caroline slocock
@carolineslocock
Followers
3,950
Following
1,570
Media
189
Statuses
6,661
Director of think tank Civil Exchange, media commentator, former Private Secretary to two PMs, author of first feminist book on Thatcher, People Like Us.
London
Joined March 2011
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Ohio
• 633903 Tweets
Apple
• 600675 Tweets
James Earl Jones
• 549163 Tweets
Springfield
• 410433 Tweets
Haitians
• 362200 Tweets
Wayne
• 306485 Tweets
iPhone16
• 289133 Tweets
Kendrick
• 264289 Tweets
Rest in Peace
• 165510 Tweets
Nicki
• 157950 Tweets
Kerem
• 137266 Tweets
Tyreek
• 126532 Tweets
Darth Vader
• 124120 Tweets
Cops
• 119332 Tweets
Star Wars
• 105738 Tweets
Jets
• 73133 Tweets
Fassi
• 63863 Tweets
SIEMPRE FURIA SCAGLIONE
• 62040 Tweets
Mufasa
• 57107 Tweets
49ers
• 53714 Tweets
The Lion King
• 52587 Tweets
Field of Dreams
• 51169 Tweets
Tapia
• 40940 Tweets
#WWERaw
• 39715 Tweets
The Sandlot
• 23087 Tweets
対象作品
• 21686 Tweets
Aaron Rodgers
• 18218 Tweets
Coming to America
• 17542 Tweets
Mr. Jones
• 16020 Tweets
ガチャチケット
• 14595 Tweets
#部長K
• 13820 Tweets
#LINEマンガガチャ
• 13716 Tweets
Rest in Power
• 13089 Tweets
#MartinFierro
• 10932 Tweets
Perplexed that
@BBCr4today
should call Carrie Symonds his 'partner' and
@BBCPM
his 'girlfriend' when Johnson is said to have tried to make her his Chief of Staff when Foreign Secretary. She was his mistress, it was a covert relationship and this is highly relevant to the story.
152
3K
9K
I wish the BBC would stop describing Gina Coladangelo as an ‘aide’. She was a Non Executive Director of Dept Health, overseeing his and their work, appointed by him at public expense to mark his own work. An abuse of that role and an undeclared conflict of interest.
96
2K
9K
This doesn't add up, Rishi Sunak. A junior doctor I know tells me he gets unsolicited emails from an agency inviting him to leave the NHS for higher wages and better hours, so that the agency can be paid by the NHS for his services at a vastly higher rate. He's not alone.
105
2K
3K
As immigration lawyers brace themselves for right wing attacks tomorrow, with not just companies' premises but individual's homes being posted online, remember who put these lawyers on the front line - the previous government:
27
1K
3K
Why didn’t the police act when the damning photo first emerged? Why is Shaun Bailey now a peer? Truth is the establishment looks after its own, a very different story to the victimhood conspiracy narrative now pushed by Johnson and the right of his party
28
351
1K
Strange to hear BBC news (still) calling Hancock’s lover his ‘aide’. He appointed her as a Non-Executive Director of his dept and she was therefore overseeing his work at that point. A clear conflict of interest, and an abuse of power, and makes the story even worse.
10
284
969
A clear breach of the Ministerial Code, worn as a badge of pride by Sunak's government, which claimed to have integrity at its heart.
28
388
930
Rees-Mogg, who introduced cancelling of speakers on government platforms if they’d ever criticised government policy, even irrelevant ones, says
#PrivilegesCommittee
is undermining freedom of speech and democracy when it nails him for undermining Parliament’s democratic process.
5
232
609
Feeling sad for Diane Abbott, who repeatedly tried to ask a question at
#PMQs
but was not called, while others sounded off about Hester's remarks about her. I have written about women in the past struggling to get their voice heard in Parliament, but this is the worst example.
7
96
544
‘One BBC insider said: “Particularly on the website, our headlines have been determined by calls from Downing Street on a very regular basis.”’ And the mystery of the missing Acuri story solved, it seems.
