phil harper

Don't say much but I like to listen...

[Jack Dart @JackWDart]

If people genuinely believe Burnham won’t receive the exact same media onslaught, they’ve not been paying attention.

Starmer is not, objectively, bad. This idea that he is somehow the worst PM in British history is frankly laughable.

Liz truss lasted 49 days, crashed the pound and was laughed out of Downing Street.

Since Labour took office, Keir Starmer’s government has:

• Scrapped the two-child benefit limit, lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and putting money back into some of the hardest-pressed households in the country.

• Expanded free school meals, cutting costs for families and making sure more children get a proper meal during the school day.

• Expanded funded childcare, reducing one of the biggest monthly costs facing working parents and making it easier for people to stay in work.

• Raised the National Living Wage, increasing pay for millions of low-paid workers.

• Strengthened workers’ rights, giving people greater protection against insecure work and bad employers.

• Introduced statutory sick pay from the first day of illness, so workers are less likely to choose between their health and their wages.

• Ended no-fault evictions, giving renters more security in their homes.

• Brought rail operators back into public ownership, taking key services out of failed private hands and giving the public a stronger stake in how they are run.

• Cut NHS waiting lists from their post-pandemic peak, meaning more patients are being seen sooner.

• Raised the state pension through the triple lock, protecting pensioners’ incomes against rising costs.

• Scrapped the old non-dom tax regime, making some of the wealthiest people in the country pay more fairly.

• Added VAT to private school fees, raising money from those most able to contribute.

• Removed business rates relief from private schools, ending an unjustified tax break.

• Increased neighbourhood policing, putting more officers and PCSOs back into communities.

• Helped bring knife crime down, meaning fewer families face the devastation of serious violence.

• Recorded the lowest homicide rate since the 1970s, a material improvement in public safety.

• Created Great British Energy, giving Britain a publicly owned clean energy company.

• Created the National Wealth Fund, backing investment in industry, infrastructure and clean energy.

• Passed planning reforms aimed at getting homes and major projects built faster.

• Improved relations with the EU, reducing diplomatic hostility and rebuilding practical cooperation.

• Agreed a UK-EU security partnership, strengthening cooperation on defence and European security.

• Signed a long-term partnership with Ukraine, reinforcing Britain’s support against Putin’s invasion.

• Secured new trade agreements, opening up markets for British businesses.

• Helped restore seriousness to government after years of scandal, chaos and decline.

People do not have to like Starmer. They do not have to vote Labour. But pretending this is the record of the worst Prime Minister in British history is absurd.

[Sam @SamCKx]

If Keir Starmer does resign, history will look back on his reign and scratch its head as to why the hell he was so hated.

On paper, he's probably delivered more to working British people in such a short time than any PM for decades.

After inheriting an absolute mess: NHS waiting lists fallen. Worker's rights improved. Rail operators nationalised. Improved relations with EU and improved UK's global reputation. Removed non-dom tax status. Halved childcare costs. Boosted state pensions. Lowest homicide rate in 50 years. Lifted 550k children out of poverty. Immigration vastly reduced.

We are in the age of billionaire funded misinformation, whose sole purpose is to topple democratically elected leaders, and insert leadership that favours the wealthy elites over the working people. Looks like the game plan is working...

[Tim Walz @Tim_Walz]

Found an imaginary problem, said only they could fix it, didn’t listen to experts, hired buddies who grifted millions, failed miserably, bragged how great it went.

The entire Trump presidency in a nutshell.

[🐝 @beha_hun]

Who would’ve thought that forcing ads every 15 minutes would make young people look for ad-free alternatives?

[Susie Dent @susie_dent]

I’ve just launched a Substack for anyone who fancies being part of a word community. My first free post is out now.

https://t.co/aeiQgBHrM5

[Brendan Cox @MrBrendanCox]

Extremists, algorithms & hostile states try to divide us, to turn us against each other. But we have don’t have to follow them. We can choose to talk to each other& focus on what we have in common

That’s what Jo would have done & it was a privilege to start this with @katieamess

[UmdarTamker @UmdarTamker]

They spent $75 billion fighting Iran, then another $300 billion rebuilding Iran, just to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that was already open before the war started.

USA the superpower 🤡🤡😂😂

[𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖_𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @SundaeDivine]

Fish waking up in the Reflecting Pool today.

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

On the chance this tweet takes off, I think you should adopt a cat or dog from your local animal shelter. They will be your best friend and a soft comfort on hard days. You can also dress them up in cute outfits.

https://t.co/ky3ZXix199

[Olaf Falafel @OFalafel]

Absolutely spot on I don’t mind telling you.

[Olaf Falafel @OFalafel]

You’ll need this for the rest of the tournament

[Jim Stewartson, Decelerationist 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇺🇸 @jimstewartson]

There has never been a more perfect metaphor.
He didn’t drain the swamp, he literally installed one.

[The Hormuz Letter @HormuzLetter]

BREAKING: Iran directly rejects Trump's new claim of a deal being signed tomorrow, saying the insistence on signing the deal on specifically Sunday is engineered around his own birthday, calling it a "propaganda event" that Trump is trying to turn into a unilateral "symbolic occasion" for himself, along with his UFC White House event, per Fars.

The Iranian negotiating team says it "will not permit such a media and ceremonial manoeuvre," explicitly stating that the memorandum of understanding has not been finalized and no signing will happen.

[Marco Foster @MarcoFoster_]

Hasan Piker: “Elon Musk is a fucking failure and yet in spite of his failures, because he happened to be at the right place at the right time, he has failed upwards with his endless wealth. He’s a horrible person, an unbelievably insecure person, and yet he’s the richest person on the planet. We know he doesn’t fucking work hard because he Tweets all the goddamn time”

[Joe Russo @joerussotweets]

The first trillionaire is a Nazi btw

[Melanie D'Arrigo @DarrigoMelanie]

Taxpayers paid for over $38 billion in subsidies and government contracts for Space X, and Elon Musk gets to be a trillionaire off of our tax dollars.
https://t.co/uI5Yy5ervR

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

Elon Musk held up a chainsaw, fed USAID into the wood chipper, and at least 600,00 people have already died as a result - two-thirds of them children.

History's first trillionaire.

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

England v Croatia not sold out. Secondary ticket sites offering tickets from $867 (£648) to $9,225 (£6,900) for ticket and meal package with access to VIP lounge. Still some hospitality tickets ranging from $2,430 to $3,150 on the Fifa website. #ENG

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

10 years of scam adverts. I have the misfortune to be in 44% of them according to the police. I've sued. I've lobbied. I've cried at hideous cases of vulnerable people losing everything. Why has nothing been done. Please watch...