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Liz Webster
25, April #StarmerCrisis

Liz Webster: This šŸ‘‡ Mandelson development just changed the gameā€¦

This šŸ‘‡ Mandelson development just changed the game. The EUā€™s anti-fraud office (OLAF) is now investigating possible misconduct during his time as European Trade Commissioner. This is no longer just a UK political story. It internationalises the scandal. Suddenly we have an independent European body with its own powers, evidence thresholds, and access to documents from outside direct UK government or parliamentary control. That means: šŸ’„ Less exposure to No.10 pressure šŸ’„ Different scrutiny and timelines šŸ’„ The story canā€™t be fully managed or contained domestically. Even if Whitehall withholds files, OLAF can request them. This is an investigation, not a conviction. It focuses on his EU commissioner years (2004ā€“2008), including alleged favouritism and leaks. But the timing couldnā€™t be worse for Starmer. The gremlin project was always about elite networking across borders. Now that networking is coming under external investigation both here (Met Police) and in Europe (OLAF).
Liz Webster: This šŸ‘‡ Mandelson development just changed the gameā€¦
https://x.com/LizWebsterSBF/status/2047983106183909428?s=20
#StarmerCrisis
Liz Webster
18, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Senior Brexit civil servant Philip Rycroft...

šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ šŸ‡ŖšŸ‡ŗ Senior Brexit civil servant Philip Rycroft: Public opinion is moving towards rejoin (~53% in recent polls). We should have an honest national debate about it. Brexit freedoms have proved less liberating than promised. No sign of major economic outperformance. Geopolitics (Russia, unstable US) make European cooperation more important. ā€œThat is the debate we need to have.ā€ Even insiders who delivered Brexit now see the need to rethink our long-term relationship with Europe.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
17, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: OMG This is totally vile...

"šŸ˜® OMG This is totally vile. Reform councillors in Makerfield posing with a banner saying theyā€™d ā€œrather vote for Jimmy Savile than Labourā€. This is gutter politics and shows the desperation. Makerfield voters deserve better than this toxicity. A strong result for @AndyBurnhamGM on Thursday is the antidote: serious, decent leadership focused on communities, high streets, and a proper British food & farming plan. #AndyForMakerfield #SaveBritishFarming"
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
17, June #TrendShock

Liz Webster: Ten years after the Brexit vote...

šŸšØ Ten years after the Brexit vote, Reuters tells the story of two brothers from a strongly Leave area who were on opposite sides. Both are now disappointed. The brother who voted Leave feels betrayed, the promises of sovereignty, cheaper food, and economic boom never came. The brother who voted Remain is saddened by the lasting division and damage to the country. This is the human cost playing out in families and communities across Britain. Brexit divided us and left many on both sides feeling let down by the outcome.
#TrendShock
Liz Webster
16, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Brexit energy trap: Britainā€™s energy...

šŸšØ Brexit energy trap: Britainā€™s energy costs are strangling growth. PwC warns we risk missing out on Ā£250 billion in economic value over the next decade unless we fix chronically high electricity prices. This is the Brexit energy trap: lost EU market integration + our broken gas-marginal pricing system = some of the highest costs in the developed world, even when renewables are cheap. We need a proper integrated energy strategy, not more decline.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
16, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Ten years on, the Brexit evidence overwhelming...

šŸ”„ Ten years on, the Brexit evidence overwhelming. Brexit was not a temporary disruption on the road to prosperity. It was an act of economic self-harm. The promised gains, less red tape, booming global trade and lower immigration, have not materialised. Instead we have: šŸ“‰ Lower investment šŸ“‰ Weaker productivity šŸ“‰ More expensive trade šŸ“‰ Lower growth šŸ“ˆ Higher net migration You can argue about the exact size of the damage, but you cannot honestly argue there has been no damage.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
15, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: šŸ”„ The great irony of the population...

šŸ”„ The great irony of the population debate/Malthusianism is that for decades a generation of policymakers feared Britain had too many people and explored ways of reducing numbers. Half a century later, Britain šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ faces a population crisis of not enough people. For decades so many citizens have struggled to afford to have the families they want. Now the large aging babyboom generation continues to resent immigration needed to keep the country going.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
13, June #StarmerCrisis

Liz Webster: Polly Mackenzie nails it on Newsnightā€¦

āœ… Polly Mackenzie nails it on Newsnight: If you want to give Starmerā€™s failing government a bloody nose, vote for @AndyBurnhamGM in Makerfield. ā€œVote Labour, get rid of Starmer because the point is actually Andy Burnham can get rid of Keir Starmer by September rather than Nigel Farage, who's gonna take years to do it.ā€ ā€œI don't understand why he's not campaigning on that, to be honest, because to me it's the slam dunk victory in Makerfield.ā€ #AndyForMakerfield #SaveBritishFarming
#StarmerCrisis
Liz Webster
12, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Britainā€™s decision to Brexitā€¦

