Charles Walker, Vice Chair of the 1922 Tory backbench committee in the Commons tells TWTW that he thinks the government knew it intended to “cancel” Christmas on Wednesday or Thursday but waited for Parliament to rise to do it. Says many of his colleagues find this “egregious.”

Keir Starmer giving his most important speech yet-laying out his vision for the future.

“The Conservatives say they want to build back. But I don’t want to go back. You can’t return to business as usual. And certainly not back to an economy rooted in insecurity and inequality.”

"The foundations of our society have been weakened over a decade...even before the pandemic life expectancy had stalled for the first time in a century. Child poverty had shot up to over 4 million. A child growing up in a deprived areas of the North East can expect to live for.."

"...five fewer years than a deprived child brought up in a deprived area of London. What sort of legacy is that for a party which has been in govt for a decade? That life itself got cheaper. And shorter."

"During the last year my thoughts have returned time and time again to the wartime generation. Those who suffered the horrors of WW2, who rebuilt Britain from the rubble of the Blitz, created the NHS and built millions of homes fit for heroes. And I contrast that...

"...to those exposed to Covid in underfunded care homes, unable to say goodbye to families and to loved ones. How can the PM look those families in the eye and say 'we did everything we could'? When the truth is the Tories failed to fix social care for a decade?"

Weird feeling. After 10.5 years and roughly £21,000 of debt- I finally paid off the last instalment of my student loan today.

Next month, for the first time- I’ll receive my full post tax salary, for the first time since I graduated.

Sharing as an example of how the system works in practice. In truth I only seriously started paying off the capital in the last few years, when I started to earn a good salary, paying roughly £400 a month off. I suspect many will never significantly eat into the capital.

That’s especially the case for those those under the new regime, who have over £50k of debt. I was lucky in a) lower fees (3k not 9k) and maintenance grant (not loan) still existed.

Indeed IFS forecasts that 83% of students from PST 2012 reforms won’t fully pay back their loan.

Of course those who don’t pay off their fees, the cost will eventually have to be absorbed by the Treasury. Having 17% pay back all and the rest some will still be cheaper for HMT than no loans at all. But we should recognise the a) odd conceit that we have a system of loans...

...which the vast maj will never pay back and that instead b) that graduates are paying in effect a topped up rate of income tax for many, many years.

Trump’s doctor: “This morning, the President is doing very well.”

Conley: “the team and I are extremely pleased with how the President is doing.” Says that Trump’s symptoms are now improving.

Second doctor says that President’s kidney function, heart function are both normal. Says that he’s not on oxygen and in “exceptionally good spirits.” Says that Trump said “it feels I could walk out of this today.” Says he’s walking around the medical unit.

Doctor is repeatedly asked about whether Trump is on oxygen. Says he’s not on oxygen “now” or “today”. Sidesteps question about whether he’s received it up to now.

Doctor says “since Friday morning” Trump hasn’t had a fever

Earlier when asked about why the govt didn't act earlier the PM said “I think we were told about the new variant and the way it was taking off on 18th December and we went into T4 across the vast bulk of the country pretty much in the next 24 hours.”

This isn't entirely correct.

The new variant was identified in early December after genome data was paired with a curiosity that the rates of infection in Kent were not falling despite national restrictions and then T3.

So there was indicative sense that the variant may be playing its part as early as that and perhaps sport greater transmissibility.

On December 14th Matt Hancock informed the Commons, saying the new variant was in at least 60 local authorities already.

He told MPs in that over that week, there had been sharp, exponential rises in coronavirus infections across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.

He said they couldn't be sure whether that was due to the new variant but that caution was required.

As a result, London and several other places in the South East were moved to T3.

On 18th December NERVTAG reported that they believed the new variant was indeed more transmissible.

On the 19th, the govt acted. This is the action I assume the PM referred to today.

Overheard in a Newcastle cafe, two very despondent students, clearly not long arrived in the city: “I might as well just go home. What is the point in being here? I told my Mum last night, I just feel so lonely. Wish I’d taken a gap year.” The other nodded, in sad agreement.

More cafe conversations-a woman who has recently gone back to work and is now facing down the barrel of imminent unemployment again with the hospitality shutdown which is prob coming here: “I was so buzzing to get back to work. I can’t believe it’s back. Don’t know what I’ll do.”

A local bar owner who has popped in for a coffee: “up to now we’ve just about been making enough money on Saturday to survive and make it through the rest of the week. Depends what the government does. But we’re on the edge.”

And the cafe owner, been here 19 years: “things had been a bit better but this week trade has fallen off a cliff. I came in yesterday and the day before and I just closed because there was no point. Whatever they announce I’m praying it isn’t for long or they extend furlough.”

