Steve Brandom

@Kevin_Maguire This really isn't our biggest problem. The bigger problem is the incompetence and stupidity of most MPs, of all parties. Halving the number of MPs, PR voting and paying them more would solve that.

Billionaire nepo baby in a bejewelled crown on a glittering gold throne in an unelected House of Cronies promises working people a fair deal. Welcome to Britain’s Disney democracy.

@John_Stepek To be really mean MPs and SPADs would also have to make an annual declaration of their average holding over a year in UK assets with a 10% minimum in UK equities and a mandatory 10% in Gilts. 😂

By the way, the most effective (if not easy) way to get this done would be to swap MP defined benefit pension scheme for defined contribution (like most private sector staff). They'd get the hang of markets pretty sharpish and maybe pension rules would stop changing so often.

@AyoCaesar They'll lose unless they ditch the current policy re energy. Everyone with 1/2 a brain knows it's dumb. It's why our energy cost is the highest in Europe. Why are we giving tax revenue to Norway? Why is our trade balance dire? Why is our borrowing cost so high?

If Labour opt for a leader who represents a change in personality, comms, vibes or whatever, they'll still lose the next General Election. They need someone who actually has a theory of change, which of the runners and riders, I've only seen Andy Burnham hint at.

@johnauthers @afneil has just broadcast/posted an alternate opinion. Does the US market have it's "head in the clouds"? (Note to US readers, Andrew Neil is broadcasting on a "right wing" channel) x.com/i/status/20512…

Iran is losing the standoff as long as US markets retain confidence in AI spending and avoid financial pain. There's no sign of that cracking bloomberg.com/opinion/newsle…

@SimonCalder Super taxing private jets would raise ZERO. They'd simply not refuel in the UK. It's one of the more crazy ideas by folk who've not engaged their brains. Maybe one day we'll have politicians with brains? Probably not in my lifetime though 😟

Jet fuel. Don't panic. But of these options to conserve fuel for important holiday/family flights, which do you prefer: Cancel many domestic flights within Great Britain, put people on trains instead. Super-tax private jets. Ground government planes. Make ministers fly commercial

@SBarrettBar Your tweet is nonsense. If a party is elected with a majority where the manifesto includes rejoining the EU the they can. You're a pretty useless at law! Specially for a barrister!

He can't take us back inside the EU without a Referendum That is constitutionally settled.

@LindseyGrahamSC @POTUS We call this brown nosing. First, you're forgetting POTUS should have obtained approval for his war in congress/the senate. It's not yet a legal war in the USA. He won't seek approval because neither the Senate or Congress will approve his actions.

Just spoke to @POTUS about our European allies’ unwillingness to provide assets to keep the Strait of Hormuz functioning, which benefits Europe far more than America. I have never heard him so angry in my life. I share that anger given what’s at stake. The arrogance of our allies to suggest that Iran with a nuclear weapon is of little concern and that military action to stop the ayatollah from acquiring a nuclear bomb is our problem not theirs is beyond offensive. The European approach to containing the ayatollah’s nuclear ambitions have proven to be a miserable failure. The repercussions of providing little assistance to keep the Strait of Hormuz functioning are going to be wide and deep for Europe and America. I consider myself very forward-leaning on supporting alliances, however at a time of real testing like this, it makes me second guess the value of these alliances. I am certain I am not the only senator who feels this way.

@MerrynSW Next she'll be claiming lights out data centres will create lots of "high skilled, high paid" jobs, unless she's made the claim already 😂😂

This will require lots of cheap energy. Plus some land. It is therefore not possible in the UK. That's all.

@jruddy99 A dumb tweet. Oil production would sure help the UK's dire trade deficit and economic woes. Currently most of the UK's energy is imported, and you think that's smart? We even have to import most of our solar panels and wind turbines. Is that smart too?

If we drilled for every single one of those 7.5 billion barrels today, they would all be sold for $100 each - because that is the international market price. There is no guarantee a single drop would even reach the UK's petrol forecourts.