Britainā€™s decision to Brexit has already imposed a significant economic and practical cost for far fewer gains than were promised. But Brexit isnā€™t done hurting us. In a world of trade wars, energy shocks and geopolitical instability, choosing to erect barriers with our largest market has made Britain more exposed, less resilient and less able to absorb global shocks. The cruel irony is that Brexit was sold as a route to prosperity and control. Instead, it has left Britain facing the very thing economists fear most: stagflation - higher prices, weaker growth and falling living standards.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
12, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Newsnight @gilliantettā€¦

šŸšØ Newsnight @gilliantett cut to the chase: ā€œThis clearly is a mess of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reevesā€™ making, bc they shouldā€™ve seen it.ā€ She said Healey and Cairns have ā€œplayed a masterstrokeā€ by detonating a political landmine. But while Westminster fights internal battles and obsesses over fiscal rules and defence budgets, British šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ farming is being allowed to decline. This government came in treating farming as an industry it could afford to neglect, repeating the mistake of treating a strategic sector as expendable. šŸ”„ Food is not just another industry. šŸ”„ Food is part of defence. The 1947 Agriculture Act understood this lesson after WW2: a country that cannot feed itself is vulnerable to war, blockades, climate shocks and hostile powers controlling supply chains. Food production is as fundamental to national resilience as energy, infrastructure and defence capability. We need to restore the principles of the 1947 Agriculture Act: treating food production as a public good and a national security priority. Food security is national security.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
11, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Brexit was sold as ā€œtaking back controlā€ā€¦

šŸšØ Brexit was sold as ā€œtaking back controlā€ of our borders. Instead, it delivered the opposite. By leaving the EU, Britain lost key cooperation tools (like the Dublin Regulation for returns) while raising public expectations it couldnā€™t meet. Result? Record small boat crossings across the Channel, over 200,000 since 2018, turning what was once a defensive moat (Dunkirk 1940) into a smuggling superhighway.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
11, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Nigel Farageā€™s promises deliver the oppositeā€¦

āš ļø Nigel Farageā€™s promises deliver the opposite: He swore leaving the EU would ā€œtake back controlā€ of migration. Instead we got record small boat crossings, lost EU cooperation tools, and a border more porous than ever. Now he claims leaving the ECHR will fix it. Same dodgy salesman, same false promises. Voting Farage consistently delivers the exact opposite of what he sells: fewer rights, weaker security, a poorer country for most, while crypto billionaires and a tiny elite get richer.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
10, June #StarmerCrisis

Liz Webster: Keir Starmer tied himselfā€¦

šŸ”„ Keir Starmer tied himself in knots by sticking to unworkable Brexit red lines that only 30% of Britons support šŸ‘‰ and those are mostly Tory and Reform voters. The public has moved on. A clear majority now regrets Brexit and wants closer ties or full rejoin. By defending the status quo that only hard Leavers still back, Starmer is handing ammunition to his critics and alienating the growing rejoin majority. Thatā€™s why heā€™s in trouble.
#StarmerCrisis
Liz Webster
09, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: The British šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ people know Brexitā€¦

The British šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ people know Brexit has bound Britain up in expensive red tape while delivering none of the benefits that were promised. Instead we face: šŸ”„ more paperwork and trade friction šŸ”„ higher food costs šŸ”„ weaker growth and investment šŸ”„ reduced freedom to live, work and travel across Europe šŸ”„ labour shortages across key sectors šŸ”„ endless renegotiation with our largest market Brexit was sold as less bureaucracy and more prosperity. Instead, Britain has spent a decade managing the consequences. And increasingly people are waking up to the truth that Brexit has made life worse for the majority of British people.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
06, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Voters see Brexit as a ā€œbig disappointmentā€ā€¦

šŸšØ Voters see Brexit as a ā€œbig disappointmentā€ and ā€œnot worth itā€ resulting in a rise in support for rejoining the EU. The decision to leave the EU has ā€œnot withstood the test of timeā€ and is blamed for making immigration and the economy worse, says Professor Sir John Curtice. Prof Curtice says: ā€œThe 2016 referendum has failed to resolve the debate about whether Britain should be inside or outside the EU. The country now finds itself outside an institution of which a modest majority at least would like to be a member. ā€œFor the time being at least, a significant body of voters have decided that being outside the EU is not worth it.ā€
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
05, June #StarmerCrisis

