Joined May 2011
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Jun 10
All politicians aught to read and heed the contents of this excellent tweet by Paul.
Jun 10
Here’s the problem. The liberal political class wants us to treat atrocities like Belfast as single, random, isolated incidents. “Yes, it’s horrific, but don’t overreact,” they say. “Let the police do their job. Justice will be delivered. Let’s remain united,” and so on.
But the public can see that such incidents *aren’t* random or isolated. They are, in fact, all the consequence of massive state failure in the area of asylum and immigration. All roads lead back there.
That’s why people are angry.. They are sick of the platitudes that get trotted out after each fresh incident. They don’t want to hear them anymore. They know that the decisions of establishment politicians have brought us to this current pass, and they don’t trust those same politicians to fix things, especially when some of them refuse to even recognise that the public’s anger is justified.
There has been a huge vibe shift in recent years. Imagine - God forbid - there were another 7/7. Does anyone think the public response would be anything like as restrained as it was then? We are in really dangerous territory.
The public don’t want flowers and candles and “Don’t let them divide us.” They want someone who says, “I recognise that the state has failed abjectly. We have allowed far too many people to settle in the country without knowing who they truly are. It has disrupted your communities. Your anger is justified. And I will do everything in my power to put things right.”
Any politician unwilling to articulate that message, fully and sincerely, is effectively sanctioning more years of growing social disharmony and discord. Things cannot heal until those in power recognise the extent of the problem and what it will take to fix it. And, on both counts, most of them don’t.
That’s why the next few years are going to be very, very turbulent.
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
In the House of Lords this afternoon, our General Secretary Lord Young of Acton asked Baroness Lloyd of Effra how she reconciles the Government's plans to ban children from accessing platforms like X, Facebook and YouTube with the 'keep up' duties in s15 and s16 of the Online Safety Act – namely, the duties not to remove or restrict content of democratic importance or journalistic content? He pointed out that it's particularly important that access to that content isn't restricted for 16 and 17 year-olds, given that the Government is planning to lower the voting age to 16.
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Two Spitfires have just flown over in formation headed towards @SywellAerodrome 😊 #Spitfire #Aviation
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
The ban on social media for children under 16 is an idea that has merits. But the way it is being done is simply a way to force everyone, including adults, to identify themselves online, creating the most powerful surveillance and censorship architecture in human history.
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
I recently wrote to @CommonsSpeaker to complain about the way ministers and the PM fail to answer questions put to them in the House
The specific example I cited was on 2 June when @ClaireCoutinho asked @Ed_Miliband who was responsible for making sure there's no blackout in the UK and what would happen to them if there was
He replied to say she was scaremongering, expressed sorrow she no longer supports net zero and made some irrelevant comment about green jobs
Today I received the attached response from the Speaker's office basically saying it's not up to them to evaluate the accuracy of answers and that they do not have "the authority to require Ministers to give proper answers to questions"
While technically correct, the Speaker can absolutely notice when no substantive answer has been given and remind the minister of their duties to Parliament
More broadly their reply exposes the accountability gap. Parliament has a rule or expectation that answers should address the question, but it has very limited machinery to enforce that in real time
The practical sanction is political: MPs, the Opposition, select committees, the media, and ultimately the House itself. If the House wanted the Speaker to have stronger powers, the House would need to grant them, probably through changes to Standing Orders or procedure
So we need to lobby our MPs to raise this with the Procedure Committee
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, continues to call for greater intervention and regulation of social media platforms that highlight rising crime in the capital.
Khan has claimed that London has been subjected to a “relentless and unprecedented attack of lies and hatred” on social media. He now argues that online “misinformation” is deterring tourists from visiting the city.
Yet Home Office data show that there were nearly 100,000 thefts or attempted thefts in London last year, compared with around 45,000 in 2019.
Rather than trying to shut down criticism and debate, or blaming social media for London’s problems, the Mayor should focus on tackling rising crime and making the case for his own policies.
More open discussion is not the problem. It is part of the solution.
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
If we all join, they will have to ban that too (or U turn on other bans).
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
It's my personal red line. If the government tries to surveil my devices in an effort to enforce this ban then I won't stay in the UK
And any time I visit I'll treat it like China... Burner phone not linked to any of my regular accounts
It's bad enough having the highest tax burden since the 1940s and terrible public services (eg my recent near death experience at the hands of the NHS and the @WelshAmbulance) but enough is enough
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
BBC News had a good run, inoculated from market forces and producing news - increasingly aimed, not at customers - but newsroom peers and awards judges. In recent years, most notably its coverage of the 2015 migrant crisis, Brexit, Trump and Israel, BBC News showed itself to be institutionally incapable of balance. It doesn’t deserve to be decimated. It deserves to be shut down.
