Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper) header
Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper) profile picture

CEO at Black Book Finance @BlackBookFin

London UK
Joined March 2010
Photo by Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper)Photo by Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper)Photo by Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper)Photo by Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper)Photo by Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper)Photo by Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper)Photo by Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper)Photo by Michael Clapper (@MichaelClapper)
Watching all the posts fly about Patrick Stewart, I have noticed something incredibly interesting that reaches deeper into the core of humanity: everyone, across the political spectrum, loved Picard. The original Picard, from the 1990s. It seems people from all walks of life feel a heartfelt loss, and I think there is more to it than just nostalgia or a celebrity passing. The TNG stories spoke true to everyone, no matter their politics. It was an era where we were able to agree on fundamental things, where our shared humanity and its complexities were spoken through timeless storytelling. It makes you wonder if that balance is why the 1990s feels like such a golden age in hindsight. I often see the argument that when the original Star Trek came out, traditionalists were offended by it, and that heavy-handed ideology and corporate pandering in the recent Star Trek series are the same thing. But I would ask: what about The Next Generation? It, too, asked deep, challenging societal questions about the human condition - yet everyone, left and right, loved it. I realize it was just a show, just a fictional character. But I think there is more to it. It represents something we are all sorely missing today: depth and a sense of shared humanity, delivered without constant virtue signaling, and without corporations trying to monetize every last ounce of our attention. Perhaps the true magic of Picard - and the era he represents - was that he challenged us to be better without ever making us feel talked down to. He invited us to reflect on our flaws rather than policing them. In losing Patrick Stewart, we aren't just mourning an icon; we are mourning the standard of grace, curiosity, and mutual respect he embodied so brilliantly - and which is becoming harder and harder to find. elov8.com/t/bb8c
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Patrick Stewart. Turned up so early and so unobtrusively to be a star in the reasonably priced car, we mistook him for a delivery driver and asked him to go round the back. Took his hat off and said, โ€œBut Iโ€™m the captain of the Enterpriseโ€. Fucking nice guy.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Restore once again taking just enough to come 4th, and in doing so letting Labour in by TWO VOTES! If it's not obvious already what their main goal is, it should be (hint: it's not to win these seats for themselves).
St James (Dudley) Council By-Election Result: ๐ŸŒน LAB: 38.0% (+16.2) โžก๏ธ RFM: 37.9% (-11.0) ๐ŸŒณ CON: 13.8% (-0.1) โ—ผ๏ธ RES: 6.9% (New) ๐ŸŒ GRN: 3.4% (-7.2) No LDM (-3.9) or TUSC (-0.9) as previous. Labour GAIN from Reform UK. Changes w/ 2026.
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Itโ€™s pretty clear now Restore exist solely to undermine Reform. I originally supported Rupert because he said heโ€™d do whatโ€™s best for the country. He isnโ€™t. Heโ€™s handing election after election to Labour to spite Farage.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Restore have no interest in winning power, they arenโ€™t standing in seats to win them they are standing to stop Reform winning them. Rupertโ€™s fan will soon realise they are being used.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Strong Reform wins overnight! In Worksop East (Bassetlaw), we went from nothing to 46%, with Labour sinking from 74% to 37%. We also smashed the Lib Dems in a ward in Halton, Cheshire, which they won in May this year. The Westminster bubble is as out of touch as ever. Sadly, we did lose one ward in Dudley. We won 872 votes, Labour won 874 - and Restore took 159. The next election will be existential for Britain. Iโ€™ll deport everyone who is here illegally. Vote Restore, get Labour.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Congratulations to those 159 people that voted Restore. You now have a Labour Councillor. Maybe a nice migrant camp next. You can lead a horse to water but you can't give it brains to understand tactical voting for your own greater good. ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ’™
St James (Dudley) Council By-Election Result: ๐ŸŒน LAB: 38.0% (+16.2) โžก๏ธ RFM: 37.9% (-11.0) ๐ŸŒณ CON: 13.8% (-0.1) โ—ผ๏ธ RES: 6.9% (New) ๐ŸŒ GRN: 3.4% (-7.2) No LDM (-3.9) or TUSC (-0.9) as previous. Labour GAIN from Reform UK. Changes w/ 2026.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Replying to @SirPatStew
Oh captain, my captain. ๐Ÿ˜ญ Other that my own dad. Patrick Stewart as Jean Luc Picard mightโ€™ve been the best male role model anyone could hope for. He exudes strength, logic, respect, responsibility, integrity and intelligence but also humor and adventure. Patrick made that character real for so many of us and made us better people. Iโ€™m so sad heโ€™s gone but so glad he was a part of all of our lives. Godspeed Captain
