News Round-Up

• “Unmasked: the Chinese ‘spy’ who grew close to Prince Andrew” – An alleged Chinese spy who became friends with Prince Andrew and mixed with some of the most powerful figures in the land has been named as Yang Tengbo, reports the Mail.
• “How Chinese ‘spy’ wove web of influence through the British establishment” – Yang Tengbo used his ties to British elites to weave a web of influence for China, writes Connor Stringer in the Telegraph.
• “‘Spy’ founded Prince Andrew’s Chinese money-making scheme” – Pressure is mounting on the Duke of York to reveal his funding source after an alleged Chinese spy was linked to his money-making venture in China, reports the Telegraph.
• “Labour accused of trampling democracy with forced council mergers” – Labour has been accused of trampling on local democracy after telling local councils to merge as part of a major devolution drive, says the Mail.
• “Reeves’ inheritance tax raid ‘to cost more than it makes’” – New analysis shows that Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tax raid on family businesses and farms will backfire by costing the Treasury over £1 billion more than it makes, according to GB News.
• “Labour’s attack on private schools is simple class envy” – In a leading article, the Telegraph slams Labour’s tax raid on private schools as a reckless policy that harms the very people the country can’t afford to lose.
• “Flat taxes are ‘very attractive’, says Badenoch” – Kemi Badenoch says that introducing a flat rate of tax for businesses and individuals is a “very attractive” proposition, according to the Mail.
• “The long-awaited victory for the Right has finally come. Rejoice!” – Britain is now the outpost of an ideology being swept away everywhere. No one is listening to a broken Left, says Tim Stanley in the Telegraph.
• “Nigel Farage refuses to take Parliament’s anti-bullying training” – Farage’s Reform U.K. appears to be split over anti-bullying training for MPs, after the party leader shunned the “woke” programme, but his four fellow MPs took part, reports the Mail.
• “Ed Miliband’s solar farm building spree will ruin our countryside for ever” – Net Zero dogma will cost jobs, drive up our bills and damage the economy, warns Richard Tice in the Telegraph.
• “BBC accused of ‘bullying pensioners’ after threatening to check licence fees on Christmas Day” – The BBC has been accused of “bullying pensioners” through “thuggish” tactics after threatening to check OAPs’ TV licences on Christmas Day, reports GB News.
• “Universities are churning out brainless frauds” – Degrees are being debased by allowing students to use Chat GPT to write their essays, says Andrew Orlowski in the Telegraph.
• “Calls for Archbishop of York to resign over abuse case failings” – The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell is facing calls to resign over his handling of a sexual abuse case, just days before he takes temporary charge of the Church of England, reports the BBC.
• “Justin Trudeau ‘is on brink of resigning’ as his Government crumbles” – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering his options as leader, sources tell CTV News, after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland revealed she will quit the Cabinet.
• “Donald Trump may just have toppled Justin Trudeau’s Government” – In the Telegraph, Michael Taube reveals how Canadian Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland’s resignation, sparked by her clash with Trudeau over Trump’s looming tariffs, may have just delivered the final nail in Trudeau’s political coffin.
• “What the resignation of Justin Trudeau’s deputy means for Canada” – Chrystia Freeland’s resignation delivers a significant blow to Trudeau, underscoring a sharp split over Canada’s direction as the embattled leader faces mounting instability, writes Josie Ensor in the Times.
• “Putin says West has pushed him to his ‘red lines’” – Putin has accused the West of pushing Russia to its “red lines” and made chilling threats to lift restrictions on Russian missile deployment, reports the Mail.
• “How Ireland declared diplomatic war on Israel” – From the President downwards, there has been a hostility to Israel that is genuinely unprecedented in Irish political life, notes Ian O’Doherty in the Spectator.
• “Scholz branded a ‘failure’ as Germany’s Government collapses” – Germany is facing elections in February following the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s Government, reports the Telegraph.
• “Feds know what drones are but are too scared to tell us, senator says” – Sen. Jon Bramnick is calling for a state of emergency, claiming the U.S. Government knows what the mystery drones are but is too afraid to reveal it, according to the Mail.
• “Kamala’s participation trophy?” – On Substack, Thomas Buckley talks down Kamala Harris’s chances for California governor, arguing her weak record and poor campaigning could lead to another costly failure.
• “Bosses are delighted if you quit rather than return to the office” – Some employees see the push to end home working as a low-cost way of getting rid of workers, says Lucy Burton in the Telegraph.
• “(Heart)Breaking: Rhys Hoole suddenly injured after COVID-19 vaccine” – As you enjoy the festive season, spare a thought for those harmed by COVID-19 vaccines and mandates, says Dr. Raphael Lataster on his Substack.
• “Pfizer mRNA ‘vaccinated’ children significantly more likely to get COVID-19 than unvaccinated peers” – A new study finds that Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 “vaccinated” children are 159% more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 and 257% more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 than their unvaccinated peers, writes Nicolas Hulscher on the Courageous Discourse Substack.
• “‘We will examine connection between vaccines and autism’” – Trump has announced that his incoming administration will examine claims of a connection between vaccines and autism, reports the Times.
• “RFK Jr. and the Samoan measles outbreak” – Painting RFK Jr. as an anti-vaxxer is a transparent facade, says David Marks on Dr. Robert W. Malone’s Substack.
• “Letters from America” – On the TTE Substack, Dr. Tom Jefferson and Prof. Carl Heneghan expose how lobbying and misinformation replaced evidence-based policy during the pandemic.
• “The BBC’s attacks on Steven Bartlett reek of hypocrisy” – The Beeb’s commitment to trans ideology has turned it into a superspreader of health misinformation, says Lauren Smith in Spiked.
• “How British firms were captured by gender ideology” – The cult of equity, diversity and inclusion has taken over many companies – but the consumer backlash is forcing a rethink, writes Sanchez Manning in the Telegraph.
• “Labour’s quiet plan to ‘decolonise’ street names proves the culture wars aren’t over” – The previous government’s plans to prevent activists rewriting history without public consent have been scrapped, reports Lara Brown in the Telegraph.
• “Winter Pride event called off after threat of legal action” – A Winter Pride event has been called off after a campaign body threatened legal action against the organisers if they banned a woman with gender critical beliefs from attending, reports Nation Cymru.
• “Card Factory forced to defend white male chairman in diversity row” – Card Factory has reappointed its executive chair Paul Moody, despite votes cast against his reappointment over a lack of diversity on its board, says Retail Gazette.
• “No whites allowed” – In the New Conservative, Peter Harris slams the Environment Agency’s racially exclusive internship programme.
• “How the Left fell to authoritarianism” – Luke Conway’s Liberal Bullies gets to the heart of what turned today’s progressives into tyrants, writes Patrick West in Spiked.
• “Farewell, GB News!” – On his Substack, Andrew Doyle bids farewell to GB News after three and a half years hosting Free Speech Nation.
• “Trump says White House knows what drones are” – Michael Shellenberger runs down what we know about the drones sighted in the skies of New Jersey on X.

If you have any tips for inclusion in the round-up, email us here.