Ash

@KemiBadenoch , you delivered that well even if I don’t agree with every point, the conviction was clear. But there’s a much bigger issue than today’s Budget. We’re entering a new industrial era driven by AI, and Britain is nowhere near ready for the energy and compute this transition requires. AI isn’t powered by speeches - it’s powered by electricity. The US is building AI-grade nuclear capacity. China is accelerating small modular reactors and uranium supply chains. Both are preparing for an era where compute = national power. Meanwhile the UK is debating tax tweaks while running out of the energy needed to power a single large-scale AI site. So I’m asking you directly, publicly: What is the Conservative plan to ensure Britain has the nuclear, uranium and AI-compute infrastructure needed to compete with the US and China - instead of sliding into a modern Dark Age? Because leadership in this era won’t be judged by today’s Budget, but by whether we’re still an AI nation in 10 years.

This is arguing the symptom, not the system. The UK produces oil & gas, yet households see no pricing benefit because it’s sold at global rates. That’s the flaw. Until that’s addressed, “drill more” or “don’t drill” is the wrong conversation. And presenting it as a complete answer without acknowledging that gap isn’t serious. We are not fools and will not be fooled @ZackPolanski

Drilling for more oil & gas in the North Sea won't lower bills, it won't make us more energy independent and it won't insulate us from price shocks. A Labour backslide on this would be a huge betrayal. Double down on renewables. Insulate every home. Lower bills, permanently.

@Ed_Miliband That’s a complete waste of money. Why don’t you use that? 64 million stop the Ludacris taxes on North Sea and drill baby drill we know that is one of the most abundant things on the planet.

We’re investing £64m to transform Port Talbot into Wales' first floating offshore wind hub. That means 5,000 good jobs, £500m of investment and enough clean power for 6.5m homes. We are putting Wales at the heart of our clean energy superpower mission. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@PaulBarasi @implausibleblog @ZackPolanski 99% of every other party too many to name But given your statement, I’m sure he could use his mind powers on you to make you think that your breast of grown too

@implausibleblog Who do other political parties have that can compete with @ZackPolanski for being articulate, engaging, informed, reasonable, and able to actually answer the question with real content?

Bloomberg, "If you were PM today, what would you do differently to Keir Starmer?" Zack Polanski, "In short term, this is Trump and Netanyahu's war, it's unpopular and illegal and I don't want to see the UK anywhere near it" "Ordinary people are paying the price for this war as we're seeing energy prices rising" "Energy prices were already too high, we were already in a cost of living crisis, so it is unacceptable to imagine energy bills will rise even further" "We can't allow people to freeze in winter or live in damp and mouldy homes. It's the government's job to intervene" "In the longer term, making sure we don't keep facing these repeated climate shocks and energy risks" "If we decarbonise by 2050 that would cost less than one single time of these energy shocks that we keep having" "This inaction is costing us badly, in terms of our energy bills, but also in terms of the climate crisis" "We need something like a rising block tariff, so people's energy bills up until some point are free" "We need to transition to renewable energy, it's much cheaper than oil and gas"

@implausibleblog @ZackPolanski It’s all utter nonsense. The company that rips us off is the government as they make most of the money and the profit on our energy cost it’s all smoke and mirrors.

@MartinSLewis I would give more to the one that’s more successful

PS clearly their are many other routes such as discuss it with the adult children, but this is just an interesting hypothetical so I wanted to keep the choice stark.

Today’s Poll: If a couple had two adult children - one financially very successful and one struggling - should their Will leave their estate 50-50, or divide it more based on need? Which comes CLOSEST to your view in this hypothetical?

@RachelReevesMP @bphillipsonMP It’s too expensive to do business here. Taxes are too high. Energy price is too high. Red tape is too high. And anyone who believes otherwise must be high!!

This government will make the UK the best place in the world for quantum and AI companies to start, scale and stay. In a changing world, our economic plan is the right one. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@ideological_1 Hard to understand how a company charging such high parking fees can still end up in debt. Something doesn’t add up.

How can NCP be going bankrupt? They charge an absolute fortune to park in their car parks!

@robprogressive Some might call it foolish and suggest cutting corners here or there but those opinions usually come from people who’ve never operated at a £10k-plus level. When you’re playing a different game, the decisions look different.

£10k/mo is nothing £2,500 mortgage/rent £300 utility bills £1,100 food £250 gifts/subscriptions £1200 travel £600 shopping £1950 investments £1000 car payments/travel £400 savings you’re left with £700

@robprogressive The logic for them is that they are not for small business they are for government owned government employed government subsidised and if the government is not involved they don’t want it

The UK budget was written by people who don’t understand small business & have never run one either Where’s the logic?

I’m not arguing against vaccination, and I’m not interested in culture wars. What I am concerned about is how easily parental judgment is dismissed or vilified when it doesn’t fit a neat narrative. After my son had severe reactions to his first two vaccinations, including becoming unconscious and non-responsive, we were still pressured to continue. That pressure did not just come abstractly. It came from people working within the GP surgery itself. The tone was not neutral or supportive. It was dismissive. At times it crossed into judgement, with the implication that refusing further vaccinations made us bad parents or “anti-vax.” That framing is dangerous. We were fortunate in one sense. We are not faint-hearted, naive, or easily intimidated. We trusted what we had already seen happen to our child. Many parents are not in that position. They defer. They comply. They silence their instincts because they are made to feel ignorant or irresponsible. In our case, if we had done that, I genuinely believe my child would not be here. This is exactly why this issue deserves serious, open debate. Public health cannot be built on coercion, shame, or the erosion of informed consent. Science depends on nuance. Medicine depends on individual assessment. Parenting depends on courage. Labeling concerned parents instead of listening to them is not evidence-based practice. It is authority without accountability. That should concern everyone, regardless of where they stand on vaccines.

