Edwin Hayward
@edwinhayward
Followers
71K
Following
10K
Media
17K
Statuses
166K
Author: 'Slaying Brexit Unicorns' (link below) and commentator. Tweets: Brexit, UK politics, fun geeky stuff. Expect facts, stats, sarcasm and gallows humour.
Joined June 2009
Thinking of changing suppliers to Octopus Energy?. You can get £50 in free credit when you switch by quoting referral code 'bold-lane-539' or using the link below. I'll get a bonus too. Thank you. That magic £50 link again.
7
6
53
Japan: 193 new covid cases yesterday. UK: 93,045 new covid cases yesterday. Japan has nearly twice the UK's population, and a higher population density. Massive covid outbreaks aren't a given - they're a policy choice.
422
9K
36K
It seems Rebecca English (Royal Editor of the Daily Mail) deleted her tweet as her lie couldn't stand up to the irresistible force of reality.
504
5K
30K
I've summarised the facts about Harry and Meghan below. There's frankly very little to say about them. Despite this, The Express managed to publish over 100 articles about the couple over the last 72H, more than 90% negative. Some articles were brutally aggressive and insulting.
407
5K
21K
Things the BBC News website hasn't reported. 1. The UK's largest tomato producer (650m/year) said part of the supply issue is definitely down to Brexit. 2. The UK's largest turnip grower has given up on growing turnips. Can't get the staff, because of Brexit.
228
5K
19K
The Daily Mail's industrial levels of hate-mongering aimed at Meghan Markle barely slowed as the nation mourned. Run your eye down these 15 headlines from the last 48 hours, then consider they only ran one negative piece about Prince Andrew. It's a sickness. A deep sickness.
593
5K
18K
The Daily Mail published 65 articles about Harry and Meghan in the last 24H. For a rag that constantly accuses them of being attention-seeking, it's giving them an unbelievable amount of attention. By coincidence, it published 0 articles about Michelle Mone during that time.
250
4K
17K
"Don't forget". 14 years of Tory pain summed up in 41 seconds of pure fire. This is like watching Bruce Banner become the Hulk for the first time.
348
4K
17K
Here's the truth about Brexit, the "punishment" some people claim the EU wants to inflict on us, the full horrific consequences of no deal, and the dangers lurking behind any deal we reach. Buckle in, it's pretty long. Better to be thorough than to leave anything out. 1/47.
673
11K
16K
THREAD: The BBC have been having an absolute shocker the last couple of days. Let's concentrate on 3 specific examples. Example 1: Laura Kuenssberg's diabolic introduction to her interview with Ed Davey. No spoilers. Wait until the end. It's worth it.
508
2K
15K
Two futures:. Labour in Government. Tories in Opposition. 5 years of endless culture wars & immigrant-bashing. Labour in Government, LibDems in Opposition. Tories powerless & voiceless on back benches. If the Tories come third, it changes everything. Here's why:. 1/12.
258
3K
15K
More people died of covid in the last 6 hours in the UK than have died since the beginning of the pandemic in New Zealand. You can come up with a thousand excuses, from population to population density, and it will still show the UK in an abominably poor light.
148
4K
15K
British P&O workers sacked. French P&O workers kept their jobs. Dutch P&O workers kept their jobs. Why? Different employment laws, probably. Certainly, the French have very strict rules on dismissals. We had a chance to outlaw fire and rehire last year, but Tories vetoed law.
220
4K
13K
It is extraordinary that the USA gets treated to a dismantling of the Tory party orders of magnitude better than the tame efforts anyone dares attempt here. (And no, it's not the swearing that makes the difference - it's the accuracy of the attacks.).
152
4K
12K
How does a worldview become so fractured that it ends up interpreting "15 minute cities" as "I'm banned from travelling more than 15 minutes from my house" rather than as "residents have all the daily necessities within a 15-min walk or bike ride, but can of course go anywhere"?.
I’m so not up for 15 min communities. It will not work for families with active kids doing all sorts of activities. And whilst the little people get to live confined with little choice those in the WEF fly in their jets & on their yachts telling ‘ the people’ to reduce their.
741
967
12K
Something tells me Clive Myrie wasn't the problem.
460
898
11K
Diabolic introduction to her interview with Ed Davey from BBC's Laura Kuenssberg. No spoilers, but pay close attention to the end of the clip. Can't see anything to justify it.
1K
1K
11K
At approx. 58 billion euro (£50 billion) Spain's full high-speed rail network, all 2,464 miles of it, cost about the same to build as HS2 phase 1. There's something very, very, very wrong with how we approach large engineering projects.
