I suspect Steve might regret this tweet...

“You just want to hate all black women because she’s there” - nobody should have trouble describing this sentence as overtly racist and condemning whoever uttered it. You might be surprised therefore to hear what government minister Mel Stride said when he was asked about it this morning:

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me… A partridge in a pear tree. Ate it. On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me… Two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. Ate them.

Today Suella Braverman said: “Illegal migration is an existential challenge for political and cultural institutions of the West. Multiculturalism makes no demands of the incomer to integrate. It has failed. It has allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives” Putting aside that she gave the speech in the United States of America, which has quite a bit of immigration and still managed to become a world political and cultural superpower, let’s consider what she means by asserting that immigrants are a threat to British culture

This party took place at the Conservative’s offices in London on 14 December 2020. It was attended by at least 24 people.
On the same day Conservative Health Secretary Matt Hancock gave a press conference and told the UK public:
“To control this deadly disease, we all have a role to play. Everyone should minimise their social contact, because that’s how we can control the spread of this disease.”

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a partridge in a pear tree. Ate it. On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Ate them.

For those asking from around the world how Britain has gotten into this mess:
- The Conservative Party has always been obsessed with Europe
- This caused divides making the party hard to manage
- Back in 2015 then Prime Minister David Cameron had an idea - He promised a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU if he won the election
- He won the election
- The referendum was held; 52% of people voted to leave the EU
- David Cameron resigned

People try to tell you what to think every day. Here are what some individuals and organisations told you about Liz Truss and her government’s “mini-budget” - perhaps worth remembering next time they try to tell you something…
1. The Daily Mail 2. These three “commentators”

A story in five parts:
1. The warning 2. The dismissal

My reaction to Boris Johnson and his government’s handling of the Chris Pincher sexual assault scandal: It’s easy to get desensitised to scandal with this government, but it’s important to recognise the specific wrong-doing with each new bout of impropriety and corruption

“That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law”
This sentence is from the Bill of Rights. Not the US Bill of Rights (1789), the English Bill of Rights (1689). The Bill of Rights is still part of the statute in the UK; the Supreme Court cited it in recent decisions concerning Brexit and the prorogation of parliament.

15 Conservative MPs have already publicly called for Boris Johnson to resign.

The following Conservative MPs have previously indicated they’d make a decision following the police investigation.

I kept receipts.

It’s time for them to make up their minds. Lee Anderson, Ashfield

“Personally, I would not back anyone who has knowingly done wrong”

I’d like to tell you a story. It’s about a farm. An old fashioned farm that sold expensive milk, cheese and eggs. The people who owned the farm didn’t like change. But the world around them was changing and people that used to buy from the farm we’re getting tastier milk, cheese and eggs from other farms.

The government insists this picture shows a “work meeting”
- No pens or paper, so no notes or minutes
- No displays, computers or flipcharts
- Table of drinks
- Wine quaffing
- A cheeseboard
Do you believe them? Dominic Raab: “They might have a drink after the formal business is ended. That is not anything to do with the social mixing rules.”

So this is the informal part of a formal work meeting? Where did the formal part take place? Were all these people in attendance?

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a partridge in a pear tree.
Ate it. On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Ate them.

We need to talk about common sense…

It’s one of those vague expressions that lots of people find comfort in so naturally the government is pretending it’s an adequate policy during a health crisis Let’s start by trying to define it:
“Practical knowledge to help us live in a reasonable and safe way” - about right?
The key is that it’s based on lived experience and most people are expected to have it

The elected representative for the people of Telford suggests she’s been prevented from talking about road deaths in comparison to deaths from the coronavirus pandemic. So I’ve pulled together the stats for her Tragically, there were 1752 road deaths across GB in 2019 (all ages and health conditions).
That represents about 2.5% of the covid deaths the government has recorded, or less than 2% of all excess deaths)
gov.uk/government/sta…

Given the lockdown will now need to be longer, it’s reasonable to ask why Boris Johnson delayed for so long, in the face of the evidence that it was inevitable. At least part of the answer is Conservative MPs... While getting them to vote against providing meals to children was straightforward, it seems a number of them decided that they know better than expert epidemiologists and doctors (I kept receipts)

Members of the government have repeatedly promised you that they won’t allow lower food standards in order to secure trade deals. I know, because I’ve been keeping receipts: Here’s Boris Johnson saying it:

Boris Johnson has declared that having no trade deal with the EU would be a good outcome for the UK: This will presumably come as a surprise to Boris Johnson, who a year ago described not having a trade deal as a failure:

It’s time to open the National PAWtrait Gallery again to see your takes on this picture. Stick on the Vision On music and enjoy a peruse
#FelineFineArt We start off with this exquisite effort from @AlisonJukes - oil pastels have never been put to better use. #FelineFineArt