Work in comms. Barbara Castle and Carly Rae Jepsen evangelist. All opinions my own, etc. 🇬🇧🇪🇺🏳️🌈 he/him
London, England
Joined July 2014
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Joe Smallman retweeted
There is no defending this.
A two-tier tax allowance with relief for pensioners paid for by fiscal drag on working people.
And before the boomer brigade starts foaming at the mouth: I'm not interested. The allowance should rise - or freeze - equally for everyone.
Joe Smallman retweeted
Wrong. Raising the personal allowance to £15,000 repeats the Coalition's mistake.
It shrinks the tax base, piles the burden onto an ever-smaller group, and leaves millions with no stake in a low-tax economy.
If you don't pay in, why would you vote for tax cuts?
Joe Smallman retweeted
The Tories have managed to stumble upon the absolute worst way to abolish inheritance tax. Taxing everything else but exempting family homes just incentivises old people to pile more of their wealth into housing and never downsize. Lunacy in an already gummed-up housing market.
The way I had the opp to see Burnham's speech in the hall and passed it up... new lifelong regret unlocked
Why is the Times being like 'influencer video STAGED???'
Like yes sis we know, this is the norm 😭
It looks and feels spontaneous, but is it?
A video of Ed Miliband having an apparently impromptu chat with Feroz Khan, an American social media influencer, on the streets of New York
Khan is an American social media influencer who has made a name for himself conducting seemingly impromptu interviews with people he stops in the street with a simple question: “What do you do for a living?”
The Miliband clips has already had more than 1million views.
But is it real?
In fact it has been carefully staged
There are several clues. The video shows Khan stopping Miliband in the street as he makes his way between engagements. “Excuse me, you have an amazing outfit,” he tells him. “What do you do for a living?”
Rather than walk on Miliband, surprisingly, stops and turns to face the camera. His aides, meanwhile, keep on marching on without even looking back to check who he is talking to. They don’t wait for him, disappearing out of shot
Even for a politician, Miliband appears to have rather well-rehearsed answers for Khan’s questions. “Hang on you’re that Feroz guy aren’t you,” he says. “You interviewed JLo once. What are you doing here?”
Khan replies with a compliment: “I spread positivity on social media and I happened to come across you well dressed. What do you do for a living?”
In a surreal exchange Miliband says he is the foreign secretary of Great Britain. “Please forgive me, I don’t know what that is,” Khan replies
“I’m like the Marco Rubio of Great Britain,” Miliband says. What follows is an extraordinarily soft interview on any level. Khan, who sees his job as “spreading positivity”, says: “Nice to meet you. What makes your work so special?”
The final clue is in the post itself. Khan posted it on his Instagram in direct “collaboration” with the Foreign Office and Britain’s UN mission, meaning it went up on their Instagram accounts at exactly the same time
thetimes.com/article/fd04b25…
Joe Smallman retweeted
In a difficult and dangerous world, a decade on from Brexit, there is a risk that Britain loses the confidence to lead and stand up for its values.
I’m not prepared to let that happen. It is more important than ever that Britain stands for something.
We have called for years for a two-state solution in the Middle East, but we must recognise that those words are meaningless unless we back them up with action.
For too long, we have been hesitant to act, fearful of being accused of being anti-Israel.
Today we are announcing carefully judged, targeted steps that are not aimed at the Israeli people, but at the unacceptable policies of the current Israeli government.
The suffering of the Palestinian people is a scar on the conscience of the world. Innocent Palestinians, including children, continue to be killed in Gaza. And there is still a humanitarian crisis, with far too little aid getting in.
The scale of destruction is hard to comprehend. More than 70,000 people lie dead - at least 20,000 of them children. Families and communities have been torn apart. Millions displaced. And the population of Gaza is now penned into just one third of the territory.
I know that people across the UK feel very deeply about this issue - and so do I.
Before I became Prime Minister, I said our country’s response had been too slow and simply not good enough. That’s why I committed to changing the government’s approach.
I will not stand by as the horrific suffering continues to grow and the prospect of a two-state solution - the best hope for peace and stability in the region - comes under attack.
More settlements have been approved under the four years of this Israeli government than in the previous 20 years. The UN has reported more than 1,500 incidents of settler violence so far this year, aimed at driving out Palestinians. And the situation is growing worse, fast.
The Israeli government has now approved 104 new settlements since it took office in December 2022, and ahead of the October elections in Israel, it is allowing tenders for the construction of the E1 mega settlement to go ahead. This would cut a swathe through the heart of the West Bank - snuffing out the hope of realising a two-state solution. It cannot be allowed to happen.
