Daniel Fryer

Amazing original painting of Lewis Hamilton and his last race for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi by a good friend. @LewisHamilton @MercedesAMGF1 @F1WDC2021 @RobLMyers

Never buying Cadbury's @CadburyUK chocolate again. Opened a box of milk tray and my first experience of the new manufacturing with palm oil. Loved it all my life, but not now. Horrible taste and texture. oleaginous. 🤢

@afneil Shameful…

Just an everyday tale of infrastructure in the UK — how to spend £179m on not building a tunnel.

@dan7heman @CadburyUK So true, they’ve destroyed the taste…

I’m sorry @CadburyUK but your chocolate is now horrid. Palm oil makes the taste and texture all wrong. Profiteering above all else has ruined the most famous product from my city. Should never have sold out to out to Craft. #chocolate #cadbury

@IamAustinHealey Agreed, awful decision making…and not the first time.

Sorry that’s unforgivable from your captain

AN OPEN LETTER TO LEWIS HAMILTON Mr Hamilton, You have recently spoken about Britain’s past and suggested that the country should consider returning land in Africa as some form of historical reckoning. Before making such sweeping statements, it might be worth revisiting the full history — not just the fashionable fragments that circulate on social media. Slavery was not invented by Britain. It existed for millennia across the ancient world — in empires from Rome to the Middle East and Africa. By the time Britain emerged as a maritime power, slave trading networks already stretched across continents. The Atlantic trade itself involved multiple participants. African rulers and traders captured and sold prisoners to European merchants on the coast. It was an ugly system, but it was also an international one. What is often omitted from modern lectures about history is that Britain became the first major power to turn against the trade. Parliament passed the 1807 Act abolishing the slave trade, and the Royal Navy then spent decades enforcing that decision. The West Africa Squadron patrolled thousands of miles of coastline. Sailors died from disease and from gunfire while intercepting slave ships. In doing so they liberated tens of thousands of people who would otherwise have been carried into bondage. Many of those liberated Africans were settled in Sierra Leone. The capital was named Freetown for a reason. There are also chapters rarely mentioned today. When Napoleon restored slavery in French territories after it had been abolished, it was British power that ultimately helped end those systems again. There is also the matter of the enormous compensation loan taken by the British state when slavery was abolished across the empire — a debt British taxpayers continued servicing for generations. None of this erases the suffering of those enslaved. But it does mean the story is far more complex than the simple narrative often presented today. So before condemning Britain wholesale, perhaps a moment might be taken to acknowledge the sailors who fought the slave traders and the role Britain played in shutting down the Atlantic system. A fitting tribute would be support for a memorial to those men who served and died enforcing abolition. History deserves honesty — not slogans. Yours sincerely Stan Robinson Voice of Wales @VoWalesWren @alanlester #SouthAfricaSquadron #RoyalNavy #VoiceOfWales

Awful display, 3rd in a row….Borthwick has to go… #sixnations #england

@RupertLowe10 Brilliant, the heavily punitive tax system is crippling millions across the country forcing them into inside IR35 roles where taxation is significantly higher than for an equivalent employee (thanks to umbrella costs and employer NI), plus they have their business costs on top!

Sole traders. Micro businesses with one or two employees. Freelancers. Plumbers. Electricians. Hairdressers. Mechanics. Accountants. Gardeners. Whatever it is, whoever they are. These are the workers that keep the economy going. Not the big global corporates. Politicians, and those devising the rules, simply do not understand how these people live. Nobody ever even talks about the one or two people operations in Westminster. Saturday morning in the bureaucrat’s world? Friday working from home, so nice easy day to finish off the week. Laptop closed by 15.00. Phone off for the weekend, not a care in the world. Life is sweet. Holiday coming up, mortgage comfortable, pension growing nicely. The sole trader? Getting invoices and paperwork sorted at 6am before the children wake up. Chasing up late payments. Weighing up whether to do that last minute emergency call out, or spend time with the kids on a Saturday. Getting the diary sorted for next week. Phone goes and goes all weekend. It is never-ending. It does not stop. It’s two different worlds honestly. The issue is that the latter entirely funds the former, and the former is hellbent on making life as difficult as possible for productive Britain. I want to be really clear about what Restore Britain would do. Two things. Crush parasitic Britain. Unleash productive Britain. First. Scrap IR35. It has created years of confusion, fear and chaos for contractors and small operators. It has pushed countless self-employed people into pointless paperwork and rigid inflexibility. Doesn’t work. It’s a right pain in the arse for millions. Scrap it. Second, we will double the VAT threshold. The current threshold traps thousands of small businesses just as they begin to grow. Many deliberately stop expanding to avoid the enormous administrative burden of VAT and the brutal cost hikes which drive demand away. The evidence of is obvious. Thousands hover just below the threshold, refusing to grow, hire or pay more tax. It is ABSURD. Restore Britain would double the VAT threshold so small businesses can grow without being punished for success. This is absolutely necessary. An important one - we would dramatically simplify the tax system for sole traders and micro-businesses (and everyone else, but that's separate). Instead of forcing small operators through pages of complicated accounting rules designed for large corporations, we will introduce a far simplified tax regime for businesses below a certain size. Less paperwork, fewer forms, clearer rules. More money for them, less for the accountants and parasitic professional class. Sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it? Next. We will end the endless culture of inspections and bureaucratic interference from the bureaucrats. Too many small businesses now live in fear of accidental breaches - whether it’s health and safety nonsense, employment law complexity, ridiculous data laws or constantly changing compliance requirements. The stress is immense. If you are a sole trader or micro-business acting in good faith, the system should support you, not threaten you. Restore Britain will free them from endless regulatory suffocation. The mental health release on that is worth it alone. Means a lot to me, this one. Restore Britain will make it easier for tradespeople to hire apprentices. This is important. One of the biggest problems small businesses face is bringing in the next generation. The current system is too complicated, too expensive and too rigid for small firms. Restore Britain will introduce simple, flexible apprenticeship schemes designed specifically for small businesses and trades. Up next, we will simplify planning and licensing rules. For small builders, tradespeople and contractors - planning restrictions and local bureaucracy can delay work for months and add unnecessary costs. I detest planning departments more than I can describe in language appropriate for a Saturday morning. These jumped-up empire-building little runts running councils across Britain will have their power stripped away from them. We will let people do business, we will let business owners run their businesses without the sneering council worker’s constant box ticking. Not complicated. We will restore respect for the self-employed. Look at how they were treated during lockdown. Like dirt. Entirely abandoned whilst others were paid to do nothing. That must be addressed, and they must be compensated. The excluded must finally be recognised. That wrong must be rectified. Under a Restore Britain Government, their efforts will be appreciated, celebrated and most importantly? Rewarded. This is the key point. Let’s not pretend otherwise. The five golden rules of business. What’s in it for me? We will radically slash tax and raise thresholds. Tax on dividends would be hacked down so that success pays. More work, pays. Effort, pays. If the electrician does that last minute job on a Saturday, it will be worth their time. They will be rewarded, not HMRC. Restore Britain will slash the bureaucracy, simplify the rules, cut the taxes. We will give small businesses the freedom they need to thrive, to support their families and to succeed. Parasitic Britain will end. Sole traders and micro businesses finally have a political party that will fight for them. Restore Britain.

