News Round-Up

• “Pensioner subjected to ‘thought crime’ raid to sue Kent Police over arrest” – A retired Special Constable is preparing to sue Kent Police after being wrongfully arrested over a “thought crime” social media post that warned about rising antisemitism, according to GB News.
• “The British state is crushing free speech” – Rather than instructing police officers to act as glorified social media moderators, we should let them spend their time investigating serious crimes, says the Telegraph in a leading article.
• “‘Brexity things’? This is a new low for the thought police” – In Spiked, Fraser Myers explores how a tweet about antisemitism and some anti-woke books landed a pensioner in a police cell.
• “The police have lost it” – We are witnessing the perversion of the judiciary and the creeping ideological capture of the police, warns Patrick West in the Spectator.
• “Britain’s politicians are terrified of a revolt. Free speech crackdowns won’t save them” – Frantic police raids over social media posts hardly speak of a country at ease with itself and its politics, says Sam Ashworth-Hayes in the Telegraph.
• “Police officer faces sack 10 years after shooting gangster dead” – A Scotland Yard firearms officer could be sacked 10 years after shooting dead a gangster during an attempted prison break, reveals the Telegraph.
• “Labour split over Israel trade deal” – The Labour Government is facing a split over its planned trade deal with Israel after the proposal was branded “shameful” by some party supporters, according to the Telegraph.
• “British ICC chief ‘used Gaza to silence sexual assault accuser’” – Karim Khan KC, a British law chief seeking the prosecution of Israel for war crimes, allegedly told the woman he is accused of sexually assaulting that she would be harming Palestinians if she didn’t drop the allegations, reports the Mail.
• “NHS staff told to stop wearing uniforms at pro-Palestinian demonstrations” – NHS staff will be told to stop wearing their work uniforms on marches, as well as to stop displaying pro-Palestinian badges in the workplace, as part of a crackdown on anti-Semitism in the health service, according to the Jerusalem Post.
• “Asylum seekers ‘stole £70,000’ of Hermès bags from Knightsbridge store’” – A gang of asylum seekers living in a hotel raided a high-end Knightsbridge department store, armed with knives, and stole Hermès handbags worth more than £70,000, reports the Mail.
• “Starmer to close ECHR migrant loophole” – Judges’ powers to block deportations are to be curbed as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s bid to bring immigration under control, says the Telegraph.
• “Migrants face 10-year citizenship wait without ‘real contribution’ to Britain” – Starmer’s shake-up of the immigration system will require entrants to prove they benefit society and the economy, reports the Telegraph.
• “Care homes barred from recruiting overseas workers” – Care workers will no longer be recruited from overseas as part of a crackdown on visas for lower-skilled workers, the Home Secretary has told the BBC.
• “Tories warn Farage’s plans for £140 billion of ‘giveaways’ would bankrupt UK” – Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has turned the spotlight on Reform’s economic policies as it emerges as genuine contender for Downing Street, reports the Mail.  
• “Jacob Rees-Mogg ‘would win back old seat if he defected to Reform’” – Reform UK’s number crunchers have calculated that Jacob Rees-Mogg would return to the Commons with a majority of more than 20,000 if he defected to the party ahead of an expected by-election in his old seat, says the Mail.
• “Blue Labour offers bad answers to the wrong questions” – Blue Labour’s combination of stale economics and sinister moralism should be rejected, says Jasper Ostle in the Critic.
• “Jo Malone defends Dubai’s human rights record after relocating” – Jo Malone has defended Dubai’s human rights record after she became “disillusioned” with Britain and relocated to the Middle Eastern Emirate, reports the Telegraph.
• “No degree? No problem. Why employers are choosing non-graduates” – In the Sunday Times, Lucy Tobin highlights how employers are increasingly prioritising practical skills and ambition over university degrees.
• “Head of ITV hits out at compensation delay for Horizon victims” – The head of ITV has demanded faster compensation for the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal after the drama that brought the scandal to national attention picks up a clutch of Baftas, reports the Telegraph.
• “SNP civil servants say order to work in office two days a week ‘an attack on human rights’” – The SNP Government has told its officials they must return to the office for 40% of their working week as part of a drive to improve productivity, says the Telegraph. Those officials aren’t happy.
