Simon Thorley 🔶🏴
@SCThorley
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Reform really are just the (worst) Tories rebranded. Zahawi had to resign for tax avoidance. https://t.co/obVoMswBc6
bloomberg.com
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi joined Reform UK in the most senior defection yet from the Conservative Party to Nigel Farage’s poll-leading populist outfit.
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France can do it, Germany can do it, Spain can do it... the only reason we can't build infrastructure is the ludicrous bureaucratic knot we tie ourselves in. https://t.co/umoYuqvPUc
inews.co.uk
It is understood that a recent Treasury-backed inspection of the Leeds project found a number of 'concerns'
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'US considering invading Danish territory' as if that isn't the most ridiculous thing ever. https://t.co/P2c8oHorqJ
bbc.com
It came as European allies rallied behind Denmark, which is pushing back against Trump's ambitions for the Arctic island.
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BREAKING: A leaked recording reveals top Tory Chris Philp admitted the UK couldn’t return asylum seekers to Europe post-Brexit, despite promises made at the time. @SamCoatesSky has all the details. https://t.co/ThgG2qb9Tr 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube
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Thought for the day: Americans lecturing us on 'freedom' while also being the country that invented the Home Owners' Association is quite something.
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Seats & Votes won in Council By-Elections in 2025: 🔶 LDM: 106 (+21), 20.2% ➡️ RFM: 104 (+94), 24.2% 🌳 CON: 45 (-24), 18.2% 🌹 LAB: 36 (-89), 16.3% 🌍 GRN: 24 (+6), 9.9% ⚫ Oth: 39 (-8), 11.3%
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Lord Houchen has been triumphantly announcing that Teesside Airport made a £1m profit last year. He neglected to mention that £10m of the airport's 'other income' was a grant from... TVCA, which he is mayor of. Strange that it seemed to slip his mind... https://t.co/YfxTBsrKa9
teesside.thelead.uk
Delving into the latest accounts and Ben Houchen's latest claims taking flight
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ANALYSIS: Labour calls to rejoin EU customs union will become harder for Keir Starmer to resist - by @elenicourea
https://t.co/wsaB6nvoV6
theguardian.com
Wes Streeting’s wish for deeper trade relations to help fight against Farage is shared by growing number of MPs
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Donald Trump has made it his explicit policy to ‘cultivate resistance’ in the UK and elsewhere. So yes, I think that counts as foreign interference.
None of those sanctioned is a current UK or EU official—however, we know that foreign government officials are actively targeting the United States. This week, the UK’s Liberal Democrats claimed President’s Trump National Security Strategy amounts to “foreign interference” by a
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Surely someone at the Post Office has to finally face criminal prosecution over this now.
Revealed, the document which shows that in 2006 both the PO & Fujitsu were aware of Horizon’s integrity issues & of the capability for remote access. How was this buried for so long whilst Sub-Postmasters paid the price of gross corporate negligence?
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RIP Middlesbrough Development Corporation. I for one am astonished to discover that removing assets from local authority control and giving them to Ben Houchen and his associates has actually made things worse... https://t.co/sTVbfFXYd0
northeastbylines.co.uk
Imposed against the council’s will, Lord Houchen’s MDC has collapsed, leaving wasted millions and unanswered questions
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We know that leaving the EU customs union damaged the UK economy, despite the claims of right wingers. According to the sams right wingers, rejoining the Customs Union will also damage the UK economy. They have zero credibility.
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Ben Houchen's TVCA lent Ben Houchen's STDC £500m+ of public money wihout any sort of loan agreement. Oh, and £80m+ to Teesside Airport... also without any sort of loan agreement. Why won't Labour call in the NAO? Enough is surely enough. https://t.co/DLdPUcRYS0
ft.com
EY said errors included ‘material misstatements’ in latest setback for Conservative metro mayor
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Excellent thread on the Leeds tram situation here.
And there it is. Embargo is finished. Yorkshire Post press publish first. But I have my suspicions there's quite a lot more to this story than what they're reporting. https://t.co/MOcYqoCT9c
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I despair at this. France has built fifteen(!) trams systems since the Leeds trams were first proposed. There's no need for a meaningless 'business case' - unless the goal is to line consultants' pockets at public expense, of course. https://t.co/ApQqHUoJSh
bbc.co.uk
West Yorkshire's mayor says she is confident the trams will be running "by the end of the 2030s".
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Spending time studying abroad is, in my opinion, the single greatest life lesson anyone can have. I could not be more delighted that the UK is rejoining Erasmus. Now the government needs to make sure young people know that they can do it! https://t.co/Vz4szffdIE
theguardian.com
Deal agreed to rejoin exchange programme in 2027, fulfilling Labour election manifesto pledge
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EXCL: An agreement to rejoin Erasmus – the EU’s student exchange programme – set to be announced on Wednesday as part of UK government’s drive towards closer relations with Brussels. https://t.co/nFvBewAgnn
theguardian.com
Exclusive: British students will be able to participate in EU-wide scheme from January 2027, sources say
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Because he gave away the land, the only way local taxpayers could get our money back is via business rates. Now it turns out that the property developers he gave the land away to can't even do a job selling real estate. Houchen should resign before he does any more damage.
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This just gets worse. The public paid to clean up the Teesworks site. Conservative mayor, Ben Houchen, decided to give 90% of the land away -for free- to two favourite property developers. 1/2 https://t.co/R4Qp6IQbqW
gazettelive.co.uk
Redcar and Cleveland Council, which stands to benefit from the site, could see a drop of £30m in predicted revenues
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