Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧

Born and bred in England. Amateur Photographer, Glider pilot & Music lover. Concerned about world population growth since 1976.

NO DM's please

[Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 @Nigel_95]

https://t.co/WF05KvdNfm

This article should feature heavily in #Politics courses under the subject heading:

How NOT to run a country.

I hope all @UKLabour MP's read this article and then resign their seats.....

[Paul Embery @PaulEmbery]

This is deeply troubling. I hope my union - @fbunational - will explain to fire service bosses that firefighters must be free to express their political views without fear of sanction by their employer. @manchesterfire has seriously overstepped the mark here.

[Cranberry Pointy Toes Kazi54 🌸🧚🏻🙂 @KarenJukes2]

@Artemisfornow @reecyb2 Sadly this is nothing new. I’ve worked in the public sector for many years, since Brexit when the people at the top were horrified people had different opinions politically , the big bosses made it very clear what they thought of people who voted for Brexit. It wasn’t pleasant.

[Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 @Nigel_95]

@Artemisfornow @tonx10 This aught to be illegal.

[Bernie @Artemisfornow]

Er … Firefighters in Manchester who support Reform UK have been cautioned over their views by bosses.

And staff are being urged to snitch on colleagues who express support for Reform.

so when Starmer said “Free speech is one of the founding values of the United Kingdom, and we protect it jealously and fiercely and always will.” … that was just disinformation 🤡

[Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 @Nigel_95]

@SpeechUnion I have just listened to you at the FSU Northern Ireland Roadshow, and am currently listening to Ben. Well said both of you.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

Free speech is under attack on university campuses across the country.

We want to change that.

The Free Speech Union administers the Ian Mactaggart Programme, which helps young people — especially students — promote and defend free speech.

While we are witnessing a toxic culture of censorship on campus, with students ostracised or hounded out for holding and expressing lawful beliefs, there is also a growing determination to keep open debate alive.

The programme supports more than 16 societies across the UK, as well as groups that have launched podcasts and organised conferences.

FSU Education Officer Vinay Kapoor has been travelling across the country to meet students who are standing up for free speech on campus.

Hear from Vinay Kapoor and @_ConnieShaw below and find out more about the Ian Mactaggart Programme 👇

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

2️⃣ @_ConnieShaw is joined by Vinay Kapoor and Celeste Warren to discuss the FSU’s engagement with young people, students, and university societies.

Find out more about the Ian Mactaggart programme below 👇

[Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 @Nigel_95]

If this isn't against the law, it aught to be.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

Senior figures at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, under the command of Andy Burnham, have cautioned firefighters who support Reform UK over their political views.

In a further chilling assault on free speech, staff have also effectively been urged in an email to report colleagues who support Reform.

Fire brigade bosses have also said they are seeking legal advice on what to do about firefighters who decide to stand as Reform UK candidates. This is despite the fact that, unlike police officers, there is no legal bar preventing firefighters from participating in national or local politics.

In their email, fire brigade bosses Mr Petch and Ms Ahmed said: ’We are aware that some staff members have chosen to represent Reform UK in their local areas. We know this may cause concern within our network and wider.

’The individuals involved have been spoken to, to make it clear that as members of GMFRS (Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service) our core values and professional behaviours must be displayed at all times.

’The service is currently seeking formal legal guidance… to ensure we are protected from all perspectives and that our inclusive culture remains safe.

‘Our priority is and always will be ensuring that every member of this network feels supported, respected and safe at work.’

They also confirmed that they would be consulting the Fire Brigades Union on the matter.

In his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, @AndyBurnhamGM — who is also tipped by some to be a future Prime Minister if he wins the Makerfield by-election — is also Greater Manchester’s Fire Commissioner, responsible for overseeing the service.

General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, Lord Young of Acton, has now written to Mr Burnham to raise concerns about the chilling effect this has on free speech.

Lord Young said that the ‘clear implication’ of the email from the fire brigade bosses was that ‘representing Reform UK constitutes an inherent threat to the institution’s culture and values and is to be treated as morally suspect’. He also highlighted that no action appears to have been taken against firefighters who support other political parties.

The letter also states: ‘Staff are further invited to report colleagues who support any groups that go against the service’s values, which effectively amounts to an instruction to inform on colleagues for their political beliefs.

’The email will create a chilling effect on the free speech of GMFRS employees who support Reform.