585
3K
10K
This story is so delicious, it's unbelievable. It spanks the Tories so, so hard, albeit inadvertently. But it will take a little explaining, so please have patience and bear with me while I walk you through it. The Telegraph tonight is running a big splash about the first Tory
177
2K
5K
This is what industrial-scale hatemongering looks like. All the stories below attacking Meghan (mainly) and Harry (quite a bit) appeared on the Express website within the last 24H. 44 bile-filled rants in just one day. That's a pace of 16,000 attacks a year.
593
4K
10K
Here's the new Australian free trade deal in context.
175
4K
10K
As the dust settles on the Coronation, I've summarised the facts about Harry and Meghan. Frankly there's little to say. Despite this, the Express published 136 overwhelmingly negative articles about the couple over a 4-day period. Many were brutally aggressive and insulting.
257
3K
10K
Q: How do you trick the population into believing that asylum seekers are becoming a bigger and bigger issue?. A: Stop processing asylum applications. Cynical? That's exactly what the Tories did. The % of asylum applications completed within 6 months fell from 80%+ to ~10%.
130
5K
10K
We're told there's no money to pay for anything, yet Priti Patel magicked £120,000,000 out of thin air to give to Rwanda without any oversight, and without Parliament having to approve it. .
137
2K
9K
🧵 If the Tories come third, it changes everything. Coming second would allow them to rebuild as the official Opposition. But third place should finish them. It may take time, but they'd be walking dead. It would also put Brexit back on the agenda, at last. Here's why:. 1/14.
170
2K
9K
"The UK has stopped accepting visa applications from Ukrainians stuck in the country, meaning there is no safe and legal route for them to seek asylum in Britain unless they have British relatives.". Words are words. Deeds are deeds. Same old Tories.
295
4K
9K
Nadine Dorries, a tragedy in 4 acts. The lights dim as our play begins. 1) Calls out cronyism in how jobs in the Lords are given out.
245
3K
9K
@SenseiCarl_ Hummingbird.Rattlesnake.Leafcutter ant.Honeybee.Silkworm.Glowworm. And maybe. Jumping spider.Trapdoor spider.
25
77
10K
It's been an utterly abominable 24 hours for Brexit news:. - The UK gave up on negotiations to extend our trade deal with Canada, leaving us worse off than when we were an EU member. - New incoming border checks will add £200 million a year to the cost of.
405
4K
8K
It's incredible how many journalists pretend not to understand this.
111
2K
8K
UK.Population: 66,796,807.Population density: 275 people/km2.COVID-19 deaths: 126,284.Deaths per million: 1,891.World's 7th busiest airport. JAPAN.Population: 126,349,496.Population density: 333 people/km2.COVID-19 deaths: 8,861.Deaths per million: 70.World's 5th busiest airport.
150
3K
9K
This is a genuine Leave campaign video from the 2016 referendum. Notice how absolutely none of the claims it makes have since come true, and in fact they provide a useful shopping list of things that have been made worse by Brexit.
393
4K
8K
@stephderm @campbellclaret Oddly enough, I'm not the UK's public service broadcaster either.
29
78
8K
The news about Kate was released 16 hours ago. Let's take a stroll through all the ways the Express have trolled Meghan and Harry since the announcement was made. (Long tweet. Please expand. Thanks.). REMINDER: The ONLY thing Harry and Meghan have done since Kate's bombshell.
618
2K
8K
If you missed the story, when the Tories placed inside bets on the GE date, it moved the betting markets. That tipped off Labour to the GE timing. They rushed to buy up key ad space everywhere, eg the front page of the Sun website for the final week. Another big Tory own goal.
68
882
8K
The National Service plan gets worse and worse and worse. More detail from the Telegraph below. It's hard to imagine how the idea could be executed more poorly. It seems designed to ruin young lives at the critical juncture of childhood and adulthood.
669
2K
8K
Did the story about Boris Johnson's missing incriminating Whatsapp messages just die permanently?. There was a lot of heat and light about it, then Farage sucked a couple of weeks' worth of news cycle into the black hole of his banking woes, and. nothing.
105
3K
8K
The Tories are putting out election material formatted to look as if it came from HMRC. And boasting about it.
292
2K
8K
EXACTLY 4 years ago today, the Express mocked the notion that roaming charges for UK travellers to the EU would return after Brexit. Today, they're bleating that some tourists have clocked up over £1,000 in roaming fees. Reality: Like a sledgehammer to the head.
158
3K
8K
Today, the Mail published an 8-page tactical voting guide intended to prevent a Labour landslide. But they don't seem to have realised that it's also a perfect guide to which party to vote for to rid us of the Tories. With pretty graphs, and everything. Risks backfiring badly.
