Britain isn’t broken, Robert. It has problems that need fixing and people worth backing. You betrayed the party you wanted to lead. Forgive me if I don’t take lectures on loyalty to the country from someone who couldn’t manage loyalty to his colleagues.

Britain is broke. And to fix it, we need to start growing again. That’s why Reform’s Economic Rescue Plan includes these 64 pro-growth measures I’d take if I were Chancellor: 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗮 1. Approve Rosebank 2. Restart oil and gas licensing 3. Legalise onshore exploration 4. Abolish the Energy Profits Levy 5. Restore maximum economic extraction as the North Sea regulator's objective 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 6. Abolish the Emissions Trading Scheme 7. Halt the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism 8. Repudiate AR7 contracts for difference and scrap AR8 9. Implement the Fingleton Review on nuclear in full 10. Automatically approve French and South Korean nuclear designs 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 11. Cut affordable housing requirements on brownfield sites 12. Permitted Development Right for brownfield housing 13. Repeal Biodiversity Net Gain 14. Exit the Aarhus Convention 15. Repeal and reform the Habitats Regulations, including Nutrient Neutrality 16. End the boiler ban 17. Legalise air conditioning to meet overheating rules 18. Remove mandatory EPC improvements 19. Revoke the Future Homes Standard 20. Repeal the Renters' Rights Act 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 21. Legislate approval for new runways at Heathrow and Gatwick 22. Auction airport landing slots 23. End 'target-consistent' carbon pricing in project evaluation 24. Ban carbon emissions considerations in planning applications 25. Fast-track all water reservoirs as nationally significant projects 26. Make Development Consent Orders a true one-stop shop 27. Restrict judicial review of ministerial planning decisions 28. Scrap Net Zero construction rules 29. Scrap the social value test in procurement 30. Lift launch limits at SaxaVord Spaceport 31. Open completed sections of East-West Rail 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 32. Review regulatory barriers to AI adoption 33. Permit on-site gas generation for data centres and industry 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 34. Cut Employer NI back to 13.8% 35. Introduce a migrant worker levy 36. Repeal the Employment Rights Act 37. Clarify that workplace rights don't require mandatory training courses 38. Let experienced tradesmen work on government contracts without CSCS qualifications 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 39. Review bank capital requirements to boost lending 40. Rule out Net Zero in financial regulators' remits 41. Repeal climate-related financial disclosure rules 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 42. Scrap airport 'surface access strategies' 43. Abolish the electric vehicle mandates 44. Apply domestic GB hours to all UK HGV trips 45. Ban Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods 46. Back the M4 Relief Road 47. Move a new car's first MOT to four years 48. Abolish the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺𝘀 49. Replace GDPR with a New Zealand-style Privacy Act 50. Fully re-legalise Imperial units 51. Review all unchanged EU law 52. Automatically repeal remaining EU law in 5 years unless retained 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 53. Make quarterly Making Tax Digital reporting voluntary 54. Reduce legal obligations on SME Non-Executive Directors 55. Double permission-free event days from 28 to 56 56. Make pavement dining licences automatic and permanent 57. Let shops open until 10pm, except Sundays 58. Repeal board diversity and inclusion rules 59. Remove the Sustainable Aviation Fuel mandate 60. Abolish the packaging tax 61. Scrap BBC and Channel 4 priority on streaming platforms 62. Remove the Public Sector Equality Duty 63. Five-year sunset on all QUANGOs 64. Five-year sunset clause on all new regulations And there are more to come! Britain’s full potential is waiting to be unleashed 🚀

Pleased to release our latest report by our very own @ZickZaggurat on the drive to lower suspensions in English schools. Whitehall’s target of pre-pandemic suspension levels is not only fanciful, but the data show that there is hardly any correlation between reduced suspension rates and better attainment. Link to full paper below.

