UK Politics
Best of X Today: MacIntyre’s 100-Day Vow, Lowe’s Slavery Motion and Streeting’s £70m Mansion
MacIntyre’s 100-day veterans vow, Lowe’s slavery motion and Streeting’s £70m mansion: today’s top eight posts on X, checked against the record.
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A Wing Commander left the RAF, a Commons motion against a slavery apology piled up likes, and Guido reported that Wes Streeting had moved into a grace-and-favour mansion valued at about £70m. That was Thursday on X.
These are the eight posts from the right that drew the biggest response today, checked against the record. Last night’s round-up is here.
1. MacIntyre: stands down for Reform
Angus MacIntyre, 58, said he was leaving the RAF after 40 years to become Reform’s Shadow Armed Forces Minister. The post cleared 7,500 likes. Tours included Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq; he also worked at Nato on UK support for Ukraine (Daily Mail, GB News, The Telegraph). Our full report is here.
Have your sayTap to comment2. MacIntyre: end veteran prosecutions in 100 days, or resign
His second post was shorter and sharper: “I will end the unjust prosecutions of our veterans in my first 100 days in office. If I fail, I will resign.” That matches his Mail piece and the Reform pledge: pardon veterans convicted “for simply carrying out orders”, terminate ongoing prosecutions and bar new ones without the Defence Secretary’s consent (Daily Mail).
3. Farage: “useless, career politicians”
Nigel Farage used the launch to draw a contrast. “Britain is broken because it’s run by useless, career politicians,” he wrote, adding that MacIntyre had “served our military for 40 years.” Earlier he said the Army had not been this small since the 1790s and that over 14 years the Conservatives left the forces with 50,000 fewer personnel (The Telegraph, The Independent).
4. Jenrick: 5% inflation and 7–8% mortgages
Robert Jenrick said working families with a mortgage face “5% inflation and mortgage rates of 7-8%” and blamed Labour’s taxes, regulation and net-zero policy for pushing the Bank of England to raise rates. The Bank’s base rate decision is the public record; the inflation and mortgage figures in the post are his claim. UK Finance has put the hit on a typical tracker borrower in the tens of pounds a month when the Bank moves. He offered Reform’s 100-day list: scrap net-zero subsidies, cut Labour’s jobs tax, end policies that drive up rents, and give the average working family about £1,300 in tax breaks and lower fuel costs.
5. Tice: overturn the North Sea drilling ban
Richard Tice said Reform would overturn Labour’s ban on new North Sea oil and gas licences. The Energy Independence Bill would legislate for “no new oil and gas licences”, and Offshore Energies UK puts Britain’s energy imports above 40%. We set out what the Bill does.
6. Lowe: the slavery motion, again
Restore Britain MP Rupert Lowe said Andy Burnham had signed Britain up to “time-bound” talks on a slavery apology and that he had tabled a Commons motion rejecting any apology or reparations. Sky News reported the talks. Lowe’s post, which cleared 17,000 likes, lists no apologies, no reparations, cuts to aid and visas for demanding countries, and “pride” in abolition. Ministers never sign EDMs; as of this afternoon no other MP had signed either (Parallel Parliament, EDM list). See also the £40m Caribbean package.
7. Guido: Streeting’s ‘£70m’ mansion
Guido Fawkes reported exclusively that Wes Streeting has moved into 1 Carlton Gardens after David Lammy left. Guido puts the house at about £60m to £70m; a Telegraph estimate last year was £25m. Both are estimates. A Cabinet Office answer recorded Lammy’s use ending on 12 September. No other outlet had matched the occupancy claim when we published. Full story here.
8. Braverman: “exactly how the Chagos disaster was started”
Suella Braverman quoted a Sky News report on the slavery talks and wrote: “Warning: this is exactly how the Chagos disaster was started by a Conservative Foreign Secretary.” The Chagos deal hands the islands to Mauritius with a long UK lease and a large annual payment that critics put in the tens of billions over the life of the arrangement. Her point is process: open “historical harms” talks, then watch the bill grow. The Sky piece she quoted is the same track Lowe and Yusuf have been hitting all week.
Our view
This section is opinion.
MacIntyre’s numbers are the story: 330,000 in uniform when he joined, 148,000 now, and a pledge to stop chasing veterans within 100 days or resign. Career politicians talk about defence. He has worn the kit for four decades, from Crossmaglen to Kandahar, and he put his job on the line in public if the pledge fails.
The same day, Lowe’s motion against a slavery apology was still a one-man show in the Commons while Burnham’s talks rolled on, and Streeting took a grace-and-favour house most families will never see. The posts that travelled on X were the ones that named a cost, a pledge or a mansion.
Should Reform end unjust prosecutions of veterans within 100 days of taking office? Vote in our poll below.
Sources
- Daily Mail and MacIntyre’s Mail article: 100-day veterans pledge; GB News, Telegraph, Independent
- Breaking Brexit News: North Sea / Energy Independence Bill
- Sky News: time-bound slavery talks; Parallel Parliament / EDM list: Lowe motion
- Guido Fawkes: Streeting at Carlton Gardens; our report
- Breaking Brexit News: £40m Caribbean package and apology row
- Posts on X by Angus MacIntyre, Nigel Farage, Robert Jenrick, Richard Tice, Rupert Lowe, Guido Fawkes and Suella Braverman (embedded above)
- Main image: Nigel Farage, Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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Don’t stop here
Best of X Today: Lowe’s ‘One. Me.’, Yusuf’s £40m Question and Rees-Mogg on Paying for Poorer EU States
Lawyer Who Argued Against Britain on Chagos Elected as UK’s Judge at UN Court
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