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May 1 18 tweets 8 min read
#THREAD

Let’s take a closer look at some of the foundational ideological positions that the @Conservatives publicly claim to support, & how their actions & policies all too often run in complete & total contradiction to them.
They claim to support free speech - but criminalise protest & control what charities can say & do publicly in the 12-month run-up to elections.

They claim to be against ‘red tape’ - but gave Ukrainian asylum seekers a 100-page form to complete.
They claim to support a 'free press' - but support, appease & fear foreign billionaire Rupert Murdoch, who owns swathes of the UK right-wing media, non-dom billionaire Jonathan Harmsworth, who owns the Daily Mail, & non-dom billionaire Frederick Barclay who owns the Telegraph.
They claim to support democracy - but removed the independence of the Electoral Commission, introduced Voter ID, disenfranchising up to 3 million voters despite just 8 cases of in-person voter fraud & place donors into roles leading some of Britain’s institutions such as the BBC.
They claim to support the rule of law - but unlawfully prorogued parliament, introduced legislation enabling the Govt to overrule judicial review findings that challenge their agenda, unlawfully broke the COVID rules & unlawfully sent untested people into care homes.
They claim to support human rights - but have announced plans to radically undermine them.

They claim to support the #NHS - but they have strong links to private healthcare providers & in 2019/20 NHS commissioners spent £9.7 billion on services delivered by the private sector.
They claim that free-market capitalism drives standards up - but since Brexit, food, animal welfare, & safety standards have fallen.

They claim to represent the ‘will of the people’ - but go against the wishes of 96% of respondents to a consultation about the future of Channel4.
They claim to believe in mutual respect & tolerance of others - but relentlessly demonise as “woke”, ‘activist lawyers’, academics, Doctors, teachers, the BBC, the RNLI, the National Trust, & anyone offering a balanced view of the British Empire or treating asylum seekers fairly.
They claim to believe in social mobility & ‘levelling up’ - but they disproportionately cut funding to non-Tory Councils & local authorities & allowed the wealth of Britain’s richest 1,000 people to increase by half a trillion pounds since 2009.
They claim to be the party of low taxation – but announced tax rises worth 2% of GDP in just two years – the same as Tony Blair & Gordon Brown did in ten.

They claim to be patriotic - but refused to condemn supporters booing the England team.
They claim Britain is a kind & welcoming country - but go against international refugee conventions & international law to unlawfully & immorally send asylum seekers to one of the most authoritarian & antidemocratic countries on earth.
They claim to be against ‘cancel culture’ - but banned charities from publicly criticising Government in the 12-month run-up to elections & introduced legislation which means journalists can be jailed for up to 14 years for stories embarrassing the Government.
They claim to be about decency & integrity - but constantly lie to the British people, demonise non-Tory politicians & public figures with grotesque smears, knowing mislead parliament often & are serial breakers of the Ministerial Code.
Finally, they claim to - & are supposed to - act in the interests of all the British people - but they prioritise the interests of their wealthy - often Russian oligarch - donors & focus almost exclusively on appeasing the 29% of the UK electorate who voted for them in 2019.
Forget to mention they claim to be the party of family values - but they're led by a serial sexist cheat with who-knows how many children, have multiple MPs embroiled in sexual harrassment allegations, & now we hear No10 had a 'sexist of the year' award at an unlawful xmas party.
They also claim to be 'tough' on drugs & drug users, often announcing 'crackdowns' - but senior Tories have themselves used drugs: Boris Johnson has tried cocaine & cannabis; Hunt, Leadsom, Raab, Hancock & McVey all smoked cannabis; Rory Stewart, opium; & Michael Gove - cocaine.
Thank you so much for reading, & for all the wonderful feedback, which I really appreciate. 🙏

Here's a few more of my #threads on the same theme:

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More from @docrussjackson

May 2
#THREAD

On May 1st, 1949, the essay 'Why Socialism?' was published in the first issue of Monthly Review, written by actual genius, Albert Einstein.

