category, reports the Mail.
• The climate summit to nowhere” – “It’s incongruous bordering on the bizarre to organize a summit like this while Europe is battening down for a winter fuel crisis,” writes the WSJ Editorial Board.
• “COP kicks off with another eco-quandary” – The planning for COP26 has been unveiled as a comedic display of errors and unforeseen consequences, writes Steerpike in the Spectator.
• “Teaching of ‘white privilege’ rife in schools despite warnings it is unlawful” – Teachers have been accused of introducing ‘politically biased’ materials to pupils during lessons about police, racism and colonialism, reports the Telegraph.
• “BBC to analyse all of its programmes for potential bias” – Documentaries and CBeebies among those to be held to same impartiality standards of news and current affairs, reports the Telegraph.
• “The woke counter-Enlightenment” – Thomas Henry Huxley’s fierce scepticism makes him an ideal target for modern zealots, Frank Furedi writes on the targeting of this anti-slavery 19th-century scientist by modern progressives in Spiked.
• “Leeds University students demand gender pronouns at meetings” – “Students signed a letter insisting Leeds University’s vice-chancellor Simone Buitendijk also include her pronouns in email signatures to show solidarity with the transgender community,” reports the MailOnline.
• “Minister warns universities: ‘put free speech at risk and you will face consequences’” – Michelle Donelan says the resignation of a professor at the centre of a row with transgender activists should sound alarm bells on campuses, reports the Telegraph.
• “The hounding of Kathleen Stock and what it means for our freedom of speech” – Unless universities discipline groups who bully individuals and causes they take issue with, we’re going so see an awful lot more of this, argues Melanie McDonagh in the Telegraph.
• “Loudoun County and the cruelty of trans ideology” – When a girl was assaulted in a gender-neutral bathroom, the school covered it up and had her father arrested, writes Sean Collins in Spiked.
• “Masks have no place in schools” – Dr. Renee Hoenderkamp speaks to TalkRadio on the harm mask-wearing causes to children.