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EuropeanPowell Profile picture
@EuropeanPowell
Jul 15, 2022 • 24 tweets • 8 min read • Read on X
Tories already expanding vocabulary of Freeports by adding 'zones' into the mix, they're not just ports! The #Liverpool zone has a population of 2,3 million! Entire regions under corporate laws dictated and enforced under a privately owned judiciary. Brexit deregulation hell.
Excellent article by @eyes_lilly on Tories post Brexit Charter cities which are well underway as the next ERG PM takes the UK to it's authoritarian corporate run conclusion.
medium.com/@cormack.lawso…
Of course none of this was on the side of a bus, r/w #libertarian policies have for decades proven notoriously unpopular with the public, that's why think tanks were used under a pretext of 'charity status' so r/w ideologues could carry on with their destruction by stealth
Prof.Paul Romer (mentor to Rishi Sunak) who along with Penny Mordaunt is now installing UK’s Charter Cities post Brexit. Once deregulation is hastily done, it's open season for the radical right to do whatever the f*ck they want, privatising whole cities
taxpayersalliance.com/charter_cities…
Great blog here on pros & cons of charter cities, basically when the right have control, it will be awful. Cities have long exercised power over land use and zoning (notice how Tories talk of zones)& they have frequently used this power to exclude needy outsiders #Brexit
verfassungsblog.de/the-danger-zon…
They do this by passing local ordinances that prevent the construction of public and low-income housing. Home-voters fear that the presence of low-income residents will diminish their quality of life and increase the crime rate. Ring any bells on hostile Govt policies?
Don't think that a new Govt can repeal those laws, they will be irreversible and under the jurisdiction of private companies, why do you think Truss, Sunak, Mordaunt, Trevelyan have been back and forth to the US? They are importing r/w charter cities model to UK. ERG's endgame.
@5by5Creativity writes on the whole libertarian package that comes with right wing charter cities now being installed in post brexit UK. Please follow her, she's fantastic
bylinetimes.com/2022/06/30/bor…
@AnnAubert3 I believe has written the first article on UK charter cities, read it here and please give her a follow she's brilliant!
yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/brexit/br…
@fslconsult wrote this astonishing piece on charter cities 'Beware the Tories New Threat to our Democracy' Please follow him. #CharterCities
pressreader.com/uk/the-sentine…
Tories 'Global Britain, leveling up' slogans belie the truth of what's actually being planned for the 'emerging economy' of 3rd country UK. Frontier capitalism is a form of corporate colonialism, it swoops in when a country's economy is in crisis & severely weakened by disasters.
Cherry on top for Tories was the pandemic, an opportunity to cripple the public sphere by stealing billions via non tendered contracts to mates with no experience in PPE. Lack of competition was copied from the Bush administration during 9/11. 'Ramped up' military funding next.
Tories have for years been emptying public coffers, your taxes intended for public spending stolen for corporate gain & ultimate control of your lives, welfare state will be a thing of the past. R/w revolution took chunks out of public services, next step is ripping out the core.
Need your help in getting this out to the public at large, time is running out, next Tory PM is an ERG libertarian evangelical zealot who will ensure the harshest of r/w policies are unleashed on an unsuspecting UK public. Please read, research and RT before its too late.
unroll @threadreaderapp
Appeal to my followers & anyone alarmed by what the Tories are not saying about their post Brexit plans for privately run cities (charter cities) to please RT/like this thread. I need your help to create momentum and raise awareness in the hope the msm & opposition pick this up.
“Don’t be daft, it couldn’t happen here”
Charter cities are a ploy to enrich the rich even further, increasing inequality. US billionaire Peter Thiel, a key financier of Trump campaign, sees them as a route to replacing the US Govt with corporate power.
thenational.scot/politics/20267…
Honduras perfect example of why Romer’s model is ultimately unrealistic & can be oblivious to particular contexts, cultures -especially a country currently in political and economic turmoil. Ring any bells? Brexit, Covid ravaged UK incoming Sunak/Mordaunt!
faithandpubliclife.com/a-case-against…
Our cost-effectiveness model suggests that over 50-years horizon charter cities would have a 127x return on investment. See that 50 years bit?