@SplashBlack @Keir_Starmer Then your child is another reason why all the others who can take it, should. To protect him. If he reacted badly to the vaccine, God help him if he catches the actual live virus 🙏

It’s concerning to see more children getting measles. Vaccines are safe, effective and can be life saving. We’re urging all parents to check their children are up to date with their recommended vaccinations. Our country expects its leaders to stand firmly behind science to protect our children, not to give oxygen to conspiracy theories. Public health isn’t a culture war. It’s about keeping our communities safe.

@elonmusk I couldn’t agree more

He makes a good point. Saying this about any other race would be condemned immediately and should be. So why is it not incredibly racist and wrong to say this about Whites?

@ClarksonsFarm1 I run multiple businesses and they’re all feeling it. We’re studying everything, planning for multiple scenarios - but right now we’re on a hiring freeze across every business, and an investment freeze too. Caution has replaced confidence, and that tells its own story.

If you own a small business or farm, or are self-employed, how are you finding business conditions in the current economy?

That feels true in a lot of areas. The hard question is why we keep repeating it. is it because policymakers don’t engage with the people actually hiring, training, and managing day to day? What do you think would change if policy started with incentives and trade-offs rather than intentions?

@SplashBlack @moreaboutaaman @Keir_Starmer Our entire political landscape is dominated by well intentioned policies that have disastrous real world effects.

The Employment Rights Act is now law. This is the biggest upgrade to working people’s rights in a generation. You will be protected from fire and rehire. You won't be forced onto an exploitative zero hour contract. You will get sick pay from day one. You will have stronger family leave. And so much more. I couldn’t be prouder to lead the government that made this happen.

This is exactly where it heads. Employers won’t take on permanent risk they’ll shift to Amazon-style models: agency labour, zero attachment, zero security. “Sorry, there’s no work for you today” becomes the norm. Fewer rights in practice, not more just pushed one step further away from the employer.

@Keir_Starmer And unemployment will soar even higher than it went up after the NI rise. AI will be chosen over hiring. Net penalty to ‘working people’.

@SRFielding72 @Keir_Starmer Up up up

@Keir_Starmer Congrats, what’s your estimate on increased unemployment?

I get the intention, but the unintended consequence is real. This will make people riskier to employ, not safer - especially for small businesses. When costs and liabilities rise overnight, hiring slows, flexibility disappears… and yes, I can already see a lot more “Monday sickness” pending. Good policy has to work in the real world, not just on paper.

This is a landmark step for working people. Protections against fire-and-rehire, day-one sick pay, and stronger family leave meaningfully shift the balance toward dignity and security at work. The real test now will be rigorous implementation and enforcement so these rights are felt on the ground by those who need them most.

On paper it sounds compassionate. In reality, it shifts more cost, risk, and rigidity onto small businesses already under pressure. Rights without productivity, flexibility, or economic growth don’t protect jobs ! they quietly destroy them. You can’t legislate prosperity. You have to create the conditions for it.

I’m not against calling out toxic masculinity — but define it. Properly. Because right now the term is so elastic that traditional male traits — discipline, stoicism, competitiveness, protection, leadership — are increasingly treated as something pathological. If that’s the claim, say it openly. If it isn’t, stop using language that blurs the line. We’re told we live in an equal society — so here’s the unavoidable question: Are we also prepared to define and challenge toxic femininity, or is accountability now gender-specific? Toxicity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It survives in imbalance. You don’t fix society by vilifying one sex and shielding the other from scrutiny. And now this is being pushed onto teachers — already overstretched — through vague ideology, DEI frameworks that actively sort people by race and gender, and narratives that undermine merit, responsibility, and shared standards. DEI is not neutral. Much of it is explicitly discriminatory, and in many cases openly racist by definition. So what exactly is being imposed in schools — and under what authority? Are we quietly replacing Britain’s existing British Values framework — democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect — with something ideological, undefined, and politically contested? Because safeguarding children requires clarity, balance, and truth — not slogans, not imported culture wars, and not turning teachers into ideological enforcers. Equality without equal accountability isn’t progress. It’s dogma.

I want my daughter to grow up in a Britain where she feels safe in school, online, and in relationships. Every young girl deserves that, and every young boy should be protected from harmful misogynistic influences. My government is making that happen, by backing teachers, calling out misogyny and intervening early. We can stop harm before it starts and save a generation of young men from the influence of online misogynists.

I think people are missing the point. The real surge in energy demand won’t be domestic it will come from AI and the infrastructure that supports it. If that infrastructure can be moved into space, you gain a major strategic lead. You can generate power, cool the systems, and carry out the computing off-planet, then transmit the information back to Earth. That removes the need for vast, energy-hungry infrastructure on the ground. That’s why this is genuinely groundbreaking and why mini nuclear is even part of the conversation.

The Sun is an enormous, free fusion reactor in the sky. It is super dumb to make tiny fusion reactors on Earth. Even if you burned 4 Jupiters, the Sun would still round up to 100% of all power that will ever be produced in the solar system!! Stop wasting money on puny little reactors, unless actively acknowledging that they are just there for your pet science project jfc.