Born and bred in England. Amateur Photographer, Glider pilot & Music lover. I am seriously concerned about the sh*t now hitting fan in the UK. NO DM's please
Northamptonshire UK
Joined May 2011
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We need far more politicians of this calibre. Well said @SuellaBraverman
This is superb from @SuellaBraverman. She tears SHREDS out of the govts dangerous decision to ignore safety concerns and house illegal migrants in Piddington.
She rightly calls out the fact there are NO female Labour MPs taking part in this debate.
She does NOT hold back! 🔥
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
This excellent speech is indicative of the arse about face lunacy which seems to apply to multiple aspects of politics in the UK and elsewhere these days.
Common sense, doing what is right, and logic don't appear to apply any more.
In a sane world all layers of management which support such lunacy, should be sacked (NOT promoted or moved sideways, SACKED).
"Imagine telling your daughter, sister, wife or mother that if she objects to undressing in front of a man at work, she is the one who must leave. That was our reality.”
Powerful full speech from President of the Darlington Nursing Union, Bethany Hutchison, at the 'When Reality Meets NHS Policy' Conservative Party conference fringe event
This excellent speech is indicative of the arse about face lunacy which seems to apply to multiple aspects of politics in the UK and elsewhere these days.
Common sense, doing what is right, and logic don't appear to apply any more.
In a sane world all layers of management which support such lunacy, should be sacked (NOT promoted or moved sideways, SACKED).
"Imagine telling your daughter, sister, wife or mother that if she objects to undressing in front of a man at work, she is the one who must leave. That was our reality.”
Powerful full speech from President of the Darlington Nursing Union, Bethany Hutchison, at the 'When Reality Meets NHS Policy' Conservative Party conference fringe event
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
"Imagine telling your daughter, sister, wife or mother that if she objects to undressing in front of a man at work, she is the one who must leave. That was our reality.”
Powerful full speech from President of the Darlington Nursing Union, Bethany Hutchison, at the 'When Reality Meets NHS Policy' Conservative Party conference fringe event
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan helped me when nobody else in the mainstream media would go anywhere near me (other than to smear me) because of my opposition to the Covid vaccine rollout to children.
I had been cancelled everywhere. They knew that, but Allison and Liam still gave me a platform.
Allison and Liam are courageous journalists with absolute integrity, and I predict they will now become HUGE in independent media.
People want journalists who are prepared to speak freely, take risks and say what they genuinely believe. Journalists who hold the establishment to account and challenge the various bonkers orthodoxies and sacred cows that now swamp our lives.
Meanwhile, the woke German owners of The Telegraph appear to have spotted the iceberg and deliberately steered straight into it. It is difficult to imagine a more spectacular act of self-destruction.
@AllisonPearson @LiamHalligan @Iromg
This is the most important mainstream media interview I have ever done in my 30 year career. The @Telegraph 's Planet Normal podcast hosting our conversation is huge for this subject. The Covid vaccine rollout to children has been a taboo matter for far too long. Our collective silence will only pave the way for further safeguarding breaches in the future. We must end this creeping culture of self-censorship and fear around "unsanctioned" and politically sensitive topics of conversation.
The discussion begins at 29 minutes into the podcast and continues beyond my chat, with @AllisonPearson and @LiamHalligan talking about my landmark free speech legal case, ending at 50 minutes.
podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR…
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Educate yourself Kay.
Your lefty virtue-signalling about how bad our country’s history was may have been welcome on Sky News and at your Covid parties.
But the truth is that slavery- indefensible as it was- was the norm many centuries ago. The Romans, the Egyptians, the Dutch and even the Africans themselves all took part in the brutal trade.
And you should know that Brits were enslaved too. By the Romans, Irish, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and the Barbary cosairs.
Your ignorance wouldn’t be much comfort for the women imprisoned for months in freezing, brutal conditions, taken from their families by raiders on the British Isles in the 11th century.
If you need some help learning more, read my book, ‘Patriot: Empire, betrayal and hope’.
I’m sure your words would have been of great comfort to the women imprisoned for months in those stinking, cramped dungeons, taken out at the governor’s pleasure or left in the blistering sun without food or water if they resisted his advances, before being marched through the Door of No Return.
Sister
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Allison Pearson is not only the best columnist in journalism right now, she’s also a ferociously brave warrior. My hero.@AllisonPearson @Telegraph
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Patrick Stewart. Turned up so early and so unobtrusively to be a star in the reasonably priced car, we mistook him for a delivery driver and asked him to go round the back. Took his hat off and said, “But I’m the captain of the Enterprise”. Fucking nice guy.
