News Round-Up

• “Boris Johnson calls for ‘national debate’ on mandatory vaccination to protect U.K. from Covid” – Prime Minister reluctant to consider compulsory jabs but wants talks on how to boost uptake, saying U.K. cannot keep introducing restrictions indefinitely, reports the Telegraph.
• “Most fans may still avoid Covid checks despite new restrictions” – “Clubs and sport events may be permitted to continue spot-checks rather than monitor every fan for proof of vaccination against Covid or a negative test result,” reports the Times.
• “The Government has broken its side of the bargain ” – There is no rationale for imposing these restrictions. The Government simply wants to be seen to be doing something, argues Andrew Lilico in the Telegraph.
• “Boris Johnson is a menace to liberty” – The Prime Minister is stuck in a cycle of Covid panic and authoritarianism, writes Tom Slater in Spiked.
• “Remember: life is finite and freedom is innate” – “Having grown weak on the numbing nectar of endless Government subvention, we have lost our thirst for liberty,” writes Frederick Edwards in Bournbrook Magazine.
• “Judge orders 11 year-old girl to be vaccinated despite father’s objections” – “A New York Judge has ruled that an 11 year-old girl may be vaccinated against Covid despite vocal protests from her dad, siding with the child’s mother amid a lengthy divorce case,” reports RT.
• “Fall on walk from bed to desk is workplace accident, German court rules” – Man who slipped and broke his back while working from home was commuting, it is decided, reports the Guardian.
• “It’s time to confront the immorality of lockdowns” – The failure of religious and spiritual leaders to address the societal costs of restrictions has been an utter travesty, writes Fergus Butler-Gallie in the Telegraph.
• “Why I prefer to rely on natural immunity” – “It’s not as cold and inhospitable in the land of conspiracy theories as it used to be,” argues Melissa Kite in the Spectator.
• “The PM’s restriction: ignoring the science” – “Besides Ferguson and the usual lockdown fanatics, most scientists have not called for urgent restrictions in response to the variant. Why? Because all early indicators are showing it is nothing to panic about,” writes William Parker in Bournbrook Magazine.
• “500 school staff fired for declining Covid jab” – “Nearly 500 public school employees in Los Angeles were fired after refusing to comply with a Covid vaccine mandate, with the city making terminations permanent after previously suspending a number of workers,” reports RT.
• “Conservative group Chairman resigns live on air” – Charlie Sansom, of South Basildon Conservatives, says he disagrees with tighter rules, reports BBC News.
• “End this dismal cycle of restrictions” – It is unsustainable and dangerous to have our lives brought to a standstill every time something emerges that might trouble the NHS, argues Telegraph View.
• “Courts backlog could take five years to be cleared up” – “The backlog in Scotland’s courts caused by the pandemic could take up to five years to be cleared after lockdown forced all but the most serious of cases to be postponed, it has emerged,” reports the Times.
• “Texas school board member resigns after releasing parents’ information” – Norma Garcia-Lopez resigned as co-chair of the Fort Worth Independent School District’s racial equity committee after she doxxed private information on families who opposed the School District’s mask mandate, reports the Mail.
• “It is stark-raving mad that red list travellers can’t self-isolate at home” – Both Delta and Omicron variants have laughed in the face of quarantine hotels – it is time to pull the plug on these useless prisons, argues Annabel Fenwick Elliott in the Telegraph.
• “Senate majority votes to repeal vaccine mandate” – “A majority in the U.S. Senate voted to repeal President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for businesses with more than a hundred employees, with two Democrats joining Republicans to oppose the policy,” reports RT.
• “Jussie Smollett and the coveting of victimhood” – Everyone wants to be oppressed these days, writes Brendan O’Neill in Spiked.
• “If students can’t handle Rod Liddle’s crude jokes, they aren’t ready for real life” – The young people at Durham are free to disagree with him, or even walk out, but I struggle to see why they found it all so traumatic, writes Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “There’s been a big party in your house Boris Johnson” – Twitter user Pete Evans has captured the Prime Minister’s (likely) reaction to being called out for hosting a Christmas party during last year’s winter lockdown.