This cafe btw is a cracker, when I lived in Newcastle came all the time. If you’re ever in the area (restrictions permitting) @QuayIngredient is where you need to go.

1) Where we are: This is much, much bigger than a fraudulent election (it was) or rampant gubment tyrannical China Virus abuse (it is).

2) What we are facing has been building for a good 30 years.

3) I date it back to the GOP failure to defeat Clinton in the gubment shutdown.

4) If you went to public school, that would be the 1995 budget battle.

5) The brand new GOP Congress, with plenty of public support, failed to rein in a Clinton bloated budget.

6) It wasn't the numbers. Compared to today's deficits & debts, this was pocket change. Rather, this was the first time since the Cold War, which was a legit excuse for constant deficit spending, that Congress failed to do its MAIN constitutional duty--oversee spending.

7) No, this isn't a thread about deficits or debt. At present, I don't think those pose the biggest challenge to us, or even probably one of the top five.

8) Rather, this is about a deadly disease that hit DC & the patient refused to take any medicine for it.

9) The disease was the failure to address the major problems of the day, whether it was deficits, Islamic terrorism, the banking crisis, or trade.

10) Vote fraud & this frankenstein of an election is only the latest SYMPTOM of this much larger disease.

1. Military Intelligence Contact: . He is confirming X’s sources, Bruce's sources, and other sources reporting that the bond redemption processing finished today Christmas Eve Thu 24 Dec and as of about 1 pm EST all banks in this country and globally started moving fully onto...

2. ... the QFS system in all their operations, as the St Germaine Trust and the Rodriguez Trust start on Christmas Day Fri 25 Dec to pay out very large tranches to the Global Collateral Accounts and UST and other central bank accounts that are free of Deep State control and...

3. ... interference in preparation to release the shotgun liquidity start when T4B is started, his current info matching Bruce's sources, T4B start currently set for approximately next Tue-Wed 29-30 Dec;
. He is confirming Mr. X’s sources saying that 2 separate groups in...

4. ... different geographic locations said that there is expected to be activity on the holiday as well as into the weekend and if so we in T4B will be in great shape soon thereafter next week.
. He is confirming that bond liquidity in bond holder accounts will begin to be...

5. ... released giving account holders 1% to 1.5% access to funds next Mon-Tue 28-29 Dec, & that the bond liquidity release will enable release of trillions in liquidity globally to paymasters to downstream payments to T1-4A as we in T4B get started by some time29-30 Dec;(edited)

Last month PTI government raised base power tariffs by Rs 1.95 per unit. This month NEPRA has determined tariff increases of Rs 1.53 per unit in Fuel Adjustment Charges for December and Rs 0.83 in Quarterly Adjustment for 4th quarter of 2020. 1/17

So your electric bills for February maybe higher by Rs 4.31 per unit. That’s a Tabdeeli we will feel in our monthly budgets.

The PTI govt takes no responsibility for anything and just blames PMLN’s previous govt. 2/17

For instance when the entire country suffered a blackout a minister blamed PMLN. But when asked exactly what happened he said he didn’t know. He just “knew” it was PMLN’s fault. Later it turned out that Einsteins in PTI forgot to carry out routine maintenance last summer.
3/17

So PTI blames increase in basic tariff (Rs 1.95 of Rs 4.31) on PMLN saying that this is due to higher fixed costs incurred as a result of PMLN setting up more power plants. But that is crazy. The higher fixed cost should now divided by an even higher number of units whose 4/17

generating capacity PMLN installed. And the total cost of all PMLN plants is lower than all previously set up plants. Of course we had to set up power plants. In 2013 we had 12 to 18 hours of load shedding in most of Pakistan. 5/17

In LEFT TO DIE, we document how families of the disappeared face a negligent and hostile Border Patrol search and rescue response system.

Lacking adequate government emergency services, many seek help from aid groups.

Border Patrol routinely obstructs these efforts. 🧵⬇️

Families often receive urgent calls from loved ones who are lost and in distress in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, or from an eyewitness who was with them in the desert.

These calls can contain crucial details regarding the person’s location and medical condition.

Faced with an inadequate and discriminatory emergency response system controlled by Border Patrol, family members take on the monumental work of acting as emergency first responders.

Here’s a partial list of actions family members have taken to locate their missing loved ones...

1. Repeatedly calling police, Border Patrol, ICE offices, hospitals, detention centers, morgues, immigration attorneys, non-profits, and news outlets.

2. Taking out missing persons ads, putting up posters, searching and posting on the Internet, in hopes of hearing word of their loved ones whereabouts.