Tom McTague @TomMcTague Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

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@lisahammondwhop

Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

Did I imagine it or did a Russian oligarch’s son buy a British newspaper, make friends with the entire Conservative Party establishment, hand the editorship to a former chancellor and then a former PM’s sister in law, get enobled and then sack a third of its staff? Nah.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

8 months

This is exactly the question I asked myself travelling through northern Spain this summer. How come a place apparently poorer than Britain—and certainly poorer than south east England— *felt* so much more prosperous, with pleasant, clean and busy town centres packed with

Aris Roussinos

@arisroussinos

8 months

Corfu Town has the same population as Ramsgate (c.40k) but feels like a bustling European city rather than a provincial town. In a poorer country than the UK, it has many times the shops, cafes, restaurants, businesses generally. Why is this?

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Boris Johnson: I can announce we won’t hesitate to take action, but right now we are hesitating to take action.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

2012: Army called in: Olympics 2019: Army called in: Floods 2020: Army called in: COVID 2021: Army called in: Fuel crisis Calling the army is becoming a govt reflex, because it's one of the last tools of the state that reliably works. This isn't a good thing.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 months

Me explaining to my wife why tonight’s night out with mates is not in the diary when I swear I put it in months ago…

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

In 2015, eurosceptics were a minority in parliament, Brexiteers an even smaller rump. In 5yrs they won a referendum, blocked soft Brexit, toppled a government, took over the Tory party, won a majority and negotiated a very hard Brexit (after paying an Ulster price). They won.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

7 months

That's quite some gall from Varadkar to talk about Britain "disengaging from the world" while presiding over a neutrality policy that freerides on NATO while the UK spends billions of pounds sending weapons to Ukraine.

Georg von Harrach

@georgvh

7 months

UK is "disengaging from the world" says Irish PM @LeoVaradkar #Taoiseach #EPC #Brexit #ECHR

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Still don’t understand why we don’t force travellers into COVID quarantine hotels, like New Zealand and other countries. Wouldn’t it help struggling hotels as well as making enforcement easier and the country safer?

Harry Cole

@MrHarryCole

3 years

NEW: Boris Johnson closes all travel corridors from 0400 Monday.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Britain needs a prime minister who understands the scale of the problem they face. He or she will take over a relatively poor country, in comparative decline, divided in international law, and without an obvious strategy to get rich again. More weapons to Ukraine won’t cut it.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Britain was once a rich country, seemingly well governed. Today it is very clearly not. It is a poor country, badly governed. In trying to reverse this reality, Truss has made it visible for all to see—because her premiership is a symptom of this very fact

The Liz Truss Travesty Becomes Britain’s Humiliation

Even by British traditions of political failure, this prime minister’s brief tenure has been a spectacular disaster.

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Steve Baker tells Radio 4 important national decisions should only be made after careful, Treasury led, cost-benefit analyses that are made public 🧐

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

And all because he parked in the wrong place. I don’t know the man, or the full story, but for some reason found it gutting—as well as appallingly revealing, somehow capturing the cold corporatist world we have created where everyone is empowered but no one has any power. 3/3

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

Clearly the experts advising the govt might be getting this wrong, I have no idea, but it still amazes me to watch people who know *nothing* about coronavirus, public health, pandemics or anything else relevant so absolutely sure they know best, that X or Y must be done

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

NEW: I’ve spent the last few months in and out of No.10 speaking to the PM and his team, trying to get a grip on who he is and what he’s trying to do for this month’s @TheAtlantic cover. Read my profile of this most elusive and formidable storytellers👇1/

The Minister of Chaos

Boris Johnson knows exactly what he’s doing.

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

1 year

This stuff is just wrong. Biden has already been to Britain 3 times. He didn’t put a foot wrong in NI, has always been diplomatic on the protocol—& created Aukus! He’s Irish American & is entitled to celebrate it. In policy terms, he’s been a solid UK ally

Joe Biden has gravely insulted Britain

The US President thinks nothing of lecturing the government on Northern Ireland policy, and has shown contempt for the Special Relationship

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

BREAKING: SOURCES V FAR FROM UK PM TELL ME THE FRENCHIES HAVE FOLDED ON ALL THE SECRETLY IMPORTANT STUFF AND IT’S A BLOODY FANTABULOUS DEAL FOR OL’ BULLDOG BLIGHTY.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

So: The Boris Johnson who was involved in sham negotiations, wasn’t. The Benn act which chopped the legs out from under the negotiations, didn’t. The EU which would never reopen the exit agreement, did. The Irish govt that would never engage in bilateral negotiations, did.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

6 months

Not building railways to fix potholes in wonderfully illustrative of a country’s shrinking possibilities.

