Did you know that the Qatar government spent over £100,000 bringing MPs from various parties over for a chat in October?

14 MPs are listed as having accepted a package of flights, hotels and hospitality in the most recent update of Members' interests.
publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem…
The problem is, the trip can of course be legitimate and above-board.

And yet at the same time, because the trip's being paid for by Qatar, that inevitably leads to an additional degree of deferrence towards the hosts which colours discussions consciously or unconsciously.
Why, if foreign trips are deemed essential for whatever purpose, can't the Government simply pay for them out of some kind of central fund?

That would remove any and all obligations to be beholden to third parties.
(This isn't meant to have a go at Qatar or at the MPs who went on the trip. All the recorded expenses look normal and above-board for their stated purpose. But it serves as a useful example to make my wider point.)

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More from @uk_domain_names

19 Nov
"Made in the UK, Sold to the World: New strategy to boost exports to £1 trillion"

Extraordinary fantasist press release from the Tories.

Like a chef claiming that he'll win 3 Michelin stars, while ignoring the fact he just ripped his own taste buds out.
gov.uk/government/new…
Of course, everyone knows that the best way to turbocharge exports is to make trade harder with the trading bloc a stone's throw away with which you do around half of all your trade.

There's nothing like a challenge to get exporters match-fit, and Brexit offers that on steroids.
BTW, there's also a glossy 66-page scribble attached to this fantasy plan.

Full of nuggets like talking about Peppa Pig as the perfect example of a British export, ignoring the fact it was sold off to the US conglomerate Hasbro a couple of years ago.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
Read 4 tweets
12 Nov
"Brexit poll: Boris dealt huge blow as more than HALF of UK adults want to REJOIN EU"

🎶The tide, the tide is turning.🎶

The Express publishes a straight news story for once, and a very damning one to boot.

Comments are... incensed, to say the least.
express.co.uk/news/politics/…
The thing is, none of this should be a surprise.

The broad shape of the Brexit disaster was a known known long before we left the EU. It was dictated by everything we had to give up as a result of abandoning our membership.

It's a case of perception catching up with reality.
The key thing is the shift since June. If we fast forward a few more months and the effects of Brexit and covid are even more distinct than they are now, there's no reason to think that the move towards a Rejoin stance won't continue to gather support.
Read 4 tweets
12 Nov
"But a significant poll from Savanta ComRes suggests the tide is quickly changing, with huge doubts now creeping into the minds of those that voted to leave the continental bloc."

Headline matches subhead matches article.

Extraordinary, for the Express!
express.co.uk/news/politics/…
Popping sounds heard all over Britain as Express commenters burst blood vessels.

Many appear off the charts with rage (not least because their darling newspaper dared publish it).

They also don't seem to have a clue how statistical sampling works. But is that really a surprise?
The thing is, none of this should be a surprise.

The pattern of Brexit disaster was a known known long before we left the EU. It was dictated by everything we gave up as a result of abandoning our membership.

It's a case of perception catching up with reality.
Read 5 tweets
12 Nov
The Tories have deleted the text of Boris Johnson's speech at this year's party conference from their website. (Notice their 404 error attacks KS.)
conservatives.com/news/prime-min…

Of course, the internet never forgets, so here it is from the Internet Archive...
web.archive.org/web/2021100613…
Now, whether it was because it was gibberish, or loaded with the sorts of insults MPs aren't meant to throw at each other, or dripping with lies, or just plain embarrassing, I don't know.

But someone took the conscious decision to delete it. Which is why it's worth highlighting.
So, just because the Tories don't want us to see Boris Johnson's speech for some reason, here's that link to the archived version again...

(And yes, the layout is maddening. But that would have been in the original. The Internet Archive didn't change it.)
web.archive.org/web/2021100613…
Read 5 tweets
7 Nov
5 things Labour need to do

1. Always refer to Brexit as "Tory Brexit" (every single Labour MP and peer, every time it comes up).

2. Be much more vocally critical of Tory Brexit. Not Brexit. Tory Brexit.

3. Clearer improvements to the deal.

4. Big bold electoral pacts.

5. PR.
Yes, Labour voted Tory Brexit through.

So what? As we have seen countless times when it comes to the Tories, political stances change.

"We're not trying to rejoin the EU but we want to reverse the damage being caused by Tory Brexit."

Seems pretty straightforward.
And in response to the inevitable next question:

"We believe in honouring the result of the referendum. That's why, when Boris Johnson assured the country he had an oven-ready Tory Brexit, we decided to give him a fair chance to try to implement it. He has demonstrably failed."
Read 7 tweets
7 Nov
Sajid Javid and the Tories are complaining not enough people have been coming forward for booster shots.

But there's an incredibly good reason for it: the system doesn't allow it.

The rule is you have to be at least 190 days past your second dose. 190 days ago was 1 May... Image
To clarify the above graph further...

Of the 20,289,126 people over 50 in England who've already had 2 doses of the vaccine, almost half (9,880,189) were given their second dose too recently for the booster booking system to allow them to book that extra shot.
Of course, that's only the data for England. And there will be people outside the over-50s category who are also eligible for a booster because of an underlying health issue.

But the fact remains that the vast majority of eligible people have had it. The rest are forced to wait.
Read 4 tweets

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