News Round-Up
- “Shabana Mahmood ‘knew of plan to ban Israeli fans eight days earlier than she claimed – but did nothing’” – New evidence casting doubts over Shabana Mahmood’s claims that she did not have enough time to overturn a ban on Maccabi football fans has been uncovered by the Mail on Sunday.
- “Sack West Midlands police chief, MPs tell Home Secretary” – MPs have called for the West Midlands police chief to be sacked after he was accused of misleading Parliament over the banning of Maccabi fans, reports the Mail.
- “Police ‘stood by’ as protesters targeted Israeli restaurant in Notting Hill” – Police just stood by as pro-Palestinian protesters targeted an Israeli restaurant in Notting Hill, says the Telegraph.
- “Blasphemy laws have no place in Britain” – On Substack, Spiff argues against shielding Islam from criticism.
- “Queen’s and Ulster University’s social media restrictions ‘are so broad you could be punished for saying almost anything’ says anti-censorship campaigner” – Toby has slammed the social media policies of two Norther Irish universities for being so wide-ranging students could get punished for posting almost anything, reports News Letter.
- “Trump aide likens UK threat to ban X to Putin’s Russia” – The Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy in the Trump administration has compared the UK’s threat to ban social media platform X to censorship in Putin’s Russia, says the Irish News.
- “Is this the year Starmer tries to crush free speech? David Starkey Talks to Toby Young” – On the David Starkey Talks YouTube channel, Toby discusses his work in Parliament and what 2026 will hold for freedom of speech.
- “Labour rebel threatens by-election over Starmer’s jury plan” – Labour MP Karl Turner is ready to quit Parliament to make a stand against scrapping jury trials, according to GB News.
- “British seaside holidays will be killed off by Rachel Reeves and Labour’s business rates hike, coastal MPs warn” – Coastal MPs say the Chancellor must extend relief beyond pubs to hotels and shops, according to the Mail.
- “Russell & Bromley at risk of disappearing from high street after 150 years” – Iconic UK shoe shop Russell & Bromley is on the verge of collapse in yet another blow to the nation’s high street, reports the Express.
- “Rachel Reeves declares war on white van men as hidden tax change to ‘quadruple” – New tax hikes will hit self-employed tradespeople and rural workers hardest, says the Express.
- “UK job cuts surge to three-year high after tax-raising budget” – The number of job cuts in the UK has surged to its highest level in three years, indicating a continuing weakening of the labour market, according to Investing.com.
- “Councils told to ‘hang their heads in shame’ for spending more than £100,000 of taxpayers’ money to take down St George’s and Union flags” – Cash-strapped councils have spent thousands taking down flags put up by locals, reports the Mail.
- “Stripping people of their pensions is a slippery slope in our increasingly woke world” – If we clamour for the unpensioning of those who are reprehensible, we will have handed another tool to the Whitehall machine to regulate behaviour they don’t approve of, warns Michael Mosbacher in the Telegraph.
- “House prices sky rocket by 63% in iconic national park as Brits flee cities and towns because of immigration” – People are paying hundreds of thousands more to escape to the New Forest, according to the Mail.
- “Middlesbrough’s anger as Labour scraps Eton-backed free school” – A scheme to help the brightest children from deprived backgrounds has been scuppered by “socialist ideology”, writes Pieter Snepvangers in the Telegraph.
- “Tories would ban under-16s from social media as Kemi Badenoch wins backing from Labour’s Andy Burnham for ‘bold action’ on ‘addictive’ sites” – Plans to restrict social media use for under-16s are gaining cross-party support, reports the Mail.
- “The Government’s obsession with artificial intelligence and tech” – On the TTE Substack, Prof Carl Heneghan and Dr Tom Jefferson criticise the Government’s focus on AI and technology.
- “The broken state of Britain” – Britain’s governing crisis is not imposed from outside – it is chosen, says David Shipley in the Critic.
- “EU demands ‘Nigel Farage clause’ as part of Brexit reset talks” – The EU has insisted the UK agree to pay punitive penalties if a future government pulls out of Starmer’s Brexit deal, reports the Irish Times.
