Creating a portal that all our interactions with government have to go through could evolve into national identity database with considerable implications for our privacy.

https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Computer-Weekly-Editors-Blog/Distrust-builds-between-digital-ID-sector-and-government-amid-speculation-over-ID-cards-by-stealth

www.computerweekly.comDistrust builds between digital ID sector and government amid speculation over 'ID cards by stealth'Wednesday 2 April sees the latest meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on digital identity. It’s more exciting than it sounds – honest! APPGs have no power or governmental role – ...

#privacy #ID #ukpolitics

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 38m

38m

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

And the British ones?
Oh....

15mago 16.41 BST

European stock markets close higher ahead of Trump tariffs
Across Europe, stock market trading has ended for the day, with shares
higher as investors await tomorrow’s announcement from Donald Trump on
tariffs.

In London, the FTSE 100 share index has closed 52 points higher at 8634
points, up 0.6% today.

Germany’s DAX was up almost 1.7% at the closing bell, while Frances’s CAC
was 1% higher.

Traders are weighing up whether this is a buy the dip opportunity or part of a
longer standing period of uncertainty that will weigh on stocks, reports
Joshua Mahony, analyst at Scope Markets.

Mahony adds:

44 While countries such as the UK might stand in a good position to strike a
deal, there is a risk that tomorrow marks the beginning of a tit-for-tat trade
war that brings yet more uncertainty and concern for markets. The expected
retaliation from Canada, the eurozone, China, Japan, and Korea does signal
that it could get worse before it gets better.

#Tariffs #Brexit #EU

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 1h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

Europe is big and strong and can do this, the UK is weak and small and can do nothing.

But hey , 'Brexit', yeah? Worth it, wasn't it?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/01/large-majority-of-europeans-support-retaliatory-tariffs-against-us-poll-finds

The Guardian · 11hLarge majority of Europeans support retaliatory tariffs against US, poll findsBy Jon Henley

#Tariffs #EU #Brexit

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 1h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

Oh fuck off you gaslighting privileged Tory wanker....

6h ago Starmer concedes cost of living crisis is ‘ongoing’ - but
09:32 insists ministers are 'bearing down’ on it
Bills increasing across the board for millions today - and speaking to our political
editor Beth Rigby, the prime minister admitted that *for most people, they would
say the cost of living crisis is ongoing and they feel the pressure financially”.
Sir Keir Starmer continued: “That's why it's so important that we make good on our
pledge that people would feel better off, and the national living wage going up.
today by an average of £1400 is going to affect millions of people.”
The PM also pointed to interest rates coming down, and wages rising more quickly
‘than prices.
"| acknowledge that with bills coming in, people see that rise and that is a
pressure,” the PM added. "So we're bearing down on this."
The Office for Budget Responsibility has said things will get harder for the public
before they get better, and the PM replied: "| am not going to stand here and say
people don't feel the impact of bills. OF course they do. | understand that.
"The question is, are we making them feel better off? And that's why the national
living wage [increase] today is so important.”

#Starmer #CostOfLiving #AwfulApril

Continued thread

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

It's almost like our 'super bestest fwend' doesn't care what happens to us, isn't it?
Shall we embarrass ourselves even more by pretending the Special Relationship is real and will protect us from Tariffs?
Who needs self respect and dignity when you can have a Trump Trade Deal instead?

7mago Trump tariffs could 'knock out’ UK government's

15:26 financial headroom, warns OBR
Donald Trump's impending tariffs could *knock out” the UK's government's
financial headroom if they were maintained for five years, the Office for Budget
Responsibility (OBR) has warmed.
Professor David Miles, a member of the OBR, told MPs that most possible
outcomes of Trump's proposals were likely to be “negative”
However, he also said that a “very limited" tariff war involving only a handful of
countries could be “mildly positive" for the UK - if Britain stayed out of it.
Taking questions from the Treasury Committee today, Miles said: *If tariffs at 20%
or 25% were put on the UK and maintained for five years, our assessment of what
that does is that it will knock out all the headroom that the government currently
has.

#UKPOL #UKpolitics #Tariffs

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

"I'll admit you're all fucked, but don't ruin my chances with Donald Trump please.....he's a dreamboat!"

