News Round-Up

• “‘Boozy’ Downing Street party was Covid-safe, insists Boris Johnson” – “Boris Johnson has denied breaking lockdown rules amid claims of a ‘boozy’ Christmas party being held in Downing Street last year,” reports the Times.
• “‘Biggest cancer catastrophe ever’ to hit NHS as up to 740,000 potential cases missed” – Devastating situation for patients, as waiting lists set to rise further and medics fear that more people will die unnecessarily, reports the Telegraph.
• “What happened to ‘follow the science’ on Covid?” – “It did not take long for the Omicron hysteria, for that is what I believe it is, to reverberate through the hospitality sector,” writes Patrick Dardis, who describes how the panic has wounded the hospitality industry in the Mail.
• “Omicron may require ‘very stringent response’, say SAGE scientists” – Officials should prepare for a “potentially significant” wave of cases, Government scientific advisers say, reports BBC News.
• “With each new set of restrictions, Britain moves further away from its traditions of liberty” – These impositions don’t just reduce our personal freedoms, they also take away our responsibilities towards other people, writes Graham Brady in the Telegraph.
• “Mass vaccination fails to halt Covid transmission rates” – “Successful vaccine rollouts have failed to stop Covid transmission, with new data showing the prevalence of the virus increasing in fully jabbed individuals, according to a medical study,” reports RT.
• “Three Covid vaccine doses ‘enough to protect against Omicron variant’, early research suggests” – Israel’s Health Minister says “there is no need for panic”, adding those people given valid vaccinations are almost certainly protected, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘A lot more’ will be known about Omicron variant in two weeks, says Sajid Javid” – Changes to Covid rules are due to be reviewed in three weeks time, as more is learned about the Omicron variant, and the Health Secretary suggests that this review could happen earlier, reports Sky News.
• “Ditch the muzzle!” – “Face nappy. Muzzle. Mask. Whatever you choose to call them, face coverings are a sign of compliance, allowing governments to gauge levels of public obedience to increasingly ridiculous Covid rules,” writes Mary McGreechin in TCW.
• “The mask slips” – Mask obsessives just want to signal their superiority over the selfish, germ-spreading others, writes Tim Black in Spiked.
• “Masks aren’t a minor inconvenience. They’re dehumanising and controlling” – Consent will evaporate if such measures continue to be introduced by diktat, argues Philip Johnston in the Telegraph.
• “Austria plans enormous fines, incarceration for vaccine refusers” – “Early rumours, that unvaccinated Austrians would face substantial fines or incarceration, have been confirmed by draft legislation leaked to the Austrian press,” writes Eugyppius in his latest Substack update.
• “Returning U.S. travellers may have to quarantine due to Omicron variant” – “The Biden administration is considering whether to force all travellers returning to the U.S. to quarantine for seven days to curb the spread of the potentially dangerous Omicron variant,” reports the Mail.
• “Will New Zealand ever escape zero Covid?” – “New Zealand might end up with the worst of both worlds: facing the same problems as everyone else, but persisting with an unsustainable zero Covid approach to them,” writes Tom Chodor in UnHerd.
• “Coroner investigating whether Dunedin man’s death connected to vaccine days earlier” – “The death of a Dunedin man is being investigated by health officials and the coroner to ascertain whether it could be connected to the Covid vaccine he received 12 days earlier,” reports the New Zealand Herald.
• “Police recruits are quitting within weeks because they can’t cope with job, warns chief constable” – Young officers lack the life experience and hardiness to handle the violence and pressures of working on the front line, says force leader, reports the Telegraph.
• “New Zealand city becomes one of first in world to introduce a ‘climate tax’” – “One of New Zealand’s largest cities, Auckland, has proposed a climate tax for its residents in what is likely the world’s first such tariff,” reports the Independent.
• “What is happening to my profession?” – “The implementation of the social justice agenda has constrained collegial discourse, challenged the maintenance of standards, and suppressed honest analysis of certain problems,” says Sally Satel, who examines the recent ideological takeover of the American health industry in Quillette.
• “The eco mob are determined to extinguish Christmas itself” – These miserable warriors can’t help but cast aspersions on those who wish to brighten our bleak midwinter, writes Judith Woods in the Telegraph.
• “Lockdown kills” – Broadcaster Tonia Buxton speaks to talkRadio about the disastrous impact lockdown has inflicted on her family: “My mother-in-law died because of lockdown. She died because her doctor couldn’t be bothered to see her. We are killing people because of lockdown.”