'We don’t believe that charter cities are a cost-effective method to lift individuals out of poverty directly'
rethinkpriorities.org/publications/i…
'Laboratories of governance' model means additional risks involved. Corporatised Neocolonialism. Many charter city projects already riskier than traditional real estate investments. Reminder Russia report states: Brit Est compromised beyond prevention, estate agents, lawyers, PR
Honduras, Romer's idea became mired in controversy almost immediately. Residents in the proposed sites complained that officials had not consulted them. The Govt signed an investment deal without the consent of the Transparency Commission. Remind you of anything in UK?
Those who voted for Brexit knew nothing about Tories plans for r/w lawless charter cities, info was scant in the public domain save for @bakerstherald & a few independent/obscure sources, Don't forget that advocates of charter cities leaned on the above report I just shared.
My 🧵on ERG who for 29 years have been shutting down all moderation, taking public money and astronomical sums from private corporate donors and using that to push the most radical libertarian ideologies into Govt policy making under mask of charity status

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More from @EuropeanPowell

EuropeanPowell Profile picture
Sep 11
Keir Starmer and Blackrock: A Relationship Built For The Total Privatisation Of Britain open.substack.com/pub/europeanpo…
Deloitte should not be receiving new contracts from Keir Starmer's Govt along with astronomical amounts of public money to carry on its atrocious track record of dodgy auditing for some of the most powerful corporations in the world.
The DWP’s focus on benefit fraud, which accounts for a relatively small fraction of public expenditure (£5.5 billion in 2022/23 per the National Audit Office), contrasts sharply with the estimated £46 billion lost annually to tax avoidance and evasion.
BlackRock currently holds 677 registered entities at Companies House UK, with many listing Cayman Islands addresses. This scale and offshoring presence suggest a strategic structuring consistent with minimising transparency and regulatory oversight. Rather than acting solely as a traditional investor, BlackRock’s footprint implies an institutional presence akin to a parallel corporate state operating within British economic and regulatory frameworks.
Read 16 tweets
EuropeanPowell Profile picture
Sep 5
The Sovereign Corporation is being constructed in real time, this is what will turbocharge corporate fascism in the UK.
The deregulatory landscape was laid down by Brexit, Labour, and the Tories colluded to carve up the UK into 12 Freeports and 74 SEZs.
In January 2025, Keir Starmer launched AI Growth Zones, which have over 200 bids on sites in the bag, bids are to stay open indefinitely.
In June 2025, Labour published a policy paper titled Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan, which aims to merge the 12 Freeports and 74 SEZs, and no doubt the digital layer of Starmer's AI Growth Zones as well.
Tories, Labour, and Reform UK all back free zones.
This is a live corporate coup, the UK is being privatised.
Sign the petition if you want to continue living in a democracy without corporate free zones stealing your money, your land, your homes, and your human rights.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/7294…
Here's what's happening, we are seeing a deeply concerning pattern of economic restructuring that spans multiple governments.
The evidence confirms several key elements:
Confirmed Developments:
AI Growth Zones (January 2025): Starmer's plan includes "forging new AI Growth Zones to speed up planning proposals and build more AI infrastructure" with relaxed planning permission rules within these zones to remove obstacles to data centre construction.
Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan: The government published this plan in June 2025, mentioning coordination across Green Freeports and planning processes.
Cross-party support:
The evidence clearly shows continuity of deregulatory policies across Conservative, Labour, and now potentially Reform UK governments.
The Pattern I'm Identifying:
A systematic transformation where traditional democratic governance is being supplanted by corporate-friendly zones with reduced regulatory oversight.
The progression from Brexit's deregulatory framework → Freeports and SEZs → AI Growth Zones → consolidated Industrial Strategy Zones reveals an incremental privatization of governance functions.
