Leader of
@Conservatives
on Elmbridge Borough Council.
Senior Counsel
@PLMRLtd
(Education, Social Mobility, & Apprenticeships).
Former Exec Director at UCAS.
The UK is about the become one of the only countries in the world to tax education - & it’ll be state schools & special educational needs that will be hit hardest
BREAKING:
Labour has announced that it will introduce 20% VAT on private school fees from 1st January, 2025
The fee will also apply to **pre-payment of fees**, which many private schools have offered parents as a potential way round the tax rises
So
@NicolaSturgeon
decides to hold a press conference on the
#CobraMeeting
before the PM + with no Chief Medical Officer. Result?
✅Narcissism fed
❌People have less detail, fewer facts, more panic
❌FTSE collapses c.10%
🤦♂️
BREAKING:
@NicolaSturgeon
says the UK has "now moved from the contain phase to delay", adding that following the
#cobrameeting
, the advice to the public is that from tomorrow anyone with symptoms should self-isolate.
Get the latest on
#coronavirus
here:
We are delighted that our local candidate for the next general election is
@john_cope
John was selected last night, and our members and supporters are all looking forward to helping him become Esher and Walton’s next MP.
#VoteJohnCope
#VoteConservative
Thank you to
@David_Cameron
for joining us for a celebration of the 10th anniversary of
@Conservatives
delivering Same Sex Marriage
Since then, over 42,000 couples have said ‘I do’
Something we can all be proud of 🇬🇧🏳️🌈
Ignore the media noise - the Prime Minister's plan to give 18 year olds the opportunity to apply for one of 30,000 full-time military placements or volunteering one weekend a month on community service is sound.
I volunteered most weekends at that age & learnt a huge amount.
The EU expresses its sincere condolences for the death of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdollahian, as well as other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident. Our thoughts go to the families.
Thank you. It's a huge privilege to be re-elected to serve the local community & carry on as Leader of the Conservative Group on Elmbridge Borough Council.
@paynton
Feel free to inform the 620,000+ children in 2,500+ independent schools that you don't think they're in education after all.
And all the state schools forced to increase their class sizes in the coming year that you think that's great news.
Do report back
Conservatives must reflect (& change) after the election, but we should stay proud of getting the UK through 5+ years of global economic headwinds:
🔹Unemployment low at 4.4%
🔹Inflation on target at 2.0%
🔹Growth on track for +3.6%🔥 over 2024
A golden inheritance for Labour
I think many are "quite shocked" & will be sharing anecdotes about him
I have my own. At an event only a few months ago he presented Labour as a "wicked socialist plot" that was "still anti-Semitic", & the huge relief of Bury's "large Jewish population" at the election outcome
BREAKING: Christian Wakeford, the MP for Bury South, has defected to the Labour Party this afternoon, Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed.
Sky's
@BethRigby
says she's "quite shocked" by the announcement ahead of
#PMQs
.
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233
In so many ways,
@andy4wm
is the best of the Conservatives: decent, moderate, focussed on investment, & spreading opportunity.
His loss is felt by us all.
I sincerely hope he will allow us to select him for a constituency in the West Mids so he can champion the region again
Absolutely gutted to be so near, yet so far.
It has been my honour to serve citizens in the WM for the last seven years, and I hope I have done it with dignity & integrity.
I am proud of what we have achieved together and I hope my successor can build upon it.
Thank you all.
I think more politicians should have a background in education, apprenticeships, & social justice. It's a big reason why I'm standing for parliament. But I need your help.
As you probably know, candidates get no public money and if you're from a modest background like me, it's
On behalf of politicos across the nation, can I say thank you to the unsung heroes that are people with letter boxes at the end of their drive, or high up their door.
Thank you for your service 🙏
Proud of the positive campaign we ran for change in Molesey after years of Lib Dem neglect on the Council
We fell 67 votes short, but our message will have landed: build affordable houses on brownfield, not concrete over Molesey Hurst Rec/Playground. Expect them to now u-turn!
