Assembly4Reform

Enabling Community Assemblies

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

This is the most terrible lie

I know quite a few women who have undergone such experiences, and all say it affected them adversely

How dare she talk such harmful nonsense !

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

It was built for British children, because it was in Britain

At that time most British children were white

To claim that was some kind of racist conspiracy is insane

The BBC has a hidden agenda which is against the
beliefs of the majority of British people

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

Can this be real ?

[Gandalv @Microinteracti1]

Let me explain something to the MAGA crowd, because clearly someone needs to.

They seem to think NATO is cosmic room service. You pick up the phone, say “hello, we’re having a bit of a war here,” and thirty-one countries march to your rescue. A continental Uber for military adventures.

That is not how it works.
Article 5 is a mutual defense clause. The clue is in the word mutual. And it has been triggered exactly once in NATO’s entire history. After September 11. When America was attacked. Not Europe. America.

Every NATO member showed up. They went to Afghanistan. They fought. They bled. They died. In America’s war. On America’s behalf.

Now imagine they hadn’t.
Over 1,100 allied soldiers died in Afghanistan. British, Canadian, German, Danish, Polish. And yes, even Ukrainian soldiers, who had no NATO obligation whatsoever. Gone. Without them, those are American names on those graves. Sons from Ohio. Fathers from Georgia. Kids from Nebraska who never came home.

Then there is the money. NATO allies spent over 100 billion dollars on a war that started on American soil. Without that, Washington pays every cent. On top of the 2 to 3 trillion the war already cost.

And without allied bases across Europe and Central Asia, American supply lines collapse entirely. Without British forces in Helmand and Canadians in Kandahar, the Taliban reconstitutes in three years instead of ten. The gaps get filled one way. More American deployments. More American coffins arriving at Dover.

Afghanistan was bloody. But NATO took the hit. Without them, every single one of those casualties would have had an American name.

Trump called allies like these losers. Suckers.

If you are a certain kind of broken person, that probably makes sense to you. But for the rest of us, what those soldiers did has a different name. Honor. The bond between men who have been in the same dirt, under the same fire. Between Brits and Americans, Frenchmen and Norwegians, Canadians and Danes. Not a diplomatic relationship. A blood bond. Brotherhood forged in places most people will never see and cannot imagine.

In that culture, you do not mock a fallen ally. You do not sneer at the dead. It is the lowest thing a human being can do. Trump did it to a standing ovation.

If you are a MAGA supporter travelling to NATO countries, understand this. There are no friendly pats on the back waiting for you. No one will buy you a beer. The governments who share your worldview sit in Minsk, Moscow and Pyongyang. Brutal dictatorships where journalists disappear, elections are theatre and dissent is a medical condition treated in basements. Not London. Not Paris. Not Rome, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin or Ottawa.

You have abandoned the open societies, the free press, the rule of law, the places where people actually want to live. You traded the best of civilization for a very small, very dark room. Frankly, it serves you right.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Gandalv / @Microinteracti1

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

No

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

Read this ⬇️

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

Total insanity...

[Times Radio @TimesRadio]

“The stupidity of that decision allowing international lawyers of a dubious provenance to determine the national interest of the United Kingdom is a disaster for transatlantic relations.”

The special relationship has reached a new low, says @AfNeil.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

A case study in how @British_Airways, by setting impossibly high tier point hurdles, is going to lose a lot of money/big paying customers.
Planning my next trip to NYC in Spring. Normally I’d do business Nice-London on BA, return first class London-NYC-London and business London-Nice, fitting in a few working days in London there and back. All up the fares would come to around £5,000 for flights in second half of April. A lot of money — especially since it comes out of my pocket. Nobody picks up my expenses. But at my age I like to travel in comfort.
And I like the BA crews.
However now that the tier point hurdle is too high for renewing guest list status for all but perpetual travellers, why bother planning a schedule round BA flights?
I’ve booked Nice-NYC-Nice first class return on Delta for just over €3,000. No brainer, really. Direct flight, almost half the price. And @British_Airways will lose £5,000. Plus much more if this now becomes my regular NYC schedule.
I can’t tell you the number of people I know now doing similar flight schedule planning which simply removes BA from the planning, when it used to be at the centre.
And, yes, I know it’s most definitely a first-world problem! But BA makes most of its money from passengers flying first/business. With fewer of us the fares of premium/economy passengers will rise.
Well done @British_Airways. How to stuff loyal, high-paying customers of longstanding for no good reason whatsoever.
Hi @Delta. Thanks for reserving me seat 1A both ways! Can’t wait.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Almost unbearable to watch, except through tears of pride and sadness. Britain’s best of the best who fell in Afghanistan — very much on the frontline.
Donald Trump should be force to watch this. Then go down on his knees and ask for their forgiveness.

