So, the #NationalConservative conference is over.
Is #NatC the far-right future? Or the death rattle of a party at war with itself?
Let's take a closer look at what the National Conservative movement says about itself.
WARNING: this thread could make you combust... 1/
First, whatever's gone wrong with the UK, it's not the Conservatives' fault.
No, it's Liberals.
The last 13 years of Conservatism? You imagined that.
18 years of Thatcherism? You imagined that too.
UK media dominated by Conservatives? Meh.
Everything is the fault of LIBERALS. 2/
And what does the LEFT do? It "deliberately tries to polarise".
The cheek of it.
Countless polarising headlines in the Express and Mail?
Didn't happen.
Countless polarising statements by Conservative hard-righters?
Nope.
Immigration, borders, Brexit? Liberal obsessions. 3/
And how does the Left retain all this power?
That's right. They're underwritten by the biotech industry.
It's a radical conspiracy to hand over biomedical self-mastery. Obvs. 4/
The most important thing to remember about The Left is that they're "completely out of touch with normal ideas".
Got that?
Completely. Out. Of. Touch.
So, back to National Conservatism. What issues are they concerned with? 5/
Yes. Penises. That's what people want to talk about on the doorstep. Penises.
But the Nat-Cs aren't all about schlongs, you know. They have political depth... 6/
What else keeps the Nat-Cs awake at night?
Getting rid of renewable energy. Will no-one think of the birds?
Only NatC-ism can save us from the "post-apocalyptic landscape." 7/
Nat-Cs know the real threat behind renewable energy. Net Zero will leave Brits "cold and poor".
(Citation required.)
Because obviously the average Joe will have to pay for any costs.
Not the rich.
NOT THE RICH. 8/
And then there's marriage. It's not about you. It's a "public act". You're doing it for society.
(Unless you're gay.)
So, no pressure, but this is what people worry about on the doorstep. Whether your marriage will survive. 9/
And here's why. No marriage means no babies. And lack of babies is The Big Issue facing us all. Even more than neo-Marxism.
Yes, liberalism has failed to deliver babies, and only NatC-ism can show us the way. Give us babies.
(White babies only, obviously.) 10/
After all, "Britain is a Christian nation or nothing at all."
It's god or bust.
Which is why NatC-ists are so kind to other people.
(Don't mention immigrants.) 11/
After all. NatCs believe that it's not racist to endlessly rage at foreigners for the last decade.
Especially not at a far-right rally. Um, I mean, Conservative conference.
But wait. We haven't spoken enough on that subject... 12/
There's no racism in UK, and definitely not in the Nat-Cs.
But multiculturalism? That's not who we are.
We may be a genetic mix of Celts, Vikings, Angles, Saxons, Francs, Romans...
And people from all over the world might call the UK home.
But diversity? No, not here, thanks. 13/
But we need to look after our "natural population". You know who we mean.
And if we let The Others outbreed us, the country will be amok with dogs and homeless.
Just like, um, San Francisco. 14/
And of course, the rot sets in at school.
Today's kids don't sing the national anthem. And their parents refuse to move them to Non-Woke schools.
The Nat-Cs would discipline your kids, don't you worry. 15/
And the Nat-Cs don't hate Britain the way the LIBERALS do.
No, the Nat-Cs love Britain.
And they know that people around the world love Britain too.
They remember the good old days of colonialism and empire and brutality "with fondness".
No legacy issues there at all.
None. 16/
And people should be proud of nationalism.
After all, it's had a bad rep.
The Nazis just "mucked up" nationalism a bit.
Mucked. Up.
Got that? Are we clear about Nat-C views now? 17/
It's not nationalists with the crazy ideas.
No, it's the Left.
After all, the Left "want to replace the Holocaust with slavery."
The Left has "ire" for the Jews, because... jealousy.
(No-one's sure what the guy's saying here, but he hates the Left, so it's allowed.) 18/
Finally, remember that Nat-Cs support YOUR RIGHTS.
(As long as you're a straight white right-wing British Christian.)
The right to expression is so important.
That's why they restricted the rights to vote, strike and protest.
Because the Nat-Cs love freedom. 19/
Now, the haters will hate. Some people will even talk nonsense about what was said at the Nat-C rally.
