EU

Mail
The new president of the EU Commission is embroiled in an evidence-tampering row after the contents of her mobile phone were deleted – despite calls for her to hand it in. Ursula von der Leyen, who succeeded Jean-Claude Juncker, is a former defence minister in Angela Merkel’s government. She had the data on her official phone deleted ‘for security reasons’, according to the German defence ministry. But furious MPs in the German parliament hit out at the ‘scandalous’ move, which took place while she was under investigation for doling out millions of euros on consultants for defence contracts. Parliamentarians accused the defence ministry of sabotaging their attempts to investigate the deals. They have decried the ‘annoying stalling tactics’ of the ministry, which revealed on Thursday that the phone was wiped in August – despite investigators asking to see it for months.

Labour Party

Mail
The failings of Labour’s disastrous election strategy have been laid bare after leaked documents revealed Jeremy Corbyn‘s senior aides channeled money and volunteers to unwinnable Tory-held constituencies rather defending vulnerable Labour seats. The documents also suggest target seats were chosen in part on the basis of bitter internal Labour divisions, with the party failing to invest in close-run seats held by Corbyn sceptics. On December 12 Labour’s ‘red wall’ crumbled, with a swathe of the Midlands, the north of England and north Wales returning Tory MPs, some for the first time in over 50 years. But of the 86 seats identified as top targets by the Labour election team led by close Corbyn aide Karie Murphy, 60 were ‘offensive’ targets which the party looked to claim from the Tories. The only one won by Labour was Putney.

Express
JEREMY CORBYN’S Labour Party carried out a bizarre campaign strategy during the 2019 general election, which saw the party target Tory Leave areas and ignore polling data to the detriment of 59 Labour MPs. A secret dossier, published by The Sunday Times, has revealed Labour’s electoral strategy, which saw the party target almost 100 key constituencies – including several “deep blue” seats that overwhelmingly backed Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum. Strategists channelled millions of pounds into target areas, which critics dubbed an attempt to overcome Labour’s pro-EU wing. The election plot, which was hidden from the shadow cabinet and key staff throughout the campaign, also appeared to select seats on the basis of vindictive internal politics.

Sky News
Senior Labour figures will launch a post-election autopsy into how the party lost 59 seats and handed Boris Johnson’s Conservatives a large majority. Ed Miliband, leader from 2010-15, is one of those setting up a commission to “learn the lessons” of this month’s snap poll by “rising above the factional infighting”. He will be joined by Lucy Powell, a Labour MP who ran the party’s unsuccessful 2015 election campaign, backbencher Shabana Mahmood, a trade union representative, and an MP who lost her seat – Jo Platt. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s economic adviser James Meadway and editor of the website Labourlist Sienna Rodgers are also on board.

BBC

Telegraph
The BBC director-general has rejected all claims of bias in its election overage, insisting that the corporation has the public’s trust. Lord Hall of Birkenhead said that provoking the ire of both the Conservative and Labour parties proved that the BBC is impartial. In his first public riposte to accusations of political bias, Lord Hall said the BBC remains “the envy of the world”. Writing in the Telegraph, he said: “Around 27 million people in the UK came to the BBC website to find out about the election results. It was a reminder of the trust people place in the BBC.  “Yes, of course we faced some criticism for our election coverage. That is to be expected as the national broadcaster. Where we can and need to improve we will.

Express
THE BBC’s director-general has rejected claims of bias during its election coverage, insisting that the broadcasting company has the “public’s trust”.  Lord Hall of Birkenhead said that by angering both the Conservative and Labour Parties was evidence that the BBC is impartial. Lord Hall wrote in an article in The Daily Telegraph that the BBC remains “the envy of the world”.  He said: “Around 27 million people in the UK came to the BBC website to find out about the election results. It was a reminder of the trust people place in the BBC.   “Yes, of course we faced some criticism for our election coverage. That is to be expected as the national broadcaster. Where we can and need to improve we will. “But the fact criticism came from all sides of the political divide shows to me that we were doing our job without fear or favour.”