13
308
507
Talking on
@Channel4News
last night, I stressed today’s sleaze scandals are more deep-seated than those in the Major Govt’s dying days. Major created the Nolan principles in response, Sunak has failed to reverse damage to standards in public life made worse by Johnson’s actions🧵
9
165
486
Well done Kelly Holmes. Terrible story about her time in the army. The law was changed in 2000 after 4 servicemen and women, who were sacked for being gay, won a case in the European Court of Human Rights - which the Government is currently demonising.
19
91
434
Good to hear that Labour is planning Citizens Assemblies to bring people’s voices into policies, and an independent ethics Commission to strengthen integrity. And Gray speaking positively about the civil service, which has been so trashed of late.
96
123
423
Reports today that Hunt is planning to cut benefits in real terms in order to fund a pre-election tax give away, benefits that already fail to meet the cost of living. That’s what happens when you care more about winning elections than the well-being of the people you serve.
16
192
409
Truth hurts. Stats watchdog warns Tories over PM’s ‘£2k tax rise’ claim, saying they’ve not been clear it’s over 4 years and it was not right to present it as civil service work. One of many occasions Sunak has been warned about misrepresentation of facts.
7
196
403
Just listened to
@MishalHusain
talking to Johnson in an interview that could prove terminal. He says he can’t change his character and the message he’s taking from the by-elections is apparently that it’s important to ignore the personal criticism and carry on in the same way.
13
156
381
Apparently Sunak will imply that unlike other PMs except Thatcher he is taking difficult long term decisions. She stuck with the Channel Tunnel despite going massively over budget, initiated the single market that he helped destroy and led the world on global warming 34 yrs ago.
4
113
338
The people who sanctioned that Tory video re London should take a long hard look at themselves: a paranoid, and deeply untruthful representation of a city Londoners love, worthy of Trump himself. Trashing Britain, whipping up fear, just to get elected? Shame on them.
5
65
310
In 1998, the Treasury introduced a ‘one way valve’ to stop capital budgets being raided to meet short term pressures, against a background of systemic infrastructure underinvestment. You could add to capital from running costs but not take away. This was removed in austerity. 🧵
8
140
300
Not as memorable as Enoch Powell's 1968 'rivers of blood' speech but a similar message: 'multiculturalism and identity politics are a recipe for communal disaster', she said. He got sacked from the Shadow Cabinet for it, she's our Home Secretary.
Times have changed.
The Home Secretary Suella Braverman has warned that multiculturalism is a 'recipe for communal disaster' during a keynote speech at the National Conservatism conference.
@IanpayneLBC
asks: Has the Home Secretary gone too far with these comments?
1K
319
2K
17
98
280
A week after this, BBC stops giving Covid statistics in its daily Covid briefing. You have to dig very deep on their website to find this information now.
40
145
276
This way of thinking is central to the culture wars and is in the same stable as the ‘Left Blob’ and ‘the Anti Growth Coalition’. It creates a false enemy within, incites hate against them and is perpetrated by people many of whom have far more power than those they attack.
I don’t think I’ve ever read such a bitter, nasty, resentful piece.
308
110
1K
4
43
278
In other news, the Government seems to be using underhand tactics to try to stop judicial oversight of its contract decisions. The law is a critical way to call governments to account.
Government repeatedly refused to give us the estimates of their costs so we could apply for a cap in our Bunzl case.
Then, one day, they revealed they'd already spent a whopping £600,000.
The Government is trying to price us out 💰 🚫
33
463
1K
3
94
242
Bold move from Sunak to reiterate his commitment to integrity, professionalism and accountability at
#PMQs
as he cites Williamson's reluctant resignation as a win, and as he sits next to Braverman. But why did he appoint them in the first place?
6
24
193
The Government seem happy in a crisis to throw money at the NHS when it goes to the private sector (PPE, private sector operations to reduce backlogs) but will not pay competitive salaries to the staff who deliver it, which would reduce costs over time and make it sustainable.
3
53
208
A story that deserves much wider exposure. English Tory politicians running Facebook groups opposing 20mph in Wales while supporting it where they live.
