Lara Brown

Tsunami alerts were triggered this morning across the Pacific after an earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The quake, one of the most powerful ever recorded with a magnitude of 8.8, prompted evacuations from Hawaii, California, Japan and Russia. Initial waves, however, have so far proved less destructive than originally feared.Waves up to 4ft high were recorded in Oahu and Maui. Flights to and from Maui were canceled and commercial harbors closed as a precaution. "God willing, these waves will not hurt us," said Hawaii’s Governor Josh Green. "But you have to assume they will be life-threatening." Hawaii’s tsunami alert was later downgraded to an advisory, with officials warning of unusually strong currents and urging residents to avoid the coast.

Henry Cole, the first director of what would become the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), could never have imagined that in his place would follow a man who seems determined to rail against the safeguards that have helped keep the museum's collection intact. But this, sadly, appears to be the task Tristram Hunt is committed to. Hunt knew the law before he took the job Hunt, director of the V&A since 2017, has declared the 1983 National Heritage Act which prevents him from returning artefacts to their country of origin, to be ‘outdated and infantilising’. In fact, it is a key reason why collections, including the V&A's, have been maintained. Britain is home to several thousand museums.

Sir Keir Starmer claimed in January that those who were concerned about the systematic rape and abuse of little girls were ‘calling for inquiries because they want to jump on a bandwagon of the far right’. Yesterday, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, promised that victims would finally get the full national inquiry which campaigners have been demanding for so many years. If Starmer has any sense, he will bring out his party’s bodies willingly before he is forced to Cooper’s statement in the Commons was relatively encouraging. She conceded that much of the (admittedly shoddy) data around child grooming points to ‘clear evidence of overrepresentation amongst suspects of Asian and Pakistani heritage men’.

Who says that student activism is pointless? Setting up a tent, donning a keffiyeh, and camping out on your university’s front lawn might look like a waste of time, but at Cambridge it's a strategy that pays off. King's College – which has been repeatedly targeted by pro-Palestinian protestors – has agreed to cut ties with arms companies. The college announced that it will divest money from weapons manufacturers after its governing body voted to 'adopt a new responsible investment policy'. King's College – which has been repeatedly targeted by pro-Palestinian protestors – has agreed to cut ties with arms companies In an email sent to students on Tuesday, King's College said it will now take a ‘principled approach to investments with the values of our community’.

The NHS have decided that there is no minimum age before a child can begin treatment for gender dysphoria. Freedom of Information requests seen by the Telegraph have revealed that toddlers under the age of five are being treated in new specialist gender clinics. The health service had previously proposed that referrals could only be made for children over the age of seven, but after pressure from activists this has now been dropped. The treatment of ‘transgender toddlers’ is not the only cause for alarm The Cass review was thought to be a turning point for child safeguarding. The government then started making positive sounds on puberty blockers and women’s single sex spaces. Was this a new dawn?

The highest court in the land was set the task of determining: what is a woman? Today it gave its answer: sex in the Equality Act 2010 is biological and immutable and cannot be altered by a gender recognition certificate (GRC). The Supreme Court should be commended for securing women’s sex-based rights – rights to which they have should always have been entitled as a matter of law.   It will come as a surprise to many that a question with such an apparently obvious answer had to be settled in the Supreme Court. But such is the influence of gender ideology on policy that women’s legal rights have often been trampled underfoot.

Three years ago, the Horniman Museum agreed to return 72 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. The museum's chair hailed the decision as 'moral and appropriate'. Curators were promised that they were handing those artefacts over to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, a government agency tasked with preserving the country’s heritage. But where are the Bronzes now? The sad reality is it is almost impossible to find out. Since their return, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's President, has signed an official gazette confirming the Oba of Benin, not the National Commission, rightfully own the artefacts.  There is little evidence that they are on display in any Nigerian museums. Have they disappeared into his private collection?

As the old saying goes, ‘when American sneezes, England catches a cold’. This week, the two major city watchdogs announced they will be ditching planned ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ regulation.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator for Britain’s financial services sector, first announced their plans to impose extensive new Diversity and Inclusion rules in 2023. After significant pushback at the time, they have finally declared it has ‘no plans to take the work further’. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the Bank of England’s regulatory arm, has also issued a statement saying that they are not proceeding with similar proposals. Is this the first sign of a turning point in the creeping politicisation of business?

The Prince Albert Memorial is the latest target of activists seeking to denigrate our past. The Memorial has stood in London's Kensington Gardens for over 150 years as a moving tribute to Queen Victoria’s love for her husband. But now it has been branded 'offensive'. Apparently, the sculptures at its base draw on 'racial stereotypes'. Visitors were warned in a post – which has since been taken down – on the Royal Parks' website that the memorial represents a 'Victorian view of European supremacy' which many today consider 'problematic'. Really? Royal Parks have chosen to hunt for remnants of Empire in order to condemn them Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced on her first days in office that the 'era of culture wars is over'.

Actions speak louder than words. In one of the first tests of his tenure, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting has put clinical evidence and child welfare above ideology and intimidation in pledging to persist with a ban on the use of puberty blockers for children. Streeting confirmed that he intends to retain a ban on the prescription of puberty blockers to under 18s across both NHS organisations and at private clinics. JK Rowling has described the move as 'humane' and 'considered'. She's right. There are no shortage of challenges facing the new Health Secretary ‘Puberty blockers’ (known more accurately as gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogues) can halt the production of sex hormones.

History, we're told, is written by the victors. But nowadays, it seems it’s museum curators who really have the final word. Across the UK, our much-loved national institutions have been led astray by a minority of campaigners, with no regard for the wishes of the public at large. It has become almost impossible to visit a museum in Britain today without coming across a sign or installation condemning several centuries of scholarship in favour of an activist’s manifesto. Curators of various galleries and exhibits impose modern cultural and ethical values on every time period, denigrating those that don’t meet their standards. On the long march through our institutions, it becomes clear that ideology has won.