late to adopt; mad keen fan of rugby and lover of classical music - and perhaps just a bit interested in politics. Following doesn’t mean agreeing
Matlock, England
Joined August 2019
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simon haslam retweeted
Much punchier accusations from Sir Malcolm Rifkind - a former defence and foreign secretary:
"I choose my words very carefully. I think this week Donald Trump has shown himself as a person to be repulsive; as a President of the United States to be a disgrace to his own people as well as to his international responsibilities.
"We all know his actual reasons for this are a grubby attempt to win a few more votes in the midterms by trying to get oil prices down.
"In order to achieve that, he has not only betrayed Ukraine in the middle of a war, fighting for its very existence, but he is also directly - not indirectly - directly responsible for the deaths of many Ukrainians who will not now be protected by the attempts that have been successfully made using intelligence provided indirectly by the United States."
xitter.cf/breeallegretti/status/…
simon haslam retweeted
Cannot agree. Zelenskyy has been a truly impressive leader throughout. Faced with overwhelming odds and an offer to be evacuated with his family, he stayed. And he remains to this day - a constant target. I wonder how many other world leaders would have stayed put in those early hours of the invasion.
simon haslam retweeted
It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say. But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
To understand why this is so appalling, it’s important to know the facts. Congresswoman Omar came to this country with her father when she was 12 years old. Five years later, her father became a naturalized citizen. If Ilhan had been 18 at the time, she would have had to apply for citizenship separately. But because she was 17, she became a naturalized citizen automatically.
Congresswoman Omar went on to graduate from college, work as a community organizer, become the first Somali-American legislator elected to public office in the U.S., and win a seat in Congress. There, she has been one of the Trump Administration’s fiercest critics, which has led the president to repeatedly single her out as someone who he believes does not belong in this country.
Now the Administration is actively trying to deport Congresswoman Omar, seemingly based solely on the unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized, and therefore is not a citizen. Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone — all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.
Think about that. The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president. And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies — from the Attorney General of New York, to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve.
In those cases, the prosecutions either stalled or were dismissed for having no basis in law, and the same is likely to happen in this case. But not before Congresswoman Omar’s life has been turned upside down, her legal bills have piled up, and she’s been forced to spend time fighting unsubstantiated charges instead of serving the people of Minnesota.
The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views. Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.
Disappointing on two counts - firstly that you are perpetuating the myth that the so called WASPI women should receive any compensation; and secondly that you have closed comments in your post
simon haslam retweeted
This will be a serious test to the rule of law in the United States and its credibility. For Trump’s lifting on the ban on Russian diesel oil to take effect, he would have to lie directly to Congress and Congress would have to vote to accept that lie.
This
I am English.
I’m old enough to remember when considering yourself to be English meant that broadly speaking you’d been born here, grown up here, went to school here, lived here, followed English cultural customs and to all intents and purposes, were English.
It wasn’t controversial.
Most normal people who describe themselves as English mean this, in much the same way as they would describe themselves as a Londoner, or a Mancunian or a Brummie.; They aren’t referring to their ethnicity or trying to erase yours.
It’s not complicated.
The racists and grifters desperately trying to carve out careers as political commentators or angling to be Restore Britain candidates are redefining it exclusively as “ethnically English” because, much like the Black Lives Matter activists, their racial identity is their entire grift. They need to shift the Overton Window on the idea.
Given most people would struggle to name their great-great-grandparents the idea that you should be able to trace your lineage back to the Domesday book is ridiculous.
English is my national identity. It’s taken until I was middle-aged for it to suddenly be questioned. I’m not about to stop being English, supporting the England team or start having to justify my Englishness to satisfy anybody’s “papers please” witch hunt.
I’ll die on this hill.
First they came for anyone who wasn’t ethnically English…
simon haslam retweeted
MP pay is too high and too low at the same time.
From April 2026 the basic salary is £98,599. Against a UK full-time median of around £39,000, that is a fortune. For someone who would otherwise be a local councillor, a party staffer, a mid-ranking official or a professional who never quite made it, it is the best job they will ever have. Safe, status-rich, and paid like a senior manager.