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Michael Clapper retweeted
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Johns Hopkins Alzheimerโ€™s Disease Research Center Fund ย ย  alzresearch.org/giving/ Alzheimerโ€™s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources ย  ย  alzfdn.org/donate/ Photo Credit: Tommy Garcia
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Britain is broke. And to fix it, we need to start growing again. Thatโ€™s why Reformโ€™s Economic Rescue Plan includes these 64 pro-growth measures Iโ€™d take if I were Chancellor: ๐—จ๐—ป๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ 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 ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป 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 ๐—š๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—›๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ข๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—–๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ 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 ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ 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 ๐—๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—œ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป 32. Review regulatory barriers to AI adoption 33. Permit on-site gas generation for data centres and industry ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—›๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ 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 ๐—จ๐—ป๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐˜† 39. Review bank capital requirements to boost lending 40. Rule out Net Zero in financial regulators' remits 41. Repeal climate-related financial disclosure rules ๐—š๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐— ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€ ๐— ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด 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 ๐—จ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—บ๐˜€ 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 ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€ 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! Britainโ€™s full potential is waiting to be unleashed ๐Ÿš€
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Rupert Lowe should not be celebrating what happened in Peterlee. Restore Britain took more than 14% of the vote, while Labour held the seat by just 18 votes. Whatever your view of Nigel Farage or Reform, the reality is obvious: splitting the anti-Labour vote helped Labour survive. That is not a victory for the right. It is not a victory for change. It is a gift to Labour. Lowe appears so determined to damage Farage and Reform that he is willing to ignore the political consequences. Every vote diverted from Reform in tightly contested seats makes it easier for Labour to remain in power. For those who oppose Labour's approach to immigration, border security and deportations, that should be a serious concern. Many voters believe the country cannot afford another full term of the same policies, yet vote-splitting risks delivering exactly that outcome. To Reform supporters: hold the line. Do not be distracted. Do not lose sight of the bigger picture. The objective is defeating Labour, not fighting each other while Labour benefits from the division. To Restore Britain supporters, ask yourselves a simple question: if your priority is changing the country's direction, how does helping Labour win seats achieve that goal? Politics is ultimately about outcomes, not egos. If the result of Restore Britain's campaign is to take votes from Reform and leave Labour in power, then history will judge that accordingly. The harsh truth is this: every percentage point taken from Reform in seats like Peterlee makes a Labour victory more likely. If that continues, Rupert Lowe's political legacy may not be that he challenged Farage. It may be that he helped keep Labour in power when many voters were desperate for change. That's the reality, whether people like hearing it or not.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
This is superb from @SuellaBraverman. She tears SHREDS out of the govts dangerous decision to ignore safety concerns and house illegal migrants in Piddington. She rightly calls out the fact there are NO female Labour MPs taking part in this debate. She does NOT hold back! ๐Ÿ”ฅ
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Michael Clapper retweeted
If All the Restore voters voted Restore at the GE they will possibly win 1 seat and nothing they want will be achieved. ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๏ธ If they all vote Reform and Reform win then Restore will have nearly all their policies delivered. ๐Ÿ‘ Let that sink in Restore supporters when itโ€™s time.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
October 7th revealed a darkness in Britain. We must fight it at every turn. ๐Ÿ‘‰ nigelfarage.substack.com/p/oโ€ฆ
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Well done youโ€™ve done it again.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
I will cut foreign aid, migrant welfare, welfare fraud, and mad net zero spending. Andy Burnham will cut your pension.
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Michael Clapper retweeted
Reform up FOUR POINTS with YouGov. BACK to first place! Keep going Reformers! ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง
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