News Round-Up

• “Covid reminds us of liberty’s value – even if it cannot be measured” – The economic costs of the pandemic are mind boggling, yet cannot quantify the value of our lost liberties that we once took for granted, says Ryan Bourne in the Telegraph.
• “Labour’s dismal lockdown performance” – “We need an opposition who oppose the dismantling of ancient civil liberties, not one who cheers it on and claims such encouragement is based on a sentiment of national pride,” writes Jamie Walden in Bournbrook Magazine.
• “Keep Christmas plans small to help NHS fight Omicron, doctors plead” – Fresh evidence that variant is milder is countered by record new infections and sharp rise in health staff off sick, reports the Guardian.
• “Sore throat and headache have even chance of being Covid, Zoe app scientists warn” – “Half of people with cold-like symptoms have Covid, researchers are warning, and a sore throat, runny nose and headache are likely to be an indication,” reports the Times.
• “Fraudsters conned £10 million from Bounce Back Loan scheme on bail” – Two fraudsters based in London who laundered £70 million scammed £10 million from a Government Covid support scheme while they were on bail, reports MailOnline.
• “Cowboy Sturgeon sticks to her guns on Covid rules, even as the chickens come home to roost” – John Wayne’s “never apologise” quote seems to fit a First Minister dead set on introducing curbs in the face of hopeful news over Omicron, writes Alan Cochrane in the Telegraph.
• “NHS Wales: Record waiting times for 18th successive month” – Numbers waiting for hospital treatment hit record levels, but A&E and ambulance figures improve, reports BBC News.
• “Mark Drakeford’s Omicron rules are absurd” – How on earth can the police decide whether someone is working unreasonably?, asks Telegraph View.
• “Covid blame game: Brits point finger at loved ones over positive tests” – With cases on the rise and Omicron spreading rapidly, families and friends have taken to social media to accuse loved ones of giving them Covid ahead of the festive holidays, reports MailOnline.
• “Fauci urges Americans to ban unvaccinated family members from holidays” – “Top White House Covid adviser Anthony Fauci has urged Americans to give the cold shoulder to unvaccinated family members, suggesting they not be invited to holiday celebrations due to their immunisation status,” reports RT.
• “Judgement day: Sweden vindicated” – “Austria, one of the most repressive European countries during the Covid pandemic, has recently overtaken Sweden in terms of total Covid mortality, showing that almost all government interventions have been ineffective and unjustified,” concludes Swiss Policy Research.
• “Israel approves fourth Covid shot and new restrictions” – “On Tuesday night the Israeli Government recommended people over 60 years-old should get a fourth shot of the Covid vaccine. That’s right – the fourth one. This wasn’t a surprise,” writes Trialsite.
• “China’s Xian locks down its 13 million residents as Covid cases rise” – “Rising Covid infections in China’s city of Xian have spurred a lockdown of its 13 million residents, with stretches of highway eerily bare on Thursday,” reports Reuters.
• “Supreme Court to hold special session on Biden’s vaccine mandates for workers” – Court to hear arguments in January on vaccine-or-testing requirements for workers at large firms and healthcare worker mandate, reports the Guardian.
• “D.C. to ban unvaccinated from public spaces” – “Washington D.C. has joined a growing number of cities around the U.S. requiring proof of vaccination in order to enter a litany of public spaces, citing the rapid spread of the Covid Omicron variant,” reports RT.
• “Ecuador makes vaccination mandatory for most citizens” – All those from the age of five years-old must be jabbed, although people with medical reasons are exempt, reports BBC News.
• “A tyranny of hurt feelings” – In 2022, we must challenge the cult of ‘emotional safety’ and hurt feelings, writes Tom Slater in Spiked.
• “Cancel culture examples: 12 conservatives cancelled by the left” – Cancel culture runs rampant in today’s America. Here are 12 examples of people who were targeted for voicing a conservative view, reports Douglas Blair in the Daily Signal.
• “The inhumanity of identity politics” – In 2021, we witnessed just how ruthless, racist and anti-human wokeness can be, writes Brendan O’Neill in Spiked.
• “Will nobody rid me of this turbulent priest?” – “Why bother going to a church service – or watching Welby faff about in his kitchen – when you can get just the same waffle from any of the thousands of organs propagandising for the modern hegemonic liberal worldview?,” asks Frederick Edward in Bournbrook Magazine.
• “Politics must stay out of sport, or sport won’t stay out of politics” – Anyone listening to the crowds at the World Darts Championship should know that anti-Government chants at sports venues would inevitably occur elsewhere. Now it is Scottish football’s turn to verbally retaliate against the latest set of restrictions imposed on the game and its fans.