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Birmingham bound for #CPC26?
Join us at @ukonward for a packed agenda talking about some of the most interesting issues of our time - housing, AI, sin taxes, how to turbocharge London…
With some of the biggest names in @Conservatives politics!
🧵
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Simon Clarke retweeted
Reform didn’t need to go to Nigeria: they could have asked me. The story about Kemi Badenoch & chess comes from my February 2024 @thetimes interview with her. Here is that section of the transcript.
Kemi Badenoch said she was Nigeria's national chess champion at age 7. So we sent a reporter to Nigeria to find out the truth.
She lied.
Here is everything else she has lied about:
Community note
Kemi Badenoch did not claim to be Nigeria's national chess champion. In the February 2024 Times interview transcript she said she won "a national competition for chess" at age 7 in Nigeria but immediately clarified "there were only two girls who entered."
x.com/victoriapeckha…
kemibadenoch.org.uk/news/kemi-bade…
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Simon Clarke retweeted
PM is stumbling around on the UK-EU relationship & he may not realise all the consequences for:
❓our existing trade deals
❓having to raise tariffs
❓having to withdraw trade preferences for developing countries
❓ losing our own trade defence choices
politico.eu/article/tories-a…
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Simon Clarke retweeted
The truth is that prison works & we we need a lot more capacity to end soft sentencing
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A major and very important new commitment from @KemiBadenoch and @NJ_Timothy.
Prison works. And the Conservatives will build many more of them.
Tories vow to slash foreign aid to fund 50,000 new jail cells as Burnham's Labour frees first of tidal wave of convicts trib.al/4VBfD0n
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This is the reality of what a return to the EU would mean.
Freedom of movement? “No cherry picking”
And it will be the same for other issues like our rebate or justice and home affairs opt outs.
We would have to go back on much worse terms than before.
"No cherry picking."
Michel Barnier, the man who negotiated Brexit for the EU, welcomes Andy Burnham weighing up whether the UK should rejoin the EU.
But he has a familiar warning about the possible terms. #R4Today
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Simon Clarke retweeted
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy tells JASON GROVES that prison works: 'We've all spent too long trying to understand criminals... it's time we sent out a clear message' trib.al/SxaT3YM
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Birmingham bound for #CPC26?
Join us at @ukonward for a packed agenda talking about some of the most interesting issues of our time - housing, AI, sin taxes, how to turbocharge London…
With some of the biggest names in @Conservatives politics!
🧵
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And @ukonward have two special “in conversation” events
I will be talking to @NeilDotObrien about the Party’s exciting policy plans…
And I will be speaking to one of their most impressive candidates, Cheshire and Warrington Mayoral hopeful @BackBen4Mayor.
See you there!
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Also coming up: a fascinating @ukonward debate on true equality, with a fantastic group of guests @joymorrissey @baronesscash @lara_e_brown @CarolineElsom and @MaeveHalligan
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🚨The Onward Team are going to Birmingham!
For Conservative Party Conference 2026, we will be based in the Onward Marquee, Birmingham ICC
This year we are hosting 14 different events over Monday and Tuesday
Take a look and mark your calendars!!
👇👇👇
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I’m afraid inward investment doesn’t constitute a licence to cheat - and if this is what UAE officials are saying, they need to be told where to get off.
And the Prime Minister needs to remember he isn’t Mayor of Manchester any more.
Exclusive with @AlexDooler @DNair5
UAE officials have warned the UK government that the severity of Man City’s punishment could undermine their appetite for future grand-scale commitments in Britain, according to people familiar with the matter
They consider the Premier League’s actions to have an influence on the bilateral state relationship, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing undisclosed information
The extraordinary pressure comes after Andy Burnham faced criticism, including from within government, for saying Man City’s Abu Dhabi owners should not be disqualified specifically because of the investment they bring to Britain
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Simon Clarke retweeted
😲 Andy Burnham's conference speech is wake up call for the right. Those of us who believe the last four decades haven't been a new dark age need to speak up.
Latest @thetimes column on why private enterprise and privatisation are actually good things thetimes.com/comment/columni…
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Simon Clarke retweeted
A debt crisis always starts in the most vulnerable places. That's what's happening now. Look at how France's 10-year yield has decoupled above the global rise in yields this year. This is causing contagion to Italy, where yields are also rising sharply...
robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/…
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Simon Clarke retweeted
Fantastic new report on building nuclear by @watt_direction.
This report goes deeper than I've seen in a long time.
Every nuclear report has said that finalising the design, NOAK build, developed supply chains, stable regulatory regime are important.
Those aspects are very important, and should be repeated, but they aren't the be-all-end-all. There's more than should be considered.
Sizewell B was a redesigned, effectively -FOAK reactor with a UK supply chain that had never built a PWR and a regulator that moved the goal post last minute. Yet, Sizewell B was a successful nuclear build. Built in 7 years, half as long as Hinkley Point C.
What else matters?
Incentives, politics and governance
See below tweets for more.
It was a pleasure to help Ed with this report.
In 1995 it took only 7 years for Britain to build Sizewell B, our last nuclear power station.
The start date for Hinkley C has been delayed and is now expected to take 12 years to build...
Onward's new report details how we stop going backwards when it comes to nuclear generation in Britain.
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Simon Clarke retweeted
Thank god, some signs of a more realistic conversation. The last thing the EU wants is more psychodrama. So, as well as passing several national referendums (like the French referendum on letting us in in 1972) there is no way we would be let back in without joining the euro and Schengen to show commitment. We would not get our rebate back. Super pro EU people hate hearing this but if they really want to campaign to rejoin they should do so on a realistic basis
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Simon Clarke retweeted
💥 This is an incredibly timely and important paper from @ukonward
⚛️ Up and Atom shines a light on why nuclear power is vital to our energy security and explores how we deliver it cheaper and quicker.
💪 I was delighted to write the Foreword for it and am excited to be talking a lot more about how we can drive Britain’s Nuclear Revolution at Conservative Party Conference next week! 🇬🇧
💥 Out today - the next paper in our major @ukonward energy series
This summer, @watt_direction set out the need for an alternative plan for the UK centred on cheaper, reliable power.
Today, we release Up and Atom - how to deliver new nuclear.
👀 ukonward.com/reports/up-and-…
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In 1995, Britain did something remarkable.
We delivered the Sizewell B nuclear power station after just seven years, at about 35% of the projected construction cost for Hinkley Point C.
In our new report today, @ukonward explain how we can learn the lessons of Sizewell B to deliver a new fleet of nuclear power stations.
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Read our full report HERE
ukonward.com/reports/up-and-…
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Simon Clarke retweeted
Really enjoyed working on this paper!
Sizewell B (finished in 1995) is an under-appreciated success story, delivered cost effectively and in good time, and now delivering clean power out to 2055
💥 Out today - the next paper in our major @ukonward energy series
This summer, @watt_direction set out the need for an alternative plan for the UK centred on cheaper, reliable power.
Today, we release Up and Atom - how to deliver new nuclear.
👀 ukonward.com/reports/up-and-…
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