It addresses some of the main & ongoing problems with capitalism, predatory economic competition, & growing wealth inequality. ImageImageImageImage
It highlights how control of the mass media by private capitalists makes it difficult for citizens to arrive at objective conclusions, & how political parties being influenced by wealthy financial backers results in an "oligarchy of private capital".

Sound familiar? ImageImage
Einstein concludes that these recurring problems can only be corrected with a mixed/planned economy which maintains a strong democracy to protect the rights of individuals.

Below are edited highlights from the essay which imho still have a strong resonance & relevance today.
Read 75 tweets
May 1
#THREAD

New report from the @Global__Future independent think tank, claiming that despite elite's systematic attempts to divide Britain - not least with constant 'anti-woke' 'culture war' rhetoric - a tolerant, open, & nuanced majority still prevails.

ourglobalfuture.com/reports/the-ce…
@YouGov polls show that while a healthy diversity of thought exists, there is strong consensus amongst the British public on many issues broadly perceived as divisive, including race, gender, British history & the monarchy.

theguardian.com/society/2022/m…
While a strong majority of us (77%) believe that Britain has done good in the world, 67% also accept that it has also done damage. How can an Empire not inflict damage?

The data also suggests almost two in three of us believe that change is needed to make society fairer.
Read 15 tweets
Apr 30
A #THREAD about 'news values'.

News is constant & influential: many perspectives are used to explore what it is, to assess the extent of its objectivity, to consider its purpose, role, effects & ownership, & to understand why it is that some stories are selected over others.
One area of professional & academic study is focused on what are commonly referred to as 'news values' - "criteria that influence the selection & presentation of events as published news": given everything happening in the world, why are some stories selected & not others?
These so-called 'values' help to explain what makes something "newsworthy."

Depending on who you ask, you'll get a range of answers: many journalists will claim 'they have a nose' for news; others will say it's a public service; & yet others will say it's pure propaganda.
Read 41 tweets
Apr 29
In 'Democracy Incorporated', Sheldon Wolin asks if America has unwittingly morphed into a new & strange kind of political hybrid, where economic & state powers are conjoined & virtually unbridled, & descent into “inverted totalitarianism” is assured.

press.princeton.edu/books/paperbac…
Wolin portrays a country where citizens are politically uninterested & submissive — & where elites are eager to keep them that way.

At best the US - like the UK - has become a “managed democracy” where the public is shepherded, not sovereign.

Sound familiar? Image
At worst it is a place where corporate power no longer answers to state controls.

Wolin claims today’s America isn't comparable to totalitarian states like Nazi Germany, yet warns that unchecked economic power risks verging on total power, & has its own unnerving pathologies.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 29
#Disinformation is a threat to democracies the world over. In response, the Biden administration set up a "Disinformation Governance Board". Confirming the need for it, every right-wing crank, media outlet, & social media account in the US has dubbed it the "Ministry of Truth".🤪
99% of these clueless paranoid drones have an absurdly simplistic understanding of free speech, have never read ANY of DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST George Orwell's books, & support the global network of libertarian billionaires brainwashing them into accepting a brutal pathocracy. 🤬
Another intelligent socialist these robotic unthinking dimwits disregard is Albert Einstein, who states the very obvious truth that the concentration of media ownership by a handful of billionaires is motivated solely by a desire to protect & enhance their wealth & power.
Read 11 tweets
Apr 29
#THREAD

Since Elon Musk's offer was accepted, there's been a flood of controversial hard/far-right accounts returning to @Twitter, keen to turn it into Parler2.

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk irresponsibly & falsely claims there's a "war on white people in the west".
Allow me to share a few facts about Charlie Kirk & Turning Point USA.

Turning Point USA (TPUSA) was founded in 2012 by Illinois college student Charlie Kirk as a supposed antidote to the “scourge” of 'liberal thought' overwhelming American campuses.
On Murdoch's Fox News, Kirk railed against campus leftists, the supposed oppression of conservative thought, & the conservative talking points of the day.

In 2020, TPUSA posted a revenue of
$39.8 million.
Read 33 tweets

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