Liberal Democrat MP for Witney | House of Commons Business, Innovation, Science & Trade Committee | [email protected] |
West Oxfordshire
Joined February 2011
- Tweets1.1K
- Following620
- Followers2.5K
- Likes686
I am delighted that the Government has decided to refuse the Botley West Solar Farm application. The developer has clearly taken insufficient account of local concerns and believed that they could steamroller this through. It’s now clear that they can’t and that is a win for everyone who wants renewable energy and wants it to reflect the wishes of local residents.
This applies not just to Botley West but also to the large CEARN Solar Farm and West Oxfordshire Solar Farm proposals locally, and to all proposals up and down the country. People are willing to support renewable energy if it is delivered in a fair, proportionate where the interests of the communities are properly taken into account.
I would like to thank and congratulate the many residents, campaigners, councillors, officers and community groups who have worked so hard to make their voices heard throughout this process. I will continue working with local communities across West Oxfordshire to ensure that future energy projects are delivered only in a way that is both environmentally responsible and respectful of the people and places affected by them.
Absolutely. This was very clear from our @CommonsBTC trip to Oslo in September. Given the complexity of our economy and the increasing protectionism of the EU, US and China, we need to be inside the EU rather than on its fringes.
Charlie Maynard MP 🔶 retweeted
Donald Trump urged the American voters to imagine he was on the ballot. They did and they rejected him in state after state. This is a crushing defeat.
The best explanation of the budget. Thanks
@MartinSLewis
My instant Budget reaction – everything you need to know at speed (feel free to share). Tax, ISAs, first-time buyers, Energy bills, fuel duty, State Pension, Investments, Savings, Student Finance and more.
(Subtitled version coming soon, wanted to get it out quick) #Budget2026
We need a budget that helps people and helps businesses. Business rates, energy and employment costs are the biggest burdens where people are looking for help.
Labour’s latest SFI scheme was a disaster, with money running out in less than six hours. This needs fixing, but the Tories were No-Shows at the vote in Parliament last night. This is not good enough.
This looks suspiciously like the Class A creditor consortium trying to bounce the government into a rubbish deal for everyone except the creditors. Let’s hope @AndyBurnham and @angelaEagle don’t fall for it.
ft.com/content/cbfd494d-cc11…
A big day for @commonsbtc on Tuesday. We need to move much faster on the risks posed by AI. We need better controls in place now, both domestically and internationally.
First, the AI whistleblowers, now the spy-chiefs.
Today @benrileysmith @sundaytimes has the story about Mi5's Cabinet warning: that AI is one of the biggest national security threats we face.
That is exactly what we've heard in Parliament.
AI could transform progress, public services & our prosperity. But not unless we get serious about security.
We need to know who is testing these systems, how early those checks begin, and who has the power to intervene before harm is done.
That's why on Tuesday, @commonsbtc will be hearing direct from whistleblowers, @OpenAI, @AnthropicAI, @GoogleDeepMind and @Meta, + @AISecurityInst.
What is clear is that we now need a new global convention on AI, that we could help lead with Korea (which takes the #G20 Presidency after us) to boost global safety
It'll be a tough negotiation, especially when President Trump’s instinct is for extreme deregulation and letting the industry police itself. But we're not without hope - @senatorcantwell & @commercedems have shown great leadership of how the US approach might could change.
Britain should lead this work. The public deserves more than reassurance from the companies developing the technology. It deserves safeguards it can trust.
Here's my quick explainer on what we've heard in Parliament.
The Tories’ inheritance tax announcement is yet another indication that they are not serious about the public finances. This excellent thread from tax expert Dan Neidle goes through the numbers.
Whatever your politics, up to £90 billion of lost tax revenue every year is a huge hit to our public services. When are we going to stop shooting ourselves in the foot?
Charlie Maynard says the Conservatives’ Brexit deal has reduced GDP by up to 8% and calls for an EU growth and defence partnership.
@cammaynard (@LibDems, Witney)
House of Commons, 7 September 2026
#Witney #UK #ParliamentConnect #BrexitDeal #EUGrowthPartnership #SingleMarket
Once again we have some warm words from Andy Burnham on reforming our water sector, but no commitment to clear urgent action. A 10-year plan doesn’t fix the failures happening now.
Thames Water has said that it will run out of money before the end of the year. The remedy for a failing Thames Water has been clear for a long time. It needs to be taken into Special Administration, which is the bankruptcy process for a water company. We just need a government with the courage to act.
independent.co.uk/news/busin…
Well said by @elerianm. The scale of our debt, 103.6% of debt/GDP (as per the IMF) is not talked about nearly enough. We are far too reliant on the kindness of strangers, i.e. the bond markets. We need a budget which properly reflects this risk.
Report from the EFRA Committee today urging the Government to reject takeover proposals from Thames Water's creditors and instead consider pushing the company toward Special Administration. It is time for the Government to get a grip of Thames Water and finally take this step.
Well done to @gillplimmer1 at the @FinancialTimes. This article shows just how much we’re all being ripped off and why it has to stop.
Andy Burnham needs to act now.
as.ft.com/r/3727cb02-4f33-4f…
Recursive Self-Improvement already starting. Only a tiny fraction of the models is understood. Alarm! Helpful proposals here on embedding evaluators and much more democratic and global scrutiny. Though think foxes and henhouses, given Amodei is Anthropic’s CEO.
We Must Pace the Frontier: I’ve written a new essay on why the AI industry should slow down, with a three-part plan for doing so.
Anthropic is unilaterally committing to the first of these steps. We’ll provide third-party evaluators with permanent, employee-level access to our systems, so that they can verify adherence to our safety measures, report on incidents, and assess models’ alignment during training.
You can read the full post here: darioamodei.com/post/we-must…
Charlie Maynard MP 🔶 retweeted
The Business and Trade Committee has written to the AI Security Institute to seek urgent information following reports that Anthropic did not provide AISI with pre-release access to its latest frontier model, Claude Mythos 5.1 👇
This is really worrying. The last thing our country needs now is a Shadow Chancellor who played a big role in helping Liz Truss take down our economy.
youtu.be/Ip5NZa8UUWg
Love this. RIP Dolly.
Dolly Parton defending the LGBTQ+ community from attacks 10 years ago:
I do not believe that we should criticize and judge other people. We’re all God’s children. We are who we are. I just think that we should be more loving, more caring, we are who we are. If you’re gay, you’re gay. If you’re straight, you’re straight and you should be allowed to be who you are.