Two local Santas have been given the ‘sack’ for expressing right-wing political views. Paul Cleary, 70, of Wath upon Dearne in South Yorkshire, volunteers as Father Christmas for a local charity each year, offering visits to families and attending the lights switch-on with the Lord Mayor. However, this year he has been left distraught after being told the group is dispensing with his services due to his anti-Labour social media posts, as well as being advised not to use the money he raises as Santa to donate to the local food bank.

Democratic National Committee workers are asking for charitable donations after  making significant layoffs in a dramatic downsizing after Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election. The pleas for donations sparked outrage on social media, as memories of the massive $1 billion Kamala Harris campaign spending spree were still fresh, including millions of dollars spent to host celebrity filled town halls for the vice president. Two-thirds of DNC staffers were laid off as part of the downsizing on Wednesday, with only one day’s notice and no severance, according to the union.

A top NATO chief has urged business leaders to begin preparing for a ‘wartime scenario’ following rising tensions across the world. The warning comes as Germany announced it was drawing up a list of bunkers and other underground facilities that could provide shelter for civilians in the event of an attack. Speaking in Brussels yesterday, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer warned that NATO members needed to adjust their production and distribution lines in order to be less vulnerable to blackmail from countries such as Russia and China.

Stars have turned on Ed Sheeran in the escalating row over the new Band Aid single – with Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley telling him to ‘shut up’. Trevor Horn, producer of a fresh 40th anniversary version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?, has also been critical of Sheeran after the singer spoke out against the new version of the charity track. Sheeran revealed last week he would have preferred his vocal contributions from a 2014 recording were not used on the new version.

A millionaire’s £350,000 Aston Martin has been written off after his drunk university son flipped it whilst taking it for an illicit 4am spin. Will Gould, 20, lost control of the 211mph DBS V12 and overturned the supercar into a field when he barely got 800 yards from his £2.4million family farm. At the time his father Colin, a 50-year-old farmer, was away on business and had no idea about his son’s jaunt until he got home.

A single mother who worked as a fitness instructor has been left quadriplegic and needing round-the-clock care after a teenage driver ploughed into her while he filmed himself at the wheel. George Taylor made two calls, sent text messages and recorded five videos showing him driving a Volkswagen Golf at speed and overtaking other vehicles while using his knees on his steering wheel, when he crashed into Catherine Davies. Taylor, from Stretham, Cambridgeshire, had held his licence for less than 12 weeks when he used his mobile ‘throughout the journey’ to college on the A47 near Norwich in January last year.