- “Israel’s Eurovision singer reveals the hatred she has faced – from rivals’ petty social media snubs to death threats – since finishing second” – In the Mail, October 7th survivor Yuval Raphael recounts to Natalie Lisbona the boos, threats and organised boycott she faced at Eurovision.
- “German premier Daniel Günther faces uproar over call to censor media and social platforms” – Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Daniel Günther’s push for tighter control on speech has sparked a big backlash in Germany, according to Reclaim The Net.
- “Donald Trump ‘orders army chiefs to draw up plan to invade Greenland’: US President emboldened by success of Maduro capture operation” – Donald Trump has ordered his special forces commanders to draw up a plan for the invasion of Greenland – but is being resisted by senior military figures, reveals the Mail on Sunday.
- “Keir Starmer ‘could send British troops to Greenland to help guard the Arctic for Donald Trump’” – Reports suggest Starmer shares Trump’s vision for Arctic defence, according to the Mail.
- “Remembering the Battle of Teutoburg Forest” – While savouring his Venezuelan triumph, President Trump should pause for a moment to contemplate the Varian Disaster that shocked the Roman Emperor Augustus to his core, says John Leake on the Focal Points Substack.
- “Maduro’s capture takes us back to the future” – Politics in Latin America feel like a blast from the past, writes Prof Niall Ferguson on his Substack.
- “After Maduro’s arrest, Spain’s Sánchez breaks out in a cold sweat” – Trump’s surprise military success in Venezuela has Spain worried, says Rodrigo Ballester in Brussels Signal.
- “Trump is ‘preparing to strike Iran as he is briefed on multiple options for attacking the country’… as Islamic Republic has promised to hit back” – Donald Trump has been briefed on options for potential strikes on Iran after he said he was “ready to help” protesters facing a crackdown from the Ayatollah’s regime, reports the Mail.
- “Kemi Badenoch backs US action to help overthrow Iran’s regime amid widespread protests – and Tory leader suggests RAF strikes could play a role” – Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says it “would be right” for the US and its allies to help bring about regime change in Iran, according to the Mail.
- “More than 500 dead as bodies pile up in Iran’s protest crackdown” – The death toll in Iran’s protests crackdown has passed 500, according to CBC.
- “Trump sets his sights on Cuba as he threatens communist regime to make a deal ‘before it is too late’” – Trump has warned Cuba that it will no longer receive oil or money from Venezuela, reports the Mail.
- “Yes, Somali immigrants commit more crime than natives” – According to an apples-to-apples comparison, Somali immigrants exhibit incarceration rates far above the native-born average, writes Matthew Lilley in City Journal.
- “Amateur sleuth earns £2 million reward for exposing research fraud” – A British scientist has bagged a £2 million payout after uncovering fraud at a major US cancer research centre, says the Times.
- “Treasury scrambles to cut electric car charging costs over tax fears” – The Government is thinking about slashing the 20% VAT on public chargers to bring bills down, reports the Express.
- “Petrol and diesel lorry ban considered by Labour in latest part of their controversial Net Zero drive” – Labour plans to stop sales of fossil fuel trucks and block synthetic fuel use, according to the Mail.
- “Britain at risk of electricity rationing before general election” – Old gas power stations are causing real fears of blackouts before voters go to the polls, says the Express.
- “Carbon costs driving up electricity prices” – On Substack, David Turver suggests cutting carbon charges to bring electricity bills down.
- “Claim: a US takeover of Greenland would deny access to climate scientists” – “I can’t recall the USA ever stopping foreign scientists from visiting, but apparently that will be a thing in the future,” says Eric Worrall in WUWT?
- “German media report that current frigid weather can be explained by Arctic warming!” – It seems even freezing weather fits the story of Arctic warming, writes P. Gosselin on NoTricksZone.
- “Guardian: withdrawing from climate treaties will make the USA poorer” – In WUWT?, Eric Worrall mocks the Guardian’s view that pulling out of climate deals will hurt the US economy.
- “Africa’s pipeline rejects climate dogma and foreign control” – African leaders are pushing back against international climate rules and interference, says Vijay Jayaraj on Clintel.
