News Round-Up

• “Labour to whip MPs to vote against grooming gang inquiry” – According to the Sun, Keir Starmer will order his Labour MPs to vote against calls for a new national inquiry into the Asian rape gangs scandal, insisting that the time has passed to ask any more questions.
• “What’s the real reason Labour is reluctant to hold a grooming gangs inquiry?” – Is Jess Phillips reluctant to give the go ahead to an inquiry that might ask difficult and sensitive questions about the identity of the perpetrators? wonders Hardeep Singh in the Spectator.
• “We still don’t know cause of grooming gangs, says scandal reporter” – Andrew Norfolk, the journalist who first exposed the grooming gangs in 2011, tells Fiona Hamilton in the Times that there needs to be proper research into the issues that enable criminals to flourish.
• “The biggest peacetime crime – and cover-up – in British history” – In the Free Press, Dominic Green says the grooming and serial rape of thousands of English girls by men of mostly Pakistani Muslim background over several decades is the biggest peacetime crime in the history of modern Europe.
• “‘Two-tier justice’ after Southport rioters freed but not grandmother who made Facebook post” – The ‘two-tier’ justice debate has been reignited after a grandmother jailed over a Facebook post about the Southport riots was denied parole, while rioters convicted of racial abuse and harassment have been released after serving less than half their sentences, reports Freddie Attenborough for the Free Speech Union.
• “Labour has serious questions to answer” – The public is clamouring for a moment of national recognition for the young victims of the rape gangs who’ve been neglected by the authorities, says the Telegraph in a leading article.
• “‘My grandma might have become a grooming gang victim in present-day Britain’” – Elon Musk has said that his white working-class grandmother might have been abducted by a grooming gang if she had been born in modern Britain, reports the Mail.
• “Elon Musk has ripped the cloak of deceit off one of Britain’s most disgusting scandals” – Starmer’s denunciation of Musk for “spreading lies and misinformation” about Muslim child-rape gangs is an orchestra of discordant duplicity, says Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
• “The grooming gang scandal needs to change our entire worldview” – In the Spectator, Gareth Roberts argues that the grooming gang scandal is a devastating reality that demands a total rethinking of our worldview.
• “Why is Gisèle Pelicot a hero but not the girls of Rochdale?” – Some in the West appear rather selective about which victims of sexual violence they stand alongside, says Gavin Mortimer in the Spectator.
• “Islamic Sunday school teacher caught with IS video was granted asylum in U.K.” – An Islamic Sunday school teacher who was caught with an ISIS video was granted asylum in the U.K. before giving children “lessons in jihad”, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Tommy Robinson releases podcast from prison prompting investigation” – An investigation has begun into how Tommy Robinson was able to record and release a podcast from his prison cell, reports the Telegraph.
• “Jenrick hints at Tory crackdown on immigration from ‘alien cultures’” – Robert Jenrick has hinted at a Tory crackdown on immigration from countries with “alien cultures”, insisting that government should be “very careful about who is coming into this country”, says the Mail.
• “‘Net zero immigration’ is the way to beat Reform, Badenoch told” – Senior Tories have urged Kemi Badenoch to commit to a “net zero immigration” policy to win back support from Reform U.K., reports the Telegraph.
• “‘I want to mend broken fences with Musk’” – Nigel Farage says he wants to “mend any broken fences” with Elon Musk when he flies to the United States for Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month, according to LBC.
• “Earl Spencer’s old prep school blames Labour’s VAT raid for closure” – A prep school attended by Earl Spencer has blamed Labour’s VAT raid for forcing it to close days after the policy came into force, reports the Telegraph.
• “Labour won’t admit what their VAT raid is about: finishing off private schools” – As term starts this week, the sheer vindictiveness of Labour’s tax raid on private schools is becoming increasingly apparent, writes Nigel Farage in the Telegraph.
• “The four-day working week is coming for our schools” – A number of schools are already experimenting with four-day working weeks, but at what cost to pupils and parents? asks Julie Henry in the Telegraph.
• “Borrowing costs have just passed Liz Truss levels” – In the Spectator, Kate Andrews points out that long-term borrowing costs have soared to a 27-year high, surpassing the spike seen under Liz Truss.
• “Reeves ‘on verge of breaking her own fiscal rules’ as borrowing costs surge” – Rachel Reeves is on the brink of breaking her fiscal rules and being forced into another tax raid, economists have warned as borrowing costs surged to the highest level since 1998, reports the Telegraph.
• “Starmer accepted £1k’s worth of Arsenal tickets last month” – According to the Telegraph, Keir Starmer scored £1,000 worth of Arsenal tickets last month, including VIP seats and corporate hospitality, despite the ‘freebies’ row.
• “Labour sinks to lowest approval rating to date just days into 2025” – A poll shows that Labour’s approval ratings are at a new low with over a third of supporters unhappy about their first six months in power, according to GB News.
• “Manhunt launched after schoolboy, 14, stabbed to death on London bus” – Murder detectives are hunting for a knifeman after a 14 year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death on a London bus, reports the Mail.
• “Reeves exposes her own hypocrisy over ‘freezing cold pensioners’” – Pensioners are skipping meals to keep the heating on, but there’s no sign of the empathy once voiced by the Chancellor, notes Joe Wright in the Telegraph.
• “Can the grid cope with many more EV chargers?” – In the Spectator, Ross Clark questions whether the grid can handle the massive influx of electric vehicle chargers, as local authorities plan for hundreds of thousands of new points.
