News Round-Up

• “Germans won’t get the Right-wing government they voted for” – It seems like almost any kind of coalition is possible – except the Right-wing government that Germans actually voted for, says Elisabeth Dampier in the Spectator.
• “CDU and SPD condemned to betray their voters in the next Coalition of Failure, as Germans continue to abandon the cartel parties in droves” – On Substack, Eugyppius dissects the aftermath of Germany’s federal elections, predicting a shaky CDU/SPD coalition that’ll only boost AfD’s momentum.
• “Germany is stuck in a centrist trap” – The political extremes in Germany are gaining ground, writes Wolfgang Munchau in UnHerd.
• “France has just proved J.D. Vance was right” – Shutting down conservative TV stations in the name of “diversity” only confirms that the French progressive elite can’t handle dissent, says Gavin Mortimer in the Telegraph.
• “Trump puts Macron in two embarrassing positions at the White House” – Donald Trump appeared to humiliate Emmanuel Macron when he didn’t greet him on his recent arrival at the White House, and perched him by the side of his desk in the Oval Office, reports the Mail.
• “France offers nuclear shield to Europe” – French jet fighters armed with nuclear weapons could be posted to Germany, reveals the Telegraph.
• “A continent led by donkeys” – Europe’s independence from the US will be hard and expensive, warns Ed West on his Substack.
• “Furious Zelensky ‘screamed at Trump’s envoy’ over woeful mineral deal” – Zelensky has torn into Trump’s Treasury Secretary over a proposed deal that would trade Ukraine’s mineral wealth for vague security promises, reports the Mail.
• “BBC Gaza documentary cameraman appears to celebrate October 7th attacks” – BBC cameraman Hatem Rawagh – credited on its controversial Gaza documentary – posted tweets celebrating the October 7th massacre, according to the Telegraph.
• “BBC ‘poured £400,000 into controversial Gaza documentary’” – The row over the BBC’s controversial Gaza documentary has deepened after it emerged the corporation spent £400,000 on its production, reports the Mail.
• “BBC bias is not just inept, it’s becoming sinister” – The BBC’s problems of bias are not just systemic and have now reached the point of being sickening and shameful, says Danny Cohen in the Telegraph.
• “Hamas official admits he would not support October 7th attack now” – A billionaire Hamas official says he would not have supported the October 7th attack against Israel today had he known the destruction it would bring to Gaza, according to the Mail.
• “‘Tories must be willing to disengage from international law’” – In the strongest hint yet that she would be willing to leave the ECHR, Kemi Badenoch will say at a speech today that activists cannot be allowed to use international law to further their agenda through the British courts, reports the Telegraph.
• “Violent burglar avoids deportation over ECHR right to family life” – A violent Lithuanian burglar has avoided deportation after claiming it would breach his right to a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights, says the Telegraph.
• “Trump-Starmer meeting: three things PM will say and two he won’t” – Keir Starmer’s Oval Office meeting with Trump will see him trying to steer the President on to the subjects of Ukraine, defence spending and tariffs, while attempting to avoid free speech, writes Steven Swinford in the Times.
• “Boris Johnson calls for 3% defence spending” – Boris Johnson has called for Britain to increase its defence spending to 3% to help guarantee Europe’s security against Russian aggression, reports the Telegraph.
• “Woke banks are Putin’s best friends” – Ethical investing has threatened our security by removing support from vital defence suppliers, says Andrew Orlowski in the Telegraph.
• “One in 10 peers paid for political advice by companies” – Ninety-one members of the House of Lords have been paid by commercial companies to give political or policy advice, reveals the Guardian.
• “Fury at the police force that refuses to fight crime” – Public fury has erupted over the Met Police’s approach, or lack thereof, to fighting crime in the capital after a streetwear brand marketing stunt saw Gen Z yobs take over police cars, reports the Mail.
• “The British police are deeply hostile to free speech” – We have become almost blasé about the police showing up at someone’s home because they have posted something somewhere that someone else found offensive, says Tom Slater in the Spectator, because it happens so often. But we really shouldn’t be.
• “Starmer’s AI tsar invested in firm given £2.3 million government contract to snoop on social media” – The Government’s AI tsar was an investor in a company awarded £2.3 million of taxpayers’ money to create a platform that trawls social media for “concerning” posts, reports the Telegraph.
• “Jonathan Reynolds apologises for describing himself as a solicitor” – The Business Secretary has apologised for describing himself as a solicitor despite having never finished his training, says the Mail.
• “MP Mike Amesbury is jailed for sucker-punching a constituent” – Former Labour MP Mike Amesbury has been jailed for 10 weeks after admitting to drunkenly “sucker punching” a constituent in the street, reports the Mail.
• “The Runcorn by-election will be Reform’s first real test, and it risks puncturing Farage’s bubble” – Mike Amesbury’s removal is a golden opportunity for Reform to prove they’re on the march in Labour’s heartlands, says William Atkinson in the Telegraph. But expectations are so high, it will need to win the seat.
• “Churchill portraits removed from Parliament after Labour’s victory” – Portraits of Winston Churchill, the Duke of Wellington and more British heroes have been removed from the Houses of Parliament after Labour’s election win last summer, according to GB News.
• “Parliament could be moved onto huge floating barge as MPs debate future” – The House of Commons and Lords could be relocated to a floating barge on the Thames as the cost of repairing the Victorian palace soars, reports the Express.
• “Who runs administrative agencies?” – On Substack, Dean V. Williamson argues that while the ‘Deep State’ might sound plausible, it’s actually political appointees at the top of administrative agencies who truly shape policy.
• “We don’t need ‘postliberalism’” – Real reform in western societies doesn’t call for new solidarity but its opposite: a new spirit of blasphemy – against the state cult of Human Rights, writes Travis Aaroe in the Spectator.
• “Why Ed Miliband is to blame for Britain’s disastrous smart meter rollout” – Britain’s woeful smart meter rollout can be traced back to a decision made by Labour during Ed Miliband’s first stint as Energy Secretary, says Tom Haynes in the Telegraph.
• “Auto manufacturers are getting out of EVs. When will the Government follow?” – Failure to row back on the 2030 target to ban new petrol car sales could crush what remains of the car industry, warns Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph.
• “BP to abandon green energy target and ramp up oil” – BP will this week abandon plans to radically increase green energy generation and instead ramp up oil production, according to This is Money.
• “Chilling warning issued as new coronavirus found in China” – Leading doctors have reacted to the emergence of a new coronavirus, calling its spread to humans an “eventuality”, reports the Mail.  
• “Double standards in COVID-19 vaccine science” – On Substack, Dr Raphael Lataster calls out Jeffrey S. Morris for claiming to be “critical of both sides” on COVID-19 vaccines – while conveniently skipping any real scrutiny of the pro-vaccine narrative.
• “FDA approves Pfizer drugs with inadequate safety and efficacy data, and then regulators work for Pfizer” – On Substack, Vinay Prasad exposes the revolving door of corruption between the FDA and Pfizer, where regulators approve drugs with dodgy safety data and later take up lucrative jobs at the company.
• “Trump says feds who don’t respond to Elon Musk’s email will be fired” – President Trump has backed Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees write a five-point email detailing what they did last week, with those who fail to respond facing termination, says the Mail.
• “Apple to invest $500 billion in US as it scrambles to beat Trump’s China tariffs” – Apple has said it will spend $500 billion and hire 20,000 new staff in the US as the tech giant scrambles to avoid the threat of Trump’s tariffs targeting goods made in China, according to Business Matters.
• “Trans police officers to be allowed to strip-search women” – Police have revived plans to allow transgender officers to strip-search women, reports the Telegraph.
• “It’s time to reform the Gender Recognition Act” – If Labour politicians like the Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar, want women’s spaces to be sacrosanct, then they must eventually address the source of this legal absurdity, writes Iain Macwhirter in the Spectator.
• “Sam Fender is right about white privilege” – Reform’s standing in the opinion polls is what happens when a governing class is seduced by the otherworldly and simplistic fantasies of academia, says Patrick West in the Spectator.
• “Even a ‘literal communist’ like Ash Sarkar knows the Left is in crisis” – After years of demanding conservatives explain who their funders are, woke activists are facing similarly tough questions, notes Brendan O’Neill in the Telegraph.
• “‘The dictator from across the pond, Sir Keir Stalin’” – A deep fake video on X shows Trump and Elon taking turns roasting Starmer.

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