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@docrussjackson
May 16, 2023 • 18 tweets • 8 min read • Read on X
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As predicted, the President of the opaquely-funded & extremely influential ultra-right free-market US 'think tank' Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, has delivered arguably the most unhinged speech so far at the deeply disturbing National Conservatism #NatC conference.
Founded in 1973, the opaquely funded Heritage Foundation's stated mission is to formulate & promote policies based on the principles of "free enterprise, limited Govt, individual freedom, traditional American values, & a strong national defense."

desmog.com/2023/05/15/nat…
It is widely considered one of the world's most influential public policy research institutes, maintaining strong ties with #Tuftonstreet's IEA, the Mont Pelerin Society (the organisation coining 'neoliberalism'), &, significantly, the UK Government.

In keeping with the dangerously irresponsible reality-denying draconian antidemocratic policies of the Heritage Foundation, Roberts has blamed “globalists” for the world’s political problems, repeatedly using a term associated with the far-right & antisemitic conspiracy theories. Image
Roberts mentioned Globalists - condemned by UK MPs & Jewish groups as an antisemitic trope - more than a dozen times in his address to the #NatC event in London, also making the absurd claim that left-wingers 'want to end all democracy to impose their opinions on the world'. 📽️ Image
While “globalist” can be a neutral term, its use as a term for elites supposedly seeking global domination is used by the far right & conspiracy theorists about Jewish power - ironic, as Heritage is funded by & represents the interests of powerful elites.

desmog.com/heritage-found…
Tory MP Miriam Cates, who spoke on Monday, used the idea of “cultural Marxism” in her speech, another concept linked with the antisemitic conspiracy theory which inspired far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, & which the UK Board of Deputies has chastised Braverman for using. Image
Dangerously delusional ideological extremist Roberts repeatedly condemned what he called “the leftist control of globalist corporations & entities”, seemingly indicating this was part of a conspiracy to end democracy, calling this “the gathering storm”.

Alarm bells ringing yet? Image
Like every billionaire-owned UK newspaper & right-wing conspiracy nut on earth, he makes the bizarre claim that “The new left, greedy, elitist, woke & globalist, has foresworn every principle their ideological predecessors once espoused: democracy, equality, diversity, justice.” Image
The Left “abhors religion, & Christianity especially, as well as the nation state, political accountability & even objective truth. Their goal is not to win political contests but to end them altogether – to sweep away dissent & any subversive institution that dares facilitate.” Image
“This new left is not in competition. It is at war with the west, with the moral, intellectual & social foundations on which our entire civilisation rests. Which is why it reserves a singular hatred for the kind of conservatism represented by Trump & DeSantis, Brexit, Orbán...”
Roberts explicitly praised the dangerous Nationalist Populism of DeSantis & Orbán, saying UK politicians could follow their lead.

The US & UK have already joined Hungary in 'economic backsliding' (significant erosion of their democratic institutions).

Roberts argued: “The emergence of nationalism & populism on the right is a re-emergence. It’s a rebirth of the principles western conservatives de-emphasised over the last three decades, to their nations’ peril.”

It was "de-emphasised" in the aftermath of the Nazis & WWII. 🤬 Image
Imagine hearing Roberts' words spoken by Nazi #propaganda Chief Joseph Goebbels, in an angry 1930s German accent:

“The great awokening & normalisation of anti-western, anti-Christian, anti-democratic, cultural totalitarianism in western newsrooms, classrooms, & bureaucracies...” Image
“These are not distinct, discrete phenomenon, but myriad symptoms of one ruling class’s contempt for everyday working families and the institutions that prioritise their rights and interests over elite privilege.”

Absolutely fucking crazy - imho. Image
To end, here's a link to a single document encapsulating the policy agenda of the Gobal "Christian"Libertarian Nationalist Populist Right, which includes Brextremists, the billionaire-owned press, & the UK Govt - Heritage Foundation's "Solutions Journal":

The Global Christian National Conservatism project grew out of the US-based Edmund Burke Foundation 'think tank', founded in 2000, which now has the aim of "strengthening the principles of national conservatism in Western & other democratic countries". 😬

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More from @docrussjackson

GET A GRIP Profile picture
Sep 15
🧵

Tommy Robinson claimed his protest drew “three million patriots”. The Met Police reported 110,000.

Prof Milad Haghani, an actual world-leading expert on estimating crowd sizes, estimates “about 56,000... However I run the numbers, it’s very difficult to make it to 100,000.” Image
Unlike shameless liar and multiply-convicted violent far-right coke-snorting thug Tommeh, Prof Haghani is a world-leading expert on estimating crowd sizes. He leads geospatial transport planning initiatives, and is an expert in crowd dynamics.

Tommeh is a world-leading grifter. Image
Compulsive shameless liar Tommy Robinson made the laughable claim that his 'Unite (Divide) The Kingdom' rally was “officially the biggest protest in British history.” 🤥

In reality, as only about 56,000 people attended, it struggled to scrape the top TWENTY. 😂 Image
Read 7 tweets
GET A GRIP Profile picture
Sep 13
🧵

OK, I'll bite.