5
141
202
Sue Gray is not investigating
@Keir_Starmer
's new accusation that
@BorisJohnson
broke the Ministerial Code by lying to Parliament about parties, a resigning matter. Clear job for his adviser on Ministerial Standards, Lord Geidt, has no power to initiate investigations.
6
91
197
Notice how calm and in control
@MishalHusain
is, so v different from the Humphrys’ and Paxman’s bullying style once thought effective. And how tetchy her subject becomes, undermining his position, mixing up his figures. Old fogey playing at being Trump meets modern woman.
"We cannot go on as we are, we have to limit numbers."
Reform UK's new leader Nigel Farage tells
@MishalHusain
'net migration at zero would be the target' for the party.
#R4Today
246
81
247
9
53
203
There's a long history of big businesses using dark tactics to discredit evidence and campaigns against them, from the tobacco and oil industries to most recently vaping and now Palantir, usually only exposed after the event. Another reason why
@GoodLawProject
is so important.
'How much would you like to be paid for attacking
@GoodLawProject
?' asks the Tory and Palantir's attack dog agency Topham Guerin. 'PS, you have to keep it secret.'
91
2K
4K
4
73
191
Quick reminder: the only person to resign and genuinely apologise over
#Partygate
is
@AllegraStratton
and her crime was to be caught on video with no convincing explanation for a party she did not attend. Johnson resigned accepting no blame and gave honours to others involved.
3
67
184
Defend our democratic space before it’s too late: our new report out today
@CivilExchange
@SMKcampaigners
4
73
184
Buried in Sunak’s attempt to unite us against Islamists and the far right is, I fear, an attempt to broaden the definition of extremism to those who ‘say Britain is a racist country’ or that ‘Britain has been on the wrong side of history’ and who undermine ‘our civic life’🧵
13
84
172
My guess is that most of the blame in Gray's report will be laid on the 'culture' at No 10, with the defence that this cannot be attributed to one person. But I know from my time in No 10 working for two PMs that the culture is set by the PM.
13
50
170
One argument we'll hear re
#partygate
: you can't lose a PM during Ukraine war. But Mrs T was ousted by her MPs shortly after the Iraq invasion of Kuwait and during the Gulf War, in which our troops were deployed (unlike Ukraine). 1/4
14
66
172
Shocking abuse of power, not just sidestepping Parliament, but directly countering its express wishes.
Very quietly, the Home Office has used a ministerial power to directly overrule parliament. It’s a chilling development
189
3K
5K
0
102
168
Me in
@bylinetimes
charting the concerning decline in our
#democracy
#democraticspace
since I worked for Thatcher and Major as a Private Secretary over 30 years ago - new report, Defending our Democratic Space
@CivilExchange
@SMKcampaigners
#TippingPoint
4
86
164
We have an Energy Secretary who says she’s increasing energy security but doesn’t know how many days of gas storage we have, it having been greatly depleted under this government. And then she rambles into saying it’s really about increasing tax revenue, the truth.
@BBCr4today
3
47
163
"The first duty of Government is to uphold the law. If it tries to bob and weave and duck around that duty when its inconvenient, if government does that, then so will the governed, and then nothing is safe—not home, not liberty, not life itself." Thatcher in 1975...
6
73
148
As voting in Johnson’s former constituency begins, Sunak still hasn’t delivered to the
#CovidInquiry
the WhatsApps from
#JohnsonsPhone
a week after the password was ‘found’.
#PissUpInBrewery
or
#SomethingtoHide
#InItTogether
#AccountabilityAtEveryLevel
1
74
138
Sunak portraying Starmer as an enemy, whipping up fears on taxes and immigration, using jerky hand gestures - ‘don’t surrender to Labour’ - while Starmer, relaxed, promises to bring people together, reset politics so it returns to public service. Trust is key. Who do you believe?
12
29
138
Sunak says Starmer will be a ‘part-time PM’ because he protects time with his children on Friday nights. This is sad. Both know a PM is always on duty, day or night, and their families will likely suffer, badly. An intention to try to protect some family time is sane, relatable.
