News Round-Up

• “Starmer will go down in history as the U-turn Prime Minister” – The festive spirit seems to have spurred yet another policy reversal from this weak-willed Government, observes Sam Brodbeck in the Telegraph – this time over inheritance tax thresholds for farmers.
• “Starmer’s tax raid killed my father. This U-turn would have saved him” – The son of a farmer who took his own life in fear of Labour’s inheritance tax raid has attacked Sir Keir Starmer after the Government watered down its plans, reports the Mail.
• “Why Starmer finally folded on farmers’ IHT” – Hard truths in a private chat with an NFU leader persuaded the PM that his Chancellor had gone too far, writes Ben Riley-Smith in the Telegraph.
• “Labour must go further and abandon this cruel tax completely” – Political parties should now drop the farmers’ inheritance levy from their next election manifestos, says Tom Bradshaw in the Telegraph.
• “Billionaire Tory donor quits Britain for Switzerland” – The co-founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management, Alan Howard, is the latest billionaire to leave the UK following Labour tax hikes, reports City AM.
• “Built on sand: Labour’s evidence-free rights revolution” – The Employment Rights Act is based on assertion rather than evidence, argues the Rationals Substack.
• “Keir should make Miliband Chancellor” – On the J’accuse Substack, J. Sorel makes the case for making Ed Miliband the next Chancellor.
• “Old non-crime hate incidents must be wiped, Mahmood told” – In the wake of the news that NCHIs are to be scrapped, free speech campaigners have warned Shabana Mahmood that people’s job prospects could still be jeopardised if historic NCHIs remain on their records, reports the Telegraph.
• “The end of ‘non-crime hate incidents’” – The abolition of NCHIs is welcome, but it leaves unanswered how such an authoritarian experiment was ever allowed to take place, writes Andrew Doyle on his Substack.
• “Terrorists plotted to kill Jews in ‘worst attack in British history’” – Two Islamic State-inspired terrorists have been found guilty of plotting “the worst terrorist act in British history” after being caught by an undercover sting, reports Fox News.
• “The Government’s draft definition of ‘Islamophobia’ is not a good thing for Muslims” – The Government has created a blazing arrow aimed directly at Muslims in the form of the new, state-approved definition of ‘anti-Muslim hostility’ that’s about to be rolled out, warns Fiyaz Mughal in the Telegraph.
• “Police drop investigation into Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury ‘death to the IDF’ chants” – An investigation into chants made by punk duo Bob Vylan during a performance at Glastonbury Festival last summer has concluded that no further action will be taken, reports ITV News.
• “Antisemitism campaigners ‘tried to cancel comedian’, judge rules” – A private prosecution brought against comedian Reginald D. Hunter has been quashed by a court after a judge ruled it was an “abusive” bid to get the comedian “cancelled”, says the Mail.
• “A cheerful message of Yuletide tyranny” – Seasonal messaging has been used to normalise petty authoritarianism, argues Dr David McGrogan on his News from Uncibal Substack.
• “Former Met chief demands Apple and Google disable stolen phones” – Ex-Met Police chief Lord Hogan-Howe has called for Apple and Google to disable stolen smartphones, says the Telegraph.
• “Trump bars boss of Starmer-linked charity from entering US” – The Trump administration has banned two Britons from American soil for curbing free speech, reports the Telegraph.
• “Putin’s ‘dear friend’ Xi piles pain on Russia’s economy” – Russia’s growing dependence on China has undermined domestic industries and weakened Moscow’s bargaining power, writes Melissa Lawford in the Telegraph.
• “China ‘preparing to fight and defeat Taiwan by 2027’” – According to a US report, Beijing is preparing to seize Taiwan “by brute force”, says the Telegraph.
• “The Scrooges of 2025” – Billionaires have spent billions on philanthropy – but ignored the disastrous impact their funding of green propaganda has had on poor and working-class people, says John Tierney in City Journal.