- “‘It’s younger people seeking some sort of spirituality’: UK Bible sales reach record high” – Bible sales are booming, especially among younger people, according to the Guardian.
- “Churchgoers say they will stop donating to collection plates if it goes to slavery reparations” – Backlash against the Church of England’s £100 million reparations plan is growing, says the Mail.
- “A Government and a Church that hold their people in contempt” – In TCW, Bishop Ceirion H. Dewar slams the way the Government and the Church treat ordinary people.
- “How red tape killed the great British house party” – Fewer house parties mean fewer relationships which means fewer babies, warns Jethro Elsden in CapX.
- “Starmer’s the first British leader to try to nationalise public opinion” – On X, comedian Daniel O’Reilly explains why Starmer really wants to ban X in the UK – and it isn’t because of AI-generated bikini pics on Grok.
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This has completely destroyed the tiny shred of credibility that Badenoch built up with me after “covid”. It’s for PARENTS to bring their children up, not the state. Nanny state socialism.
I’m not sure it would work anyway? We already have age restricted access for pornography and yet most children are apparently exposed to it by the time they’re eleven… 🤷🏼
Doubtful it would work 100%, probably a lot less, just inconvenience people. Still think it’s the wrong approach. Be interested in others’ views.
From what I’ve heard, the people most inconvenienced are the adults who can’t work out how to circumnavigate stuff… the kids do it in their sleep!
Whether or not it will work is besides the point, for me.
It is one step further along the state taking control of yet another aspect of our private lives.
But those of us who think this way are in a minority. The vast majority think children shouldn’t be on social media but are unable to stop their children and welcome the state “helping” them out.
While I agree with the first part of the sentiment – that one the whole it would be much better if children weren’t on mobile devices and social media – I don’t want the state to force their help on me. Ever.
Most children seem to have it forced on them at their primary schools these days.
Keir Starmer ‘could send British troops to Greenland to help guard the Arctic for Donald Trump‘ Back to Blair’s ‘willing the mission but not the means’ Q: ‘…can I ask you the perennial question—you have been asked this before—about the ability to put out a British warfighting division?’ A: ‘I can absolutely assure the Committee that we can provide a trained divisional headquarters and certified and assured brigades—16 Brigade, 7th Light Mech Brigade Combat Team, and an armoured brigade—but there will be capability gaps in our ability to get there and our ability to sustain it for time.’ General Sir Patrick Sanders, Defence Committee Oral evidence: Armed Forces Readiness, HC 26, Tues. 7 November 2023 Q: ‘For our warfighting capability, a very valuable asset will be our special forces. On a recent visit, one of their complaints, or rather observations, was about the inability to get our aircraft when they wanted it, for either operations or training—that is exacerbated not least, I suspect, by the loss of the Hercules aircraft—and that the RAF was insufficiently skilled for the expertise that is required, and that it was risk-averse. Can you reassure us……’ A: ‘What is fair to say is that as… Read more »
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/uk-rules-out-expeditionary-force-role-in-greenland-security/#comment-1036257
Also back to a complete shambles:
‘Defence Secretary John Healey said he had been in contact with Denmark and rejected the premise that Greenland required additional security arrangements outside existing frameworks.’
House of Commons 09 Jan 2026
Happy to defend Ukraine’s borders and spend British lives.
Happy to defend Greenland’s borders and spend British lives.
Refuses to protect our borders, and our women and children.
Filth
It is my understanding that Tories decided to get rid of the Hercules fleet knowing the EU alternative could not perform all the required tasks.
Why did they do that. Why did they persist with a new plane that was very late and could not do the required job. It was because it was EU built.Think of the danger to the forces. Think of the danger to UK military planning if France or Germany (as main contractors to Airbus) decide they don’t approve of our actions and refuse maintenance, parts or hit the kill switch.
Think of all the nice trips to Europe for the top brass and the procurement bods.
““Queen’s and Ulster University’s social media restrictions ‘are so broad you could be punished for saying almost anything’ says anti-censorship campaigner” – Toby has slammed the social media policies of two Norther Irish universities for being so wide-ranging students could get punished for posting almost anything, reports News Letter”
You know, we’ve reached the point for sure where the advice has to be ‘If you are in a position where you can leave this country, do so and go to a country which values freedom.’
