Uncensored Free Speech Platform

Harriet Dolby: We’ve created a generation who either can’t find work or don’t want to work
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

Harriet Dolby is the Treasurer of the Oxford University Conservative Association, and the most recent and youngest member of the Next Gen Tories executive.

‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ is the question my Grandmother asks annually at Christmastime in order to avoid an awkward silence. I am now almost 20, and for the past fifteen years this has been a constant inquisition, ever since those primary school lessons made us draw out who and what we wanted to be in the future.

If I now look at that class of 33 pupils, an average of four of them would not be in education, employment of training (NEET). Extrapolated out to the UK, this figure rises to 948,000, 12.8 per cent of young people.

That is one in eight 16-24-year-olds who may never work a day in their lives.

It is easy to see that if one becomes accustomed to a life of 9-5 Come Dine with Me and Four-in-a-Bed, then it would be hard to muster the will, confidence and ever-elusive ‘soft skills’ required to hold down a job.

But of course, this comes at a huge financial cost to the state, taxpayer and personal cost to those who are NEET. According to the Minister for Employment in July 2025, there were 768,000 young people on Universal credit. If we assume that each person receives the standard rate of UC, this would sum to over £2.2bn per year; more than half of the Metropolitan Police’s budget each year.  A figure that would rise even further when we consider the 383,000 young people on PIP too.

On the international stage, we are an embarrassment, with our youth unemployment (at 15-16 per cent) exceeding the OECD average (of 12 per cent), our Anglophone friends in Australia at 10 per cent and, as my teenage brother would say, we are certainly ‘mogged’ by Germany at just 7 per cent. And this discrepancy is only growing with youth unemployment rising by 2 per cent to 16 per cent over just the past year.

Why are we letting this happen and what have we got wrong to get us here?

Fundamentally, Britain has seen a complete subversion of incentives, a welfare state so generous that it is almost nonsensical to work, and an employment system so litigious and so costly that it simply does not make sense for businesses to take on more staff.

Starmer’s government has only exacerbated this problem.

Entrenches in the minds of Labour ministers is seemingly the view that all business owners are Victorian industrialists, willing to sacrifice a few children’s fingers in a machine to earn more for their rapacious selves. If this is the Government’s view of the private sector, it is hardly surprising that virtue-signalling Labourites would want to stand up for the oppressed worker, squash brutal employment practices and ensure that the proletariat are fairly paid.

Yet the utopia that this …

‘BE VIGILANT’: Assistant Health Secretary Warns What Can Happen If Pro-Lifers Don’t Vote
Is this competence or optics?

Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services Brian Christine warned that the administration’s pro-life wins can be lost if pro-lifers don’t vote in November.

“We have to always be vigilant,” he told The Daily Signal in an interview. “All the wins that we’ve had in this administration all of the great things that have been done, it’s only one election cycle away from losing these things.”

"All of these victories we're having as a pro-life group can be lost if the elections don't go our way."

Assistant Secretary for Health @ADM_Christine says if pro-lifers don't vote in November, the admin's pro-life wins can be lost.

"All the wins that we've had in this…
— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) January 23, 2026

Christine spoke with The Daily Signal on the morning of the March for Life in Washington, D.C. The 53rd annual march was attended by pro-lifers from around the country advocating for the right to life of unborn children.

“Every November is important. This November in 2026 is important. We have to vote,” he said. “We have to vote for those candidates and for those individuals supporting President [Donald] Trump because all of these victories we’re having as a pro-life group can be lost if the elections don’t go our way.”

Christine replaced the Biden administration’s assistant health secretary, Rachel Levine, a man who identifies as a woman.

“I stand here a man in a man’s uniform,” Christine said. “I stand here saying that little boys are little boys, little girls are little girls. And that can never change. And that is a seismic shift from my predecessor.”

Christine said he agrees with Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy that abortion is a tragedy.

“The respect for life that this administration has is amazing,” he said. “From conception until death, we respect life. We protect our children. We stand for life, and we stand strong for life.”

Christine, whose office handles Title X family planning funding, said he is working to enforce the Hyde Amendment and stop taxpayer funding of abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood.