• “Peers urge Streeting to scrap puberty blocker trial for children” – A group of peers have urged Wes Streeting to halt an NHS-backed puberty blocker trial, saying it will put children on a pathway of “lifelong medical support”, according to the Times.
• “Why blocking puberty risks real harm to children” – Early clinical protocols on puberty blockers have reshaped global practice despite thin evidence and unresolved long-term risks, warns Zhenya Abbruzzese in the Mail.
• “Stanford led study: at least 20,000 global deaths from Covid jabs” – A new peer-reviewed paper has challenged the claim that the Covid vaccines are safe by estimating significant global mortality, claims Robert Malone on the Malone News Substack.
• “Censorship, cut from USyd, jab mandate case ending, excess deaths study coming” – On Substack, Dr Raphael Lataster says he’s been dropped by the University of Sydney, but is racking up legal wins – with a peer-reviewed excess-deaths study due soon and high hopes for 2026.
• “The BBC ‘superflu’ contradiction” – The BBC’s coverage of this winter’s flu has been lamentable, write Dr Tom Jefferson and Prof Carl Heneghan on their Trust the Evidence Substack.
• “I objected to a man using my gym’s women’s changing room. Now, I’m banned by the council” – A mum has been left shocked after police were called because she challenged someone who was “unmistakably male” in a female changing room, reports GB News.
• “No wonder the NHS is in crisis when nurses are forced to deny biology” – Those running the health service seem determined to ignore vulnerable women and defy the Supreme Court’s trans ruling wherever they can, says Suzanne Moore in the Telegraph.
• “Greta Thunberg arrested at Palestine Action protest” – The green goblin has been detained after endorsing Palestine Action at a London demonstration, according to Sky News.
• “Study: ‘We need a big stick’ to force down carbon emissions by 2050” – In WUWT?, Eric Worrall highlights a US study showing that green subsidies alone won’t cut emissions enough by 2050; “sticks” are essential, apparently.
• “Trump admin pauses offshore wind, citing national security risks” – Multiple federal agencies have shown that offshore wind farms can disrupt radar, according to Just the News.
• “Claim: Feedback loops accelerate warming, other atmospheric changes in Arctic” – Penn State reckons cracks in Arctic ice plus Prudhoe Bay oil emissions set off chemical feedback loops that speed warming – but Anthony Watts on WUWT? isn’t buying it.
• “Kathleen Stock criticises civil servants joining Pride marches” – Civil servants who march in Pride events are providing “support for gender ideology”, Kathleen Stock has told the High Court in a landmark judicial review claim, according to the Times.
• “Italian court allows 13 year-old to change gender” – A 13 year-old has become the youngest person in Italy to change gender after a court in La Spezia authorised a transition from female to male, reports the European Conservative.
• ““Boys will be boys” leads to genocide – says government-funded charity” – A taxpayer-funded organisation has issued outrageous claims while receiving millions in public money, documents Charlotte Gill on her Substack.
• “The woke women giving boys ‘misogyny lessons’” – Woke gobbledygook has been introduced into schools via charities operating with minimal scrutiny, reveals Charlotte Gill on her Substack.
• “Gen Z should just get married and have kids” – A generation trained to optimise every decision has lost the ability to take a leap of faith, says Kara Kennedy in the Telegraph.
• “Savage‘s ‘Lost Generation’, or: Thoughts on the DEI scam and what happened after 2015” – On Substack, Eugyppius responds to Jacob Savage’s viral piece on ‘The Lost Generation’.
• “How to help our former colonies without embarrassing ourselves” – The British Museum’s “cultural diplomacy” can assist India in showing how it was a cradle of civilisation, writes Nigel Biggar in the Telegraph.
• “Russell Brand faces new rape and sexual assault charges” – Russell Brand faces two additional sex crime charges in the UK, reports the LA Times.
• “Are you guys celebrating Christmas?” – A video scolding Muslims for celebrating Christmas has gone viral on social media.

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