That’s why we are announcing a new package of tough measures to put pressure on the Israeli government:
First, we will ban the trade in goods with illegal settlements in Palestine.
Second, we have formally changed the view of the British government to say for the first time that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful - independent of, but in line with, the conclusion of the international court of justice.
And third, we will sanction individuals and companies that support, facilitate or profit from illegal settlements. That includes any businesses or investors that take part in the construction of the E1 settlement.
In addition, we are announcing a new package of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.
We are taking these steps because it is the right thing to do.
I have condemned the monstrous terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 in the strongest possible terms - and continue to condemn Hamas. However, it does not justify the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza or the West Bank.
The measures we are taking are about targeting illegal settlements and increasing the pressure on the Israeli government to change course. We are not imposing sanctions on Israel as a whole, which would punish the Israeli people, many of whom disagree with their government’s position.
The Israeli people are not responsible for the actions of their government. And nor is the Jewish community in the UK. Blaming British Jews for the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is wrong, plain and simple. And it is antisemitism, plain and simple.
I met the representatives of the Jewish community just last week. I know the fear they live with day by day. My government will stop at nothing to ensure they are safe and to stamp out antisemitism in every part of our society.
The measures we are announcing today are about protecting the only solution that could see the Israeli and Palestinian people living side by side in peace and security - something that people up and down the UK desperately want to see.
The government I lead will keep working with our partners around the world to keep that hope alive.
Joe Smallman retweeted
Margaret Thatcher’s draft telegram to General Galtieri in 1982, prior to British victory:
“On my side, grief will be tempered by the knowledge that these men died for freedom, justice & the rule of law. And on your side? Only you can answer that question.”
🇫🇰🇬🇧
Joe Smallman retweeted
I’ve known a few people similar to this. I think oddly there is this idea of a life they had, or who they are. And they are terrified of doing ordinary jobs and finding out that they’re hard or people they see as less smart than them are better than they are at them even.
Joe Smallman retweeted
Both HS2 and Hinkley Point C have now hit peak construction phase.
That means the workforce for each project will be declining in the coming years and months.
These are the only two megaprojects being built in Britain at the moment. Thousands of apprentices were trained for each job.
HS2 specifically had a tough time finding the skilled workers able to construct a high speed railway, and trained many itself.
Now that we have passed peak construction, there is no other project for many of these workers to go to. Some will go overseas, others will retrain in other specialisms, still more may end up out of work entirely.
This is the issue with our feast and famine approach to infrastructure. Without a steady conveyer belt of projects we have to train up new workforces from scratch when we decide to build something new.
Other countries have workforces that can move seamlessly from project to project, developing new skills and keeping costs low.
Starting from scratch every time is one of the many reasons why British megaprojects are so much more expensive than everyone else's.
Joe Smallman retweeted
Push back against these officials. Parliament is sovereign. Governments must not be told to give up simply because of potential judicial review. Have the fight and prepare to legislate if necessary.
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024 is a recent example that shows a simple act of Parliament can overturn unjust legal proceedings.
The beauty of the British constitution is if there is political will, there is a way. – at Faringdon, England
Exclusive:
Andy Burnham has been told by officials that he will be unable to secure an exception to stop the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers
The prime minister is said to be opposed to the early release of Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers under proposals to ease pressure on Britain’s overcrowded jails
The government plans to release 5,000 criminals early over a period of ten months from October to free up places
The Times has been told that the government has ruled out one potential option - plans to exempt the killers of emergency workers from being released early - because they are a “complete non-starter”
Officials have warned that the move would be subject to a legal challenge that the government would inevitably lose because there is no specific offence for manslaughter of an emergency worker
The only way to stop their release would be to block the early release of all prisoners convicted of manslaughter. There are 950 prisoners serving sentences for manslaughter and a government source said hundreds of them would be eligible for early release
It means that Cole and Bowers are likely to be released in the Autumn, despite stark warnings from his family and the police
thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…
Great Cabinet appointments made today, more or less. Looking forward to reading in Pogrund and Maguire's next book why it took until nearly midnight...
Joe Smallman retweeted
Leandro Paredes should be banned from international football for life viciously assaulting Spanish players after the final whistle.
Indefensible thuggery and criminality.
Joe Smallman retweeted
Even as a Madonna fan, I genuinely cannot believe how good the new Madonna album is. It's the first new pop album in a long time that I feel compelled to listen to beginning to end, in order, on repeat. vulture.com/article/review-m…
