Today is #WorldKindnessDay.

While the world of politics involves a lot of debate and disagreement, this doesn’t mean it ought to turn a blind eye to gratuitous attacks and pile-ons.

But try telling that to this government. 1/
bestforbritain.org/unkind_times
People blame social media for the unkindness that dominates our political discourse. But the tone is set at the very top and in this Government, positive examples of kind and responsible - or even civil - political discourse are rare. 2/
Example: Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has engaged in notorious Twitter mud-slinging, even encouraging a pile-on on @SadiqKhan because he dared to weigh in on hate speech. 3/16
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
Outrageously, Dorries’ response to Khan’s description of the Islamophobia he has faced was to accuse him of being lax on grooming gangs (in Rotherham and Telford!) - real dog-whistle politics targeted at London’s first Muslim Mayor. 4/
And, while we’re on the subject of Government unkindnesses, it would be remiss to forget Priti Patel, who still remains in post despite breaking the ministerial code for bullying staff. 5/
scotsman.com/news/opinion/c…
Not all Government unkindness is overt. Their call for the Commons standards commissioner Kathryn Stone to step down after her bombshell ruling on #TorySleaze likely opened her up to death threats...6/
theguardian.com/politics/2021/…
Instead of taking responsibility, the Government resorted to finger-pointing and scapegoating as a distraction to avoid accountability.

And they have form on this. 7/
Last year, the Home Secretary labeled the lawyers assisting asylum seekers as ‘lefty do-gooders’, teeing up them for abuse. 8/
And it’s not just lawyers getting it in the neck from our Government. Those they defend, often powerless asylum seekers, are portrayed as ‘illegal’ criminals, making their way to the UK under false pretences. 9/
theguardian.com/politics/2021/…
There is a pattern. Whenever the Government turns harsh words on someone else or stigmatises a group of people, it’s usually trying to distract from its own egregious policies. 10/
When the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson’s 2019 prorogation of parliament was unlawful, Number 10 accused the judiciary of undue political interference...11/
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…
...Which arguably led to this notoriously dangerous front page from the Daily Mail. 12/
To divert from the NHS' looming winter crisis, Sajid Javid demonised GPs for not seeing as many patients face to face...

...Instead of accepting responsibility for his Government’s damaging agenda (and years of chronic underfunding due to austerity). 13/
theguardian.com/society/2021/o…
At Best for Britain, we’ve been organising opposition to the Government’s attempts to avoid accountability.

In particular, we're determined to drag into the spotlight a suite of legislation that will fundamentally undermine our democracy. 14/
The Elections Bill lets them rig elections in their favour

The Policing Bill criminalises peaceful protest

The Judicial Review & Courts Bill stops us challenging them in court

The Nationality & Borders Bill criminalises the act of claiming asylum. 15/
bit.ly/31XVr31
This Government believes that turning public discourse into total war will help them cement power - and there’s no telling how far they will go. 16/
We can’t make this Government kind or responsible.

But we can call them out for their behaviour and show them that we won’t put up with it.

Find out how you can too here👇 /ENDS bestforbritain.org/betterdemocracy

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More from @BestForBritain

11 Nov
Transparency is key to a functioning democracy.

Transparency allows us to hold our elected representatives to account for their actions.

It enables scrutiny.

It prevents those we have put in power from using that power in a way that undermines the interests of the people. 1/
In the interests of transparency, here are some of the more egregious examples of MPs' outside interests being reflected in their actions in Parliament.

For context, 50 Conservative MPs have earned £1.7m in consultancy fees this year alone. 2/
labourlist.org/2021/11/50-tor…
We have to start with the name on everyone's lips - Geoffrey Cox - who earned a fortune providing legal advice to the British Virgin Islands over allegations of corruption. Some of which he did from his taxpayer-funded parliamentary office. 3/
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…
Read 13 tweets
5 Nov
Owen Paterson might have resigned as an MP, but that doesn’t mean that this Government has backtracked on its sleazy, silencing agenda. Here’s why you should still be concerned (despite the U-turns) about the Government’s actions...1/
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…
The Government initially protected Owen Paterson not by defending him as an individual, but by attempting to overhaul the whole Commons standards watchdog to suit itself. 2/
reuters.com/business/cop/m…
The Owen Paterson incident isn’t the only time the Government has shirked scrutiny.

Just consider how quick our Prime Minister was to ignore an investigation which found that Priti Patel had broken the ministerial code for her bullying behaviour. 3/
​​politicshome.com/news/article/p…
Read 15 tweets
3 Nov
Priti Patel has been demonising refugees again, saying 70% of those reaching the UK in small boats are single men and ‘economic migrants’ - in other words, she claims they are not ‘genuine’ asylum seekers. Here’s why she’s plain wrong 🧵👇1/
theguardian.com/politics/2021/…
First of all, Priti Patel’s stats on asylum seekers aren’t quite accurate. In 2020, 57% of asylum seekers in the UK were men, 21% were women and 15% were children - with a further 5% of asylum seekers being unaccompanied minors. 2/
asylumineurope.org/reports/countr…
It is nevertheless true that the majority of asylum seekers in the UK are men. We want to explore why this is the case - and why so many of our politicians and media outlets deliberately weaponise this fact. 3/
Read 18 tweets
2 Nov
Britain is hosting #COP26 - and (when he's not napping, maskless, next to David Attenborough), our PM is talking the talk on climate commitments. But are we being more hypocritical than hospitable? 🧵👇 1/
In his opening speech Boris Johnson struck an unusually serious tone, telling world leaders ‘humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change.’ 2/
news.sky.com/story/cop26-sk…
He's right to say the world has a collective responsibility for climate change, but the polluting potency of developed nations like the UK means that we have a historical responsibility for climate change over the centuries... 3/
Read 14 tweets
29 Oct
🚨 BREAKING 🚨

New analysis by Best for Britain and @UKTradeBusiness shows replacing the trade lost between the UK and the EU since 2018 with trade from other countries could increase emissions from shipping to and from the UK by 88%. 1/
How does this add up?

In May, the ONS reported a 23.1% fall in the trade of goods between the UK and the EU in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Meanwhile, trade with other countries remained relatively unaffected, falling by 0.8%. 2/
By weight, this is estimated to represent around 45.5 million tonnes which, if shipped equally to the UK’s top 5 trading partners outside the EU, could mean an estimated 88% increase in the carbon footprint of UK shipping.

That's 6.5 million tonnes of CO2. 3/
Read 11 tweets
27 Oct
Government bills to watch out for: @DavidDavisMP penned a piece for @guardian this week looking at how proposed reforms to judicial review will strip people of their freedoms to challenge the state - something he describes as ‘un-conservative’...🧵 1/
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Davis says that Conservatism is underpinned by a ‘heritage that champions individual liberty alongside a fair and balanced rule of law’.

So, using his definition, we’ve spotted several more ‘un-conservative’ bills. 2/
These include the Elections Bill, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and the Nationality and Borders Bill.

And, surprise surprise, it seems more of the government's own MPs don’t much like them either... 3/
Read 11 tweets

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