News Round-Up

• “Boris can say what he likes, but trust in the Government may be damaged beyond repair” – Does the Government, and most specifically, the Prime Minister, now have the moral authority to make any rules at all? asks Janet Daley in the Telegraph.
• “Sainsbury’s tells staff to party after Christmas” – “Simon Roberts, Chief Executive, said he had asked all of Sainsbury’s teams to postpone celebrations until the new year on the grounds of ‘doing everything we can to protect Christmas for our colleagues and customers’,” reports the Times.
• “Allegra Stratton resigns after No 10 Christmas party video” – Boris Johnson “sorry to lose” spokesperson for climate summit who was seen in footage joking about party during lockdown, reports the Guardian.
• “The Christmas lockdown will become an annual tradition” – First, the press conferences come once a week, then twice a week, and then every day until we are in full lockdown until spring, argues Ross Clark in the Telegraph.
• “PMQs: Boris’ nadir” – “The bombshell at bay. That’s how Boris looked at today’s PMQs. Deflated, cornered, winded and lifeless. Gone were the chuckles and the mischievous jests, the punning quips and the poetic asides,” writes Lloyd Evans in the Spectator.
• “TUI says fears over Omicron is hitting winter bookings” – The travel firm said it is reviewing whether to cut the remainder of its winter schedule, as the U.K. announced fresh travel curbs on Covid tests in response to the Omicron variant, reports MailOnline.
• “They’re laughing at us” – The fallout from the Downing Street Christmas party has exposed the Government’s contempt for the public, argues Fraser Myers in Spiked.
• “The catastrophic costs of lockdown measures must be weighed against the risks posed by Omicron” – Working from home and school closures have had an impact that cannot be ignored this time round, writes Dr. Stephen Davies in the Telegraph.
• “Premier League grounds set for vaccine passports under Covid ‘Plan B‘” – “Fans attending sports events are expected to be required to have vaccine passports or proof of a negative test as part of new Government rules to tackle the Covid pandemic,” reports the Times.
• “TV show deletes poll after 89% oppose mandatory vaccination” – “ITV breakfast television show Good Morning Britain received backlash on social media after deleting a poll which showed a vast majority of respondents opposed mandatory Covid vaccination,” reports RT.
• “Plan Beached Whale in full swing as Boris attempts the mother of all diversionary tactics” – Could it be that when Downing Street wants to bury bad news of an illicit Christmas bash it removes the freedoms of 60 million people? asks Madeline Grant in the Telegraph.
• “Illinois bill proposes to strip the unvaccinated of their health insurance” – “Illinois Representative Jonathan Carroll wants to push through a change to the state’s insurance law that would mean health insurers no longer have to cover unvaccinated people who get Covid,” reports OffGuardian.
• “Three doses of Pfizer vaccine can ‘neutralise’ Omicron variant, lab test shows” – Two vaccine doses resulted in significantly lower neutralising antibodies, but a third dose increased the neutralising antibodies by a factor of 25, reports Sky News.
• “Why mandatory vaccination is such a terrible idea” – Forcing the vaccine hesitant to get jabbed will only make them more distrustful of public institutions, writes Rakib Ehsan in Spiked.
• “Finland’s Prime Minister apologises for clubbing after ‘missing’ a text to isolate” – Sanna Marin apologised after a gossip magazine published photos of her attending a Helsinki nightclub on Saturday night, hours after her Foreign Minister tested positive for Covid, reports MailOnline.
• “Omicron neutralization update” – “The fact that current vaccines are no longer effective against Omicron also means that any existing ‘vaccine passport’ schemes and vaccine mandates have become obsolete and have to be suspended immediately,” concludes Swiss Policy Research.
• “‘Untimely and useless’? Israeli questions need for fourth Covid jab amid Omicron spread” – “Israeli authorities are mulling the option of offering a fourth shot of a Covid vaccine to prevent the fifth wave of the virus,” reports Sputnik.
• “Obama academy vaccinated child without consent, mother claims” – “A California mother is claiming that Los Angeles’ Barack Obama Global Prep Academy gave her son a Covid vaccine without her consent, bribing the child with incentives like pizza,” reports RT.
• “Germany’s risk obsession empowers antivaxxers” – “There is a danger that the emerging tribal divisions between Germany’s vaccinated and unvaccinated will deepen, with lasting consequences for the country’s politics,” says Oliver Moody in the Times.
• “Would we rise up against another lockdown?” – Restrictions are back, but following ‘partygate’, an exasperated public might not play along, argues Fraser Nelson in the Telegraph.
• “Christmas time, cheese and wine, Tories acting out of line” – The Government demanded that you follow its restrictions and guidance but forgot to invite you to last year’s Downing Street Christmas party.