Simon P Evans

Politics nerd & keen traveller #AVgeek ✈️ All views my own & not of any organisation. RT not necessarily an endorsement

[Paul Graham @paulg]

This is an actual page on the White House web site. It reads like something written about a third world dictator. So embarrassing. I have not seen any branch of the federal government sink this low in my lifetime.

[Pat McFadden @patmcfaddenmp]

As I often say in interviews and in the Department, "we have to change the question the system asks from "what benefits are you entitled to" to "how do we help you change your life".

From BBC PM programme...last Thursday (28 May).

[Simon P Evans @simonevans117]

@DMiliband Very sorry to hear this news. May her memory be a blessing

[Simon P Evans @simonevans117]

Very sad news. My thoughts go out to Ed and David along with the rest of the Miliband family.

[Lucy Fisher @LOS_Fisher]

NEW: Tony Blair has issued a veiled attack on Andy Burnham, branding it a “delusion” that British voters want Labour to shift left

Blair hit out at the faction in the nascent Labour leadership battle spinning a “rehash of the far-left critique about nothing good coming out of the last ‘40 years’ of ‘neo-liberalism’, which presumably includes the last Labour govt”

Comes as part of a 5,600-word essay by Blair on the challenges facing the UK, including AI revolution and fast-changing global order

https://t.co/8lrJmNIqNk

[Jack Elsom @JackElsom]

Tony Blair: “I always used to say the greatest source of election-losing advice was the Guardian”

[Simon P Evans @simonevans117]

Tony’s not wrong

[The Telegraph @Telegraph]

Sir Tony Blair said on Tuesday night that Sir Keir Starmer had no plan to fix Britain as he launched an unprecedented attack on the Labour leader’s record in office

Sir Tony accused the Labour Prime Minister of retreating into a Left-wing “comfort zone” of high taxes and red tape that had crippled growth while failing to tackle the ballooning welfare bill 👇
https://t.co/eFeHSOf6Lf

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

NEW: Tony Blair has accused Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting of putting Labour’s future at risk by abandoning the centre ground.

In highly unusual intervention for a past PM, he warns the party’s “almost infinite capacity for self-delusion” means it is likely to lose the next election.

In a scathing 5,700-word attack, Blair argued for government to crack down on welfare spending, abandon restrictions on oil & gas and smooth relations with Donald Trump 👇

https://t.co/L0DPIzLS67

[Jo White MP @JoWhiteSays]

Alan Milburn's report on 18-24 year old unemployed: "For every £25 that we spend keeping young people on benefits, we spend only a pound helping them get into work through employment support"

1 in 8 yng people, nearly 1m.

An emergency we cannot ignore
https://t.co/KJGK5jQr6W

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 BREAKING: Rachel Reeves has launched the Great British Summer Savings scheme

From 25 June to 1 September, VAT on summer attractions like theme parks will be temporarily cut from 20% to 5%

Kids’ tickets for cinemas, concerts, soft play and restaurant meals will also be cut

[Ritchie Torres @RitchieTorres]

Israel’s enemies may have no greater friend than Itamar Ben-Gvir. He is and has always been an extremist who belongs nowhere in the ranks of government, let alone in the Ministry of Internal Security.

Shame on all the enablers who have empowered his extremism.

[Wes Streeting @wesstreeting]

In times of greatest peril our country has been capable of doing big things.

We still can.

Britain used to punch above its weight in the world.

We still can.

Each generation used to provide a better future for the next.

We still can.

[60 Minutes @60Minutes]

"I'm gay, I'm left-handed, and I'm Jewish. There's a lot of things that I'm supposed to do that I don't do,” Barney Frank told 60 Minutes in 2008.

Frank, who represented Massachusetts in Congress from 1981 until he retired in 2013, has died at age 86. https://t.co/RUjZA6GTBr

[Simon P Evans @simonevans117]

This was a really barnstorming speech by @wesstreeting! He sets out a positive vision for the country and a path to a second term!

[Sky News @SkyNews]

'I left the government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism.'

Former health secretary, Wes Streeting, addressed the Commons following his resignation.

He adds that 'we must reject the politics that tries to divide us.'

https://t.co/jtpYNMOvsl

[Simon P Evans @simonevans117]

And this is bad thing?! 🤔

[The Telegraph @Telegraph]

🥵 Labour is considering making it illegal to work when it is too hot as part of the drive for net zero

Read more about what that could entail ↓
https://t.co/TrHakSD2Eq

[Simon P Evans @simonevans117]

Very sad news. He was a true titan of congress and a gay rights hero

[The Associated Press @AP]

BREAKING: Barney Frank, a longtime Democratic congressman who crafted financial reforms and brought visibility to gay rights, dies. https://t.co/gIm368EIIm

[Simon P Evans @simonevans117]

Does he want to lose a general election?!

[Alex Wickham @alexwickham]

EXCLUSIVE: Andy Burnham won’t commit to keeping Labour’s manifesto promises on tax and has opened the door to new tax rises if he becomes PM.

His decision to back the current fiscal rules wins him a reprieve from markets, but it limits his options to fund policies like council house-building. It raises the prospect of tax hikes.

Asked by Bloomberg if he is committed to Labour’s election manifesto pledges not to raise income tax, national insurance, VAT or corporation tax, his campaign declined to say so.

They also didn’t rule out new taxes on wealth.

Burnham’s spokesperson says he doesn’t want talk about tax policy during this by-election:

“Andy is fully focused on working hard for every vote in Makerfield so he can represent them in Parliament. Andy is not standing on a national manifesto at this election; he is standing to make a difference for the people of Makerfield and to bring the change he has delivered in Greater Manchester to the national stage.”

Burnham has recently called for the top rate of tax to be hiked to 50p and a council tax reevaluation to target the wealthy. “We have overtaxed labour and undertaxed wealth,” he said last year.

But former Jeremy Hunt SpAd Adam Smith says wealth taxes don’t raise sufficient revenue and it is inevitable Burnham will have to look at the big taxes if he is going to implement bolder policies.

[Max Abdulgani @max_abdulgani]

I was born in Peckham.

It deserves better than a tired shopping centre in decline.

867 homes that could have contributed to almost 40% of Southwark’s annual housing target, rejected.❌

[Ben Walker @BNHWalker]

Makerfield: messaging a little off

[Simon P Evans @simonevans117]

Totally, totally shocked r.e. Josh Simons!