2
36
140
You don't have to look far for wider evidence of Johnson's lax attitude to standards and the law - letting Cummings off hook on Barnard Castle, ignoring Priti Patel report on bullying,
#Wallpapergate
, Paterson affair, proroguing Parliament - but Gray will have to ignore this.
7
33
139
Just to be clear, the lockdown parties described in
#SueGray
's report would never have happened under the two PMs I served under as a civil servant, and I saw no culture amongst staff of everyday drinking. It's the PM that sets the lead that others follow.
3
39
126
I suspect we’ll hear a lot today about the Lords blocking the ‘will of the people’ despite the
#RwandaBill
not being a manifesto commitment. The HoL is one of the checks and balances on government power, along with the courts and the law, now being disrespected and undermined.
4
40
125
Let’s be clear, the issue was not the factional fighting in No 10 but the weakness of a PM who allowed this to take hold because he did not know his own mind or do the hard work to understand the issues and be confident of his own decisions.
#WonkyShoppingTrolley
Lord O’ Donnell confirms that Simon Case (see below) did speak to him at the time about a loss of confidence that Number 10 was functioning well. Johnson’s number 10 being “at war with itself” (as Vallance diarised).A Gove/Carrie Johnson faction vs SpAds. and PM caught in middle
29
607
940
2
62
119
I’ve heard some commentators say that politicians have always told lies. Having worked for two PMs and many Ministers over the years who took pains to stick to facts, I’m shocked by the level of untruths now. We must call it out or it will get worse.
This is good. The Washington Post says Trump has told more than 10000 lies in some 800 days of his presidency - 12 a day. It will be interesting to see how PM Johnson does in the “economical with the truth” department.
56
590
2K
4
40
117
Astonishing the
#CharityCommission
's chair has not read their own guidance on Campaigning and Political Activity (attached), which allows for exactly the kind of non-party political activity she's attacking eg calling for changes to stop poverty, not just ameliorate it. Worrying
She continues: ‘Many people seek out charities as an antidote to politics not a continuation of it and these people have the right to be heard too.’
32
5
23
2
45
115
Can it be true, as I've read, that it's Johnson's lawyers who are redacting his WhatsApps and deciding what is irrelevant to the
#CovidInquiry
? That's like letting a defendant's lawyers edit the evidence before the police or a court sees it. No wonder Hallett is challenging it.
4
62
118
@BBCPolitics
The official photographer took photos at his birthday party too, for which he was fined, so this does not hold water. Clutching at straws?
0
11
115
My experience, having worked for Tory and Labour governments, is Ministers tend to think of public sector workers as overheads and prefer costly, time-consuming and often ineffective structural reform to listening to, motivating and rewarding the staff who deliver the services.
5
47
116
Good to hear Starmer will call for an end to culture wars attacks on charities like
@nationaltrust
@RNLI
. Politicians are trashing institutions incl the BBC, the civil service, the courts and lawyers that underpin what most people value about Britain, all key to our democracy🧵
4
37
118
Couldn’t fully investigate because the money came from a body outside of the party’s remit? 3 months to find that out and these were local funds raised for Tory campaigning. Unaccountable to CCHQ, apparently. Sunak should stop dithering and get a grip on standards in public life
NEW: Former Tory MP Mark Menzies confirms that he will not be standing again at the general election.
CCHQ says it cannot conclude that there had been a misuse of Tory party funds.
363
328
1K
3
51
116
I was in the Treasury when the decision on Sure Start was taken. We always knew it would take years to measure the impact. So many centres lost now because of a short term approach to spending that cuts schemes with long term benefits to plug short term pressures.
Strong positive effects of SureStart on GCSE results for poorer children. More strong evidence that well designed early intervention can be very effective.
Also shows importance of high quality evaluation. Great work by my colleagues.
Policymakers take note.
