News Round-Up

• “Afghan asylum seeker arrested after car ‘terror attack’ in Munich” – A vehicle in Munich has rammed into pedestrians during a rally in the city, injuring at least 30 people, reports the Express.
• “Germany has lost count of migrant terrorist attacks – the AfD hasn’t” – This latest attack in Germany will ensure that mass migration and border security remain at the top of the electoral campaign agenda, says James Rothwell in the Telegraph.
• “The Munich attack is a parable for everything that’s wrong with European migration policy” – The Government needs to take a far more open approach to the facts on Islamist extremism, migration and crime by nationality, writes Robert Jenrick in the Telegraph.
• “Criminal avoids deportation to Portugal because of child with special needs” – A Portuguese criminal who has been jailed twice in the UK has been spared deportation as his child might have autism, reports GB News.
• “Ghanaian wins right to stay in Britain after staging marriage she did not attend” – A Ghanaian tourist has won her immigration appeal after claiming that her “proxy” marriage to a German citizen living in Britain had lasted long enough for her to qualify to remain in the UK, says the Telegraph.
• “How Prevent failed David Amess” – In the Spectator, David Shipley reveals how Prevent’s staggering incompetence allowed Ali Harbi Ali to slip through the cracks and murder David Amess.
• “Lord Hermer fought for compensation for al-Qaeda chief linked to July 7th bombings” – Lord Hermer sought compensation from the British Government for an al-Qaeda chief linked to the July 7th terror attacks, according to the Telegraph.
• “Starmer’s excuse for Chagos deal ‘blown out the water’ – by his own minister” – Keir Starmer’s national security case for the Chagos Islands deal has been “blown out of the water” by Science Minister Chris Bryant, who admits no international body could shut down British communications in the Indian Ocean, reports the Telegraph.
• “Starmer narrowly avoids recession – but alarms are going off everywhere” – Britain escaped recession by the skin of its teeth in the dying months of 2024, as the economy eked out growth of 0.1% in the face of record tax rises, says Tim Wallace in the Telegraph.
• “Does Rachel Reeves’s industrial strategy even exist?” – It is increasingly hard to avoid the conclusion that Reeves doesn’t want to publish an industrial strategy because she doesn’t have a clue what should be in it, writes Matthew Lynn in the Spectator.
• “Reeves faced expenses probe in previous job” – In the Spectator, Steerpike reports that Rachel Reeves faced an expenses probe at HBOS over lavish spending.
• “Phillipson told Birbalsingh to ‘lower her tone’ in fraught meeting” – According to official minutes, Bridget Phillipson asked Katharine Birbalsingh, England’s most successful headteacher, to “lower her tone” and stop interrupting during a fractious meeting last week, reports the Times.
• “Keir forced to ditch visit after farmers staged noisy tractor protest” – Keir Starmer has been forced to abandon a visit to promote his housing policies after a protest by farmers, says the Sun.
• “Labour could tighten shotgun rules in another red rag to farmers” – Farmers fear they could be stopped from keeping shotguns at home under Government recommendations to overhaul firearms law, reports the Times.
• “Labour minister ran vile WhatsApp group which branded pensioners ‘terrorists’” – A Labour minister formerly ran a WhatsApp group which branded pensioners “terrorists” and hurled abuse at colleagues, reveals the Sun.
• “Introducing Spaff: the Spectator Project Against Frivolous Funding” – The Spectator takes aim at Britain’s wasteful spending culture with Spaff, a bold new initiative exposing the absurdity of taxpayer-funded projects. Although, to be fair to the Daily Sceptic’s Charlotte Gill, she got there first.
• “Trump should offer asylum to Britons fleeing high-tax, authoritarian Britain” – If tens of thousands of young Britons started leaving the UK, the Government might begin to appreciate that it is not just billionaires that hate high taxes, says Douglas Carswell in the Telegraph.
• “When young people ask me if they should flee Britain, this is my answer” – We are talking ourselves into perpetual decline, warns David Frost in the Telegraph. But it’s not too late to recover our Western inheritance.