294
2K
8K
THREAD.There's a lot of hate-farming fuss about flags and what some see as the perversion of the original Union Jack. Much of the fake rage has emanated from the Tory party, which is ironic given how many times they've bastardised it for their own use. It's been a tree. 1/
I’m proud of our national flag - can everyone leave it alone & keep it just as it is. British Airways tried to change it many years ago - what a massive mistake that was just as it is now with our British Olympic Association trying to tamper with it.
119
2K
8K
19 sleeps until the end of the Tory party. It's like waiting for Christmas.
198
697
8K
Rishi Sunak's Big D-Day Snub - A Definitive Thread. Rishi Sunak skipped out on the main D-Day commemorations yesterday to rush home and record an ITN interview that won't even air until Wednesday next week. 1/8.
203
2K
8K
The Prime Minister of Japan resigned in early October over criticism of his handling of the coronavirus crisis. During his year-long tenure, 16,305 people died. In the same timeframe, 95,666 people died in the UK. Japan has nearly twice the population of the UK.
93
3K
7K
Almost exactly 5 years ago to the day, Kemi Badenoch was delighted to avail herself of maternity leave. (Remember the cardinal rule of hypocritical politicians: there's always a tweet.)
80
2K
8K
The BBC can't afford to push the Gary Lineker domino for a number of reasons. 1) We know about BBC Chairman Richard Sharp's facilitation of an £800,000 loan to Boris Johnson. 2) They failed to rein in Laura Kuenssberg and Fiona Bruce's biases. 3) It really would be a domino.
100
1K
8K
It's amazing that the tabloids (and in particular the Daily Mail) have managed to fill an entire week's news cycle with things that Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer didn't do. At the same time, the dozens of real Tory scandals barely got a look in.
106
2K
7K
Plan B: "Revoke Article 50".- Cost: £0.- Saving vs no deal mitigation: £billions.- Planning time: none.- Additional preparations: none.- Soldiers on streets: 0.- Fake ferry companies involved: 0.- Irish border situation: 100% resolved.- Passport colour: any. You're welcome.
171
3K
7K
Imagine you have £1,000,000 in the bank, and then someone gives you £1. That's not a £1,000,001 deal just because the amount you end up with is £1,000,001. It's a £1 deal. Same level of deceit being perpetrated here. £12 trillion is the combined GDP of all CPTPP members.
228
3K
7K
It's amazing how Tories who've been in Johnson's cabinet for years suddenly have the magic solution to all the things they've failed to do so far. .
69
1K
7K
The coronavirus ran a bulldozer over the UK economy. No deal Brexit in 76 days time will reverse a truck back and forth over it a few times until it stops twitching. Never in the whole of history has any country done something so monumentally stupid *to itself*.
79
2K
7K
During WW2, countries switched to a wartime footing, producing 100,000s of tanks and planes. Why couldn't they do a similar thing now, but for solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy components?. Make it a patriotic duty to eliminate the need for Russian oil.
266
1K
7K
Angela Rayner should turn to Penny Mordaunt tonight and say "Are you planning to stay until the end of the debate, or will you be rushing off early to do an interview?". One can but dream. .
121
673
7K
This is what institutionalised bullying and racism looks like. 50 - yes, fifty - articles attacking Meghan Merkle were published on the Express website yesterday. That's *50* articles in *24* hours. One headline in particular (highlighted below) deserves special attention.
267
4K
7K
Woke up with a wild idea racing through my mind: why don't we join the EU?!. Maybe it's nuts, maybe it's a lightbulb moment. Might at least be worth considering. After all, as EU members, we could expect to enjoy. 1. Unfettered access to the largest trade block in the world.
249
2K
7K
Debunking WTO, and what "trading on WTO terms" really means. As EU members, we participate in over 750 international treaties. Many relate to trade, enabling us to trade freely with the EU, the EEA, and 40+ other countries. 1/26.
393
5K
7K
Imagine if a referendum were held in which 52% of those who voted declared that the Earth was flat. And that subsequently everyone in the UK was forced to behave as if the Earth was indeed flat, and all main parties said "Ok, flat it is. Evidence be damned.". That's Brexit.
456
1K
7K
The Mail on Sunday has *2 double page splashes* deflecting blame for the coronavirus onto foreigners and stirring up xenophobia. Target 1: the EU. Target 2: China. The reality is, Boris Johnson bungled this crisis very, very badly. He zigged when the rest of the world zagged.
370
3K
7K
The EU made a big mistake around Article 16, but walked it back within hours. The UK made a big mistake around Article 50, and we will still be paying for it for decades.
