The British Government threatened to kick out a large number of Israeli diplomats from the UK and Israel suddenly decided to massively tone down their stance #bbcwato #wato

Dear #bbcwato you rightly had the Russian massacre of Ukrainians on a bus at top of the news, but 'debris strewn over road' doesnt do justice to the horror. Those were bodies strewn over the road. Bodies.

Cut the incomes of the ill, one in four civil service jobs and nearly all of overseas aid, to fund tax cuts for inheritors and the owners of £2m homes.

A plan that only works if every cut lands and nobody is hurt.

It is fantasy economics, and the poor are left holding the bill.

#bbcwato #wato

Their "golden rule" says half of all savings must be used to pay down the deficit.

So £71bn of cuts buys at most £35.5bn of tax cuts.

That is £71bn of pain for £35.5bn of giveaways, and it assumes every single cut is delivered.

#bbcwato #wato #PolticsLive #CPC26

They would also scrap the "mansion tax", the extra charge on homes worth over £2m.

So owners of £2m homes keep their money while people with mental health problems or disabilities lose theirs.

#wato #bbcwato #PoliticsLive
britbrief.co.uk/politics/wes...

Overseas aid: it's already £7bn of their claimed cuts.

Last week came another £2.5bn, leaving just £1bn a year in the pot.

That is not trimming. It is abolishing UK aid in all but name.

#bbcwato #PoliticsLive #wato
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

132,000 civil service jobs would go, that's one in four people who deliver public services.

In 2022, Jacob Rees Mogg promised 91,000 job cuts. Headcount has actually risen ever since, to a 20-year high.

They failed once. Why believe them now?
#bbcwato
www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/...

Cutting welfare does not end need.

IFS research found that after other benefits were cut, more people claimed disability benefits, shrinking the savings.

The Health Foundation says cuts may worsen the nation's health, especially for the poorest.

#bbcwato #PoliticsLive
ifs.org.uk/news/cuts-no...

The Resolution Foundation estimated Labour's (proposed) £5bn disability benefit squeeze would cost 800,000 to 1.2 million people £4,200 to £6,300 a year.

The Tories want £23bn from welfare. Over four times more.

#bbcwato #wato #PoliticsLive
www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

£23bn comes from welfare.

Their pitch: cut payments to people with "low level mental health problems" and to settled migrants who are not citizens.

Cuts to the incomes of people who are ill or insecure.

#PoliticsLive #bbcwato #wato
www.cityam.com/tories-commi...

The Tories call them "savings". They are cuts.

On BBC Radio 4's PM yesterday, Julia Lopez put the planned total at £71bn.

Every £ is lost income, a lost service or a lost job. Let's look at who pays, who gets the tax cuts, and why it is fantasy economics. 🧵

#bbcwato #wato #PoliticsLive

Does he like marmalade sandwiches? #bbcwato #wato

Leaving a £1m legacy is not evidence that you "worked hard" or even worked at all. There's a good chance you inherited every penny, and never worked a day in your life.

#bbcwato #wato #CPC26

Why does "worked hard all their lives" keep turning up whenever tax or welfare cuts are discussed?

Is it because it quietly sorts people into deserving and undeserving. Plenty of people on benefits and low pay work hard too, and plenty of hard workers never get rich.

#bbcwato #wato

STOP SHOUTING YOU DICKHEAD. #WATO #BBCWATO

Tory statistics in action: Chris Phelps decides that the 5% of estates that pay Inheritance Tax represent only ‘moderately off’ people. I guess if your perspective is a billionaire then the top 5% is ‘moderate’ but it’s an interesting (telling) view of the population, writing off 95% #bbcwato

At a stretch, "recovered from a very low base, but still net negative" is accurate.

"Soared" definitely isn't.

Critically, her personal ratings haven't lifted her party, and the public pick Burnham over her for PM, 38% to 26%.

#bbcwato #wato

The pollsters disagree.

Eight firms track her approval, with net scores from +13 (Deltapoll) to -16 (YouGov).

"Soared" depends on which poll you pick. And "the party" went unevidenced: I found no recent member polling.

#bbcwato #wato

More people still dislike her than like her.

Ipsos had her at -12 in June and PollCheck's average is -16.

Her best YouGov score, -11, is the best for a Tory leader in five years, but that is a low bar.

#bbcwato #wato

BBC World at One said Badenoch's personal ratings have "soared". The polls don't back that wording. Her ratings have improved, but from a very low base, and she is still net negative.

#bbcwato #wato