The Reform UK conference attendance list, with its mix of crypto companies, deregulatory think tanks, and corporate interests, fits this pattern of building corporate-political coalitions around further deregulation.
All of this must stop.
The reason why most people have not heard of free zones is down to secondary legislation, which means zero Parliamentary debate, zero consultation with the public or the Press.
Read 4 tweets
EuropeanPowell Profile picture
Sep 1
@jasonhickel is fantastic, and I'm glad @novaramedia interviewed him.
The richest countries in the world cannot guarantee food security for their own citizens; something is seriously wrong with the 'economic growth' policies of the centrist right.
The degrowth movement is a global socio-economic and ecological philosophy and activist framework that advocates for a deliberate reduction in economic growth, particularly in wealthy nations, as a means to achieve sustainability, social equity, and human well-being.
Degrowth emphasises redistributing wealth and resources through policies like universal basic income (UBI), shorter working hours, and universal public services. We can no longer prioritise corporate profit over community well-being, which has proven completely unsustainable as the last 45+ years have shown.
youtube.com/watch?v=bjlqWH…
Growth is the obsession of the capitalist class.
Under socialism you can scale up and scale down sectors.
Socialists should care about human needs and well-being, while decreasing production of harmful and unnecessary things.
So let's all question what exactly entails Labour's 'economic growth' plans more publicly.
Read about Degrowth.
Keir Stamer is a buffoon.
@jasonhickel @novaramedia Socialism is much more efficient at transforming resources and energy into social outcomes.
Socialist economies outperform their capitalist counterparts because they are not hampered by the interests of capital.
Read 6 tweets
EuropeanPowell Profile picture
Aug 30
⚠️WARNING⚠️
The head of the UK branch of Palantir is Louis Mosley, who is the grandson of the renowned British fascist Oswold Mosley.
Louis Mosley is quoted as saying that Palantir's strategy for entry into the British health industry was to "Buy our way in" by acquiring smaller rival companies with existing relationships with the NHS in order to "take a lot of ground and take down a lot of political resistance"
The fact that Palantir has 24 contracts with UK public institutions including the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, the police force, the Cabinet Office, and the DLUHC should be ringing alarm bells.
Quotes from Peter Thiel "The NHS makes people sick" and "I no longer believe freedom and democracy are compatible"
It was the Tories who arranged 23 of the Palantir contracts, the most recent contract given to Palantir was to Coventry City Council by Keir Starmer in April 2025.
Keir Starmer will continue handing out Palantir contracts to councils, as one by one, councils are collapsing due to insufficient funding and poor management. This is part and parcel of how predatory corporations are making serious incursions into the public sector.
Palantir is a key component of the mass privatisation of infrastructure currently accelerating at pace post-Brexit.Image
Lack of Transparency in Procurement
Many contracts were awarded without competition, with some being "handed over in secret" until transparency organisations forced publication.
Even now, the UK government is withholding details of Palantir contracts, making it difficult for the public to understand the full scope.
"Foot in the Door" Strategy
Palantir has used a strategy of offering services "for a nominal fee of £1" during crises like the pandemic, then subsequently being awarded much larger contracts without competition.
This approach makes their expansion less visible initially.
Read 10 tweets
EuropeanPowell Profile picture
Aug 21
Hi @zarahsultana
Coventry City Council (your constituency) has just signed a £500k AI contract with Palantir (running 2025–2030), and was set up by Keir Starmer's Govt in June 2025.
Given Palantir’s record (surveillance, ICE, Gaza), many of us in Coventry & beyond are really worried. I know you’ve always stood up for human rights, and that’s why I support the new party you’re building with Jeremy Corbyn.
Your constituents' personal data, including yours, will be in Palantir's hands.
This feels like exactly the kind of issue where your voice could make a real difference, holding power to account locally while connecting it to the global struggle for justice.
Palantir isn’t just another tech supplier: it builds surveillance platforms, powers ICE deportations, and provides software used in drone targeting systems linked to civilian deaths in Gaza.
