💥@PeterKellner1: "I quite like using numbers to make sense of the what is going on. Yet sometimes they are not enough. If they were, the fact that Brexit has cost Britain’s economy 4-5% of GDP would be a major national scandal."

🧵👇 1/ As a country, we are more than £100 billion a year poorer than we need have been.

Money that could have been used to keep pensioners warm in the winter AND improve our schools and hospitals AND keep down employers’ National Insurance rates. 2/

If you managed to log off over Christmas and the New Year, you might be wondering why right-wing politicians are suddenly calling for a new inquiry into child grooming gangs, how Elon Musk is involved, and how the govt is responding.

Here's what you need to know - a timeline👇1/ Back in 2010, prosecutions began for the grooming and sexual abuse of young girls across England and Wales. The towns of Rochdale, Oldham and Rotherham were at the centre of the scandal. 2/

Tim Stanley, in what now appears to be a weekly slot on one or other BBC flagship politics programme, reels off a huge amount of absolute, provable nonsense about immigration.

And he does so completely unchallenged. Enough now. ~AA #PoliticsLive

A MEGA-THREAD 🧵1/ CLAIM: International students "are not adding net to the economy; they are taking away".

All research shows those on a student visa are overwhelmingly a net benefit to the economy (see full gov't report ), adding up to TEN TIMES what they cost. ~AA 2/ assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b928cc1…

Kemi Badenoch's full shadow cabinet has now been announced.

Here's a breakdown of who she's hired.

A Shadow Foreign Secretary who lied about holding unofficial meetings with Israel - and was forced to resign as a result. 🧵1/
theguardian.com/politics/2017/… A Shadow Home Secretary who's wife, a leading businesswoman, was accused of corporate espionage and referred to the CPS. While he was the policing minister. 2/
theguardian.com/business/artic…

This weekend has shown some of the worst of our country. Racism, violence, Islamophobia. But it's also shown some of the best of us.

There is a story to be told of humanity and resilience. Let's tell it. 1/13 🧵 In Hull, following 25 arrests after several shops were set on fire, there have been big groups of volunteers taking to the streets to lean up after the rioters. 2/13

https://x.com/Hullccnews/status/1820068438204629175

🚨WHAT TO DO IF YOU FORGET TO POST YOUR POSTAL VOTE - OR IT DOESN'T ARRIVE IN TIME.

Your postal vote needs to be with the elections team at your local council by 10pm on polling day to be counted.

Please read and share!

A thread 👇 1/ 📮If you can't post your postal vote in time, you can take it your polling station.

You may also be able to hand it in to your local council office, but you should contact your Electoral Registration Officer to check if this is possible. 2/

Rishi Sunak has finally acted to drop the Conservative PPCs at the heart of the betting scandal.

He promised to restore “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level” when he arrived in Number 10.

So in light of that, here are all the scandals he's overseen.👇1/ Gavin Williamson & Dominic Raab were both forced from office amidst bullying scandals.

The Raab allegations came to light just a week after Gavin Williamson was forced to resign from cabinet over claims he told one official to “slit your throat”. 2/
independent.co.uk/voices/dominic…

14 years of the Conservatives in government, in charts, by the @FT.

Seeing the legacy of 14 wasted years laid out starkly is, frankly, astounding. 👇1/ Almost half of children in large families now live in poverty.

These trends reflect policy decisions. While the pensions “triple-lock” ensures the state retirement income of over-65s will not lose value in real terms, large families have received benefits cuts. 2/

💥Tory gaffe-o-meter💥

All the gaffes from the Conservatives' election campaign so far. Follow this thread for regular updates! 1/?????? 🧵👇 Gaffe 1: Things Can Only Get Wetter. To everyone’s surprise, Rishi Sunak calls a snap General Election. He makes the announcement in Downing Street with the rain pouring down and D:Ream’s things can only get better playing over it. 2/
theguardian.com/politics/artic…

Eight years since the referendum.

Four years since Brexit.

This is the National Audit Office's take on how spectacularly badly the government has handled setting up an effective trade border with the EU. 👇1/ £4.7 BILLION. The amount the government says it'll spend on the programmes to manage to passage of goods cross-border post-Brexit.

£62 million was spent on a Dover customs post that wasn't needed.

£258 million spent on eight temporary border facilities, also never needed. 2/

🚨Up to 5 million Brits are unaware of the need for photo ID when voting!

Here's a thread with the FULL LIST of accepted ID to save and share. Remember yours tomorrow! 👇 1/10 🗳️Passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country (including an Irish Passport Card).