Guardian
Tony Hall, the director-general of the BBC, has defended the corporation’s election output against accusations of bias, saying that the national broadcaster had faced criticisms of its output from both leftwing and rightwing commentators in the weeks leading up to voting day. However, Lord Hall has spoken out in praise of the BBC’s polling coverage, claiming the fact that it received complaints from all sides demonstrated it was unbiased. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Hall said: “Around 27 million people in the UK came to the BBC website to find out about the election results. It was a reminder of the trust people place in the BBC.

Times
BBC podcasts such as The Missing Cryptoqueen and Tunnel 29 are beginning to lure listeners to its Sounds app, although The Archers and Desert Island Discs still have the most appeal. Sounds was launched last year as a home for the BBC’s audio content — radio, music and podcasts — but was bedevilled by complaints and initially failed to catch on. However, the closure of the iPlayer Radio app in September and the release of several well-reviewed podcast series appears to be pulling more listeners in. The Sounds app now has about 3 million weekly users, up from 1.3 million in June, according to official data. That is more than the average iPlayer Radio audience, the BBC says.

Sharia

Times
Islamist extremists in Britain’s prisons are holding makeshift Sharia trials, circulating banned books and openly grooming young Muslim inmates, The Times has been told. A former prisoner who claims that he took part in Sharia courts and punishment beatings has given a detailed account of how he came to join a group of prisoners at HMP Woodhill, Milton Keynes, who pledged allegiance to Isis. The revelations have prompted security experts to call for a fundamental review of terrorist radicalisation in jails across Britain. The issue came under scrutiny last month when Usman Khan, 28, a Category A terrorist prisoner freed on licence, murdered two people at London Bridge before being killed by police.

Mail
Extremists in British prisons are holding their own Sharia trials, grooming young Muslim inmates and sharing banned books, it has been reported. An ex-prisoner claimed he took part in punishment beatings and Sharia courts with a group of prisoners who pledged allegiance to Isis. Last night security experts called for an urgent review into radicalisation in British jails. The claims come after police watchdogs revealed they are to probe whether London Bridge killer Usman Khan should have been watched more closely after his release from jail.

Times
In a prison cell at HMP Woodhill, the walls of which were lined with religious posters and family photographs, Brusthom Ziamani, 24, a jailed terrorist, and another prisoner, a convicted murderer, sat with two young inmates. Another man, then aged 24 and who will be referred to by the pseudonym Jack, arrived at the door and squeezed into the cramped room. The murderer, a broad, muscular man we have called M, greeted Jack with a bear hug and instructed him to stand beside Ziamani. These three converts to a warped and extremist brand of Islam had formed a self-styled Sharia court to sit in judgment on the two other prisoners sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Immigration

Breitbart
Two former heads of British immigration agencies have said that British cutters should patrol French territorial waters in the English Channel and return illegal aliens to France before they get anywhere near Great Britain. Observing that the current system of picking up boat migrants in British waters and ferrying them to the mainland is not deterring illegal immigration, Peter Higgins, a former director of Immigration Services, said: “If Border force cutters are to continue to be deployed, is it not logical that they should operate in French waters, and having made an interception immediately return individuals to France?” Mr Higgins, who worked in immigration and customs for 40 years, told The Telegraph: “If the French are serious about solving this problem, they would not be averse to the UK cutters operating in French waters. Why is this not being done?

Social care

Mail
Tory grandee Ken Clarke has urged Boris Johnson to move quickly to confront the social care crisis after saying the Government doesn’t have a policy on the issue. The former chancellor said the Prime Minister must set out ‘more details’ on his plan for running the country after securing an emphatic 80-seat majority. The Tory manifesto set out a three-point plan for social care, including £1 billion a year more in funding for the next five years. It also proposed cross-party talks to propose a long-term solution and promised that, whatever solution was found, no one would be forced to sell their home to pay for care.