14
254
553
2
37
115
Sunak promised integrity and professionalism at every level and to put our needs above politics. Immediately appointed for political reasons a woman to be in charge of national security and law and order who broke the Ministerial Code and Official Secrets Act a week earlier🧵1/3
4
32
106
As Reeves draws parallels with Thatcher, 1979 and her decade of renewal, I just hope a new govt can bring the country together in ways Thatcher did not. That’s the only way to create change that works for everyone and you have to work with civil society not just business to do so
8
18
104
The result is laid bare by Jonathan Slater on
@BBCr4today
. The Treasury ended up halving a rebuilding programme that should have been doubled. Buildings long past their safe life still standing. Spending on children’s education will be cut back. Clever people doing stupid things
8
23
105
I've heard
#SueGray
report will not be published until after May council elections due to purdah. Purdah is designed to stop Ministers making announcements that give their party electoral advantage. If true, it's being used to reduce accountability to electorate for
#partygate
.
8
45
94
Looking forward to Sunak denouncing his own Government's rules, introduced by Rees-Mogg, which are de-platforming experts from government sponsored conferences who have criticised non-related government policies.
Tuesday's Telegraph: PM backs feminist in Oxford row over free speech
#TomorrowsPapersToday
#DailyTelegraph
#Telegraph
3
6
13
0
37
102
Staying for only the British ceremony was disrespectful not just to our veterans but also to the other countries that stood with us then -the US lost more than twice the men than UK - and to the alliances set up after WW2 to stop it happening again.
5
32
94
Tangled web. The lobby group that's been attacking
@nationaltrust
has links, according to the
@yorkshirepost
, to the climate denial group Net Zero Watch based at 55 Tufton Street, home to many think tanks v close to the government.
2
42
95
As Truss promises an EU 'red tape bonfire' remember the effect of deregulation on Grenfell Tower, not just the lethal impact of self-regulation on fire safety but also the effect on the departmental culture - see this statement by the Government's QC to the inquiry.
2
59
90
Another blow for freedom of speech. I wonder whether Arts Council England did this off their own bat or as a result of political pressure? Remember, the Dept of Education cancels speakers on public platforms who've criticised the government in social media or elsewhere.
APNews: Arts Council England (
@ace_national
) has updated its policies, warning that "political statements" made by individuals linked to an organisation can cause "reputational risk", breaching funding agreements (1/5)
753
760
872
7
35
92
Get your story straight! Equalities Minister Badenoch now says she won't meet with LGBT+ groups in a roundtable because they've been critical of the government, having recently told Paliament she 'engaged extensively' with them, then it emerging she had not met any.
#TruthDecay
Kemi Badenoch criticised for turning down roundtable with LGBT+ charities
5
4
12
5
27
90
Shocked by reports that Ministers will abstain on the
#Johnson
report and Sunak won’t attend. He promised integrity and accountability at every level but this looks like political expediency rather than a clear stand on these principles in Parliament.
#NotStoppingTheRot
2
27
91
Labour to omit social care reform from manifesto and scale back Lords plans to avoid scaring voters, it seems. This is why we need parties to work together on long term or constitutional issues to agree solutions, rather than kicking the can down the road
7
36
92
It says a lot about No 10 culture that a taxpayer funded official photographer was taking photos of the PM at his lockdown birthday party. Suggests they weren’t thinking about lockdown rules at all. And who was he taking them for? If we paid for them why can’t we see them now?
3
28
88
Labour’s winning but where’s the money? Thatcher said 'The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money’ and her small state/low tax view still dominates, so much so Reeves promises to be an ‘Iron Chancellor’ But is it time for a change? 🧵
18
46
88
Britain today: also knighted, Philip Davies MP, critic of “militant feminists” and political correctness, advocate for gambling industry in parliament, former GB News presenter criticised by Ofcom for breaching impartiality rules with wife Esther McVey, now Common Sense Minister.
How it works:
-Former Egyptian Govt minister gives £5m to Tory Party
-His company revealed to be doing business in Russia year after invasion of Ukraine
-Gets knighthood for business and charitable activities
53
2K
2K
3
64
83
The government’s failure to replace dangerous buildings occurred because its focused on the short-term, costing more in the long run & risking lives. A focus on today’s total spending and borrowing at the expense of investment leads to low growth and less money for services 2/3
3
22
86
Good to hear
@bphillipsonMP
@BBCr4today
saying she couldn’t discuss detail because she had to make her announcement to Parliament. The last govt routinely sidestepped Parliament on announcements, ignoring the Speaker’s ire. Will this govt restore Parliamentary accountability?
