Newslinks for Tuesday 23rd December 2025

Non-crime hate incidents are to be scrapped

“Non-crime hate incidents are to be scrapped under plans that police chiefs will present to the Home Secretary next month. Police leaders have decided that NCHIs are no longer “fit for purpose” after warnings that recording them undermines freedom of speech and diverts officers away from fighting crime. Under the plans, NCHIs will be replaced with a new “common sense” system, where only a fraction of such incidents will be recorded under the most serious category of anti-social behaviour.” – Daily Telegraph

Taxpayers will no longer be told cost of public sector union duties

“Taxpayers will be kept in the dark about how much public money is being spent so that union officials can have paid time off work, under the government’s workers’ rights reforms. Despite new figures showing that last year almost £107 million was spent on so-called facility time, Labour has scrapped powers to cap it and removed the requirement for public bodies such as the NHS and schools to declare it in the future. At the same time, the right to be paid to carry out union duties has been extended to equality representatives in workplaces to allow them to focus on equality duties.” – The Times

Animals 1) Hen cages and pig farrowing crates face ban

“The government is planning to end the use of hen cages as part of a raft of proposals to improve animal welfare standards in England. The measures also include moving away from the use of pig farrowing crates, which contain sows during birth and nursing to stop them rolling over onto their young. The National Farmers’ Union said laws should also require imports to be produced to the same standards to prevent unfair competition for British farmers.” – BBC

• Boiling live lobsters to be banned under animal rights reforms – The Times
• Restaurants warn of extra costs – Daily Mail
• The Government is merely outsourcing animal cruelty, to the detriment of British farmers – Leader, Daily Telegraph

>Today: ToryDiary: Farming is Labour’s latest case of double standards

Animals 2) Moore: Yet more bad law

“Labour is also committed to “banning trail hunting”, on the grounds that this is used to conceal hunting a live quarry. You might as well ban Rizla papers because some are used to roll joints or cars because some drivers speed. Trail hunting itself is the result of bad law. When fox- (and deer- and hare- and mink-) hunting was banned, the ban’s supporters said, “If what you like is chasing something with hounds, why not chase a scented rag?” Hunting people took them at their word. Now they are threatened with punishment for doing so. Labour wants more law to remedy its own failed law, which has not improved the condition of any formerly hunted species and has imposed fatuous duties upon the police duties…My point, which applies much more widely than animal welfare, is that the parties which aspire to govern need to get serious about what laws are for in a free country. Rule Number one: unless they really must make a new law, they mustn’t.” – Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph

• Labour is losing the countryside all over again – Tim Bonner, The Times
• A ban on trail hunting would not address the countryside’s needs – Leader, The Times

Lib Dems call for Human Rights Commission to investigate election delay

“Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said nearly 10 million people could see their democratic right to vote “ripped away” if proposed delays to some local elections in England go ahead. Sir Ed has written to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to ask if it will investigate what he called “the government’s cavalier approach to our elections”. Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf told the BBC his party would try to hold a parliamentary vote to protest against the “extremely dangerous” delays.” – BBC

• Plymouth elections go ahead but Exeter undecided – BBC
• Tories slam Keir Starmer’s equality chief over defence of mass migration – Daily Express
• English councils warned against adopting four-day week – BBC
• Former Conservative councillor charged with drugging and abusing ex-wife – Daily Telegraph

>Today: Helen Harrison on local government: Reform UK are pursuing a socialist agenda in North Northamptonshire

Starmer “personally approved” cutting journalists briefings

“Sir Keir Starmer personally approved cutting back briefings for journalists despite saying that the press must hold politicians to account. Downing Street is facing a backlash after announcing that the two daily press briefings of the Westminster Lobby would be reduced to one. Tim Allan, Sir Keir’s executive director of communications, claimed wider reforms would include more press conferences and greater access for less mainstream “content creators”. On Monday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman appeared to confirm that Sir Keir personally supported the changes, which were announced last week.” – Daily Telegraph