Germany and France offer to build submarines for Argentina as threat to the Falkland Islands rises trib.al/hGTzrVS

HMRC has quietly sent hundreds of letters to wealthy people asking them to reveal what they own. Not what they earn or what tax they've paid, but what they own. Here's what's going on. A unit called the Wealthy Team covers anyone with "incomes of £200,000 or more, or assets equal to or above £2m in any of the last three years". That's about 850,000 people. The letters ask for a meeting to discuss "sources of wealth", "future intentions", trusts, companies, family arrangements and even "significant life events" you expect in the coming years. It is presented as voluntary, but there's a nudge: "We may still need to carry out compliance checks on your tax returns. However, speaking with you first may help avoid this." Until now, inspectors have usually only asked about income and earnings. Experts call this a "sea change". One lawyer asked the obvious question: "does HMRC have a right to know what someone owns and not simply that they have paid the right amount of tax?" A tax adviser said: "No other G20 country asks for this level of detail from its taxpayers about what they own." So what is it for? Advisers suspect it is groundwork for an exit tax, a charge on your wealth for leaving the country. As one put it: "Building that knowledge could indeed be part of moving towards an exit tax." You don't have to be a billionaire to see the problem.

Angela Rayner hints the government's plan to require migrants to wait up to 15 years to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain will be watered down, telling @SkyNews the final scheme will 'recognise the contribution that people make who come to this country'

I have spent an inordinate amount of time in various Spoons this weekend owing to the awful weather and our awful public transport system. So while I wait for my Korean friend chicken burger here’s some of the under explored reasons why Spoons is so great: 1. They have real Heinz ketchup (ditto Heinz mustard, HP sauce etc). This is impressive when most food trucks and even restaurants etc now use cheaper supermarket-brand versions as Heinz has become so pricey 2. The southern fried chicken strips are better than the chicken selects in McDonald’s (and that’s a high bar) 3. The staff are nice (I’ve always found) 4. The spice bag is elite 5. There’s something for everyone - even Aperol Spritz! (£4.75) 6. The free re-fills on the coffee 7. Often they’re in great heritage buildings 8. The explicit invite on the pump to try before you choose. This is great Many more but my burger has now arrived

Nope, that’s not how taxes and price works. The price is determined by demand and supply. Companies charge the highest price they can given demand. A tax levied on *profits* does not affect a company’s cost ie supply. Taxes on *windfall* profits (like oil and gas) are the most efficient kind of tax there is.

Are you ready? 👇Time to think the unthinkable. And plan ahead.

In his new book, @JohnDoyleDCU argues Britain would continue paying Northern Ireland's £5.7 billion state and unfunded public sector pension bills to a united Ireland, because not doing so would be unpopular with unions and the public in Britain.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is going to be taking part in Celebrity #Gogglebox, this Friday.

When Reform's letters to postal voters in Portsmouth were ready to go out, two undercover ITV reporters were personally responsible for almost two hundred of them in the ward of Drayton and Farlington. Reform lost Drayton and Farlington by 24 votes. The same two men were responsible for delivering leaflets to half the ward of Baffins. Reform lost Baffins by 85 votes. These were men whose purpose was to infiltrate Reform UK and damage it. In two wards decided by a few dozen votes, we believe there are reasonable grounds to conclude that ITV altered the result of British elections. There is no precedent for this. It is certainly not journalism. We believe it to be criminal. We will hold ITV and its activists to account.

If it’s part of a legitimate investigation of course it’s OK. How do you think investigative journalism works you idiot. “Here you go. Here’s my ID. It’s my NUJ pass”. You honestly haven’t got a clue have you…

Shabana Mahmood’s failure to engage properly with the migrant workers whose lives her nasty proposals will devastate is totally unacceptable. These are brilliant, committed workers who hold our public services together. UNISON won’t tolerate them being attacked and ignored.

This is terrifying. How long before we get ESKOM-style load-shedding? We’re in serious trouble if we don’t fix this asap. Complex systems are beginning to fail and we are doing nothing about it.