Rishi Sunak

@RishiSunak

6 months

We've set out long-term plans to resurface local roads across the country using money saved from HS2. I reserve the right to point at any remaining potholes.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

UK has five regions poorer than *anywhere* in France, Germany. If it was part of the US, it would be top 8 poorest. It is poorer than former dominions—Australia, NZ, Canada—and far poorer than Ireland, which was among the poorest parts of UK when it left

Why Britain Failed Its Coronavirus Test

Boris Johnson has faced his share of blame for the country’s death count. But the British system was failing long before the coronavirus struck.

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Genuinely, is Williamson the worst education secretary we’ve ever had? I’d be interested to hear the arguments for alternative candidates.

Ministers urged to close all schools in England for two weeks

Call comes after government said all primaries in London should remain closed next week

www.theguardian.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

David Lammy: "We do know Boris Johnson is with Steve Bannon, who is a white supremacist. I'm not backing off on this. I'm never backing off on this. The BBC should not allow this extreme right-wing fascism to flourish. We must not concede ground. We must fight it."

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

A short story of our time: Uber driver last night spends the first half of our journey on the phone to his friend, speaking Hindi I think. Gets off, apologises, says he was comforting a friend and fellow driver whose life has been ruined because of one mistake. The mistake…? 1/3

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Yes. But Somerset doesn’t have a constitutional right, written into international law, to secede and merge with another country should a majority there wish to do so.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

6 years

I give you a Church of Ireland church in the Republic of Ireland, with its graveyard in Northern Ireland

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

Returning from Northern Ireland today with the somewhat amusing discovery that in the space of a few months Boris Johnson has managed to unite Ireland, north and south, nationalist and unionist, in their absolute loathing for... Tory England—and particularly the ERG 1/2

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

Not necessarily in favour or opposed to this new points-based system (it has long seemed inevitable to me, regardless). But one thing always seemed odd: Are we not saying, effectively, we'll keep all the badly-paid jobs for Brits, but open up the good ones to global competition?

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Friend of mine has just been informed his kid’s primary school in a tier three area has closed. Teachers refusing to go in due to union advice, apparently. This patchwork each-school-for-themselves approach is extraordinary, makes it seem like the government has lost control.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

“Populism is a term used by centrist liberals to describe political blowback from the disruption of society produced by their policies.” Oof, that is good by John Gray in the @NewStatesman

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

You'd be forgiven for thinking the Good Friday Agreement was an agreement to remove the land border in Ireland, when in fact, at its core, it was an agreement that *affirmed* the border until a majority in NI wanted otherwise, in exchange for power sharing, not majoritarian rule.

Joe Biden

@JoeBiden

4 years

We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit. Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

How did I make it to this point in my life and still decide *not* to spend the extra £40 to have my dishwasher fitted? Unfathomable stupidity. I should be barred from voting. DIY is hell.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Another one of those charts which makes you wonder why the French are always so angry with their government

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

Touched down in London after a whistlestop trip to Dublin. While it is Boris Johnson who has been defeated again, one can’t shake the feeling it is the opposition moving their King side to side to avoid check mate. The more they block or delay, the higher he goes in the polls

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

In summary, then: We have a govt which has broken its central promise; an opposition which does not want an election to make them pay for it; two anti Brexit parties offering to break the deadlock in a way that could enable Brexit; & an EU which cannot do anything about any of it

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

This isn’t just smart by Dublin, but important. While the UK spends billions on the ugly stuff—building the new GB-NI trade checks—Ireland hands out the sweeties (good statecraft). Does London have the imagination to start making its own treats to show the value of its own union?

