The Telegraph Frontpage for Tuesday 2022 December 06

By Danny Boyle After a threatened Tory rebellion, house-building targets are being watered down. We also analyse why all is not what it seems with the Sussexes’ latest Netflix trailer, above.

Town halls to be allowed to build fewer homes

In the face of rebellions by backbench Conservatives, Rishi Sunak has climbed down on key elements of his planning reforms. The Prime Minister ditched compulsory house-building targets for local areas after 60 Tory MPs threatened to vote against his flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. The new rules will mean that town halls will be allowed to build fewer homes than Whitehall believes are needed if they can show that hitting the targets would significantly change the character of an area. The change came after dozens of Conservative MPs signed an amendment laid by Theresa Villiers and Bob Seely calling on the Government to scrap its target that 300,000 homes should be built each year. In an article for The Telegraph, the pair explain their plan to “revive communities across the country”. We understand that Mr Sunak is also poised to back down on the ban on onshore wind farms, after 34 Tories including Boris Johnson and Liz Truss demanded it be lifted. Discussions are under way on the issue between rebels and Daniel Martin and Christopher Hope report on one possible compromise. Meanwhile, the Transport Secretary described new rail strikes as “incredibly disappointing”. Mark Harper accused the RMT of causing “harmful disruption” with a fresh series of walkouts that will take place from Dec 24 through to Dec 27. This is in addition to the strikes that are already due on eight other dates in December and January. These are all the planned walkout dates after unions rejected an 8pc pay increase.

All not what it seems in Sussexes’ latest trailer The second trailer for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s upcoming Netflix documentary focuses on scenes of apparent media chaos, purporting to show the couple being continuously harassed while also ostracised from the Royal family. The treatment of Meghan is compared to that of her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales – the unspoken message apparently being that, similarly, her life was in danger. But an analysis of the footage by royal correspondent Victoria Ward suggests things were not quite as the one-minute clip might have viewers believe. In her analysis, associate editor Camilla Tominey says the couple always wanted to cast Meghan as a victim like Diana. It comes as we reveal that the Sussexes have lost another senior aide.

Southgate vows to end England’s 72-year hoodoo Gareth Southgate has challenged England to make “history” in the World Cup quarter-final against France and finally end a hoodoo that has affected them for 72 years. If England defeat the world champions, it will be the first time ever that they have won a knockout tie against another so-called “big nation” in a major finals away from Wembley. Reporting from Doha, Jason Burt explains how, under Southgate, England have passed several impressive tests already. Read the match report from Brazil’s 4-1 pounding of South Korea – and all our coverage from Qatar.

Also in the news this morning Health exclusive | More than 10,000 patients have been given a faulty knee replacement which doubles the risk of joint failure, we can disclose. The implant has been shown to fail in up to 7pc of patients after 10 years, twice the accepted failure rate set by the National Joint Registry. As Cameron Henderson reports, this can have catastrophic consequences for patients, many of whom are elderly, as undergoing a second knee replacement operation poses a much greater risk.

Kirstie Alley | Hollywood mourns death of Cheers actress at 71 Television and film funnywoman Kirstie Alley has died in hospital in the US, aged 71. The Hollywood star’s family announced their loss on social media, remembering a passionate and inspiring woman and “iconic” actress. University | Students were ‘poisoned’ night before protests More than a thousand Iranian university students appear to have been poisoned the night before they were due to attend mass anti-regime protests being held across the country this week. According to ISNA, an Iranian news agency, 1,200 students at Kharazmi and Ark universities were taken ill with vomiting, severe body aches and hallucinations. Similar illnesses were also reported at at least four other universities. The Iranian science ministry confirmed that the students were struck by food poisoning, which has led to students protesting by dumping their food onto pavements. Video footage posted online over the weekend showed row upon row of plastic bags containing canteen food placed on the ground outside Ark university. Vegan ‘hypocrisy’ | Byproducts of oat milk sold for pig feed Oat milk producers have been accused of hypocrisy for selling byproducts of the vegan drink to livestock farmers to feed to their animals. Alpro and celebrity-backed Oatly have been indirectly supporting animal farming, according to an investigation by Financieele Dagblad, a Dutch daily newspaper. Brendan Clarke-Smith, the Conservative MP for Bassetlaw, said revelations show the firms have double standards. Guardian | ‘Atmosphere of fear’ governs trans coverage A former Guardian journalist has accused the newspaper of censoring her views on women’s rights, claiming an “atmosphere of fear” governs its coverage of trans issues. Hadley Freeman claimed she was barred from interviewing JK Rowling and Martina Navratilova, both of whom have expressed gender-critical views. Meanwhile, the newspaper ran “glowing profiles of trans activists” such as Munroe Bergdorf, Paris Lees and Freddy McConnell, Freeman said. She quit The Guardian earlier this year after editors said she could not follow up the The Telegraph’s investigation into Mermaids, a trans charity. Twitter | Elon Musk slap down for Donald Trump fraud claims

Around the world: ‘Winter is no time to sit back’

Mud and snow are already setting in on the battlefield in Ukraine, bringing a slowing of the tempo of war, according to the ex-deputy head of the CIA. Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, said Ukraine and Russia will probably turn to repair of broken people and equipment and restock depleted ammunition supplies in preparation for spring offensives. Associate editor Dominic Nicholls is not so sure and explains why winter is the time to send in armoured cavalry.

Destroyed Russian tanks covered in snow outside Bucha. Credit: Jeff J Mitchell

Comment and analysis

Sherelle Jacobs | Can anyone save Britain from collapse? Covid and the Ukraine war were supposed to trigger a shift towards greater resilience. They haven’t Suzanne Moore | The Guardian is hiding the truth about trans Sam Ashworth-Hayes | Musk is proving his doubters wrong We were told over and over that Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter would be a disaster. Sure, he’d successfully sent people into space, developed the largest satellite constellation, turned Tesla into one of the world’s most successful car companies, founded Neuralink to develop brain-machine interfaces, as well as the research juggernaut OpenAI – but Twitter? A website where people express their views in 280 characters or fewer? That would be a technical and political bridge too far. Telegraph View | Ministers must act on strikes before Christmas Reader letters | Union demands cannot be met at this time

Editor’s choice

	Review | Channel 4 dissected a human body – and it was the year’s most moving television
	Charity Appeal | ‘I was exhausted and overwhelmed – so I called a parenting helpline’
	Marquee Club | Inside the ‘wild’ venue that forged Bowie and the Stones

Business briefing: Vodafone urged to cut costs Vodafone is under pressure from a billionaire French shareholder to accelerate cost-cutting and asset sales after the ousting of its chief executive. The telecoms giant announced Nick Read’s departure after the firm saw a 50pc slump in its share price since he took charge four years ago. But Xavier Niel, founder of the French operator Iliad and owner of 2.5pc of Vodafone, said that change at the top would not be enough to deliver a turnaround. Christopher Williams says Mr Read departs as an accomplice to one of the UK’s great corporate declines.

Here is a selection of articles we think you’ll be interested in today.

Don’t go out without telling people, Met Office warns with first cold weather alert of winter Boris Becker set to be deported to Germany under money-saving scheme Police told ‘get a backbone’ as Just Stop Oil protestors cause chaos during rush hour Hadley Freeman: ‘Atmosphere of fear’ governs Guardian trans coverage More than 10,000 patients given faulty knee replacements