“There has been a relinquishing of funds from Planned Parenthood, $2.3 million, because of the oversight of [the Department of Health and Human Services],” he said. “They’ve relinquished these funds. That means $2.3 million is not going to that abortion mill. $2.3 million will not be going toward killing our children, and that is huge.”

"?There has been a relinquishing of funds from Planned Parenthood–$2.3 million is being relinquished from Planned Parenthood of the Northwest."

"This $2.3 million won't go toward killing children. It's gonna go toward life."

"?That is such a seismic shift from the prior…
— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) January 23, 2026

Last week, HHS released tens of millions in Title X family planning funds to Planned Parenthood and other clinics. But Planned Parenthood declined to accept the unfrozen funds, The Daily Caller reported.

“We provided incredible oversight, and that’s why this $2.3 million is being relinquished from Planned Parenthood of the Northwest,” Christine said. “And so, …

(What’s Left of) Our Economy: No Big Immigration Crackdown Boost for U.S. Workers Yet
Every delay has consequences.

OK – the last few days finally have seen an official report on the U.S. economy that hasn’t been excellent.  Principally, the latest release on worker earnings showed that price-adjusted wages either remained flat or dipped sequentially by various measures in December.

They also revealed a seemingly paradoxical development on this front:  During Trump 2.0 (since February – the first full month of the president’s second term), when it comes to blue-collar workers, this measure of compensation didn’t rise faster than it did during the comparable 2024 months during the Biden administration.  In fact, by both measures, it grew more slowly – and in one case, significantly so.

I say “paradoxical” because I thought that the Trump 2.0 border security and deportation policies would shrink the foreign-born labor force enough to increase business competition for workers – thereby putting upward pressure on wages.  And of course, those developments would have contrasted strikingly with that Biden period, which like the rest of the former president’s administration, was Open Borders-friendly.

In addition, I thought that this effect would be especially pronounced for blue-collar employees, since surely the vast majority of the illegal aliens being deported or leaving voluntarily who are of working age would fall into this category.  And ditto for most of the illegals no longer streaming into the United States because of the president’s highly effective border security crackdown.

But that’s not what the numbers say at this point.

From the standpoint of immigration restrictionists like me, the most encouraging result came for average after-inflation weekly wages for all private sector workers.  (The U.S. government’s wage figures only cover private sector workers because their pay is mainly determined by market forces, not politicians’ decisions.)  Between February and December of last year, they were up by 1.14 percent.  During the comparable Biden 2024 span, they rose by a weaker 0.87 percent.

When it comes to blue-collar workers, though, the wage results flipped.  During Trump 2.0 so far, they’ve risen by 1.19 percent.  But during the comparable Biden period, they were up by a faster 1.36 percent.

I’ve posted till now on weekly real wages (see, e.g., here) because they’re the best measure of the earnings that workers actually take home in their paychecks.  But it’s worth noting that the hourly wage figures are actually slightly worse during Trump 2.0.

For all private sector workers between last February and December, they did increase by 1.08 percent.  But that result slightly trailed the 1.08 percent advance recorded during the same Biden 2024 months.

And for blue-collar workers, the difference was even greater.  Their constant dollar hourly wages have improved by just 0.81 percent under Trump 2.0 – much more slowly than the 1.44 percent increase achieved during the comparable Biden 2024 months.

One reason for these findings is probably that, despite the unmistakable drop in the numbers of foreign-born workers, the overall workforce continued growing under Trump 2.0, according to the main measures.  So the competition among businesses …

Nurse fired for wishing pregnant Karoline Leavitt ‘a fourth-degree tear’
What's the administration thinking here?

A Florida nurse has been fired for wishing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt a “fourth-degree tear” during her next childbirth.

The labor and delivery nurse, who worked at a hospital in Boca Raton, posted a TikTok video in which she made the comment toward Leavitt. The video went viral and was shared with her employer, Baptist Health South Florida, which subsequently issued a statement announcing the nurse’s removal.

“The comments made in a social media video by a nurse at one of our facilities do not reflect our values or the standards we expect of healthcare professionals,” Baptist Health South Florida said in a statement shared with multiple outlets. “Following a prompt review, the individual is no longer employed by our health system.”