3
16
83
A masterclass in political interviewing by
@MishalHusain
@BBCr4today
of NI Sec Heaton-Harris. None of that constant interrupting, repeating familiar attack lines, just calmly asking factual questions and giving him time to hang himself, which he did.
6
20
84
I honour the Queen’s contribution, appreciated King Charles’ address to the nation and wonder at the spectacle of so many queuing to pay their respects. But am I alone in feeling the news is being managed? It’s not just that it’s wall-to-wall but the absence of diverse views.
8
5
78
Ministers are not supposed to accept gifts worth more than £140, as set out below in Johnson's own Ministerial Code, because they 'would, or might appear to, place him or her under and obligation'. So how could the PM accept nearly £24K from the JCB Chair for his wedding?
Boris Johnson registers the £23,853 donation he received from JCB chair Lord Bamford for his wedding — including for the marquee, portaloos, ice cream van and South African BBQ.
387
1K
2K
6
51
79
Sunak should have been quicker to tackle dishonesty and evasion in his Ministers. Not just Zahawi's lies and intimidation but his Deputy, who's denied he's ever been spoken to about bullying despite two Perm Secs saying they have. You don't need investigations to see this.
7
23
81
@rafaelbehr
Here is the guidance from the House of Commons which seems pretty clear that this should not be happening. There have been other instances that seem to breach this guidance, eg the white paper on benefits.
3
29
78
'I find it puzzling that filling potholes is an actual electoral promise of a national party in a G7 economy' says one foreign correspondent.
A view from the continent. How the British elections are seen from the other side of the channel.
Four great colleagues, foreign correspondents like me, wrote it down for
@guardianopinion
.👇👇
@antoguerrera
@tessaszy
@JakubKrupa
@mariaramirezNY
19
134
289
2
32
77
Good to hear
@wesstreeting
on
#BBCLauraK
talking about bringing parties and people together to agree a long term social care policy. A commitment to a different kind of politics, at least on this issue. Let’s hope it happens, as it’s long overdue, and politics has failed people.
4
17
76
Farage is playing with fire, and he knows it, but he’s aided by the normalisation of Islamaphobia by senior Tories. Remember Braverman’s ‘Islamists are in control now’. These invasion conspiracy tactics are inspired by Trump, and egged on by Putin’s trolls, who’ve no place here.
Imagine your response to the death of three children being to peddle conspiracy theories that incite a riot.
This is why Farage deserves the label far-right. Everyone who is associated with him, has normalised him or promoted him should be ashamed.
This is vile.
2K
2K
13K
3
31
76
Dangerous precedent. No 10 can now get stories removed from newspapers simply by saying the PM says they're not true, just like he said in the past that allegations of parties in No 10 were not true, for example. What happened to the 'independent' media?
7
37
70
It does seem odd that the release of the report on Sue Gray is happening a few days before a major election. What happened to purdah?
4
10
73
The truth is Johnson knows he has a lot of control over the presentation of the facts in a report by a civil servant - which is why he has asked people to wait for the report.
2
18
73
Reflecting on how Darling and Brown reacted competently and calmly to stop a catastrophic financial crisis, yet were widely blamed for borrowing too much do so, due to some clever Tory politicking. Character matters in government and Darling was steady in a crisis.
3
22
73
A reminder the Tories changed electoral rules to their benefit - not just the new voter ID described by Rees-Mogg as gerrymandering, but raising limits on spending (which benefits them) and undermining the Electoral Commission’s independence. Hoping the next Govt will reverse.
4
36
71
It bears repeating: standards in public life and accountability to Parliament are critical to our constitution & democracy. It's not just the FPN, but PM's responsibility for No 10's culture and his public and Parliamentary denials that parties he attended took place that matter
4
19
71
Interesting to hear NHS volunteers start work today, instructed by an app. Where I live (and in many places) local volunteers were working weeks ago, run by communities, people we know and trust. Civil society moves fast and centralisation is slow. Is coordination happening?
