The Week 1571

After years in decline, the British wool industry is enjoying a small revival. At a recent auction in Bradford, wool fetched its highest price for a decade. This is largely the result of dwindling supply and pent-up demand for carpets and the like from a recovering hospitality sector; but it has also been credited to a growing interest in sustainable fashion and natural fibres such as tweed, fostered by TV shows such as The Crown. Most farmers are still selling wool at a loss, however. Tens of thousands of people used Cancer Research UK’s online screening tool in the days after King Charles urged the public to check their eligibility, in a speech about his own diagnosis. In his televised message, the King said that his doctors had told him…

What happened Doctors strike again Doctors in England voted this weekend to reject a last-ditch Government offer and continue with a planned five-day strike. The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, had proposed a new deal last week that would have provided some 4,000 more speciality training posts for early-career doctors and covered some of their expenses, such as exam fees. But in an online ballot by their union, the British Medical Association (BMA), “resident” – formerly junior – doctors rejected the offer, by 83% to 17% on a 65% turnout. At 7am on Wednesday, they were due to start the 14th strike they ’ve staged since their pay dispute began in March 2023. Streeting called the strike a “self-indulgent, irresponsible and dangerous” act that would hit at a “moment of maximum…

What happened Australia’s government announced plans to strengthen the country’s gun control laws, following Sunday’s terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, in Sydney. In the 20-minute rampage, a father and son opened fire on a crowd of about 1,000 people who had gathered to celebrate the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The father, Sajid Akram, 50, had licences for six firearms, the number recovered at the scene. He was shot dead by police; his son, Naveed Akram, 24, was arrested and taken to hospital. They appear to have been inspired by Islamic State. The victims of the attack – Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996 – included two rabbis, a Holocaust survivor and a ten-year-old girl. Many more might have died had it not been for the heroism…

Controversy of the week “Civilisational erasure” Pity Europe, said Michael Ignatieff on Substack. According to the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy, the continent is facing “civilisational erasure” as a result of unchecked migration and a “loss of national identities and self-confidence”. Its nations are burnt-out and trapped in a cycle of decay, it says, owing to over-regulation, woke policies and cratering birthrates. The document positively drips with America’s “contempt” for its long-time allies. Yet in many ways, Team Trump isn’t wrong, said Tim Stanley in The Daily Telegraph. Europe has “strangled” its economies with excessive regulation, and is behind China and the US in crucial industries such as AI. It has neglected defence in favour of welfare. And when confronted with actual war, its response has been to hold…

A book about the ethics of AI research, published by a major academic publisher, has been found to contain references to journals that appear not to exist. According to The Times, many of the citations in certain chapters of Social, Ethical and Legal Aspects of Generative AI seem to be fictitious, which could indicate that the material was AI generated. In one chapter, eight of the 11 citations could not be verified. Springer Nature, the publisher, says it is investigating the claims. Of the 18-year-olds who had an offer to start at a UK university in the autumn, 89,510 said they intended to live at home – a record high; 6.9% more than in 2024. It means 31% of them planned to live at home, up from 22% a decade…

Reform UK, which appeared to have become Britain’s largest party, by membership. Internal figures seen by The Times suggest that Labour now has less than 250,000 members, which would mean it has shed 100,000 since the election; Reform, according to its own “live counter”, has 270,971 (and counting). Dick Van Dyke, the Hollywood actor known for his attempt at a cockney accent in Mary Poppins, who turned 100. “The funniest thing is, it’s not enough,” he said, of reaching that milestone. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, after the Metropolitan Police said it would not be opening a new criminal investigation into claims that, in 2011, he’d asked his close protection officer to gather information about his accuser, the late Virginia Giuffre. In a statement, the Met said that it had carried out an…