I was not part of her [Liz Truss’s] initial administration’
-Grant Shapps
‘But you took job of Home Secretary’
‘I thought there was a moment of national duty and took it on’
-Rewriting history in real time
#bbclaurak
Follow
Paul Johnson
@paul__johnson
Journalist. Former Deputy Editor, The Guardian
Paul Johnson’s Tweets
‘We are taking advantage of Brexit to deliver for the people of the UK’
-Rishi Sunak #pmqs
That’s not what this from IMF says
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‘Someone paying their taxes isn’t a story, someone not paying their taxes is. HMRC has no quibble with Nadhim Zahawi’
-Michael Gove 19 Jan
‘It’s sad for the individual concerned but we are getting on with Govt’
-Michael Gove 29 Jan
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Nadhim Zahawi:
-There’s no tax inquiry
-I’ll sue
-I've paid taxes
-Revealed: an inquiry
-I'll sue
-I've paid taxes
-Nothing to see, Sunak
-No story here, Gove
-Revealed: a settlement
-I've paid taxes
-Revealed: a penalty
-'I was careless'
-Inquiry
-‘I did nothing wrong’
-Sacked
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Nadhim Zahawi
'He's addressed this matter in full. He's been transparent with HMRC'
-Rishi Sunak 18 Jan
'The issues occurred before I was PM. No issues were raised with me. It's right we fully investigate'
-Rishi Sunak 25 Jan
Untenable
#PMQs
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Minister Chris Philp vigorously defending Zahawi and Sunak over tax scandal and Boris Johnson over appointment of Richard Sharp as BBC chair.
That’ll be Chris Philp, sacked four months ago as Chief Sec to Treasury after key role in Liz Truss’s disaster budget
#BBCR4Today
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Very sad.
An extraordinary journalist
And a wonderful colleague
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BBC chairman helped set up £800k loan for Boris Johnson just before PM selected him
Nadhim Zahawi: multi million tax error careless not deliberate
MI5 refused to investigate Russian spy links to Tories -whistleblower
-Rotten
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Nadhim Zahawi:
-I'm not aware of tax inquiry
-My lawyers will sue
-I've paid taxes
-Revealed: there is inquiry
-I'll sue
-I've paid taxes
-Nothing to see, Sunak
-No story here, Gove
-Revealed: there was settlement
-I've paid taxes
-Revealed: there was penalty
-'I was careless'
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Three headlines
‘Businessman was guarantor of credit facility of £800,000 that helped fund Boris Johnson’s lifestyle when PM’
‘Nadhim Zahawi to pay millions in tax after dispute over family finances’
‘Unions urged to show restraint on pay demands’
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Leading the Tory response to Keir Starmer’s speech, James Cleverly who called it ‘a whole load of nothing’
That’s James Cleverly who backed Boris Johnson for Tory leadership. Then backed Liz Truss. And then backed Rishi Sunak. All in the space of three months.
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Why so many Lionesses were snubbed in honours list:
Sir Hugh added ‘there is a danger of giving the awards to the entire squad because they could have five minutes on the pitch and get an award’
Hugh Robertson, Tory MP, knighted after three years as minister for sport
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‘You don’t know what these unions are asking for because you won’t talk to them. So how do you know it’s unaffordable? -
‘We have a process around pay’
-Steve Barclay
-The Govt has rejected pay reviews 4x this year
#BBCR4Today
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Steve Barclay:
-Supported Brexit
-Backed the bus: £350m a week extra for NHS
-Clapped for health workers
-Then becomes Health Secretary
-Dismisses health unions case
-Hides behind out of date figures from pay review body
-Refuses to talk about pay
This Govt
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Nurses pay: the reality Govt won’t accept:
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Yesterday:
‘I was proud to support Brexit. It was the right thing for this country’
-Rishi Sunak
Today:
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It's not about the beer. Comment piece by me on why the alcohol ban is more a show of strength - and an almighty two fingers up to Qatar’s critics
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NEW asked the OBR chief Richard Hughes if he stood by the assumption that Brexit would lead to a 4% hit to productivity/ the economy over 15 years now he’s seen nearly 2 years of actual data:
“It is coming to pass, broadly consistent with the 4% number”
0:41
85.6K views
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Show this thread
Jeremy Hunt visited St Jude’s Primary School, South London after his budget.