@AnthonyAinsdale No true Brit would agree to this.

The Gibraltar 'deal' allows the Spanish to board and inspect royal navy warships and RAF planes. This is completely unacceptable. Starmer is the worst negotiator in the history of mankind.

Is this really happening in our country??? Surely the Police are onto this now??

Every football club on earth exists because of this island. 🇬🇧 Kings banned it. The richest schools in England claimed it. They wrote the rules and locked the gates. Then the working class stole it back. In 1850, Parliament passed the Factory Act. Work stopped at two on a Saturday. Working men had free time. And they chose football. Churches formed clubs to keep men out of pubs: Aston Villa, Bolton, Everton. Factories formed teams from their own workers: West Ham from the Thames Ironworks, Arsenal from a munitions factory. The FA Cup Final. Blackburn Olympic: weavers, spinners, a plumber. They beat the Old Etonians 2-1. No private school team ever reached the final again. Then British workers carried it everywhere they went ⚽🌍 Scottish miners in Spain founded its oldest club. A Nottingham lace trader gave Juventus their black and white stripes. A butcher's son from the same city founded AC Milan. British railway workers in Uruguay named their team after Stephenson's Rocket. Cornish miners founded Mexico's first football club. A schoolteacher from Kent taught the game to his students in Argentina. His school produced Lionel Messi. A boy from Southampton brought two footballs to Brazil. They call him the father of Brazilian football. Real Madrid are said to wear white because of an English amateur team. From Lancashire cotton mills to every continent on earth. Three and a half billion people watch football. The most popular sport ever created. And it was created here. By the British people. Every Saturday, three o'clock. That kickoff time exists because of the Factory Act of 1850. The moment working men were given an afternoon off. They chose football. And the world followed. No owners. No sponsors. Just supporters. Be part of us. 👉 proudofus.co.uk/support 🙏 Be Proud Of Us. 🇬🇧

@LondonMoneyFS Don’t forget the colossal damage caused by stamp duty, it’s throttling the whole market, forcing people to live in unsuitable properties…

No one would have believed you if you told them back in 2013 that buying a £1m property in zone 2 would result in zero capital growth 13 years later And yet here we are ….

I love that I grew up in the era of dancing till the lights came on, stumbling out of sticky bars, knowing the DJ, no cameras anywhere. Just vibes and blurry memories. I’d take that over spending my 20s on a phone being socially awkward any day.

Clifton Suspension Bridge’s new lighting system is stunning

@IamAustinHealey Agreed!

Comfortably the worst fortnight ever as an English fan I can remember!!!

@it_unprofession We have the same, and they install mgmt software which sometimes bricks the device and have no support in place when that happens.

My kid's school just sent an email about their "1:1 device program." Every student gets an iPad. The school is very excited about "technology-enhanced learning." The iPad costs $800. Paid by parents. Plus $200/year for "device insurance and management." I asked what happens if we don't want to buy the iPad. They said it's mandatory for the curriculum. So it's a $1,000 textbook that plays games and breaks when you drop it. I asked what software they're using that requires an iPad specifically. Teacher said "various educational apps." I asked which ones. She sent me a list. I looked them up. They all have web versions that work on any device. So they don't need iPads. They want iPads. And they're making parents pay for it. But I can't be the parent who fights the iPad program because then I'm the asshole who doesn't support education technology. So I'm writing a $1,000 check for an iPad my kid will use to watch YouTube during class. The school gets to say they're "innovative." Apple gets to sell 500 iPads. Parents get to fund it. And in three years they'll switch to Chromebooks and we'll do this again.

@AmbJapanUK Awesome, although so sad craft destroyed cadburys chocolate…it’s chocolate no longer.

Fantastic time at Cadbury World!!😁

@hostproductions The brief clip of the monument looks to me like the Lansdowne Monument at nearby Cherhill, Wilts.

I will always remember the day that 7 year old me was watching the music channel and... THIS CAME ON!? MY MIND EXPLODED. We didn't have the internet. I never knew it existed. For that moment in time it was literally the best thing humanity had ever created.