As Iโve said before, Iโm not English.
Iโm proud to be British. My family and ancestors have a link to Britain which spans centuries.
But in no way are we English. Yes, I was born in England, speak English and support the England football team. And indeed, I love England and the English people.
But to say Iโm English is to take a โlaissez-faire, anything-goesโ attitude to ethnicity, citizenship and identity. It also denies me my Asian heritage. The liberals (many of them in todayโs Conservative Party) take this cosmopolitan approach to Englishness. Theyโre terrified of being called racist so they say that anyone, as long as theyโre born here, can be English.
I take the conservative approach. Englishness is an ethnicity. There have been English people for centuries and we need to recognise this more if we are to start taking a more muscular approach to citizenship and nationality. And no, itโs not racist to say this.
Other countries have no qualms in limiting who can be part of their citizenry and use ethnicity and culture as criteria. Here, the dogma of multiculturalism has been so corrosive that some people donโt actually know who we are anymore.
I had a productive meeting with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi yesterday.
Somaliland has already established itself as a reliable partner for the United States on a range of issues, from countering terrorism to protecting shipping around the Horn of Africa. We discussed further strengthening the U.S.-Somaliland partnership.
I have been pushing the United States to deepen our partnership. I am committed to securing American recognition of Somalilandโs sovereignty and, in the meantime, Iโm urging the State Department to stop treating Somaliland as the same as Somalia. The U.S. should establish a region-specific Travel Advisory specifically for Somaliland, which would reflect the reality on the ground.
I look forward to continuing our work to advance our shared security interests.
As an architect and graduate of one of the top schools of architecture & building engineering in Britain I agree with my colleague Richard Gage & team that the smaller top section of the Twin Towers can't possibly demolish the entire tower below under any circumstances, unless explosives are unsed on the floors below.
This young woman is a hot mess. Married to an old man in his 60's. She's in her 20's. She has two babies now by a man 35 years older. She's a WEI hire. Incompetent. No professional background. Blonde. Cute. Bimbo. Snarky. With a big cross around her neck. That's so Trump-MaraLago-Epstein vibes.
If it looks like an Amazon delivery and drives like an Amazon delivery, then it's an Amazon delivery, right? Not according to Amazon.
Big companies like Amazon have built a vast network of subcontractors who deliver their packages while shielding them from accountability.
It leaves our workers unprotected and our streets less safe. It's time for a change.
I'm proud to support the Delivery Protection Act to crack down on exploitative subcontracting and build an economy that works for everyone.
Just as expectedโฆ
Fractures have begun in the city of Laascanod. The small tribe of Dhulubante have been divided into two groups.
Somaliland should use this to its benefit.
โThe Fake โInvasionโ of Spain: What You Need to Knowโ
9 things you should know about the so-called โcrisisโ of Moroccan migrants forcing their way into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta โ and the hysterical response from the right in the U.S., UK, and EU.
https://t.co/p1xxBUdfVO
The most powerful UNELECTED woman in Britain sat at the new Prime Minister's RIGHT HAND today. Taking NOTES.
Ask yourself WHY.
They want you looking at the shiny new ministers. Look instead at who's beside him. Not someone you VOTED for. The head of the CIVIL SERVICE, Dame Antonia Romeo. Pen in hand.
Listen to him speak. Er. Erm. Er. A HUNDRED times in one meeting. The most powerful job in the country, and he sounds like a man who's lost his notes and found someone else's. No wonder. The one who really knows how it works is sat right beside him.
By law, the Cabinet Secretary sits in on EVERY cabinet meeting. Every single one. Taking the minutes. Recording the decisions. She was in that room for all of STARMER'S. Same chair. Same pen. Right hand of the PM and she'll be there for whoever comes after Burnham too.
Ministers get reshuffled. The Prime Minister gets replaced. She NEVER has to move.
Burnham didn't appoint her. He CAN'T remove her. Her name has never once been on a BALLOT. She was running Britain long before him, and she'll be running it long after.
Now hear what he says with her sat right there. That they're โONE TEAM.โ Pulling โin the same direction.โ Setting โthe tone at the topโ together.
One team. The man you were allowed to vote for, and the woman you WEREN'T. Except here's the thing. This time you didn't even get to vote for him.
Normally there's a GENERAL ELECTION. Once every few years you get to change the faces at the top. Not this time.
There was NO election. Nobody put Andy Burnham to the country. Starmer fell, and Burnham was INSTALLED, straight into Number 10, without one of you casting a vote. The ministers round that table? Parachuted in overnight. Not one put to the public.
So this time you didn't even get the one thing you're normally allowed. You didn't pick the machine and you didn't get to pick the face they put in front of it.
It's Fraggle Rock, this. The puppets dance about up top, convinced it's their show, new Fraggle, new song about hope and underneath, where the cameras never point, the Doozers just keep building. Never changing. Never once facing a vote.
The ministers change. The Prime Minister changes.
She DOESN'T.
So no, you didn't get a new government yesterday.
You got a new FRAGGLE. Same hand up the back. Same DOOZERS building the world you're never allowed to see.
Today I escorted H.E Abdirahman Mohamed Abdilahi, President of #Somaliland & his delegation to meet the #Somalilander children (and mothers), brought by @SaveChildsHeart & @MASHAVisrael for heart surgery in ๐ฎ๐ฑ. These life saving procedures will change their lives.. ๐ทShlomi Amsalem GPO @IsraelMFA
Knesset Speaker MK Ohana to visiting Somaliland President Abdullahi: We want people of Somaliland to know that we are your true friends
https://t.co/mCWncx1uWJ
@Abdirahmanirro@AmirOhana