Paul

@FT Populism. Delivering policies popular with the electorate and which they support. Minister wants to combat this. Righty ho

Scaled-back digital ID scheme can combat populism, UK minister says ft.trib.al/Pc5pgf3

@DeborahMeaden Deborah are you being paid by the government?

No idea why these guys don’t like clean air, energy security and a future for the next generations…and…

@NadiaWhittomeMP More naivety and script regurgitation. Lack of critical analysis from those who vote on our futures is deeply troubling

The war on Iran has laid bare our overreliance on fossil fuels, but North Sea drilling is not the answer – clean energy is. Drilling in the North Sea won’t make energy cheaper, despite what Badenoch or Farage say, because the price of gas is set by international markets. Expanding our clean energy supplies, on the other hand, would reduce our dependence on expensive fossil fuels and therefore lower bills. A Labour government must hold firm on our climate commitments and double down on renewables.

@miriam_cates Turn the JCB off, step down from it and pays to think

Is the state pension really so 'meagre'? Let's take a look... The basic state pension is just £12,547 a year. But... Only around 15% of pensioners rely on the state pension alone. The vast majority have other income from private pensions etc., which is exactly how our system is designed to work (and why the UK has generous tax breaks for pension contributions). The small proportion of pensioners whose only source of income is the state pension are entitled to other benefits in addition, including pension credit, housing benefit and council tax support. A pensioner with no other income, no savings, no disabilities, no care responsibilities and rent of £800 per month is entitled to £401.55 a week in benefits including state pension, which is £20,881 a year. For comparison, a full time minimum wage worker has an after tax income of £21,364. Unlike a pensioner, a full time minimum wage worker is not entitled to free travel, free prescriptions, a winter fuel payment or senior citizens discounts. £21,000 a year is not a lot of money. But the very poorest pensioners have similar incomes to low-wage workers. Given the greater costs faced by those who are working, it's perhaps not surprising that working age adults are now more likely to live in poverty than pensioners. And at the other end of the scale, one in four pensioners are millionaires and still receive the basic state pension, paid for by current tax payers (including those on minimum wage). No one (definitely not me) is suggesting that the state pension should be reduced for the poorest pensioners. But pension spending now accounts for half of the UK's social security budget and, given the urgent need to cut government spending, we must consider reforms like means-testing and scrapping the triple lock.

@DPJHodges @uk_sf_writer All Pedalos on the channel have been sequestered and will be rebranded as Royal Navy pursuit craft

Oh no. Please don't tell me the Government's now going to pretend the reason we didn't have a single ship in the Med was because we were chasing Russian submarines.

@albieamankona Utter tosh which is why the government has tools to enable taxpayers they have contributed sufficient to be paid a full pension or a reduced sum. There is a social contract

Nobody has a “RIGHT” to a state pension. It is a benefit paid for by the tax payers at the time you receive the benefit and it is subject to the same checks, balances and affordability criteria as every other benefit provided by the state. Whoever told you national insurance was invested in a personal pension pot for you, lied. It’s a tax, like income tax, VAT et al.

@theresa_may @AldersgateGrp You did more damage to the Conservative Party than any other inexplicably promoted individual. You then inflicted more damage to the country than you should reasonably have been allowed, an appalling Chaorman, Home Secretary and PM. Please remove yourself from public life

Nature degradation is projected to cost the UK economy a 12% loss to GDP over the next decade - greater than the impact of COVID‑19. I recently chaired a summit of UK businesses on nature risk to discuss why nature is fast becoming the next frontier for business resilience.

@Keir_Starmer You are not a statesman either abroad or at home. Please resign

The war in Iran must now become a line in the sand, because how we emerge from this crisis will define all of us for a generation. We will build a Britain that is stronger, more secure and more resilient. That is what this moment demands. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

@DaleVince Have you ever said anything that you’ve researched properly. Rent controls remove housing from the market and make matters more difficult

This needs doing - not just to win voters, as the first line of the article says - but to bring some fairness to the private rented sector - it’s a Wild West right now. Millions of people pay vast proportions of their income on rent - 50% or more. We define energy poverty as spending 10% of disposable income on energy bills - so what do we call spending 50% of actual income on rent? Over three million people live in this situation. It’s a national disgrace. thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

It would be interesting to know how much is driven by apps such as those used to book a GP appointment. I rarely see our doctor, needed an appointment earlier this year and was told to go to A and E by it. I changed my answer and saw the GP, all I needed digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/2397/read…

Rebranding a toy poodle as a Rottweiler will never work digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/2397/read…

@Ed_Miliband This is neither energy security nor food security

2/ We need as much clean power as possible to get us off the fossil fuel rollercoaster, to give us energy sovereignty and abundance. Decisions like these are vital for our energy security.

1/ Today as we approve Springwell Solar farm, set to be the UK’s largest approved power‑producing solar farm, @NESO have confirmed a new solar record, with over 14.4GW of clean power generated at the peak. independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

@Keir_Starmer Meaningless self serving piffle

The two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran today is welcomed by the UK and our allies. The goal now must be a lasting end to the war. Alongside our international partners, the UK will work to ensure a return to freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

@itvnews Utterly pointless, sadly he appears genuinely to believe that he is an international statesman offering solutions. He should stand down

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is travelling to the Gulf to reiterate the UK's support for the newly agreed ceasefire between the US and Iran. He will hold talks with Gulf leaders on “practical efforts” to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. itv.com/news/2026-04-0… ITV News Political Editor @Peston is travelling with the PM

@Keir_Starmer I don’t think, for once, that this one passed your desk

I welcome the ceasefire agreement reached overnight, which will bring a moment of relief to the region and the world. Together with our partners we must do all we can to support and sustain this ceasefire, turn it into a lasting agreement and re-open the Strait of Hormuz.

@KemiBadenoch @Vocal_GenX @Conservatives @Matt_VickersMP The PCP won’t allow it

Too many towns and villages have had to accept criminality in their communities because each attempt to deal with illegal traveller sites has fallen foul of the ECHR. The @Conservatives will take back our streets and green spaces, leave the ECHR, and get Britain working again.

@GBNEWS @johndmtb Every time Milliband opens his mouth he simply confirms how weak Starmer is. Why is he incapable of sacking him?

Ed Miliband staring down Labour rebellion on North Sea oil as energy prices soar gbnews.com/politics/energ…

@GBNEWS Somebody has been handing out a script again. Energy security and tax income would both be rather helpful

‘It would be wrong for people to think that drilling is going to bring down oil prices.’ Labour Peer Baroness Hayter dismisses claims that if Labour opened up new oil and gas fields in the North Sea, it would lower the cost of energy bills.

@Conservatives @KemiBadenoch Will the parliamentary party allowmher to do so?

The era of decline is over. @KemiBadenoch will Axe the Carbon Tax entirely and stop the deindustrialisation of Britain, paid for by getting Britain drilling.

@SandyofSuffolk @graemeburton Ludicrous

HMRC say it could take between 2 - 3 years to conclude their investigations into Angela Rayner and her stamp duty dodge. 😲