Ben Houchen

Labour market policy...

So you price young people out of the labour market with huge rises in the minimum wage and national insurance. Then you subsidise employers to employ young people. Government is brilliant. Simply brilliant.

These figures are startling. Welfare costs more than we raise in income tax. Yes that includes pensions. But the cost of paying for those who do not work, is no longer covered by taxing the labour of those who do work.

This goes up to £413bn for benefits by 2030. Rachel Reeves tried to cut that by just £5bn - and it provoked a major Labour revolt. But the Labour Government are definitely going to impose major government spending cuts like they promised to make this all add up 🤨

This is a masterclass in communication.

When some of the most senior Atlanticist Americans are saying this, we should worry where it may leave Britain one day when we need them. And for us to take this action to deny the US key abilities to tackle one of the most violent and depraved regimes in history - fresh from murdering thousands of its own people who dared to ask for freedom - is beyond wrongheaded.

If it turns out to be true that Britain is denying the United States the ability to use British bases against Iran if there is a necessity for an attack - it would be beyond surprising.  I’ve been a military lawyer most of my adult life. What they’re saying about the status of Diego Garcia, the joint US-UK military base, is a huge question.  The bottom line is the largest state sponsor of terrorism on the planet is the weakest it’s been because the people of Iran have risen up by the millions to end their oppression and the United States and Israel have delivered crushing blows to the regime’s military infrastructure.  To my friends in Britain, sitting this one out puts you on the wrong side of history and is yet another example of how much our alliances throughout Europe have degraded.

One thing the situation in Iran has made crystal clear is that whichever country, regime, group or political ideology, no matter how vile, disgusting or repressive, however many people are massacred or exterminated, as long as they are anti-West, specifically anti-US (and by extension anti-Israel), they will have the unquestioning support of the majority of the liberal left and the entertainment world. The same “progressive left” who happily live in the west, profit from its relative freedoms, yet turn their activism on and off like a switch, or in some cases, even make a living out of it. It is disappointing and exhausting. But grateful to all those who have spoken out. Especially in the comedy community. It takes a lot of guts to do so when everyone around you is looking the other way.

Just hear me out, but surely you can easily eliminate all risk from the new embassy by NOT APPROVING it 🤷🏻‍♂️

My thoughts on the Jenrick defection and the past 24 hours. Political parties are bigger than any one individual. With roots stretching back well over 250 years, the Conservative Party does not hinge on a single person and never will. Its strength has always come from being broader, deeper, and more enduring than any one personality. This stands in stark contrast to the party Robert Jenrick has joined, where one charismatic individual is, in effect, the party itself, a model that is unlikely to endure for long in British politics. Since last autumn’s party conference, there have been clear signs of renewed momentum under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership. Reform has come off its highs, and the Conservative vote share has begun to recover, overtaking Labour and placing the party back into second place. Against that backdrop, the events of the past 24 hours feel particularly striking. It is all the more notable that this rupture involves the same figure who, only a year ago, sought to lead the party himself. But politics should not be reduced to individual episodes or short term media moments. What matters far more, for the Conservatives and for the country, is the quality of those elected to Parliament: their seriousness, their sense of duty to constituents, and their ability to articulate a credible and optimistic vision for the future. On that subject, tomorrow in London, the first cohort of 20 Conservatives Together Fellows will graduate from a six month training programme. They are the pioneers, the first of up to 500 potential Conservative MPs who will be trained by the next election to lead, to represent, and to help build a better country. Renewal does not come through shock headlines or defections. It is built patiently through long term work: the policy thinking that underpinned Kemi’s success at conference, and the investment in people that will ensure the strongest possible candidates are put before voters. The next chapter of Conservative renewal does not begin with the headlines of the past 24 hours, but with moments like tomorrow’s graduation ceremony, where new talent, ideas, and leadership are quietly taking shape.

This ruling is a victory for dignity, privacy and common sense. No woman should feel unsafe or humiliated at work for speaking up about her lawful right to single-sex spaces. These incredible nurses showed courage - and they were right. I hope this is a turning point.

🚨Our film is up We spent months making this👇 About how Britain shut down many of the factories we need to feed us and defend us. Will have more to say on it in due course but in the meantime - pls watch, share and let me know what you think youtube.com/watch?v=PQ3hT8…

When are we getting a joint letter from Labour’s metro mayors on Iran?

As I said the other day, Venezuela isn’t what happens when socialism fails, it’s what happens when socialism succeeds. Corruption, poverty, repression.

People are catching on that the so-called 'tourist tax' is actually just another tax on Brits. Some wrongly assume that these taxes will be paid largely by foreign tourists but the vast majority of visitors are British - at least 80%. So it is us who will be taxed, not in our own town, but in other ones. A surveys shows that 55% believe the proposed visitor levy should apply only to travellers from overseas. Said Tees Valley mayor @BenHouchen: “With the cost of living already through the roof, the last thing the hospitality sector needs is another charge slapped on a weekend away or staycation. “People are already feeling the squeeze, & this polling couldn’t be clearer that they don’t want to be clobbered by yet more tax. Slapping a charge on weekends away would only price people out even further and hit local businesses right where it hurts.”

Instead of reporting on the actual protests - people desperately fighting for freedom against all the odds - The Guardian's main headline today on Iran opted to act as the voice of the Islamic Republic, warning Trump about getting involved in their own domestic civil unrest they are losing control over. What is undeniably unfolding across Iran right now is an uprising against the Islamic regime itself. Yet the Guardian writes (and how’s this for curated understatement): “economic conditions are the central grievance, demonstrators have also chanted anti-government slogans and decried what they said was corruption and mismanagement by the government.” Trump’s MoCA cognitive tests, where he reportedly had to recognise a picture of a giraffe among other animals like a lion, a fish and a hippopotamus that he supposedly "aced", have more depth. Let this be your reminder: it’s not the news. It never has been. It always was, and always will be, what they want you to believe is “the news”. theguardian.com/world/2026/jan…

Genuinely shocked to see BBC Verify have chosen now to be out there giving an impression we should not believe what we are seeing in #Iran based on one image (of a real event). Amplification of this intensely organic revolution by Israeli social media accounts is making many believe this is another Israel-USA plot, leaving a great many people terrified of being called out to hide behind the fog. However, before the BBC have covered anything with any extended analysis, and in the interests of trying to keep a balanced view (with law suits from the current US administration pending) because of an AI doctored post by a Persian language Israeli Foreign Ministry X account we are all now being admonished by the BBC to question everything we see regarding #IranProtests when 8 have been killed already by regime forces and massive protests erupted and legitimately reported on in 27 cities & towns across Iran. The people of Iran have no concerns regarding anyone being left, right, monarchist or anarchist. This uprising is real and it’s happening now. What ever BBC Verify think. bbc.co.uk/news/live/c87r…

‘We spent hundreds of diplomatic man hours negotiating the return of a foreign prisoner who has no personal link to Britain, then on his way back we found out he was a jew-hating psychopath who supports the murder of cops. Then when he got home we let him walk free, unlike Graham Linehan who just tweeted some jokes about trans people and was greeted by armed police at the airport. Oh and while he was on his way home the guy in question was openly attacking the UK government that freed him from foreign prison’ How are you meant to retell that story and not sound like an ‘end is nigh’ fantasist?

If you explained the Alaa return story to an ordinary person in the street they’d think you were a rightwing nutter making up conspiratorial fanfiction

The right decision But the billions in tax rises Labour need to make the year before the next election - the only reason Labour were able to balance their tax and borrow budget - are clearly fantasy Expect more borrowing and more taxes at next budget & for the markets to react