- “Starmer’s Britain is no longer a free country – it’s an Orwellian dystopia” – In the Telegraph, Allister Heath says the witch hunt against Allison Pearson lays bare this country’s despicable slide into authoritarianism.
- “The journalist investigated for a tweet” – Andrew Doyle on his Substack weighs in on the Allison Pearson controvers.
- “No.10 confirms non-crime hate review in wake of Allison Pearson row” – The Home Office is reviewing how police record non-crime hate incidents to ensure that they are “proportionate” and protect free speech, reports the Telegraph.
- “Police defend decision to investigate columnist Allison Pearson over tweet” – Essex Police have defended investigating Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson over a year-old tweet, dismissing claims of bias and alleging “false reporting” about the case, according to the Times.
- “Allison Pearson did not deserve a visit from the police” – It is silly to blame the Government for what may be overzealous policing, but there is reasonable disquiet over the Allison Pearson saga so far, says Geoffrey Robertson in the Telegraph.
- “Nine-year-old among thousands investigated for hate ‘incidents’” – Children are among thousands of people being investigated by police for non-crime hate incidents, reveals the Times.
- “Three police forces called in to probe Allison Pearson tweet” – Three of Britain’s biggest police forces were involved in the investigation into a Telegraph journalist’s social media post, reveals the Telegraph.
- “Britain must follow Trump and embrace mass deportations” – If Starmer is serious about “smashing the gangs” he needs to go after their revenue model, says Sam Ashworth-Hayes in the Telegraph.
- “If Left-wing lawyers thwart Trump’s deportation plan, democracy is dead” – Americans want the President-elect to make good on his promise to banish illegal immigrants – that’s why they voted him in, writes Michael Deacon in the Telegraph.
- “Water down farmer death tax, Defra tells Reeves” – A bid by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to soften changes to inheritance tax for farms – possibly by exempting some older farmers – has been rejected by the Treasury, according to the BBC.
- “Heartless Rachel Reeves put more spite than thought into her Budget” – The Chancellor’s pig-headedness will ruin her party – and the country, says Brian Monteith in the Telegraph.
- “The war on the countryside” – On his Substack, Ed West discussed the recent attack on Britain’s farmers.
- “Must try harder, Education Secretary” – Tackling absenteeism with magic beans, while ignoring your role in creating the problem? Bridget Phillipson must try harder, says Toby in the Spectator.
- “Keir Starmer’s choice of Attorney General should concern conservatives” – Of all Keir Starmer’s appointments to Government, none have been so personal or politically significant as his choice of Attorney General, writes Yuan Yi Zhu in the Spectator.
- “You can’t have a four-day week – it’s not the 1970s, minister tells civil servants” – Pensions minister Emma Reynolds says Defra “won’t get” reduced working days after research suggests it could save £21.4 million a year, according to the Mail.
- “Britain must ‘welcome’ closer ties with Europe, says Andrew Bailey” – The Bank of England Governor has told Rachel Reeves that Britain must rebuild trade ties with Europe to help stem the economy’s long-term decline, reports Reuters.
- “Justin Welby shouldn’t have resigned” – There is no proper reason for the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. No charge of improper conduct was proved against him, says Charles Moore in the Spectator.
- “Judges ‘have no place deciding assisted dying cases’” – The former head of the High Court’s family division has warned that it was not the “proper function” of a judge to rule whether someone would be eligible for an assisted death, reports the Telegraph.
- “Assisted dying bill could pressure terminal patients, says Wes Streeting” – Wes Streeting has warned of a “chilling” scenario where terminally ill patients feel pressured into ending their lives to save the NHS money, says the Times.
- “Ben & Jerry’s says parent Unilever silenced it over Gaza stance” – Ben & Jerry’s is suing parent company Unilever, accusing it of stifling its support for the Palestinian side in the recent conflict and threatening to dismantle its board and sue members over the issue, reports Reuters.
- “Ukraine ‘starts preparing to build a nuclear bomb’” – A briefing paper prepared for the country’s Ministry of Defence has revealed that Ukraine could develop a rudimentary nuclear bomb within months if Donald Trump pulls U.S. military aid, according to the Mail.
- “Zelensky’s doomsday nuke option: how Ukraine could go nuclear on Putin” – Ukraine has enough plutonium to construct hundreds of nuclear warheads for rudimentary bombs akin to the first atomic weapons dropped on Japan by the U.S. in 1945, reports the Mail.
- “Trump floors Washington with a one-two punch of shock cabinet picks” – In the Times, David Charter reports that Trump’s cabinet picks – Rubio to soothe, Gabbard to provoke and Gaetz to enrage – are less a transition than a full-contact sport.
- “How will the ‘deep state’ swallow Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz?” – How will Gabbard cope in a cabinet now stuffed with hardline pro-Israel hawks who despise her? wonders Freddy Gray in the Spectator.
- “Trump’s pony” – Trump is creating a Cabinet with a theme, that theme being an outsider, a shaker-upper and someone guaranteed to terrify the establishment, says Thomas Buckley on his Point Substack.
- “Doctor tapped by Trump reveals plan to end bigger killer than cancer” – Trump is set to launch one of the biggest crackdowns on unhealthy eating in American history – despite being the biggest fast food lover to ever be elected president, reports the Mail.
- “Britain to ban coal mines under Miliband’s Net Zero plans” – Critics warn that banning coal mines will likely boost reliance on imported coal for steelmaking, much of it from China and Russia, says the Telegraph.
- “The battle behind Britain’s biggest wind farm” – On the Lancashire border, residents are still unhappy about the 26 wind turbines already in place – and now 21 more could be forced upon them, report Ben East and Andrew Vaux in the Telegraph.
- “Air traffic meltdown made worse by WFH engineer with password problems” – A bank holiday air traffic control meltdown that left more than 700,000 passengers stranded was made worse because a work-from-home engineer’s password wouldn’t work, says the Mail.
- “The SARS-CoV-2 transmission riddle – part 16” – On the TTE Substack, Dr. Tom Jefferson reminds us that when it comes to respiratory infections, stress is the ultimate villain.
- “MSP invokes watchdog after police record ‘identify as a cat’ tweet as non-binary hate” – A Scottish Conservative MSP has lodged a complaint against Police Scotland after his tweet about the SNP’s ‘equality action plan’ was recorded as a hate incident, reports the National.
- “Our colonial guilt is now so absurd we are branding dogs racist” – Banning dogs in the countryside because “one black African female” felt unsafe is barking mad, says Judith Woods in the Telegraph.
- “Gary Lineker production company scraps TV arm to concentrate on podcasts” – Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger Podcasts is ditching TV to focus on hit shows like The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Politics, according to the Guernsey Press.
- “‘We are basing public policy on hopeful predictions’” – On X, Jon Moynihan in a House of Lords debate about the cost of Net Zero pulls no punches. Watch the full speech here.
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