[David Atherton @daveatherton]

Pro-Ayatollah Ruhollah Khameini thugs gathered outside the Iranian govt linked Islamic Centre of England at Maida Vale, West London.

The slogan Labayk ya Khamenei is a Shia slogan meaning "Here I am, O Khamenei," expressing deep loyalty, devotion.

Why are they here? Deport.

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

Please go back to Muslim countries where dogs are not acceptable

Then you won't need to be upset

[Assembly4Reform @Assembly4Reform]

Shocking decision! Appalling direction to Jury from Judge Dugdale. https://t.co/GViFiMTwHh

[Nigel Farage MP @Nigel_Farage]

BREAKING NEWS

Parliament just voted against my Bill to leave the ECHR.

Only Reform UK will put the interests of the British people first.

This is what I had to say in the House of Commons today. ⬇️

[Dominic Cummings @Dominic2306]

Simple question for the lobby to ask No10 press office:

Can you confirm J Powell wrote a box note for the PM on the China spy case and will the PM give this note to Parliament so MPs can see whether the PM misled the House?

(I'm told by officials in No10/CO that JP was prepared to let the case collapse in pursuit of his broader goals viz China, there *was* such a box note, and the PM ticked the box note in the normal way, i.e approved it. I.e the official story from No10 is lies & they've disgracefully tried to blame a good official, Matt Collins, for *political* decisions)

[Iain Dale 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 ⚒️ @IainDale]

Governments have fallen for less than this.

[Steven Swinford @Steven_Swinford]

Exclusive from @matt_dathan

A dossier of evidence from the security services showing that China was a threat to Britain’s national security was not passed to prosecutors in the China spying case after Labour came to power, according to former ministers

Former ministers have told The Times that the security services had prepared a dossier of evidence with “hundreds” of examples and case studies that proved China was a threat

The evidence detailed a “compilation of Chinese activity” and was used by the Home Office in an attempt to convince other Whitehall departments of the need to designate China a national security threat

The detail of the document remains classified but is understood to have included intelligence about Chinese digital and conventional espionage activities targeting Britain’s critical national infrastructure

This was in addition to “hundreds” of accounts of cyberattacks, theft of intellectual property, theft relating to critical infrastructure and secret police stations set up by Beijing to spy on Hong Kong dissidents in the UK. It also included information about bounties that had been placed on the dissidents’ heads

https://t.co/ae3bLcstMH

[Aja ♀️🇬🇧 @AjaTheEmpress]

Rant.

London, My London 😪

The decline and decay of London is really happening — and honestly, it’s depressing to see.

I’m a born and raised Londoner. I’ve lived all over the city, worked in even more places, and spent time in pretty much every corner of it. I know this place like the back of my hand. The good, the bad, the weird, and the wonderful. It’s my city.

I love this place. Sometimes I hate it but that’s the relationship you have with your hometown, right? You’re allowed, init. But right now, it’s not just a love-hate thing. It’s grief. I feel properly gutted watching it go downhill like this.

And it’s happened fast. You blink and everything’s shifted. On the surface, London might still look the same — the skyline, the landmarks, the rush — but underneath it all, something’s cracked. The edges have frayed. The soul’s gone a bit cold.

Take a proper look. Step out of Zone 1. Or even just walk home instead of getting the Tube, and tell me you don’t feel it too.

Homelessness is everywhere now. Central London at night looks like a rough sleeper’s encampment. People in sleeping bags lining the shopfronts. Tents under bridges. There are actual communities of men living in parks, tucked away in bushes, under flyovers. Even on bloody Park Lane. You know how mad that is? Park Lane used to mean Monopoly money and five-star hotels. Now it’s tents and people defecating in bushes.

