News Round-Up

• “Why Labour bigwigs already wonder if this will be Starmer’s first – and only Christmas – in Downing Street” – Labour MPs have begun to think the unthinkable, says Dan Hodges in the Mail.
• “Should we all be getting just a little bit worried for Sir Keir Starmer?” – The Prime Minister appears to be suffering from PDS – Progressive Derangement Syndrome, says the Telegraph‘s Camillla Tominey. “Characterised by an inability to acknowledge how bad your decision-making has been, the condition is typically fuelled by a moral superiority complex. Famous sufferers include the Archbishop of Canterbury, Kamala Harris and the Duchess of Sussex.”
• “Tory donations exceed Labour’s as Starmer’s popularity plummets” – Conservative donations pulled ahead of Labour’s as confidence collapsed in the Government only a few months after it was elected, says the Telegraph.
• “‘Two-tier’ BBC refuses to play Keir Starmer parody despite airing anti-Thatcher song” – The BBC has been accused of “two-tier broadcasting” following its refusal to play the Keir Starmer parody ‘Freezing This Christmas’ despite airing a song critical of Margaret Thatcher (in 1980), reports the Telegraph.
• “No pensioner should ever vote Labour again” – The palpable sense of betrayal among millions of retirees will not easily be forgotten, says Ros Altmann in the Telegraph.
• “Farage ‘hasn’t the faintest idea’ how to manage the economy, says Reeves” – The Chancellor has claimed the Reform leader “hasn’t a clue” how to tackle the cost of living crisis as she refused to apologise for her tax raids, reports the Telegraph.
• “Rachel Reeves told to halt diversity drive that will cost City £1 billion” – Tory front benchers have written to the Chancellor objecting to regulations which will force firms to collect data on inclusion, the Telegraph reports.
• “Councils revolt over Labour’s tax raid on farmers” – In recent weeks, almost two dozen councils have passed motions calling on the Chancellor and Environment Secretary to axe the ‘tractor tax’ measure, which they say is an “assault” on the countryside, reports the Telegraph.
• “Who is the Magdeburg attack suspect? A Saudi doctor and ‘critic of Islam’” – Identified by local media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, the man suspected of driving into a crowd of shoppers in Germany is a psychiatrist and Muslim apostate, says the Times.
• “Germany was warned by Saudi Arabia over Christmas market killer” – Saudi Arabia says it repeatedly warned the German Government about the extremist views of the man who drove a car into a ­Christmas market killing at least five people, including a nine-year-old, and injuring hundreds more, reports the Times.
• “Magdeburg Christmas Market Attack” – Eugyppius on the terror attack.
• “Magdeburg suspect prompts more questions than answers” – In UnHerd, international relations expert Ralph Schoellhammer says troubling questions remain about the Christmas market attacker: “While the Magdeburg attack might not fit the usual pattern of an Islamist terror attack, it also doesn’t match the behaviour of a Right-wing extremist.”
• “Net Zero ‘grocery tax’ to push up shopping bills by £1.4 billion” – A new ‘grocery tax’ designed to achieve the Government’s Net Zero targets will push up household shopping bills by up to £1.4 billion a year, the Telegraph reports.
• “Ed Miliband’s Net Zero mania isn’t just a threat to energy security. It’s making us so reliant on China, he’s now a threat to national security” – The Energy Secretary justifies his dash to decarbonise the electricity grid by claiming it will free us from dependence on the fossil fuels of foreign dictators, notes Andrew Neil in the Mail. But it’s making us dangerously reliant on China.
• “Should I become Lord Young of Loftus Road?” – In the Spectator, Toby wonders if he’ll ever achieve as much as his father, a pillar of the Left-wing establishment who was also made a life peer in his early 60s.
• “Tories must truly have a death wish if they want Kemi Badenoch to fail” – Troubling times need serious leaders. Kemi can be that, but only if the sniping ends and the party unites behind her, says Janet Daley in the Telegraph.
• “The Trump effect will benefit Farage – and cost the Tories” – When in power, the Tories didn’t sort out illegal immigration, reduce legal immigration or cut the tax burden, and with Trump heading to the White House they’re paying the price, says Patrick O’Flynn in the Spectator.
• “Trump appoints British TV producer as his special envoy to the U.K.” – Donald Trump has appointed British TV Producer Mark Burnett, who worked with him after creating the U.S. series The Apprentice, as his special envoy to the U.K.
• “Robby Starbuck: the capitalist engaged in a ‘war on woke’” – The Times profiles the 35 year-old American activist who has forced a string of major companies to abandon diversity initiatives after threatening boycotts.
• “Academic freedom needs legal safeguards” – Violations of academic freedom are endangering the progress of knowledge and the pursuit of truth, says Abhishek Saha in the Critic.
• “Francis Fukuyama on the World in 2025” – In a Substack tour d’horizon, Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama discuss the fall of Assad, the rise of China, the crisis in Europe and what awaits the United States under Trump.
• “Who is the worst political commentator?” – The deadline for the prestigious ‘Most Odious Political Commentator of the Year’ award is approaching, says Rod Liddle in the Spectator. “Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart’s joint bid is so far out in front of the pack, that the result is surely a foregone conclusion. But this should not deter us from running through some of the other noble contenders.”
• “Telegraph sale in limbo as Ministers weigh up whether to intervene” – The Redbird IMI deadline for exclusive talks with Dovid Efune has expired as the funders baulk at the price tag and the Government decides whether to intervene, reports the Times.
• “Is the Kursk operation still worth the cost?” – As Ukrainian soldiers question the value of holding a fragment of Russian territory over defending their own homeland, the reality of their situation looms large, says Svitlana Morenets in the Spectator.
• “In 2024, our insane asylum rules became impossible to ignore” – The ‘human rights’ of foreign criminals are routinely prioritised over the safety of law-abiding people, says Rakib Ehsan in Spiked.
• “A food apocalypse is coming” – There’s no plan to feed Britain in a crisis, warns James Rebanks in UnHerd.

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