64
1K
6K
This is remarkable. Priti Patel is accusing David Lammy of spreading misinformation, using as evidence a link to the official UK Gov webpage that proves him correct. For Ukrainians in Ukraine without British connections, the normal complex UK visa application regime applies.
Appalling misinformation at a time of international crisis. This is simply untrue. Get the facts here:
116
2K
7K
£1.6 billion for the barge contract. 40 migrants. 4 nights on board. Works out at a tidy £10 million per person per night. That's what you call a real Tory bargain.
102
2K
7K
Tory Tax Cuts. Year 1: increase taxes.Year 2: increase taxes.Year 3: increase taxes.Year 4: increase taxes.Election year: cut taxes, and make a massive song and dance about doing so. It's all a big con. Over the whole period, taxes are way WAY up.
46
2K
7K
Put a fork in Ofcom. It's done. Imagine thinking it's ok to give the Prime Minister his own hour-long TV slot in a by-election week.
State of the Nation tonight at 8 o’clock will be with the man who runs the Nation.
158
1K
6K
Brilliant work by Jayne Secker holding the lying Suella Braverman to task. I loved her breaking down the lie in detail, explaining that if you first take away 20,000 police then add 23,000 police, that's not 20,000 more police (the lie) but 3,000 more.
319
2K
6K
How did we go from the open, global joy of London 2012 to the dark misery of throwing nets over migrant boats to disable them in just 8 years?.
332
1K
6K
The Tories are running a fake fact check scam against the BBC debate. See how they've renamed and rebranded their website to make it look like something it's not. Spread the word. Don't let them get away with it. #bbcdebate
156
4K
6K
Let's be brutally honest: I doubt *anyone* realised the full extent of everything EU membership offered us. Here are 77 examples of what we lost, and what we might stand to gain if we were to join once more. 1. Full unfettered access to the largest trading bloc in the world.
224
3K
6K
Here's how the future is going to play out. (Long - please expand the tweet.). 1. The Tories will wreck everything at an ever increasing pace as the GE approaches, like irresponsible teenagers who know they're not going to be the ones cleaning up the morning after their wild.
543
2K
6K
People get obsessed about the £9 billion a year we pay the EU, as if we get nothing in return. But just because something can't be quantified in pounds and pence, doesn't mean it's worthless!.Our EU membership has given us. - Longest unbroken period of peace in European history.
211
3K
6K
Grant Shapps had all 4 of his arses handed to him this morning. Takeaways:.- UK Govt doesn't control oil and gas supply.- Extraction is by foreign firms.- They sell on world markets at world prices.- No impact on UK energy security.- Lies. Waffle. Lies. Waffle. Lies. Waffle.
Jayne Secker ripping Grant Shapps a new one this morning over those oil & gas license fibs 👏👏👏. How refreshing to see someone on sky News challenging government ministers on the lies they spout. I’ve put the best bits together👇. #ToryGaslighting #Sunackered
84
2K
6K
Here's what I don't get. All Labour has to do is say they'll shut down on their first day in office all new oil and gas projects that were greenlit between 1 August 2023 and the GE, and no firm will touch the available licences with a barge pole. It's really that simple.
413
942
6K
THREAD: The Benefits of EU Membership. Let's remind ourselves of some of the things Brexit took from us when we left the EU. (Not an exhaustive list.). 1. No barriers to trade with the world's largest trading bloc. (Bristol, Berlin, Barcelona all equally accessible.).
224
3K
6K
You may dislike the current incarnation of Labour and deplore their Brexit position. You may believe that one Tory MP more or less makes no real difference when we're facing a Labour landslide. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The huge prize at this election is the Tories coming THIRD.
211
2K
6K
It is absolutely ridiculous to throw out the slur that Labour want to keep children in poverty simply because they didn't lift the 2-child benefit cap within their first 18 days in office after 5,174 days in opposition. One does not imply the other - that's a lazy, lazy.
624
1K
6K
Who negotiated the NI protocol?.Boris Johnson. Who agreed the NI protocol?.Boris Johnson. Who signed and ratified the NI protocol?.Boris Johnson. Who won a GE on the back of the NI protocol?.Boris Johnson. Who claims the NI protocol is not fit for purpose?.Boris Johnson.
79
2K
6K
A couple of steps towards cleaning up Parliament. a) close all the bars (alcohol can still be purchased with meals in the restaurants, but should be itemised separately and can't be claimed on expenses - pay for your own ******* drinks!). b) random drug testing and drug sweeps.