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
By any standard, this is a major scandal. The govt has lied. And it’s not a trivial lie. It concerns free speech, the influence of radical Islamism on decision making, and on a deeply regressive move to introduce blasphemy laws to the UK at the behest of extremist Islamist organisations.
It could hardly be more serious.
And yet - where is the media coverage? The outrage?
The BBC hasn’t even touched this story.
They’ve run stories about a squabble between Farage & a LibDem MP about some mild jostling in the Commons, & they’ve run stories about mice in Downing St.
But this - a story about government lies, an attempted cover up, Islamist entryism into the heart of our democracy- doesn’t meet their ‘news’ threshold apparently.
(Incidentally if it wasn’t for social media and @NJ_Timothy none of us would have any idea about this.)
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
🚨 ISLAMIC BLASPHEMY LAW BY THE BACK DOOR 🚨
Kellie-Jay Keen (@ThePosieParker) has been charged with a criminal offence over posts criticising Islam, Muslim cultural practices and Islamism.
The Free Speech Union is proud to be defending her.
In a free society, no religion or cultural practice should be immune from criticism.
Since Labour came to power, the number of FSU cases involving people penalised for criticising Islam has doubled. It is now the single biggest category in our casework.
And now, with a state-approved definition of Islamophobia — rebranded as “anti-Muslim hostility” — things are only getting worse.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Communities Secretary Angela Rayner met Muslim community leaders in Downing Street. Burnham took a swipe at critics of Islam, saying “some of the language” opposition parties use “is unacceptable”, and told the leaders “we need to find ways with you to demonstrate that more and more”.
We now await Rayner’s appointment of an “Islamophobia tsar” who will help enforce the definition.
All five hand-picked members of the Working Group that drafted it have concerning links to Islamist organisations, as FSU Research and Policy Director @DavidRoseUK exposed in his report. We have little hope that the appointed tsar will be good news for free speech.
Meanwhile, the Government is refusing to say who submitted responses to the Working Group, so we cannot know which groups shaped the definition. Islamists may well have had a hand in its drafting.
Support the FSU’s campaign against an Islamic blasphemy law — and the people penalised under it 👇
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
It’s profoundly disappointing. And in my view should ultimately disqualify any individual running for office. I feel the same way for politicians running on the Gaza ticket or reparations for the slave trade.
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
They literally have nothing else in the tank apart from nostalgia for those glory days when Brussels wrote the laws & UK politicians implemented them. Taking responsibility for our country's destiny? Nah, far too difficult. Democracy be damned.
NEW
Rachel Reeves tonight declares Britain should return to the European Union
The former chancellor says Brexit made the UK “poorer, weaker and less secure”
She will make her case in a lecture at the Harvard Kennedy School on Monday
Reeves helped draft the Labour 2024 manifesto which said no EU return
She’s one of the most prominent Lab figures to back rejoin since Burnham became PM
The tectonic plates within Labour are shifting. Will more follow her?
Reeves writes in The Sunday Times:
“I am proud of the progress we have already made in strengthening our relationship with the European Union. Brexit has made us poorer, weaker and less secure.
“There is a debate to be had about our future relationship with Europe, and I welcome Andy Burnham’s leadership in facing up to this. No one in the Treasury ever doubted where my instincts were.
“I do believe Britain’s future lies in the European Union.
“However, it is incumbent on supporters of our re-entry to make the argument, demonstrate tangible benefits and to get the next steps right — especially ahead of the UK-EU summit later this month, where at a minimum we should be looking for confirmation of the ambitious youth mobility scheme negotiated earlier this year, and — I hope — progress towards entry into the SAFE defence partnership.”
thetimes.com/article/06d9b6a…
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated. We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today, especially given Britain's leading role in ending the transatlantic slave trade.
If Caribbean countries are asking Britain for a formal apology for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, will they also be asking the same of the descendants of African kingdoms, rulers and merchants who captured, sold and profited from the trade?
On demands for reparations, whether through cash or debt relief, we have been down this track before. Twenty-five years ago, Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt and Make Poverty History argued that cancelling the debts of poorer countries would give them a fresh start. More than $100 billion of debt was eventually written off, but many of those countries have since built up even bigger debts. Labour are already spending too much on Britain's welfare state, now is not the time for Andy Burnham to be providing global welfare.
