The Month That Was……October 2025

There are about 8 billion people in the world. To add to the drama, that’s 8,000,000,000. If an event has a one-in-a-million chance of occurring every day, it should happen to 8,000 people a day……or 2.9 million times a year……or 250,000,000 times during your lifetime.

That’s the maths of it. 

Even a one-in-a-billion event will become the fate of hundreds of thousands of people during your lifetime. And given the news media’s insatiable appetite for shocking headlines, the odds are nearly 100% that you will hear about these events when they happen. Probably within seconds. 

In a normal person’s life, miracles should occur at the rate of about one per month. The basic law of maths dictates this.

The idea that incredible things happen because of boring maths statistics is important because it’s the same for terrible things too. Think about ‘one hundred year’ events……floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, financial crises, frauds, pandemics, political meltdowns, economic recessions, etc. 

A ‘one hundred year’ event doesn’t mean it happens every one hundred years……it means there is a 1% chance of it occurring in any given year. That seems low……but when there are hundreds of different independent ‘one hundred year’ events. What are the odds that one of them will occur in a given year? Actually, pretty damn good.

But it’s always been like that.

The difference now is the size of the global economy……as this increases the size of potential crazy things that might happen increases. When 8 billion people interact, the odds of a fraudster, a genius, a terrorist, an idiot, an expert or a visionary moving the needle in a significant way on any given day is nearly guaranteed.

And then throw in the other major difference……the immediacy of news. News used to be far harder to disseminate over distances and what was going on in other parts of the world wasn’t always a top concern. Now the news gives us every last detail of every nation, culture, political regime and economy in the world……within seconds.  

There are so many good things that come from that. But we shouldn’t be surprised if the world feels historically broken in recent years and will continue that way going forwards.

That’s a very long winded way of saying, the world isn’t broken. It’s always been this way. We just now see more of the bad / crazy stuff that’s always happened because the world is more connected now.

So the next time a world leader suggests drinking bleach is a good way to get rid of a pandemic, remember that craziness in world leaders has always been there……we now just watch it live.

I do love a number.

 

The Numbers

It’s been a month of mild chaos, medium outrage and maximum disbelief. October arrived like a soggy biscuit……unexpectedly limp but somehow still capable of causing a choking hazard.

The choking hazard in this case is the impending Budget. Rachel Reeves will play the economic game of Jenga……remove one tax-block, add another spending-block, the tower wobbles and you hope the whole thing doesn’t collapse mid-session.

Running out of ideas as to who she can blame for the fiscal mess, Reeves has hauled out the B-word. Nearly a decade after the referendum, she told the IMF that our economic and productivity failures are connected to “the way in which the UK left the European Union”.

Brexit is the villain, not the immigration wave, savage lockdowns, stubborn MPs turning down deals or the Trussonomics earth tremor. Reeves certainly doesn’t blame the damage her own 2024 Budget did to business or Keir’s panicked U-turn over welfare cuts. Big, bad Brexit carries the can……because that’s Troy territory.

Regardless of the ‘latest’ reason, the figures before the Budget look dreadful.

The most recent monthly figures highlighted that the Government borrowed £20.2 billion, the highest comparable in 5 years. In the last 6 months, the deficit hit £100 billion.

As a consequence, the monthly interest payments hit £9.7 billion, £3.9 billion more than a year before.

The message is pretty clear……the cost of financing the Government’s debt is eating into the Budget, leaving less room for discretionary spending or fancy policy experiments. All eyes are now on the 26^th November at 12:30pm.

There is no doubt that the economic / political uncertainty is now filtering into the housing market. Sales of new build homes have sunk to lows not seen since the global financial crisis more than 15 years ago (even lower than sales registered during the pandemic).

An average of 0.3 homes are being sold weekly per outlet (a standard industry metric) across the UK. The equivalent average sales rate reported by the big housebuilders at the bottom of the market in 2007-8 was 0.4 sales per outlet per week and the long-term norm in the 2010’s was about 0.7.

The plunge in sales this summer makes it hard to see how the Government can reach its target to deliver 1.5 million homes in England over the five years to March 2029.

The most bizarre story this month was linked to a unit tasked with investigating more than £1 billion of suspected fraud on taxpayer-backed pandemic business loans. The National Investigation Service (Natis) received £38.5 million from taxpayers to investigate widespread abuse of the bounce-back loan scheme……but an investigation by state auditors highlighted they were only able to verify £7.2 million of recoveries “directly attributed to active investigations by Natis”.