• “North Sea gas production to plunge after Ed Miliband crackdown” – North Sea gas production is forecast to plunge faster than ever as windfall taxes and a Net Zero crackdown by Ed Miliband drive investors away, reports the Telegraph.
• “Why Miliband’s turbine building spree leaves Britain vulnerable to Putin’s missiles” – A growing reliance on offshore wind threatens to expose U.K. energy assets to Russia’s ‘grey zone’ warfare, warns Matt Oliver in the Telegraph.
• “BBC boss wins fight against building of ‘suburban’ homes next to his £4 million farmhouse” – BBC Director General Tim Davie has won an appeal to stop two luxury homes from being built next to his £4 million farmhouse, after claiming they were “too suburban”, reports the Mail.
• “Wildfire burns in Los Angeles as thousands told to flee” – A fast-moving wildfire in a Los Angeles suburb that is home to many Hollywood celebrities has burned buildings and led to panicked evacuation, says the LA Times.
• “The MHRA papers – part four” – On the TTE Substack, Dr. Tom Jefferson and Prof. Carl Heneghan expose the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s murky vaccine approval process.
• “Excess fluoride exposure lowers IQ in children” – A new landmark meta-analysis indicates the need to halt artificial water fluoridation using industrial byproducts, reports Nicolas Hulscher on the Courageous Discourse Substack.
• “The ‘crunchy mom’ influencers embracing MAHA” – American moms are enthused by RFK Jr.’s plans to Make America Healthy Again, writes Josie Ensor in the Times.
• “EU considers legal action against Musk over election interference” – Brussels is considering punishing Elon Musk over his alleged interference in the German elections, reports Politico.
• “There’s something hypocritical about Macron attacking Musk” – Macron’s attack on Musk reeks of hypocrisy – especially considering his own history of foreign meddling, says Gavin Mortimer in the Spectator.
• “Elon Musk isn’t an extremist threat” – In the Spectator, Liam Duffy argues that blaming Musk for extremism risks missing the real issue, undermines freedom of speech and does little to address the deeper societal divides fuelling unrest.
• “Charlie Hebdo massacre, minute by minute” – In the Mail, Stephen Matthews explores how two jihadi brothers and their Jew-hating ISIS friend slaughtered 17 innocent victims in a 3-day terror rampage.
• “Charlie Hebdo publishes ‘laugh at God’ contest on 10th anniversary of terror attack” – Ten years after the attack that decimated the newspaper’s staff, Charlie Hebdo’s anniversary edition celebrates “the desire to laugh” and satire as a source of “optimism”, reports Le Monde.
• “Jean-Marie Le Pen, hard-Right provocateur of French politics who won millions of votes” – The Telegraph remembers Jean-Marie Le Pen, the Right-wing provocateur who made millions feel heard with his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
• “This mass migration disaster will be Trudeau’s legacy” – Justin Trudeau turned the Liberal Party from a pragmatic centre-Left force into one which pushed Canada to the brink, writes Maxime Bernier in the Telegraph.
• “Who will replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s next Prime Minister?” – The Canadian Prime Minister is resigning after nine years in office. The Times explores what comes next.
• “Mark Carney considering run to be Canada’s Prime Minister” – Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, is considering a run to succeed Justin Trudeau and become the Prime Minister of Canada, reports the Mail.
• “Mark Carney is not fit to be Canadian PM” – It takes only a cursory glance at his record as Governor of the Bank of England to work out that Carney’s reputation is completely overblown – and in reality he’s not fit to be Canada’s next Prime Minister, says Matthew Lynn in the Spectator. 
• “Trump refuses to rule out using U.S. military to annex Greenland” – Donald Trump has refused to rule out using the U.S. military to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal while announcing plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, reports the Mail.
• “Facebook just signalled the end of the fact-checker as censor – good riddance” – With Donald Trump’s second inauguration less than two weeks away, Mark Zuckerberg appears desperate to make amends, writes Andrew Orlowski in the Telegraph.
• “Five times Facebook’s fact-checkers got it wrong” – The Telegraph lists some of the missteps that led to the end of Facebook’s prevention measures against fake news.
• “Royal Society of Literature in meltdown over diversity drive” – The Spectator’s Steerpike reports on the diversity row engulfing the Royal Society of Literature.
• “The war on elitism is an attack on excellence” – The Royal Society of Literature’s travails are just the latest case study of our institutions’ self-abasement, says Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
• “How the ‘Be Kind’ brigade exposed their hypocrisy” – The ‘just be nice to everyone’ narrative hides an uncomfortable truth – that women must be careful not to say the wrong thing, writes Julie Bindel in the Telegraph.
• “Black Lives Matter is over. When will our universities notice?” – It’s not 2020 any more. So could someone please tell our academics they can stop wittering about ‘decolonisation’ now? says Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “McDonald’s rolls back DEI programs, ending push for greater diversity” – Four years after launching a push for more diversity in its managerial ranks, McDonald’s is making a U-turn, according to the Guardian.
• “Apple told to drop AI that pushed fake BBC News stories” – Apple is facing fresh calls to withdraw its controversial AI feature that has generated inaccurate news alerts on its latest iPhones, reports the BBC.
• “Lonely this Christmas” – On Substack, Frank Haviland reflects on the cruel realities of divorce and the haunting emptiness of a father’s first Christmas without his children.
• “‘He wasn’t so popular after all’” – Our own Will Jones discusses the disastrous legacy of Justin Trudeau with Julia Harty-Brewer on TalkTV after the Canadian Prime Minister announced his resignation.

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