• “The Times view on the fight for free speech: vibe shift” – Kristie Higgs’s success in her fight against dismissal (with help from the Free Speech Union) heralds a wider backlash against woke oppression says the Times in a leading article.
• “Sticks and stones: the idea that words cause harm and the implications of this for higher education” – In a research paper for the Journal of Further and Higher Education, Jane Fenton and Mark Smith trace how the notion of harmful speech now shapes classroom debate and academic freedom, even though it’s flawed.
• “The crisis of censorship: why should Christians care?” – Trinity Forum London and ADF International invite you to an evening of discussion with Michael Shellenberger, Paul Coleman and others on the crisis of censorship in the West. Sign up while tickets are still available!
• “Work placements can be done from home, say colleges” – Colleges are allowing pupils on vocational courses to work from home during their industry placements to prepare them for “real-life hybrid working”, reports the Mail.
• “Giant gas field discovery could power Britain for a decade” – A giant gas field has been discovered under Lincolnshire that could fuel the UK’s entire energy needs for a decade and generate tens of thousands of jobs, says the Telegraph.
• “Net Zero is making Britain colder, poorer and less productive” – Far from leading the way, Britain is a cautionary tale on the dangers of Net Zero zealotry, warns James Price in City AM.
• “Natural England accused of favouring rewilding over saving farmland” – There are calls for Natural England to be scrapped for being ideologically wedded to the concept of conservation and removing food production from the countryside, reports the Telegraph.
• “China’s wind turbine armada is ringing alarm bells at the MoD” – Ed Miliband’s reliance on Beijing for green tech is raising national security fears, writes Jonathan Leake in the Telegraph.
• “Trump’s plastic straw restoration is genius” – Ending the tyranny of soggy paper straws will be welcomed by consumers – and might also help the planet, says Jill Kirby in the Telegraph.
• “Hamas backs down over hostage deal threat” – In a major U-turn, Hamas says that it will continue with the Israeli hostage deal as planned, according to LBC.
• “Ukraine fought hard, but there is now no chance of them taking back their country” – Europe must admit to itself that it was too weak to come to Ukraine’s aid alone, says Richard Kemp in the Telegraph.
• “Trump’s Ukraine peace talks have echoes of Nazi appeasement” – Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warns that Trump’s talks with Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine have echoes of appeasement, according to the Standard.
• “Australian nurses suspended after threatening to kill Israeli patients” – An Australian hospital is examining patient records after two nurses claimed online that they would kill Israelis rather than treat them, reports the Mail.
• “American strong gods” – On Substack, NS Lyons ruminates on Trump and the end of the Long 20th Century.
• “Pride in Britain? It’s history” – Within 20 years we have managed to halve our sense of national self-worth, says Douglas Murray in the Spectator.
• “What Gen Z gets wrong about ‘racist’ Britain” – In the Spectator, Patrick West argues that Gen Z’s belief in a “racist” Britain isn’t based on reality but on a decade of woke indoctrination.
• “State of contempt” – At what point do people start getting as mad as hell? wonders Dr David McGrogan on his Substack.
• “Simon Schama wants you to shut up” – Story of Us, Simon Schama’s new three-part documentary, is a futile attempt to unite the nation under the banner of BBC-approved orthodoxies, says Bradley Strotten in Spiked.
• “Why isn’t it racist to call someone ‘stupid and white’?” – By Sam Kerr’s strange logic, the penniless white alcoholic in the gutter is more powerful than Beyoncé or Michelle Obama, writes Sam Deacon in the Telegraph.
• “Genetically male trans woman raped young girl, court told” – An alleged sex offender who was born male but identifies as a woman has appeared in court accused of raping a young girl, reports the Mail.
• “The dark money behind the trans movement” – In the European Conservative, Jennifer Bilek exposes the billionaires bankrolling trans ideology, revealing it as a top-down social engineering project.
• “The word she’s struggling for is ‘Yes’” – On X, Andrew Doyle pours scorn on Kim Leadbetter’s failure to answer Danny Kruger’s question of whether the assisted suicide bill would allow a person to die to save money for their family.

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