@mrstivvi play dress up? loving those vintage suspenders, what brand are they/ where did you buy them?

24 full hours together ! What will we do , make a plan 😊🥰

@DanNeidle @John_Stepek @forexflowlive The smart thing to do, which won't happen is: dramatically downsize the number of MPs, pay them properly and require full disclosure (eg trusts, external funding etc). This might even attract competent candidates if it's implemented using PR with regional party lists.

@John_Stepek @forexflowlive What's more impressive is what's not in the register. Top tips: step 1: create a company which you wholly own step 2: do dodgy shit in that company step 3: disclose your ownership of the company, and not its activities You are now fully compliant.

Seriously, I do think it might be an idea for MPs to finally be subject to the compliance rules that pretty much every other sector in the UK economy is held to

@benrileysmith That's a lot of folk Farage's recruited who were fired by the population!

Reform now has Boris Johnson’s… - chancellor (Zahawi) - communities sec (Jenrick) - culture sec (Dorries) - attorney general (Braverman) - political sec (Kruger) - skills minister (Jenkyns) - Northern powerhouse minister (Berry) - health minister (Caulfield) - parliamentary private sec (Nici) - assistant whip (Holloway) - Scottish minister (Offord) The old band getting back together

The usual Trump sycophants and know-nothings are all piling in claiming he’s a genius, this is the art of the deal in action, he played hardball to get a better Greenland deal than was otherwise available. It’s all nonsense. In fact, it’s TACO in action, a Trump surrender, a victory for European NATO for refusing to be cowed/bludgeoned. You will find there is nothing in the framework agreement re Greenland/Arctic region that hasn’t been available to USA/Trump for weeks, months, years. A much bigger US military presence. More US bases. Use of Greenland for the ‘Golden Dome’ missile shield defence. All available under existing arrangements, with Denmark saying many times it’s happy to go even further, with European NATO backing. Now NATO and America together will put more military resources into the High North as it grows in strategic significance. Trump gets nothing that wasn’t on offer before all his absurd threats and bluster about annexation. European NATO will nevertheless breathe a sigh of relief. But it should rest on its laurels. It urgently needs to reconfigure NATO so it’s a lot less vulnerable to Trump/Vance grandstanding/bullying in the future. Trump has backed down. But it’s no less of a wake up call for European NATO.

Nigel Farage on Nadhim Zahawi in July 2022: "I thought Zahawi had principles. Tonight we learn, he's just about climbing that greasy pole."

@MerrynSW Looks like it's on The Telegraph's problem page 😂😂😂😂. Is the advice is as ridiculous as the problem?

Cut the price (again). It isn't that you can't sell.it is that you can't sell at this price.

@KateAndrs It doesn't. If what you say was true (it isn't) why has Chevron been importing oil from Venezuela and supplying then naphftha to enable them to pipe their oil throughout this period?

@afneil She either needs to sack herself or ALL her advisors who invent this drival.

As many suspected and feared we have a Chancellor who knows nothing about stock markets. Or hostages to fortune: when the FTSE 100 plummets, as one day it will, by her logic that would a vote of no confidence in the UK economy.

@FraserNelson It's called "straws" and "clutching". Sad but true, just like the last Tory government playbook that repeatedly called a 1/4's GDP a success, while studiously avoiding GDP per head comparisons.

The FTSE100 is, alas, no proxy for economic confidence - now lower than it was at the nadir of the 2008 crash…

@ChrisGPackham aka let's waste loads of police time when there's not enough of them to tackle rape, murders and stealing.

Everyone knows trail hunting is just a smokescreen for illegal fox hunting . Let's make 2026 the year it's finally banned !

@BBCPolitics Idiots if they do this, it'll simply add to inflation and more imports of cheaper eggs and chicken. Guess they'll do it then!

Government planning to end use of hen cages as part of a raft of proposals to improve animal welfare standards in England bbc.in/4j9dG93