The nurse, identified by several outlets, including the New York Post, as Lexie Lawler, said in the video that it gave her “great joy” to wish Leavitt the most severe childbirth tear possible in delivery.

KAROLINE LEAVITT ANNOUNCES PREGNANCY WITH SECOND CHILD

“While we respect the right to personal opinions, there is no place in healthcare for language or behavior that calls into question a caregiver’s ability to provide compassionate, unbiased care,” the Baptist Health South Florida statement read. “We are committed to an environment that promotes trust, professionalism, and respect for all.”

Leavitt is currently pregnant with her second child, expecting a baby girl in May 2026.

SECOND LADY USHA VANCE ANNOUNCES SHE’S PREGNANT WITH FOURTH CHILD

Leavitt and her husband, Nick Riccio, made the announcement in December, as she became the first White House press secretary in history known to be pregnant. Leavitt and Riccio posted an image of their son Niko Riccio, born in July 2024, holding a teddy bear with a shirt that read “I’m a baby brother!” as part of the announcement.

Second Lady Usha Vance and Vice President JD Vance also recently announced that the Second Lady is pregnant with their fourth child. The Vances said they are expecting a baby boy in July.

Third round of January Social Security payments goes out in four days
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

The third round of January Social Security payments for retirees, now capped at $5,108, will be issued in four days.

When will payments arrive?

Retirees born on or after the 21st of a month will receive this payment on Jan. 28.

The first round of payments went out on Jan. 14 to recipients born on or before the 10th of a month, and the second round went out on Jan. 21 to those born between the 11th and 20th of a month.

When am I eligible?

Citizens are eligible for Social Security payments beginning at 62 years old.

How can I maximize my check?

Social Security payment amounts are determined by several factors, including age of retirement, the amount paid into Social Security, and the number of years paid into Social Security.

Payments largely depend on a recipient’s retirement age. A beneficiary retiring at the youngest age, 62, could receive up to $2,831 per month, while a 70-year-old retiree could receive up to $5,108 per month, according to the Social Security Administration.

Beneficiaries can see a personalized estimate of how much they could expect each month through the SSA’s calculator.

GOP PLAYS BALL WITH DEMOCRATS ON ICE FUNDING, BODY CAMERAS FOR AGENTS

How is it financed?

Social Security is financed by a payroll tax paid for by employers and employees.

Social Security payment amounts are set to shrink unless Congress takes action to prevent it. Analysts estimate the SSA will no longer be able to issue full payments as early as 2034, due to a rising number of retirees and a shrinking workforce.

Would Attacking Greenland be an illegal action?
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

Would attacking Greenland be an llegal action? Would it be a legitimate reason for the US Military to not Attack Greenland on order from President Donald Trump? Could the Senate stop the President from Attacking? Mark Kelly and other Senators said US Military does not have to follow illegal orders. Is this an illegal order?

How can JD Vance seriously discuss arresting and holding sex offenders accountable while Trump is POTUS?
This affects the entire country.

The Trump-Vance administration has made "holding sexual predators accountable" a cornerstone of their 2025-2026 agenda. Between the "Protecting our Communities from Sexual Predators Act"—which focuses on the deportation of non-citizen offenders—and the recently signed TAKE IT DOWN Act, the rhetoric is stronger than ever.
​However, there is a glaring elephant in the room. JD Vance is currently out on the trail (most recently in Minneapolis) touting "law and order" and the removal of "sexual deviants" from the streets. At the same time, Donald Trump remains a man found liable in a court of law for the sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll.
​How does a Press Secretary or a VP seriously argue that they are the "party of protection" when their own leader’s legal history would, under their own proposed standards, categorize him as the very threat they claim to be hunting? Is this just the ultimate form of political compartmentalization, or is the "predator" label being redefined to only apply to political enemies and undocumented immigrants?

Trump Rebukes Canada’s Mark Carney at Davos
We're watching the same failure loop.

President Donald Trump rebuked Canada before a meeting of global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us,” Trump said during his speech Wednesday, adding, “They should be grateful also, but they’re not.”

Trump told the room packed with politicians and business leaders that he had watched Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at Davos on Tuesday, noting the Canadian leader “wasn’t so grateful” for U.S. leadership.