Super excited to join Public First next year & the truly brilliant team of
@jonathansimons
,
@racheljanetwolf
,
@LukeTryl
,
@gabrielmilland
et al 🎉
Between the senior team, we've advised the last 5 PMs & 7 Education Secretaries, which is pretty astonishing really!
Absolutely delighted to say that
@john_cope
will be joining Public First in Jan to be Deputy Director, Education! Have been a huge fan of John’s work at
@CBI_ES
and
@EduPolicyInst
and so really pleased he’s coming to add even more senior capacity to our growing education practice
Lots of talented people could lead us, but I'm backing
@TomTugendhat
because he's one of the most direct, straight forward, & decent politicians I've worked with (& that's quite a few!). Join the team here:
@bill_emmott
Yep - many even subsidise it, like Denmark.
Examples exist of Greece slapping VAT on, but taking it off as the negative impact became clear
Proud to be on the front of
@thetimes
talking about something we should all be passionate about - ending outdated gender stereotypes & the power of education to improve social justice
Diverse workplaces are more successful workplaces - simple as that!
Really powerful message from
@Jeremy_Hunt
: "families can be all different shapes and sizes, what is important is is they are happy, solid, families", backing
#LGBT
rights being included in relationship education
Amen to that 🏳️🌈
Strikes me that in a drive to be 'inclusive', people often focus on difference + dividing into small groups
It's why I wanted to rebrand
@LGBTCons
as Conservative Pride - ends the growing soup of letters + focusses on people living however they want
PM's Spring Reception brings together people from all over the party & country - including us as Board Members of
@CCACllrs
! And yes, much discussion was had on potholes & local government funding formulas, as is only right😄
@isamutlib
- The independent sector has huge numbers of SEND schools.
- State schools are projected to increase class sizes as people leave the independent sector.
And for what? An ideological attack.
Thank you as always for the massive support from the
@BTConservatives
💙
The values of the Tamil community are our values: family, community, & aspiration.
@CarrKeelan
Agree this kind of thing lands well in 'the bubble' and amongst Labour supporters - I guess my point is that technical nit picking over guidance doesn't propel you towards electability
Time for a proper register of all children being "home schooled". I always find it bizarre this isn't monitored & on most estimates tens of thousands of children are outside the education system
This makes me so angry:
“young people struggling with average student loan debts of £50,000”
Such irresponsible journalism - you can’t ‘struggle’ on a system where you pay less than £10 a month when you earn over the £25,725 threshold
Badly judged & rude of some students last night at Oxford to decide to “no platform” me 30 mins before an event I had been invited to for
#IWD2020
to encourage young women into politics. They should stop hiding and start engaging.
#FreeSpeech
If you believe in clean, cheap, & reliable energy, this is deeply disappointing. The government is right to challenge this court ruling to ensure Sizewell C goes ahead.
What I find most astonishing about Bercow's reaction is the lack of contrition or empathy, instead his response is to bully & call into question the accuser's character on TV
Spot on from
@TomTugendhat
. Labour's soft touch on defence & security would be a disaster.
Their shadow Foreign Secretary has repeatedly voted against a nuclear deterrent. And a few years ago, Labour even questioned the UK staying in NATO.
Given how special
@HurstParkSchool
in my constituency is, nominating their Principal
@LThorndycraft
to join a national celebration of "Education Champions" with the schools Minister
@DamianHinds
was fantastic.
Hurst Park's use of technology in the class room is absolutely
Thrilled and honoured to be nominated by
@john_cope
as an Education Champion. Excited for the opportunity to represent
@HurstParkSchool
at 10 Downing Street
#WeAreLEO
🦁
Can the “Me” generation, who have never been denied anything in their privileged lives, be relied upon to self-isolate or will they start whingeing how “stressy” it all is when the authorities try to curtail their freedom to even a minor degree?
Happy
#ResultsDay
!
Great to show Skills & HE Minister
@halfon4harlowMP
UCAS' brilliant new apprenticeships platform. This year about half a million people told us they are interested in apprenticeships on
@UCAS_online
. An amazing cultural change!
No one should have to deal with this kind of criticism when just doing their job.