So let me get this right……we paid £38.5 million to recover £7.2 million. Oh, so that’s why the Natis unit was closed so abruptly! You could laugh if it wasn’t so close to home!

According to official estimates, at least £1.9 billion of pandemic loans have been flagged as suspected fraud, most of which is on the £47 billion bounce-back loan programme. Although banks provided the credit, the debt was underwritten by a 100% state guarantee.

The other most bizarre story of the month centred on Amazon causing an outage on its web services (AWS). In short, the world’s largest cloud computing system hit more than 1,000 websites and apps. A pretty big deal when you consider that this included NHS services, Government Gateway and HM Revenue & Customs (in addition to a huge part of the banking sector).

In recent years UK regulators have turned their attention to AWS, which commands around 40% of the UK cloud market. Perhaps Jeff Bezos is a bigger deal than just delivering the latest book of choice.

Despite the gloom, there are some flickers of light in the fog……but you have to go searching. A recent survey (the purchasing-managers index……in my top 5 of all indices) suggested a modest uptick in business growth (from 50.0 to 51.1). In addition, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the UK will be the second-fastest-growing G7 economy in 2025. Impressive……well,  until you zoom out and realise that being second fastest in a slow race still means you’re not exactly lapping anyone.

The Trump v China trade wars reached a new level. China tightened export controls around rare earths, so that, from 1^st November, foreign companies will need the Chinese Government’s approval to export products with even small amounts of rare earths.

Rare earths are used in MRI machines, petrol, diesel and electric vehicles, smartphones, computers and in the defence sector (F-35 fighter jets, submarines and radar systems).

China mines about 70% of the world’s rare earths and refines about 90%, creating a stranglehold on supply.

In response, The Trump imposed a (insert the latest made up figure) % increase in trade tariffs on China. Mainly because he can (that’s what he does) but also out of fear of China strangling the world of rare earths. This story will rumble on as a truce has apparently been reached……or not reached….depending on the direction of the wind.

Elsewhere, Tesla boss Elon Musk has become the first person ever to achieve a net worth of more than $500 billion (a half-trillionaire)……further cementing his status as the world's richest person (Larry Ellison is the world's second richest person with a fortune of about $350 billion).

We seem to talk about ‘billions’ without any real context for the scale. It’s almost a mythical number. This may help for context……

A billion seconds ago……it was 1960.

A billion minutes ago……Jesus was alive.

A billion hours ago……our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

And my favourite number of the month was……31……for all sorts of spooky reasons.

Trump of the Month

A month of many options, given the rich abundance of madness before us.

Candidate #1: Robert Edward Jenrick

Bobby has caused quite a few ripples this month with his comments on a visit to Birmingham. The Tory MP was shocked by the poor housing conditions……“I went to Handsworth in Birmingham and it was absolutely appalling. It’s as close as I’ve come to a slum in this country and I didn’t see another white face.” For context, Bobby owns two £2 million homes in London and a £1 million manor house in Herefordshire.

Exactly what does the colour of skin have to do with housing conditions? Is the “slum’ not the result of his party’s 14 years in power? Absolutely crazy.

Candidate #2: Edward Samuel Miliband

A record £1 billion has been spent this year to switch off wind turbines because of flaws in the UK’s drive for net zero.

To emphasise the madness……in a single day (1^st October) Britain’s electricity operator paid wind farm operators £1.3 million in compensation for lost revenue after ordering them to switch off turbines to avoid overloading the grid. At the same time the grid operator was forced to pay £4.9 million to buy energy from abroad and switch on more expensive gas power generation to meet demand. The total amount of lost energy was enough to power the whole of London for a day.

Who is responsible for this mess……the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero……lead by Ed Miliband…..who is nowhere to be seen on this topic.

We shouldn’t be surprised, Miliband and madness go hand in hand.

Candidate #3: Keir Rodney Starmer

Lindsay Whittle, for Plaid Cymru, won the Caerphilly by-election with more than 47% of the vote. It marked Labour’s first defeat in the area for 100 years as they secured 11% of the vote……with Reform coming second with 36%. 100 years!

