News Round-Up

• “Hancock accused of wanting to decide who lived or died in the pandemic” – Matt Hancock argued that he, rather than medical professionals, should be the one to decide who lived or died if the NHS was overwhelmed, writes Isabel Hardman in the Spectator.
• “The Covid Inquiry isn’t asking the only lockdown question that really matters” – We are not going to learn anything valuable from the Covid Inquiry’s so-called investigations, laments Lord Frost in the Telegraph.
• “Covid Inquiry should examine if lockdown was worth it” – The Covid Inquiry is devolving into a blame game and sidestepping the crucial question: Were the three lockdowns imposed by the Government either effective or morally justifiable, writes Stephen Glover in the Mail.
• “We needed a Covid inquiry – but this isn’t it” – The Covid Inquiry should be to establish which parts of the Government’s pandemic response worked, which parts didn’t and what to do next time. Instead, it is a farce, says Prof. Carl Heneghan in the Spectator.
• “We’re still recovering from lockdown’s impact on children” – The idea that no matter how bad things are, children should always go to school, seems irrevocably compromised by lockdown, writes Michael Simmons in the Spectator.
• “What the U.K. Government doesn’t want us to know about the WHO Pandemic Treaty and IHR negotiations” – On Substack, UsForThem discusses the lack of transparency surrounding the U.K. Government’s negotiations related to the WHO Pandemic Treaty.
• “ABC blames ‘Republicans’ for infant mortality increases following Covid vaccinations of pregnant moms and babies” – ABC News found a “health expert” who laid the blame for increases in child mortality on Republicans, abortions and the Supreme Court, writes Igor Chudov.
• “U.S. COVID-19 ventilation policy: Made in China?” – The WATN Substack team highlights the lethal role of ventilation in treating COVID-19 after Elon Musk raised it in conversation with Joe Rogan on his recent Spotify podcast.
• “Manga as a messenger: Moderna targets Japanese kids with mRNA comic” – At least Japanese kids have one thing to look forward to: An education publisher has collaborated with Moderna to produce a new manga called Secrets of mRNA, writes Guy Gin on Substack.
• “The absence epidemic has struck – welcome to sick day Britain” – Carrying on at work despite a cold used to be a badge of honour – not anymore, says Tim Sigsworth in the Telegraph.
• “Pro-Palestine activists spark chaos with sit-in at London St Pancras” – Vandals have daubed ‘Gaza’ in red paint across a Holocaust research library in London, amid a string of disturbances around the capital, according to the Mail.
• “Why did the United Nations hand a human rights job to Iran’s ambassador?” – The Social Forum of the UN Human Rights Council is chaired by Ali Bahreini, Iran’s UN ambassador, notes Andrew Tettenborn in the Spectator.
• “Guardian coverage of Hamas terror attacks is so upsetting I’m leaving, says Jewish staff member” – The Guardian’s coverage of the Hamas terror attacks was so “upsetting” a Jewish staff member has said they are planning to leave the organisation, reports the Telegraph.
• “Labour still has an Israel problem” – Keir Starmer, like Israel, must brace for a long war he might not be able to win, writes Tom McTague in UnHerd.
• “Austria to work with U.K. on Rwanda-style plan for asylum seekers” – Austria is seeking to adopt a Rwanda-style deal to deport asylum seekers to a third country, having agreed a deal to work with the U.K. on migration, reports the Guardian.
• “The collapse of New York’s immigration dream” – New York City’s ‘right to shelter’ is swiftly unravelling, writes Nicole Gelinas in UnHerd.
• “Why Australia rejected the ‘Voice to Parliament’” – On Spiked’s The Brendan O’Neill Show, Australian Nick Cater and Brendan O’Neill discuss the Aussie establishment’s meltdown over the ‘Indigenous Voice to Parliament’ referendum, the racism of identity politics and why renewables can’t power the world.
• “Sunak’s AI summit has achieved little on its own” – For Sunak, Britain being at the front of conversations about AI is also about the country’s identity post-Brexit, writes Isabel Hardman in the Spectator.
• “The EU walks back its ruinous proposal to mandate minimum energy efficiency standards for buildings” – ‘Climatism’ is slowly dying, and the only remaining question, is how long it will yet linger and how much damage it will do before it is gone, says Eugyppius on Substack.
• “Shell profits boosted by oil and gas amid green energy losses” – Shell’s profits hit $6.2 billion in the third quarter, driven by rising oil prices, which cancelled out a drop-off in its renewables division where the company posted a $67 million loss, reports the Telegraph.
• “Colorado river flow data disproves ‘climate change warming’ computer model flow reduction claims” – In WUWT, Larry Hamlin highlights a study by climate scientist Dr. Roy Spencer that disproves the narrative that drought, due to climate change, is causing Colorado’s Lake Mead to have less water.
• “Anatomy of a shameful Tory witch hunt” – The story of the ‘reinstatement’ of cancelled Christian councillor King Lawal shows how seedy the Conservative Party’s London centre has become, writes Rev Julian Mann in TCW.
• “Should misgendering be a crime?” – Spiked’s Tom Slater on why we cannot allow the state to police ‘hate’.
• “The BBC’s defence of Little Britain is long overdue” – The BBC’s defence of Little Britain feels like a significant moment, says Ben Lawrence in the Telegraph.
• “Science doesn’t care about your skin colour” – Racial identity politics is stifling the pursuit of truth, argues Alka Sehgal Cuthbert in Spiked.
• “South Park has burst the woke Hollywood bubble” – Disney’s love for dull, race-swapped reboots has finally got a well-deserved kicking, writes Laurie Wastell in Spiked.
• “I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but this is historic Vienna’s new water fountain” – Not the Bee’s Joel Abbott is less than impressed with Vienna’s new fountain.
• “Oh you like Hamas?” – On X, Yaakov Langer has reposted an illuminating video by FactsForPeace, showing that siding with Hamas isn’t easy when you know what they actually stand for…

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