Conservative Member of Parliament for Exmouth & Exeter East • • • Shadow Minister for Defence, Security & Resilience 🇬🇧
Exmouth & Exeter East
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The post-Cold War world- with all the trappings of US taxpayer-funded peace and stable global supply chains- has ended.
Any Western government that doesn’t understand that is in for a rough ride in the months and years ahead.
Time to stop just talking about putting the national interest first- and start doing it.
📽️ What happens when the world's biggest exporter of one of the most important substances for modern civilisation decides to stop exporting it?
We might be about to find out.
🛢️Primer on US diesel and the coming fuel crunch, inc why it could be especially grisly for Britain👇
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This Inquiry has now been running for years, at a cost of tens of millions of pounds, with no clear end in sight.
The allegations it is examining are exceptionally serious. If wrongdoing is established, no member of our Armed Forces is above the law. But neither should scrutiny become an open-ended process whose duration and demands impose their own punishment on those who serve.
We also cannot ignore the cumulative effect this has on our Special Forces — on serving personnel, veterans, morale and ultimately operational effectiveness. These are nationally critical capabilities.
Parliament has rightly given the independent Inquiry the space to do its work. But independence cannot mean an absence of accountability for time, cost and proportionality.
With the latest disclosure problems threatening yet further delay, I believe the time has come for Parliament to start asking some searching questions.
Latest on Afghan inquiry:
An "exceptional" open hearing has been held today after it emerged this week that the Ministry of Defence has found 97 million new documents, some of which could be relevant to the inquiry, raising concern it could be delayed further.
The inquiry's chair Haddon-Cave sought reassurances from the MoD that “any material of real relevance is quickly identified and disclosed” and that it would not happen again.
Haddon-Cave said "it would not be fair to all those awaiting answers", including veterans, serving members of the military, their families, and the public if the inquiry was to be held up further because of Ministry of Defence failures.
He said of the inquiry: "This is not about split second decisions taken in the heat of combat, this is not about the fog of war. This is about whether there was a practice of unlawful killings by British special forces in Afghanistan.
"It will be recalled that the allegations of unlawful killings originated from within special forces themselves."
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Seems odd, when your government appears so determined to destroy them.
Spent much of today with Special Forces. Of all the people and capabilities I’ve met in the past couple of months, I wish I could show the public the full extent of who they are and what they do. It has made me (even more) proud to be British and of our capabilities as a country - despite the challenges.
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Too much weight is being given to tag-alongs who don’t understand the culture of elite forces. No one is above the law, but I wouldn’t expect a random civil servant to understand the gallows humour and bonds between men and women we ask to do some of the grittiest and most dangerous jobs to keep us safe.
EXCLUSIVE: Special forces soldiers believe they are “untouchable” and not all of them are the heroes they think they are, according to a former female civil servant who worked alongside them.
Monica Grenfell, who was employed at the Special Air Service (SAS) headquarters in Credenhill, near Hereford, for three years, said some of the elite troops were “feral” and it was “the nasty characters who really ruled the roost”.
She has given evidence under oath to the Afghan Inquiry and has now been interviewed by @thetimes
thetimes.com/article/5706a8a…
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Why isn’t Zia allowed to have a Reform email address?
🚨We are hiring for:
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If you're exceptionally bright, determined and believe that Britain can be prosperous and powerful if it had proper leadership, please consider applying for a job.
All roles are full time.
You will get lots of responsibility early.
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Thank you and good luck.
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Having served alongside these units on operations, and now sitting in the Commons, I’m ashamed at how few MPs understand the long-term damage being done to some of our most important military units by lawfare.
If wrongdoing occurred, prosecute it. No one is above the law.
But do it in a reasonable timeframe, and don’t seek to create a cultural problem where one does not exist. When investigations drag on for years, even decades, the process becomes the punishment.
At a time of international volatility, we cannot afford to be this shortsighted.
New: Lawfare “persecutions” have led to the biggest exodus from the SAS in its history and pushed it to the point of existential crisis - two prominent veterans tell The General and The Journalist podcast
thetimes.com/uk/defence/arti…
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A US diesel export ban could hit Britain hard.
The PM is in Washington right now.
He should be asking for clarity on what any restrictions would mean for UK supplies.