Nigel Farage said next year’s Welsh elections would be a “two-horse race between Reform UK and Plaid Cymru”. It is hard not to agree (through gritted teeth!).

It was a remarkably bad performance by Labour on what has been regarded as one of their safest seats. Even long-standing dominance is not safe when the party leader has an approval rating of just 21%.

Keir was "deeply disappointed" and “clearly we need to do much more." Which begs the question……why aren’t you? Utter madness.

Some very worthy performances for Trump of the Month……but it had to absolutely go to Candidate #4: Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.

Bojo appeared in the latest instalment of the Covid Inquiry (£160 million of public money spent so far……and counting) with all the charm of a damp sock and about as welcome as a mosquito at a nudist beach (apparently…….so I’ve been told).

Amongst the usual guff, stuttering and smoke screens, BoJo’s testimony did acknowledge mistakes but he defended his decisions over school closures and exam chaos. He admitted children paid a “huge price” during the pandemic and he “under-estimated the scale and pace of the challenge”. No kidding.

Interestingly, the inquiry highlighted missing messages……5,000 WhatsApp messages from critical early months were reportedly missing from BoJo’s phone……which he denied removing as it was a “phone issue” ……adding a farcical dimension to the inquiry proceedings.

He also claimed he was “bamboozled by the graphs” and struggled to get his head around statistical briefings.

Documents shown to the inquiry revealed he allegedly asked whether people could kill Covid by “blowing a hair-dryer up their nose” after he watched a YouTube video.

Internal documents also show a comment of “why are we destroying everything for people who will die anyway soon?” and “Covid is just nature’s way of dealing with old people.” Wow.

The tone of his testimony was part contrition, part deflection and part performance……with an agricultural sized dollop of craziness thrown in.

The two main criticisms of BoJo are that he is a) dishonest and b) lazy. It was arguably uncharacteristically diligent of him to have provided such clear evidence of both within the first 30 seconds of the inquiry.

How on earth did we endure BoJo as Prime Minister for 3 years?

Perhaps we are the mad ones. 

Trump Lunacy Rating: 10 / 10

And Finally……

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”

Groucho Marx

The Month That Was……September 2025

It has been brought to my attention recently that I occasionally (which may seem quite frequent if you are married to me) find myself not fully concentrating on a conversation that involves other members of the marital relationship.

Now, I am sure that the point has been well researched by the accuser, but I also feel that there are 10 legitimate excuses for checking out of conversations (stimulating or otherwise):

- When there is only one roast potato left.

- When someone is making a cup of tea like a complete amateur.

- When the dishwasher is not stacked in the right order, angles and sequences.  

- While noticing a table in a busy pub is about to become free.

- When you see someone eating soup with a big moustache.

- When your food hasn’t arrived but everyone else’s has.

- When you see someone putting the cream on the scone before the jam.

- When the thing you ordered in Argos has appeared on the shelf behind the counter but the staff keep calling out other people’s ticket numbers.

- When there’s one parking space left and another driver is nearer but hasn’t spotted it yet.

- When you are standing in a queue and someone is about to jump in front of you.

For me, these are the 10 sacred scenarios where tuning out of a conversation is authorised. In fact, it really should be added to marriage vows. It just helps to formalise things and stop a lifetime of frustration (and earache).

It’s a simple win in my eyes and I’m pretty sure the rate of divorce would drop.

You’re welcome.

 

The Numbers

There was a very stars and stripes angle to the numbers this month. Well, a little more than normal.

The Trump was afforded a State visit, at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of £14 million. However, the UK’s collective gritting of teeth, shaking of heads and questioning of moral compass was all about US investment in the UK.

There were various announcements and £150 billion of investment from US firms during The Trump’s visit was confirmed. Labour claimed that the package of deals is the largest ever to be associated with a State visit and will create more than 7,000 jobs.

Microsoft made the largest financial commitment in the UK, pledging £22 billion to invest in AI infrastructure.

It was interesting that The Trump delayed the news until after the visit that US buyers of UK exports have paid $1.4 billion in tariffs in the 4 months since liberation day……a 6-fold increase on the same period in 2024. For perspective, imports from China garnered the most tariff revenue at $36 billion.

The Fed made a 0.25% cut to US interest rates……the first this year. The 12-member voting committee reduced borrowing costs after policymakers said they were worried about a slowdown in the jobs market.