7
14
68
He’s failed to follow through on his ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability’ promise. He could have toughened standards enforcement and still could. Instead, there’s been dithering, delay and equivocation. Loss of trust is corrosive, a serious problem for the SNP too.
1
13
67
Very pleased Reeves has agreed to revert to 3 year spending plans reviewed every 2 years, as introduced by New Labour, a plan I took forward at the Treasury. Ideally the planning horizon would be longer but this is a good start, allows planning and ends the cliff edge issue..1/5
1
15
68
Re-writing history. Cleverly
@BBCr4today
claiming he can’t recall any instances of senior Tories calling asylum seekers ‘an invasion’ despite Braverman, the Home Secretary, doing this right after an arson attack on a migrant centre, fanning flames.
7
28
66
Tories warn of unchecked power if Labour win a big majority but their Govt tried to sidestep Parliament on Brexit and only the courts stopped them, and did so in many other ways. Democracy needs leaders committed to Parliamentary accountability and Nolan principles.
#GambleGate
4
15
67
A junior Treasury Minister was the govt spokesperson on the prime slot on
@BBCr4today
, repeating well worn lines and lies like a poor actor. Where are the Cabinet Ministers? Reminded of that moment in Thatcher’s last days at No 10 when senior colleagues started to drift away..
5
32
66
Trust is a key issue in this election and the Badenoch interview on
@BBCr4today
didn’t score well. Her lack of grip on the detail of the policy she was advocating and her supercilious response to reasonable questions suggested she was playing politics, and even doing that badly.
4
15
65
Gray's report will have to reproduce the PM's defence and - like Lord Geidt recently over
#wallpapergate
and the "Missing Exchange" with Brownlow - have to take his his word. As with Geidt's report, I predict the government will leak headlines in advance with a positive spin.
3
14
63
There will always be MPs who behave badly. The problem for the Tories is that there’s a more deep-seated leadership pattern, starting with Partygate and Johnson’s defence of Patterson and Pincher, and not helped by Cameron’s Greensill scandal. Sunak signalled a clean break but..
1
12
63
The deep origins of
#PostOfficeScandal
? Thatcher turned public services into businesses, and sold many, creating monopolies.This ‘New Public Management’ persists and puts financial targets before service, whereas real businesses facing genuine competition stand or fall on how..🧵
5
20
63
Great interview by
@MishalHusain
of Minister Tomlinson. He talked unnaturally fast, apparently tapping the desk, as if afraid of facing the practicalities of delivery on
#Rwanda
she was calmly questioning him about. 50k people already in detention to be removed, who, when, how?
5
14
62
Sunak should put his own house in order. His record on ‘protecting democracy’, the title of his speech, is very poor to the extent that
@CIVICUSMonitor
which monitors this internationally downgraded the UK’s status to the same as Hungary..To learn more
0
30
60
Britain’s forgotten service. “So I am announcing now - on the steps of Downing Street - that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared.” Johnson, July 2019. Hollow words but now they don’t even talk about it.
‘Shaming’ level of misery caused by UK social care uncovered by major survey
6
34
47
1
34
61
Out of control and colleagues are noticing. The head of Suella Braverman’s previous leadership bid, Steve Baker, withdraws his support over her grooming gangs rhetoric on Pakistani men.
2
39
60
The Government has a problem calling out prejudice and racism for what it is in its own party but is happy to call other people extremist without any evidence in the case of Donelan. If you can’t recognise the truth, or be trusted for what you say, how can you run a country?
“He has accepted, as he should, that that was rude, inappropriate and wrong. But that was half a decade ago.”
Minister Graham Stuart tells
#TimesRadio
he ”hesitates to stick" racist "label" on Frank Hester after comments the Conservative Party donor made about Diane Abbott.
7
5
9
0
23
59
Truss in a Thatcher Lecture today “The sad truth is we’ve seen stagnation, redistributionism and woke culture taking hold in businesses and the economy”, blaming these for our ills. No mention of leaving the single market which Thatcher saw as one of her greatest achievements.
4
15
56