News Round-Up

• “Trump has shown tariff diplomacy works – we should follow his example” – In the Telegraph, Matthew Lynn urges Europe to ditch its timidity and embrace Trump’s bold, proven “tariff diplomacy” to make countries take back their illegal migrants.
• “If Trump succeeds in reinventing government, expect his plans to be the global blueprint” – In the Telegraph, Simon Case suggests that if Trump, aided by Musk, succeeds in reshaping U.S. government, his bold methods could set a global precedent.
• “Fake white guilt drove decades-long DEI mania” – On the Public Substack, Michael Shellenberger and Alex Gutentag explain why America took a disastrous wrong turn in the past 15 years, embracing an ideology of victimhood and rejecting meritocracy.
• “Navy rebrands HMS Agincourt to appease French” – In the Spectator, Steerpike reveals that Ministry of Defence officials have approved a Royal Navy request to change the name of HMS Agincourt to avoid offending the French.
• “Public turns on Labour over economic downturn” – According to a new Ipsos survey, the public has turned on Labour after Rachel Reeves’s record tax raid triggered an economic downturn, reports the Telegraph.
• “Britain is on track for a ‘Reeves recession’” – A net 22% of private sector companies expect their output to decline between now and April, writes Matthew Lynn in the Spectator.
• “Bill will leave children ‘spending longer in failing schools’” – The Children’s Commissioner has launched a scathing attack on Labour’s plans to reform England’s school system, accusing ministers of “legislating against the things we know work”, reports the Times.
• “‘I’m fighting for international law’” – In an interview with Sienna Rodgers for PoliticsHome, Attorney General Lord Hermer declares he’s ready for “a fight” with critics of international law.
• “Attorney General admits he has recused himself from giving government advice” – The Attorney General has admitted that he has at times had to recuse himself from giving advice to the Government because of potential conflicts of interest, reports the Standard.
• “Attorney General argued that member of ‘sadistic’ militia should be granted asylum in U.K.” – In 2012, Lord Hermer fought for a former member of the “wanton, sadistic and brutal” Zanu PF youth militia to be granted asylum in the U.K., according to the Telegraph.
• “Ed Miliband poised to miss 2030 Net Zero targets” – A projected shortfall in wind and solar farms could prevent Britain from reaching its 95% renewable goal, reports the Telegraph.
• “Labour’s war on motorists ‘the tip of the iceberg’” – Drivers have joined the long list of Britons who feel let down by Starmer, writes Joe Wright in the Telegraph.
• “Council pushes for monthly bin collections ‘to boost recycling’” – Bristol’s Green council may switch to monthly bin collections, aiming to save £2.3 million and boost recycling, reports the Mail.
• “The cities that will be ‘submerged by global warming’” – Scientists from Nanyang Technological University have predicted that global sea levels could rise by a staggering 6.2 feet by 2100 if carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase, says the Mail. Arrant nonsense, of course.
• “Left-wing activists who want to shut down Musk’s X handed taxpayer cash” – Left-wing activists who want to shut down the social media platform X have been handed money by taxpayer-funded charities, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Almost half of young people no longer drink alcohol” – Nearly half of young people no longer drink alcohol as health concerns, the growing Muslim population and “abstinence influencers” change Britain’s relationship with booze, according to the Times.
• “The process of the Assisted Dying bill is beginning to ring alarm bells” – In the Telegraph, Nick Timothy warns that Kim Leadbeater’s push for her Assisted Dying Bill raises serious concerns about the integrity of the legislative process.
• “The corporate takeover of Theatre Westminster” – On Substack, Thinking Coalition exposes the corporate capture of democracy through the 2021 care home vaccine mandate.
• “Starmer ramps up U.K. World Health Organisation funding as Trump pulls out” – As Trump withdraws U.S. support from the WHO, Guido highlights Starmer ramping up the U.K.’s contributions.
• “Donald Trump is reinstating thousands of members of the military discharged for refusing Covid jabs” – Donald Trump is reinstating military members who were discharged for refusing Covid shots, with back pay – a promise kept, writes Alex Berenson on his Substack.
• “The cure for vaccine skepticism” – In RealClearPolitics, Martin Kulldorff argues that the only way to restore public trust in vaccinations – which has taken a big hit since the lies attending the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine – is to put a well-known vaccine skeptic in charge of the vaccine research agenda.
• “There is no justice in the Gaza hostage deal” – The Gaza hostage deal ensures the cycle of bloodshed will continue, says Jonathan Sacerdoti in the Spectator.
• “Merz bows to pressure, pledges to bring anti-migration legislation to the Bundestag on Friday and hopes to pass it with AfD support” – On Substack, Eugyppius captures the seismic shift in German politics as Friedrich Merz shatters the cordon sanitaire, bringing the AfD-driven Influx Limitation Act to the Bundestag.
• “Germany’s immigration meltdown” – In UnHerd, Wolfgang Munchau warns that Germany’s immigration crisis and collapsing political “firewalls” may not only fuel the rise of the AfD but also unravel the EU.
• “‘The Davos I knew is over’” – In the Spectator, William Cash declares the Davos era over, exposing the World Economic Forum as a circus of elite hypocrisy.
• “Transgender athletes face blanket ban at Olympics” – Biological males identifying as women are increasingly likely to be banned from the female category across Olympic sport after another leading candidate to become IOC President backed a new blanket ban, reports the Telegraph.
• “Bye bye, Viz” – On his Mad World blog, Russell David shares the letter he wrote to Viz, announcing that he was cancelling his 20-year-long subscription because it’s now become part of the centrist dad, liberal-Left, Remainery, PC, metropolitan, globalist, tedious, annoying establishment.
• “The soft bigotry of low expectations” – On Substack, Andrew Doyle attacks Oxford and Cambridge’s proposal to make exams easier for black and brown people.
• “In defence of Peter Hitchens” – On UNN, Dr. Roger Watson defends Peter Hitchens as a fearless journalist, unafraid to challenge accepted narratives – from COVID-19 restrictions to the Axel Rudakubana case.
• “Chinese AI has sparked a $1 trillion panic – and it doesn’t care about free speech” – China’s DeepSeek is ringing alarm bells in the West as it breaks out of China and threatens to challenge America’s AI giants across the rest of the world, writes Matthew Field in the Telegraph.
• “‘What I learnt from playing with China’s new AI’” – In the Spectator, Ross Anderson explores China’s AI breakthrough DeepSeek – stunningly capable, disturbingly cheap and eerily Orwellian.
• “‘Elon was the hammer blow’” – Tech mogul Marc Andreessen explains to Lex Fridman exactly how Elon Musk delivered the hammer blow that ended the U.S. Government’s illegal internet censorship operation.

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