News Round-Up

• “Long Covid not to blame for the ‘great resignation’” – The ‘great resignation’ of 50-69 year-olds is affected more by NHS waiting lists than Long Covid than first thought, the Telegraph reports.
• “China urges ‘patience’ as Covid cases rebound ahead of key congress” – China called for “patience” with its tough Covid policies and warned against any “war-weariness” as local reported infections soared to their highest since August, days ahead of a pivotal Communist Party congress, reports Reuters.
• “The People’s Republic of China Has Become A Zero-Covid Hell” – With no vaccines to save them and very little exposure to Omicron, the Chinese have embarked upon an indefinite dystopia of masking, testing, mass surveillance and periodic lockdowns – all for nothing, writes Eugyppius.
• “The last of the Covidians” – David Marcus in Spectator World asks how we should treat those who refuse to acknowledge the pandemic is over.
• “Worrying news on Swedish birth rates” – It’s starting to look like more than a baby boom and bust, says El Gato Malo.
• “Peer review: the seal of quality?” – Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson write that peer review is touted as the mark of scientific scrutiny, but evidence of its effects is lacking and its “use as an insurance policy by editors has allowed poor science and censorship to proliferate”.
• “The Calm Covid Truth of Dr. Joe Ladapo” – Dr. Robert Malone praises the Florida Surgeon General and takes a closer look at the study his new vaccine recommendation is based on.
• “Florida doctor says men aged 18-39 should not get a Covid vaccine” – Read the Mail‘s report on the development.
• “Julian Assange has Covid: Next few days will be ‘crucial’ for WikiLeaks founder’s health as he is ‘locked in his cell 24 hours a day’ amid extradition battle, concerned wife Stella reveals” – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has tested positive for Covid and faces days of isolation in his prison cell, his wife has revealed, the Mail reports.
• “Just Stop Oil protesters block The Mall – and police say: ‘Let me know if I can I do anything for you’” – Protesters from Scotland say they would “walk 500 miles” to “just stop oil”, as police reportedly offered assistance to demonstrators, according to the Telegraph.
• “Biden Is Failing The World” – The world desperately needs energy and yet President Joe Biden is preventing sufficient quantities of oil and gas from being produced, says Michael Shellenberger.
• “Russia realists are the new lockdown sceptics” – Moral absolutism plagues our response to Ukraine, argues James Billot in UnHerd.
• “Ministers hope to ban solar projects from most English farms” – The Environment Minister seeks to expand the definition of prime farmland in a drive for productivity, reports the Guardian.
• “John Cleese says he would refuse a BBC comeback because he’d be ‘cancelled or censored in five minutes’ as he promotes new GB News show” – Monty Python legend John Cleese has told the BBC he would never work for them again – because the broadcaster would cancel him in five minutes, the Mail reports.
• “Oxbridge colleges ramp up ‘unconscious bias’ and ‘race workshops’ for freshers – despite calls for them to be scrapped” – Freshers at Keble College had to undertake hours of indoctrination on consent, race, LGBTQ+ and disability, the Mail reports.
• “Fearful academics cancelling themselves to avoid backlash from woke mob” – Professor Arif Ahmed writes in the Mail that the incentive to self-censorship constitutes the greatest danger of risk-averse speaker regulations and is a form of tyranny.
• “‘Universities are turning debating chambers into echo chambers’: Institutions adopt stricter vetting rules for guest speakers and suggest trigger warnings and safe spaces for ‘controversial’ speakers who might ’cause upset’” – A record 200 requests for events and speakers were rejected by universities and colleges in 2020-21, more than double the previous year, reports the Mail.
• “Universities ‘decolonising’ courses to mollify activists” – A Mail investigation uncovers how “fat cat” university bosses are pandering to extremists, according to John Hayes, Chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs.
• “Say no to U.S. race politics” – Rakib Ehsan writes in the Critic that we must oppose the new segregationists.
• “Freedom of the Press” – Watch Toby talk to Mark Oppenheimer on Brain in a Vat about what freedom of the press means and why it is essential.
• “TfL lists the words staff shouldn’t use in new ‘woke’ language guide” – Critics tell the transport body to “focus on providing the best network it can” as it produces “ridiculous” set of PC rules, the Telegraph reports.
• “Trans ideology has spread far beyond Mermaids” – Mad ideas about gender identity are now entrenched across our public institutions, writes Jo Bartosch in Spiked.
• “Harry Potter star Tom Felton praises ‘lovely’ J.K. Rowling for ‘bringing generations together’… as he refuses to join co-stars condemning author amid ‘transphobia’ row” – The actor, 35, has swum against the ugly tide by expressing nothing but warm words for the author.
• “Midwifery students to be told how to look after ‘pregnant people’ and ‘birthing parents’ rather than ‘women’ as degree courses adopt more ‘inclusive’ language” – At the University of Bradford, an internal document detailing the course specifications for the 2022-23 year refers to “childbearing people” four times and “birthing people” eight times, the Mail reports.
• “Nicola Sturgeon and the politics of hatred” – Fraser Nelson in the Spectator says the ugly side of SNP nationalism keeps exposing itself.
• “The tech tyrants are out of control” – PayPal’s fantasy about fining speechcriminals is a terrifying sign of the times, says Brendan O’Neill in Spiked.
• “#deletePaypal – Perhaps the Most Important Action in Defense of Free Speech Right Now” – Thorsteinn Siglaugsson warns that “no more is this just a question of silencing people on social media platforms; they are trying to take away people’s livelihoods now”.
• “Dear Elon Musk, can you buy Paypal too?” – Oliver Bateman in UnHerd suggests the free speech absolutist can save this company as well.
• “God knows what’s really going on. It’s embarrassing!” – Watch Toby join Mark Steyn on GB News to discuss PayPal’s policy change U-turn.

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