Mike O'Neill @incloud

Both London and Bristol have had mayors whose parents were refugees - going back over 300 years. But they were Huguenots and therefore WHITE

Matt Goodwin @GoodwinMJ

7 hours ago

I do not believe we should hand the office of Lord Mayor - one of the oldest institutions in our country - to refugees from Somalia. But while we’re here, Dave, are you happy flooding our political system with anti-Semites, conspiracy theorists, & Islamists?

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🇺🇸 🇪🇺 "The basis for any #EU-US data transfer deal is dead. We call upon the Commission to start an orderly exit from the #US cloud, which is not easy, but unfortunately unavoidable," said Max #Schrems, chairman of the Austrian privacy advocacy group noyb. cybernews.com/security/trump…

PM Starmer did extremely well today #PMQs IMO I voted for him to be party Leader - & for the avoidance of doubt- I have often been very critical of him. But Over time my respect for him has grown. And My contempt for those who worked under the radar to depose him has also grown.

Lewis, that narrative simply does not withstand scrutiny. Sir Keir Starmer remains Prime Minister and has both the authority and the duty to govern until the final day of his premiership. To suggest that he should have stopped governing simply because Andy Burnham was waiting in the wings would have been a dereliction of duty. The truth is that Andy Burnham has no excuse. He inherits the office with the full authority to amend, replace or reverse any policy he chooses. If he genuinely believes he has a better vision for Britain’s defence, economy or public services, he is entirely free to present it. That is precisely why this argument falls apart. Burnham can no longer rely on criticism or carefully crafted soundbites. He must now produce detailed, credible policies of his own, and accept full responsibility for them. If they succeed, the credit will be his. If they fail, the responsibility will be his as well.

The News Agents @TheNewsAgents

a day ago

Starmer has released his Defence Investment Plan, a year overdue, which would leave a £5bn black hole. Is the prime minister trying to screw Burnham before he’s even started? The News Agents disagree… @maitlis | @jonsopel | @lewis_goodall

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✅ @DMiliband : Brexit was a geopolitical mistake that weakened Britain, Europe & the West. Reversing it fully is impossible (we don’t have a Time Machine), but Britain cannot prosper without a much stronger institutional relationship with the EU. Security, economy, energy & global influence all demand deeper partnership. Britain urgently needs a pragmatic reset. Thread 1/2 #Brexit10

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." ... Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) 36th president of the United States. How populist politicians and "influencers" use race-based grievance to divide the working class and distract them from their own economic realities. History is forever contemporary. It never leaves us. #maga #Trump #USA #America #scapegoats #immigrants #Putin #Homosexuals #Russia #Farage #UK

There is a certain irony in hearing Kemi Badenoch deliver lectures on the stewardship of Britain's defence when she herself sat around the Cabinet table of a government that, over the course of fourteen years, presided over the steady diminution of our Armed Forces. She cannot plausibly present herself as a detached critic of that record. She was part of the administration that shaped it and must therefore accept a measure of responsibility for its consequences. What is more striking is the absence of any credible alternative. Beyond familiar slogans and the recital of ever larger financial figures, there has been precious little evidence of a strategic vision worthy of a nation confronted by the most volatile security environment in decades. Defence is not measured simply by the size of the cheque one is prepared to write. It is measured by whether resources are directed towards the threats that are most likely to confront us. On this occasion, the Labour government deserves recognition. Rather than preparing for the wars of yesterday, it has acknowledged the character of the conflicts of tomorrow. The battlefields of the modern age are increasingly defined by autonomous systems, cyber warfare, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and the relentless pace of technological innovation. Continuing to procure increasingly expensive platforms that require decades to reach operational service, only to discover that elements of their capability have already been overtaken by events, is neither prudent nor strategically sound. The criticism that not every pound has yet been allocated carries rather less force than its advocates imagine. Governments of every political complexion have long financed major defence programmes across successive Budgets. The true test of leadership is not whether every line of expenditure appears simultaneously upon a balance sheet, but whether ministers possess the judgement and resolve to ensure that Britain's security is never compromised. For that reason, Sir Keir Starmer deserves credit for restoring defence to its proper place among the foremost responsibilities of government. He has demonstrated a clear appreciation of the strategic realities now confronting both Britain and the wider NATO alliance. Should he, in time, be called upon to serve as Secretary General of NATO, I can think of few better qualified to discharge that responsibility with distinction.

Ronald Reagan: “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman…But Anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American…This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America's greatness.”🇺🇸

A single russian 3M22 “Zircon” hypersonic missile costs an estimated $7–8 million. They just fired around 20 of them at Kyiv. The Zircon was designed to destroy moving warships at sea. Instead, russia fires these anti-ship missiles into residential neighborhoods, fully aware they are wildly inaccurate against ground targets and can miss by hundreds of meters. I just saw an apartment building burn in the same area where my parents live. This is the deliberate use of weapons never meant for cities to terrorize civilians. Fucking terrorists. 😡

At this point Kemi realised she’s been owned 😂😂😂 You can see it all over her face 😂 Just look at that expression!

Like everyone, I want this vile criminal out of the country. Victims must come first. I will ask the Home and Foreign Secretaries to review all possible options - and they should consider nothing is off the table. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

NEW: The Times has established that Nigel Farage and his partner own at least five homes spanning Surrey, Essex and Kent. All but one were bought with cash since 2000. Farage described himself as "skint" in 2017. thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

14 years of Tory rule failed "bin men", teaching assistants and so many more. Now they're plotting to scrap the Equality Act and stop women from getting their stolen wages back. Disgraceful.

Claire Coutinho @ClaireCoutinho

2 days ago

Bin men waking up at 4am to do manual, smelly work in all weathers is simply not the same job as being a teaching assistant. ‘Equal value’ laws which demand they are paid the same are clearly wrong and unfair. This is also putting hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’

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The fundamental duty of any Government is defence. That's why I asked the Secretary of State whether the Government will reconsider joining the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, so we can work with our international allies for our shared security in this age of insecurity.

This X user is doing a public service. Mr Musk on the other hand...

Danny Boy @Care2much18

2 days ago

One of the many problems with countering lies is it takes two seconds to lie and a lot more effort to share truth. The truth in this case is that 13 years ago some terrorists stole a USAID tent. 13 years later a trillionaire manipulates that photo to lie. I'm going to bed.

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I’m currently witnessing dozens of huge explosions in Kyiv city centre. A hotel near my apartment is on fire. Residential buildings damaged. This is not war against soldiers, it’s Russia terrorising civilians in their homes. A sad and pathetic nation.

Meet the deluded union leaders who think the threat from Russia is fake and who reject job creation through defence spending. Ernest Bevin (and for that matter Nye Bevan!) would have had a word for them... thenewworld.co.uk/paul-mason-bur…

The UK can’t be forced to join the Euro on joining the EU - no other country has and there’s no clock, penalty, or lever. It’s not a thing. Don’t confuse a pure political ritual with an enforceable contract. Joining the Euro is entirely voluntary… *IF* you even qualify.

Value for money matters in the NHS. The US spends 18% of GDP on healthcare and gets worse outcomes than the NHS, at around 10% of GDP. So if we are agreeing to pay more for medicines, Ministers should explain the evidence.

The North East sends the largest proportion of young people into the armed forces in this country, yet has the lowest defence spending. I asked the Minister how the Defence Investment Plan will reward our commitment with investment, and if MoD can procure innovation innovatively