30 Nov 2021: Attacks Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.
8 Dec 2021: Says Boris Johnson's deal is much much better than remaining in the EU.
30 Dec 2021: Attacks Boris Johnson's deal.
17 Mar 2022: Going to court to prove Boris Johnson's deal's worse than remaining in the EU
To be fair to Ben, a deep perusal of his past tweets suggests that he is broadly right about the lousiness of Boris Johnson's deal, and he accurately identifies its flaws.
But his fundamental starting point that "no-deal" is the most desirable of all outcomes is bonkers.
He also exhibits a lot of the classic hard-Brexiter tropes, for example "The EU needs us a hell of a lot more than we need them".
Events have shown this to be the arrant nonsense those who understood the real power dynamics at play always said it was.
"Telegraph to continue publishing Russian propaganda supplement"
That was in 2014. It's now wiped all traces of it off the Telegraph website, and got it deindexed from the Internet Archive to make very, very sure nobody will find issues of it again... theguardian.com/media/greensla…
Wonder if the £350 will turn out psychologically counterproductive? It may set people along the path of thinking about the real cost (and how much £350 is short of that) who otherwise would have borne it without a grumble. Plus cements ongoing Tory monitoring into the process.
It likely that we are much more angry about the UK visa situation for Ukrainian refugees than Ukrainians are (except the ones directly affected, of course).
Why?
- Only about 1% applied to come to the UK
- Our military and humanitarian aid is much appreciated
- Distracted by war
But even if the Ukrainians haven't noticed, other European governments and media certainly have.
So the message has spread that we are a harsh, unwelcoming place even at a time of maximum need.
The British public stand ready to be generous.
They're being stymied by the Tories.
Remember, Brexit voters represent just 37% of registered voters, and only a subset of Brexit voters will have had immigration as their top concern.
So we are making the lives of Ukrainian refugees hell and sinking our international reputation further to please a small minority.
Because the pandemic doesn't make the headlines any more, you may not realise how much the vaccination effort has slowed.
Indeed, it has almost stopped.
In the 30 days to 8 March, it delivered just:
* 244,831 first doses
* 540,513 second doses
* 863,152 booster doses
V bad.
Given that the number of new cases is rising very fast, and that the vaccine is pretty much the only defence the Tories claim to be holding onto, the paltry vaccination rate suggests we may face bigger and bigger problems as population immunity wears off.
By this point, we all know the drill.
COVID-19 is like a grim conveyor belt.
First cases rise.
Then hospitalisations rise.
Then deaths rise.
The current large rise in cases will be reflected down the road.
Polling shows a majority of Tory voters are in favour of a more compassionate approach to Ukrainian refugees.
Please stop saying it's what they voted for. It's not. They voted for a party. That party has 5 years to do whatever it wants, unfettered by voter opinion. Not the same!
Why is it important?
Because if the UK is ever to move on from ruinous Tory rule, it will need to be by persuading Tory voters.
And the road to persuasion must begin by seeking commonalities.
A humanitarian response to the current refugee crisis is an obvious place to start.
Not "this is what you voted for", but "I know this is not what you voted for, so how do you feel about it?"