-St Jude is the Patron Saint of lost causes
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Six days until England's first 2022 World Cup game, a fortnight until their 150th birthday.
Full story here 👇
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Two headlines:
‘City of London Well-Placed to Thrive Post-Brexit, Boris Johnson Says’
-October 2021
‘Paris overtakes London as Europe’s largest stock market’
-November 2022
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‘I don’t accept premise that Brexit will make us poorer’
-Jeremy Hunt
OBR: ‘Brexit will reduce the UK's potential GDP by 4%’
#bbclaurak
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Two headlines:
‘Hard Brexit is good for us says retail king, Lord Wolfson’
-2019
‘’Next boss Lord Wolfson says UK needs more foreign workers’
-Today
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‘The message I want to send is that integrity in public life matters’
-Rishi Sunak
And the person in your left is…
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Yesterday Oliver Dowden explained away Gavin Williamson’s abusive, threatening texts as ‘sent in heat of moment’
Now Grant Shapps says they were sent in a ‘moment of frustration’
They weren’t. They were sent over a five week period from 13 September to 17 October
#skynews
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Gavin Williamson's abusive, threatening emails:
'They were sent in the heat of the moment'
-Oliver Dowden
Actually, they were sent over a five week period between 13 September and 17 October
#bbclaurak
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Celebrations in order for anyone who cares about the Amazon rainforest. But as much from relief as from joy. Lula’s narrow win avoids the certain catastrophe that would be four more years of Bolsonaro. But…
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Show this thread
Days after being sacked for breaches of Ministerial code, days after
‘Guardian-reading, tofu-eating, wokerati’ rant and days after ‘I dream of planes going to Rwanda’ Suella Braverman reappointed Home Secretary
By PM who said Govt would stand for integrity and professionalism
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Buyer’s remorse only likely to intensify as we continue to await one single economic benefit of leaving the EU
Quote Tweet
UK (GB), Omnisis poll:
EU Membership Referendum
Rejoin: 61% (+4)
Stay out: 39% (-4)
+/- vs. 20 Oct
Fieldwork: 21-22 October 2022
Sample size: 1,353
➤ europeelects.eu/uk
#Brexit
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‘
-‘Boris Johnson will stand. He’s the answer’
-Jacob Rees-Mogg
‘He’s the one who will lead us to victory’
-Nadhim Zahawi
‘The boss is back’
-Nadine Dorries
Perhaps now we’ll hear a lot less from these, and others, who were taken in, once again, by the deception and lies
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BREAKING:
Boris Johnson pulls out of the Tory leadership contest
He says he hoped he, Sunak and Mordaunt could come together and unite but they have been unable to do so
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Show this thread
‘Allowing electronic voting could undermine Parliament’
-Jacob Rees-Mogg, Jan 2022
Tory members must have their say on new leader via internet poll
-Jacob Rees-Mogg, Oct 2022
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He gets it. And then loses his seat.
Quote Tweet
Boris backers pretty confident they can get 60 or 70 nomination easily .
Their sell to Tory MPs: only Boris can save your seat.
But some Red Wall Tories worried about the partygate probe looming over Bojo
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This
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Can we please not hear the voices of the Taxpayers Alliance, the IEA and the ERG for a considerable time.
You created havoc with your bizarre, baseless nonsense, piggybacked by Truss and chums.
And now the country pays
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Thérèse Coffey
Free school meals extension
-Not interested
Obesity campaign
-Not interested
Tobacco control plan
-Not interested
Benefit uprating
-‘No definitive statement can be made about uprating’
#BBCR4today
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Seamus Heaney - photographed by the extraordinary Eamonn McCabe, who so sadly passed away this week. A remarkable man, a wonderful colleague
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