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

A shout out for British first past the post: short, sharp and decisive, removal vans in the street, sorted in time for tea with the Queen the next day

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Ros has rapidly become the best thing on the BBC—an advert for the power of straightforward, impartial fact telling (which is a much harder job than he makes it look). Top marks again here👇

Ros Atkins

@BBCRosAtkins

2 years

The government says “there was not a party” at No 10 last December and that no COVID rules were broken. A week into the story, this is a new 5-min video on the gap between the government’s assurances and available evidence. Produced by Michael Cox.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

6 years

Dear Italy, We seem to have stolen your football team, your weather AND your politics. Sorry, we'll try to give them back soon. Yours, England @jacopobarigazzi @giuliaparavicin @AlbertoNardelli @stephanfaris

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Britain’s biggest problems were not caused by being in the EU. Britain’s biggest problems in the future will not be caused by *not* being in the EU. Britain needs to look at why many countries in the EU *and* out the EU are performing better. The problem is closer to home.

Jennifer Rankin

@JenniferMerode

3 years

@MESandbu @BBCr4today Add to that the suggestion that Brexit frees up Britain to do more trade with rest of the world. As said so many times before, Germany doesn’t struggle to sell stuff to China.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 months

Bravo @SophyRidgeSky , this is the best segment of an interview with one of our leading politicians I’ve seen in years. There’s a 10,000 word profile in this clip alone. And Keir should continue speaking this honestly, it was both revealing and dignified at the same time.

Sophy Ridge

@SophyRidgeSky

2 months

I was very moved by this. Keir Starmer talking about his relationship with his father and how it impacted him “I probably should addressed that before he passed. I wish I had. But I didn’t.”

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

Ken Clarke sitting quietly, eyes almost closed, wondering what on earth has happened, dreaming of jazz, cricket and birdwatching hides. England, mother of parliaments, has sent some real dunces to join him this time.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

48 isn't the magic number. Nor the 158 needed to get rid of May. It's 318 — a majority in the Commons (650 minus 4 tellers, 4 speakers and 7 Sinn Fein MPs divided by 2) Right now, are there 318 MPs for *any* type of Brexit? No Are there 318 MPs who would vote to stop No Deal? Yes

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

On Liz Truss, @patrickkmaguire quips that she’s now “the supply teacher who’s lost the room.” That, I think, is rather👌. And any supply teacher I remember being in this position ended up with drawing pins on their chair and paper aeroplanes flying over their head…

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

One irony of the govt’s aspiration for a high-wage, high-skilled, rebalanced economy (who doesn’t want that?) is that the countries outside the EU that look most like that—Switzerland, Australia, Canada—also have higher per capita immigration than Britain.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

He picked up a customer at the wrong spot at Gatwick. Yes. That’s it. Because he was caught on camera, TFL have revoked his licence. Uber won’t help. He has two kids, invested thousands in his car & insurance. Now he’s going through benefit conditionality nightmare. 2/3

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

A Tory minister: “Well, it’s lose lose isn’t it. But that’s Brexit. The only way this might work is if everyone loses. That’s it isn’t it. We all have to lose for this to happen. That’s the reality. It’s lose lose.”

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

💥Hammond on second referendum💥 "A perfectly coherent proposition and it deserves to be considered."

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

In a Soho cafe, staring absent mindedly out the window waiting for my sandwich. Man walks past, stops, points and mouths something. I signal I can’t understand. He signals he’ll come in to tell me. He walks in, comes over and says: “You’re thinking too much mate.” Real story.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

The cretinous stupidity of Britain’s four-year diplomatic disaster—a story not about rights and wrongs, but strength and (self inflicted) weakness. My attempt to pull the camera back a bit on Brexit, Boris, law breaking and all of that👇

The Great British Humbling

Like the bind of a tortuous finger trap, Britain’s Brexit conundrum grows tighter and more painful the more the country wrestles with it.

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

1 year

😂

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

6 years

Marr reads quote. "Do you agree with it?" he asks Jeremy Hunt. "No." Marr: "You said it." Hunt: "I don't agree with the line of questioning."

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

It’s worth reflecting on this. The UK can only leave with a deal if it agrees a binding piece of international law permanently tying either the whole country or a part of it to another entity’s legal order over which it has no control. It’s not crazy that that’s controversial

Laura Kuenssberg

@bbclaurak

5 years

1. PM spoke to Merkel at 8am this morning - No 10 source says she said there could only be a deal if Northern Ireland stays in Customs Union, if not, then deal is 'overwhelmingly unlikely'

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

This “absolute diamond” says: 1. The police who killed George Floyd learnt their technique “from seminars with Israeli secret services.” 2 “We’re being ruled by capitalist, fascist dictators.” RBL is shadow education secretary. You know, schools and that. Great 👍

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

10 months

It’ll look like this. Guaranteed👇

Tom Harwood

@tomhfh

10 months

Am currently obsessed with generating AI paintings of Cambridge's New Quarter.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Extraordinary. We have a referendum about borders. We erect a trade one whatever the cost. And a migration one. But we can’t erect a health one *in the middle of a pandemic*. House built of straw.