And what of that jobs market? The US added just 22,000 jobs this month (way below the target of 150,000), raising fears that growth in the world’s largest economy is stalling. Obviously The Trump did what he always does……diverting the blame……accusing The Fed of reducing interest rates too slowly.

A little closer to home……

The State Pension is on course to rise by 4.7% in April in line with earnings growth……adding even more pressure on the Government ahead of the Budget. Average weekly earnings rose to 4.7%, higher than inflation or 2.5% measures as part of the triple lock.

It will lift the basic state pension (for those retiring after April 2016) to £12,534 in 2026. Alarmingly, the uplift means the State Pension could exceed the personal allowance threshold of £12,570 from 2027 for the first time if the Government makes no changes. Yet another mess in the post for the Government to deal with.

Spending on pensioners is likely to reach at least £180 billion by the end of the decade, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

On top of this, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published showed that the Government borrowed £18 billion for the month. It is the highest total for the month since 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and up by £3.5 billion compared with the same month last year.

And then just for good measure……Britain’s long-term borrowing costs hit another 27-year high at 5.72%.

The amount of debt and the cost of the debt has put Rachel Reeves under mounting pressure, with the black hole in public finances likely to have increased from £30 billion to £40 billion. Tax rises are coming……26^th November will reveal all!

On a lighter note…..my favourite number of the month was……7……the new school year for the (not so) little lady. Primary School is soooooo last year.

Trump of the Month

Oh my goodness, ambassador you are spoiling us. Such a rich choice of absolute madness this month with four outstanding candidates for Trump of the Month.

Candiate #1: Peter Banjamin Mandelson

Mandy served as the British Ambassador to the United States until his sacking this month.

I'm not saying Peter Mandelson writing a 10 page birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein means he did anything, I'm just saying personally, I struggle to fill in the bit of free space in a birthday card when I'm writing to anyone I've ever loved. AI is doing a lot of lifting for me these days on the heartfelt message.

Calling Epstein your “best pal” and still surviving 214 days in post is incredible given Mandy’s levels of stupidity on offer. Damn it……it’s almost admirable.

Candiate #2: Keir Rodney Starmer

Coming under fire for backing Mandy when rumours were rife, Keir confirmed at PM Q’s that "I have confidence in him." A few hours later a hoard of 100 previously secret emails between Mandy and Epstein were revealed. Steer Clear Keir then sacked Mandy 24 hours later.

Is it just me or should there not be an element of background checking on anybody holding a public position……let alone one of such significance in the US? Maybe a simple question or two like…… “was your best friend the most famous convicted sex offender in US history?” Just a thought.

Givin the vast number of photos in the public domain of Mandy and Epstein socialising, Keir’s levels of buffoonery are amazing……yet he still remains in post.  

Candiate #3: Donald John Trump

Forever setting the consistent craziness standards for others to follow, The Trump was in prime idiot mode this month.

In his address to the UN (who thought that was a good idea?), his speech covered everything from Venezuelan drug cartels to the lack of air conditioning in Europe. Apparently, global warming was a “hoax.” He then stated that “I’m really good at this stuff” and “your country’s are going to hell.”

My favourite claim was that he had resolved 7 “unendable” wars as he stepped up his campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize. Interestingly, there was no mention of ending the fighting in Gaza or Ukraine despite his claims that he could end them in a day when elected.

Earlier in the month The Trump signed an executive order reverting the name of the Department of Defence to the Department of War. Nothing quite says “Nobel Peace Prize” quite like changing a department name to “WAR”. And just for good measure, the Pentagon’s public affairs briefing room will be known as the Pentagon War Annex. His lunacy has no limits.

Candiate #4: Angela Rayner

Angie started the month with a pap shot of her in Brighton in an inflatable canoe, vaping. At the time, I thought that perhaps this is the first time I’ve ever felt truly represented by a politician. Perhaps. But it ended with her being sacked.

For those living underground for the month, Angie bought a second house hundreds of miles away from her constituency in Brighton, claimed that it would be her main residence and saved £40,000 in additional stamp duty tax to pay on the purchase as a second property. Tax avoidance……how very Tory.  

Angie invested a lot of political capital attacking the Tories about tax avoidance prior to the 2024 General Election. Clearly, she should not be setting the rules when she fails to keep them herself……and Keir stood her down.