Politics latest: PM admits cost of
living crisis 'ongoing' - as UK faces
more pain from Trump tariffs

The government is hailing the increase in the national minimum and living
wages as a "huge" boost to pay packets. But household bills are also rising
for millions, and Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariffs are due to take
effect tomorrow.

#Trump #Tariffs #Starmer

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

I just see another Tory Party, carrying water for the Rich and blaming it all on the most vulnerable of us, Refugees and the Disabled.

And if they say "money in your pocket" one more time, I'll burn down Westminster myself

We are not children with pocket money, we keep our cash in banks.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/31/keir-starmer-rolls-up-his-sleeves-to-legitimise-the-two-minutes-hate

The Guardian · 22hKeir Starmer rolls up his sleeves to legitimise the Two Minutes HateBy John Crace

#Starmer #RefugeesWelcome #UKPOL

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

"The suffering will continue until you are all dead. I'm all though, Jack..."

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/apr/01/bill-rises-in-awful-april-energy-water-car-tax-tv-licences

The Guardian · 12hMillions of Britons brace for across-the-board bill rises in ‘awful April’By Rupert Jones

#AwfulApril #UKPOL #UKpolitics

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

lol, Kemi Badenoch is so shit at this, at least pretend to have watched it like Starmer did.

Millions of people have seen this and are concerned about the very real issues brought up in it, but Kemi was 'too busy' to even acknowledge the show even happened.

Labour is lucky the tories are still so shit

6hago 09.37BST

Q: What have you learned from the Netflix drama Adolescence that Keir
Starmer was talking about yesterday?

Badenoch says she is aware of this, but she says she has not watched it. She
does not have time, she says.

When it is put to her that she should be aware of what people are talking
about, she replies:

I pay attention, but I'm not going to watch every single thing that
everybody’s watching on Netflix.

#Labour #Tories #KemiBadenoch

Continued thread

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

Slow Coach just doesn't get it, does he?

Starmer would be fooled by the Wallet Inspector, wouldn't he?

Also, rather than answer a question he just releases a prepared statement and that's the end of it. So fucking useless....

shago 09.5385T @

Starmer dismisses claims he's been ‘played’ by Trump, and says
future trade deal could lessen impact of tariffs

Keir Starmer has dismissed claims that he has been “played” by President
‘Trump over tariffs.

In an interview with Sky News this morning, echoing what Jonathan
Reynolds said in his morning interview round (see 8.58am), Starmer said that
a future trade deal with the US might lead to the UK getting some
exemptions from the tariffs coming tomorrow. He said:

44 We are of course negotiating an economic deal which will, I hope ... mitigate
the tariffs.

Asked if he had been “played” by US President Donald Trump, Starmer
replied:

44 The US is our closest ally. Our defence, our security, our intelligence are
bound up in a way that no two other countries are.

So it’s obviously in our national interest to have a close working relationship
with the US, which we’ve had for decades, and I want to ensure we have for
decades to come.

He said talks on an economic deal would normally take “months or years”
but “in a matter of weeks we have got well advanced in those discussions”.
Starmer also confirmed that it was likely the UK would be affected by the
tariffs being announced tomorrow.

44 We are obviously working with the sectors most impacted at pace on that.
Nobody wants to see a trade war but I have to act in the national interests.
That means that “all options remain on the table” in response, he added.

#Tariffs #Trump #Starmer

Continued thread

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

Even the Atlanticist (and possible US asset) David Lammy can see the writing on the wall, but will Slow Starmer?

2hago 1318 B5T

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, told MPs that the government would
“prepare for the worst” over US tariffs. Speaking during Foreign Office
questions, he said:

44 We are an open-trading nation. We have been that under successive
governments. It’s hugely important at this time that we continue the intense
conversations we’re having with the US administration on getting an economic
agreement but of course we prepare for the worst - all options remain on the
table, as the prime minister indicated again just yesterday.

#DavidLammy #Starmer #Trade

Continued thread

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

Starmer would sell our children for a Trade Deal, he's not a agile thinker so he's not going to understand Gilead is not our friend until long after it's too late to stop us becoming a vassal state to a cruel fascist empire.

