News Round-Up

• “MP investigated by Police Scotland under new hate crime law” – Neale Hanvey, an Alba Party MP, has been reported for a ‘hate crime’ by a trans activist over something he said on X on April 1st, according to the Times.
• “Police Scotland criticised over mistake in new hate crime training” – There’s been yet another balls-up by Police Scotland in connection with the new Hate Crime Act, reports the Telegraph.
• “J.K. Rowling likens trans post critics to ‘those who hushed up paedophile priests’” – The Harry Potter author compares those who refuse to acknowledge that trans sex offenders are men to people who protected paedophile priests, says the Telegraph.
• “J.K. Rowling’s victory over Humza Yousaf’s hate crime laws is a victory for all women” – The author humiliated the SNP with a lesson in solidarity, sisterhood and the simple but incendiary power of saying no, writes Suzanne Moore in the Telegraph.
• “J.K. Rowling Is Right to Protest Hate-Speech Laws” – In the Wall St Journal, Jacob Mchangama says Sctoland’s new hate crime laws will harm the very people they’re intended to protect.
• “Police Scotland hate crime shambles as Murdo Fraser’s details not held say force” – The over-recording of ‘non-crime hate incidents’, as well as the Hate Crime Act, has caused chaos amongst the police service in Scotland, says the Express, with Murdo Fraser MSP calling out ‘political bias’ after Humza Yousaf dodged an NCHI but one was recorded against him.
• “How to fight misinformation without censorship” – Taiwan’s approach to tackling ‘misinformation’ puts other countries to shame, says Jacob Mchangama in Persuasion.
• “Government-funded NGOs, linked to Nato, are interfering in European elections” – Correctiv and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue are military and intelligence front groups spreading disinformation about German farmers and politicians, according to Gregor Baszak and Michael Shellenberger in Public.
• “On the brave new Post-Liberal Political Order of the West, its nature and its prospects” – In his latest Substack post, the peerless Eugyppius discusses Germany’s new, Post-Liberal Political Order (PLPO).
• “Patronising sentencing guidelines make a joke of equality before the law” – Our justice system must be accountable to the public it serves or it risks undermining the fight against crime, says Esther McVey in the Telegraph.
• “It would be insane for us to ban arms sales to Israel” – In his Daily Mail column, Boris says the proposal to ban arms sales to Israel is an example of Western civilisation’s death wish.
• “Politicians, not lawyers, must decide our policy on Israel in the interests of Western security” – An open letter from the legal profession calling for a halt to arms sales to Israel fails to grasp that there are times when the defence of civilisation depends on the use of lethal force, says Charles Moore in his Telegraph column.
• “Keir Starmer and Lindsay Hoyle face inquiry over Gaza ceasefire vote” – Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the Commons, is backing a motion by rival MPs to refer claims of coercion by the Labour leader to the Privileges Committee, says the Times.
• “France’s schools are succumbing to the Islamist threat” – Few teachers, his wife included, feel the French state will protect them from Islamists in the classroom, writes Gavin Mortimer in the Spectator.
• “Electric cars are out and petrol is in, just as it should be” – The proportion of car sales made up by EVs is falling fast, points out Ross Clark in the Telegraph. Turns out, no one wants to buy one of these green white elephants.
• “Now scientists say wearing jeans is bad for the environment” – ‘Scientists’ have warn that even a simple pair of jeans could be as bad for the environment as driving 6.4 miles in a car every time you wear them, says the Mail.
• “Strasbourg court could rule that governments have to protect people from climate change” – The European Court of Human Rights is about to rule in three climate-related cases that could make it easier for green activists to sue states for not doing enough to protect them from the harmful effects of climate change, according to the Telegraph.
• “Apple axes 600 jobs after giving up on electric cars” – The tech giant makes its first redundancies since the pandemic in a pivot away from electric vehicles, reports the Telegraph.
• “Eco-zealot co-founder of Extinction Rebellion avoids jail” – Roger Hallam and other eco-activists tried to close Heathrow in September 2019 by flying drones into restricted airspace, but avoided jail sentences, reports the Mail. Of course they did.
• “Christian social worker has job withdrawn because LGBT patients ‘might kill themselves’” – Rev. Felix Ngole had a job offer withdrawn by a Stonewall-backed NHS provider because of his views on homosexuality, an employment tribunal hears, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘Fragile’ councillors can hold up cards to leave meetings for mental-health reasons” – Norfolk Council has introduced a new policy, whereby councillors can hold up cards asking if they can leave meetings, after a Green councillor suffered a “psychiatric emergency”, reports the Telegraph.
• “FGM and sex reassignment surgery are two sides of the same coin” – One form of genital mutilation inflicted on girls is illegal, the other is provided by the NHS, says Laura Dodsworth on her Substack, The Free Mind.
• “Primary school teachers ‘hiding social transitioning’ from parents” – Some schools in Devon and Cornwall are allowing children to wear breast binders, contrary to the Government’s new trans guidance (which is still being consulted about), reports the Times.
• “Trans ideology is as pervasive as ever – our children are the first victims” – We need hard laws to safeguard school pupils, not mere guidance which teachers can seemingly ignore, says Camilla Tominey in her Telegraph column.
• “True blue Tories ‘banned from standing in the general election’” – No 10 has been accused of purging “high-quality” Right-wing candidates with traditional Conservative values to ensure the Party is dominated by centrists, reports the Telegraph.
• “Even a young Margaret Thatcher wouldn’t get on the candidate list in today’s Tory Party” – Allison Pearson comments on the sorry state of affairs in the Conservative Party when it comes to candidate selection in her Telegraph column.
• “Rishi Sunak bowled out by a child at the Oval” – The Prime Minister visited a schools programme at the Oval after he promised £35 million in funding for grassroots and state school cricket – and was bowled out by a child, reports the Telegraph.
• “ONS staff vote to strike over demand to work two days in office” – ONS staff are so cross about being forced to actually come into the office for two days a week they’re threatening to strike, says the Times.
• “Garrick Club grandees ‘moving towards’ allowing women to join” – The Garrick’s governing committee has endorsed an opinion by Lord Pannick KC that the rules don’t need to be changed to admit women. That means if a simply majority of the members ratify that position, women will now be admitted, reports the Times.
• “Michael Gove admits ‘moral cowardice’ over Brexit on George Osborne’s podcast” – The Levelling Up Secretary has told George Osborne that he didn’t intend to deceive David Cameron, then Prime Minister, when he told him he wouldn’t actively campaign for Brexit, but admits to “moral cowardice” nevertheless, according to the Times.
• “EU commissioner ‘grandstanding’ for saying ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’” – Margaritis Schinas, a Vice-President of the European Commission, said Gibraltar is Spanish at a breakfast briefing yesterday in Seville, reports the Mail.
• “Weight loss jabs like Ozempic linked to 20 deaths in Britain” – Health chiefs tasked with policing the safety of the weight-loss jabs admit there is “a suspicion” they may be to blame for 20 deaths, according to the Mail.
• “Greg James issues apology over Roald Dahl Twits follow-up video” – Radio 1 DJ Greg James and his former newsreader Chris Smith have apologised for referring to a cartoon character in their new book with a glass eye as “disgusting” after a backlash from blindness charities, reports the Mail.
• “The snowman, white. Santa Clause’s beard, white. Every petal on the daisy, white.” – A video of Humza Yousaf denouncing ‘whiteness’. But don’t report him to Police Scotland for a ‘hate crime’ – it’s a parody.

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