“Protesters in Iran defied a deadly government crackdown on Saturday night, taking to the streets despite reports suggesting hundreds of people have been killed or wounded by security forces in the past three days. Verified videos and eyewitness accounts seen by the BBC appeared to show the government was ramping up its response, as it continues an overarching internet blackout. The country’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, said on Saturday that anyone protesting would be considered an “enemy of God” – an offence that carries the death penalty.” – BBC
“Donald Trump said on Saturday night that he was ready to help Iranians protesting against the regime, as his administration began discussing how to carry out a military strike on the country. US government officials were considering striking multiple Iranian military targets, The Wall Street Journal reported. Former Pentagon officials told The Telegraph that Mr Trump could also authorise covert CIA operations to destabilise Tehran or give the green light to Israel to launch its own attacks on the regime.” – Sunday Telegraph
“A regime born in street protests is perishing by the same rough method. Its end, as well as being a liberation for the Persian people, is a boon for everyone else, a flare of light in the gloom. When we think of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, we tend to emphasise the first word over the second. But the revolutionary nature of Khomeini’s regime – he abolished the monarchy, nationalised businesses, expropriated and exiled a portion of the middle class – is critical to understanding Iran. Revolutionaries do not acknowledge national sovereignty. The ayatollahs made that abundantly clear with their first action: the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.” – Daniel Hannan, Sunday Telegraph
Other comment on Iran:
“The Conservatives say they would ban under-16s from accessing social media platforms if they were in power, promising to follow the example of Australia, which was the first country to introduce the policy. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said if her party was in government, smartphones would also be banned in schools. It has been a month since Australia’s ban on under-16s using major social media platforms came into force. The Conservatives say that if elected, they would follow suit to try to protect children’s mental health and education, and to stop them from viewing harmful content online.” – BBC
“Elon Musk has said critics of his social media site X are looking for “any excuse for censorship”, after its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok drew criticism over its use to create sexualised images of people without their knowledge or consent. Ofcom says it is conducting an urgent assessment of X in response, with the backing of Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. But the chairwomen of Parliament’s technology and media committees have both said they are concerned that “gaps” in the Online Safety Act might hinder the media regulator’s ability to deal with the matter.” – BBC
“A Labour MP has made an extraordinary attack on Sir Keir Starmer’s planned jury reforms, threatening to trigger a by-election unless they are dropped, as he revealed he was once falsely accused of a crime. Karl Turner, the former shadow solicitor general, said he was “ashamed” of the prime minister and David Lammy, the justice secretary, and called on them to “stop these ludicrous proposals and get on with the hard job of sorting out the criminal justice system”. The government has said it will drop juries in trials for offences with a likely prison sentence of three years or less. The ability to appeal a magistrates’ court verdict to a crown court will also be limited.” – Sunday Times
“Senior ministers have warned that the chancellor’s business rates bailout for pubs must be extended to other sectors to prevent the death of high streets. Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a rescue package for pubs, hundreds of which are facing closure as their business rates bills surge by tens of thousands of pounds through changes announced in last November’s budget. However, industry leaders and backbench Labour MPs have warned the package does not go far enough and must include other retail and hospitality businesses.” – Sunday Times
>Today: ToryDiary: Resets and relaunches can’t hide fundamental problems for the Prime Minister – and the rest of us
“Nigel Farage has condemned Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘spineless’ approach to defence spending, which he says has left Britain looking like a ‘pygmy’ as the world teeters on the edge of multiple incendiary conflicts. With Iran facing meltdown, Donald Trump threatening war over Greenland and Vladimir Putin menacing Europe through Ukraine, the Reform UK leader said it was ‘terrifying’ that the UK faced a £28 billion shortfall in defence funding. “Just look what’s happening in the world,” Mr Farage writes in today’s Mail on Sunday. “We could soon be embroiled in operations in Iran, and are being drawn closer towards conflict with Putin, and yet thanks to spineless Starmer failing to properly fund our Armed Forces we are now military pygmies on the international stage.” – Mail on Sunday
“Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is said to have done a secret deal to run as an MP in May as he ramps up his plot to oust Keir Starmer as PM. Rumours the “King of the North” is planning a bombshell comeback have been swirling for months. He is ramping up his plot to oust Sir Keir Starmer as PM. Insiders say Labour rebel Jim McMahon has now told colleagues a deal is “sewn up”. It is believed that shamed MP Andrew Gwynne will announce he is standing down from his seat of Gorton and Denton, Gtr Manchester, in March to make way for him.” – The Sun on Sunday
“The US military says it carried out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on Saturday. President Trump directed the bombing as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike in retaliation for the deadly attack on US forces carried out by the militant group in Palmyra last month. Two US soldiers and one civilian were killed in the ambush on December 13.” – Sunday Times
“Labour’s ‘obsessive’ drive towards Net Zero could cost Britons a staggering £4.5 trillion over the next 25 years, official estimates suggest. Critics said the extraordinary mounting costs for measures such as wind farms, solar panels, green heating systems and upgrades to roads and railways are significantly higher than previous forecasts and could ‘bankrupt’ the economy. The figures, quietly published last month by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) – a Government quango responsible for Britain’s energy systems – includes an estimated £585 billion to be forked out by ordinary households to pay for the move away from energy–guzzling boilers towards eco–friendly heat pumps.” – Mail on Sunday
“The old order is dead. But nothing has yet replaced it and history teaches us that these transitions are often bloody and unpredictable; there are 60 active conflicts around the world at present, the most since the Second World War. The global stability that was fundamental to the operating model of so many businesses is gone and is not coming back. Pax Americana is over. For the first time in 40 years, there is a credible economic, technological and military rival to the US. In 100 years, no country had surpassed 70 per cent of America’s gross domestic product (GDP), until China did so in 2020. Meanwhile, under Trump 2.0, the US is fundamentally changing the nature of its own role. One can make a clear, moral case for the removal of Nicolás Maduro, but what is unsettling is that its purpose was not to enable Venezuelans to be governed by those they voted for, but to ensure that oil production was increased.” – Rishi Sunak, Sunday Times
“In 2018 the rate of pupils with special education needs (SEN) in Wales was about 22 per cent. Among pupils born in 2002-03 nearly half (48 per cent) had SEN status at some point. But then the government in Cardiff changed tack. It replaced SEN with a new category, additional learning needs (ALN). The definition of need was not changed but there was a tighter focus on the pupils who most needed help: among a host of other reforms, the category of “general learning difficulties” was eliminated in favour of better-defined conditions, and responsibility for pupils’ statutory plans was handed to schools. Today the ALN rate in Wales is under 10 per cent and Estyn, the Welsh equivalent of Ofsted, reports “drastic improvements” in proactive support for those pupils.” – Robert Colvile, Sunday Times
“The biggest drawback with Downing Street’s new strategy is that however scared Starmer’s MPs may be by Putin’s aggression and Trump’s irrationality, the British people scare them more. The continuing slide in Labour’s poll ratings, the angry reaction to Rachel Reeves’ betrayal of her pledge not to raise taxes on working people and the chaotic start to the New Year – which has already seen panicked U-turns on farmers’ inheritance tax and pub business rates – are what is focusing their minds.” – Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday