Killer fact from that is this.
The Cummings/Wakefield family ended up in a hospital in Durham - 260m from home.
That is precisely the reason the lockdown told people to stay at home if they get sick.
So as not to spread the virus around the country.
I grew up in council houses in Dover and Barrow in a poor working class family. I didn't go to Eton.
I feel I ought to apologise to
@DominicRaab
and the
@Conservatives
for daring to become a professor at one of the world's top universities. Sorry for knowing my place.
This is utterly bizarre. There is no national emergency. There is nothing that could not have been said in Parliament where he could be questioned.
He is trying to manufacture a national crisis to legitimise his illegitimate premiership.
NO ONE ELECTED HIM
Boris Johnson’s “landslide”?
2017 Theresa May
42.4%
13,636,624
2019 Boris Johnson
43.6%
13,966,451
Johnson added just 1.2% or 329,767 extra votes
It was WHERE he gained votes + FPTP that gave him an 80 seat “landslide”.
He wasn’t massively more popular. That’s a myth.
I know closing schools is problematic.
But, simple point. If we want to we can compensate for educational gaps if we want to. These kids have their whole lives before them.
What we can't do is bring their grandparents, teachers, or in some cases parents, back to life.
Incredibly disappointing to see French border control problems once again adding to traffic mayhem just as families are trying to getaway for the Easter holidays.
More on Raab.
One bit of the Tolley findings has been a bit under-reported.
Raab lied. He claimed no Perm Sec had warned him. Two did.
He even accused Antonia Romeo (Justice Perm Sec) of having fabricated notes of her verbal warnings to him.
He’s a bully AND A LIAR.
Victims of Post Office scandal.
Rishi Sunak: wait for due process
Victims of infected blood scandal.
RS: wait for due process
Tory PMs and MPs misbehaviour
RS: wait for due process
Nigel Farage’s bank account
Rishi Sunak: lynch mob now!
There are various rumours swirling as to why this woman (29-30, no-one even seems sure about her age) has been elevated to the House of Lords?
Her CV certainly does not suggest this honour. So what has she done, or what is she, to deserve it?
Two male journalists on
@BBCr4today
discussing Kamala Harris.
Their repeated, dominant, question - is she up to it?
She’s been Attorney General of a state of 40m people. A Senator. And Vice President.
Your sexism is showing guys.
Gary Lineker - cancelled
David Attenborough - semi-cancelled (prog sidelined)
Lord Sugar - allowed to publicly support Tories - nada
Andrew Neil - expressed RW views on social media - nada
BBC Chair - Tory
BBC DG - Tory
Draw your own conclusions.
#bbclaurak
: “The UK’s huge success of the vaccine program is maybe tangentially but probably linked to the fact that we had left the EU at that point”
First time Laura Kuenssberg is seen in weeks and she can’t but help defend Boris Johnson…
#newscast
I am (71) part of the ‘grey vote’.
The next time ai have a heart attack - which will happen - I’d like paramedics to turn up promptly.
No amount of tax cuts is going to provide that you effing imbeciles.
The ECHR is not anything to do with the EU
The 2016 Referendum was about the EU
There was no vote on the ECHR
@andreajenkyns
is either a fool or liar or possibly both?
Why is the BBC Political Editor (Chris Mason) giving Farage a boost by attending his “Press Conference” in Dover?
Farage has run away from standing in the election. So he should be ignored as the irrelevance he personally is. Talk to Reform candidates - fine. Farage - no.
Priti Patel misled the House today (again).
Asked directly about a specific case by
@YvetteCooperMP
she claimed the elderly Ukrainian woman would be allowed onto the EuroStar at Gard du Nord. She wasn't.
‘Will of the people”?
👉🏽Rwanda was not in your Manifesto in 2019
👉🏽You were not the candidate to be PM in 2019
👉🏽You are the 2nd un-mandated PM since 2019
If it’s “the will of the people” just call an election and we’ll find out?
'Do not frustrate the will of the people'
In a press conference this morning
@RishiSunak
urged members of the House of Lords to 'do the right thing' after his Rwanda Bill passed through the Commons
BREAKING: Labour to launch mission to Mars next year.
It’s not in the Manifesto and they haven’t specifically denied it, so obviously they are going to do it?
Mass gatherings weren't a problem. Then they were
School closures weren't needed. They they were
WHO rec PPE wasn't neccesary - then it was
Community testing wasn't needed. Now it is (but isn't happening)
Mask wearing wasn't necessary. Now it is, but we haven't got enough
Health Sec Matt Hancock has been stopped by No. 10 from going to a European meeting to coordinate Coronovirus response?
I cannot believe I just heard this on
@BBCr4today
just now.
This is not sensible.
@implausibleblog
My state pension is not a ‘benefit’. It’s something I paid for from 1969 to 2017 - 48 years.
It is unaffected by anything else I earn so why should it give the Govt the right to access my bank account?
This is so pathetic.
Starmer was talking about Friday nights only. And normal work, not crises.
This is childish politics. Britain deserves better than this.
And is probably about to get it.
Virtually every military intervention we’ve carried out has happened at night, partly to keep our servicemen & women safe.
The British people will wonder who would be standing in for Starmer between 6pm & 9am – Angela Rayner, David Lammy, Ed Miliband?
Defending Britain's
Nadine Dorries being allowed to make a series of slanderous allegations against Sue Gray almost without challenge on
@BBCRadio4
So far about 10 mins of monologue without serious challenge. Disgraceful.
Farage’s racism on full display.
Kamala Harris is an American woman. Her mother was Tamil and her dad Jamaican. She’s no more ‘African’ than Trump is German.
"Donald Trump will be delighted that she's the opponent!"
Nigel Farage tells
@NickFerrariLBC
that the Republican Party won't be too worried about the prospect of Kamala Harris running for president, insisting that the Democrats 'won't get rid of a black African woman'.
Training to be a Special Constable takes 200 hours (and costs a lot).
Someone doing one weekend a month for a year will be doing 168 hours Community Service.
They wouldn’t have even be finished training before they completed their year
Dumb and dumber.
As far back as I can remember there have been periodic outbreaks of violence in Britain.
Mods and Rockers in the 60s (long before mass migration). Riots. Football hooligans. Demos. Strikes. Mass pickets. Saturday night brawls.
Dunno which planet Camilla has been on?
AS PREDICTED - FAR RIGHT UPRISING FIZZLING OUT
The turn to direct action has backfired spectacularly for Yaxley-Lennon and his political wing Reform.
They’re fighting like rats in sack.
Their foot-soldiers are going to jail in numbers.
They’ve mobilised huge opposition
👏🏽👏🏽
Have I got this right?
Nadhim Zahawi was sacked for failing to disclose he was being investigated by HMRC for tax dodging.
Now he wants to change the rules to make it easier to dodge inheritance tax?
Couldn’t make it up?
There is a minimum age for MPs: 18
Younger MPs than Keir Mather (25) include:
Mhairi Black: 20
William Pitt: 21 (and became PM at 24)
Bernadette Devlin: 21
Charles Kennedy: 23
Matthew Taylor: 24
Really Jeremy - how long have you been reporting on politics?
@PickardJE
By the 2010 Election the economy was not wrecked, it was recovering well. The public finances were ‘challenging’ but interest rates were so low it wasn’t really a big problem.
And the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-8 was not caused by the Labour Govt.
Tim does not understand how checks and balances and the rule of law work in a democracy.
This is exactly what the likes of Putin, Orban, Erdogan and their ilk do. It’s not democracy. There’s other words for it.
Don’t be like Tim.
What a ridiculous ‘take’?
This was not ‘pushing out the frontiers of human knowledge’ - except in the sense we now know how not to build a submersible.
It was reckless, needless, gambling with people’s lives for disaster tourism.
Big policy announcement just before a big election?
We used to have rules to stop the abuse of power like this. Called ‘purdah’, a period where there were no major announcements by Govt before elections.
Not with this Government. Anything goes. Cheats.
Today, the government takes a huge step in its fight against scammers.