’The practical effect is that a public fire and rescue service governed by you is treating the lawful political activity of your electoral opponents as a reputational risk to their employer.

‘Regardless of whether this reflects your instruction, it reflects your governance; and a public office-holder who permits his institution to demonise or chill the speech and political activity of those who support his principal electoral rival cannot claim to be discharging that office with the impartiality it demands.’

Read more below 👇

[Lord Obnoxious @Leftiecrusher]

@RupertLowe10 Though I regard both Rupert Lowe and Nigel Farage as remarkable patriots who have fought tirelessly for Britain, this acrimony saddens me. Britain’s existential threats demand unity. I urge you both to set aside these differences and stand shoulder to shoulder for our nation.

[Daily Mail @DailyMail]

Iceland founder blasts 'two-tier policing' after officers rushed to store when suspicious customer falsely accused staff of racism - yet they ignore violent shoplifters https://t.co/zWk6UxWyRk

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

Senior figures at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, under the command of Andy Burnham, have cautioned firefighters who support Reform UK over their political views.

In a further chilling assault on free speech, staff have also effectively been urged in an email to report colleagues who support Reform.

Fire brigade bosses have also said they are seeking legal advice on what to do about firefighters who decide to stand as Reform UK candidates. This is despite the fact that, unlike police officers, there is no legal bar preventing firefighters from participating in national or local politics.

In their email, fire brigade bosses Mr Petch and Ms Ahmed said: ’We are aware that some staff members have chosen to represent Reform UK in their local areas. We know this may cause concern within our network and wider.

’The individuals involved have been spoken to, to make it clear that as members of GMFRS (Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service) our core values and professional behaviours must be displayed at all times.

’The service is currently seeking formal legal guidance… to ensure we are protected from all perspectives and that our inclusive culture remains safe.

‘Our priority is and always will be ensuring that every member of this network feels supported, respected and safe at work.’

They also confirmed that they would be consulting the Fire Brigades Union on the matter.

In his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, @AndyBurnhamGM — who is also tipped by some to be a future Prime Minister if he wins the Makerfield by-election — is also Greater Manchester’s Fire Commissioner, responsible for overseeing the service.

General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, Lord Young of Acton, has now written to Mr Burnham to raise concerns about the chilling effect this has on free speech.

Lord Young said that the ‘clear implication’ of the email from the fire brigade bosses was that ‘representing Reform UK constitutes an inherent threat to the institution’s culture and values and is to be treated as morally suspect’. He also highlighted that no action appears to have been taken against firefighters who support other political parties.

The letter also states: ‘Staff are further invited to report colleagues who support any groups that go against the service’s values, which effectively amounts to an instruction to inform on colleagues for their political beliefs.

’The email will create a chilling effect on the free speech of GMFRS employees who support Reform.

’The practical effect is that a public fire and rescue service governed by you is treating the lawful political activity of your electoral opponents as a reputational risk to their employer.

‘Regardless of whether this reflects your instruction, it reflects your governance; and a public office-holder who permits his institution to demonise or chill the speech and political activity of those who support his principal electoral rival cannot claim to be discharging that office with the impartiality it demands.’

Read more below 👇

[Graham Linehan @Glinner]

This you, squire?

[Dr Jennine Morgan @jemmm85517813]

The coldest May ever recorded in the Arctic..2026. No one from MSM tells us this! ( probably not coldest ever because we have likely only recorded temperatures in several decades…in fact it would seem monitoring of ground temps started in 1913. )

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

“Twenty-five years ago, the political class was more willing to engage in open debate.”

Today, there is an attempt to cast legitimate criticism of prevailing orthodoxies — whether on diversity, Islam, immigration, or climate change — as misinformation, disinformation, or hate speech.

At the heart of the free speech crisis is an unwillingness on the part of the promoters of these policies to defend them in public.

Instead of engaging in good-faith debate, they portray critics as beyond the pale.

In this relatively recent phenomenon, people are increasingly realising that if they challenge a certain cluster of prevailing orthodoxies, they are likely to be cancelled.

We must push back against this.

Watch the General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, Lord Young, speaking at our event in Belfast 👇

[Sharon Martin 🇬🇧 @Sharon444martin]

@zatzi @Nigel_95 Wouldn’t this trigger a general election?

[Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 @Nigel_95]

@Sharon444martin @zatzi It aught to as it would prove beyond any doubt, the incompetence of the current government.

[Jim Chimirie 🇬🇧 @JChimirie66677]

Shabana Mahmood Called George Floyd's Death An Unspeakable Outrage. She Called Henry Nowak's A Political Grandstanding Opportunity.

On June 4th 2020, four days after George Floyd died in Minneapolis, Shabana Mahmood wrote to her constituents. She described his death as an unspeakable outrage. She shared the anger of the Black Lives Matter movement. She condemned Donald Trump in the strongest possible terms. She pledged to ensure Black voices are heard at the heart of our democracy. She signed it with a Black Lives Matter hashtag.

This week Shabana Mahmood stood at the despatch box and told the House of Commons there must be no two tier policing. She said the police have a sacred duty to act without fear or favour. She warned that anyone using Henry Nowak's murder to stoke division should be rejected.

Henry Nowak died on December 3rd 2025. Mahmood said nothing for days. The Commons Speaker had to order the government to make a statement. When she finally spoke she described the national outcry as political grandstanding and accused those naming the problem of stoking division.

Four days after George Floyd died she had already written to her constituents. Four days after Henry Nowak's killer was convicted she had to be ordered to speak by the Speaker of the House.

The letter she wrote in 2020 is worth reading carefully because it is the most precise document available for understanding what happened this week. She writes that her work deeply reflects the cause for social and racial justice. She writes that she will carry on working to ensure Black voices are heard at the heart of our democracy. She writes that she wants her work to continue to be reflective of black and ethnic minority experiences in Birmingham.

Not all voices. Black voices. Not all experiences. Black and ethnic minority experiences. That is the Home Secretary who told Parliament this week there must be no two tier policing. Her own letter is a precise description of two tier political engagement. One standard applied to George Floyd. A different standard applied to Henry Nowak.

The progressive institutional machinery was operational within hours of Floyd's death. The hashtag was ready. The language was ready. The political network was ready. Mahmood's letter was part of that machinery. It was produced within four days because the machinery runs automatically when the case fits the framework. Black Lives Matter had been founded in 2013. By 2020 it had dozens of local chapters, a global network, corporate donors worth hundreds of millions of dollars and political allies embedded across every major Western government. When Floyd died every node of that network activated simultaneously. Mahmood's letter was one activation among millions.

Henry Nowak's case does not fit the framework. His killer used the progressive framework as the murder weapon. His case does not vindicate the ideology of anti-racism training. It exposes it. And the Home Secretary whose entire political career has been built around that ideology found herself at the despatch box this week condemning its most visible consequence while declining to name its cause.

She wrote in 2020 that she would ensure Black voices are heard at the heart of our democracy. She has kept that promise. The question Henry Nowak's family is entitled to ask is which voices were heard at the heart of the institutions that trained the officers who handcuffed their son. The Hampshire Race Action Plan. The NPCC guidance. The College of Policing practice bank. The Metropolitan Police neutrality myth. All of it built by the same political framework Mahmood has spent her career advancing.

There must be no two tier policing. She is right. The letter she wrote in 2020 explains precisely why there is.

[Jim Chimirie 🇬🇧 @JChimirie66677]

The phrase "the enemy within" was used by Margaret Thatcher to describe the miners' strike in 1984 and by others since to describe various threats to British institutions. But those were identifiable, external and ultimately resistable. What has happened over the last fifty years is different in kind not just in scale.

What is different now is the depth of the capture. Previous threats to British institutions came from without and were identified and resisted. What has happened over the last fifty years is a capture from within, conducted incrementally, institutionally and in plain sight, by people who understood that controlling the language, the training, the hiring and the oversight was more durable than any external assault could ever be.

The greatest threat is always the one the institution cannot name. And the labelling apparatus exists precisely to ensure it cannot be named without consequence. That is what makes it so effective. And that is what makes naming it so necessary.

[Robbie @Robbie_Reasons]

The Somerset Farmhouse of 1 North Street, Williton were approached by a "food influencer" that wanted to charge them £2,000 for a review.

They put out a video of Sally eating a sausage roll instead 😆.

Lets make Sally and the Somerset Farmhouse famous for free.

[Steven Barrett @SBarrettBar]

It is the anniversary of D Day

Is this what they fought for?