“Donald Trump announced on Wednesday night that he had struck a deal on the future of Greenland after talks with the head of Nato. Mr Trump said he had agreed upon a “future framework” for Greenland and the “entire Arctic region” during a “very productive meeting” with Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary general. The US president dropped his threat of punitive 10 per cent trade tariffs on the UK and other European countries after announcing a “long-term deal” on Greenland. The European allies had refused to support his plan to annex Greenland. The announcement came only hours after Mr Trump had demanded the immediate right to buy Greenland from Denmark during a meandering two-hour speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.” – Daily Telegraph
“Sir Keir Starmer faces the prospect of being forced to bring in an immediate social media ban for teenagers after being defeated in the House of Lords. On Monday, Sir Keir said Labour would consult on introducing an Australian-style ban for under-16s. However, he is now under pressure to implement an immediate ban after the Lords voted by 261 to 150 in favour of an amendment that would force the Government to introduce one. The amendment will now go before the Commons. Most Labour MPs are in favour of a ban which means they will have to be whipped to vote against it to prevent it becoming law before the Government has completed its consultation.” – Daily Telegraph
“When Kemi Badenoch met Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, on Monday evening, she pressed him on two issues: the Chagos Islands deal and North Sea oil drilling. Neither participant was part of their respective executive branch, and neither issue was at the centre of the crisis that has engulfed transatlantic politics. But before long, the meeting had some very real political consequences. The brief encounter set off a chain of events including a call from Johnson to Donald Trump, a social media blast from the US president against the Chagos deal, and on Wednesday, an unprecedented public rebuff to Trump from Keir Starmer.” – Guardian
“Rachel Reeves is poised to exclude hotels and restaurants from a new package aimed at softening the blow of rising business rates. The Chancellor indicated on Wednesday that her planned support scheme will only cover pubs, dashing hopes of relief in the rest of the hospitality industry. “I do recognise the particular challenge that pubs face at the moment and so [we have] been working with the sector over the last few weeks to make sure that the right support is in place, and we’ll be announcing something in the next few days,” Ms Reeves said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She added that “the situation the pubs face is different from other parts of the hospitality sector”. – Daily Telegraph
“Nigel Farage is the highest-earning MP in the Commons and has brought in almost £1.4 million in outside income since the general election, figures show, as he was found to have repeatedly breached parliamentary rules on declaring earnings on time. Analysis of the Register of Members’ Financial Interests showed the Reform leader received £1,398,008 in ad-hoc payments since July 4, largely from television work. But Farage was found to have breached parliamentary rules 17 times by failing to declare almost £400,000 of income within the required 28-day deadline. He blamed the failures on what he described as “severe growing pains” after entering parliament and said he “doesn’t do computers”. – The Times
“The Home Office is not fit for purpose and should be abolished in its current form, Robert Jenrick has said. The former Tory frontbencher, who defected to Reform UK last week, said he would establish a new “borders department” that would be tasked with taking radical steps to stop small boat crossings. Mr Jenrick told The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast that he had seen the work of the Home Office up close, as immigration minister, and became convinced it was unable to stop illegal migration. He said: “I think the Home Office is not fit for purpose, but one of its problems is that it’s just not got a team of people who are determined to fix our borders.” – Daily Telegraph