News Round-Up

• “Sex offender avoids deportation because he ‘distrusts authority’” – A convicted Iranian sex offender has avoided deportation because drink and drug use have made him distrust authority, reports the Telegraph.
• “Will Labour back ECHR withdrawal?” – ‘ECHRexit’, like Brexit, looks not only increasingly respectable, but likely to be ultimately successful, says Andrew Tettenborn in the Spectator.
• “Crime has utterly broken the spirit of our nation” – The Government has an obligation to make Britain safer, writes Zak Asgard in the Telegraph.
• “We are paying for the price of crime in the loss of our freedoms” – Facial recognition technology goes too far and is not necessary in capturing criminals, argues Melanie McDonagh in the Telegraph.
• “Farage unveils Sarah Pochin as Reform candidate for Runcorn by-election” – A former magistrate and Cheshire councillor has been named as the Reform candidate for the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, according to the Runcorn & Widnes World.
• “Human rights laws may yet reverse Labour’s private school VAT raid” – If the courts find that the Government’s tax on private schools contravenes the ECHR, Starmer will find it very difficult not to ditch this spiteful policy, says George Trefgarne in the Telegraph.
• “The Employment Rights Bill is morally wrong” – Workplace privileges should be earned, not handed out as automatic entitlements, writes Charles Moore in the Telegraph.
• “How to resolve the modern care dilemma: drop the obsession with GDP” – Resolving the modern care dilemma means putting family at the heart of the economy, says Miriam Cates in Politics Home.
• “Non-Muslims could be victims of Islamophobia under Angela Rayner’s new terms” – People mistakenly identified as Muslims could be victims of Islamophobia under Angela Rayner’s new definition, reports the Telegraph.
• “Condemning Hamas is now a risky business” – There should be absolutely nothing wrong with describing an evil terrorist organisation as “disgusting”, writes Brendan O’Neill in the Telegraph.
• “Who will stand up for Jews today?” – In the Spectator, Jonathan Sacerdoti issues a moral call to action, asking why so few are willing to stand up for Jews facing hatred and brutality.
• “Prime Minister fails to back Heathrow boss” – No.10 refused to say if it had confidence in the Heathrow boss who reportedly went to bed instead of staying up after a blaze knocked out a power substation near the airport, reports the Standard.
• “Of course there should be disagreement in pubs: that’s what they’re for” – In TCW, Sean Walsh warns that the Government’s ‘banter ban’ threatens to turn British pubs from bawdy havens of free speech into state-approved safe spaces for the easily offended.
• “Minister cuts Rachel Reeves adrift over Sabrina Carpenter freebie” – Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has given the Chancellor less than full-hearted backing after Reeves admitted she accepted concert tickets worth £600, according to the Mail.
• “Reform donor Charlie Mullins claims threat to rescind OBE is ‘politically motivated’” – Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins was threatened with being stripped of his OBE over a social post attacking Sadiq Khan, reports the Telegraph.
• “We don’t need ‘happy’ soldiers, we need fit ones” – A proposal for trainees to be given ‘lie-ins’ will only soften our already depleted army, warns Robert Clark in the Telegraph.
• “Cosy climate consensus collapses” – Kemi abandoning the Net Zero 2050 target collapses the fragile Jenga tower of climate and energy policy, says David Turver on his Substack.
• “Will Ed Miliband’s precious Net Zero sound the death knell for his career?” – Ed Milliband and his Blue Peter presenter energy could be the next victim of Rachel Reeves’s cuts, writes Tim Stanley in the Telegraph.
• “Energy bosses at war as Ed Miliband mulls zonal electricity pricing” – Under radical reforms being considered by Ed Miliband, the UK may be split into several different zones with varying electricity prices between them, reports the Mail.
• “Households ‘will be saddled with shoddy heat pumps under Net Zero plans’” – While heat pumps installed in existing homes under grant schemes must be fitted by accredited technicians, that is not the case for new builds, says the Telegraph.
• “JSO activist, 78, moans about ‘insulting’ request in prison” – A 78 year-old grandmother who was imprisoned for joining in a Just Stop Oil protest on the M25 has blasted the conditions of the female prison she spent Christmas in, according to the Mail.
• “Are climate scientists qualified to judge Net Zero?” – There is no scientific answer to climate change policy, writes Stephen Webb in the Spectator.
• “Bird flu detected in British sheep for first time” – The world’s first case of bird flu in sheep has been found in one animal in Yorkshire, reports the BBC.
• “Only Filipinos more reluctant to go into the office than Britons” – Five years on from the first Covid lockdown, workers in the UK are spending two days a week on average in the office — a higher number than they would like, says the Times.
• “How Covid lockdowns ruined your constituency (and the country)” – From long-term sickness to stunted productivity, most of the UK remains heavily impacted by lockdown measures, reports the Telegraph.
• “Be careful what you wish for” – On the TTE Substack, Prof Carl Heneghan and Dr Tom Jefferson explain how workplace mental health policy gets it wrong.
• “Urgent warning over hand wash tainted by potentially deadly bacteria” – Shoppers have been urged to return bottles of a popular hand soap after Government officials warned they could be contaminated with infection-causing bugs, reports the Mail.
• “Why the Trump-Putin bromance could finally topple Iran’s ayatollahs” – Experts tell the Telegraph that Russia and America’s growing closeness – alongside internal discontent in Iran – could spark regime change.
• “Trump cabinet complained about ‘free-loading Europe’ in top secret group chat” – Donald Trump’s cabinet complained about defending “free-loading Europe” in a secret group chat accidentally shared with a reporter, according to the Express.
• “Multiple bombs found inside Tesla showroom in Texas” – Multiple incendiary devices have been found inside a Tesla showroom in Austin, Texas, as nationwide threats against CEO Elon Musk continue, reports the Mail.
• “Elon Musk: the latest folk devil” – Smearing Elon Musk as a ‘Nazi’ is both infantile and historically illiterate, says Andrew Doyle on his Substack.
• “Parents attack CBeebies show over gender-neutral racoon” – Parents have slammed Hey Duggee, an award-winning CBeebies show, for featuring a gender-neutral raccoon and language they call “inappropriate” and “confusing” for kids still learning to talk, reports the Telegraph.
• “Turtle madness” – In TakiMag, Steven Tucker explores the surreal rise of ‘turtlegender’ and other animal identities in public health and education.
• “‘It’s just total hooey’” – On SpectatorTV, Toby slams the Netflix series Adolescence for regurgitating metropolitan liberal groupthink. Watch his full interview here.

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