The Know Daily - Wednesday 17 December 2025

_{Read in 4m 15s ∙ Listening to Queen ∙}

PSA: After this Friday’s edition, we’ll be signing off for Christmas. We hope the festive season gives you a chance to switch off, enjoy the break and step away from the news for a bit. We’ll be back in your inboxes on 9 January 🎄✨

A new global award has been created in honour of Jane Goodall, the late primatologist 🫶 The Starmus Jane Goodall Earth Medal will recognise people around the world whose work protects nature, supports communities and drives positive change.

👷 The Employment Rights Bill

The government’s flagship Employment Rights Bill is set to become law after successfully making its way through the House of Lords. 

A quick bit of background.
This bill is part of Labour’s plan to update employment rules that many people feel no longer reflect modern working life. It brings together changes on contracts, pay and job security, especially for people in less secure roles. And now that the bill has cleared the House of Lords, it is expected to get royal approval this week and then become law soon.

Why does it matter?
Work plays a central role in everyday life. Things like job security, sick pay and reliable hours can shape both finances and how people organise their day-to-day lives. Supporters say the bill is about giving workers more certainty, while critics worry it could make life harder for some employers, meaning less hiring.

So what’s in the bill?
The bill is mainly concerned with giving workers more basic protections. These include:

• Earlier access to unfair dismissal protection

• A ban on “fire-and-rehires” in most circumstances

• Clamping down on zero-hours contracts 

• New paternity and parental leave from day one

Why has it caused so much debate?
Supporters of the bill say that these changes would bring the UK more in line with modern workplaces. But businesses and some politicians have raised concerns about extra costs and whether employers might become more cautious about hiring as a result. This was seen after tax rises in April, with UK unemployment rates now sitting at a 4-year high.

Plus, the initial proposal was to introduce day-one right to protection against unfair dismissal. But the bill has agreed to a shortened qualifying period of six months which was negotiated down from two years. A lot of the debate has focused on how far the reforms should go and how quickly they should be introduced.

What happens next?
It’s one step closer to becoming law but we won’t see the changes happen overnight. Many measures will be rolled out gradually, with guidance for employers to make the process smoother along the way. The government says this should give businesses time to adapt, while backers of the bill see it as the start of a broader shift towards more secure and predictable work.

🎓 The EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme will welcome the UK back from January 2027, the government has confirmed.

• The bigger story: The Erasmus scheme allows students and young people to study, train or volunteer abroad across Europe through a shared exchange system. Following Brexit, the UK ended its participation and replaced it with the Turing scheme, which supports similar placements worldwide. But from 2027, students, apprentices and people in vocational or school-based training will again be able to take part in Erasmus, as part of wider efforts to rebuild cooperation between the UK and EU.

🚶🏼‍♀️A new app has been launched in Derry, Northern Ireland, to discover the fastest and safest routes when walking at night.

📺 Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC, alleging the corporation's Panorama documentary edited two clips together that portrayed him falsely.

🚀 Earth's atmospheric atoms and molecules have been traveling across space and settling on the moon for billions of years, according to new research.

😆 Stand-up comedy is no longer just a night out in the UK but becoming doctor’s orders for boosting your mental health. Laughter, apparently, really is the best medicine.

🦛 Panya is the latest pygmy hippo to become an internet sensation – he is very cute, to be fair.

☃️ White Christmas rumours have been doing the rounds, but this nifty tool tells you just how common one is where you are.

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Trivia answer: C) Rightmove has released its Happy at Home Index 2025 and crowned Richmond-upon-Thames the happiest.

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