You could (perhaps) make the argument that the rules are a little confusing as UK tax law runs to 10 million words. For perspective, Hong Kong is 150,000 words. For full effect……the full works of Shakespeare is 1 million words.

However, with all the love one might have for another human being, Angie works in the Government. Why didn't she just ask the relevant person (she must be surrounded by many experts on any taxation schemes one could imagine) how much she had to pay BEFORE underpaying her taxes. If Angie didn’t understand how it worked then how are the rest of us supposed to? Perhaps she should have checked Government website, which has a refreshingly simple calculator for such things.

An embarrassment of riches this month. Four very worthy candidates and all deserve to be awarded The Trump of the Month.

I’ll let you decide. Answers on a postcard to the usual address.

Trump Lunacy Rating: 10 / 10

 

And Finally……

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

Martin Luther King

The Month That Was……August 2025

I was informed this month that nine in ten UK households admit to having bad energy habits that are costing them over £200 per year (price comparison site Uswitch).

Just what sort of operation are these nine in ten households running where hundreds of pounds are being wasted and the planet is dying just a little bit more each day?

I mean, for goodness sake, more than 50% of households “admit leaving unnecessary lights on”. That can’t be right surely? How can this be? Surely every house has a grumpy man storming round the house like an angry ecowarrior roaring “who left all the lights on?”. Because that is all you need to save the earth and beat the cost-of-living crisis……someone standing in the hall shouting, “There’s a light on in the upstairs bathroom and it wasn’t me who left it on because I don’t use the upstairs bathroom!”. And then, when there is no response, adding, “I thought your generation cared about the polar bears!”

And what of this “too much water in the kettle” that is reported to cost households £40 a year? I simply don’t understand. Are husbands up and down the country failing to come sprinting in from in front of the TV to empty all but a cupful into the sink when they hear their wife putting the kettle on for tea.

Perhaps they are worried that they will get the same sort of angry reaction from their wasteful wives that I got last night from Rachel, who yelled, “I was boiling that water for the kid’s pasta!”.

“Fair enough,” I told her. “But turn that tap off when you’re talking to me……and why are you running it while washing up anyway? That’s costing families up to £11 a year, that is.”

My goodness, it is hard work being a domestic ecowarrior like me. It makes me want to leave the survey results lying around in the hope that my family will see them and grasp that I’m not just making all this up. Like the £32 a year that is literally evaporating in 65% of households each year because of saucepans being boiled without the lid on.

And don’t get me started on “running the dishwasher when it’s not full”, which costs every family £10. Yet fortunately I can see that by turning all the cups round so the handles are on the same side, and then rotating them so the handle is at 45 degrees to the perpendicular instead of 90 degrees, they will tuck in more tightly and can be shuffled up to make room for at least two more.

I don’t think anyone realises the energy it takes to haul myself up from the football when Rachel is cooking, to come into the kitchen and noisily cover all the saucepans on the hob. It’s tiring.

Do you think I take three houseplants with me into the shower for the good of my health? No, it’s a cupful of water a week that won’t be wasted watering them.

Imagine my disbelief when I read of the £31 per household per year lost to “using the tumble dryer when it’s hot outside”. We haven’t used our tumble dryer in three years. Rachel thinks it’s broken but I just took the fuse out, obviously. Same as I disabled the heater in our electric car. Even if I’ve smart-charged it at the cheapest rate, I worked out that it costs around 9p an hour to warm the car on a frosty morning or close to 5p on an average school run. Five pence! Not gonna happen on my shift. That’s what driving gloves are for. I got her a pair for Christmas. Preloved obviously.

Probably the greatest day of my life was when I realised I could reduce the target temperature of our domestic boiler from 70C to 64C without compromising the quantity of hot water available or the warmth of the house……saving untold kilowatt hours and dozens of pounds a month……with only a 30% risk of cultivating Legionnaires Disease in the underheated tank. What a day that was.

My next task? To save the £1.90 a year burnt away by “leaving the TV on when nobody is watching”. Who does that? (unless it’s football on, obviously). Dads who are serious about the environment switch the telly off even if people ARE watching it. It’ll only be some rubbish anyway. What you do is go in and say, “What are you watching?” don’t wait for an answer, turn it off, then leave. Turning the lights off as you go, obviously.

I have come to accept that my life has morphed into a one-man domestic ecowarrior. And I like it.