2hago 13.36 BST
In an interview with Times Radio, Lord Darroch, a former UK ambassador to
Washington, said he was sceptical about claims that the government is close
to signing a trade deal with the US.
In an interview recorded before the Downing Street lobby briefing where No
10 said Keir Starmer told cabinet that talks were at an “advanced stage”,
Darroch was asked how he responded to claims that an agreement was close.
He replied:
44 The honest answer is quite cynical, because at various points when I was in
government, we were negotiating, trying to negotiate a free trade deal. The EU
also tried to do a US-EU free trade deal when we were in the EU. So I've seen
this picture play several times.
And the truth of it is that the Americans, whoever is in government, always,
they try and strike a very tough deal on trade.

Darroch also said that the government should be wary of giving President
‘Trump concessions to get exemptions from his tariffs. He explained:

I just think you need to be careful about, as it were, giving the Trump
administration, giving the president a win on all of this, because he already
thinks tariffs are a great idea. And if he starts getting concessions offered by the
rest of the world, to keep them away, he’ll keep using them.

And every time there is some grievance or some dispute in relations, he’ll come
back and threaten tariffs or impose them and then say, do what I want you to
do to get them lifted.

#UKPOL #UKpolitics #USpol

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

More appeasement
I told you Starmer would never retract the offer of a Trump state visit, he's not a brave man nor is he cunning.

Starmer is just going to give it all away for nothing, like the slut he is....
#AbolishTheMonarchy #UKPOL #UKpolitics #Trump #Appeasement

hago 13.44 BST

At the Downing Street lobby briefing, like Angela Rayner (see 12.23pm), the
PM’s spokesperson ruled out cancelling President Trump’s state visit to the
UK as retaliation for his tariffs. The spokesperson claimed the two issues
were not linked. He said:

44 I'wouldn’t draw any any link between the two. Obviously, the state visit is a
matter for the Palace, as you know.

You'll have seen that the prime minister was delighted to extend His Majesty the
king’s invitation for a historic state visit during his visit to to the White House.
‘But when it comes to these talks, we’ll obviously continue to have these
conversations. We’ll obviously continue them in the national interest, and we’ll
obviously provide an update as and when we have one.

In the past Keir Starmer has also claimed that the state visit is a matter for
the king, not the government. While technically true in a very narrow sense
(the king issues the actual invitation), this argument is thoroughly bogus,
because the king only issue a state visit invitation on the advice of Downing
Street. It was Starmer’s decision, not King Charles’s.

Continued thread

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

Excellent, some of the good ones left in Labour are making a fuss too

38mago 14.30 8ST
In the Commons the Labour MP Nadia Whittome said she was alarmed by
the implication that, if the Sentencing Council guidelines are withdrawn,
judges would not be advised to get pre-sentence reports before sentencing
pregnant women.
Mahmood said the bill would not affect policy relating to pregnant offenders,
because there is already court of appeal precedent saying pre-sentence
reports should be obtained before pregnant women are sentenced.

< share
47mago 14.20 8ST
Diane Abbott says government should not be interfering with
independence of Sentencing Council
Diane Abbott, the Labour MP and a former shadow home secretary, told
Mahmood she did not know why she was so “triumphant” about introducing
legislation to interfere with the independence of the Sentencing Council. She
said there have been many reports saying black and brown people are treated
unfairly by the courts, and she said the judiciary was independent for a good
Reason.
"There is a reason why the Sentencing Council is independent. It was made a
statutory independent body to avoid even the appearance of ministerial
interfering in sentencing. This is not the United States. Our political system, our
judicial system, are entirely separate."

#NadiaWhittome #DianeAbbott #Labour

**Lazarou Monkey Terror** @Lazarou@mastodon.social · 2h

Lazarou Monkey Terror @Lazarou@mastodon.social

The Green Party speaking for the Left Wing (as Labour have abandoned it until the next election)

It was a Two Tier system, we tried to fix it, White People complained that they were losing their Privilege, so we undid it. For the White People, White Men in fact, as these sentencing guidelines helped Women as well....