News Round-Up
- “Will school Scrooges put paid to children’s Nativity dreams?” – The pursuit of Zero Covid in schools is out of control – children deserve some fun and magic this Christmas, writes Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
- “Patients to travel for NHS treatment” – Patients facing long waits for treatment will be moved around the country to spare beds and routine follow-up appointments will be scrapped, under NHS plans to deal with the post-pandemic backlog, reports the Times.
- “ Cases ‘flat’ until Christmas – but expert says ‘it will get worse again’ in New Year” – Although the U.K. is fairing better than many European neighbours in terms of rising Covid cases, Professor Spector warns there is “no room for complacency or some of the smugness I’ve heard from some politicians”.
- “Nicola Sturgeon says pubs will not have to join Covid passport scheme” – She confirmed to Holyrood that the Covid certification programme will stay as it is, having previously suggested it could be widened from December 6th to address increasing Covid rates.
- “I love my job, but I won’t be jabbed ” – The anonymous account of a care worker, published on Laura Dodsworth’s Substack account.
- “Why I’m not selfish for refusing to wear a mask” – Mixed messaging over face masks and their effectiveness is causing all kinds of problems – and we cannot live in a two-tier world, writes Kate Mulvey in the Telegraph.
- “The Left’s Covid failure” – Amplifying the crisis is no way to rebuild trust, writes Toby Green and Thomas Fazi in UnHerd.
- “Covid vaccine that creates T-cells ‘gives better immune response than current jabs’” – The CoVac-1 jab, developed and made by academics at the University of Tubingen in Germany, has strong phase one trial results, reports the Telegraph.
- “If forced vaccination doesn’t work, then what?” – “By now it is easy to see how societies fall into the trap of dictatorship,” writes Frederick Edward in TCW Defending Freedom.
- “Most in critical care unvaccinated? – No according to data” – When looking at data from NHS England, a Guardian headline suggesting most in critical care are unvaccinated is not borne out by the facts, reports Stats Jamie.
- “E.U. Covid passes set to expire without booster vaccinations” – The E.U. is poised to update Covid passes with booster vaccine information including an ‘expiry date’ on the present ‘Green’ status, which is based on two doses, reports the Times.
- “What explains Germany’s vaccine scepticism?” – “By the end of winter, Germans will be ‘vaccinated, recovered or dead’, according to the country’s Health Minister Jens Spahn. Yet as Germany battles another wave of Covid outbreaks with renewed restrictions, the outgoing Merkel administration is failing to inspire public confidence in the central Government,” writes Katja Hoyer in the Spectator.
- “Mask up, even in your own house, city orders” – Santa Cruz, California has enacted a mask mandate that controversially requires face coverings in private homes, regardless of vaccination status, reports RT.
- “Why are Covid cases in India decreasing, despite the low double vaccination rate?” – The festive season in India did not lead to any surges and the prediction of a third wave during October-November did not turn out to be right, reports the Conversation.
- “Once a prime minister’s authority goes, the end can be swift and brutal” – Boris Johnson’s difficulty is not his many endearing eccentricities, it’s the litany of broken promises, writes Philip Johnston in the Telegraph.
- “Kyle Rittenhouse was not acquitted for being white” – Americans of all races have benefitted from the right to self-defence, writes Kevin Yuill in Spiked.
- “J.K. Rowling: the making of a modern folk devil” – The never-ending rage against Rowling speaks to the hysteria of our times, writes Tom Slater in Spiked.
- “The toxic ‘trans actor’ debate is ruining our culture – and lives” – An actor ‘cancelled’ over a trans role has revealed the devastating impact it had on his health. Where will this idiotic puritanism end, asks Ella Whelan in the Telegraph.
- “YouTube policy: All criticism is harassment” – “YouTube is acting against the best interests of its viewers by suppressing dislike information; it is removing a voice from its users and it is protecting big power and big money,” writes Alexander Adams in Bournbrook Magazine.
- “Austria is planning compulsory Covid vaccinations for all” – Political commentator Connor Tomlinson tells talkRADIO: “This is terrifying. People like me will be made second-class citizens if this policy comes to Britain.”
