News Round-Up

• “Farage plots his next move against Badenoch” – Nigel Farage is considering his next steps in his battle with Kemi Badenoch over Reform’s membership numbers, writes Katy Balls in the Spectator.
• “‘Elon Musk is a bloody hero’” – In the Telegraph, Tim Stanley interviews Nigel Farage about why he’s pinning his hopes on Elon Musk and how the Tories have failed to see that the game has changed.
• “If Farage succeeds in destroying the Tories, we are doomed to perpetual Left-wing rule” – In the Telegraph, Annabel Denham argues that while Farage’s Reform is gaining momentum, his quest to obliterate the Tories might doom us to endless Left-wing rule.
• “Living standards will not improve if U.K. follows EU rules, warns Brexit adviser” – A trade expert has warned that Labour’s plans to align with EU standards would “severely constrain” the U.K.’s ability to cut costs for families, reports the Sun.
• “Passengers to be hit by £400 tax hit on family holidays” – Families will be hit with the highest ever tax rates on flights in Labour’s multi-billion-pound raid on holidaymakers, says the Mail.
• “World’s biggest bank shuns U.K. bonds over minimum wage fears” – JP Morgan Asset Management is shunning British debt amid fears that Rachel Reeves has stoked inflation with record increases in the minimum wage and a £40 billion tax raid, reports the Telegraph.
• “Farmers’ anti-inheritance tax adverts on Tube banned by London mayor” – Transport bosses have been accused of “trying to silence” farmers after they banned their anti-inheritance tax adverts from the Tube, says the Mail.
• “For Starmer, the unelected Blob must always rule over the plebs” – In the 177 days since the Labour Government was elected, the PM and his MPs have set up at least 25 quangos – almost one a week, writes Ella Whelan in the Telegraph.
• “The next set of migration figures will be all Starmer’s. He should get to work” – In the Telegraph, Guy Dampier warns that unless Starmer scraps or caps visas for students and low-paid workers, he’ll be left holding the bag on skyrocketing immigration numbers.
• “Gaffe-prone Labour spend £17,000 on media training” – Despite splashing out thousands on media training since July, Starmer’s Labour ministers are still managing to embarrass themselves, says Steerpike in the Spectator.
• “‘The Blob’ caused economy to stagnate, not me” – Liz Truss has accused senior corporate and media executives of being part of the “Blob” that is responsible for the British economy “stagnating”, reports the Times. (Watch the Wall St Journal video in which she says this here.)
• “Why 2025 will see the collapse of the Left” – 2025 could be an especially miserable year for the Left, says Andrew Neil in the Mail.
• “The death throes of the university are upon us” – Mounting financial pressure and a crisis of purpose spell serious trouble for higher education, writes Joanna Williams in Spiked.
• “How can we stop football academy rejects ending up in prison?” – In the Spectator, David Shipley explores the stark reality faced by football academy rejects, revealing how a lack of support and education can push young players towards a life of crime.
• “Leeds condemn fans for singing anti-Palestine song in support of Manor Solomon” – Leeds United have condemned and warned a section of their fans after chants emerged on social media about their Israeli player Manor Solomon hating Palestine, reports the Telegraph.
• “Celtic spark storm among their own fans after ‘Happy Hanukkah’ greeting” – Celtic have sparked a storm among their own fans after wishing Jewish supporters a “Happy Hanukkah”, says the Scottish Sun.
• “We’re being frozen out of British cultural life, say Jewish artists” – Artists, writers and performers claim they are being excluded because they refuse to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocidal, reports the Times.
• “Government disinformation on EVs” – On his climate blog, Paul Homewood exposes the U.K. Government’s misleading narrative on electric vehicles.
• “Why Germany’s wind fiasco is a stark warning for Ed Miliband” – An explosion of renewable capacity is causing chronic bottlenecks and soaring bills in Germany, writes Matt Oliver in the Telegraph.