The word Fascism isn't 'meaningless'.

To spell out why, we need to unpack both the underlying implication of Andrew Doyle's argument and the reasons why it fails to adequately account for contemporary political dangers. Image
Andrew Doyle asserts that the term "fascism" is misused to the point of recklessness, echoing George Orwell’s 1944 observation that the word had been rendered meaningless. Doyle’s concern is not uncommon—but imho, it’s ultimately misplaced, especially in today’s context.
While it’s true that “fascism” is sometimes deployed rhetorically or hyperbolically (eg by Trump), Doyle’s framing dangerously downplays the genuine resurgence of fascist-adjacent movements across the Western world and undermines the analytical clarity necessary to confront them. Image
Read 23 tweets
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Sep 8
🧵

Boris Johnson appears to have had a secret meeting with billionaire Peter Thiel - perhaps the most fanatical of the libertarian Oligarchs and co-founder of the controversial US data firm Palantir, the year before it was given a role at the heart of the UK’s pandemic response. Image
A month after entering No 10, Johnson and his senior adviser Dominic Cummings had a meeting with Thiel, leaked files suggest.

Johnson is now likely to face questions about whether the non-disclosure amounts to a breach of the ministerial code.

theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/s…
The hour-long afternoon meeting on 28 August 2019 was marked “private” in a log of Johnson’s activities that day and was not subsequently disclosed on the government’s public log of meetings.

Read 12 tweets
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Aug 31
🧵

Elon Musk has been amplifying far-right accounts again, including Tommy Robinson, Rupert Lowe, and numerous anonynmous known #disinformation superspreader accounts like 'End Wokeness'.

Let's examine the context for yesterday's march in Richard Tice's constituency, #Skegness. Image
After decades of neglect, Skegness (pop 20K), stands out on key socio-economic markers on national averages: residents are older; whiter; lower full-time employment; higher rates of few/no qualifications; and concentrated deprivation - it's far-more deprived than most of England. Image
History repeatedly teaches us that burdening already struggling communities is a recipe for disaster.

These communities have been crying out for help for DECADES, but successive UK Govts have largely ignored their pleas, and continued to increase inequality, which harms us all. Image
Read 60 tweets
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Aug 28
🧵 @Rylan Asylum seekers coming here aren’t technically "illegal." International law (the 1951 Refugee Convention) allows people to seek asylum in any country regardless of how they arrive or how many countries they pass through, as long as they're fleeing persecution or danger.
Allow me to explain why asylum seekers aren’t “illegal”, and how misinformation and nasty demonising and scapegoating rhetoric by certain politicians and media, including news media, has made some British people less welcoming of asylum seeekers.

@Rylan
People fleeing war, torture, or persecution have the legal right to seek asylum.

The 1951 Refugee Convention, which the UK helped write, says anyone escaping danger can apply for asylum in another country no matter how they arrive: claiming asylum isn't a crime.

@Rylan
Read 23 tweets
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Aug 27
Farage's illiberal, immoral, & unworkable authoritarian plan involves ripping up human rights laws forged after WWII, which protect British people, & wasting £billions of UK taxpayers' money, giving some of it to corrupt misogynistic totalitarian regimes.
theguardian.com/politics/2025/…Image
Image
Leaving the #ECHR, repealing the Human Rights Act and disapplying international conventions

The UK would be an outlier among European democracies, in the company of only Russia and Belarus, if it were to leave the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Opting out of treaties such as the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the UN Convention against torture and the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention would also be likely to do serious harm to the UK’s international reputation.

It could also undermine current return deals, including with France, and other cooperation agreements on people-smuggling with European nations such as Germany.

The Society of Labour Lawyers said the plan would “in all likelihood preclude further cooperation and law enforcement in dealing with small boats coming from the continent and so increase, rather than reduce, the numbers reaching our shores”. 

Farage said he would legislate to remove the “Hardial Singh” safeguards – a reference to a legal precedent that sets limits on the Home Office’s immigration detention powers – to allow indefinite detention for immigration purposes. This would be highly vulnerable to legal challenge.

Many of the rights protected by the ECHR and the Human Rights Act are rooted in British case law, so judges would still be able to prevent deportations, even without international conventions.

x.com/docrussjackson…
Reform UK’s grotesque far-right mass deportation plan is not just economically and socially illiterate (Britain an ageing population and low birth rate) rely on striking “returns agreements” with countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea and Sudan, offering financial incentives to secure these deals, alongside visa restrictions and potential sanctions on countries that refuse.

These are countries where the Home Office’s risk reports warn of widespread torture and persecution.

It would risk the scenario of making payments to countries such as Iran, whose regime the UK government has accused of plotting terror attacks on British soil.

The Liberal Democrats called the payments “a Taliban tax”, saying the plan would entail sending billions “to an oppressive regime that British soldiers fought and died to defeat”. They said: “Not a penny of taxpayers’ money should go to a group so closely linked to terrorist organisations proscribed by the UK.”
Read 13 tweets

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