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Started noticing this during the Covid era, that’s why 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
16 Feb 2022
Isn’t it about time we have a proper discussion about the #WEF ?!?
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Here are headlines from the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
Simultaneously, they all want a social media ban. "To protect the children".
Our governments aren't calling the shots; they're following orders.
This is just one example. Every law passed happens in the exact same way in all for 4 countries. This cannot be possible unless each leader of each country works for the exact same people.
Our leaders are not elected; they are installed.
#UK #NewZealand #Canada #Austrailia
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
The UK government will do absolutely everything except what the British people want.
Jun 14
🚨 NEW: Under-16s in the UK will be banned from the following 10 social media apps
TikTok
YouTube
Snapchat
Instagram
X
Reddit
Facebook
Twitch
Kick
Threads
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 14
Switzerland votes to reject a cap on its population in a referendum, which would have put a legal limit on immigration numbers.
We should absolutely hold the same referendum here in the UK. news.sky.com/story/switzerla…
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
A lot of people are telling me that Bluesky is a haven for paedophiles.
The Labour Party has singled it out as the only social media site suitable for children.
That explains a lot.
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
I bought my child a brick phone with no Internet
Because I choose how I raise my child
Not the moral degenerates in Westminster.
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Jun 15
Dear @Keir_Starmer banning some social media for under 16’s will mean we will have 2 Tier social media.
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
Crikey!
I've just joined BlueSky; I see why Starmer and his horde have decided not to put it on his ban list.
If they don't get the indoctrination at school, they'll get it on Bluesky; what a steaming pile of leftist, democrat shite.
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
👇As a mum of 3 under 16s I take responsibility for my children.
They know their boundaries - in real life and online. The 15 year old uses social media to find jobs, learn more about her hobby / future career, contact her friends and do schoolwork. The 6 and 8 year old do not, because we have never outsourced parenting to a screen.
What “keeps me up at night” is that we have no idea how many people are in the country let alone who they are.
That my girls’ right to privacy has been sacrificed on the altar of trans rights.
That millions of people don’t have jobs.
That youth unemployment is rocketing.
That my local high street is dying and my local pub has shut down.
That the cost of my food shop goes up - seemingly every week.
That our defence is not fit for purpose.
Etc.
Jun 15
Extremely pleased and relieved that this Labour Gov is banning social media for under-16s.
As a mum of a pre-teen, it’s the thing that keeps me up at night. I know many of my constituents feel the same. That’s why I called for a ban, and I am delighted we’re implementing one.
Community note
Tools for blocking social media on a child’s device already exist, and government intervention was not necessary to alleviate Ellie’s nighttime stress.
support.apple.com/en-us/105121
families.google/familylink/
familycenter.meta.com
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
We are ruled by idiots.
Do they not know every 15 year old revises GCSE’s on YouTube?
Do they not know that teenagers track their friends are home safely on SnapChat?
Do they not realise that - especially in rural areas with no transport - teenagers social lives are on… social media.
Do they not know that teenagers will find ways round - as has been shown in Australia.
This ban is illogical and damaging.
If I hear another parent say “it’s so hard to police them” I’ll scream. It’s a parent’s job. Take responsibility the children you are meant to be bringing up.
It is not the government’s job to look after your children.
But the government will now insist all adults provide ID to prove we are over 18.
😡
Jun 15
🚨 SUMMARY: The UK's social media ban for children from early 2027:
- "User-to-user" apps where people create, share and interact with content (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Facebook) will be banned for under-16s
- WhatsApp, Signal and YouTube Kids will be exempt
- Under-16s will also be banned from livestreaming, messaging strangers on gaming apps like Discord and using disappearing messages
- 16 and 17 year olds will face nightly social media curfews and limits on infinite scrolling with more details next month
- AI "romantic companion" chatbots will be banned for under-18s
- Adults can still access social media through age checks like facial recognition, digital IDs, passports and credit cards
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Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Jun 15
No, it's not
We need to TEACH children digital safety
And we must resist digital ID and censorship. This is the last straw for me. I will leave the UK before I allow my devices to be scanned by anyone
As long as I'm not doing anything illegal the government needs to stay out of my business
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