Jack Pollard

25 / Staffer @HouseofCommons / 🇺🇸 dual citizen

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

Can we please please please not normalise this use of pandemic language!

[LBC @LBC]

‘The time has come for a circuit breaker to try something different.’

PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham tells @AndrewMarr9 about his plans to do things differently at Westminster.

[Coventry City @Coventry_City]

Why do clubs keep hiring Frank Lampard? 😂

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

Taking 3 weeks to send 1 single ship to the Mediterranean in response to an act of war - in a conflict we’ve known was going to happen for months - is the most cut and dry resigning reason a Defence Secretary could have.

[LBC @LBC]

How many frigates and destroyers does the UK have at its disposal?

Defence Secretary John Healey can't seem to tell @NickFerrariLBC with any certainty.

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

@MarieTidball Hilarious faux outrage.

So livid thank god you composed yourself to make this video, so livid you were laughing at their (imo embarrassing) spectacle in the Chamber.

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

He says the quiet bit out loud here.

UK Gov’s view is that they can rely on “de-escalation” to prevent Tehran targeting London.

Just like how “neutrality” and int. law protected RAF Akrotiri & Diego Garcia.

Dangerously deluded.

[LBC @LBC]

‘People will conclude from your lack of answer that they can hit us…’

@Lewis_Goodall presses Labour’s Steve Reed on the likelihood of an Iranian missile attack on British soil.

[(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges]

Multiple reports Greece is now deploying naval units to defend Cyprus. Which begs the question, where is the Royal Navy?

[Ross Kempsell @RossKempsell]

Essentially there are no British warships in the Mediterranean or Gulf - even though 200,000 British civilians and thousands of British service personnel are in theatre and within range of the Iranian drone and rocket threat. This is utterly unacceptable from Labour and is a huge strategic failure.

There are RN ships globally deployed on other tasks, but it is inexplicable that Starmer did not send a Type 45 to the eastern Med already. The fact the FCDO is only working up an evacuation plan in last 48 hours is woeful. US operations against Iran have been predictable for weeks - it was literally on @X on Friday morning that Saturday would be the day.

Starmer should send (likely) HMS Duncan today which is ready. Also deploy Sky Sabre to Cyprus and explore with GCC allies

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

UK far-left should sit this one out.

Pro-murderous Ayatollah doesn’t come with the equivalent level of edginess that being anti-NATO, anti-military defence triangle, anti-Iraq war, anti-Trident can carry.

Also, there won’t be any lucrative regime tv gigs when the US is done.

[Zack Polanski @ZackPolanski]

This is an illegal, unprovoked and brutal attack that shows once again that the USA and Israel are rogue states.

The UK must end our cosy relationship with the USA and our ongoing support for Israel.

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

@PolitlcsUK Difficult to watch this and not conclude Kemi comes across extremely well.

Few politicians can go toe-to-toe with Martin Lewis on detail and enhance their position. Calm, clear and to the point imo.

[Daniel Hannan @DanielJHannan]

Parliament has been misled. So have our American allies. There never was a legal threat to the operability of the Diego Garcia base. The entire handover - the betrayal of the Chagossians, the £34 billion bill, the eco-vandalism, the win for China - was premised on a falsehood.

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

This is a disgrace @OxfordCity, one half of the road dug up, the other akin to a minefield.

Ironically, this makes the road only usable for cars, as any sane person wouldn’t risk a bicycle tire on this.

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

Historical recurrence is real.

[Keir Starmer @Keir_Starmer]

Take away line: if Johnson cannot function without Cummings, he is unfit to be prime minister. https://t.co/UqQCvRamuj

[Daniel Hannan @DanielJHannan]

CHAGOS SURRENDER UPDATE
Ministers are now in the extraordinary position of arguing that a non-binding opinion by a court whose jurisdiction is expressly excluded from intra-Commonwealth disputes should be treated as non-negotiable, but that an actual international treaty, the 1966 accord between the UK and the US, which specifies in its first clause that ‘the territory shall remain under United Kingdom sovereignty’, can be ignored.
This was never really about international law. It was about Starmer’s callow anti-colonialism, his dislike of flags with Union Jacks in the corner, his desire to virtue-signal on the world stage.
It is striking that the only Labour MP who spoke yesterday, the decent and likeable @DanCardenMP, was against the handover.
Is Labour really going to wreck itself on the rocks because Starmer is doing a favour for one of his human rights lawyer friends?

[Yuan Yi Zhu @yuanyi_z]

But enough about Philippe Sands KC.

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

How could any self-respecting UK politician wave a Chinese spy centre through?

First Chagos then this? It’s got to a farcical point where Starmer, Hermer & Powell seem to be emasculating Britain - perhaps to correct the shame they feel for being British?

[The Telegraph @Telegraph]

🚨 The Telegraph obtains unredacted plans showing how close the underground complex will come to cables carrying sensitive British financial data

Look at the uncovered plans below ⬇️
https://t.co/DO35bujFP2

[Mel Stride MP @MelJStride]

When Labour negotiates, Britain loses.

Caved in to Trump ❌
Embarrassed by Mauritius ❌
Folded to India ❌
Rinsed by unions ❌
Now outmanoeuvred by Brussels ❌

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

@emilyhewertson https://t.co/ARSFJaCGSa

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

Lots of discussion on the obvious faults of Labour’s £9/£18 billion #ChagosIslands deal.

However, criticism intended to reverse HMG’s position should focus on deconstructing the iron man case for this agreement:

A thread 🧵 1/9

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

8: Puts supply-chain to Diego Garcia at risk.

Countries through which American supply chains to Diego Garcia rely, may disrupt operation of the base.

The notion that US allies would sour their relationship with the superpower in solidarity with Mauritius is absurd.

Ends.

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

Lots of discussion on the obvious faults of Labour’s £9/£18 billion #ChagosIslands deal.

However, criticism intended to reverse HMG’s position should focus on deconstructing the iron man case for this agreement:

A thread 🧵 1/9

[Jack Pollard @JackPollardUK]

7: Relationship with India

FCDO advice states that ownership of Chagos islands could undermine relationship with India and future FTA.

After 12 rounds of talks with India regarding an FTA, sticking points on work visas & student fees, never Chagos, have been well documented.