Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #FreePorts
Most recents (18)
1/X #thread #Freeports
Freeports are a considerable national security threat.
Of all the threats they pose, it is most astounding that this particular threat has seemingly *cough cough* escaped the selective attention of the wider British media...
medium.com/@cormack.lawso…
Freeports are a considerable national security threat.
Of all the threats they pose, it is most astounding that this particular threat has seemingly *cough cough* escaped the selective attention of the wider British media...
medium.com/@cormack.lawso…
While the press just about managed to mumble something about "Freeports" swallowing up swathes of National Parks, they failed to mention many have a concerning array of military assets in their boundaries & will likely be looking to leverage them to maximise their influence.
The Humber “Freeport” contains several RAF facilities, including its Air & Space Warfare Centre. The Solent “Freeport” captures HMNB Portsmouth. While the PASD Freeport encompasses Britain’s (& Western Europe’s) largest naval base, HMNB Devonport, a vital nuclear base.
A guide to the UK's #freeports and #investmentzones.
This is a work in progress and will be updated/rewritten when new information becomes available.
This links the official government information and may be slightly outdated (the maps, in particular).
This is a work in progress and will be updated/rewritten when new information becomes available.
This links the official government information and may be slightly outdated (the maps, in particular).
Where are the UK #freeports?
England:
Teesside (Middlesbrough,
Stockton on Tees)
Solent (Hampshire, IOW)
Plymouth and South Devon
East Midlands (East Midlands Airport)
Freeport East (Felixstowe and Harwich)
England:
Teesside (Middlesbrough,
Stockton on Tees)
Solent (Hampshire, IOW)
Plymouth and South Devon
East Midlands (East Midlands Airport)
Freeport East (Felixstowe and Harwich)
What do the Tories mean by their championing of ‘Singapore-On-Thames’ post-Brexit freedoms bonanza? Thatcher kickstarted the turn away from Europe with her wish for ‘a kind of free-trade and non-interventionist Singapore’.
Singapore and Hong Kong are indicators of economic governance where the short-circuiting of democracy was the key to their successes. Singapore’s troubling working classes were bypassed in favour of bringing in foreign workers who could be hired, fired, and then deported.
The state shaped Singapore’s success, not the free market, it set up massive land reclamation projects around its coasts using sovereign wealth funds and ‘plugged in’ to multinational corporations. Singapore avoided years of development by bringing in tech and a foreign workforce
An excellent read here on Shanker Singham's insidious influence on @PrifWeinidog by @FiveByFiveTimes
I cannot fathom why the Welsh FM has signed off on 2 Freeports in Wales with one of the most dangerous r/w libertarian Govt consultants in the world.
bylines.cymru/politics-and-s…
I cannot fathom why the Welsh FM has signed off on 2 Freeports in Wales with one of the most dangerous r/w libertarian Govt consultants in the world.
bylines.cymru/politics-and-s…
@PrifWeinidog @FiveByFiveTimes Worried about 2nd homes in Wales? That's nothing compared to 2nd cities owned by corporations with their own laws with zero Govt oversight. That is Singham's speciality. Wake up Welsh people.
A plutocratic city, where ultra-wealthy property developers buy up public land worth 100s of millions for a fraction of its worth. The poor are expelled from these NIMBY enclaves, the prerogative of the Special Investment Zone is mini-tax havens for off-shoring wealth. #Brexit
@Nigelj08223326 @SirGeoffPalmer @dr_ianjackson #FreeportHell #IsleofWight Patients have an extra barrier to treatment; Non functional and excruciatingly expensive ferry journeys to access radiotherapy for cancer not available on Isle of Wight.
1/ Do investment zones hold the key to unlocking the UK’s growth problem?
#InvestmentZones #Freeports
ukandeu.ac.uk/do-investment-…
#InvestmentZones #Freeports
ukandeu.ac.uk/do-investment-…
2/ First, they were very underwhelming in terms of total job creation. The Treasury predicted that after five years they would have created 54,000 jobs. The actual figure was less than one third of this.
3/ Second, the majority of these jobs were in low skilled occupations. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing in itself. But they did not contribute to changing the make-up of a struggling economy – they brought in (a little) more of the same.
@JohnWest_JAWS Meanwhile, another little nugget here;
@JohnWest_JAWS And another one here; from 2017 , but still relevant
@JohnWest_JAWS And another one here;
#Budget2023 #Freeports #WhatToriesWontTellYou Freeports are designed to push the economy in favour of the private sector; 
QinetiQ, part-owned by Boris Johnson donor Christopher Harborne, wins £80m MoD contract | openDemocracy opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…
screenshot ;
How did we get to a point where the UK government are about to give away entire cities up and down the country to private companies? #CharterCities #FreePorts
Freeports and nature some thoughts.
Freeports aren't ports they are large areas of land including in some cases SSI's and National Parks. Some board members of Freeports and directors are local councillors.
#Freeports #Nature #Deregulation #RSPB #Wildlife
Freeports aren't ports they are large areas of land including in some cases SSI's and National Parks. Some board members of Freeports and directors are local councillors.
#Freeports #Nature #Deregulation #RSPB #Wildlife
Significant areas of natural beauty including Dartmoor, the New Forest, the whole of the Isle of Wight and the North York Moors. They also engulf entire cities such as Derby and Nottingham, Hull, Scunthorpe, and large areas of Liverpool.
The new freeports between them cover around 15,000 to 20,000kms2 – approximately 8% of England’s total surface area.
National park authorities were not consulted before being included in the outer boundary of the new freeports. Changes in planning regulations will affect them.
