I am British, with Indian ancestry. England is where I live, where I raised my family, where I have cared for patients and where I belong. Others may understand their own Englishness differently. They are free to do so. I do not need to prove my love for this country to call it home.
We all want a reliable train network that runs on time, puts passengers first, and is affordable. If they can deliver that, it would be a just cause for celebration not just taking one over. Although perhaps we can agree to leave the racoon out of it.
Rather than regulate more, it is about time that the stack of public health rules be put on the scales, and, probably, Ozempic. Educate parents to make better choices for their children, whilst letting there be some edible meals served once a week at school.
The bill, importantly, is draft criminal legislation, creating new offences: carrying out an abusive conversion practice; encouraging or assisting the same outside England and Wales; and with bodies corporate and unincorporated bodies (through relevant officers) becoming criminally liable – with up to five years’ imprisonment and/or a fine.
Children with the most complex needs and those struggling with SEMH cannot be an afterthought in this process – or made to conform with political and ideological worldviews. They must be at the centre of it and treated with the respect as individuals that they deserve.
Don’t try to attend every event, but do think about how you maximise your impact. Don’t neglect the professionals who attend. Industry bodies and others will exhibit and sponsor fringe events. Your networking doesn’t need to be limited just to your own interests. And the Candidates’ Team staff are there too. Go and see them.
Before ministers write new AI law, they should read the law we have. The Government’s recording standard has no statutory basis, binding neither police nor councils. And the AI Security Institute, founded under the Conservatives, should have legal powers to examine the models it tests not rely on the goodwill of their makers.
The task for modern Unionism is therefore not simply to preserve the Union. It is to demonstrate why, in an uncertain, dangerous and increasingly expensive world, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are stronger, safer and more prosperous together.
The Conservative Party supports a free press and freedom of speech. The government directing the journalism people see is an illiberal attack on a free press and free speech. As this was an idea from Sir Keir Starmer’s time, perhaps the new Prime Minister will do the right thing and consign it to the policy dustbin. Watch this space.
The biggest losses for wealthy entrepreneurs in the UK were in the technology sector; the critical fulcrum on which the country is hoping to base its economic recovery. In the game of attracting wealthy international migrants, the losers are clearly the countries that have elected not to play.
The Labour government made fiscal choices and is now seeing them unravel as global conditions become less favourable. To pretend it is someone else’s fault is like a sailor complaining about the sea. Nor is it, actually, anything at all to do with Liz Truss, which Labour would be wise to drop as an excuse.
Labour is obsessed with multiculturalism and cannot confront hard truths that challenge their left wing orthodoxy. They cannot comprehend that allowing thousands of men to come here illegally creates issues when you try and force them into communities. Some of them come from cultures that treat women worse than animals.
My time in the private sector has made me wary of plans that depend on another organisation doing something it has not yet agreed to do. That applies particularly to healthcare: premises alone cannot provide appointments, so commissioners must establish how the additional service will be staffed and funded. Expanding an existing practice may sometimes serve local people sooner than a new building.
My latest focus groups took place in the central London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, where nominations had just closed for the by-election to replace Keir Starmer. Participants all voted Labour in 2024, beating independent candidate Andrew Feinstein, who has now endorsed Zack Polanski, Labour’s main challenger.
If we want thriving high streets, more well-paid job opportunities and vibrant communities, we need to put hospitality and tourism at the centre of our economic plan for growth. Labour must stop taxing hospitality businesses as though they are the problem and start seeing them as part of the solution to get Britain working again.