Wealth of 157 UK billionaires now equals £670bn, 22% of GDP. Return on wealth (dividends and capital gains) is taxed at lower rates than wages. Extreme concentration of wealth facilitates political power, corruption, economic control. Wither democracy.

The rise of the far right isn’t happening in a vacuum, it’s being fuelled by the very technologies controlled by a handful of billionaires. Elon Musk has updated the formula on Twitter: viral outrage travels faster than facts, meaning this formula will fuel extremism.

'Rule Britannia' 'Unite the Kingdom' 'Account based in Thailand'... 🤔

Disinformation has become a business model. Elon Musk has updated Twitter’s formula in ways that will fuel extremism. Extreme polarisation driven by unregulated digital platforms should be treated as a national security risk, not just a political problem.

Why exactly would a Thailand-based economic migrant secretly give Nigel Farage £5 million as a 'reward' for delivering Brexit? I won't get to ask either of them this question but every single journalist & broadcaster granted access could...

If you have to call a £5m 'reward for Brexit campaigning' a 'gift', you’ve already admitted it’s political. Nigel Farage didn’t just forget to declare it; he explained why he should have. #r4today #BBCBreakfast #GMB #skynews

Nigel Farage led the Brexit Party which won the referendum which was all about 'taking back control' So how come TWO-THIRDS of Reform's donors are based overseas ...

Farage did say Brexit would make us richer… We should have known that by us, he meant him £5,000,000 richer.

If the media spent even 10% as much energy on systemic corporate tax avoidance as they do attacking Zack Polanski over minor tax disputes, our public finances might actually improve. £4,000 council tax ≠ billions in corporate tax avoidance. #r4today #BBCBreakfast #GMB #skynews

If ordinary people don’t pay their taxes, no mercy. They’re punished immediately. The real scandal is not that one politician underpaid council tax on a houseboat. It is that big corporations avoid tax all the time but face no punishment. #r4today #BBCBreakfast #GMB #skynews

Reform UK is funded by billionaires. It opposes workers’ rights, pushes to cut the minimum wage and to privatise the NHS. All Reform does is pit workers against each other. When workers are divided, it’s easier for billionaires to exploit them. #r4today #BBCBreakfast #GMB #skynews

JP Morgan’s threat exposes the flaw in Britain’s economic model. Private investment only flows into already wealthy areas. For 40 years, deprived coastal and post-industrial towns have seen no private investment. The UK needs rebalancing. #r4today #BBCBreakfast #GMB #Skynews

Nigel Farage pocketing a £5m gift from a billionaire really sums up the Reform UK party: billionaires selling fake patriotism to scam the British people. Billionaires sit at the very top of the hierarchy while exploiting workers and ordinary people. #r4today #BBCBreakfast #GMB #Skynews

People need to be reminded that the two day weekend didn’t come from nationalism or anti-migrant sentiment. It was won through worker solidarity and organised labour in the 1930s. #r4today #BBCBreakfast #GMB #Skynews

National disgrace: workers taking bosses to court forced to wait until 2030. Govt has reduced resources for employment tribunals. Stressful for workers. Rogue employers are more likely to get away with abuse, wage theft and wrongful dismissal. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Brexit doesn’t stop the UK economy from needing workers; businesses always keep expanding. The UK population is ageing, so we always need more workers. Brexit can’t reverse ageing. Brexit just changed where workers come from. EU free movement was one source. #r4today #Skynews

Nigel Farage is a mini Trump. We’ve seen the damage Trump’s recklessness inflicted on the global economy. Farage could cause similar disruption in the UK. It could end up being even more damaging than Truss. Think Liz Truss 2.0, but worse. #r4today #BBCBreakfast #GMB #Skynews

So Trump starts a war with Iran, then lifts sanctions on Russian oil to calm prices, handing Putin more money to attack Ukraine, giving Europe an even bigger headache. Trump doesn’t get why Europe has to focus on the Ukraine war, especially after he’s the one who made it worse. #r4today

Trump constantly criticised NATO, claiming it wouldn’t defend the US if it were attacked. Meanwhile, the US fails to fully protect its allies in the Middle East. Qatar learned the hard way. It gave loyalty, money and compliance and yet it didn’t protect Ras Laffan. #r4today

VICTORY! Government to open up the Land Registry - bringing to an end a thousand years of secrecy shrouding who owns England. I’ve been campaigning for this for ten years: the new Land Use Framework, published later today, makes it government policy. 1/ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Trump didn't realise he'd opened Pandora's box by going to war with Iran. He has too low IQ to see it. Trump started this war and now finds himself well and truly trapped. Now he’s trying to drag US allies into the same trap. Nope. #r4today

Money saved on taxes is useless in a place without stability. Why don’t tax dodgers get it? The UK’s high taxes fund its stability. These taxes pay for the institutions, public services and infrastructure that keep the country running and help reduce inequality. #r4today

Love that Trump is so dense he doesn’t understand that you can’t just sever trade with Spain… Why? Altogether now… Because Spain is in the EU Handy, that…

Jeremy Vine set up a debate on Farage vs Starmer on Iran…  but Reform UK rewrote their own policy so fast the topic’s obsolete before the show airs. A leader who flip‑flops isn’t handling anything better.

Either Reform UK knew councils would need tax rises and promised cuts anyway, or they just didn’t understand how local government finances work. Neither explanation fits the image of a party Nigel Farage says will run things better than everyone else.