166
1K
6K
A Downing Street spokesperson was boasting again yesterday about our speedy vaccine rollout, claiming that it would have been a disaster under Labour because they would have kept us tied to the European Medicines Agency. Meanwhile in the real world, away from the propaganda.
126
2K
6K
Ok, it's high time to look at the REAL effects of Brexit 1/50.#marr #ridge #pienaar #bbcsp #bbcnews #BBCPolitics #C4News #itvnews #skynews #5news #bbcr4today #gmb #goodmorningbritain #r4today #bbcbreakfast #victorialive #politicslive #LBC #bbcpapers #skypapers #peston #Newsnight.
425
5K
6K
"Why one of Britain’s wealthiest villages has netted a £300k taxpayer-funded levelling-up grant". Hmm. The area is the 313th least deprived out of 317 in England. What could possibly have won it the grant in Jeremy Hunt's constituency?.
134
3K
6K
Meghan Markle has a sort of reverse Schrödinger's Cat effect on the rabid hate-monger segment of the British press. They confect offence from both her presence and her absence, from both what she says and what she doesn't say, from both what she does and what she doesn't do.
188
1K
6K
This is not the election for protest votes. For the first time, we could demote the Tories to third. Winning fewer seats than the LibDems would wipe them out as a political force. Polls suggest this is within reach, but we need tactical voting to get us over the line. 1/12.
59
1K
6K
Why can't the BBC do this every time? This is so, so good!. And it doesn't involve introducing bias or false equivalence. It's merely the application of reality to the discussion,.the equivalent of looking out of the window to check if it's raining or not.
135
1K
6K
"Renault and Aston Martin backer Geely to launch UK firm injecting £6bn and creating 19,000 jobs". Gosh, doesn't that sound great? Tory MPs and the RW press have been feasting on the story. Pity it's not true. Let's take this step by step. 1/12.
109
4K
5K
"Jacob Rees-Mogg warns Remainers deliberately undermining Brexit as they look to make UK a failure". He should be sanctioned for economic crimes against Britain, and industrial strength gaslighting.
438
1K
6K
Tim Martin is furious about Brexit. Thoughts and prayers.
405
855
5K
Labour has done two very important things already:.- Given almost all Shadow ministers the same job in government.- Brought in additional expertise to add depth. This means there should be people in every position who already understand their brief. Frighteningly rare situation.
65
617
6K
It's odd that David Frost was made a lord by Boris Johnson for negotiating a Brexit deal that both Frost and Johnson are now vigorously rubbishing. 🤔.
73
1K
5K
Here's what Keir Starmer should say (in more polished form):. "The Tories had 9 months to get Brexit done. Instead we have food shortages, crops rotting in fields, the highest energy prices in Europe, gaps on shelves and the hospitality sector on its knees. Brexit isn't working.".
157
1K
5K
It looks like Boris Johnson may have travelled to Poland using the official UK Government jet. If that's the case, why can't he fill it with Ukrainian refugees on the way home?.
134
1K
5K
No. Steve Bray had the last laugh. And a side-splitter it was, too. His "Things Can Only Get Better" protest yesterday while Sunak was busy drowning outside Downing Street has been imortalised forever.
66
739
5K
"Jeremy Hunt offers Jaguar Land Rover £500m to keep factory in UK". Brexit's going so well, Hunt's having to bung half a billion pounds at JLR to keep production in the UK. That's half of all the money the government set aside for the entire industry.
364
2K
5K
This is what the front page of the Daily Mail website looks like right now. You're going to have to do a little bit of work for the whole story, so please read the rest of the thread.
99
808
6K
David Davis claims Brexit is failing because we ended up with a "Remainers Brexit". That's like a "vegan beef steak" or a "boiling ice cube". Remainers didn't want Brexit. And they certainly didn't want to lose the SM, CU, FOM etc. No, we have an idiot's Brexit.
151
1K
5K
An open goal for Labour so large, it's visible from space.
107
1K
5K
Imagine sitting down with Gary Lineker to discuss his impartiality, yet having absolutely no issue with anything serial offenders Laura Kuenssberg or Fiona Bruce say. Actually, you don't have to imagine it. Just switch on the BBC.
51
932
5K
"Honours row grows after claim Charlotte Owen ‘worked as maternity cover’. The youngest life peer in UK history at the age of 29, the former assistant to Boris Johnson was covering maternity leave in his office". This is getting absurb. Worse every day.
240
2K
5K
Leave won. Its prize: we left the EU. But the truth is, we *all* lost. And we can't just "get over it". Here are 91 examples of what Brexit took from us all. and what we could gain if we joined the EU again. 1. Full unfettered access to the largest trading bloc in the world.
159
2K
5K