While Carney did not refer to Trump by name in his address, he did speak of a “rupture” in the world order and inferred the U.S. is at the center of those irrevocable changes.

Trump on Wednesday said that “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

President Trump to Mark Carney at Davos:

“Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements."
— Virginia Allen (@Virginia_Allen5) January 21, 2026

Carney’s comments, and Trump’s stark rebuke, come as Trump continues to press the issue of U.S. ownership of Greenland.

Trump says the U.S. needs Greenland for purposes of national security, arguing that Canada would also benefit from U.S. control of the large island straddling the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. He threatened tariffs last week against countries opposed to the U.S. acquiring Greenland.

Carney, for his part, signed a trade deal with China last week reducing tariffs on electric vehicles and canola, Reuters reported.

“For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order,” Carney said on Tuesday. “We joined its institutions, we praised its principles, we benefited from its predictability.”

“We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient,” Carney said, adding, “American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.”

“So, we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals, and we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality. This bargain no longer works,” the Canadian leader said.

“Let me be direct: we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”

Meanwhile, Carney insists the “old order is not coming back.”

“We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just,” Carney said, adding, “This is the task of the middle powers.”

Trump has pledged to build a “Golden Dome” on Greenland, a defensive weapon system that would operate similarly to Israel’s Iron Dome in blocking incoming missiles.

“We’re building a golden dome that’s going to, just by its very nature, going to be defending Canada,” Trump said.

Trump is scheduled to return from Davos on Thursday evening.

The post Trump Rebukes Canada’s Mark Carney at Davos appeared first on The Daily Signal.

What are the short- and long-term political implications for the US after the capture of Maduro?
Ask who never gets charged.

As we all know, earlier this month, US forces captured Maduro during a military operation in Caracas and transferred him to the United States to face federal charges. The operation has raised questions about international law, executive authority, and precedent.
How might this affect US domestic politics (executive power, congressional oversight etc) and relations with allies in Latin America, Europe, and at the UN?
And what about historical comparisons? (e.g., Panama 1989 or other cases involving the capture of foreign leaders).

House Dems rally against ICE funding just one year after dozens broke ranks on immigration
Every delay has consequences.

House Democrats voted overwhelmingly Thursday to block additional funding for ICE, a remarkable shift from when dozens of them voted to expand the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement authority just one year ago — and a sign of how quickly the political ground has moved since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Just seven Democrats voted for the Homeland Security spending bill that included billions for Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi of New York, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Don Davis of North Carolina. All represent tough terrain — Trump carried all of their districts but Gillen’s, which he lost by just over one point.

Other Democrats, incensed by an ICE agent’s shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, voted against the bill — including many who voted exactly one year ago to pass the Laken Riley Act that allows for the detention of undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes.

One of them, Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), a top GOP target in the midterms from a district Trump narrowly carried in 2024, argued this vote was different.

“What we have seen time and again is ICE has blatantly violated our Constitution and our law, whether you’re talking about the shooting of a young mother to sending a five year old thousands of miles away to entice his father to turn himself in — this type of shit is not American,” Lee said in an interview Thursday. “ICE has plenty of money … I can’t in good conscience give them any more money until we get some type of guardrails.”

Even the Democrats who voted for the funding were sharply critical of ICE.

“I hate what ICE is doing in my district and across the country. It's atrocious. It's appalling. We should find ways to defund those operations in a surgical way,” Gonzalez said in a brief interview, adding that he supported the bill because it also included funding for Coast Guard and FEMA operations. “But voting no, just to make a statement, could have its own repercussions.”

The House passed the DHS funding bill 220 to 207.

Democrats’ near-united stand against the bill comes amid building opposition to Trump’s mass deportation campaign. A 49 percent plurality of voters in a new POLITICO poll conducted Jan. 16 to 19 said the effort — including Trump’s widespread deployment of ICE agents across the U.S. — is too aggressive.

“The shift is dramatic. And I think the reason for the shift is: Last year the debate in the country was about getting control of the borders and out-of-control immigration. Now the entire situation is about ICE itself and its behavior,” Mark Longabaugh, a veteran Democratic strategist, said of the party’s recalibration on immigration.

Amid the …