Crime’s gone up and no one’s even shocked anymore. It’s like we’ve all just got used to it. You see someone blatantly shoplifting, and no one bats an eyelid. No one does a thing. Even security guards just watch — maybe film it, but that’s about it. Because what’s the point? Nothing happens.

Fare dodging? That’s just standard now. If you pay full price for your travel, you’re the mug. That’s how it feels.

People on public transport are aggressive.

And London’s got a whole new soundtrack these days: click-click-click — the electric whir of stolen or unpaid-for e-bikes flying past you at 30mph. No helmets, no lights, no fear. Just balaclavas and Deliveroo bags, weaving through traffic like it’s a video game.

Phone snatching’s so bad they’ve actually put warning signs on the pavement.

A rape is reported every single hour in this city. That’s not just crime. That’s a full-blown crisis.

Graffiti’s everywhere now even on the bloody Tube. Littering, fly-tipping, mattresses dumped on pavements, bin bags split and spilling into the road. It’s like no one gives a toss anymore. Because why would they?

But it’s not just the stats or the mess. It’s the feel of the place.

London’s never been soft and fluffy, we know that. We’re not known for our warmth or random chats at the bus stop. Its not our culture.
But there used to be… I don’t know. A buzz. A pride. A bit of mutual respect even in the chaos. Now it’s like everyone’s angry. Everyone’s done. Everyone’s ready to snap.

People shout in the street more. Not in a funny or eccentric way I mean properly shout. Road rage, arguments, people squaring up on the pavement in broad daylight. There’s a tension now. Like the whole city’s just one bad day away from boiling over.

The youth? I don’t even know anymore. What are they on? Everyone’s filming everything, trying to go viral. And the ones who aren’t? They’re in gangs, or selling God knows what, or riding round like little stormtroopers on those e-bikes, balaclavas up, middle fingers out.

And what’s with the begging at traffic lights? That’s back now. People walking between the cars, hands out, knocking on windows. That went away for a bit, but it’s crept back in like everything else.

Even the little things feel off. Like queuing. I know that sounds silly, but queuing for the bus used to be a thing here. Now it’s a free-for-all. No order. No manners. Just push and shove and eyes down.

We’ve got weekly marches now. Pally flags everywhere. And yeah, everyone’s got the right to protest but if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can get tense fast. I've felt it.

Then there’s the delivery riders. Hundreds of them, lined up like a fleet, just waiting. Whole streets now are taken over by them. Outside chicken shops, outside new-build flats. It’s like the city isn’t for people anymore it’s just a giant service hub, run by apps and scooters.

And honestly? It’s all starting to feel like a WALL-E-style dystopia.

Men sitting around drinking in parks all day, kids filming fights for clout, adults too burnt out or scared to intervene. Shops are either boarded up or they’re the same five things repeated on every high street: vape shop, barber, offie, phone repair, repeat.

Even Oxford Street looks dodgy now. And you know what I mean. You walk past shops that look... off. Knock-off signs, no clear branding, stock that looks like it fell off a lorry. It's not just me being nostalgic it’s genuinely changed.

And I know people will say this is just how cities evolve. They’ll say I’m being dramatic. That London’s always been rough. That this is just a new era. But no. It’s not the same. This isn’t just a gritty phase. This is decline.

And I know it’s not just London. It’s everywhere. I’ve been out of town. The rot’s spread. But London hits different. Because it’s my home.

I don’t even know why I started writing this. I guess I just needed to say it out loud. Because I walk these streets and I know I’m not imagining it.

Things have changed. And not in a good way.

I’m old enough to remember when “change” meant progress. New buildings, better services, more opportunities.

This isn’t that.

This is backwards.

And it hurts.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

What an utter embarrassment our Prime Minister is. ⬇️

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

For many years now I have bought, at home and abroad, nothing but Jaguar Land Rover vehicles. A patriot, not an enemy. Far from gloating I despair at what government policy and Jaguar’s absurd rebranding are doing to the company. And I can assure you, I really don’t need fresh ammo re Starmer. I already have a surfeit.