For me, it would be the USA. Despite all of its faults, the First Amendment gives such a priceless protection which we don’t have, and are unlikely to ever have.
We are not a free country any more.
But that’s exactly what the Communist Globalists want: for all the White People to flee, so they can replace us with Third World Ethnics.
The truth is that there is NOWHERE ELSE TO GO for White People.
The Banner of the Lamb has been raised.
Here in England.
Stand.
“Police ‘stood by’ as protesters targeted Israeli restaurant in Notting Hill”
We’re getting so familiar with this kind of police criminality that it’s easy to fail to be shocked. We have abuse of property with deeply racist motivation, and direct threats of violence. There is scarcely a single tick-box, whether simply based on criminal law or the woke hate-laws, that it doesn’t tick. Yet the police stand by.
It all appears to be trumped by “maintaining community cohesion,” interpreted as “better to have a few Jews driven out than risk the Brotherhood rampaging. That logic, of course, is exactly that of lynchings, Krystallnacht or any victimisation of minorities in tyrannical States. Communities always cohere more when people are too afraid to be themselves – even if it is the Mob “cohering” to community.
“Russell & Bromley at risk of disappearing from high street after 150 years”
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a R&B shop on any of the high streets I’ve visited but, this does bring in to question just what the High Street is for these days?
Among other things local council traffic and parking restrictions, the inevitable homogenisation of the retail offer and an almost complete failure to find what you want, when you want it in the colour and size you want vs. next day delivery from Amazon, often at a fraction of the price, largely renders a visit pointless.
As with the churches and indeed the pubs recently in the news, people have to understand that if you want to keep them, you have to use them. Sadly, failing some dramatic turnabout, it’s probably too late for all of them…
“House prices sky rocket by 63% in iconic national park as Brits flee cities and towns because of immigration”
Interesting. Any bets on who these people are? I’d put a decent sum on it being substantially driven by exactly the same women who parade with their “Regugees welcome” placards, now that they’re living with the consequences of having them ‘next door’ to them and their children’s schools…
I can’t shake this foreboding feeling that Britain will become the new base for extremist Islamism should Iran loose its mantle! This move to a western sanctuary seems obvious and Britain is the most accommodating country for the building of a new caliphate, of cause, the British people won’t understand this until it bites them on the leg,.. to busy being tolerant and excepting! Britain is in serious trouble!
The Muslim population increased by 1.2 million between 2011 and 2021. This accounts for 32% of the overall growth of the UK population in these ten years.
https://mcb.org.uk
London news: Locals in ‘capital’s last town’ feel ignored over massive Islamic centre development concerns – and warn ‘dramatic shift in character being imposed on area’ https://share.google/DcRnSt61KlOHwo5YE
“a massive shift in character being imposed on
areaBritain”Robert Jenrick says police are backing down from Islamist groups because it’s too hard to challenge them. Writing in The Telegraph, the Shadow Justice Secretary warned that if Islamism isn’t confronted, the Government and police could lose control of parts of the country and public spaces.
Police advice: “leave your weapons in the mosque” !!
“‘It’s younger people seeking some sort of spirituality’: UK Bible sales reach record high”
“The increase was particularly pronounced among younger men, 21 per cent of whom said they were regular churchgoers versus 12 per cent of women aged 18 to 24.”
Comment from CEO Sam Richardson, Bible publisher:
‘We are seeing more and more people – Gen Z included – investigating the Bible for themselves and seeking to draw their own conclusions rather than relying on the status quo.’
Comments from the public:
— “Whether you like it or not, the foundations for western morality and justice were built on Christian values. It’s no surprise that the surge in indecent and degenerate behaviour among people in the last hundred years coincides with the decline in Christianity in the West. Gen-Z have noticed and are looking for answers. The Bible is a good place to start.”
— “There is presently a generation out there who are waking up spiritually. This is a generation who are experiencing God in dreams and visions and walking into churches looking for answers.”
The Banner of the Lamb has been Raised.
In England.
Stand.