The most dangerous consequence of Trump’s illegal war on Iran isn’t the fighting itself, but how others might react. If countries believe diplomacy and treaties cannot protect sovereignty, some may start thinking nuclear deterrence is the only reliable guarantee. #r4today

Remember when MAGA called Zelensky disrespectful for not wearing a suit to meet Trump? Funny how Donald Trump wearing a white baseball hat at a dignified transfer for fallen soldiers is far more disrespectful, yet those same MAGA have nothing to say.

Ask Jacob Rees-Mogg this: Would the UK go to war with Iran alone if US hadn't started it? If not then joining Iran war now means fighting someone else's war, not defending our own interests. Knowing Trump, he’s looking for allies to clean the mess he left behind. #PoliticsLive

Trump’s war on Iran has no legal justification, no clear objectives, and no credible post-war strategy. In fact, it could accelerate Iran’s nuclear ambitions and inflame regional tensions. Above all, Trump’s unpredictability makes him unreliable for this war. #PoliticsLive

How easy is it for Trump to walk away from commitments & abruptly flip strategies? Very. The biggest risk isn’t the war but Trump himself. The aftermath of war requires long-term commitment. If Trump suddenly walks away, UK will be left on its own with the aftermath. #r4today

Boris Johnson says Keir Starmer has made us an irrelevance on the world stage...

A strong country should be able to tell even close allies 'NO' when a policy is dangerous. It is not weak to refuse wars that lack clear goals; it is an act of protecting national interests. But it is incredibly weak for the UK to follow Trump into war blindly. #r4today

Penny Mordaunt railing away about the state of UK armed forces without a hint of apology. She was a minister for most of the 14 years of Tory rule which witnessed the strangling of the UK's military capacity. And she was even defence secretary for 5 mins. #bbclaurak

A true ally must also warn allies when a strategy is dangerous. Urging an ally to avoid a catastrophic war isn’t betrayal; it protects both countries from a strategic mistake. A war with Iran could trigger an oil crisis, regional conflicts and global instability. #r4today

This war: 1. Is good news for Russia 2. Is bad news for our Labour government 3. Diverts from Trump's involvement with Epstein. Seems like a good strategy as far as Trump is concerned. #r4today

This is an absolutely huge jump in oil prices. It's also why Europe needs to get off fossil fuels asap (beyond climate change impact). We can't be beholden to this.

Today the United States wasted another #1B on an illegal war in Iran, money that could have been spent on funding health care or providing SNAP benefits or cancer research or academic scholarships for minorities. I could go on and on but I think you get my point. #endtheiranwarnow

Also by Hannan: “the blue eyed sheiks” of Icelandic Banking will save us (2004). Brexit will be a huge success and we won’t leave the single market (2016) “Covid won’t kill you” (2020)

BP’s new CEO to take home £11.7m this year, more than double her predecessor. Daily pay > annual median pay of UK employee. CEO pay at one company is a benchmark for another. Others will want more. Govts, BOE, CBI and other neoliberals talk about wage inflation, but silence on fat-cattery.

Washington Post: In the long run, wars make us safer and richer. Exactly why, in the long run, we always end up with endless refugee crises & mountains of debt. If you choose to attack & destabilise a country, don’t act surprised when refugees end up on your doorstep. #r4today

Instead of falling into the trap of trying to out‑Farage Farage on immigration, the Greens show a smarter way to outplay him by playing a completely different ball game. Focus on climate, inequality, housing and sustainable communities. Don’t compete on his terms. #r4today

Labour thinks it can out-Farage Farage. Remember, the Tories tried that. Result? The party’s now in existential crisis, hollowed out by irrelevance. You can’t beat Farage at his own game because he always sets the rules, as he has no limit to how far right he’ll go. #r4today

Beautiful from Private Eye on the massive toddler-tantrum that Matt Goodwin and Reform are having, because they got whooped in Gorton and Denton.

People like Charlie Mullins think taxes don’t benefit them. But in reality they do, because STABILITY, the very thing that protects their wealth, is paid for through taxes. Taxes fund our institutions, public services & reduce inequality, keeping the country STABLE. #r4today

British tax exiles in Dubai deliberately avoid paying UK taxes, but they expect free protection abroad? They’ve consciously chosen to benefit financially from avoiding taxes, but still expect the UK to provide costly services for free. #r4today

Ed Davey, "We rightly expect our armed forces to protect British citizens around the world in crisis like this" "But that includes tax exiles like Isabel Oakeshott who mock ordinary people who stay in the UK and pay our taxes here"

Ed Davey is voicing the sentiments of many taxpayers - not only in the UK, but throughout the Western world.

Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey: "Tax exiles like Isabel Oakeshott and washed up old footballers who mock ordinary people who stay in the UK and pay our taxes... As we protect them, it's only right for tax exiles to start paying taxes to fund our armed forces, just like the rest of us".

So, wealthy British tax avoiders are fleeing Dubai. Money saved on taxes is useless in a place without stability. In the UK, taxes are high, but they fund the nation’s stability. They pay for our institutions, public services, & infrastructure, & help reduce inequality. #r4today

People say Farage has charisma. This isn’t charismatic. This is dismissive and rude. It’s a serious question about BNP-style racism within his party. And Farage can’t cope with that kind of scrutiny. So he lashes out. Under the spotlight, his ‘charisma’ turns very sour indeed.