• “Civil servants to strike after bosses ordered them back to the office” – Thousands of civil servants have voted to strike after bosses at the Land Registry ordered them back to the office for three days a week, reports the Mail.
• “New study finds COVID-19 ‘vaccination’ doubles risk of post-Covid death” – On the Courageous Discourse Substack, Nicolas Hulscher reveals that while COVID-19 vaccines may offer short-term protection, they double the risk of death in the long run.
• “Bird flu may be mutating to become more transmissible to humans, U.S. scientists warn” – A Louisiana woman with the first severe case of bird flu in the U.S. had a mutated form of the disease that may make it more infectious to humans, reports NBC News.
• “Reality bites for Japanese plan to create food from insects” – If you’re hoping to convince the world of the merits of eating insects, it probably doesn’t help to start with school lunches, says Tim Hornyak in the Times.
• “Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, 29, arrested while reporting in Iran” – The Italian Government has confirmed that Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been arrested in Tehran, a day after her podcast on a jailed Iranian comedian was released, according to Sky News.
• “Ghost boats carry piles of decomposing bodies across the Atlantic” – In the Telegraph, Kieran Kelly explores the perilous migration route from Senegal to the Canary Islands.
• “Maga’s uncivil war: Musk and Ramaswamy under fire in ‘culture war’” – In the Times, Keiran Southern reveals the brewing clash between tech moguls Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who advocate for higher levels of skilled immigration, and the Trump-supporting base, who see it as a betrayal of American workers.
• “Convicted terrorist suing Saracen’s Head pubs insists money would go to ‘orphans of Gaza’” – A convicted terrorist who is suing a pub called the Saracen’s Head over its “deeply offensive” name says he will donate any money he wins to “the orphans of Gaza”, reports the Mail.
• “‘Woke’ MoD bosses threaten to strip cross from military cap badge” – The cross is set to be removed from the badge of Army chaplains as part of efforts to make the department more diverse and multicultural, says the Mail.
• “HMRC say you can pronounce name using ‘aitch’ or ‘haitch’ because it ‘respects diversity’” – HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says its name can be pronounced with either an “aitch” or an “haitch” because it respects “diversity” and different accents, according to the Telegraph.
• “How Ireland became the epicentre of woke” – In 2024, Irish elites went out of their way to demonise Israel, bash Trump and push gender nonsense on kids, writes Ian O’Doherty in Spiked.
• “Judge tells court to respect pronouns of transgender rapist” – A California judge has ordered a court to honour the pronouns chosen by a rape-accused prisoner, despite concerns from the DA that the inmate is exploiting legal protections intended for transgender convicts, reports the Mail.
• “Off With Mice and Men” – In the New Conservative, Jack Watson calls out the ditching Of Mice and Men from U.K. school curriculums, arguing it’s a poor excuse for “safeguarding” that stops students from tackling important social issues.
• “The Drenching Arms – part one” – On Substack, Paul Sutton uses Raven – an intellectually frustrated, disillusioned man exiled to a bleak Norfolk seaside town – as a biting metaphor for the crushing absurdities of modern society.
• “‘My part in Twitter’s downfall’” – X no longer seems to have a chokehold on political culture, notes Ian Macwhirter in the Spectator.
• “An AI chatbot told me to murder my bullies” – An AI chatbot, which is being sued over a 14 year-old’s suicide, is instructing teenage users to murder their bullies and carry out school shootings, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Elon’s monster: is anti-woke AI possible?” –In Aporia, James Weitz reveals the challenge of creating ideologically neutral AI, exploring the struggle of Elon Musk’s Grok model with woke biases.
• “The Frank Report Dishonours’ List 2024” – On the Frank Report Substack, Frank Haviland presents his customary list of those most deserving of public contempt in 2024.
• “Iconic performance of the Who playing ‘My Generation’” – Because it’s Christmas, here’s a video of the Who playing ‘My Generation’

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