Simon Parkes

Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Housing Partnership

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

I thought the Green Party was on the side of ordinary people. Some vegetables are cheap in supermarkets - often vegetables that were previously rejected - wonky carrots etc. if that allows people to have cheaper vegetables we should probably be pleased. Supermarkets should be cheaper than independents - that’s what economy of scale achieves - the scandal is not that they are cheaper - it’s that sometimes they aren’t.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

You are using a very specific and narrow set of data to make a broader claim. As an academic you must understand the weakness in that argument. It is possible for two things to be true - that groups from the global majority are over-represented in the criminal justice system and there is differential treatment based on ethnicity. We know, for example, a factor in the failure to address grooming gangs was concern over the ethnicity of the perpetrators. (https://t.co/qdYINMNSYS )To argue the existence of one bias disproves the other is nonsensical. It is right that we learn lessons from what happened in the case of Henry Nowak. That shouldn’t be a knee jerk response - it should be informed by academic research and evidence.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

We had rights and protections before the Equality Act - it wasn’t ground zero for protections. Previous legislation included the Equal Pay Act, Race Relations Act (twice), Disability Discrimination Act, Sex Discrimination Act and I could go on. The legislative framework for equalities is ever changing and we should have more confidence in ourselves - Reform can change legislation, repeal acts but they can’t change the way we think about each other unless we choose to let them.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

@aljhlester @BBCNews It may not be true but do you have any evidence to support your statement that it is not true. Using capitals leaves no room for doubt. The evidence from the grooming gangs scandal suggests there is at least room for doubt.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

Again, I have to disagree. There is ample evidence to suggest Sikhs have made a significant contribution to the UK and have found a way to retain their values whilst absolutely respecting the broader values of the UK - indeed, in many ways, we would do well to match their values of service and family. This was one individual, who happened to be a Sikh - it is not in any way representative of a broader problem.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

Context matters. You specifically framed your proposals around that group hating Labour. Had you framed your proposals around equalisation, or an assessment of the relative wealth/income of different generations then we might have a different discussion. As it is, you framed it more as a “how we can get more money for the Government to spend by taking it off people who won’t vote for it anyway”. I’m not ok with that.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

You need to be careful here as I don’t think you have read the article, or understood the science. The weakening of the AMOC is not going to kill us anytime soon, if at all in fact. It will have an impact on our weather but it is not at risk of collapse. https://t.co/dIZhzTJDd5

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

Those aren’t policies designed primarily to punish people who don’t vote for them. Labour’s changes to non dom tax are, in reality, quite modest and are designed primarily to act as a backstop to tax changes faced by the rest of us. The Tories might well have had policies that adversely affected young people but, again, they came about as a by-product of another policy - not specifically to punish young people.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

In a constitutional monarchy the Sovereign is bound to respect the will of Parliament. That’s not a good reason for abolition. There was a referendum (a mistake in my view), Parliamentary debate and, finally, an election won on the basis of getting Brexit done. That’s democracy- terrible but less terrible than any other form of government (to paraphrase Churchill).

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

@BladeoftheS So you say, on a platform owned by a billionaire.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

I expect Restore Britain’s support will ensure the establishment gets its man in Andy Burnham. The establishment thrives on small parties cannibalising each others’ votes. It’s why there has been no serious challenge to the duopoly for over 100 years. That has given us stability in government but it has also meant changes in direction are much more painful when they happen (breaking the 1945-79 consensus for example).

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

Brexit was a historic mistake and I deeply regret it. It shows what happens when you have a referendum, which was an abrogation of responsibility by our political class. But that is what people voted for and, having had a referendum, however foolish that was, we have to honour the result. The challenge is to maximise the benefit of being outside the EU. We will not do that if we continually try to mirror EU rules. If we are out then let’s use that to our advantage rather than being afraid of being different.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

@Heccles94 That’s demonstrably untrue though isn’t it? It is perfectly legal to support Palestine, to carry a Palestinian Flag and to support the creation of a secure Palestinian state. It is currently unlawful to support Hamas and Palestine Action.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

@Heccles94 You do realise that shareholders include pension funds - including the Local Government Pension Scheme. I’m not sure you are thinking this through if I’m honest.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

Not really. Everyone in the Empire was British. They chose independence as the colonial period ended. At the point of choosing independence they ceased being British subjects. The Windrush scandal arose because when people arrived from the Caribbean in the 1950s, they arrived with British passports and were British subjects (exactly the same as someone born in the UK). So they didn’t need a visa as they were British.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

@Melle25313866 @campbellclaret Right here in the UK. He is a British citizen and, prior to 1997, there was no “mass migration” indeed, for much of the 60s, 70s and 80s there was net emigration from the uk. Post 1997 most migration was from the EU until Covid, after which non-EU migration surged.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

That’s pretty tenuous don’t you think and borderline slanderous. There is no evidence to suggest he has ever posed a risk to women and there is no way of anyone knowing what other local plumbers might be thinking or saying. It’s pretty clear the original post meant to disparage plumbers as, somehow, unreconstructed misogynists rather than accepting that his views are his alone and not at all representative of his profession. A certain type of so-called progressive has a problem with tradesmen, white vans, St Georges cross flags etc. We saw that with Emily Thornberry and it was present in this post. I prefer to judge people on their character and not their background, class, or profession.

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

To be fair I think the pure cold rage was not about the murder, horrific as that was, but the handcuffing and arrest of the victim as he lay bleeding and the casual dismissal of his pleas for help. I don’t think it is hugely helpful to then engage in a debate about the respective vileness of different races. Henry’s murderer did not do what he did because he was a Sikh, he did it because he was an appalling man obsessed with weapons. He then used his race and religion to try to present himself as a victim - sadly a narrative believed by the police officers present despite the injuries to Henry. The legitimate question is why?

[Simon Parkes @LHP_CEO]

I agree that the gun culture in the US is a tragic error but my point is that these foundation myths are incredibly powerful (and it was a myth that the UK was a tyrannical overlord, and that taxation was unfair). You can see how powerful they are when no party seriously advocates repeal of the 2nd Amendment. The problem in the UK is that we see the US as a sort of version of ourselves. It is nothing like us.