Mike Bird

@Birdyword

3 years

A reminder that the British government has not at any point even required a negative Covid test for people to fly into the UK. Not in the Spring, not in the Summer, not now. Never.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Realise I’m about a whole pandemic late to this, but I thought this piece was great, showing up so much that’s wrong with the country. They seem like decent blokes who are probably doing better than half the snobby keyboard warriors mocking them.

We spoke to the boys in THIS picture and they've had enough of your jokes

They've become the poster boys of dumb racist opinions, but that's not them

thetab.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

6 years

"Worst deal in history." No. In no particular order: —Munich. —Nazi-Soviet pact. —Louisiana purchase. —Alaska. —All supermarket wine offers. —Moctezuma hosting Cortés (h/t @CharlieCooper8 ) —Faust ( @CharlieCooper8 ) —Danegeld —Eric Djemba-Djemba (inspired by @patrickkmaguire )

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Ridiculous scenes in London below. 80 year olds and older forced to stand in a queue in close-to-freezing temperatures for hours, while also risking catching the bloody virus itself. Realise this is logistically tough, but surely there’s a better way than this!

Paul Demetrious

@P_Demetrious

3 years

@jenner_practice My Parents have been isolating since Feb20. On arrival for Dads #COVID19 #vaccine time slot met this Circus! They left without it! Answers?! @NHSLewishamCCG @LG_NHS @careopinion @PatientsAssoc @CareQualityComm @ModalityGP @bbchealth @MattHancock @piersmorgan

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Would love to hear a fair defence of this behaviour. French ministers make ad hominem attacks on UK counterparts—accurate or not—then officially tweet them out, but the publication of a letter crosses a line? This ongoing Anglo-French row is pathetic.

Channel deaths: Priti Patel disinvited to meeting with France

Boris Johnson’s public letter to Emmanuel Macron on Channel drownings deemed ‘unacceptable’

www.theguardian.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Look at that hair!

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

I can’t imagine a scenario more radicalising of public opinion against the EU than the forced rerouting of British vaccines to the continent during a pandemic. Save for the blockading of second doses destined for the arms of grannies and the vulnerable. SUCH a volatile situation.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

The scenes in Northern Ireland have been entirely predictable—and predicted—since 2019. At the heart of the matter is a reality few want to admit: the protocol is imbalanced, implementing, in effect, the nationalist solution to the Brexit border trilemma.

Northern Ireland Offers a Warning That Few Are Hearing

Brexit poses an existential dilemma for the region.

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

A great European crisis comes along and for all its complaints about the US, Europe shows how utterly dependent it remains on American power.

Radek Sikorski

@radeksikorski

2 years

For the record.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

6 months

Now that inflation is running at only twice the target, we can return to measures we previously said were inflationary.

Rishi Sunak

@RishiSunak

6 months

Now that inflation is halved, we can turn our attention to cutting tax. We will reward work, by cutting taxes and reforming our benefits system so work always pays. We’ll also encourage more people into work and clamp down on welfare fraudsters.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

I can’t describe how annoying I would find it to be served in this way. I think I’d pay £630 not to go to this restaurant.

The Sun

@TheSun

3 years

Sneak peek inside Salt Bae's new London restaurant where a steak costs £630

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

8 months

Listened to the first few mins of Shapps this morning. So utterly depressing. The message was essentially that we’re now too poor not only to build a train line to Leeds but also to Manchester.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

1 year

There’s lots of noise and fury. But the truth remains startling enough: the UK is building and operating an international trade border within its own country to ensure the integrity of the EU single market. Why? Because that was the price the Tory party agreed to pay for Brexit.

