News Round-Up

• “To prevent a deadlier pandemic, pause gain of function research” – No one should be manipulating or engineering SARS-COV-2 or any other virus, say Doctors Marc Siegel and Robert Redfield in The Hill.
• “Long Covid – time for an outbreak of common sense ” – A new study points to the fact that fewer signs are associated with Long Covid than was previously thought, writes Roger Watson in Conservative Woman.
• “Powers to protect free speech to become law” – The Government has rowed back on plans to water down the Higher Education Bill, vowing to restore the clause that was removed in the House of Lords that gives academics and students the right to sue universities for breaching their free speech rights, the Mail reports.
• “The fall and rise of American religion” – The most important social trend of the 21st Century so far has been the rapid decline of Christianity in the United States, writes Ed West.
• “The publishing industry is killing free speech and spreading lies” – Nigel Biggar writes about Bloomsbury’s cancellation of his new book in the Mail.
• “Labour may favour black-owned firms for Government contracts” – Companies led by black Britons could be given more Government contracts if Labour wins the next election under plans being considered by the party, the Telegraph reports.
• “I assumed upon entering Downing Street my mandate would be respected. How wrong I was’” – In her first intervention since she was forced out, former PM Liz Truss has written an account of her downfall for the Telegraph.
• “Schools being renamed in campaign to remove ‘dead, white British guys’” – A campaign is under way in Canada against public schools named after a “whole bunch of dead white guys”, the Telegraph reports.
• “Education bosses have abandoned teachers with concerns about children questioning their gender” – The ‘war on woke’ has escalated after a senior minister accused education officials of “abandoning” teachers who refuse to go along with trans rights dogma, the Mail reports.
• “Voters cool on SNP after trans prison row” – Support for the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon, and Scottish independence has fallen sharply as the party’s crisis over transgender rights deepens, according to the Times.
• “Feminist student societies in universities ‘can exclude trans women’” – Bristol Students’ Union has admitted that “affiliated clubs and societies may lawfully offer single-sex services and be constituted as single-sex associations” under the Equality Act, the Telegraph reports.
• “Backlash grows against woke claims actor’s nomination represents white privilege” – British actress Andrea Riseborough could still win an Oscar despite woke claims her nomination was simply a result of her having “famous white friends”, the Mail reports.
• “Why ‘MeToo’ fallout is wrecking the lives of schoolboys” – The Sunday Times reports that boys are being damaged by “an excessive cultural shift” against them triggered by the #MeToo movement, according to top child experts.
• “Are Americans falling out of love with Harry and Meghan?” – Polling shows a drop in the couple’s popularity since the release of Spare, the Sunday Times reports.
• “The ‘woke warriors’ have triumphed – nothing will replace BP funding for the Royal Opera” – It’s a sad story when opera is under attack from the Arts Council – the very organisation that’s supposed to defend and promote it, writes David Mellor in the Mail.
• “‘Jump the gun’, ‘roll with the punches’ and ‘deadline’ are the latest phrases to be branded offensive” – California has created an ultra-woke guide called ‘Evolving from Violent Language’, the Mail reports.
• “MPs should not feel pressured into backing a bad law banning ‘conversion therapy’” – As with other examples of poorly thought-through legislation, too few MPs have asked what the wider implications might be of banning conversion therapy, says Charles Moore in the Telegraph. If you’re concerned about the impact of the proposed ban on free speech, use the Free Speech Union’s campaigning tool to email your MP about it.
• “Justin Trudeau’s Canada is ground zero for the worst of woke” – From hard drugs to euthanasia, progressive schemes have proved disastrous for us Canadians, says Jane Stannus in the Telegraph.
• “James Joyce’s Ulysses issued with trigger warning after it is deemed ‘offensive’ to modern students” – Academics say Joyce’s classic novel contains “explicit references” to “sexual matters” that some may find “difficult”, according to the Telegraph.
• “Watch Bill Maher on the woke revolution” – Bill Maher delivers a scathing monologue comparing wokeness to Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

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