- “The moments that made 2024 a year we’ll never forget” – From Trump’s defiant fist-pump to Sunak’s washout to Taylor Swift conquering the world, the last 12 months will live long in the memory, says Alex O’Connell in the Telegraph.
- “Andrew Doyle on the Triggernometry End of Year Review” – Watch Andrew Doyle on Triggernometry’s End of Year Review with the comedian Leo Kearse and hosts Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin.
- “The year of lying dangerously” – Thomas Buckley reviews 2024 on his Substack.
- “Help me understand… what will happen in 2025” – On Substack, Youscha Mounk provides a forecast for the coming year and a mid-decadal assessment of his predictions for the 2020s.
- “Blair opened borders despite warnings over East European migrant influx” – Official files reveal that Tony Blair was urged not to open Britain’s borders to thousands of Eastern European migrants but ignored the advice of his most senior ministers, according to Sky News.
- “Ministers urged to use Post-it notes to avoid FoIs” – Tony Blair’s ministers were advised to use Post-it notes for sensitive messages to avoid having to release them under the new Freedom of Information laws passed by his Government, reports the Telegraph.
- “VAT on schools is not a tax, but an act of class warfare” – VAT on private school fees isn’t just a tax – it’s a reckless act of class warfare that could wreck education, punish families and spark legal chaos, warns the Telegraph in a leading article.
- “Labour’s 60-year war on excellence in education impoverishes us all” – No country should tax education or close its best schools, not unless it has a death wish, says Philip Johnston in the Telegraph.
- “The value of Latin best appreciated sub specie aeternitatis” – In Country Squire, Sean Walsh defends teaching schoolchildren Latin: “When you learn the grammar of classical languages you become acquainted also with the structure of human thought; you participate in a discussion about what we are.”
- “‘We warned you’: the hammer blows about to be dealt to Britain’s rental market” – Labour has a wave of rent reforms planned – and the fallout looks catastrophic, warns the Telegraph’s Ruby Hinchliffe.
- “More than one pub a day closing in Britain as Reeves blow looms” – Publicans fear this was their “last Christmas” as higher wages and taxes risk pushing them to the brink, reports the Telegraph.
- “Pinch yourself, but Labour really was this stupid in 2024” – Labour’s Budget was self-harm on steroids – and more pain is coming, warns Brian Monteith in the Telegraph.
- “The Tories would be foolish to write off Kemi Badenoch this early” – No one is particularly interested in what the Conservatives have to say at the moment, but as Labour’s failures mount up, that time will come, says Iain Dale in the Telegraph.
- “Kemi and Keir, don’t panic about Nigel – look what became of the SDP” – In the Telegraph, Alan Cochrane predicts Reform U.K. will go the same way as the SDP.
- “New Year’s Eve train strike misery as guards demand £300 extra to work on rest days” – RMT members at Avanti West Coast are walking out on December 31st and January 2nd, demanding an extra £300 to work on their days off, reports the Telegraph.
- “Hundreds object to temporary Springwell green belt solar farm” – Despite over 400 objections, council planners are pushing ahead with plans to approve a “temporary” solar farm on green belt land on the outskirts of Sunderland, says BBC News.
- “Electric car drivers face threat of steep tax rises based on vehicle weight” – Electric cars could face bigger taxes than petrol and diesel vehicles under a new proposal to levy cars by their weight, the Telegraph reports.
- “Energy bills to jump again in latest blow to struggling families” – Despite Keir Starmer’s pledge to lower costs, families face a double energy price cap hit this year, with bills creeping up from £1,717 to £1,738 today, and more to come in April, says the Sun.
- “Terrifying ‘quad-demic’ alert as NHS top doctor warns U.K. is set for ‘worst year ever’ for flu – and predicts surge will get worse” – NHS National Medical Director Prof. Sir Stephen Powis warns that the worst of Britain’s tidal wave of flu is “yet to come”, according to the Mail.
- “What really happened in Wuhan” – Five years ago, the Chinese authorities staged the deadliest cover-up in history, writes Matt Ridley in Spiked.
- “Rise of home working holds back women, says Nationwide boss” – The boss of the world’s biggest building society Debbie Crosbie warns that women are at risk of missing out on opportunities at work because they are less likely to go into the office than men, reports the Mail.
- “Why is Israel being blamed for the battle of Kamal Adwan Hospital?” – In its coverage of the Battle of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza much of the media is deliberately burying the most vital point, says Brendan O’Neill in the Spectator: “that a neo-fascist militia is using a hospital as a base from which to plot the murder of Israel’s soldiers and citizens”.
- “Provisions of new hate crime law come into effect today” – Harsher sentencing will now be imposed in Ireland if hatred towards a protected group can be demonstrated, reports the Irish Times.
- “New poll shows Musk effect: AfD at new high, free Democrats in collapse, Christian Democrats and Greens too weak for a coalition” – Musk is making things very awkward indeed for the cartel parties that rule Germany – and that is glorious, says Eugyppius on Substack.
- “What’s Sadiq Khan done to deserve a knighthood?” – The worst-kept secret in Westminster was confirmed when it was officially announced that London’s two-bob chancer of a mayor is getting a knighthood, writes Richard Littlejohn in the Mail.
- “Why has ‘decolonising’ Sadiq Khan accepted a knighthood?” – Why on Earth has Khan, a man who has vowed to “decolonise” London, agreed to become a Knight of the Order of the British Empire? wonders Ross Clark in the Spectator.
- “Five charts that show how Sadiq Khan has ruined London” – From road congestion to an increase in knife crime, the capital feels like it’s in decline – yet the London Mayor has now been knighted, bemoans the Telegraph.
- “Host of Britain’s Olympians and Paralympians snubbed in New Year Honours List” – Only 41 athletes who took part in Paris 2024 have received a gong for services to their sports, despite Team GB and Paralympics GB winning 189 medals (63 gold) across both Games, notes Ben Rumsby in the Telegraph.
- “Black project manager who sued Heathrow Airport for £1 million after being ‘strip searched’ when she set off scanner loses race discrimination claim” – A black project manager who claimed she was “treated as a criminal” and sued Heathrow Airport has lost her race discrimination claim, reports the Mail.
- “Almost two thirds of trans women prisoners are sex offenders” – Almost two thirds of transgender prisoners who identify as female are convicted sex offenders, says the Mail.
- “Liberate civil servants from the tyranny of diversity training” – The majority of Home Office workers are hard-working and impartial and deserve better than the EDI agenda, argues Suella Braverman in the Telegraph.
- “How atheists fell for the new religion of gender identity” – In the Spectator, Debbie Hayton shares Richard Dawkins’ exasperation with his fellow atheists for their descent into anti-scientific gobbledegook.
- “Jesus was Palestinian? That really would be a miracle” – Bear Grylls’s clumsy comments about the son of God aren’t just absurd – they’re dangerous, says George Chesterton in the Telegraph.
- “Dungeons & Dragons ‘heading to inclusive oblivion’ after removing racial differences” – Dungeons & Dragons’ September 2024 rulebook has been slammed for erasing the classic racial traits of orcs and elves, stripping orcs of their strength and elves of their brains, reports the Telegraph.
- “Elon Musk ‘living in cottage on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate’” – Elon Musk has been living in a cottage on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and dropping in on dinners hosted by the President-elect, according to the Mail.
- “‘It’s mad innit?’” – On X, an AI-tickled Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio compare the prices of supermarket beers. Happy New Year.
If you have any tips for inclusion in the round-up, email us here.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.