BREAKING: Trump calls for a total ban on US diesel exports, saying "Let's not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel," that a decision would come "fast," and that an announcement is expected "very soon."
It would be the first US diesel export ban in history.
Europe stands to be hit hardest, as the US is the world's largest diesel exporter and Europe its biggest customer, buying record volumes since the Gulf barrels stopped, making its worst-ever energy crisis worse. Russia, the second largest exporter, has already halted its own exports.
US diesel is at a record $6.53 a gallon today and 16% of French stations are out of fuel.
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This debate is getting boring.
The Government wants to give away the Chagos Islands to avoid potentially breaking international law.
Yet in doing so, it risks breaking another international agreement- the UK-US Chagos treaty, which runs until 2036.
Moronic.
Kill the Bill!
BREAK: Wes Streeting tells me the Chagos deal is currently not good enough
“I was a member of the cabinet that agreed the deal with the government of Mauritius, and I stand by the decision that was taken, I'm not going to try to absolve myself of it now.
“But at the same time, the principle we followed all the way through is that it needs to have the support of the Americans. So objectively, in the absence of support from the Americans, is this deal good enough? No. It needs to have the support of the Americans.
“We will work together to get to a point where the both the governments of Mauritius and the UK, but also the Americans can sign up to this because this Diego Garcia is extremely important to the Americans as well as to us and our collective security. So the objective here is to safeguard that base and its capability, not just now, but for the long term, because it's that important to us.”
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David Reed MP retweeted
Conservatives pledge to bring back tax-free shopping for tourists bbc.in/4rvPeDa
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With an ageing population and too many young people requiring support from the taxpayer, the direction of travel is clear: unless we change course, we are heading towards bankruptcy.
🚨 NEW: Research has found one in five working-age adults are now on Universal Credit
This includes 1.3 million people in their 20s, 2 million in their 30s and 1.9 million in their 40s according to the TaxPayers’ Alliance
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The contempt these people show for Parliament is staggering.
It’s hard to comment in depth as HM Opposition on RAF support to Saudi Arabia as I’ve not had the customary briefing on this deployment of British forces. Nevertheless, we wish our brave RAF personnel well. This underscores the pressure on our military & the urgent need for 3%.
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Even a seasoned media performer like Luke can’t sell Labour HQ’s lines on Chagos.
If you’re going to waste billions of taxpayers’ money giving away the Chagos Islands, at least have the decency to tell us WHY.
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Dapo Akande said that handing over the Chagos Islands was part of “the decolonisation of Mauritius”.
No other country would elevate someone who does not support its territorial sovereignty to the world’s highest international court.
Better than an elevator pitch. Hear why Dapo Akande is our candidate for the International Court of Justice.
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The Bank can change how government debt is managed. It can’t fix Labour’s spending choices.
Borrowing is already running above the OBR forecast. Labour needs to get a grip on spending and the public finances- not expect taxpayers to keep picking up the bill.
NEW
Bank of England hold interest rates with a 6-3 vote.
Says q3 growth will now be 0.4%
- in a surprise move the Bank’s auctions of Government debt (amassed for QE) are paused, and the Bank has decided to hold on to its stock of long term debts, partly to back up total banknote issuance.
It has proposed to Chancellor to sell its gilts directly back to Government/ DMO at market price (rather than auctions)
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Very sad news. RIP Major Paul Wilks.
It is with great sadness that we confirm the death of Major Paul Wilks, who died in a tragic road traffic incident in Ukraine, away from the front lines, on 12 September.
ALT It is with great sadness that we confirm the death of Major Paul Wilks, who died in a tragic road traffic incident in Ukraine, away from the front lines, on 12 September. He was 40 years old. Our thoughts are with Major Wilks' family, friends and colleagues at this devastating time.
ALT Major Paul Wilks.
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A purely self-destructive move that harms Britain and our allies across the Middle East.
Our foreign policy cannot be dictated by Labour backbenchers and the Prime Minister's fight with the Greens.
The national interest must come first.
EXC: Miliband and Burnham ignored advice not to sanction Israel now
🚨 Jonathan Powell and the British ambassador in Tel Aviv both told them to wait until after the Israeli elections or it would help Netanyahu
🚨 MI6 warned of risks to intelligence sharing
🚨 Gulf Arab states worried because they get intelligence from us which comes from Israel
spectator.com/article/reveal…
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