Tony Connelly

@tconnellyRTE

1 year

NEW: The UK will bring forward legislation this week which could see work on the construction of border control posts at Northern Ireland ports resume, following months of controversy related to the Northern Ireland Protocol, @rtenews understands.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

The UK was supposed to be leaving the EU tomorrow. Here’s why it’s all gone to s***👇My long read on a long negotiation that risks poisoning British politics for years to come, with knock-on effects for the union, Ireland and the EU. Enjoy 🧨

How the UK lost the Brexit battle

The course of Brexit was set in the hours and days after the 2016 referendum.

www.politico.eu

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

Today's GDP figures are a grim reminder that Britain's pandemic failures go WAY beyond case counts and excess death figures. They are deep, widespread—and deadly. They are systemic. My long read on Why Britain Failed—And Keeps Failing.

Why Britain Failed Its Coronavirus Test

Boris Johnson has faced his share of blame for the country’s death count. But the British system was failing long before the coronavirus struck.

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Governing is harder than commentating. And it’s a new and fast-moving situation. But has there been a single example when the govt has chosen early caution over optimistic wait-and-see, acting before being forced? The problem isn’t each individual bad decision, but the pattern.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 months

Would’ve been quicker and easier just to say sorry.

Chris Ship

@chrisshipitv

2 months

WATCH: A remorseful @StephenAtHome on his The Late Show following his recent jokes about the Princess of Wales and the rumours about her disappearance and marriage. “I tell a lot of jokes” he says but wishes Kate a “swift and thorough” recovery 👇 @colbertlateshow

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Germany’s entire strategy of dependence has collapsed. Italy has lost its talisman. France has hobbled its president. And Britain has entered yet another round of bloodletting. America, meanwhile, looks like a divided house, ready to fall. The West is not well.

Antonello Guerrera

@antoguerrera

2 years

BREAKING. Draghi announces to the Parliament that he is going to Quirinale palace (President Mattarella residence) right now to formally resign as Italy’s Prime Minister.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

There is absolute unionist fury, working class North Belfast and middle class Fermanagh, at Steve Baker, Mark Francois et al. Most of it unprintable, but the talk is of “turncoats” who only prove the English can never be trusted. “No offence,” one added. None taken 2/2

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

Personally, I hate the way American news anchors descend to this kind of commentary. It’s almost like the snarky flip side of Trump’s political coarsening. Give me boring impartiality on TV—and keep the snark in copy

Adam Boulton

@adamboultonTABB

4 years

Anderson Cooper with the quote of the night: “We see him like an obese turtle on his back, flailing in the sun”

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

6 years

“Brexit cannot be delivered,” says Anna Soubry. Great democratic message: You can vote for anything, as long as it doesn’t change too much.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

5 years

“Keep him there. What’s he going to do?” Seasoned Labour MP very happy with the situation—and clear Starmer, McDonnell and Nick Brown are too. “We’ve just got to keep our nerve. It’s do or die, October 31, right? Okay then. So what is he if he can’t do it?”

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Listening to Radio 4, it dawns on me: The forever negotiations with the EU have begun, haven’t they? Oh, god.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

I present the south London home of former French president Charles de Gaulle for a part of his time in Britain during the Second World War.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Hallelujah! It’s a miracle! The Tories have achieved that rarest state of grace in politics, the unholy trinity: nastiness, incompetence *and* weakness.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

I’m sure I’m plagiarising this, but watching the almost gleeful reaction among some to the news that the border has been closed reminds me that only the English seem to experience schadenfreude over their *own* misfortune. “Serves us right, darling, that’s what I say..”

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Blair publicly supported the union. Starmer has said he would campaign for the union in a border poll. But such is the facile level of understanding about the Good Friday Agreement it is now assumed the UK is the only state in the world that cannot campaign for its own existence.

Darren McCaffrey

@darrenmccaffrey

2 years

WATCH: Labour’s Shadow NI Secretary tells me that if there was a referendum on a united Ireland that the British government and British political parties should not campaign for the Union “if there is a border poll, we should remain neutral”

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

Britain failed. It KEEPS failing. The list of recent calamities is sobering: Brexit negotiations, Northern Ireland 2017-2020, Syria, Libya, Scottish referendum, bank bailout, Iraq, Afghan. As one aide said: “We’ve had our arse handed to us recently.”

Why Britain Failed Its Coronavirus Test

Boris Johnson has faced his share of blame for the country’s death count. But the British system was failing long before the coronavirus struck.

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

I went inside Britain’s secret six month spy war with Russia sparked by last year’s attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury. As Nato leaders meet in London today, here’s what really happened, who won—and what it all means. A special report👇

Britain’s Secret War With Russia

The poisoning of a double agent sparked an intelligence and PR battle between London and Moscow, the details of which are only now emerging.