The Home Secretary
@SuellaBraverman
and the Security Minister
@TomTugendhat
explain how a new Fraud Strategy will help protect the British public against fraudsters ⤵
The land where women often couldn’t enter a pub, or order a drink if they could?
Or died from back-street abortions?
Or where “No Blacks. No Irish. No Dogs” signs were ok?
Try a complete picture of Old England - not just the bits you like?
Old England, before we became the social worker of the world.
How beautiful and wholesome we once were, if we are to have this again if begins with getting behind those that genuinely seek it, not those who simply speak it.
Our England 🏴🏴
This completely misses the point.
The issue is not her having a 1-2-1 course. It’s asking Civil Servants to arrange for it. It was a private matter, nothing to do with her public duties. She broke the Ministerial Code simply by asking. That’s the issue.
NIGEL FARAGO AT IT AGAIN
The Sub-Postmasters were prosecuted by THE POST OFFICE.
The CPS/DPP played no part in this. The PO has its own powers.
You utter fraud.
Why did
@Keir_Starmer
not intervene in the Horizon scandal when he was Director of Public Prosecutions?
The story first broke in 2009, yet the prosecutions continued until 2015.
Given the mounting concern at the time and over 700 cases, he has serious questions to answer.
"Who do you think you're speaking to?... I am not going to be spoken to by a Secretary of State who is absolutely not accepting my ruling"
Sir Lindsay Hoyle rebukes Kemi Badenoch over announcing changes to Retained EU Law Bill to the media
Unless we want to return to pre-industrial conditions (cold, poor, dark) we will need natural gas for some time. So either UK imports more carbon intensive gas from abroad or we increase production of own, with added economic, security & employment benefits. Video in 2 parts 1/2
@bbclaurak
The Supreme Court have not “strayed into politics” any more than a Referee “strays into fooball” when refereeing a match.
They are simply upholding the rules of the politics game - the constitution. Nothing more nor less.
Johnson broke the rules.
The rewriting of history going on today is really quite astonishing.
Bashir & BBC are being blamed for the breakdown of the Royal marriage, ignoring the fact it already had.
They are also being blamed for her death, by the same media outlets that paid paparazzi who chased her.
Next time you hear Johnson or some other Govt minister blathering on about how the UK is “the fastest growing economy in the G7”, just look at this chart from
@TheEconomist
UK = worst GDP, household income, share prices and investment of G7. “World beating” nonsense.
Good grief. We knew it probably happened but to actually SEE it happening is still deeply shocking.
Make sure this goes viral people. Every single one of these jerks needs to be fined.
Grant Shapps claims Labour control the House of Lords.
The actual membership of the Lords.
But then as Mr Shapps has trouble remembering what his name is it’s hardly surprising?
@MichelleMone
wasn’t “honest” about her financial interest to me.
She didn’t explain “from the very beginning” about her financial “involvement” - her message below was typical.
It wasn’t in her Register of Interests, as you’d expect it.
@RishiSunak
is right to take this
Oliver Dowden claims Sue Gray “failed to engage” with an inquiry into the circumstances of her discussions with Keir Starmer.
But what inquiry? By whom? On what terms of reference and under what procedure?
Dowden and Cabinet Office apparently cannot say. Which speaks volumes?
The contempt here for Labour and for working class culture (non-league football clubs - urgh!) is palpable.
I’ve been giving her the benefit of the doubt - her errors were just naive “scoop-hound” mistakes. Not any more. She’s a snob and a small c Conservative at the very least.
EXCLUSIVE 🚨: Suella Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help her avoid a speeding fine and points on her licence by arranging a private one-to-one driving awareness course
Serious Qs over whether she may have breached ministerial code
1/4
In January 2010 I had a heart attack. And discovered I had a deteriorating heart condition.
At the time I set myself the target of surviving until 2020.
2020 has been a challenge.
But I AM STILL HERE.
🚨 | NEW: A gang of Tory MPs led by Lee Anderson will demand that Rishi Sunak BLOCK foreign staff working in care homes - despite a record number of vacancies
[
@DailyMirror
]
I’ve been engaged in politics for about 55 years.
