News Round-Up

• “There is a frightening defect in the Israel-Hamas ‘deal’ – the terrorists live to fight on” – The freeing of hostages is grounds for rejoicing, but the perpetrators of the October 7th pogrom remain in place to murder again, says Charles Moore in the Telegraph.
• “Israel ceasefire on brink of collapse over hostage fears, says Netanyahu” – The fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas appears to be teetering on the edge of collapse as the terror group still hasn’t released the agreed hostage list, reports the Sun.
• “More than 70 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after clashes with police in London” – More than 70 pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested in Trafalgar Square on suspicion of breaching protest conditions after demonstrators broke through a police line as they marched from a rally in Whitehall, reports the Telegraph.
• “Bridget Phillipson accused by Labour insiders of ‘folding to unions’ on schools” – Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is under pressure from No. 10 amid a growing Labour backlash over her schools reforms, reports the Sun.
• “Three reasons the Government’s attack on academy schools must be resisted at all costs” – Lord Ashcroft makes the case against Labour’s self-sabotaging education Bill.
• “Labour’s plan to torch three decades of education reforms” – Even before the new bill hits the statute book, underperforming schools are realising they have been handed a get out of jail free card, says Julie Henry in the Telegraph.
• “Home-schooling helps us resist indoctrination” – Labour is about to subject home-schooling to a whole new bureaucratic regime overseen by often hostile local authorities, writes David Frost in the Telegraph.
• “Blow for Reeves as rich flee U.K. and she gets snub for Davos slot” – The Mail on Sunday reveals that Rachel Reeves has been snubbed for a main speaking slot in Davos, as it’s reported that millionaires have fled Britain at a rate of one every 45 minutes since the election.
• “Starmer is no more powerful than the King of Legoland” – Starmer may strut the world pretending Britain is still an important player, but he’s no more powerful than the King of Legoland, says Peter Hitchens in the Mail.
• “Keir Starmer humiliated as Labour U-turns on five key policies” – As Labour settles into its first term in Government in 14 years, cracks already seem to be appearing at the seams of its policymaking, says the Express.
• “Why shouldn’t we call the Chancellor ‘Rachel from accounts’?” – Left-wingers think Rachel Reeves’s nickname is sexist, but if anything it exaggerates her economic experience, says Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “Attorney General in row over ‘one-off’ Chagos asylum deal for his former clients” – Lord Hermer has been urged to “come clean” over his role in a Government U-turn that let refugees he had represented come to the U.K. just months after his appointment, reports the Telegraph.
• “Starmer’s hatred of free speech will trigger economic war with the United States” – Elon Musk is closer to public opinion in his ancestral homeland than our own Prime Minister, says Daniel Hannan in the Telegraph.
• “The legal profession has seized control of Britain” – Britain’s policymakers can barely move without a judge tripping them up, says Sam Ashworth-Hayes in the Telegraph.
• “Labour ‘U-turns’ on private school VAT raid for gifted arts students” – Gifted private school students from lower-income families will be spared VAT charges on fees, the Government has said, as campaigners urge the Government to extend the move to all families with incomes under £45,000, the Telegraph reports.
• “Two thirds of parents receive help to pay private school fees” – Two thirds of parents receive help from family, friends or schools to pay fees for independent schools, a study has found, reports the Times.
• “Rayner breached Ministerial code by asking civil servants to help her move house, say Tories” – Deputy PM Angela Rayner “breached the Ministerial code” by asking civil servants to help her move into Admiralty House, the Tories have claimed, according to the Telegraph.
• “Is Badenoch bouncing back?” – Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had a bumpy December, but her fortunes appear to be quietly reversing in the New Year, says Patrick O’Flynn in the Spectator.
• “Kemi needs ideas now, or the Tories are doomed” – The Opposition can’t wait until 2027 to announce policies. That way Reform will usurp it, says James Frayne in the Telegraph.
• “Tory voters are split on whether party should merge with Reform U.K.” – With the Tories trailing behind both Reform and Labour in the polls, Farage is making a determined push to capture voters, leaving Tory voters split on whether they want to merge with his party, the Mail reports.
• “Farage: I could be Prime Minister before Trump leaves office” – Nigel Farage has predicted that he could be Prime Minister before Donald Trump leaves office in four years in a worldwide “political tide” of Right-wing election wins, the Telegraph reports.
• “Covid Inquiry Module 4 Hearings” – The U.K. Medical Freedom Alliance opens its reporting on the Covid Inquiry vaccine module with coverage of the core participants’ opening statements last week.
• “Hundreds in hospital with serious reactions to fat jabs” – New data show cases of fat-jab side-effects soaring over November, with an extra 118 hospitalisations recorded by the MHRA, reports the Mail.
• “A day in the life of blackout Britain: how Net Zero electricity rationing would play out” – The U.K. avoided lights out last week – but an energy nightmare is edging closer to reality, warns Jonathan Leake in the Telegraph.
