News Round-Up

• “Covid has broken the social contract between parents and schools” – Persistent school absence has doubled since the end of the pandemic, with many parents feeling it is no longer their responsibility to get their kids to school full time, writes Ed Dorrell in CapX.
• “Russell Brand and why the allegations took so long to surface” – Investigating celebrities accused of sex crimes is fraught with legal risk, says Alexandra Topping in the Observer, explaining why the Russell Brand story took so long to be published.
• “Rishi Sunak draws up plans to slash inheritance tax” – Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to slash inheritance tax, which his officials have dubbed “the most hated tax in Britain”, reports the Telegraph.
• “Grant Shapps: Inheritance tax is ‘punitive and unfair’” – Defence Secretary Grant Shapps gives further hints the Tories are about to scrap inheritance tax, according to the Telegraph.
• “The untold story of life in Britain’s shoplifting capital” – Store owners in Cleveland are living in a “lawless” town where gangland bosses rule the streets and thieves openly sell their stolen goods, reports the Mail.
• “U.K. press slams axing of Facebook News as ‘urgent threat to democracy’” – The U.K. News Media Association has attacked Meta’s decision to scrap the Facebook News service, reports the Financial Times. Is the MSM worried that without Facebook’s help its audiences will decline even faster?
• “Rupert Murdoch was my fiercest competitor” – Rupert Murdoch presided over a culture of total war, writes Conrad Black in UnHerd.
• “Olaf Scholz’s failing coalition is leaking support to the AfD” – Alongside the faltering German economy, a key driver behind the rise of the AfD is its strong anti-immigration stance, argues Lisa Haseldine in the Spectator.
• “BBC denies wasting licence fee payers’ money on dozens of weather forecasters” – The BBC has defended paying around two dozen forecasters to present the weather on local and national news bulletins, reports the Telegraph.
• “New signs show £4 toll for London tunnel drivers from 2025” – Vehicle owners may have to face a £4 charge every time they use the Blackwall or Silvertown tunnels from 2025, according to the Mail.
• “Bristol locals grab Just Stop Oil banners during protest in South West” – Bristol locals clashed with Just Stop Oil protestors, grabbing banners from the activist group as they brought traffic to a standstill in the South West, reports the Mail.
• “Tories: Scottish Government could miss electric car charging target by 12 years” – The Scottish Tories claim that the SNP Government’s key climate target to install 30,000 electric car charging stations could be missed by 12 years, reports the Independent.
• “Hybrid cars may not be the green machines they seem” – New Australian research finds major car brands are making potentially misleading claims about hybrid electric vehicles, says the Mail.
• “London’s e-bikes are out of control” – As electric technology has improved, officials have become concerned at the proliferation of e-bikes in use across Britain’s cities, writes Jake Wallis Simons in the Spectator.
• “Berlin Marathon crashed by eco-mob as race plunged into chaos” – Eco activists from climate group The Last Generation were dragged from the Berlin marathon race after throwing orange paint at runners, reports GB News.
• “Former German TV meteorologist slams ‘climate hysteria’” – German meteorologist Thomas Globig has appeared on the Austrian alt media channel AUF1 to slam talk of a looming climate catastrophe as “a cleverly staged hoax”, according to WUWT.
• “Donald Trump says Rishi Sunak was ‘smart’ to water down key climate pledges” – Donald Trump has described Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on Net Zero as “smart”, reports Sky News.
• “Why did Bill Gates make sudden U-turn on climate doom narrative?” – The Microsoft co-founder has backtracked on ‘climate doom’ prophecies, says ZeroHedge.
• “Bristol University students ban British Army from freshers’ fair” – Left-wing students have banned the Army’s Officers’ Training Corps from hosting a stall at Bristol University’s freshers’ fair, according to the Mail.
• “BT to cut rural jobs in diversity push” – A BT executive has said the telecoms giant’s diversity targets are partly behind its decision to move jobs from rural offices to city centres, reports the Telegraph.
• “Gymnastics Ireland in racism row after girl skipped in medal ceremony” – Gymnastics Ireland is embroiled in a racism row after a video showed a young black competitor being passed over during a medal ceremony as her white peers were each given an award, says the Mail.
• “The fantasy world of Anglo-Afrocentrism” – History is being twisted for political purposes, writes Robert Monmouth in the Critic.
• “Humberside Police bans cops from glitter and face paint at Pride” – Humberside Police has become the first force to publicly ban officers wearing glitter and face paint at Pride events, reports the Mail.
• “An Oxford University society’s concerning report on local churches” – A report by Oxford University’s LGBTQ+ Society on the city’s churches does not augur well for the future of freedom of religion or belief in Britain, writes Julian Mann in Christian Today.
• “Canada’s parents are taking to the streets” – In the Spectator, Jane Stannus gives her take on thousands of Canadian families and supporters gathering in protest against policy and curriculum changes in publicly funded schools, particularly those concerning gender ideology.
• “Trump beating Biden by 20 points among under-35s in election poll” – A new poll has found that young Americans strongly prefer Donald Trump to Joe Biden, according to the Telegraph.
• “How BlackRock conquered the world” – What is BlackRock? Where did this financial behemoth come from? How did it gain such incredible power over the world’s wealth? Find out in this in-depth Corbett Report documentary.
• “Academic opposing critical race theory cancelled over ‘safety’ concern” – On GB News’s Free Speech Nation, Andrew Doyle speaks to academic and writer Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert about being no-platformed from an education conference because her views made delegates feel “unsafe”.

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