2/

With my partner's blessing, I share our recent personal journey trying to access mental health help. My OH just started full time work again, after eighteen months off sick. At every point, the system was a set-back instead of help, it LENGTHENED and WORSENED his problem. 1/ ~AA

https://twitter.com/10DowningStreet/status/1781339991630639474

Around mid-2019, he started suffering from mild anxiety for a combination of reasons. He sleep was badly disrupted and he suffered from mild panic attacks. He sought help. His GP, after a 7-min consultation referred him to a specialist service. They never even got in touch. 2/

💥💥NEW POLLING: Tactical voting will be the key to a DECADE without the Tories in power. 1/
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/… Last weekend, our mega-poll suggested Sunak’s Tories were on course for their worst ever defeat, projecting a total seat haul of just 98.

Now, new data shows 13 million Brits are ready to vote tactically to deliver that change at the next election. 2/
bestforbritain.org/tactical_vote_…

THREAD🧵: With so many leadership changes and policy u-turns, it is hard to keep track of the promises on which the Conservatives were elected to gov't in 2019.

I have had a detailed look back at their 2019 manifesto. ~AA 1/ It's hard for voters to have a clear line of accountability, with weekly "rebrands", "resets", and "relaunches".

"The mandate my party earned in 2019 is not the sole property of one individual. The heart of that mandate is our manifesto," Sunak said on his first speech as PM. 2/

🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: Today we can reveal the Tories are set for electoral oblivion, with our latest mega-poll forecasting their worst EVER election result, winning fewer than 100 seats. 1/9
thetimes.co.uk/article/genera… The ‘Conservative and Unionist Party’ are set to be completely wiped out in Wales and Scotland, reducing them to a party of England only. So much for the Union. 2/9

🚨SHOCKING breakdown of the costs of the Tories' cruel Rwanda scheme this morning by @danbloom1 in Politico London Playbook this morning.

The National Audit Office reports it'll cost £541 million for the first 300 migrants sent to Kigali, if they stay there 🤯 1/ 🚨The UK has paid Rwanda £240 million so far, and will pay another £50 million per year in April 2024, 2025 and 2026.

🚑The money we've already sent to Rwanda for the scheme would've paid for 650,000 emergency trips by ambulance for patients to A&E. 2/

🚨!!!Warning!!!🚨

This poll is monstrously large and not good for Rishi Sunak!

We asked 25,000 people if they want a change of Government at the next General Election

Buckle up.
1/
independent.co.uk/news/uk/tories… Overall we found that a staggering 63% of people think it’s time for a change of government, while less than a quarter think the current government should remain in place. 2/

🎆NEW YEAR, NEW MEGAPOLL!🍾
Today on Sunday Times front page, our poll of 10000+ people finds Britain has run out of patience with Rishi Sunak.
- Most want an early election
- Most would vote tactically
- Sunak top choice to be PM in only 4 seats!

1/thetimes.co.uk/article/keir-s… The poll carried out by Focaldata on behalf of Best for Britain found a whopping 61% want an early election
- 36% ASAP
- 25% by June
- 17% by November
- 9% think he should wait until the last possible moment in January 2025. 2/

🧵Some highlights from Braverman's letter.

"I trusted you." This is why I got you to sign an actual document with the terms of our grubby backroom deal. 1/ ~AA

https://twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1724468338800144407

"Whatever it takes", in Suella's mind, apparently includes either openly leaving the international legal framework altogether, or surrepticiously breaching it.

She was absolutely shocked to find that Sunak understood "within the law" when he promised "whatever it takes". 2/ ~AA

The most baffling thing about Tory reaction to recent by-election results is that they're acting as if there's still something to the right of them, when there isn't. In all three consituencies in question, in the 2015 election, there was a considerable UKIP presence. 🧵 1/ ~AA In Uxbridge & Ruislip 2015, UKIP got 14.2%. In Selby & Ainsty 14%. In Somerton & Frome 10.7%. All three areas voted Leave on Commons Library estimates: Uxbridge 57.2-42.8, Selby 57.7-42.3, 50.3-49.7. And yet by these by-elections, UKIP and UKIP-like parties are making no dent. 2/

🚨NEW POLLING KLAXON🚨
Today at a press conference with Prof John Curtice @carolvorders & @LukeTryl, we unveiled the first major seat-level MRP poll of GB Parliamentary voting intention undertaken under the new electoral boundaries The representative poll of 10,102 voters undertaken by Focaldata on behalf of Best for Britain shows that while their lead has narrowed, Labour enjoy a 12pt lead over the Tories, which at an election would secure them 470 seats 2/