Chair of Private, Public and Charitable Boards. Former Member of Parliament for Daventry and former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Now enjoying life!
Joined October 2009
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“You can’t have social security without national security” - spot on from @KemiBadenoch yesterday. Unbelievably the government doesn’t understand that very simple and obvious point.
Chris Heaton-Harris retweeted
Wow - just listening to Jonathan Haskel, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility on Radio 4
He says UK GDP spent on welfare is rising to 11% of GDP from 10.5% of GDP following the budget. "That's a big increase."
Yet Chancellor John Healey can't even say how he's going to inch up defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 even as his government says the military needs to be ready for war by then.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is talking a lot of sense again. AI used properly could help improve profits and productivity across most business sectors.
And it could also massively improve our public service offer in the UK too.
france24.com/en/live-news/20…
Chris Heaton-Harris retweeted
A powerful intervention from the head of the Army. Something is coming, and government needs to wake up.
He says the public will have to make sacrifices so we can prioritise defence and security.
This is no time for “national security can’t come at the expense of social security”. Hard choices are coming whether ministers like it or not.
I have been clear where I would start: cut welfare spending and put the money into defence.
What the Prime Minister is demonstrating in spades is the lack of accountability, scrutiny and questioning our elected Mayors receive and how few “real” decisions they take.
He’s floundering for lots of reasons but lack of any real practice for years has to be high up there.
Chris Heaton-Harris retweeted
A separate Scotland would be free to use whatever currency it wanted, including sterling. But it could not print sterling — indeed the Scottish banks would have to stop printing Scottish pound notes — and the Bank of England would not be lender of last resort. It has no need to be that to any foreign jurisdiction just because that jurisdiction uses sterling.
So a separate Scotland using sterling would have no ability to create money and no central bank lender of last resort. But by far the biggest deficit in Europe to finance. Borrowing rates would be penal. It’s a Darien-style financial crash in the making which will pauperise the nation. And the real threat to Scotland’s pensions/pensioners.
For 11yrs before I entered politics I wholesaled fruit & veg in New Covent Garden. I admire folk who stand in markets, plying their trade in all weathers. This week Kingston Market burnt down. I buy from “Tim the Fish” & he’s raising money to keep going:
gofund.me/11e303cd0
I would say this was one of @KemiBadenoch ‘s most important part of her speech yesterday. Cheap, clean and abundant energy is achievable and a necessity for growth in our economy - and is proven by our history.
.@KemiBadenoch identifies “Cheap, clean, abundant energy” as the foundation of a growing economy. #cpc26
Chris Heaton-Harris retweeted
“The motion passed by the Green Party today is an attack on the Jewish community. It is an antisemitic platform, based on a grossly offensive distortion and erasure of Jewish experience and identity.”
The full statement by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council: @JLC_uk
Two “conventions” being binned here at the same time.
Firstly, not making major policy announcements during your opponent’s Party Conference (Perm Sec at Ministry of Justice looking very weak here) & secondly @LindsayHoyle_MP will not be happy seeing Parliament sidelined again.
I can imagine the PM posting something like…
I know festivals are expensive and these are small things, but hopefully they'll make your gig just that little bit cheaper and easier.
That's exactly the kind of thing I want this government to keep on fixing.
I’m afraid you are completely wrong here. The “Fresh Start” project populated the field of asks, Cameron chose a few & worked hard to get something, the European Commission gave nothing (esp on immigration) knowing UK Gov wanted to “remain” and the rest is history!
Chris Heaton-Harris retweeted
If Germany, or any other EU state, had truly wanted Britain in the EU, they would not have perfomatively sent David Cameron away empty-handed from the 2016 renegotiation. They were readier to lose their second-largest economy than to allow the slightest return of powers.
Chris Heaton-Harris retweeted
From @chhcalling and Guarav Menon: The Long Read - 'Who cares?' Revisited conservativehome.com/2026/09…