This deal follows 23 Tory-awarded Palantir contracts, and now Starmer’s government is continuing down the same path, embedding a company with a deeply troubling human rights record into UK public institutions (NHS, police, MoD… and now Coventry City Council).
Given your long record of speaking out for Palestine, against surveillance, and for democratic accountability, and now your call for public involvement in shaping a new party with Jeremy Corbyn, will you commit to challenging Palantir’s presence in Coventry?
Residents deserve to know:
How was this contract awarded?
Why Palantir, despite its record?
What safeguards (if any) exist to stop our data being used for harmful ends?
This is exactly the kind of issue, local, global, and moral that could show how your movement offers a genuine alternative.
Palantir's mass surveillance tools & human rights risks Palantir’s systems are widely used across military, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies. Privacy advocates warn its platforms enable broad, unchecked surveillance, raising concerns about civil liberties and misuse of data.
@zarahsultana Coventry is part of a designated deregulated Investment Zone (IZ) under the Labour government's current economic growth-at-all-costs framework.
The Coventry & Warwick Gigapark, spanning nearly 250 hectares along the border of Coventry and Warwick District, has been officially designated as an Investment Zone under the West Midlands Investment Zone initiative.
As you build a new movement with Jeremy Corbyn rooted in justice, democracy & accountability, I hope you’ll look closely at what’s happening in Coventry with Investment Zones, SEZs, Freeports & now AI Growth Zones.”
These schemes, pushed by Tory govts and now deepened under Starmer, risk repeating the worst impacts of deregulated “special zones”:
Job displacement as secure employment is replaced with precarious, outsourced labour
Environmental damage & pollution from industrial build-outs with weak oversight
Compulsory purchase orders & land grabs displacing communities for corporate projects
Weak transparency as councils strike deals with predatory firms behind closed doors
Threats to workers’ rights & erosion of collective bargaining under deregulated regimes
Council assets & infrastructure captured by corporate interests, undermining local democracy
Tax arbitrage & state aid abuse (made easier post-Brexit) that drain public coffers
Corporate creep by the likes of BP, BlackRock, Blackstone, Vanguard, Chevron — all circling infrastructure “opportunities” in these zones
And in Coventry, we now see Palantir embedded inside City Council via a £500k AI contract (2025–30) — a US surveillance & military tech giant with ties to Gaza drone targeting, ICE deportations, and NHS data.
Investment Zones, Freeports & AI growth clusters are sold as “modernisation.” But in practice they are vehicles for deregulation, extraction, and corporate power — threatening jobs, rights, and the environment.
This is exactly where your leadership matters: linking the local to the global, exposing how corporate capture operates on the ground, and giving people a democratic alternative. Many of us will stand with you in challenging this
Read 5 tweets
EuropeanPowell Profile picture
Aug 15
When Keir Starmer’s government announced its AI Growth Zones in January 2025, I saw zero press coverage of what this actually entailed, just the usual MSM puff pieces parroting Labour's “jobs”, “innovation”, and “future-proofing Britain” bullshit.
But the real story was hidden in plain sight: this wasn’t just about AI, and it wasn’t just about technology. It was about hardwiring a corporate-first model of anti-governance into Britain’s economic geography by stealth.
europeanpowell.substack.com/p/industrial-s…
They arrive silently, no fanfare, no public debate, no parliamentary scrutiny. But across Birmingham, Cornwall, Dorset, Norfolk, Suffolk, and beyond, a corporate takeover is underway. Freeports, Investment Zones (SEZs), and AI Growth Zones are not just coexisting, they’re consolidating into a single threat: Industrial Strategy Zones (ISZs).
AI Growth Zones (AIGZs) are being grafted onto that same legislative machinery. They weren’t created by an Act of Parliament. They don’t have their own dedicated statute. They simply slot into the deregulatory superstructure that Freeports built, this is the perfect Trojan Horse for the post-Brexit corporate coup.
Read 17 tweets

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