• “‘I can save Britain from Spain-style blackouts’” – GB News reports that power generated by Icelandic volcanoes could help save Britain from blackouts, under new plans by a UK private equity tycoon.
• “The Graph That Lied” – On YouTube, Gorilla Science exposes the iconic ‘climate’ graph that’s undermining industrial capitalism and taking our freedom.
• “US trade deal will destroy UK’s bioethanol industry, bosses warn” – Industry leaders warn that Britain’s bioethanol industry is on the brink of collapse as a direct result of Britain’s trade deal with President Trump which means no tariffs are payable on ethanol imports from the US, according to the Times.
• “Could the death penalty return?” – If there are more cases of callous mass murder such as those committed by Axel Rudakubana and Salman Abedi, they are bound to lead to renewed demands for bringing back capital punishment, writes Nigel Jones in the Spectator.
• “Why are Labour looking the other way on maternity care?” – The Government is cutting ringfenced funding for maternity services by 97%, reports Theo Clarke in CapX.
• “Letby podcaster in ‘conflict of interest’ row over payments from police” – The co-host of a podcast about Lucy Letby is facing claims of an “appalling conflict of interest” because her company was paid to train detectives involved in the case, reports the Telegraph.
• “50,000 abortions result of ‘relentless push’” – A leading pro-life group has called the 50,000+ abortions in Ireland by February “horrifying” – blaming a relentless push to make abortion the first, not last, resort for pregnant women who don’t want their babies, according to Gript.
• “Let’s not forget the mass casualties of the Covid response” – On Substack, Dr Gary Sidley highlights the hidden toll of Covid fear-mongering and mask mandates.
• “New York assisted suicide Bill is a troubling turn” – New York’s ‘Medical Aid in Dying Act’ sends a message that life ceases to be worth living when it becomes too difficult or nears its end, says John Ketcham in City Journal.
• “Attempt at Leftist cancellation fails abysmally” – In Gript, Theo McDonald recounts how a failed attempt by Left-wing activists to cancel a discussion on crime in Ireland highlights the growing stifling of free speech in universities.
• “The case against an AfD ban” – On Substack, Katja Hoyer argues that banning the AfD would be a betrayal of democratic principles.
• “The humiliation of Friedrich Merz” – Contempt for the electorate is the only thing holding the new German Government together, says Sabine Beppler-Spahl in Spiked.
• “US agrees trade deal with China” – The White House says its negotiators have reached a trade deal with China, according to the Sun.
• “Hamas to release last living American hostage in Gaza” – Hamas has announced that it will release the last living American hostage held in Gaza, following talks with the US on a ceasefire, reports Sky News.
• “Kanye West’s ‘Heil Hitler’ song blocked from streaming platforms” – A new song by rapper Kanye West has been removed from streaming platforms for glorifying Adolf Hitler, according to the Express Tribune.
• “NHS trusts and councils defying Supreme Court trans ruling” – Taxpayer-funded councils and hospitals up and down the country are defying the Supreme Court’s landmark gender decision, reveals the Mail. 
• “‘I begged my bosses not to let trans nurse take part in my operation’” – In the Mail, abuse survivor Karen Danson tells Jenny Johnston how NHS bosses put a biological male’s feelings above her safety – first in the changing room, then in the operating theatre.
• “A whip-smart satire of Oxford’s identity politics” – Thomas Peermohamed’s splendid debut Shibboleth wryly sends up performative student activism – and in the style of a 19th Century novel, writes Nikkitha Bakshani in the Telegraph.
• “British publishing has become unforgivably gutless” – When the author of the last great English novel of the 20th Century is having to crowdfund his latest, something has gone seriously wrong, warns Simon Heffer in the Telegraph.
• “Football’s most-famous born again Christian on faith and football” –In the Mail, Joe Bernstein’s profile of Gavin Peacock reflects on his transformation from Premier League midfielder and BBC pundit to Canadian pastor.
• “Why Reddit is no longer needed” – When it comes to persuasion, AI trumps Redditors, says Ubersoy in Aporia.
• “AI of the beholder” – Instead of destroying the arts, artificial intelligence will redeem them, predicts Rina Furano in the Critic.
• “Emmanuel Macron caught with cocaine?” – French media is shutting down rumours on social media that Emmanuel Macron was caught by reporters with a bag of cocaine during a train trip to Ukraine. Watch the video and decide for yourself.

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