Clive Lewis MP

MP for Norwich South “The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make and could just as easily make differently” - David Graeber

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Mainstream is serious about winning a democratic socialist future

We stand for the redistribution of power and wealth, the defence of human rights dignity at home and abroad, the creation of a new political economy & much more.

Find out more here:

https://t.co/l33SZAHuK6

[Despotic Inroad @DespoticInroad]

Again, an awful lot of gaslighting re: "neoliberalism", denying the existence of a ~50yr policy/governance agenda on the basis of "the state spends a lot of money".

Public spending as %-of-GDP isn't high because we've had a period of Leftwing hegemony. (Outside of the arts, the academy & the social/cultural policy sphere, that's obvious nonsense). Rather, it's high because:
👉Demographic pressures have pushed up the 2 massive spending outlays, health & pensions – a problem common to the vast majority of Western democracies
👉UK growth/productivity has been stagnant for ~18yrs, since The City of London collapsed under the weight of its own poor investments, while spending pressures have continued to grow apace
👉We have a growing (& expensive) debt pile as a result of the taxpayer twice being forced to bail out the private sector to the tune of several hundred £BN – 1st during GFC, 2nd during Covid lockdown
👉We have huge revenue pressures from "sticking plaster" subsidies covering up the underlying issue of chronic low investment, e.g. housing benefits ballooning while municipal capex on housebuilding shrinks; or tax credits/UC top-ups disguising stagnant real wages; or increasing day-to-day NHS spending after years of squeezed capital budgets/social care sector collapse

Neoliberalism is defined by privatisation, the embrace of globalisation/free trade, monetarist central banking, the emasculation of the labour movement, & the transformation of the state from a prime actor in national production/investment into a post-hoc fiscal distributor. It has been consciously driven by market-liberal true believers (some even self-identifying as "neoliberals") – on the Right by Hayekian/Friedmanite think tanks, business groups & various Conservative ideologues, and on the Left by Third Way modernisers (see Blair) and their intellectual forebears in Marxism Today's revisionism, the Democratic Left etc. etc.

Pretending none of this happened (because 'muh the state still spends £££') is pure sophistry. They want us to believe they didn't sell off airlines, steelmakers, coal mines, energy generators, water companies, car manufacturers, banks, bus/train contracts & millions of council houses. That they didn't deregulate financial services to get their 'Big Bang'. That they didn't abolish rent controls, or capital/exchange controls, or wage boards, or price commissions. That they didn't outsource core services and state capacity to corporate providers. That they didn't impose some of the most draconian/restrictive trade union laws in the democratic West. That they didn't cede monetary policy to an independent central bank, or cede trade/migration policy to an unelected, supranational, continental bureaucracy. That they didn't squeeze public investment or prioritise tax cuts over infrastructure spending. That they didn't eschew industrial policy and take a lax approach to deindustrialisation because the future was services & the "knowledge economy".

This isn't simpy an accumulation of random policy titbits, but is the outcome of a coherent intellectual project that has consistently rebalanced the labour/capital relationship in the latter's favour. These people are conning you.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

South East Water left thousands of homes in Kent without access to water on the hottest days of the year so far. Yet another shocking example of the failure of privatisation.

Given the scale of the crisis in the water sector, a purely regulatory approach is like putting a complaints box on the Titanic.

Public ownership is the only real solution, as I told the Water Minister in parliament yesterday.

[Mark Perryman @MarkPerryman]

20 June, Saturday after Makerfield by-election what 'Starmer Symptom' does the result reveal? A very special event in a very special, location: Newark, Reform UK @RobertJenrick 's constituency.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

I have written to the Health Secretary to call for a change in miscarriage care.

Families shouldn't have to endure repeated loss before accessing care, tests and treatments that could prevent another miscarriage.

It’s time we consider a more compassionate approach - Tommy’s Graded Model offers a hopeful way forward.

@tommys

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Everyone deserves to feel safe in public life.

But the growing threat of legal action against trans‑inclusive organisations risks silencing the very groups working to make that possible.

I’ve raised this urgently with the Culture Secretary, pressing for clarity on how the Government will support inclusive organisations in this uncertain climate.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Yes, except that time we spent £1 Trillion on benefits for banks and bankers.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

@riversorare You’re missing the point. But that’s ok

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Ration cards instead of benefits for released prisoners?

I think we all see where this is going.

Because the road to dystopia is paved with policies like this.

[LBC @LBC]

‘Don’t you think that’s rather humiliating towards people?’

@Lewis_Goodall challenges Chris Philp on the Tories’ proposal to put former criminals on ration cards, rather than benefits.

[Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @MayorofLondon]

This week: SXSW is Londonmaxxing.

[Sen. Bernie Sanders @SenSanders]

AI is built on humanity’s collective knowledge.

The wealth it generates must benefit humanity — not just Elon Musk, Sam Altman and other AI oligarchs.

That’s why I’ll be introducing the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act — to give the public a direct ownership stake.

[James Meadway @meadwaj]

*Treasury Brain intensifies*

[Compass @CompassOffice]

We know how to fix inequality. We just need the guts to do it again.

@garyseconomics speaking at #ChangeNOW 🤝
Full speech coming soon.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

@leigitt 😂😂

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

I remember being called ‘disloyal’ when calling out the PM for not being up to the Job.

Turns out I was wasn't alone!

From genocide to failing economic policy - ministers knew - but did zilch.

And we wonder at the cynicism the public have towards politicians?

Cynicism eats into the foundations of democracy. The authoritarian right know this. Maybe time to stop feeding it.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

@MaccLabour @roller18202802 Hey you hit my bingo block card! Congrats 👏🏾

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Yes, except that time we spent £1 Trillion on benefits for banks and bankers.

[Patrick Maguire @patrickkmaguire]

This decade's Liam Byrne note

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Foster care provides children who cannot live with their families a safe, stable and loving home.

I’m proud to have joined 31 MPs in signing a parliamentary motion to mark Foster Care Fortnight and highlight the life-changing work of foster carers.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

@esotericvicky That’s ok then.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

Phew.

For a moment there I thought we might take a structural approach & understand these problems as symptoms of an extractive economy, shaped by deep cultural & technological forces.

Thank the lord we’ve opted instead to bring in a multi-millionaire to sort it all.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

The media is calling the govt’s refusal to grant new drilling licenses, a ‘ban’.

I disagree with that framing.

Rather it’s the logical conclusion of decades of scientific climate research and global negotiations to keep devastating global temp raises to a minimum.

To now suggest you know new licenses won’t make a jot of difference to energy bills but will lead to enhanced tax revenue is a pretty weak rationale.

If you want more fiscal capacity for govt, without burning the planet, then start by undoing the ridiculously generous N Sea decommissioning costs that will cost the tax payer tens of billions of pounds in coming years whilst the oil companies literally walk away laughing.

This feels less the ‘battle of big ideas’ and more of the same big money, corporate capture that has so damaged Labour these past 40 years.

I guess we’ll all be able to soon see which corporate and multi-millionaire sponsors have been bankrolling these respective ‘leadership’ campaigns.

Should make for interesting, if not depressing, reading.

[Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis]

@AndyBurnhamGM @DailyMail By eck lad, you ‘ad your Ready Brek didn’t you?

Stuffed me by a good 3-4 mins on those timings.