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.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
"Improving the quality of life for people of this country is perhaps the most important duty of Government."
John Prescott has died.
In September 2000, John - then Deputy Prime Minister - gave a speech at the @UKLabour Party Conference, introducing Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela died in December 2013. Writing a tribute in the Daily Mirror, John reflected on his death, writing: “In my office at home I have a picture that is my most treasured possession. It’s of me shaking Nelson Mandela’s hand on stage at the @UKLabour conference in 2000."
At the Rivonia Trial, between 1963 & 1964, Mandela gave a dramatic speech from the dock.
John wrote in 2013 “When I read that, I knew that I wanted to enter politics. He was my inspiration. So when he walked free in 1990, we felt as if one of our own comrades had been freed.”
🧵
Allison Pearson posted then deleted disinformation, falsely accused three people of being "Jew haters", lied about where the photo was taken & what they were doing, then lied about what the Police said to her - and then moaned about being a victim! FFS
The Telegraph's divisive shit-stirrer Pearson falsely claimed she was told by the police who came to her home it was over a “non-crime hate incident”. Her lie was then dutifully amplified by every Reform UK MP & billionaire-owned right-wing "news" media, painting her as a victim.
Essex Police said “At no stage... was she informed that the report being investigated was being treated as a non-crime hate incident. To suggest otherwise is wholly inaccurate and misleading.”
Pearson, Farage, Musk, Young, Habib, & many other shit-stirrers who shamelessly try to normalize hateful, divisive, provocative & inflammatory rhetoric, often refer to George Orwell's 1984, but Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is much closer to the dystopia we inhabit...
Harassment, malicious communications, incitement, & threatening violence are all crimes in the UK, & have been for a long time.
Print & broadcast media, & online social media are simply platforms on which we behave or misbehave: it's not about the medium, it's about the offence.
The UK is signed up to Article 10 of the #ECHR: everyone has the right to free speech, which may only be qualified in limited circumstances, including: national security; public safety; the protection of morals & of the reputation or rights of others.
"Enoch Powell was a hero of the young Nigel, but at this point he could do without any association with the politician who made the notorious Rivers of Blood speech... the accusation of racism follows Farage & his party around like a bad smell." - Allison Pearson
"Farage has tried for years to shrug off the charge that his parties are more than “the BNP in blazers”... although I don’t think Farage is a racist, it’s a problem that racists attach themselves to Reform." - Allison Pearson
“We’re investigating a report which was passed to us by another force. The report relates to a social media post which was subsequently removed. An investigation is now being carried out under section 17 of the Public Order Act.” - Essex police spokesman
Not a lot of people know that Oxbridge alumni Fiona Bruce, presenter of 'Fake or (paid a) Fortune?', and since January 2019, the @BBC's interrupting Chair of #bbcqt, was born in Singapore.
One of her first episodes as Chair was the one that made Laurence Fox a household name.
In my widely read & reported February 2023 Open Letter to the @BBC about @bbcquestiontime, one of my concerns was about Bruce’s chairing of #bbcqt which I said was "at best, unacceptably poor."
The Mail reported the violence ahead of the match against Ajax, reporting 'Israeli football hooligans tore down Palestine flags as they marched through Amsterdam. Videos show hooded figures dressed fully in black cheering & chanting 'fuck you Palestine'.'
On 7/11 the Mail said 'Israeli thugs shouted 'ole' as one climbed the front of a building & removed a Palestinian flag. Footage also shows a thug thumping a taxi with crowbar before the driver takes off, while there were reported clashes between the visiting hooligans & cabbies.'