David C Bannerman retweeted
Alongside @afneil nobody explains economics better than the brilliant @LiamHalligan
He’s a busy man, newly appointed to run the Centre for Policy Studies, so very chuffed to see him embarking on a collaboration with Outpost. Here are his thoughts ahead of tomorrow’s Budget.
Replying to @OutpostStudios
David C Bannerman retweeted
China’s domestic passenger car sales are projected to plummet 22% in 2026, falling below pandemic-era levels. Waning consumer confidence and reduced EV subsidies are chilling the world’s largest auto market, pushing carmakers to rely on surging exports caixinglobal.com/2026-10-28/…
David C Bannerman retweeted
Platform 4 at Nottingham Victoria.
There's a Krispy Kreme donut store there now.
David C Bannerman retweeted
He had already escaped the burning aircraft. He could have kept running. Instead, he turned back to save a man who could not escape.
On 16 March 1944, 20-year-old RAF trainee navigator Bill Foxley was aboard a Wellington bomber that crashed shortly after take-off from Castle Donington.
Bill made it out alive.
Then he heard a fellow crewman trapped inside the burning aircraft.
Without hesitation, he went back.
The flames had turned the bomber into an inferno. Bill reached his wireless operator and tried to pull him to safety. But as he escaped through the astrodome, the fire caught him. His crewmate did not survive.
Bill did, but the cost was devastating.
The fire destroyed much of his face and hands. He lost his right eye, and his remaining sight was severely damaged. At Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe and his team performed 29 operations over three and a half years, working painstakingly to repair the injuries that had changed Bill's life forever.
Yet some wounds could not be seen.
For years, strangers stared at his scars. On trains between Crawley and London, passengers sometimes approached the empty seat beside him, noticed his face and quietly moved away.
Imagine surviving a burning aircraft, enduring years of surgery, only to face another kind of pain in everyday life: being treated as though your appearance made you someone to fear.
Bill refused to let bitterness define him.
When people recoiled from his scars, he sometimes reassured them with a gentle sense of humour:
“It's all right. I'm not going to bite you.”
Even after everything he had endured, he could still offer kindness to people who did not know how to respond to him.
He returned to work, built a successful career as a facilities manager and continued running long distances well into his seventies. He also appeared in the 1969 film Battle of Britain, helping bring the experiences of badly burned airmen closer to public understanding.
But it was what he did for others that made his life especially remarkable.
As a member of the Guinea Pig Club, Bill supported fellow survivors whose lives had been transformed by devastating burns. His commitment extended to helping wounded servicemen and disabled people find opportunities to rebuild their lives.
Think about that for a moment.
The young airman who had once risked everything to save a trapped comrade spent decades helping others discover that life could still hold purpose, dignity and hope after unimaginable suffering.
He could not change that terrible night in 1944. He could not bring his crewmate back or erase the injuries he had carried for the rest of his life.
But he could decide what those injuries would mean.
Bill Foxley chose courage over bitterness, compassion over resentment and service over surrender.
His scars told the story of what he had survived. His actions told the story of who he was.
First, he walked back into the flames for another man.
Then, for the rest of his life, he helped others find their way forward.
Bill Foxley was far more than a survivor. He was a reminder that the truest measure of courage is not simply how much a person can endure, but how much kindness they can still give afterwards.
May his courage, his compassion and his extraordinary service never be forgotten.
Lest we forget.
David C Bannerman retweeted
Unusual:
Three of the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class submarines are currently at sea.
One boat is due back from patrol soon (198 days on patrol so far), one boat is the relief and the other is likely conducting trials / work up.
We were aware of this, but now been reported by @thetimes
This contact seems to make sense. They are all Vikings ! (The Rus tribe was Viking too) bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6vg…
David C Bannerman retweeted
🚨 BREAKING NEWS
Thr major UK retailer poundland is close to going into administration.
You know the country's fucked when even the pound shops are shutting down!
David C Bannerman retweeted
Replying to @RobertJenrick
"Fully re-legalise Imperial units" 🙌
The right thing to do.
Imperial units are part of who we are. Our feet and inches, acres, yards and miles, pounds and ounces, pints and gallons are part of our cultural inheritance. They fit into our language, liturgy, song, poetry and so much more.
Metrication broke a link with our history and heritage and ensured that we speak a different language to our ancestors.
We should fix that broken link.
David C Bannerman retweeted
Britain is broke. And to fix it, we need to start growing again.
