Peter Fane

UK can’t easily rejoin the EU. Tho the economic benefits would greatly outweigh the costs, it’s no longer up to us. UK can however rejoin the single market from outside the EU. That’s worth 3%+ on GDP, can be done in this Parl without a referendum or protracted Art49 negotiations

Former Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jim O'Neill, explaining just how badly Britain fucked-up with Brexit. 😳👇

BLIMEY - there will doubtless and rightly be a lot of focus on the limit on overseas donations and the ban on crypto (tick to both) but in some ways might this be the most important paragraph in the Rycroft report on foreign interference in our politics (prompted in part by Russian funding of Farage Party) “Separately, beyond these hostile state threats, I am also cognisant of a potential new threat: an emerging willingness of foreign actors and private citizens, including from allies like the United States, to interfere in, and influence, politics abroad in pursuit of their own agenda.” In other words USA has joined Russia, China, Iran in seeking to subvert our democracy. Time to call them out !!! Perhaps JD Vance could pop in for a chat after his campaign stop in Hungary

@Daniel_Grigg @jane_trewolla @ZackPolanski Only LibDems have been consistently winning local by-elections over the last year, winning 63 since LE 25 - that is well over 3X as many as Greens (18) or Labour (17), 2.5X as many as Tories (25). LIbDems remain the main antidote to Reform Ltd at local level as in Westminster.

Starmer's Labour particularly don't want the Green party, SNP and Plaid Cymru getting votes. Because they're the actual left wing ones. Even though they're the only ones realistically stopping Reform in these local elections. @ZackPolanski

@MosiniElisa @econoclast_j The problem is signals from UK, as the process has to start with the election of a UK govt committed to apply, only then can EU MSs decide whether / when to trigger Art 49. Meanwhile, Starmer needs to drop his red lines so that UK can rejoin single market - albeit from outside EU

Pedro Sánchez on The Rest Is Politics podcast: “I would definitely like to have the UK back on board in the EU. I think societies can make mistakes, but they can also correct those mistakes.” I'm loving these signals. The hope for a future together is still alive 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Can the U.S. and Israel succeed in Iran without allies? "No," says former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. "There's a sense that we are not a reliable security partner right now...And you can't bring allies on board if they don't trust you."

That the Kremlin and USG are both interfering in Hungary to get the corrupt and divisive Orban govt reelected should serve as a warning. Trump and Putin are intent on weakening European unity and support for Ukraine. British, French and German elections will be targeted likewise.

Bob Mueller was one of the finest directors in the history of the FBI, transforming the bureau after 9/11 and saving countless lives. But it was his relentless commitment to the rule of law and his unwavering belief in our bedrock values that made him one of the most respected public servants of our time. Michelle and I send our condolences to Bob’s family, and everyone who knew and admired him.

🚨NEW: Former FBI Director Robert Mueller has died at the age of 81. A Purple Heart recipient in Vietnam, he dedicated his life to standing up for democracy. RETWEET to honor Mueller’s life of service ❤️

Rejoining single market has long been the obvious first step to improve UK economic and strategic relationship with EU. UK could rejoin SM now, from outside EU, by rejoining European economic area (EEA), which nobody ever voted to leave. That’s worth 3%+ on UK GDP.

Too right. If we invest in our farmers we can bring down the cost of living and improve our food security.

‼️ Hegseth accuses Iran of investing in weapons instead of its people. Then asks for $200 billion more for bombs and missiles. You couldn’t make it up.

Interesting piece on why Labour is coming to a pro-EU stance: it’s not only an economic & geopolitical imperative in the national interest - it’s also that they’ve lost 19% support to the Rejoiners of the Greens & LibDems bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

It's now unarguable that the war on Iran is one of the most blatant crimes of aggression in history. You now have not 1 but 2 external participants of the US-Iran talks (Oman’s foreign minister and the UK's National Security Advisor) who confirm that the US and Israel attacked despite Iran effectively meeting US conditions for a deal - ensuring it could never build a nuclear weapon, permanently. As per The Guardian article (theguardian.com/world/2026/mar…), Jonathan Powell "believed the path remained open to a negotiated solution to the long-running issue of how Iran could reassure the US that it was not seeking a nuclear weapon," and "UK officials [...] were impressed that Iran was prepared for the deal to be permanent." Concretely, this means the war wasn't a failure of diplomacy but a deliberate destruction of it. And it also means that the US and Israel have irresponsibly plunged the entire world in an unprecedented energy crisis, affecting the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide, when it was completely avoidable. It's beyond me how you can look at this and not conclude that the real threat all along wasn't Iran but the US-Israeli axis - they're the only parties at the table who wanted war and are making every person on the planet pay the price for it. Extraordinarily, even the UK National Security Advisor is now basically saying this.

Now that Trump has been dragged by his son-in-law into an Israeli war with Lebanon as well as Iran, he demands that his NATO allies, who he regularly demeans, insults and threatens to invade, now join him in his illegal ‘excursion’. Yet he has no clear idea what his war aims are.

"This war was not Ukraine's or Zelensky's choice. Their choice was to defend themselves against an aggressor, defend their state and their citizens, and defend their dreams of freedom, human rights, and of joining NATO and the European Union." - Donald Tusk PM of Poland I agree with him..

In 1989, the UK Government wrote off £5BN off debts so that the water industry was privatised debt-free. They also gave them a £1.6BN green dowry on top Since privatisation, the water companies have paid out £85BN in dividends & now owe £60BN+ Thames alone are £22.8BN in debt

@sentdefender He didn’t say he’d spoken to a live former President.

After President Trump claimed to reporters twice today that he had recently spoken to a former president who praised his actions in Iran, saying: “I wish I did what you did.” Aides to all four living presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have issued statements to CNN, saying there is no record of any communications between them and President Trump.

Now to follow through the logic of that statement, persuade Starmer to drop his red lines and rejoin the single market - albeit from outside EU for now via European Economic Area agreement (EEA).

It was a great delight to meet and share views on made in Europe and so many other trade issues. The 🇬🇧 and 🇫🇷 are as one in our entente commerciale

First, the Omani FM came out and revealed that there was a deal on the table that met Trump's demands, but that he instead chose war. And now, it is revealed that the British National Security Advisor was also part of the talks, and he too attests to the fact that A) there was no imminent threat from Iran, B) Trump could have gotten a surprisingly good deal if he stuck to diplomacy. But the perhaps most damning quote in the story comes at the end, attributed to an unnamed diplomat: “We regarded Witkoff and Kushner as Israeli assets that dragged a president into a war he wants to get out of.” theguardian.com/world/2026/mar…