News Round-Up

“Trump threatens to blow up Reeves’s Spring Statement days after it’s delivered” – In the Telegraph, Melissa Lawford warns that Rachel Reeves’s austerity gamble may be wrecked within days, as Trump’s tariff blitz threatens to blow a £24 billion hole in Britain’s fragile recovery.
“Reeves was wrong to accept free Sabrina Carpenter tickets, says Rayner ally” – Housing minister Matthew Pennycook says he does not “personally think it’s appropriate” to accept free concert tickets, after the Chancellor took a family member to see pop star Sabrina Carpenter without paying, reports BBC News.
“Brits see Reeves as ‘incompetent’ ahead of Spring Statement” – Brits view Rachel Reeves as “incompetent” as she prepares to deliver a make-or-break Spring Statement, according to the Mail.
“Rachel Reeves will be lucky to survive” – Thatcher/Lawson, Blair/Brown, Johnson/Sunak – the history of Downing St relations is not a happy one, notes Philip Johnston in the Telegraph.
“272 year-old independent school closes in Reeves’ constituency after Labour VAT raid” – Another day, another independent school forced to close its doors thanks to Labour’s punitive VAT raid on private education, says Guido Fawkes. This time it’s historic.
“If Bailey won’t call for radical growth reforms, no one will” – In the Spectator, Matthew Lynn slams Andrew Bailey for warning of grim economic prospects without championing radical reforms – like planning deregulation, lower taxes and scrapping Net Zero.
“New workers’ rights Bill allows officers to go into homes” – Officers enforcing Labour’s workers’ rights overhaul will have the power to enter people’s homes and seize documents and laptops while investigating potential breaches of the new laws, reports the Times.
“The Lords should kick out the harmful Employment Rights Bill” – In a leading article, the Times urges the Lords to reject the Employment Rights Bill, warning that it would punish businesses, stifle hiring and sabotage the economy.
“Farage heckled by pro-Palestine protesters at Reform event” – Nigel Farage was heckled by at least half a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters ahead of unveiling Reform UK’s mayoral candidate for Doncaster, reports the Telegraph.
“‘Credible evidence’ ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe harassed women” – A lawyer investigating former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe has found “credible evidence” he and his staff mistreated two female team members in ways that “seem to amount to harassment”, says BBC News.
“Lowe failed to tackle ‘toxic’ office culture, report finds” – The Spectator’s Steerpike reacts to the latest round of political infighting involving Reform UK and its former MP Rupert Lowe.
“Blame Heathrow’s faceless foreign owners for airport’s meltdown” – The recent chaos at Heathrow shows what happens when Britain’s critical infrastructure is flogged to absentee investors, says Ben Marlow in the Telegraph.
“‘Labour peer left us trapped and unable to sell our homes’” – Homeowners in a London residential block have been left “trapped” in unsellable flats because of “punitive” ground rent clauses imposed by their freeholder, Labour peer Lord Carter of Coles, reports the Telegraph.
“England’s university regulator issues record fine in Sussex free speech case” – An English university is set to be fined a record £585,000 over allegations it failed to uphold free speech and academic freedom, says the FT.
“The treatment of Charlie Mullins proves that there’s no free speech if you’re Right-wing” – The forfeiture committee should be ashamed of itself for bringing the honours system into disrepute, says Toby in the Telegraph.
“The ‘Islamophobia’ working group is unbalanced and opaque” – In the Telegraph, Hardeep Singh blasts Angela Rayner’s opaque ‘Islamophobia’ group as a threat to free speech.
“Badenoch opens door to return of fracking” – Kemi Badenoch has suggested that the Tories could support lifting the ban on fracking, reports the Telegraph.
“Why won’t Labour oppose solar panel slavery?” – Net Zero has become such a religion that it has created a moral blindspot among many of those who advocate it, writes Ross Clark in the Spectator.
“Isle of Man passes assisted dying bill” – The Isle of Man has become the first place in the UK to pass legislation that would permit assisted dying, reports the Mail.
“Four viruses already in UK could trigger new pandemic” – UK health chiefs have issued a stark warning about 24 deadly viruses that could trigger the next ‘Disease X’ – a term used to describe the culprit behind the next pandemic, says the Mail.
“Never let a (fake) public health crisis go to waste” – On Substack, Alex Berenson criticises the New York Times for fanning baseless hysteria over measles.
“In which the cartel parties of Germany make a literal communist and alleged Stasi collaborator the Senior President of the Bundestag to keep the office away from Alternative für Deutschland” – On Substack, Eugyppius blasts Germany’s political elite for bending rules to block the AfD, handing a former communist and Stasi informant the Bundestag’s top ceremonial role in the name of ‘defending democracy’.
“Putin wants a ceasefire where he’s losing” – In the Telegraph, Tom Sharpe argues that Ukraine has already beaten Russia in the Black Sea, so a ceasefire now risks handing Putin a reprieve he hasn’t earned.
“How White House insiders reacted to Trump war plan leak” – White House insiders have vented their anger at National Security Advisor Michael Waltz after it emerged that he added a prominent journalist to a secret group chat revealing highly sensitive war plans, reports the Mail.
“If meritocracy is now ‘racist’, Britain truly is doomed” – In the Telegraph, Michael Deacon slams a taxpayer-funded “inclusivity” guide given to British scientists in Antarctica which claims that believing the most qualified person should get the job is a “racist microaggression”.
“Laurence Fox charged with sexual offence after ‘sharing upskirting photo’ on social media” – Laurence Fox has been charged with a sexual offence after he “shared an upskirting photo” on social media, reports LBC.
“UK cinemas remain virtually empty in disaster for Disney’s Snow White” – MailOnline looked at a selection of daytime and evening viewings of Disney’s Snow White in five major UK cities and, on average, found the movie saw just 12 viewers per night.
“Children’s books are too depressing” – The Carnegie Medal shortlist is losing young readers with social realism and bleak themes, warns Melanie McDonagh in the Spectator. Children just want storytelling and escapism.

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