Campaigns have rarely made a big difference, certainly not big enough to overturn a 21% deficit. And Labour can win a solid majority with less than half that number.
Which you should know. But either don’t, or don’t want to?
But... don't forget Labour has to get a MASSIVE swing to get over the line, and anyone who's been knocking around for a few years will remind you that campaigns can change things - we'll hear from Starmer in a bit - keep up with
@BBCNews
and
#NEWSCASTERS
we'll be with you in a
Your Govt just gave a woman of 29 a lifelong seat in our Parliament. About whom we know next nothing except she did some low level political work?
Care to explain that
@JohnnyMercerUK
?
I may be a ‘silly sod’ or a ‘twit’ - both of those are valid.
But I also don’t think voters really want people who’ve spent more time at university than in a job, who get dropped in to a constituency, inserted with a party chip and parrot party lines. Glad to have stoked debate.
As someone who has studied public spending policy for 3 decades and been a special adviser to the Treasury Select Cttee - Sunak is talking absolute garbage here.
Govt publish multi-year spending plans all the time. On just about everything. That is what Spending Reviews do.
👀Chair of Public Accounts C'tee
@Meg_HillierMP
now, takes Sunak to task about refusing to disclose the cost of the Rwanda scheme to Parliament.
He ends up claiming he's having "secret talks" with other countries. When asked which, by Jenkin, he says they're hypothetical. 👀~AA
When he first rose to prominence I knew I didn’t like his politics. And his manner reminded me of a senior partner from a management consultancy.
But the more I’ve seen of him the more he comes across as a hugely dislikable, petulant, arrogant, self-absorbed man?
“Is there anything you admire about [Labour leader Keir Starmer]?” asks
#BBCLauraK
“I’m not interested in talking about personalities… what I would say is you’ve got to take a stand on things” says PM Rishi Sunak
Yvette Cooper: “We’ve had low growth, low opportunities it’s time to something better.”
#BBCLauraK
: “Well there’s plenty of people who come to this studio who disagree with you. Many people watching might disagree with you too”
She *never* does this after interviewing a Tory MP
She was Home Secretary. She was responsible for MI5.
What is she doing freelancing with foreign governments as if she is still a Minister? Was this sanctioned? Does she have officials with her?
More evidence Sunak’s “Government” has lost all authority.
Today I met with senior military & political figures in Israel to discuss the war in Gaza & the tragic strike on the aid convoy.
My thoughts & prayers go out to the family & friends of those killed. This was a terrible mistake for which Israel has rightly apologised.
No you are not. You are using public money to bribe people in marginal seats to vote for you.
You are not distributing our money fairly on the basis of need.
It’s called political corruption.
Hearing lots of “Labour has a majority but not a mandate” this morning.
All of it from people who have never raised electoral reform before. It’s pure opportunism.
And very annoying to those of us who have always supported a more proportional system.
Prince Harry has claimed Piers Morgan “clearly knew about phone hacking” after a High Court judge ruled the Duke of Sussex had been the victim of the practice by Mirror Group Newspapers
Almost lost for words.
No-one made Sunak want to be PM.
No-one made him make all the mistakes and tell all the lies he has.
He and his wife are worth over half a billion £.
Yet he’s a victim?
Labour has also shoehorned into the manifesto this picture of Starmer with Zelensky at the D-Day commemoration ceremony. This was the event Sunak missed
225 Conservative MPs - including the PM - did not support the Privileges Cttee.
A majority of Tory MPs.
Failing to uphold standards. Cowardly running away from responsibility.
They will regret this.
As some people still don't seem to see the problem, do a little thought experiment.
One family with C-19 going to Durham from London might be a small risk.
But what about 10 families, or a 100, or a 1,000?
See why we need(ed) the rules now? And STAY HOME was the rule.
“Reform” and the “Workers Party of Britain” between them won 6 councillors yesterday. SIX. Out of 2,447.
Compared to, for example the Greens - who won 159.
Yet guess who we’ll see on
@bbcquestiontime
and other media most?