Raman

Adding my views into the echo chamber

[Shere Panjab @SherePanjabUK]

A disgrace

A self described 'practicing Sikh' Amarjeet Johal for Reform helped write a policy to remove the exemption for the sacred Kirpan in the UK.

Share this far and wide so his face is known and shamed.

[Don McGowan @donmcgowan]

If you have a spare 3 mins and 45 secs today, watch this fantastic grilling by Sally Nugent on BBC Breakfast.

The very first time I've seen Farage questioned properly about his £5M bung, and it's fair to say, he totally fluffed it.

There are points when you can see Farage tremble and even accuse the BBC of putting him in danger. 🤦‍♂️

It was for security. It was for cars. Nobody cares. It's no one's business. He won't tell us. DANGER!

At one point, he let slip that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards may 'disagree' with him on the rules around donations.

He knows he's going to be found guilty on this one. He's in trouble, and his face gave it away gloriously.

Top hats off to Sally Nugent. Stellar work. 👏

[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.

[Matthew Syed @matthewsyed]

Starmer was hated. Says far more about the electorate than the man. Impossible to govern when people want welfare, triple lock, tax loopholes, NIMBYist vetoes, while also hating the low growth, high debt economy this entails. Starmer was a good man leading an ungovernable country

[Sam @SamCKx]

A democratically elected British Prime Minister has been driven from office by a relentless campaign of propaganda and misinformation; funded, amplified and perpetuated by foreign billionaires and elites whose interests bear zero resemblance to those of ordinary working people.

A noble gesture from an emotional Keir Starmer, entirely consistent with his conduct in office.

A truly sad day for British democracy.

His full resignation speech:

[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...

[Douglas McAllister MP🌹 @Labour_Douglas]

I've written a letter signed by 60 of my parliamentary colleagues to the Foreign Secretary urging the Government to take decisive & immediate action to secure the release of my constituent, Jagtar Singh Johal, from arbitrary detention in India. My thanks to all for their support.

[Raman @raman_rants]

@Jeremy_Hunt You guys defunded public services and are now pointing fingers at Labour asking why all public services are rubbish.

[Raman @raman_rants]

@TomTugendhat @O2 @vodafone Phone signals are getting worse and worse. Yet, nothing changes

[Raman @raman_rants]

@Anna_Soubry @matthewsyed @TimesRadio Despite being a regular listener to @TimesRadio, I’ve lately come to the realisation their presenters (particularly breakfast) are not very clever, nor do they know these basic facts, opting instead to go for the gotcha, cheap, tabloid approach instead. It’s become a turn-off.

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

One other thing. People don't burn their neighbours out of their homes because they're angry. They do it because they get off on it.

[Dr. Anmol Kapoor @AnmolMD]

Globally Sikhs needs to wake and ask themselves, what the hell did they do in last 150+ years?

They helped destroy whatever our forefathers had built in 100 years.

Yes…100 years it took, after the launch of Khalsa Panth to defeating Mughals and establishing first Sikh Empire.

Exactly 100 years passed between the establishment of the Khalsa Panth and the rise of the Sikh Empire. The Khalsa was founded in 1699, and the Sikh Empire was formally established in 1799 when Ranjit Singh captured Lahore.

What did you guys achieve after that? You are called by various names, people are spreading hatred against you, and you are not seen anywhere to defend yourself.

Stop becoming the carpet, and stop endless justifications of your faith and own your destiny.

You belong to a lineage where your forefathers died protecting poor and marginalized communities. They fought against injustices, even if they were done by British or Nazis.

You are born Lions and Lionesses. Don’t let some trolls define your history on social media and internet for coming generations.

They will not forgive you.

It’s an era of AI, fight with education and technology. Get yourself organized.

[Raman @raman_rants]

@SikhFedUK @ShabanaMahmood @DavidLammy Seriously - you guys are thanking Reform, who have spent days criticising Sikhs, they “other” minority communities and senior leaders have called for a ban on the kirpan. Rethink this approach as it’s embarrassing for the so-called “Sikh representative” organisation.

[John Roucker @Johnisnotjoker]

Has @Nigel_Farage personally sued Ben Habib yet?

Has @Nigel_Farage reported his "hacked" phone to the proper authorities yet?

Has @Nigel_Farage answered how his girlfriend afforded that house in Clacton yet?

Has @Nigel_Farage settled on a lie for that £5 million yet?

[Liz Webster @LizWebsterSBF]

🚨 @Lord_Sugar in Sun Times

“Leaving Europe is the worst thing I have experienced in my whole time in business.”

“Johnson and Gove should be in jail. As a chairman I am obliged to tell the truth to my shareholders.”

“If I lie it’s a criminal offence. Politicians lie to the public — their shareholders — and get away with it.”

“All that bullshit about the 350 million quid going to the NHS after Brexit.”
#rejoinEU

[Sangita Myska @SangitaMyska]

1/🚨Elon Musk has just accused Nigel Farage of “lying”.

The world’s richest man posted on X in response to the Reform’s leader saying,

“He [Musk] wanted to give us a load of money if I said certain things publicly and I refused.”

[Danny Wallace @dannywallace]

What we crave is an old-school government so boring no-one knows their names. Competent, professional.
But we're led by a story-hungry media desperate for new drama for sponsored podcasts.
If they had their way we'd have a new PM every month, each worse than the last.

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

Out of curiosity, why is there so much pressure on Starmer to resign

But no pressure on Nigel Farage who took a £5,000,000 gift from a foreign billionaire and coincidentally started calling for the very thing the foreign billionaire wants for the UK, crypto deregulation?

[Narinder Kaur @narindertweets]

Extraordinary allegations from @benhabib6 !!
Ben Habib alleges that Nigel Farage & Boris Johnson were paid £1m each by Christopher Harborne to essentially rig the election in favour of Johnson. He also claims the undeclared £5m "gift" Farage received in 2024 from Harborne was payment for Farage to take over as party leader of Reform UK and stand in Clacton.

[ALASTAIR CAMPBELL @campbellclaret]

Whatever complaints MPs have about Keir Starmer, they are now descending into the kind of headless chickenry that - whatever and whoever the outcome - will make the situation even worse for Labour. If there is a grand plan starring Catherine West and a few PPSs, then it doesn’t feel terribly thought through. A period of calm would do none of them any harm. The general election is a fair way off. The next legislative programme is about to be unveiled. There are better ways to reach such an important decision and better times too. You are MPs not commentators who exist to feed a frenzy.