News Round-Up

• “New council houses to be built for asylum seekers in push to end use of hotels – with intense public backlash expected” – Ministers have unveiled a housing scheme for asylum seekers that has already prompted warnings of local anger, says the Mail.
• “Yes, the Egyptian ‘extremist’ should have his British citizenship revoked” – To truly be a part of our country you must love it and understand it, says Jake Wallis Simons in the Telegraph. Alaa Abd el-Fattah has shown he hates us.
• “Labour’s soft justice plans ‘will push police forces over the edge’” – Police leaders warn that proposed sentencing reforms risk overwhelming already stretched forces, reports the Telegraph.
• “As an Old Bailey judge, I’ve seen why scrapping juries would be disastrous” – Wendy Joseph KC says it’s crucial that defendants continue to have the right to be tried by a group of their peers, according to the Telegraph.
• “Tags for asylum seekers are a huge distraction” – Tagging asylum seekers misses the point, says David Shipley in the Spectator. Change the law, stop accepting asylum claims and the problems will disappear.
• “You have the power to deport ‘extremist’, Home Secretary told” – Legal experts say Shabana Mahmood can use existing terror legislation to strip Alaa Abd el-Fattah of British citizenship, according to Telegraph.
• “Nurse ‘beaten nearly to death in crowbar rampage’” – A nurse has told how she was nearly “beaten to death” by an Afghan migrant armed with a crowbar, reports GB News.
• “Grooming gang ‘rapist’ tried to kill wife” – A grooming gang suspect went on to try and murder his wife following a series of police failings, according to GB News.
• “King’s campaign group accuses Reeves of wrecking pubs” – A group founded by the King to campaign for pubs has written to Rachel Reeves expressing “anger” at the taxes she has imposed on the hospitality industry, reports the Express.
• “Polanski willing to work with Burnham if he ousts Starmer” – Zack Polanski says he would work with Andy Burnham if the Greater Manchester mayor ousted Sir Keir Starmer, according to the Telegraph.
• “Keir Starmer admits life for many in Britain ’is still harder than it should be’” – Sir Keir Starmer has promised that his Government will make people’s lives easier in 2026 in an attempt to turn round his failing fortunes, reports the Mail.
• “PM’s New Year resolution should be to get a Chancellor who understands economics” – Our high streets are in crisis, youth unemployment is soaring and businesses dare not create jobs, fumes the Sun in a leading article.
• “Assisted dying Bill ‘could push cancer patients to choose death’” – Church leaders have raised alarm over safeguards in the proposed assisted dying law, reports the Mail.
• “Millions swamp A&E in England for coughs and headaches” – Emergency departments have seen a surge of patients with minor ailments, says ITV News.
• “France is becoming used to gratuitous violence” – A string of random attacks has underscored fears that everyday violence has been normalised in France, writes James Tidmarsh in the Spectator.
• “Swiss journalist Roger Köppel facing EU sanctions over alleged pro-Russian narratives” – Roger Köppel, the Swiss journalist and Editor-in-Chief of the weekly Die Weltwoche, could be added to an EU sanctions list amid concerns that his reporting and commentary are sympathetic to Russian positions, according to Brussels Signal.
• “How a viral video exposed Somali migrant scandal that has rocked US” – A US influencer is being credited with uncovering a nationwide scandal after he made a viral video exposing millions of taxpayer dollars being fraudulently collected by members of the Somali community in Minnesota, reports the Mail.
• “Bari Weiss invites George Clooney to visit CBS newsroom after star says she’s wrecking network” – CBS News chief Bari Weiss has ribbed newly minted French citizen George Clooney after the star accused her of wrecking the network, inviting him to the newsroom and hinting he might be in need of a journalism refresher, says the New York Post.
• “Iranian forces fire shotguns at protesters attacking government building” – Iranian security forces fired shotguns and tear gas at protesters attacking a government building on Wednesday amid escalating unrest, reports the Telegraph.
• “Is Sharia banking holding back Muslim economies?” – On Substack, Randall Bock scrutinises the economic consequences of replacing interest with ideology.
• “Disinformation Chronicle podcast with NIH director Jay Bhattacharya” – On the Disinformation Chronicle podcast, Paul D. Thacker sits down with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya to discuss his transition from Stanford professor to government official managing the largest pot of money on the planet for funding biomedical research.
• “Ratcliffe blames UK carbon taxes as Ineos’s Scottish plant losses top £1 billion” – Sir Jim Ratcliffe has blamed mounting losses at his Grangemouth chemical works on government carbon taxes and Britain’s sky-high energy costs, reports the Telegraph.
• “I have a ‘zero bill’ home – and you’re paying for it” – That £13 billion Miliband is going to be shelling out to homeowners has to be paid for somehow, writes Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “Miliband claims high energy bills due to fossil fuels” – Ed Miliband has been caught telling porkies again, says Paul Homewood on Not a Lot of People Know That.
• “Electric car charger rollout suffers slowdown in blow to Labour” – Britain’s rollout of electric car charging points has gone into reverse – with only 13,469 installed since the start of the year, reports This is Money.
• “The case against Net Zero – a 13th update” – Net Zero targets are unrealistic and damaging, maintains Robin Guenier in Cliscep.
• “Good news everyone! We hit ‘peak climate’ – media articles are in decline” – Climate coverage has fallen from its recent peak, notes Anthony Watts in Watts Up With That?
• “Welcome to 2026: Europe laying groundwork for climate science censorship!” – As EU narratives collapse, desperate leaders are planning more tyrannical measures to keep it all from sinking, warns P. Gosselin on NoTricksZone.
• “Shoot an elephant to save Africa” – Elephant conservation policy has been challenged with the claim that culling has become unavoidable, writes Leon Mangasarian in the Spectator.
• “The Christian revival is here, and next year it will get even stronger” – For a younger generation that has only experienced uncertainty, the Church offers hope for the future, says Ken Costa in the Telegraph.
• “Government under mounting pressure to publish trans guidance” – The Government is under pressure to publish delayed guidance on single-sex spaces after the new chair of the equalities watchdog insisted the document was “legally sound”, reports the Times.
• “Paedophile who ran youth LGBT charity released after serving 16 years in prison for sexually abusing a baby” – A once-prominent gay rights activist who ran a youth LGBT charity in Scotland has been released from prison after serving 16 years for sexually abusing a baby, according to Reduxx.
• “Young white men are turning to toxic influences like Nick Fuentes because they’ve been sacrificed on the altar of diversity” – DEI policies have been linked to a backlash among disaffected young, white men, writes Rikki Schlott in the New York Post.
• “Ricky Gervais uses Netflix special to declare victory over ‘virtue signalling’ elites” – Ricky Gervais has used his latest special to reflect on censorship and the state of modern comedy, reports Deadline.
• “Chappell Roan deletes Brigitte Bardot tribute after discovering her Right-wing views” – US singer Chappell Roan has removed an online homage to Bridget Bardot after learning of the actress’s politics, says Rolling Stone.
• “Against literary safetyism” – Writing, and reading, is about taking risks, argues Sibyl Ruth in the Critic.
• “The Covidiot” – This is the tragic story of ‘The Covidiot’, who couldn’t think for himself, and trusted the authorities, no matter how ridiculous their rules were.

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