Best Of

FPT: Katie Lam:

https://x.com/katie_lam_mp/status/2065015073463046558

A fear of appearing racist should never take priority over a duty to keep people safe.

And pushes for diversity should never take priority over hiring people on the basis of individual merit.

As I wrote for @ConHome, it's time to scrap the Public Sector Equality Duty

That is one of the most crass tweets I have ever seen, and I can't tell whether Katie Lam is ignorant, stupid, or cynical.

Katie is talking about a case relating to a terrorist offender in a prison as a dogwhistle, and she - and Kemi Badenoch - is proposing an action that will make life more difficult for the mass of her constituents. My call is that she is intelligent enough that I think it likely she is being as self-serving and as cynical as Bobajob Jenrick.

The Public Sector Equality Duty is about getting things right first, rather than dealing with consequences and paying compensation after the face. It applies to public sector services for those with a "protected characteristic" (silly, but that's the language) aka: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership (in employment only), pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation.

It is about the only law I have that I can use to persuade a Highways Authority do something as simple as design a staggered pedestrian crossing to be wide enough for use by mobility aids, or a pedestrian route round a road works (eg widths, corner radii or ramps) to be safe for wheelchair users who are regularly tipped out by such constructions.

These things happen: I have a signalled crossing 200m from my District Hospital which is so narrow that wheelchair users have to cross in the junction, and it has been there for 4 decades. If anyone doubts that infra tips wheelchair users out or strands them, try asking a few about their experiences.

As an aside, she is also proposing to abolish the same law that aiui gender critical people have been using to 'defend women'.

She wrote a similar article for Conservative Home, and she has had plenty of well-argued stick in the comments even there.
https://conservativehome.com/2026/06/10/katie-lam-its-time-to-scrap-the-public-sector-equality-duty/

Katie needs to fuck off to Reform, like Jenrick, if she believes her own nonsense.

First. I note that Reform’s odds for Makerfield have come in overnight.

A reaction to the private poll which I am told is a kosher poll.

Showing a Reform win?

No, this poll.

https://www.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2026/06/11/private-polling-klaxon/

That will be the poll that Restore will point to when they get more like 2% rather than the 12% indicated?

I did hear from a very deflated Tory canvasser that they comfortably found more Restore voters than Tory voters.

Their view is the Tories ain't ever winning again until GB News and social media are banned in the UK.

I think it's simpler than that. The Tories ain't ever winning again.

Far too many Tories confuse 'once upon a time the Tories got vote shares of 40%+' with 'once upon a time 40%+ of voters liked the Tories'. They didn't. People voted Tory because it was the best way of keeping Labour out. The number of voters keen on a Cameroon-style Tory party is pretty slim. Reform is representing a shade of right-wing opinion which was always there - it hasn't just been created by social media and GB News.

But if the Tories are no longer the obvious 'not Labour' party it is hard to see what their future is.

For balance, almost exactly the same thing in reverse could be said of Labour. Most of Labour's vote was unenthusiastic about the Labour Party and was there largely as a not-Tory vote.

FWIW, I'm currently in the 'would vote Tory tomorrow' category.

But what happens if Reform under PM Nige suffers a similar catastrophic fall in popularity as befell Labour under PM Keir? Those voters have to go somewhere. Rupe's Restore is a possibility I suppose, but I suspect by then most would have tired of ultra-Right blazered posh boys.

Yes, in the longer term the Tories are likely to recover, but they have a further bloodbath to survive first.

They need Reform to implode. A bad defeat in Makerfield could well be that catalyst.

Of the market in the header, I would see Tory most seats as the value bet.

First. I note that Reform’s odds for Makerfield have come in overnight.

A reaction to the private poll which I am told is a kosher poll.

Showing a Reform win?

No, this poll.

https://www.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2026/06/11/private-polling-klaxon/

That will be the poll that Restore will point to when they get more like 2% rather than the 12% indicated?

I did hear from a very deflated Tory canvasser that they comfortably found more Restore voters than Tory voters.

Their view is the Tories ain't ever winning again until GB News and social media are banned in the UK.

The Kemi paradox.

The things that give her most life as a politician are the ones that are killing her chances of being PM.

Britain Elects

✅ Conservative HOLD

Christleton and Huntington (Cheshire West and Chester) council by-election result:

CON: 32.9% (+8.1)
GRN: 30.4% (+8.2)
REF: 17.2% (+17.2)
LAB: 10.5% (-8.1)
LDEM: 9.0% (-8.0)

No Ind (-17.4) as prev.

+/- 2023

Estimated turnout: ~44% (-3)

And?

The obvious counterpoint is No Ind compared to last time.

Local factors, there are always local factors.

Yes, we should focus on this one single result and ignore the the results of the May locals.

You and I campaigned for David Cameron, and I campaigned for the conservatives from the 1964 GE so I do not understand your animosity towards the conservative party of today so maybe it is fair to ask what do you want the conservative party to represent other than pro EU which is not on their agenda ?

I would suggest being liberal on social and cultural issues.

Social conservatism is almost always a euphemism for bigotry.

A large segment of the electorate are social conservatives.

First. I note that Reform’s odds for Makerfield have come in overnight.

A reaction to the private poll which I am told is a kosher poll.

Showing a Reform win?

