THREAD: Why we need a "green revolt" against eco taxation
Out on the campaign trail with @LozzaFox in Walthamstow today & Nadim, who helps run the street market told us 250 trader's van will need to be scrapped or pay £12.50/day from October thanks to @SadiqKhan ULEZ expansion>
Nadim & other traders spoke of the war on motorists. A one-way system that means a 5-min journey is now 40 mins. Empty cycle lanes. Immediate parking fines for shoppers, who now stay away. A 60% drop in trade on top of £60k/year rent. In the name of what?
They all appreciate clean air is important, but they feel punished. Many struggling to make ends meet. All grateful for government help during pandemic but very fearful for the future. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods driving congestion - pollution worse as a result
They feel is just the beginning. City Hall/Westminster eco zealots seem so out of touch with sole traders, self-employed, the working classes
First, they've come for their vans. Next, boilers, holidays. So much money on tax/heating... It will hit the poorest hardest
Does anybody else think that all the parties have become the Green Party? Market traders can't cycle their goods about, nor afford electric vans. It just feels like this hasn't been thought through. And they all said "just give us more time to recover from lockdown"
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THREAD: So @UKLabour think they can win back the red wall by "use of the union flag, veterans & dressing smartly?" Here's why this is ludicrous fantasy
1. You don't "use" the union flag & especially veterans. You believe in them, from the patriotic heart. Anything else is lies
2. How can Keir Starmer pretend to love the Union flag, when he knelt to BLM, who set fire to it at the Cenotaph? No way will patriots swallow this co-opting of the flag for votes
3. Labour MPs are secretly or even openly ashamed of our flag & history, esp Corbynistas
4. Labour want to win back working class voters? First, believe in Brexit. Except Starmer led Labour's #PeoplesVote movement to cancel Brexit & most Labour MPs are ardent Remainers, so there goes that one
THREAD ON POLLS: Lots of people wilfully missing the point about my Twitter poll – like, I think Twitter polls are real life
I've been saying for years they're about as reliable as tea leaf reading
The bigger questions: are @YouGov polls representative of the whole population?
I know my followers aren't representative of the whole pop: nobody's are. In theory, @YouGov has access to a cross-section of all outlooks. In practice, they know people's views from previous polls. So who gets polled? To back up govt messaging? We should be naturally curious
Thirdly, why are so many liberals/those on Left supportive of authoritarian Tory lockdowns & supportive polls? Is it because they are more likely to be furloughed? Working from home/saving money? So they go with the flow? Again, it's good to be curious
THE FISHING BETRAYAL: After 2 days of poring over the Brexit Agreement, it is my clear conclusion that my initial gut feeling – this treaty betrays the UK's fishing industry & coastal communities - is true. Here's why >>
Quota increases are terrible. Boris talks of +25% increase, but I cannot find any evidence of this. Instead, of 87 shared species: 7 increase 10-14%, 6 increase 5-10%. 42 species increase between 0-5%. But 32 species STAY THE SAME
At the end of July 2026, Britain WILL NOT go to a mythical 100% quota, as has been widely misreported
Instead, we will remain at 2026 levels in perpetuity. We CANNOT unilaterally set quotas: they MUST be agreed with the EU. This isn't freedom IMO
His fellow traveller, who survived, lied about his mate’s age. They also stole their boat from a shop
They were not “desperate children”. Yet the media/MPs lapped this up & attacked @pritipatel based solely on an illegal immigrat’s fake testimony 🤷🏼♂️
Also, French politician Pierre Henri Dumont - who claimed this showed the U.K. didn’t have “an ounce of humanity” - might want to look into claims that Abdulfatah Hamdallah had already applied for asylum in France...
The clearest example white privilege is a myth in the U.K. is educational attainment. In order of those most likely to attend Uni from state schools: Chinese, Asian, black, mixed, white. Worse, there is not a single government directive to address this
Those arguing “but it isn’t their whiteness that prevents them getting to Uni” aren’t paying attention. Their whiteness means they are not getting the help they so desperately need. To help them would be deemed racist or divisive - because policy makers believe white privilege
Newly erected poster of Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels reads: “‘In fair free elections, the power of the people, determines the people in power”
1. She didn’t stand in a fair/free election - she was the EU’s only candidate 2. Doesn’t this feel a bit North Korea? 😫🇬🇧
It’s also worth remembering 1. Von der Leyen wasn’t even on the ticket of four prospective Presidents that MEPs voted for. She was inserted over & above MEP votes 2. Despite that, every attendant Tory MEP voted for her, despite the fact she wants “more Europe” & an EU Army
Oh and Labour MEPs voted for Von der Leyen, too. For clarity, every @brexitparty_uk MEP voted against her