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Apr 27, 2023 10 tweets 7 min read Read on X
At his first #PMQs, in October 2022, PM Sunak said: “I'm pleased we had a record number of new homes built in the last year.” 🤥

There is no evidence to support that claim, & No 10 declined to provide any evidence for it, despite several requests.

#bbcqt
fullfact.org/economy/rishi-…
While the number of ‘net additional dwellings’ technically hit 'the highest point on record in 2019/20', these statistics only go back to the early 90s. Other metrics & housing experts suggest that recent house building is generally far lower than records set decades ago.
#bbcqt Image
It’s also important to note that these figures don’t strictly relate to “house building”—as well as new build homes they also include conversions (such as turning a large house into multiple flats) & changes of use such as an old shop into a house or flats.
#bbcqt
John Perry, policy advisor at the Chartered Institute of Housing, told Full Fact: “House building was much higher in the 1960s & 1970s than it is now.”

There is another set of stats used to measure the number of new homes in the UK, called “indicators of new supply”.

#bbcqt Image
These are published by the government on a quarterly basis for England, and show both the number of new homes being started and the number of new homes being completed.

Calendar-year data on new homes started in England dates back to 1978.

#bbcqt
Under the current Govt, the highest number of new homes started in a calendar year was in 2021 with 177,920.

But the record year according to this data set was 1978 with 226,680 homes started. The government’s 2021 record was also beaten in 1979, 1983, & 2007.

#bbcqt
The government data on new homes completed in England goes back even further, to 1946.

These figures show that despite Tory MP Rachel Maclean's misleading claims on #bbcqt, more new homes were built in England each year from 1952 to 1980 than in any year since 2010.
The #ONS publishes figures on completions for the entire UK.

These also show that there were much higher levels of new houses being completed between the early 1950s to the 1980s than there have been under this current dysfunctional government.

#bbcqt

The House of Commons Library has published data stretching even further back.

These figures show there were higher numbers of houses built in the UK between 1934 & 1940, between 1948 & 1981, & in 2007 than were built in any year from 2010 to 2019 (where the data ends).

#bbcqt
Despite Tory Housing Minister Rachel Maclean's wild claims about 'record house building' under the @Conservatives on #bbcqt, the number of homes available to rent in the UK has fallen by a third over the past 18 months.

#bbcqt

#NeverTrustATory #FFSGTTO

bbc.co.uk/news/business-…

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More from @docrussjackson

Jun 29
🧵

A few thoughts on Bob Vylan leading the #GlastonburyFestival crowd in chants of "Death to the IDF" (Israeli Defence Force), livestreamed by the @BBC, and the mischaracterisation of the chant by some MPs, news media, and activists. Image
In England, where #GlastonburyFestival is located, all of us have the right to freely express our criticism of anyone or anything - as long as there is no intent to provoke immediate unlawful violence or there is a reasonable likelihood it will occur as a consequence.
In England, free speech is protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998. However, inciting violence is a criminal offence under several laws which attempt to balance public safety with free expression rights.

There are a number of key provisions in UK Law.
Read 29 tweets
Jun 26
🧵

Socially isolated and radicalised online, Marcus Monzo, 37, was convicted of murdering 14-yr-old Daniel Anjorin and attacking others with a sword.

He was fascinated by violence, far-right extremism, Incel ideology, conspiracy theories and figures like Musk, Tate, and Hitler. Image
UK society is insufficiently concerned about the harms of extreme online material of the kind pushed by the far-right, incels, & conspiracy theorists.

Debate is too often framed as being about free speech, rather than its sometimes horrific consequences.

actearly.uk/radicalisation…
In many countries, especially since Musk bought Twitter/@X, underregulated online extreme content has been used to groom and radicalise vulnerable people.

Too many cowardly politicians are scared to speak up for fear of being branded 'anti-free speech'.

Read 30 tweets
Jun 10
🧵

Some MPs who have been in parliament for many years NEVER appear on any of the @BBC's "flagship" politics shows - but Reform's privately educated shit-stirring 'anti-elite' former Tory Sarah Pochin - an MP for FIVE WEEKS - gets her own special introduction on #PoliticsLive. Image
Politicians using dangerously irresponsible anti-Muslim rhetoric know their comments are normalising Islamophobia and endanger British Muslim women. Islamophobic incidents rose by 375% in the week after Boris Johnson called veiled Muslim women “letterboxes” in 2018.
#PolitcsLive Image
Britain prides itself in NOT being the sort of country that tells women how to dress. States that do dictate women’s clothing (eg Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia) are vilified as misogynistic & ultra-controlling: the antithesis of the enlightened, liberal west.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Read 11 tweets
Jun 7
🧵

The 'Women's Safety Initiative' is an anti-migrant AstroTurf disinformation group founded by Jess Gill, a Fellow of the Koch-funded climate change denial group, the Foundation for Economic Education, & an apprentice at the Mises Institute. The '1 in 4' claim is a lie. Image
Before I outline the evidence that (despite what we are told every day by politicians, activists, and news media) there is no discernable link between either legal or illegal immigration and increased crime rates in OECD countries, including ours, some context about Jess Gill. Image
Jess Gill’s involvement with these radical free-market climate change denying Koch foundation funded organisations is deeply concerning.

The WSI exploits young women to make misleading claims about supposed links between immigration with women’s safety.

Read 32 tweets
Jun 2
🧵

"Foreigners" DO NOT claim £1BILLION/month in benefits.

This disgusting anti-migrant dogwhistle by shameless liar and former Head of Policy Exchange, Neil O'Brien MP, is just one of several recent dispicable divisive Telegraph front page lies.

WTAF @IpsoNews? @HoCStandards? Image
The claims that the UK spends £1bn/month "on UC benefits for overseas nationals" (O'Brien) and "Foreigners claim £1bn a month in benefits" (Telegraph) are revealed to be lies in the article: the£1bn relates to "Benefits claims by HOUSEHOLDS with AT LEAST ONE FOREIGN NATIONAL." Image
The Telegraph claims that (unnamed) "experts suggested the increase reflected a SURGE in the number of asylum seekers being granted refugee status and in net migration."

To evaluate/make sense of this sensational unsourced claim, additional context is needed (but not provided). Image
Read 57 tweets
May 30
🧵

Chase Herro, co-founder of Trump’s main crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, on crypto:

“You can literally sell shit in a can, wrapped in piss, covered in human skin, for a billion dollars if the story’s right, because people will buy it.”

theguardian.com/technology/202…
Despite crypto being bullshit, & memecoins being consciously bullshit, many – especially angry young gullible men – still invest: 42% of men & 17% of women aged 18-29 have invested in, traded or used crypto (2024 Pew Research), compared to only 11% of men & 5% of women over 50. Image
“It’s no accident that memecoins are such a phenomenon among young people who have grown immensely frustrated with a financial system that, I think it’s fair to say, has failed them” - Sander Lutz, the first crypto-focused White House correspondent.

theguardian.com/technology/202…
Read 16 tweets

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