No, this poll.

https://www.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2026/06/11/private-polling-klaxon/

That will be the poll that Restore will point to when they get more like 2% rather than the 12% indicated?

I did hear from a very deflated Tory canvasser that they comfortably found more Restore voters than Tory voters.

Their view is the Tories ain't ever winning again until GB News and social media are banned in the UK.

The Kemi paradox.

The things that give her most life as a politician are the ones that are killing her chances of being PM.

Britain Elects

✅ Conservative HOLD

Christleton and Huntington (Cheshire West and Chester) council by-election result:

CON: 32.9% (+8.1)
GRN: 30.4% (+8.2)
REF: 17.2% (+17.2)
LAB: 10.5% (-8.1)
LDEM: 9.0% (-8.0)

No Ind (-17.4) as prev.

+/- 2023

Estimated turnout: ~44% (-3)

And?

The obvious counterpoint is No Ind compared to last time.

Local factors, there are always local factors.

Yes, we should focus on this one single result and ignore the the results of the May locals.

You and I campaigned for David Cameron, and I campaigned for the conservatives from the 1964 GE so I do not understand your animosity towards the conservative party of today so maybe it is fair to ask what do you want the conservative party to represent other than pro EU which is not on their agenda ?

You voted for Blair twice.

I want a fiscally sound, socially liberal policies, the rhetoric out of the mouths of Katie Lam and Nick Philip are the language out of Farage, the Tories will not win trying to out Reform Reform.

They won't win with Osbornism either.

What you consistently fail to realise is that it isn't 2005 anymore, and voters want solutions today on immigration and security, and deciding to not talk about it is not a winning strategy.

This is why he wants Vance to sign it.

Iran’s Mehr news agency publishes the purported text of the draft agreement with Trump. It will keep the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian control, will promise Iran $300 billion in reconstruction money in addition to an immediate cash transfer of $24 billion, a suspension of sanctions and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Middle East. Also, a commitment not to bother Iran again about its missiles and proxies, and restraining Israel in Lebanon.
The U.S. gets in exchange a pinky promise to respect the NPT.
Let’s see what happens in coming days...
https://x.com/yarotrof/status/2065357315058880709

Oman, UAE, and the rest of the GCC States aren’t signing anything that says that Hormuz effectively belongs to Iran.

Without the Septics, what can they do about it?

Continuing the war just makes things worse for themselves.

Don’t underestimate the willingness of the GCC countries to deal with the Iran problem once and for all.

The last few months have been 47 years in the making.

So what are they actually going to do about it?

With the US and Israelis no longer involved, what can they do?

They have navies of their own.

If the USN cannot open Hormuz, how can they?

Strangle Iran by cutting off Iran's exports. Escalate, basically.

First. I note that Reform’s odds for Makerfield have come in overnight.

A reaction to the private poll which I am told is a kosher poll.

Showing a Reform win?

No, this poll.

https://www.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2026/06/11/private-polling-klaxon/

That will be the poll that Restore will point to when they get more like 2% rather than the 12% indicated?

I did hear from a very deflated Tory canvasser that they comfortably found more Restore voters than Tory voters.

Their view is the Tories ain't ever winning again until GB News and social media are banned in the UK.

The Kemi paradox.

The things that give her most life as a politician are the ones that are killing her chances of being PM.

Britain Elects

✅ Conservative HOLD

Christleton and Huntington (Cheshire West and Chester) council by-election result:

CON: 32.9% (+8.1)
GRN: 30.4% (+8.2)
REF: 17.2% (+17.2)
LAB: 10.5% (-8.1)
LDEM: 9.0% (-8.0)

No Ind (-17.4) as prev.

+/- 2023

Estimated turnout: ~44% (-3)

And?

The obvious counterpoint is No Ind compared to last time.

Local factors, there are always local factors.

Yes, we should focus on this one single result and ignore the the results of the May locals.

You and I campaigned for David Cameron, and I campaigned for the conservatives from the 1964 GE so I do not understand your animosity towards the conservative party of today so maybe it is fair to ask what do you want the conservative party to represent other than pro EU which is not on their agenda ?

The problems are that:
a) Brexit was a deeply unserious policy that has cost the UK a significant proportion of its GDP- an estimated 140 billion directly and another 900 billion in the funds leaving the City, and with it 40,000 well paid city jobs. That is before we discuss the evisceration of our farmers and food processors and the regulatory drag for all trade with the EU- a cost that reduces our projected growth every single year. So Brexit is an economic mess, and the Uk economy is growing more fragile the longer we fail to address it.
b) The advent of the Putin war and the Trump fiasco has left us militarily and strategically vulnerable, and the only viable way to maintain our strategic independence is to re-engage and indeed develop further our cooperation with NATO allies- which now includes all but 4 members of the EU- Ireland, Austria, Malta, Cyprus. Ireland,. Meanwhile Iceland is now likely to vote yes to the joining the EU in August, and this may trigger a Norwegian accession process. Even Canada is developing a much closer relationship than anything the Tories have proposed.

So the Tories need to get serious. Now.

Citation for the bit in bold? I assume in your eyes if we had stayed in our growth would have far exceeded the European average rather than just matching it, as it has done.

Brexit was a choice to be poorer as a country. Maybe it's worth it for reasons no-one seems able to articulate. No serious person would claim otherwise if they accept trade and investment are important to a country's wealth and both are reduced by barriers introduced by leaving our main market.