• Reducing No 10’s lobby briefings is bad for democracy – Sonia Sodha, The Times

Streeting challenged over “opportunistic” call to join EU customs union

“A Labour MP has publicly condemned Wes Streeting’s call to rejoin the EU’s customs union, blasting it as “opportunistic” leadership manoeuvring. Mr Streeting made headlines this morning as he used a weekend interview to break ranks with the Prime Minister and call for a partial reversing of Brexit…Labour MP Graham Stringer, who labelled it an “early shot” in a potential leadership election.” – Daily Express

• Starmer sticks to ‘red lines’ on EU customs union – The Times
•  Labour can expect to be punished hard if they betray Brexit vote & drag Britain back into EU customs union – Leader, The Sun

“Dithering” will mean infrastructure projects are missed

“Labour is set to miss its target of approving 150 major infrastructure projects by the end of this parliament due to ‘dithering and delay’ by ministers, according to new analysis. More than half of planning decisions on 27 major projects expected in 2025 were delayed beyond the three-month decision period for ministers, according to the Centre for Policy Studies. Labour’s inaction has added almost four years of cumulative delay this year alone, with ministers responsible for 1,333 days of holdup across 14 delayed projects, the think tank said. Based on the current rate Labour is set to miss its target by almost a third, approving just 107 projects instead of 150, the CPS added.” – Daily Mail

Social media ban for under-16s “being considered”

“Sir Keir Starmer is weighing up an Australia-style social media ban for under 16s in Britain. The PM is “closely monitoring” how the policy is playing out Down Under amid pressure from parents to follow suit at home. Discussions are under way between Tech Secretary Liz Kendall and Sir Keir over how a ban would work in the UK.” – The Sun

Labour MPs persist with using X, despite the abuse

“Earlier this year, energy secretary Ed Miliband told Elon Musk to “get the hell out of our politics and our country”, accusing the billionaire’s social media platform of enabling disinformation and eroding democratic norms.  But like many other MPs within his party, the former Labour leader is still clinging on to X, formerly Twitter, and continuing to post on a platform they regularly warn the public about. “Twitter used to be a place where people with massively different viewpoints could have a civilised debate . . . But now it has become a constant stream of negativity and abuse,” said Patrick Hurley, Labour MP for Southport, who still posts regularly. “But everyone is still on there, so until people move off it in lock-step nothing will change.” – Financial Times

Other political news

• More pubs pledge to ban Labour MPs over business rates – The Times
• Denmark ‘deeply angered’ after Trump appoints Greenland envoy – Daily Telegraph
• Labour MSP to quit Holyrood over links to sex offender – BBC
• Young care leavers in England to get free prescriptions, dental and eye services – The Guardian
• Barracks to house migrants ‘within weeks’ as crossings top 41,000 – The Times
• Protests erupt in Albania after deputy PM indicted – Daily Telegraph
• Ex-BNP leader Nick Griffin accused of stirring up racial hatred with cartoon – BBC
• Starmer told closer EU trade ties ‘strategic necessity’ for UK firms – The Guardian
• Sadiq Khan accused of hypocrisy over TfL Oyster deal with arms firm – The Times
• Families of Palestine Action hunger strikers seek urgent meeting with Lammy – The Guardian
• Train drivers on up to £80,000 a year categorised as ‘working class’ – The Times

Hague: An exciting but dangerous time to be alive

“It is the most exciting time to be alive because we are close to breakthroughs of which earlier generations could only dream, in new medicines, materials and energy sources. But it is dangerous because we are daily more at risk of cyberattack, political extremism, social discontent, climate disasters or simply being left behind in a world that moves on without us. Countries, companies and individuals should therefore be ready for their situation to get much better or much worse. That obviously starts with being more resilient to shocks but if we just hunker down in fear we will miss all the benefits of the exciting new developments. The only way to succeed in this new chapter of history is to become more resilient by constantly reinventing ourselves.” – William Hague, The Times

News in brief

• Voters would bear cost of Ed Miliband chancellorship – Henry Hill, Unherd
• What my cod’s roe saga reveals about British decline – Lance Forman, The Spectator
• Why the Government won’t hit its housing target – Ike Ijeh, The Critic
• A Tribute to the Victims of Lockdown – Josh Urban, Daily Sceptic
• Britain’s patriotic vibe shift – Brendan O’Neill, Spiked Online