Liz Webster: his gives real confidence that @AndyBurnhamGMā€¦

šŸ”“ This gives real confidence that @AndyBurnhamGM means a genuine break from Starmerā€™s decline. Cutting business rates by 20% for pubs & music venues and scrapping them entirely for small high street shops, cafes & hairdressers, funded by taxing big tech warehouses instead. For farming communities, this is huge: thriving village pubs, shops and rural services are lifelines that support our way of life and local economies. Finally, someone standing up for real businesses and places rather than just piling costs onto them. This is the practical, place-first politics we need. #AndyForMakerfield
#StarmerCrisis
Liz Webster
01, June #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: The UK canā€™t reliably power or feed itselfā€¦

The UK canā€™t reliably power or feed itself. Global corporations own and run much of our energy, water, transport, and key industries. Brexit didnā€™t restore sovereignty, it just swapped EU rules for corporate dominance and greater US influence, while weakening our leverage. Real sovereignty in the 21st century means working with our closest neighbours. Rejoining the EU is the only credible route to regaining meaningful control.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
31, May #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: @Frencheconomics in The Timesā€¦

šŸšØ @Frencheconomics in The Times: ā€œYes, Brexit was a mistakeā€¦ but not facing underlying issues was worse.ā€ He is right that Britain has deep underlying problems of low investment, housing shortages, productivity failures. But this is like focusing on rising damp while Brexit is burning the house down. We canā€™t fix the chronic issues while the self-inflicted Brexit fire: trade barriers, lost investment, weaker growth, higher costs continues to rage.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
30, May #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Brexit has damaged UK investmentā€¦

šŸšØ Brexit has damaged UK investment, growth, trade and productivity. The UK used to comfortably outperform France, Germany and Italy. That advantage has gone. GDP per head has lagged behind major EU peers since 2016. The post-Brexit immigration surge has masked some of the weakness in underlying performance. Public opinion has shifted dramatically. A majority now believe Brexit was a mistake, with polls suggesting a rejoin referendum could pass by a big margin. The current ā€œresetā€ under Starmer is delivering very little, just 0.3% of GDP over 15 years according to some estimates.
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
30, May #StarmerCrisis

Liz Webster: This Starmer graphic is woefully misleadingā€¦

This Starmer graphic is woefully misleading. Shrinkflation wonā€™t continue to help skew inflation as it is set to soar again bc of the Hormuz crisis. Claiming ā€œinflation is downā€ and ā€œgrowth is returningā€ while households face another wave of pain from energy bills is exactly the kind of holiday from reality thatā€™s lost Labour so much trust. The double standards on immigration are glaring - Govt talks tough on small boats for headlines and political cover to continue Tory extraction of public funds to billionaires. This is chaos dressed up as toughness, feeds populism, and leaves the public angry and services under strain. We need honest leadership that fixes the cost-of-living crisis, not more of the same Tory oligarchy. Thatā€™s why the momentum is with @AndyBurnhamGM . #AndyForMakerfield
#StarmerCrisis
Liz Webster
28, May #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: The Times Starmerā€™s govt is...

šŸšØ The Times: Starmerā€™s govt is politicising the justice system Former DPP Sir Max Hill warning that the handling of Palestine Action cases risks breaking public trust in the judiciary. šŸ”„ Uneven approach: heavy crackdowns on left/pro-Palestine activism while appearing softer on right-wing extremism. šŸ”„ Rise in ā€œperverse verdictsā€ as juries act on conscience against perceived unfair prosecutions. šŸ”„ Proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group seen as overly broad and politically driven. This is seriously dangerous territory. When governments selectively weaponise terrorism laws and override jury independence to pursue political goals, they erode the independence and legitimacy of the justice system. @KarlTurnerMP @labourlewis @mainstreamlbr
#BrokenSystem
Liz Webster
27, May #BrokenSystem

Liz Webster: Janan Ganesh is right that Brexit Britainā€¦

šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ Janan Ganesh is right that Brexit Britain has become more fragmented, distrustful and interventionist. BUT he misses the central reason. Itā€™s not bc Britons are secretly French-style statists who finally discovered their inner Europeanness. Itā€™s because the public were sold contradictions/lies in Brexit. Voters were promised: ā€¢ Lower immigration ā€¢ Stronger public services (Ā£350m for the NHS) ā€¢ More sovereignty ā€¢ Less bureaucracy ā€¢ Greater prosperity ā€¢ With no trade-offs At the same time, libertarian Brexit ideologues imagined ā€œSingapore-on-Thamesā€ while millions of voters actually wanted protection, security and national renewal. Those visions were never aligned. šŸŽ§ šŸ‘‡
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