GET A GRIP Profile picture
Apr 26, 2021 18 tweets 11 min read Read on X
#THREAD about Boris Johnson, dead bodies, Brexit, & Andrew Neil's TV Channel & power.

The news is full of claims that last year, Boris Johnson said “No more fucking lockdowns: let the bodies pile high in their thousands”, which our sociopathic Govt dismissed as "comedy gossip".
Boris Johnson, 2017: "I look at Libya... There's a group of UK business people... want to invest in Sirte on the coast... They have got a brilliant vision to turn Sirte into the next Dubai. The only thing they have got to do is clear the dead bodies away!"
The speech was given to the #Legatum Institute (originally registered in Cayman Islands) a well-funded free-market think-tank specializing in disaster #capitalism, which in 2016, jointly sponsored a report called 'The Road to Brexit'. The foreword was penned by Iain Duncan Smith.
The Legatum Institute was founded in 2007 by the Legatum Foundation (a "philanthropic" arm of the Dubai-based investment firm the Legatum Group), & was given charitable status in 2015. Philippa (Baroness) Stroud was appointed CEO of the Institute in 2016, & it is based in London.
The Legatum Foundation was registered as a company limited by guarantee in 2010. According to the 2015 accounts, the bulk of its income used to come from the Legatum Foundation Limited, a company registered in Bermuda. It's complicated! See @bakerstherald

bakerstreetherald.com
In 2017, the Legatum Institute stupidly proposed using unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the Irish border issue post-Brexit.

Other potential measures including creating a special economic zone (aka 'free ports')- see @bakerstherald for details.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northe…
Shanker Singham left the Institute in March 2018, to take his team to another questionable free-market think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs, & Tufton St favourite Matthew Elliott (co-founded the TaxPayers' Alliance/director of Vote Leave) left in May 2018.
Legatum Limited (aka Legatum), is headquartered in Dubai, & uses its own funds to invest globally.

It was set up in 2006 by the multi-billionaire Christopher Chandler.

Philippa Claire Stroud, Baroness Stroud, is the current chief executive officer of the Legatum Institute.
Philippa Stroud was a Special Adviser to Iain Duncan Smith (while Secretary of State for Work & Pensions) from 2010-15, & is also a co-founder & former executive director of yet another questionable free-market think tank, the ironically named 'Centre for Social Justice'.
One more figure: Lord (James) O'Shaughnessy, senior fellow at the Legatum Institute, & formerly Deputy Director of ANOTHER free market think tank, 'Policy Exchange'.

He was Cameron's Director of Policy (2010/11) & was Conservative Party Director of Policy & Research (2007-10).
Legatum's founder, Chandler, made his fortune through Sovereign Global Investment, investing in emerging markets, & Legatum invested heavily in developing countries: their speciality was moving into markets at times of crisis 'where assets are mispriced':
ft.com/content/fac8b5…
Legatum look for opportunities arising from deregulation & further privatisation – especially in the #NHS (it already has considerable healthcare interests).

It openly states that it "finds value where disruptive transitions create unique opportunities".

opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocra…
At the top of the thread I mentioned Andrew Neil's new controversial 'Fox News-style' & explicitly "anti-woke" TV channel - I don't mention it by name because it amplifies their brand, but some people call it #GBeebies. 😉

What's this got to do with #Legatum?

*Everything*.
#GBeebies' £60 MILLION funders include hedge-fund manager Sir Paul Marshall, & of course investment group Legatum, who are said to have put up to £20 million into the new station.

Btw, in 2016, Marshall donated to Michael Gove's leadership campaign.

bylinetimes.com/2021/02/15/gb-…
To be clear: a powerful network of Libertarian billionaires, through offshore investment funds, media ownership, think tanks & funding Political Parties, seek to maximise their wealth & power by dividing voters on issues as diverse as Brexit, climate change, trans rights & COVID.
The facts are largely hidden from good people on Left AND Right, who are played like fiddles: the culture war/anti-woke agenda is MAINLY a vehicle for introducing yet more damaging deregulated free market #capitalism, which is destroying democracies, societies, & the environment.
So when Boris Johnson says “No more fucking lockdowns: let the bodies pile high in their thousands”, or jokes about having to "clear the dead bodies away" to make way for 'business opportunities', please keep in mind Britain's largely avoidable #COVID & #austerity-related deaths.
This has been going on for forty years, & sadly, they're getting better at it.