National park authorities were not consulted before being included in the outer boundary of the new freeports. Changes in planning regulations will affect them.
“There is evidence of criminal activity taking place in multiple freeports around the world. It often involves trade in counterfeit goods, drug trafficking, smuggling of untaxed goods or trade-based money laundering.”
#Freeports #r4today #BBCBreakfast
#Freeports #r4today #BBCBreakfast
In 2020, the Royal United Services Institute centre for financial crime and security studies submitted evidence to the international trade committee.
Amongst recommendations on mitigating risk in the UK, are increased security, crime pattern analysis and intelligence gathering.
Amongst recommendations on mitigating risk in the UK, are increased security, crime pattern analysis and intelligence gathering.
In 2021, the EU clamped down on freeport activity for the very reason that they were found to facilitate illegal activities such as money laundering, art theft and terrorism.
Anyone know if the boundaries of all the new shiny #Freeports we’re going to get happen to include national parks, at all?
Eg: the Plymouth freeport boundary appears to encompass the whole of Dartmoor.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
Eg: the Plymouth freeport boundary appears to encompass the whole of Dartmoor.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
The Solent freeport appears to include the whole of the New Forest.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
The Teeside freeport includes parts of the North Yorks Moors national park.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
🧵Here are Sunak & Shapps, posing for a photo op at the Savoy, with DP World CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem. DP World own P&O.
In 2016, Sunak saw DP World as a huge benefit to the UK. With plans for it to be ‘at the heart of Britain’s trading future’ Claiming it had the ambition
In 2016, Sunak saw DP World as a huge benefit to the UK. With plans for it to be ‘at the heart of Britain’s trading future’ Claiming it had the ambition
& resource to boost growth, support businesses, create jobs & (get this) IMPROVE LIVING STANDARDS!! DP World, have just laid off 800 UK staff in appalling circumstances & brought in replacement workers on £1.80 an hour. The company owe billions in loans, took £10m in furlough
support & requested a £150m Govt bailout. Sunak has welcomed DP World with open arms. His big push for these ‘freeports’ has been warned about by many for a while. They are Charter Cities. Deregulated economic enterprise zones. Workers rights mean zilch. It’s the Libertarian
Looking forward to hearing what should be an interesting debate from an illustrious panel on what contents of the #LevellingUpWhitePaper will really mean for local & regional policymakers #PolExEvents
First speaker Mayor @BenHouchen opens his talk saying that the #LevellingUpWhite Paper was never going to please everyone due to "different people wanting different things". However, welcomes the fact we now have definition for #LevellingUp & list of govt priorities #PolExEvents
Houchen says we now need to see a delivery plan ASAP. Gives his priority as the future of #Devolution - which now has a "sliding scale" between County Deals & creation of more Combined Authorities. Says we need to see clarity around devolution in rural areas #PolExEvents
With the publication of the #LevellingUpWhitePaper, today, I'm looking forward to what should be a timely discussion on how Govts could work with the Private Sector to deliver on the #LevellingUp agenda #IfGlevellingup
First speaker @SCCI_Sara says there is an "extreme appetite" from businesses to work with the Government. Notes that in #Stafordshire in particular, there is a sense of relief that spatial strategy & local economies are "on the agenda at last" #IfGLevellingUp
.@greatermcr's John Wrathmell agrees. Says that the #CombinedAuthority has been concerned about #LevellingUp the region "before the government invented the phrase" & says that wanting to increase opportunity for all should be a "clear goal" of any Govt #IfGLevellingUp
I've thinking about the budget in relation to the constituents whose cases I have raised in the chamber this past year
Short thread 👇1/5
Short thread 👇1/5
5% VAT for hospitality is welcome as is the furlough extension but the reality is that furlough is costing businesses that are currently closed money - it's not the scheme they accessed a year ago. Fixed monthly costs continue and grants don't cover them 2/5
There's no actual change to Self Employment Support - it's just that more people qualify by having 19/20 tax returns. Despite the work of @APPGGapsSupport and all of the support groups - nothing for #ExcludedUK #ForgottenLtd and others 3/5
🕊AnotherTragedy🕊
At least 20 people died and 26 injured in an El Paso mall shooting.
Suspect is ID’d #MAGA #Radicalized
Shooter drove to the border town of EL Paso to kill immigrants. #HateCrime
All children have been permanently moved from Homestead detention center.
At least 20 people died and 26 injured in an El Paso mall shooting.
Suspect is ID’d #MAGA #Radicalized
Shooter drove to the border town of EL Paso to kill immigrants. #HateCrime
All children have been permanently moved from Homestead detention center.
🕊Tragedy2🕊
Deutsche Bank Tech Issue Causes Six-Hour Email Outage in U.S.
Danske Bank has outlined plans to quit Russia by January next year after the Danish bank was rocked by allegations its Estonian branch was involved in a mind-boggling $230bn money laundering scandal.
Deutsche Bank Tech Issue Causes Six-Hour Email Outage in U.S.
Danske Bank has outlined plans to quit Russia by January next year after the Danish bank was rocked by allegations its Estonian branch was involved in a mind-boggling $230bn money laundering scandal.
🕊ElPaso3🕊
Danske has closed the Estonian branch, which was accused of laundering money for Ukrainian arms traders in NoK & Iran
In Dec 2009, Thai police
intercepted a flight en route from NK to Iran loaded with 40 tonnes of weaponry, including anti-aircraft rockets.
Danske has closed the Estonian branch, which was accused of laundering money for Ukrainian arms traders in NoK & Iran
In Dec 2009, Thai police
intercepted a flight en route from NK to Iran loaded with 40 tonnes of weaponry, including anti-aircraft rockets.
