News Round-Up

• “COP29 signs off $300 billion climate deal after poorer nations stage walk-out” – COP29 struck a last-minute deal, promising at least $300 billion (£240 billion) per year by 2035 for poorer countries to fight global warming, while keeping China’s contributions voluntary, reports the Telegraph.
• “COP29 flops as Starmer makes U.K. cop for the lot” – The Government has committed the U.K. to a potentially damaging 81% emissions cut by 2035, writes David Turver on his Eigen Values Substack.
• “Cabinet minister wriggles over Starmer’s war on welfare” – Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall was involved in a toe-curling exchange on Sky News as she was grilled about Labour’s new welfare crackdown, reports the Mail.
• “Labour’s inheritance tax raid ’will spell the death of farm shops’” – Farm owners across the country continue to voice their anger with Labour over Rachel Reeves’s Autumn budget, with some now claiming they may be forced to shut the doors of their farm shops, says the Mail.
• “Divorced farmers clobbered by extra £100,000 in inheritance tax” – Children of unmarried farmers face paying an extra £100,000 in inheritance tax thanks to Labour’s death duty hike, reports the Telegraph.
• “Germany could teach Reeves a thing or two about inheritance tax” – Britain may be further down the collectivist route than some of our Continental neighbours, says Michael Mosbacher in the Telegraph.
• “Why the petition calling for a new general election matters very much indeed” – Conventional politicians from the centre-Left and centre-Right are about to get blown out of the water by a tidal wave of protest against failed “progressive” ideas, writes Patrick O’Flynn on his Substack. The infamous General Election petition is the first of many such rebellions.
• “Extremists ‘falling between the cracks’ of Home Office strategy” – Home Office officials have been accused of underplaying the threats posed by Islamists in a big review of the Government’s anti-extremism strategy, reports the Times.
• “Dozens of councils to be abolished under biggest reforms in 50 years” – Dozens of councils are set to be abolished, with the aim of saving taxpayers around £3 billion over five years, says the Times.
• “BBC admits it paid for Huw Edwards’s medical treatment after suspension” – The BBC has revealed it footed the bill for Huw Edwards’ medical treatment after his suspension, with costs potentially reaching tens of thousands, according to the Mail.
• “Gran, 72, dies in agony after waiting all night for an ambulance” – A 72 year-old grandma died after waiting all night for an ambulance despite being categorised as high priority, reports the Mail.
• “U.K. needs urgent review of ‘woefully weak’ anti-missile defences” – Ministers are facing calls to order an urgent review of Britain’s “woefully weak” anti-missile defences in the wake of Russia’s use of deadly new hypersonic weapons, says the Mail. 
• “Ukraine has lost more than 40% of land it captured in Russia’s Kursk” – According to a senior military source, Ukraine has lost over 40% of the Kursk territory seized in August as Russian counter-assaults escalate, reports Reuters.
• “Joe Rogan accused of spreading ‘Russian propaganda’ by Klitschko” – Boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko has blasted Joe Rogan for spreading Russian propaganda after the podcast host claimed Biden and Zelensky are trying to spark World War III, says the Mail.
• “Trudeau slammed after seen at Eras Tour while Montreal burned” – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was spotted at a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto, while Montreal descended into chaos with anti-Israel protests sweeping the streets, reports the Mail.
• “Britain’s religious leaders unite against assisted dying in major intervention” – Senior figures representing Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs have warned that the assisted dying Bill will lead to people being pressured into ending their lives to avoid burdening families or the NHS, says the Standard.
• “Justice Secretary says assisted dying law risks the state offering ‘death as a service’” – In a strongly-worded intervention on the assisted dying Bill, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the state should “never offer death as a service”, according to Sky News.
• “‘I’ll bring death pods to Britain if assisted dying law passes’” – The doctor behind the so-called Sarco “death pod” says he will bring his invention to Britain if assisted dying is made legal, reports the Telegraph.
• “‘I’m never going to be a grandmother and I’m grieving my future’” – In the Mail, a mother-of-two reveals how she’s endured sleepless nights over the agonising realisation she will never become a grandmother.
• “Role of Ralph Baric as source of SARS-CoV-2 resurfaces in remarks by Robert Redfield” – On Substack, Dr. Meryl Nass digs into Dr. Robert Redfield’s claim that COVID-19 may have originated in Prof. Ralph Baric’s lab.
• “Trump cabinet picks demonise people with a ‘good education’, says Bill Clinton” – Bill Clinton has accused Trump of demonising people with “a good education” and who “wear ties to work” with his cabinet picks, reports the Telegraph.
• “Inside the Democratic plot to keep Biden in office using harassment” – According to the Mail, Democratic allies of Joe Biden plotted a secret harassment campaign to keep a third-party challenger out of the 2024 election, even as polls showed voters wanted another option and there were concerns about the President’s health.
• “Elon Musk is changing the course of human history” – With a firm ally in the White House, SpaceX could go where Nasa never could, says Lewis Page in the Telegraph.
• “Donald Trump to kick transgender troops out of U.S. military” – Trump is planning an executive order that would lead to the removal of all transgender members of the U.S. military, reports the Times.
• “Trans athlete admits he has advantage over biological women in sports” – Transgender athlete and Army veteran Sara Higdon admits he would have an “advantage” if he were to compete against biological women in sports, according to the Mail.
• “People like Farage are not our core customer, says Jaguar boss” – The boss of Jaguar has defended the legendary British car marque’s dramatic rebrand after critics called a new advert “woke” and pointed out that it doesn’t feature any cars, reports the Mail.
• “Nottingham University accused of ‘attributing inherited guilt’ over slavery links” – An aristocratic dynasty has accused the university that they helped establish of “attributing ‘inherited guilt’” after it released a report linking the family to slavery, says the Times.
• “Are there parallels between the Video Assistant Referee in Premier League football, and the technocratic authoritarianism we are all enduring across the Western world?” – On Substack, Gary Sidley draws a compelling parallel between the joy-sucking, error-prone VAR system in football and the technocratic authoritarianism eroding freedoms in Western society.
• “‘I hate how ludicrously posh my voice sounds on camera’” – In the Telegraph, reluctant reality show star Helena Rees-Mogg shares her thoughts on managing two households, life in front of the camera and her optimism about Kemi Badenoch’s future.
• “Non-Crime Hate Incident reporting craze” – On X, Intel Lady has dropped a satirical news report skewering the latest craze sweeping the nation – Non-Crime Hate Incident reporting.

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