Are you looking for a thread on the trade deal between the UK and India and the lies some people are telling about it, from a cat? If so, you're weird but in the right place...

Yesterday the UK and India announced a new free trade agreement, which it s estimated will add £5bn a year to the UK economy

gov.uk/government/new… India has the largest population of any country on Earth, is currently the fifth largest economy and is forecast to have the third largest by 2028. A free trade agreement means Indian consumers can buy more UK products without the tariffs that Donald Trump is so keen on. Americans are looking on enviously
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/05/06…

That cheeky scamp Nigel Farage and his Reform bros have got themselves into another pickle - incredibly this one involves Islamist terrorists being allowed to return to the UK. The sorry state of affairs begins with an interview with ITV's @harry_horton where Nige got splinters in his backside from sitting on the fence so rigidly. You can watch the exchange for yourself here:

https://twitter.com/itvnews/status/1877829084085903614

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.

I want to tell you a story about an old man, with a silly name and ridiculous hair, who was born in New York, became a media personality and then a right wing politician. 🧵 He told a lot of lies. So many lies. That many lies that he doesn't actually recognise the truth anymore and nor do many of his supporters. Needless to say he's had multiple failed marriages having had numerous affairs.

Today an early release scheme has begun which will see some offenders released from UK prisons after 40% of their sentence rather than 50%. This policy is in reaction to the current prison population almost surpassing the current prison capacity.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/… This regretful step is necessary because prison capacity hasn't been increased to meet the UK's requirements. This is a good piece from 2023 explaining how and why the Conservative government failed to deliver the required prison places
amp.theguardian.com/society/2023/s…

As a high profile cat I've suddenly had messages warning me about Haitians eating pet cats in Ohio. This seemed weird so I assumed it was something to do with the Trump campaign; sure enough:

https://twitter.com/jdvance/status/1833148904864465117

So what's the actual story? There was an incident last month were a woman was arrested for allegedly killing a cat and eating it. Her name is Allexis Telia Ferrell. There's no evidence she's Haitian, just that she's from Canton in Ohio and is a registered voter
kptv.com/2024/08/21/wom…

Farage has written this knowing that his party is a gift to Labour at this election because it's splitting the right wing vote and will very likely hand Starmer an even larger majority than he could have hoped for Farage knows that after the election fingers from the right will be pointed at him asking why he helped Labour so gladly given he'll have little to show for it (I'd guess no more than 5 seats and possibly just 1).

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?