NHS

Telegraph
Britain’s GPs are among the best paid in the western world, a major report has found. The international study shows that family doctors now earn more than three times as much as the average employee. GP partners typically earn more than £115,000 a year for full-time work, with most family doctors opting for part-time hours.   Despite this, the country is facing a growing shortage, with mounting concern about how NHS hospitals – already under unprecedented strain – will cope as GPs close their doors for Christmas. Patients’ groups said the figures were “extraordinary”. Pay has risen substantially since the introduction of a GP contract under the last Labour government, which allowed doctors to give up responsibility for out-of-hours services. Before 2004 when the new contract came in GP partners earned around £85,000 a year.

Mail
British GPs are among the best paid in the Western world with most earning more than £100,000, a major report reveals.  Family doctors are paid more than three times as much as the average Briton, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The report reveals only Germany pays its GPs more than Britain when compared with the rest of its citizens. Yet the UK is struggling to hold on to its family doctors. According to NHS Digital, self-employed GPs across Britain were paid an average of £109,100 in 2017/18 – up 3.5 per cent on the year before. Salaried GPs were paid an average £58,400.

Mirror
FAMILY doctors are quitting in droves despite being among the best paid in the world, figures show. A GP working for the NHS earns more than three times the national average salary. Only Germany has a greater pay gap between doctors and the general population, the stats reveal. But the NHS has lost the equivalent of 1,000 full-time GPs in the past four years leaving patients in England facing record waits for appointments. Joyce Robins, from Patient Concern, said: “We are desperately short of GPs and it seems extraordinary given how generous the pay is. “I really fear for the future.”

Times
More than one million women in England do not have access to a regular female GP, a Times investigation can reveal. The patients include tens of thousands of elderly women who often prefer to see a female doctor. Practices can book female locums to see them for one off appointments but they are expensive and patients say they have faced hostility from staff when they have requested this or complained. One told The Times: “It is important. When it is going to be an intrusive examination, you need to be able to feel free, without judgment. When a female GP’s not available you fold into yourself.”

Education

Times
The virtual monopoly that Ucas has over the university admissions system is to be challenged by a digital start-up whose app will allow students to apply free for degree courses all-year round, with no personal statement required. Coursematch wants to “disrupt” the regime that governs university applications, which it says is outdated, inflexible and expensive. It will enable students to apply directly to a university at any time on a platform where they can also see independent information on the courses and chat to other prospective applicants. It will employ technology used by online retailers that shows users what other customers have viewed and will have the “swipe left” system made famous by the dating app Tinder.

HS2

Independent
Boris Johnson has been urged to “change course” on High Speed 2 by more than 20 of his own MPs, weeks after he admitted the controversial project could end up costing the taxpayer more than £100bn. The newly re-formed HS2 Review Group – which consists of veteran and recently elected Tories, some seated in Labour’s “red wall” – wrote to the PM on Saturday requesting meetings with him and the transport secretary “as a matter of urgency”. They warned the business case for the project was collapsing, voicing “significant concerns” about government-owned HS2 Ltd’s ability to manage the project and unease over its environmental impact. “It is not too late for the government to change course,” Banbury MP Victoria Prentis wrote in the letter signed by 20 other Tories. “We have many new colleagues who have campaigned against or are seriously concerned about the future of this project.

Heathrow

Times
Passenger landing charges at Heathrow could increase by 25 per cent after a third runway is built despite a pledge to keep them unchanged. A business plan to be submitted to the aviation watchdog this week says that fees levied on airlines may rise by between 9.5 per cent and 25 per cent by 2029 to pay for better facilities. Heathrow insists that overall, costs for passengers are likely to fall dramatically because of the increased competition generated by the new runway. At least 260,000 more take-offs and landings a year will be possible when the airport expands, allowing low-cost carriers such as EasyJet to operate from Heathrow.

Amazon

Mail
Families are being duped into buying shoddy goods by fake reviews on Amazon. A Daily Mail investigation found the glowing appraisals are sold for £13 a time by rogue marketing firms. The companies use an army of ‘testers’ to post the four- and five-star reviews online. The testers are given a small fee and a refund for the cost of buying the products they have to recommend. One review firm, AMZTigers of Germany, boasts of having 3,000 UK testers.

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