But listen to the Nat-Cs in their own words.
Listen very, very carefully.
Because the Nat-Cs may not be able to run a bath.
But they run the Conservative party.
20/20
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BCP Council news:
More woes for controversial Conservative cllr Phil Broadhead.
The ex-leader was in the news last month, after admitting he'd been caught wrongly claiming Council Tax discounts.
But new revelations could return him to the spotlight...
🧵
Info released under FOI, and shared with me, reveals that Broadhead began to claim a 25% single person's CT discount in July 2022.
He had notice from BCP Council in Feb 2025, after an investigation, but didn't pay off the debt till 9th June 2025.
Why are these details key?
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1. Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 prevents a cllr from voting on the Council’s budget if they have over 2 months' council tax debt.
PB voted on the 2023, 2024 & 2025 budgets while in debt, and set 1 of them as Dep Leader.
Did he commit a criminal offence?
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Both struck by the same ideology.
Both in need of reform.
And for the same reason.
Behind the curated stats, behind PISA scores & GDP, more & more people are being left behind.
Something is wired into both systems.
Inequality.
🧵
The UK economy is said to be the world's 6th largest, yet there's 15m people living in poverty.
English schools claim improved PISA scores in maths, reading, science, yet have rising exclusions, suspensions, absences & school dissatisfaction.
How is this all possible?
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This isn't a bug of the system.
It's a feature.
In the UK economy, the tax burden on high-earners has steadily reduced, billionaire wealth has soared, while public services & welfare state have been slashed by austerity.
These aren't separate actions, but part of one thing.
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One of the red flags in the defence of hyper-controlled schools is the straw-man of order vs chaos.
The idea that there can only be utter control or utter chaos.
That kids are either controlled or unsafe.
But in reality there are many, many types of control.
A short 🧵
Some rules in schools aren't necessary for education or even to keep order. The rigid enforcement of them won't achieve dignity for children or make them safer.
It just extends the control of the adult over kids, to include clothing, eye movement, body posture, even downtime.
2/6
What's most cruel is when kids are then punished: for forgetting a pen, wearing wrong shade of socks, not standing in a precise line, whispering in the corridor, looking at their hands, fidgeting, being unable to complete homework, or even being poor. 3/6
Reading this blog, I was struck at how there's always a straw man close to any use of the neoconservative phrase 'soft bigotry of low expectations'.
And in this piece it comes right at the start.
There are three critical points to be made in favour of adjustments in the English schools curriculum.
None of them are about refusing to challenge working-class kids.
What's needed, what's been demanded so consistently across England for years, is something else.
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First, it's a fact that SEND kids suffer nationally from a deficit of reasonable adjustments & support in schools. In some cases some of that should be curriculum-based.
Mono-focusing on 'standards' won't alter the fact that these kids need bridges built, not ladders pulled.
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A shockingly misleading & dangerous piece from @matthewhood on @SchoolsWeek, lobbying for an end to EHCPs.
With Matt Hood's Oak Academy enjoying influence over @educationgovuk thinking, this should worry all parents & teachers.
And worst of all, the piece is just plain wrong.
🧵
The misdirection begins at once, describing "the EHCP approach" as "the primary cause of the SEND crisis".
But as every parent & school knows, the crisis isn't caused by a child's individual needs, or the attempts to support them.
It's caused by lack of resources & commitment.
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The SEND crisis, like most public-sector crises, is about under-delivery caused by under-funding & under-planning.
SEND is a system born & raised by Austerity, and has never been given wings.
Yes, kids have been let down relentlessly, but not by EHCPs.
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The answer may surprise you.
The reality will certainly be a shock for Reform, now holding 10 English councils.
And it might also offer a lifebelt to Labour... if it can actually grab it...
🧵
The key influence over councils isn't councillors, but central govt.
First, funding.
From 2010-20, real-terms funding of councils by govt was cut by 55%. This led councils to cut staff & services by around £25bn in just 12 years.
Less money coming in = less services going out.
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The funding collapse meant that almost all councils used tax increases to plug some of the gap.
Since the 2% adult social care precept was launched in 2016, councils have been able to increase CT by 4.99% every year.
More CT revenue = more spending.
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