That’s why Reform’s Economic Rescue Plan includes these 64 pro-growth measures I’d take if I were Chancellor:
𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗮
1. Approve Rosebank
2. Restart oil and gas licensing
3. Legalise onshore exploration
4. Abolish the Energy Profits Levy
5. Restore maximum economic extraction as the North Sea regulator's objective
𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻
6. Abolish the Emissions Trading Scheme
7. Halt the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
8. Repudiate AR7 contracts for difference and scrap AR8
9. Implement the Fingleton Review on nuclear in full
10. Automatically approve French and South Korean nuclear designs
𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀
11. Cut affordable housing requirements on brownfield sites
12. Permitted Development Right for brownfield housing
13. Repeal Biodiversity Net Gain
14. Exit the Aarhus Convention
15. Repeal and reform the Habitats Regulations, including Nutrient Neutrality
16. End the boiler ban
17. Legalise air conditioning to meet overheating rules
18. Remove mandatory EPC improvements
19. Revoke the Future Homes Standard
20. Repeal the Renters' Rights Act
𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
21. Legislate approval for new runways at Heathrow and Gatwick
22. Auction airport landing slots
23. End 'target-consistent' carbon pricing in project evaluation
24. Ban carbon emissions considerations in planning applications
25. Fast-track all water reservoirs as nationally significant projects
26. Make Development Consent Orders a true one-stop shop
27. Restrict judicial review of ministerial planning decisions
28. Scrap Net Zero construction rules
29. Scrap the social value test in procurement
30. Lift launch limits at SaxaVord Spaceport
31. Open completed sections of East-West Rail
𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
32. Review regulatory barriers to AI adoption
33. Permit on-site gas generation for data centres and industry
𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀
34. Cut Employer NI back to 13.8%
35. Introduce a migrant worker levy
36. Repeal the Employment Rights Act
37. Clarify that workplace rights don't require mandatory training courses
38. Let experienced tradesmen work on government contracts without CSCS qualifications
𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆
39. Review bank capital requirements to boost lending
40. Rule out Net Zero in financial regulators' remits
41. Repeal climate-related financial disclosure rules
𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴
42. Scrap airport 'surface access strategies'
43. Abolish the electric vehicle mandates
44. Apply domestic GB hours to all UK HGV trips
45. Ban Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods
46. Back the M4 Relief Road
47. Move a new car's first MOT to four years
48. Abolish the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation
𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺𝘀
49. Replace GDPR with a New Zealand-style Privacy Act
50. Fully re-legalise Imperial units
51. Review all unchanged EU law
52. Automatically repeal remaining EU law in 5 years unless retained
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀
53. Make quarterly Making Tax Digital reporting voluntary
54. Reduce legal obligations on SME Non-Executive Directors
55. Double permission-free event days from 28 to 56
56. Make pavement dining licences automatic and permanent
57. Let shops open until 10pm, except Sundays
58. Repeal board diversity and inclusion rules
59. Remove the Sustainable Aviation Fuel mandate
60. Abolish the packaging tax
61. Scrap BBC and Channel 4 priority on streaming platforms
62. Remove the Public Sector Equality Duty
63. Five-year sunset on all QUANGOs
64. Five-year sunset clause on all new regulations
And there are more to come!
Britain’s full potential is waiting to be unleashed 🚀
At least he didn’t call Robert a pleb. theguardian.com/politics/201…
🚨 NEW: Tory MP calls Robert Jenrick a "Neanderthal" for backing cuts to £6 Billion spent on foreign aid.
• Tory MP Andrew Mitchell has described Jenrick as a “Neanderthal” in the House of Commons over his support for reducing the UK’s foreign aid budget.
• The response came following a question from Jenrick to Labour's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. "How would he justify to working people and pensioners spending £6 billion on foreign aid whilst freezing the tax-free person allowance and cutting the state pension?"
• Miliband backed up the Tory, by replying with "I would say to him, I think the answer came from the person who used to be in his party, the party he used to be in, which is that the money we spend on foreign aid is absolutely about preventing the problems from elsewhere in the world coming here."
David C Bannerman retweeted
🚨NEW: An inquest has heard Lib Dem-run Cambridgeshire council received 127 complaints about a pothole in a 60mph zone before it killed two teenagers
David C Bannerman retweeted
Thousands of Non-Europeans Still Settling in Britain Through EU Loophole order-order.com/2026/10/27/t…
David C Bannerman retweeted
In an interview with Paul Thorpe broadcast on 11 May 2026, I alleged that Mr Harborne had fixed the 2019 General Election result by conspiring with the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the then leader of the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage, to ensure a majority for Mr Johnson's party by agreeing to pay each of them £1 million, which he duly did in November 2022, in return for the Brexit Party standing down all 317 of its candidates for Conservative-held seats. I made that allegation in reliance on information I had been given. I now accept that the information did not provide a sufficient basis for so serious an allegation, and I should not have made it. I withdraw that allegation and apologise to Mr. Harborne for the distress caused.
David C Bannerman retweeted
I know delayed and cancelled travel is frustrating, but rail companies not acting accordingly due to weather like this lead to the deaths of 3 people in 2020
Hello, any reason why trains to Manchester are cancelled? The weather is not a good excuse
@northernassist
The desire for new railway station and railway lines is phenomenal. Every single one reopened has seen numbers using them being far in excess of forecasts. Incidentally passenger railways now carry 1.83 billion journeys a year - that’s the highest since 1920! Under British Rail it was a 1/3 of that. Was driven by passenger franchising needing to chase growth.
Build it and they will come! More than double the predicted number of passengers used Beaulieu Park station in its first year
modernrailways.com/article/b… .
David C Bannerman retweeted
This is, I think, the third time that a new railway station’s patronage has been double the predicted volume. Transport analysts: does this mean the current predictive model is broken? And wouldn’t that shift up the business case for other dismissed reopenings / new stations…?
Build it and they will come! More than double the predicted number of passengers used Beaulieu Park station in its first year
modernrailways.com/article/b… .
David C Bannerman retweeted
♦️WHITE PRIVILEGE♦️
This is how our cotton mills and wool mills made their profits, which afforded them their fine stone-built mansions on the outskirts of mill towns.
It was dangerous work, fingers were often lost, eye injuries common, no comfort breaks, no health insurance and no factory nurse.
This work was done on empty bellies after a walk to work. Malnutrition was common place and discipline hard. A water barrel with a wooden ladle for dry dusty days as cotton dander filled the choking air.
There were no holidays to look forward to, no sick pay, and kids as young as 7 sent to work in the miserable conditions their parents stomached for a lifetime.
They didn't play much, they were too knackered for that. A cold hard bed was all they could hope for. Arthritis and joint pains kicked in early as crippled fingers in their middle years struggled with looms.
And our MPs talk about reparations for slavery, when every God damned nation was using slaves.
White privilege... you disgust me. There should be a plaque of remembrance dedicated to the entire working class!
#DawnButlerMP






