There is no reason British taxpayers today should be held financially responsible for things that happened generations before any of us were born. And I have even less patience for political elites in commonwealth countries who don’t know how to make their own citizens prosperous now looking for another opportunity to blame Britain.
As Prime Minister, Andy Burnham should be Britain’s greatest defender. Instead, he is writing articles saying we need to confront our history (as if we haven't done enough of that) and considering another formal historical apology. Tony Blair already expressed Britain’s deep sorrow and regret for our role in the slave trade nearly twenty years ago. There is no need to do so again.
This is all another navel-gazing distraction. The Commonwealth should be looking forward, not endlessly backwards. That means economic partnerships to make us all richer and deeper military and security cooperation against common threats. If every Commonwealth summit becomes an exercise in presenting Britain with demands for cash then we need to start asking if it is worth the effort.
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
About to go on @TimesRadio to discuss this...
Looks like the pernicious Connect and Manage policy is history
Connect and Manage was introduced in 2009 and allows windfarms to connect despite there not being grid infrastructure to use their output
We're now spending £millions every day to turn off wind we can't use. Some windfarms eg Seagreen have 75% of their output thrown away
It's a disgusting waste of money and the cost is added to our energy bills
thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
31 October 1973. 1st episode of the 26-part classic ITV documentary series World at War was broadcast. It was narrated by Laurence Olivier with music by Carl Davies. It cost £900,000 (worth £11 million today).
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
I sincerely hope whoever at the @Telegraph thought it was a good idea to lose @LiamHalligan and @AllisonPearson , reads the replies to Liam’s tweet, realises the error of their decision, and then sacks themselves.
I was hoping to be able to announce this in my own time – but the media rumour mill is swirling, I'm being contacted by various reporters and others, and I don't like denying the truth, so ...
I wrote my first "Economic Agenda" column in The Sunday Telegraph 27 years ago, under the editorship of Dominic Lawson – filling-in occasionally during the late-1990s, before being given my own weekly slot from 2003.
Since then, while I've been heavily involved in television, and am perhaps better known as a broadcaster, penning "Economic Agenda" for The Sunday Telegraph each week has been the backbone of my journalistic life.
On Thursday, the @Telegraph rang to tell me my column is being scrapped.
I was asked, and have agreed, to write "Economic Agenda" until the end of November, as per my contract. After that, my Sunday Telegraph column will be no more.
Why this decision has been made, and whether or not my columns were any good, is for others to judge.
All I will say is that, as the first person in my family to attend university, sustaining a weekly column in a leading national newspaper for a quarter of a century has been a source of enormous pride for myself and my family.
Lots of people have been asking me about the future of "Planet Normal" - the hugely-popular Telegraph podcast which I co-created and co-present with the brilliant @AllisonPearson
"Planet Normal" has, over the last 330 weekly episodes, also become a major part of my professional life and my broader identity.
With Allison reportedly leaving the Telegraph as well, there is a lot of speculation about whether or not the podcast will continue to impart "news and views from beyond the bubble" with our usual blend of sharp analysis, humour and occasional outrage !
Well, I am delighted to confirm that Co-Pilot Pearson and myself are deeply committed to our joint podcast – and, above all, to our beloved listeners.
We will, as and when notice periods allow, continue our voyages through space every Thursday – perhaps to "Planet Normal", or maybe to another part of the solar system – so we can "gaze down each week at the madness of Planet Earth", as we have done since the Spring of 2020.
So citizens of Planet Normal, stand ready ! The "rocket-of-right-thinking", the "flying refuge of reasoned views", will soon be launched once again 🚀🪐👨🏭👱♀️🎙️📺
I poured my heart and soul into "Economic Agenda" and "Planet Normal". The Telegraph's decision to scrap them is obviously a huge personal blow. But I will always be grateful for the opportunities the paper has given me.
Above all, I would like to thank the illustrious list of successive Telegraph business editors I've worked with since the late-1990s, many of whom have become and remain good friends - including @Peston @RobertsDan @larmitstead @neilbenet @benjaminmarlow @cg_williams @kamalahmednews @MarkKleinmanSky @jamesrquinn (sorry if I've forgotten anyone, it's been a long time!)
On Friday, even though I almost always write my column from elsewhere, and despite being extremely disappointed by the paper's decision, I decided to go into the Telegraph and write today's column sitting in the newsroom.
