Let's have a quick #THREAD on troubled Johnson-brown-nosing robotic hard-right Tory MP Jonathan Gullis - a controversial member of the European Research Group, & a parliamentary backer of FREER, an initiative run by the opaquely funded neoliberal Institute of Economic Affairs.
He stood in Washington & Sunderland West at #GE2017, losing to the incumbent Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, but somehow was elected as the MP for Stoke-on-Trent North at #GE2019, unseating Labour's Ruth Smeeth & becoming the first Conservative to represent the constituency.
At the time of his election, Gullis was employed as a school teacher & head of year at an Academy in Sutton Coldfield, & somewhat bizarrely for a Tory MP, served as the school's trade union representative, but he's spent his time as an MP railing against the Left & the 'woke'.
In 2020, Gullis moaned about the media's SICK OBSESSION with the number of deaths during the coronavirus pandemic, describing comparisons with the number of deaths in other countries as 'lazy' in a now deleted tweet. He's since closed his Twitter account, thus avoiding scrutiny.
Never one to miss an opportunity to fuel the divisive culture war, show off his fake patriotism, or call for draconian antidemocratic measures, in June 2020, Gullis introduced a Ten Minute Rule bill which would jail for up to 14 years those who desecrate war memorials. 😬
In October 2020, after voting against extending free school meals until Easter 2021, the cruel, insensitive & heartless Gullis said that he would not address a "baying mob" in response to an alleged planned protest during his visit to a church foodbank.
In yet another bizarre episode, in October 2020, Gullis posted what he termed a “CULTURE WAR ALERT” on his Facebook page, claiming that research by the National Maritime Museum into the Royal Navy's links to slavery was "left-wing ideological nonsense".
In November 2020, Gullis was one of the frothing "Common Sense Group" Tory MPs signing a letter to The Telegraph, accusing the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma" - 'cultural Marxism' is the antisemitic conspiracy theory that inspired Anders Breivik.
In May 2021, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards ordered tight-arse Gullis to return £253.78 & apologise after breaking parliamentary rules by using "pre-paid House-provided stationery in a way that was contrary to the published rules", breaching the code of conduct.
In September 2021, Gullis signalled support for a campaign against the government’s proposal to ban the sale of new petrol cars from 2030. The campaign group is funded by by the Road Haulage Association & trade organisation Logistics UK. theguardian.com/money/2021/sep…
In October 2021, Gullis made further bizarre claims at a Tory Party conference fringe meeting, suggesting people using the term "white privilege" should be reported to the Home Office as extremists, & that teachers found criticising the Conservative Party should be sacked.
In January 2022 Gullis drew attention due to his lack of a face covering by "bellowing with his mouth wide open & appearing to rock backwards & forwards" in the Commons during #PMQs.
Gullis has a history of mental health issues. If MPs need help, they should get it.
Gullis once again demonstrated his lack of nuance & sensitivity when he said people with Down syndrome should get a job, maybe at McDonalds “I know it sounds crude to talk about money terms” but it could save £2million!
Gullis defended fellow Tory MP who also uses dangerous far-right rhetoric, Brendan Clarke-Smith, when he compared England players taking the knee at the Euro 2021 tournament to those who performed the Nazi salute in a 1938 match against Germany in Berlin.
Gullis also claimed constituents were "flabbergasted that the woke, wet & wobbly lot opposite are on the side of their lefty woke warriors... making sure these rapists & paedophiles remain in this UK, rather than standing up for the British people".
In March 2020, as part of a mental health awareness campaign, divorcee Gullis said he has suffered with depression, self-harm & suicidal thoughts during periods of his life.
That someone with his history is rewarded for being so offensive & so insensitive, is deeply concerning.
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🧵 Online #Incel communities foster misogyny, resentment & extremism, which have led to multiple murderous attacks in the US & UK, motivated by hatred toward women.
Their echo chambers also amplify mental health issues like isolation & anger, radicalizing vulnerable men & boys.
In the US, proven murders attributable to incels include: Elliot Rodger, who killed 6 & injured 14 in a shooting & stabbing spree; Lyndon McLeod shot & killed 5; & Mauricio Garcia shot & killed 8 & injured 7.
In the UK, Jake Davison shot & killed 5, including a 3-year-old girl.
Farage defended his Reform UK MP who was jailed for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend (which wasn't disclosed to voters before he was elected), & in 2014, he dismissed as "just a joke" an MEP's comment that beating women "helps bring wives back to Earth."
A 🧵 about how spurious and inflammatory claims, based on unevidenced cherry-picked data, are passed off as truth by partisan private limited companies and used as a weapon to divide voters and to scapegoat and demonise migrants.
At 1.32pm on Monday 10th March, The Telegraph published the claim that based on “the first data analysis of its kind. Data from the Ministry of Justice, obtained under freedom of information laws,” shows that “Foreigners [are] convicted of nearly a quarter of sex crimes.”
Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, said the figures were “shocking.”
Shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, said: “Not only is mass migration making us poorer, but this data proves it’s also making us dramatically less safe.”
Democracy is under attack. As with the US, Italy is 1 of 5 European Govts undermining the rule of law ‘in nearly all aspects’, with changes to the judiciary & a “heavy intolerance to media criticism”, fueling Europe’s deepening “democratic recession”.
A report by Civil Liberties Union for Europe said Italy was one of five “dismantlers” – with Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania & Slovakia – that “intentionally undermine the rule of law in nearly all aspects”.
The report highlights judicial systems subject to political manipulation, weak law enforcement against corruption, overuse of fast-track legislative procedures, harassment of journalists & growing restrictions on peaceful protests.
Many of Britain's most vocal 'anti-establishment' voices attended some of the most expensive schools on earth.
These broken boys masquerade as 'anti-elite' while serving the interests of the ultrarich by turning working class people against each other using 'Divide & Rule'.
Moscow born Konstantin Vadimovich Kisin came to the UK aged 11 & was sent to Clifton College boarding school (current fees: up to £18,360/term).
He recently said about Rishi Sunak "He’s a brown Hindu; how is he English?" He's a regular speaker at Paul Marshall's ARC conference.
Rupert James Graham Lowe was sent to Radley College, an all-boys independent boarding school (current fees: up to £19,200/term).
Lowe worked in the City of London for companies such as Morgan Grenfell, Deutsche Bank and Barings Bank.
My own summary is above, but journalist @gilduran76 - of the brilliant #FrameLab - has now written his own summary, review and interpretation of it, which I reproduce with a few links and commentary, below.
To fully understand Silicon Valley’s project to destroy democracy, read 'The Sovereign Individual: How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State.'
In 1999, it was rebranded as 'The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age.'
Life was demonstrably worse in the 1979 than it is today.
Zymunt Bauman calls this yearning for an imagined past, ‘retrotopia’, in which the ‘Volk’ (the ‘simple folk’, who Reform UK claim to represent) are constructed as homogenous, Christian, white, & ‘indigenous’.
Life was demonstrably inferior in the 1970s compared to today for almost everyone in England.
Life expectancy in the UK in 1980 was 71 for men and 77 for women. By 2019, life expectancy at birth in England had increased to 79 years for men & 83.5 for women.
1. Economic Hardship
In 1979, the UK economy was struggling with high inflation, unemployment, and a budget deficit. This eroded purchasing power, making essentials like food, clothing, and housing more expensive relative to wages. "Stagflation" was a significant problem.