Many disruptions we're seeing across the world are basically the fault lines created by a handful of sociopathic billionaires, driven by a mix of libertarian ideology & greed.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with GET A GRIP

GET A GRIP Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @docrussjackson

Jun 29
🧵

A few thoughts on Bob Vylan leading the #GlastonburyFestival crowd in chants of "Death to the IDF" (Israeli Defence Force), livestreamed by the @BBC, and the mischaracterisation of the chant by some MPs, news media, and activists. Image
In England, where #GlastonburyFestival is located, all of us have the right to freely express our criticism of anyone or anything - as long as there is no intent to provoke immediate unlawful violence or there is a reasonable likelihood it will occur as a consequence.
In England, free speech is protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998. However, inciting violence is a criminal offence under several laws which attempt to balance public safety with free expression rights.

There are a number of key provisions in UK Law.
Read 29 tweets
Jun 26
🧵

Socially isolated and radicalised online, Marcus Monzo, 37, was convicted of murdering 14-yr-old Daniel Anjorin and attacking others with a sword.

He was fascinated by violence, far-right extremism, Incel ideology, conspiracy theories and figures like Musk, Tate, and Hitler. Image
UK society is insufficiently concerned about the harms of extreme online material of the kind pushed by the far-right, incels, & conspiracy theorists.

Debate is too often framed as being about free speech, rather than its sometimes horrific consequences.

actearly.uk/radicalisation…
In many countries, especially since Musk bought Twitter/@X, underregulated online extreme content has been used to groom and radicalise vulnerable people.

Too many cowardly politicians are scared to speak up for fear of being branded 'anti-free speech'.

Read 30 tweets
Jun 10
🧵

Some MPs who have been in parliament for many years NEVER appear on any of the @BBC's "flagship" politics shows - but Reform's privately educated shit-stirring 'anti-elite' former Tory Sarah Pochin - an MP for FIVE WEEKS - gets her own special introduction on #PoliticsLive. Image
Politicians using dangerously irresponsible anti-Muslim rhetoric know their comments are normalising Islamophobia and endanger British Muslim women. Islamophobic incidents rose by 375% in the week after Boris Johnson called veiled Muslim women “letterboxes” in 2018.
#PolitcsLive Image
Britain prides itself in NOT being the sort of country that tells women how to dress. States that do dictate women’s clothing (eg Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia) are vilified as misogynistic & ultra-controlling: the antithesis of the enlightened, liberal west.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Read 11 tweets
Jun 7
🧵

The 'Women's Safety Initiative' is an anti-migrant AstroTurf disinformation group founded by Jess Gill, a Fellow of the Koch-funded climate change denial group, the Foundation for Economic Education, & an apprentice at the Mises Institute. The '1 in 4' claim is a lie. Image
Before I outline the evidence that (despite what we are told every day by politicians, activists, and news media) there is no discernable link between either legal or illegal immigration and increased crime rates in OECD countries, including ours, some context about Jess Gill. Image
Jess Gill’s involvement with these radical free-market climate change denying Koch foundation funded organisations is deeply concerning.

The WSI exploits young women to make misleading claims about supposed links between immigration with women’s safety.

Read 32 tweets
Jun 2
🧵

"Foreigners" DO NOT claim £1BILLION/month in benefits.

This disgusting anti-migrant dogwhistle by shameless liar and former Head of Policy Exchange, Neil O'Brien MP, is just one of several recent dispicable divisive Telegraph front page lies.

WTAF @IpsoNews? @HoCStandards? Image
The claims that the UK spends £1bn/month "on UC benefits for overseas nationals" (O'Brien) and "Foreigners claim £1bn a month in benefits" (Telegraph) are revealed to be lies in the article: the£1bn relates to "Benefits claims by HOUSEHOLDS with AT LEAST ONE FOREIGN NATIONAL." Image
The Telegraph claims that (unnamed) "experts suggested the increase reflected a SURGE in the number of asylum seekers being granted refugee status and in net migration."

To evaluate/make sense of this sensational unsourced claim, additional context is needed (but not provided). Image
Read 57 tweets
May 30
🧵

Chase Herro, co-founder of Trump’s main crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, on crypto:

“You can literally sell shit in a can, wrapped in piss, covered in human skin, for a billion dollars if the story’s right, because people will buy it.”

theguardian.com/technology/202…
Despite crypto being bullshit, & memecoins being consciously bullshit, many – especially angry young gullible men – still invest: 42% of men & 17% of women aged 18-29 have invested in, traded or used crypto (2024 Pew Research), compared to only 11% of men & 5% of women over 50. Image
“It’s no accident that memecoins are such a phenomenon among young people who have grown immensely frustrated with a financial system that, I think it’s fair to say, has failed them” - Sander Lutz, the first crypto-focused White House correspondent.

theguardian.com/technology/202…
Read 16 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(