• “Will blackouts come to Britain?” – In UnHerd, Freddie Sayers is joined by energy analyst Kathryn Porter to break down the National Grid numbers and find out how Net Zero might cause blackouts by 2030.
• “America turns on the Montecito ‘grifters’: Harry and Meghan are left reeling from new claim that Duchess’s bullying sent staff into therapy – just days after couple were branded ‘disaster tourists’” – The backlash against Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in the United States continues to grow, as a scathing new exposé in Vanity Fair highlights new bullying claims against them, reports the Mail.
• “Top 10 revelations from Vanity Fair’s takedown of Harry and Meghan” – The Mail with the highlights of the brutal Vanity Fair hit piece on Duchess Difficult and her devoted Prince.
• “Prime Minister Carney? Canada deserves better than this progressive twerp” – Canadians must be aghast at the prospect of a leader even more smug and incompetent than the current Prime Minister, says the Telegraph‘s Camilla Tominey.
• “Medical students asked to attend ‘race-segregated’ classes funded by the NHS” – University students from King’s College London have been asked to take part in ‘race-segregated’ classes funded by the NHS, the Telegraph reports.
• “Revealed: the gold-plated pensions paid by Britain’s destitute councils” – Generous payouts promised to retired staff are forcing council tax bills higher, with 7,609 ex-council workers enjoying £50,000+ a year pensions and a quarter of all Council Tax receipts already going to the retired, the Telegraph reports.
• “Real ale honouring Sheffield blade maker dropped because it ‘promotes knife crime’” – A real ale that championed a Sheffield blade maker whose clientele included the Royal family has been axed because it “promotes knife crime”, reports the Telegraph.
• “Germany: The Land of Stuck Politics” – Germany is the land of stuck politics and will “cling like grim death to the naïve and insane ideological edifice” of the ‘End of History’ period, writes Eugyppius on his Substack.
• “‘Looking For Growth’ belongs in the tepid bath of managed decline” – “If what you want is endorsed by the Times,” writes J’Accuse, “I would suggest gently that your programme of change does not represent a sufficient break from the orthodoxy for it to be suitable to events as they are.”
• “The civil servant who challenged transgender ideology — and won” – Eleanor Frances sued her department for discrimination when her career ended over her gender-critical views, and she won, reports the Times.
• “Finally some sense on Whitehall gender policy” – Eleanor Frances has won a battle with the Civil Service to accept its guidance was illegal, says Janice Turner in the Times.
• “Oxford Literary Festival faces growing trans backlash” – Get ready for woke foot-stamping now that the Oxford Literary Festival has discovered a backbone and invited gender-critical author Helen Joyce and feminist campaigner Julie Bindel to take part, says Joan Smith in UnHerd.
• “FPÖ bigwig starts firestorm with call for abolishing EU censorship law” – Petra Steger, a leading MEP for the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), has provoked an EU firestorm about censorship and freedom of speech with her calls to abolish the Digital Services Act, reports Brussels Signal.
• “Could drink-spiking scandal see Westminster’s Strangers’ Bar close?” – Could incendiary new claims that an MP tried to use a date rape drug on its premises could finally give the authorities an excuse to shut the historic watering hole for ever, asks the Mail.
• “Nearly two thirds of convicted rapists in Sweden are migrants or second generation immigrants” – Nearly two thirds of convicted rapists in Sweden are migrants or second generation immigrants, a new study has found, the Telegraph reports.
• “‘Targets culture’ meant police ignored grooming gangs, leaked report reveals” – A leaked watchdog reports finds that South Yorkshire police failed to protect girls because a ‘targets culture’ led it to prioritise dealing with vehicle crimes, burglary and robbery, the Telegraph reports.
• “Surge in charity bosses on super-sized salaries” – The Charity Commission has threatened “legal action” if charities give execs inflated paycheques amid a 42% rise in staff earning more than £400,000, including two at the Church of England, the Telegraph reports.
• “Banished from history! Word ‘slave’ is axed to ‘decolonise’ curriculum” – Scotland’s exams body is no longer referring to ‘slaves’ or the ‘slave trade’ in a bid to ‘decolonise’ the curriculum, according to the Mail.
• “Why do awards shows love this woeful, woke musical?” – Emilia Pérez, a musical about a Mexican drug lord’s gender transition, has captivated the Hollywood elite, but it’s dire, says Spiked‘s Lauren Smith. “Aside from the fact that it is unsubtle, unbelievable and downright boring, its pandering to identity politics is unbearable.”
• “You don’t have ADHD – you’re just annoying” – Hilarious rant from Spiked‘s Brendan O’Neill, taking apart the self-serving fashion of rebranding rudeness as mental illness.
• “Free speech is still in peril on campus” – Labour’s watered-down Freedom of Speech Act will do little to tackle the scourge of cancel culture, says Joanna Williams in Spiked.
• “If it wasn’t so sad, it would be quite funny” – On X, Michael A. Arouet posts a funny video comparing the very different achievements of the U.S. and EU.

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