For a high achiever it is a pay cut. A decent private-sector director, a good lawyer, a consultant, a founder, a specialist doctor or a senior operator can earn more than that without the public abuse, the two homes, the lost weekends or the certainty that one bad clip ends the career.
IPSA itself benchmarks the job against police superintendents, NHS consultants and army colonels and still wants to inch toward £110,000 because even that is not competitive with what capable people can make outside.
So you get adverse selection. The salary is lavish if you are ordinary and modest if you are exceptional. The people for whom it is a step up apply. The people for whom it is a step down often do not. Then we act surprised that the Commons is full of dross.
You cannot simultaneously pay like a public-sector sinecure and expect private-sector talent. That is the whole problem.
Why is my Twitter feed today full of Reform w4nkers moaning about the EU flags at the Royal Albert Hall last night?
simon haslam retweeted
Lets get behind the RNLI in every way we can, and show the cowardly minority of hateful racists that Britain will NOT tolerate their disgraceful behaviour.💪
38d.gs/jpcf
simon haslam retweeted
The @RNLI is a wonderful, volunteer-driven and donation-led organisation whose volunteers put their lives at risk each and every day to protect people in peril in our maritime environment.
They deserve all our respect and support.
simon haslam retweeted
Surely we are better than this, it's time for all right minded people to stand up and support the brave RNLI crews, they are the best of us!
independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho…
simon haslam retweeted
Sunday night in Portsmouth, hundreds of men in balaclavas tried to physically stop an RNLI lifeboat bringing shipwrecked people to shore. When that failed, they blocked the buses taking them to processing instead.
The Home Office called it thuggish and intimidating. Even Nigel Farage said he "deplores" grown men hiding their faces to intimidate people on Britain's streets.
So here's who these volunteers actually are:
Last year alone, RNLI crews launched over 9,000 times and saved 272 lives. Migrant Channel rescues have consistently made up around 1% of RNLI launches in recent years. The other 99%? Swimmers, sailors, kids cut off by the tide. People exactly like the ones a masked mob just tried to stop from reaching dry land.
An RNLI crew doesn't ask who's in the water before they go in after them. They never have, not since 1824.
Blocking a lifeboat with a mob in balaclavas doesn't stop a crossing. It just risks someone drowning while masked men decide who gets to survive.
Retweet if a mob should never get to choose who lives.
Reply if you've got an RNLI story of your own. Unless you're here to recycle the "taxi service for migrants" line, in which case save your thumbs the effort, the numbers above already buried it.
Exactly this
Since its foundation in 1824 the bravery of Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteers has saved more than 146,700 lives at sea.
Hundreds of those volunteers have died attempting to save others. They are the best of us.
Any person or organisation questioning their actions or loyalty to this country should be corrected and ostracised.
Anyone can drown, but no one should.
rnli.org/support-us
simon haslam retweeted
When people come for the RNLI, just imagine what could be next…. I support the men and women of the @RNLI and will stand up against anyone who seeks to attack them. The people who do are neither patriots or citizens worthy of the name.
With the heroes of the @RNLI under attack again, I’m reminded of this passage from Bill Bryson.
ALT I had never really stopped to consider what an extraordinary thing the Royal National Lifeboat Institution is. Think about it. A troubled ship calls for help, and eight people - teachers, plumbers, the guy who runs the pub - drop everything and put to sea, whatever the weather, asking no questions, imperilling their own lives, to try to help strangers. Is there anything more brave and noble than that? The RNLI - I looked this up later - is an organization run by volunteers, supported entirely by public donations. It maintains 233 stations around the coast of Britain and averages twenty-two call-outs per day. It saves 350 lives a year on average.
simon haslam retweeted
With the heroes of the @RNLI under attack again, I’m reminded of this passage from Bill Bryson.
ALT I had never really stopped to consider what an extraordinary thing the Royal National Lifeboat Institution is. Think about it. A troubled ship calls for help, and eight people - teachers, plumbers, the guy who runs the pub - drop everything and put to sea, whatever the weather, asking no questions, imperilling their own lives, to try to help strangers. Is there anything more brave and noble than that? The RNLI - I looked this up later - is an organization run by volunteers, supported entirely by public donations. It maintains 233 stations around the coast of Britain and averages twenty-two call-outs per day. It saves 350 lives a year on average.