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Respectfully disagree. Look at the mess in the States caused by the worship of a static 18th century constitution. Written rules get abused too. And, the British constitution just worked. Johnson won an 80 majority and has just been fired by parliament because he lost its trust.

Rory Stewart

@RoryStewartUK

2 years

Boris Johnson shd mark the final end of the old British system. He demonstrated ruthlessly how much damage can be done by someone refusing to respect unwritten rules. We need a written constitution. A new electoral system. And far better leaders @RestIsPolitics

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

We’ve just had a terrible, terrible crisis. Should prompt deep introspection. Probably won’t.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

I know people will cheer and hit retweet, but (if real) this is an objectively *bad*thing, whatever the rights and wrongs of the Durham debacle. If you hate Cummings, you should realise this *supports* his case against the civil service. Simple stuff.

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

1 year

Keir Starmer sneaks into power, immediately doubles child benefit, reintroduces 50p tax band and announces plans for King Charles to design five new “Royal” cities that look like Poundbury, available only to first time buyers. Stays in power for a decade.

Conor Lynch

@c_k_lynch

1 year

Poundbury was created by HM The King over the past 30 years - new beautiful houses built to last

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

7 months

Shameful. Democrats in the Conservative Party should move to block this to give voters the final say on the future of HS2.

Sunak’s ‘spiteful’ sale of land intended for HS2 dashes hopes of revival

Prime minister’s move criticised as ‘salting the earth’ so Birmingham-Crewe line cannot be built

www.theguardian.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

8 months

@MechaNonPlacet Don’t know, maybe not. But I’m not talking about San Sebastián — ordinary places like Vigo, Burgos, Oviedo. In each of these places, the outskirts weren’t great, admittedly, but the centres were just really pleasant — clean, busy, ordered, nice. Proper public spaces that felt far

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

A piece on the spiritual crisis threatening the future of the United Kingdom (featuring Butlin's, @thehistoryguy , The Leopard and much else...) The Dying Memory of Britain

How Britain Falls Apart

A road trip through the ancient past and shaky future of the (dis)United Kingdom

www.theatlantic.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Woah 😳

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

1 year

“The most ‘trans-sceptical’ constituencies in Britain are found in Scotland. In aggregate, Scottish people are also more trans-sceptical than English people.” Fascinating polling here.

Scotland turns on gender ideology

Our polling reveals Scottish voters are the most trans-sceptical

unherd.com

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

6 years

Raab to Brussels. Sunday deadline. Ambo meeting called. Smells like a deal. Watch for time limit on second transition (on customs) covering still tough Irish backstop. This is moment of maximum danger for May. Cabinet resignations/letters to 1922 could follow. Brace, brace 😬😬😬

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

2 years

Welcome to the world Annabel Summer Leighton-McTague, a perfect & precious little bundle of beauty, born y’day evening. Mum doing great. Dad now even more emotional than before. And with that, I’ll soon be clocking out of Westminster for much of the rest of the year. Bon chance!

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

So, America, you're *absolutely* sure...? 😉

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

4 years

A little thing: I'm from the north. I like the north. But England isn't just the north. And the north isn't *that* different from the rest of England. There are lots of people here who voted remain. We even have some rich people. The average Brexiteer is a middle class southerner

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

On Greenslade, a NI friend now living in GB rages: “So typical of the British left. He got on with his comfortable life in London and was completely unaffected by his optional, occasional & secret engagement with Troubles. We didn’t have a choice—we had to fucking live there.” 1/

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

8 months

Levelling up has become the Treasury doling out bits of extra money to places it decides need a boost, based on a formula it has come up with in Whitehall. It’s a parody.

Sky News

@SkyNews

8 months

The PM has unveiled £1bn of levelling up funding to be handed out over the next decade - but most of it is going to constituencies held by Tory MPs

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 years

Phew. So glad we saved the level playing field in football and can get back to proper competition. 🇩🇪 Bayern 9 in a row. 🇮🇹 Juve 9 in a row 🇫🇷 PSG 7 of last 8 seasons 🇪🇸 Barca/Real 17 of last 20 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Man City (soon to be) 3 of last 4

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Tom McTague

@TomMcTague

3 months

This is quite some picture.