Julia Hartley-Brewer

Presenter @talkTV 10am-1pm Mon to Thurs. Columnist @TheSun. My personal X account. Journalist, broadcaster, real woman.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

EXCL: Keir Starmer has become first UK PM to be presented with Légion d’honneur by French president, in recognition of his work on the lax security on British beaches

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

EXCL: Keir Starmer has become first UK PM to be presented with Légion d’honneur by French president, in recognition of his work on security of Europe.

Emmanuel Macron awarded the historic honour to Starmer for his l'ship in setting up coalition of the willing at a critical moment for the continent in early 2025.

Only other British PM to receive a similar award – at a higher level, the Grand-Croix of the Légion d’honneur – was Winston Churchill in 1958 in recognition of his leadership during the second world war.

https://t.co/mybbRlZZba

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

@BurnsideWasTosh I always assumed it would be your family who'd bludgeon you 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes]

COUNTER TERRORISM POLICE: ANN WIDDECOME WAS KILLED IN A "TARGETED ATTACK"

"We are working to understand the planning and preparation and the motivation"

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

Well, fancy that. It wasn't just me, was it?

The UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, told Radio 4 this evening: "I don't know why it appears Devon and Cornwall police were trying to steer away from the idea of terrorism even once they'd discounted the idea of some local burglary that had gone wrong. I simply can't explain that ... I think it's much better to be simply open-minded and say to the public something that's true - 'We don't know what's going on' - rather than appearing to rule something out and then having to reverse their position when new facts emerge."

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

You are kidding, right?! You genuinely think our pensions are paid for by our NICS? That's hilarious.

If that were true, most Brits wouldn't get state pensions.

Anyway, no, people who work in the UK should pay the same tax rates (that's all NICS is - another income tax). Freelancers now pay the same tax rates as employees and they don't get paid holiday or sick pay so what's the difference? Yes, state pensions should only be available to British citizens.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

I'm confused. If immigrants are such an economic benefit to the UK, working in vital jobs and paying tax, why on earth would they need to claim any benefits? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Zack Polanski @ZackPolanski]

Labour plans to withhold benefits to people who have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Performative cruelty and total cowardice.

That’s why the Greens will replace Labour.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

@Budfrog @IIzzuu__ @car74819 @TVAddictStill @ZackPolanski I deleted it because it had a typo. I posted the same message again.

[Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes]

Arrested 28-year-old male was not known to Prevent, says Mahmood.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

@matthewtolley1 Nope. The police statement was misleading. I was a news reporter for years and covered plenty of murders. I know the form.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

@Budfrog @ZackPolanski Imagine my surprise that a Euro-fanatic doesn't understand the basics of how state spending is funded 🙄

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

@Budfrog @ZackPolanski NICS don't pay for pensions. There isn't a little pot of money waiting for each individual with all the NICS they paid over their lifetimes. They're paid for out of the taxes paid/borrowing in the same year.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

Correction: I got this wrong. The police didn't rule out any possible political motive. However, they did say at that time there was no evidence to suggest a political motive.
This was, in my view, a deliberately misleading choice of words, implying they had investigated and found an absence of such evidence rather than that they just didn't know.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

So they ruled out any possible political motive and now they've ruled it in. Another top quality police investigation.

[Guido Fawkes @GuidoFawkes]

FULL STATEMENT BY COUNTER TERROR POLICE ON ANN WIDDECOMBE INVESTIGATION

Head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, said: 

“Building on the progress made by our colleagues in Devon and Cornwall Police, we now have new information and evidence that means Counter Terrorism Policing is now leading the investigation.

“We are pursuing multiple lines of enquiry to establish the motivation for this attack.

“Our priority is progressing this investigation quickly, with all the capabilities we have available to us. If anyone has any information, please share it with the police.

“We would like to thank local communities, the wider public and the media for their ongoing support and patience, and would ask them to continue to support us in the next stage of the investigation.”

We continue to appeal for anyone who may have any information that could help our investigation to get in touch.

Any relevant information, images or footage can be reported via the Major Incident Public Portal https://t.co/CtRcKUeEhe or to Devon and Cornwall Police on 101.

Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

@Budfrog @ZackPolanski If they're net contributors, they won't need in-work benefits. No, I don't think the state pension should be available to non-British citizens. It's costs far, far more than the majority of workers ever pay in tax their entire working lives.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

Dearest Jim, I'm not sure that, even with the best will in the world, I'm not sure you and your eco-loon mates are going to be able to control the earth's climate to ensure we all live in moderate weather conditions all year round. But on balance humans do a lot better in warmer climes than colder.

[Julia Hartley-Brewer @JuliaHB1]

@ZackPolanski So answer my question.

[Steven Swinford @Steven_Swinford]

Exclusive from @matt_dathan

The Home Office has drawn up plans to relax immigration reforms in a bid to address the concerns of Labour MPs

Under a compromise up to 1.6 million migrants could be granted indefinite leave to remain after five years instead of ten — but they would face waiting longer to qualify for benefits

The group known as the Boriswave after the boom in immigration under Boris Johnson would be exempted from Mahmood's migration reforms but have to wait longer before accessing benefits such as UC, disability payments, council tax reduction, tax credits and state pension credits

A source said: “What it boils down to is benefits. You would allow them to get ILR after five years but you don’t allow them to claim benefits until three or four years later.” They said “most people don’t come here so they can claim benefits”, but the idea that they can do so “as soon as they get ILR” was “politically damaging”.

https://t.co/3GrR7aOE62

[Ash Sarkar @AyoCaesar]

YOU CAN STICK YOUR SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND UP YOUR ARSE

[Adam Boulton @adamboultonTABB]

AN APOLOGY
I was seriously wrong and insensitive in one of the several media appearances I made yesterday in reaction to the death of Ann Widdecombe. I got the timing and tone of my initial word portrait of her wrong.
Of course I shared, and share, the horror at her murder and the respect for her remarkable and feisty political career. I also know that many people loved her for her subsequent showbiz stardom. Her untimely death is a horrible thing.
My mistaken view was that in the context of rolling news coverage, I was being asked to contribute as an obituarist who has known her and interacted with her since the 1980s. This approach was premature. At no point was I expressing my personal feelings about her, that's not what I do. I was discussing her life in the round, based on the record of known facts and what she has said about herself, along with some recollections of our personal interactions. My choice of words on the spur of the moment was clumsy. I did not intend to offend though obviously I did.