By 2027, there will be 3million pensioners who pay higher or additional rate tax. These people, by definition, are in the top 20% of all UK earners. Yet they will still receive a £12K a year state pension, in a direct transfer of cash from the poorer young to the wealthier old.
"Labour needs a bold and imaginative vision for Britain in the modern world. CANZUK could very well be that vision." 🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿🇬🇧
https://t.co/Rc8Yks6Hkf @Keir_Starmer@DavidLammy@LabourfutureUK
🔴 Public Opinion of a CANZUK Alliance 🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿🇬🇧:
🇨🇦 Canada = 72% Support / 16% Oppose
🇦🇺 Australia = 68% Support / 19% Oppose
🇳🇿 New Zealand = 75% Support / 18% Oppose
🇬🇧 United Kingdom = 70% Support / 22% Oppose
(February 2026)
https://t.co/C51wuTsn2b
I’m keen on a limited form of CANZUK as long as you are really measured and level-headed about what it can and can’t do.
There is real room for systematic joint branding of statements, calls and leader engagement, solid regulatory and procurement ideas like @PierrePoilievre is proposing, with room in the development space where the US has retreated for joint projects and financial instruments to do much more together.
I’ll tell you a story from my time in the Foreign Office which is I had workshopped a very tentative proposal for more systematic use of the term with a possible Foreign Ministers meeting or at least photo at margins of existing summits, with a suggestion to use the format to discuss with soft issues like development.
The idea died early in the policy planning process as the Ambassador in Washington — at the time a certain Peter Mandelson — thought it risked being seen as Five Eyes without the Americans and posed risk.
At the time, there was merit to that caution. But I think times have changed. The truth is America does plenty without us and would already expect these countries with so much in common to do more together than is actually the case.
I strongly reject this is just an issue for the right. It was roughly in a CANZUK plus select European allies format the Labour government advanced our position on Palestine.
I genuinely see a limited CANZUK policy-driven platform as complimentary to building up our independence, integration and capacity with our EU allies. Instead of talking vaguely about doing more with “middle powers” — who and what exactly — this is something creative as can do with old friends who happen to be those.
🚨🇨🇦 NEW: Canadian Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre is advocating for CANZUK, a coalition between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK that will promote free trade
The govt's Student Loan Plan 2 repayment freeze in April 2027 must be reversed. It isn't moral.
I'm concerned that my debate with Kemi Badenoch this morning distracts from the most immediate problem. In April 2027 Rachel Reeves will freeze the Plan 2 student loan threshold until 2030 which by then will increase graduate repayments by £300/yr more.
This is effectively a unilateral negative breach of the student loan contract. Students were told the threshold would rise with average earnings. No commercial lender would be allowed to do this. The govt shouldn't do it either.
Changing the terms of future students loans is a political decision - people may not like it but it is transparent. Negatively changing the terms of contracts already signed, and long in place, is a breach of natural justice.
To all the athletes representing @TeamUSA: I'm so proud of you. Your talent and perseverance have brought you to this moment, and Michelle and I will be joining Americans from across the country cheering you on.
"My student debt went from £54,000 to £99,000 since leaving university in 2019."
Caller Daniel and @BenKentish are shocked 'nobody cares' about graduates.
The fleecing of graduates is a political bomb waiting to go off. Considering that graduates were once more likely than not to vote Labour, Rachel Reeves ought to be thinking about how defuse it
Rachel Reeves should be very careful arguing only graduates should pay for their degrees
Would be a lot of cold pensioners without our generation’s taxes. I don’t make much use of the nuclear deterrent either
Education is a public good, not a commodity
I don’t object to a graduate tax.
I object to a one-way intergenerational transfer where graduates fund triple-locked pensions, universal winter fuel payments and a homeowner veto on housing & infrastructure as well as overregulation driving up the cost of living for us all.
Fix that, and I’ll pay up.
Until then, no thanks. I’m not subsidising a lifestyle my generation is locked out of.
Student loans are becoming a headline area of interest recently. As a doctor who trained and is now working in the UK, I thought I would share my situation.
Despite working for almost three years, my loan has continued to grow, and now sits at this amount. [1/7].
Without a doubt, the time has now come for Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to rise and stand together on the global stage.
Our shared values, history, and unbreakable spirit demand a true CANZUK alliance - now more than ever. The world has changed considerably in recent times, and our nations continually face hostile rhetoric and actions from the United States, China, Russia and Iran. While sovereign and independent, we cannot continue to act in isolation if we are to protect the values and freedoms our nations were founded on.
Together, we are an unstoppable force: innovative, resilient, and ready to shape a brighter future for the world. If we don't seize this moment now, we risk losing our chance to show our collective strength.
It's now or never for CANZUK to be a vision of hope, prosperity and opportunity for our citizens and the world. 🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿🇬🇧