News Round-Up

• “‘I’m on my way to No. 10’, says Farage after huge Reform gains” – Reform UK stormed to victory across swathes of Conservative and Labour heartlands, winning more than 1,000 council seats and taking control of multiple authorities, reports the Mail.
• “Labour’s heartlands lie in ruins and the worst may be to come” – As Nigel Farage breaks through the ‘red wall’, Sir Keir Starmer faces the reality that his party has lost its cultural and electoral bedrock, reports the Times.
• “MPs and unions break ranks to demand Starmer resign” – Labour MPs and union bosses have broken ranks to demand Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation after his party’s worst local elections defeat in decades, writes the Telegraph.
• “It is Nigel Farage who is laughing now” – The Reform bubble was predicted to burst, but the local election results have exceeded even its leader’s expectations, writes Annabel Denham in the Telegraph.
• “Can Angela even save her own Commons seat?” – Labour lost its majority on Tameside council, the authority which includes the former deputy prime minister’s Greater Manchester constituency, reports the Mail.
• “Tories win back ‘jewels in the crown’” – The councils – dubbed the jewels in the Tory crown after decades of Conservative control – were lost to Labour at the last election but have now been reclaimed, notes the Telegraph.
• “Polanski stumbles at first hurdle as Greens fall below predictions” – The party made gains in inner-city strongholds but struggled to deliver the “Green wave” of councillors sweeping England and Wales that Polanski had predicted, says the Mail.
• “Most ex-Labour and Tory voters will never go back, poll finds” – Research shows dissatisfaction with traditional parties growing as only 14% would vote for them again after defecting, reports the Telegraph.
• “Can our democracy survive the ‘bad chaps’?” – In the Spectator, I review a new book that identifies Reform UK – rather than Islamist extremism – as the greatest threat to British democracy.
• “Reform voters will regret turning their back on Kemi Badenoch” – In the Spectator, Julie Burchill says she loathes much about the Tories but argues she is sticking with Kemi Badenoch.
• “Sick of being dismissed as a racist, Essex Man has turned to Reform” – It’s no surprise that voters who are patronised and ignored by the political mainstream have moved en masse to Reform UK, writes Allison Pearson in the Telegraph.
• “Victory for Tories over Northern Ireland veterans bill” – The Supreme Court agrees that granting immunity to those involved in the Troubles did not breach human rights law, reports the Telegraph.
• “Nadia Sawalha ‘dropped from Loose Women after antisemitic posts’” – Sawalha, 61, will not appear on the panel next week after she was accused of sharing “unhinged” antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media, reports the Mail.
• “The attempt to weaponise the courts against Jews must have consequences” – An organisation calling itself the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians attempted a private prosecution against a dual national for serving in the IDF, writes the Telegraph.
• “Arts Council’s £2.8 million for organisations criticised over antisemitism” – Venues funded by Arts Council have cancelled events featuring Jewish performers, reports the Times.
• “China exploited WFH to spy on UK” – A Border Force official exploited the Home Office’s remote working policy to pass intelligence to Beijing in the first case of its kind, reports the Telegraph.
• “Merz arrived at full throttle but a year on, the wheels have fallen off” – Germany’s chancellor has struggled to cope with crises at home and abroad, leaving his authority badly diminished within months of taking office, writes the Telegraph.
• “Church of England leaders must do more to support British Jews” – In Christian Today, Julian Mann argues that my speech in London last week supporting British Jews sets an example the Church of England’s leaders should follow.
• “You can’t have a healthy society without a dose of offensiveness” – Free speech that never offends is not free speech at all, and teaching teenagers otherwise is a dangerous folly, writes Judith Woods in the Telegraph.
• “Labour’s North Sea retreat risks making Britain a hostage to Norway” – As the UK pays Oslo £20 billion a year for oil and gas, experts warn of the risks of Britain’s growing energy dependency, reports the Telegraph.
• “Miliband’s Net Zero ‘obsession’ risks families using more heating, not less” – Ed Miliband’s Net Zero plans risk causing households to heat their homes more rather than less, a Government-commissioned report warns, says the Telegraph.
• “Energy UK catches Net Zero Derangement Syndrome” – The debate about Net Zero is intensifying and its promoters are losing the argument, with Energy UK’s latest carbon pricing report riddled with false claims, writes David Turver in Eigen Values.
• “Green levies put UK glass industry’s future at risk” – The Government’s taxing of products in glass bottles and jars makes them disproportionately more costly than rival goods, reports the Times.
• “Nuclear power is back – here’s how you can buy uranium” – Investors can cash in on the global need for more energy through funds holding mining companies and infrastructure suppliers, says the Times.
• “Let’s ditch the idea of the ‘black vote’” – In the Spectator, Lionel Shriver argues that breaking down political opinion by race implies a citizen’s primary identity is their skin colour – a perverse convention.
• “Is your wellness smoothie giving you cancer?” – In the Spectator, Max Pemberton warns that TikTok-fuelled health anxiety is driving patients to fear cancer from ordinary food choices.
• “Apollo astronauts saw UFOs from the Moon, new files reveal” – The Trump administration has released photos in what it calls an unprecedented act of transparency over unidentified aerial phenomena, reports the Telegraph.
• “Man ends up in court for breaking wind in public in Austria” – The incident happened on a Vienna street on December 12th when a young man standing at a cigarette vending machine allegedly broke wind deliberately in the presence of two police officers, says the Mail.
• “People freaking out about the Reform UK win compilation” – A compilation of videos young people have posted on social media platforms expressing their dismay at Reform’s success in the local elections.

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