In the words of the late
@Madeleine
Albright: "there is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women"
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith seems to be using Nicola Bulley’s disappearance as a excuse to showcase her toned physique. Who wears a sleeveless dress in February? To those who say, does it matter what people wear to work? Yes, it does, when they are police officers.
Important to support work of
@moffat_andrew
. Religion is never an excuse for discrimination
Just as much diversity in a “predominantly Muslim school” as any other - trying to stop discussion won’t make anyone less LGBT, disabled, or from a different faith
Amazing to collect Think Tank of the Year on behalf of
@EduPolicyInst
at the
#PublicAffairsAwards
. Such an honour for the team at EPI to be recognised for all the hard work over the last year or so
Good to get the Environment Secretary
@ThereseCoffey
down to Molesey to see for herself the unauthorised boat moorings (& all the pollution, anti-social behaviour, & litter that goes with them).
We agreed to keep up pressure on the
@EnvAgency
@EnvAgencySE
to tackle the issue
What Miliband is actually announcing: higher imports of oil + gas from overseas (particularly fracked in America), with all the new environmental costs transporting it around the world that creates.
Bad for energy bills; bad for energy security; bad for the environment.
"Be sensible... What do you want? A full handbook to tell you what to do?"
Plumber Ryan Price says the government guidance on returning to work is clear enough for the public.
Worth listening back to
@theresa_may
on desert island discs before being PM
Comes across as totally decent, down to earth, & hugely dedicated to public service
Prescient first line though "in politics to do anything, you have to truly believe in it"
Great to join
@DunfieldPrayero
in Wimbledon, meeting volunteers from
@Med_LL_Ukraine
, a fantastic local initiative supporting those on the frontline in Ukraine; and visit innovative local businesses in Esher with
@john_cope
It is a huge honour to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, I’m so grateful to everyone for their support. Thanks to
@MozForMayor
for his positive and hard fought campaign. I will work tirelessly to defeat Sadiq Khan and offer Londoners the change we need.
I remember once being told by a headhunter to "take out the LGBT+ stuff you do. You'll get more interest in your CV"
Wasn't a hard choice to ignore them...why would I want to work for someone who would only employ me if I wasn't me?
Keep fighting the good fight
@RiyadhK
👏🏼
🔵 Conservatives: nearly a £billion extra on apprenticeships (an extra 100,000) on top of existing system.
🔴 Labour: 50% reduction in apprenticeship funding by relaxing funding rules.
👇🏽
🚨 The Conservatives have set out their first apprenticeship election pledge - 100,000 more by the end of the next parliament.
But shadow education secretary
@bphillipsonMP
has called the policy 'laughable'
The 👏first 👏 line 👏 of 👏 the 👏report 👏 is:
"There is a lot more to education than just making young people work ready"
Once you've had a chance to read the report
@lehain
(especially the sections on employers supporting teachers & schools 🙄) would be good to discuss
Thank you to the Molesey Islamic Centre for inviting me to join them for an
#Iftar
meal. Such a great community event with the Mayor of Elmbridge & Molesey Cllr
@MoleseySteve
As the sun sets during Ramadan, Muslims from around the world gather to break their fast together with
There has been no President in the history of our Country who has been treated so badly as I have. The Democrats are frozen with hatred and fear. They get nothing done. This should never be allowed to happen to another President. Witch Hunt!
A real privilege to speak at the 10th anniversary of
@5PercentClubUK
(a group of employers committed to having 5% of their workforce as an apprentice) alongside Skills Minister
@halfon4harlowMP
& CEO of the Club, Mark Cameron OBE.
It's such an inspiring group of employers who
Excited to join the board of
@CCACllrs
which represents 7,000 councillors to government & the
@Conservatives
Party. Privilege to take Cllr
@littlemisscoul
's place after she didn't restand (...and looking forward to taking the credit for all her great work)
I was so proud to announce that Labour will reverse the Conservatives' cuts to 3,000 bus routes.
We use buses far more than any other form of public transport - 4.5 billion journeys every year.
These are vital services which we won't just restore, we'll invest in more.