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Mar 7 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
On Monday night, Rishi Sunak argued that his new barbaric immigration bill would “take back control of our borders, once & for all”.

This vague, flexible, yet highly effective slogan was formulated nearly a decade ago, by short-sighted Dominic Cummings.

theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/m…
In 2014, Cummings - who was to become Vote Leave’s campaign director - conducted some focus groups to assess attitudes to a possible IN/OUT Referendum from floating voters. The analysis he produced was never published, but Jason Farrell obtained a copy.

ukandeu.ac.uk/why-take-back-…
Quotes from the pre-#EUReferendum focus groups:

“If Cameron’s so weak that he can’t get control of immigration, then I’m OUT”

“If we leave the EU we'll save a fortune & we can spend that on the #NHS or TAX CUTS”

“We’ve lost control, because of Europe.”

In Cumming's 19-page report from June 2014, “control” is mentioned 37 times. “Take back control” appears five times, & that phrase would become the slogan of the campaign which has led to a deeply polarised Britain, led by an extremist authoritarian Govt.

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More from @docrussjackson

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Mar 9
The @Conservatives' & right-wing media's hypocrisy in accusing @GaryLineker of "impartiality" for stating the indisputable FACT that some Govt rhetoric "is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s" is off the scale: GB "News" pays FIVE sitting Tory MPs to present shows. ImageImageImage
#30pLee has previously been paid £200/week by GB "News". Tory MPs Esther McVey was paid £58,650, Philip Davies £46,203, & Dehenna Davison £1,879/month as GB News presenters in 2022. Jacob Rees-Mogg & Anderson are yet to declare how much they'll be paid.
theguardian.com/media/2023/mar…
Read 4 tweets
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Mar 8
#THREAD

Full-time shit-stirring gobshite, GB "News" presenter, Rishi Sunak's Tory Party Deputy Chairman & part-time crap MP, #30pLee, thinks ageing far-right Nazi-supporting arseholes are “real salt of the Earth people”. He'll fit Right in at GB "News"!

mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
People on @Twitter have known all about #30pLee's far-right tendencies for quite some time, as have the @Conservatives - but I understand this is the first time a national newspaper has brought it to a wider public.

Not that anyone would be remotely surprised. Image
#30pLee was sent for #antisemitism awareness training after being an active member of a FB group in which other members supported Tommy Robinson & promoted Soros conspiracy theories. He also signed a letter using the antisemitic conspiracy theory of "cultural Marxism". Image
Read 14 tweets
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Mar 8
What @GaryLineker actually said was "language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s".

This demonstrably true & accurate.

@BBCNews & the entire right-wing media have willfully misrepresented this as "comparing new UK asylum policy to Nazi Germany". Image
So @GaryLineker compared Tory MP's immigration RHETORIC to Nazi rhetoric: Braverman's "invasion" rhetoric, use of antisemitic tropes, & demonisation of 'Lefty lawyers' IS almost identical to Nazi rhetoric, & the barbaric #Rwanda Plan IS very similar to the Nazis' Madagascar Plan. ImageImageImage
Read 4 tweets
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Mar 7
Elon Musk is shit-spouting live now: event.webcasts.com/viewer/event.j…
"Twitter is a forum for citizen journalism. What's the bedrock of a functioning democracy? Free-speech & a level playing field." - Musk

A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD! 🤣 Image
First time I've listened to Musk speak - & probably the last. Imho, he comes across as an inarticulate, incoherent, infantile mumbling waffler. He thinks Twitter can deliver "truth with the least amount of error". What an idiot! I could say "Musk is a lizard" - is that TRUTH?🤣
Read 8 tweets
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Mar 7
John McDonnell asks Suella Braverman to tone down her “inflammatory language” as it is putting asylum seekers, & the people who represent them, at risk.

Irresponsible extremist Braverman completely ignores his important request concerning her dangerous & divisive rhetoric.
Patrick Grady asks Braverman if she's ever met anyone who came to the UK on a small boat to ask about their hopes for the future, or look them in the eye & say they are not welcome.

Braverman completely ignores his question & says the bill provides a pragmatic solution. Image
Tommy Sheppard asks Braverman to confirm that it is the Govt’s intention to provoke exclusion from the Council of Europe (which oversees the ECHR) & says the bill is “vile & shameful”.

Braverman ignores the ECHR question & makes the absurd claim that the bill is 'compassionate'. Image
Read 16 tweets
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Mar 7
#THREAD

Because of DECADES of misleading & hysterical front pages, divisive political rhetoric, & polarising clickbait TV/radio discussions about immigration, many voters misunderstand the differences between refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, & expats.

A REFUGEE is a person who has fled their own country because they are at risk of serious human rights violations & persecution there. The risks to their safety & life were so great that they felt they had no choice but to leave. Refugees have a right to international protection.
An ASYLUM SEEKER is someone fleeing their own country because they are at great risk, but who hasn’t yet been legally recognised as a REFUGEE & is awaiting a decision on their asylum claim. There's no obligation on refugees to seek refuge in the first safe country they come to.
Read 9 tweets

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