I am glad I did - as being at the heart of the paper at such a difficult time allowed for lots of conversations, with everyone from junior production staff to senior reporters and executives, which reminded me that journalism, despite being an industry at the whim of seemingly endless and often brutal commercial and technological upheaval, is not only hugely important to our country, but full of talented, decent people.
See picture below, having just filed my piece, as I was heading out the door ...
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Delighted to hear that you and @AllisonPearson will be carrying on with Planet Normal. In an age when so much of our public conversation has taken leave of its senses, it is a rare and welcome thing to find two people prepared to say what is plainly true, and to say it with wit, rigour and good humour. It remains one of the very few podcasts I make a point of never missing, and you are two of the finest journalists working today. I have no doubt the best is yet to come for you both @LiamHalligan
I was hoping to be able to announce this in my own time – but the media rumour mill is swirling, I'm being contacted by various reporters and others, and I don't like denying the truth, so ...
I wrote my first "Economic Agenda" column in The Sunday Telegraph 27 years ago, under the editorship of Dominic Lawson – filling-in occasionally during the late-1990s, before being given my own weekly slot from 2003.
Since then, while I've been heavily involved in television, and am perhaps better known as a broadcaster, penning "Economic Agenda" for The Sunday Telegraph each week has been the backbone of my journalistic life.
On Thursday, the @Telegraph rang to tell me my column is being scrapped.
I was asked, and have agreed, to write "Economic Agenda" until the end of November, as per my contract. After that, my Sunday Telegraph column will be no more.
Why this decision has been made, and whether or not my columns were any good, is for others to judge.
All I will say is that, as the first person in my family to attend university, sustaining a weekly column in a leading national newspaper for a quarter of a century has been a source of enormous pride for myself and my family.
Lots of people have been asking me about the future of "Planet Normal" - the hugely-popular Telegraph podcast which I co-created and co-present with the brilliant @AllisonPearson
"Planet Normal" has, over the last 330 weekly episodes, also become a major part of my professional life and my broader identity.
With Allison reportedly leaving the Telegraph as well, there is a lot of speculation about whether or not the podcast will continue to impart "news and views from beyond the bubble" with our usual blend of sharp analysis, humour and occasional outrage !
Well, I am delighted to confirm that Co-Pilot Pearson and myself are deeply committed to our joint podcast – and, above all, to our beloved listeners.
We will, as and when notice periods allow, continue our voyages through space every Thursday – perhaps to "Planet Normal", or maybe to another part of the solar system – so we can "gaze down each week at the madness of Planet Earth", as we have done since the Spring of 2020.
So citizens of Planet Normal, stand ready ! The "rocket-of-right-thinking", the "flying refuge of reasoned views", will soon be launched once again 🚀🪐👨🏭👱♀️🎙️📺
I poured my heart and soul into "Economic Agenda" and "Planet Normal". The Telegraph's decision to scrap them is obviously a huge personal blow. But I will always be grateful for the opportunities the paper has given me.
Above all, I would like to thank the illustrious list of successive Telegraph business editors I've worked with since the late-1990s, many of whom have become and remain good friends - including @Peston @RobertsDan @larmitstead @neilbenet @benjaminmarlow @cg_williams @kamalahmednews @MarkKleinmanSky @jamesrquinn (sorry if I've forgotten anyone, it's been a long time!)
On Friday, even though I almost always write my column from elsewhere, and despite being extremely disappointed by the paper's decision, I decided to go into the Telegraph and write today's column sitting in the newsroom.
I am glad I did - as being at the heart of the paper at such a difficult time allowed for lots of conversations, with everyone from junior production staff to senior reporters and executives, which reminded me that journalism, despite being an industry at the whim of seemingly endless and often brutal commercial and technological upheaval, is not only hugely important to our country, but full of talented, decent people.
See picture below, having just filed my piece, as I was heading out the door ...
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
The two families with small children I know best face a constant struggle.
Both sets of parents work flat out, full time, to pay the bills and make sure the kids don’t feel poor.
They pull in good money which would guarantee a nice life in most countries.
Not in broken Britain where hard work is penalised and idleness rewarded.
“The Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank says this will be the worst decade for household incomes since the Second World War. Are we capable of drawing a line from the individually popular spending increases to this dire fact?”
dailymail.com/debate/article…
Nigel Betteridge 🇬🇧 retweeted
Wow, what a performance by Sir Patrick Stewart.
May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