The Numbers

August can be a bit of a numbers non-event in my world as those with too much to say or too much responsibility down tools. But the 2025 offering was really quite the feast.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 5-4 in favour of lowering borrowing costs by 0.25% to 4.0%, the lowest level in over 2 years. This is the 5^th interest rate cut since the 2024 General Election.

For the anorak wearers amongst us……the ultimate decision required 2 votes after an initial ballot was inconclusive. It was the first time the MPC required two ballots to reach a majority rate decision since its inaugural vote in 1998. You’re welcome.

Inflation rose from 3.6% to 3.8%, with the Bank of England warning that inflation will scale to a near 3 year high, projecting that inflation would hit 4% in September. This is a key month for inflation news as the rate is used for State Pension increase calculations. Another economic headache for Rachel Reeves.

The higher inflation is being mainly driven by higher food, energy prices and rising household utility bills.

Food price inflation hit 4.2%, a 17 month high. The increase in employer national insurance contributions and increase in the minimum wage has increased labour costs that are likely to have pushed up food prices. Food price inflation is likely to rise above 5% later this year as businesses are having to pay a packaging levy to fund recycling.

The energy cost announcement from Ofgem highlighted that gas and electricity prices will rise by 2% for millions of households under the latest cap announced from October.

In addition to food inflation, the other significant consequence of Rachel Reeves 2024 Budget has been the reduction in confidence in the economy among business leaders. The impact of the cost increases for business and rumours of further tax rises in the next Budget has seen the optimism index slide from -53 to -71, the lowest level since the Brexit vote.

The knock on impact of a loss of confidence in the economy is also a lack of confidence in Rachel Reeves. This in turn has a knock on impact on the cost that the Government must pay on debt. The cost of which rose to 5.63% this month, putting it near a 27 year high (on 30 year bonds).

Elevated borrowing costs have led economists to warn that Rachel Reeves will need to increase taxes by up to £30 billion at the Autumn budget to comply with her fiscal rules, having already raised them by £40 billion last October.

Yet more taxation? More taxation it seems is a bandage that can never staunch the wound. I am starting to question if the problem is State spending being out of control and getting higher. There are two ways to look through a telescope……perhaps it might be better to look through the right end. Just a thought.

And what of The Trump and the US I hear you (very quietly) ask? Well, wacky as ever!

US job growth slowed sharply in July and the unemployment rate rose as businesses navigated uncertainty over The Trump’s trade war. The US added just 73,000 jobs this month, well below the amount expected by economists. While the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%.

That left The Trump with only one option…… he fired Erika McEntarfer, the head of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) after claiming jobs figures had been “rigged in order to make the Republicans and me look bad.”  The Trump provided no evidence to support his claims……who’d have thought it!

US inflation held steady at 2.7%, raising bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September. This is definitely one to watch as markets will be all over this.

My favourite number this month was……5……the number of miles walked hanging on for dear life walking the canyon of the Caminito del Rey.

Trump of the Month

Plenty of lunacy options to choose from this month. A syndicate of succulent silliness.

August 2025 marked the moment when Andrea Jenkyns, one of the great thinkers of our generation (not), dropped a bombshell during a Reform UK press conference.

Following on from the historical atrocities of “Blair’s babes” and “Cameron’s cuties”, Jenkyns has decided this need to refer to female politicians as a subgroup must continue……“I’m proud to be one of Farage’s fillies” she told the press conference……looking very pleased with herself (as usual).

What was she thinking? Will any other women self-identify as a Farage filly? Will the fact that Farage filly suggests you have a face like a horse discourage potential advocates? What next, offering female politicians a sugar lump? Does any woman want to be a political horse? I guess we’re about to find out. Sheer stupidity.

Ed Miliband re-entered the craziness after coming under extreme criticism from the Government’s climate advisers. The Energy Secretary has made “no progress” on making electricity cheaper over the past year, despite his pledge of it being a “number one priority.” A unit of electricity costs almost four times that of gas……the worst ratio in Europe. So exactly what else has the Energy Secretary being doing? 

Mark Wild the latest excuse of a Chief Executive of HS2 has made a solid contribution to lunacy. A fraud investigation will now take place into HS2 over allegations of “large-scale” financial impropriety. The company responsible for building the high-speed rail line has referred itself to HMRC after completing an internal review which highlighted that a subcontractor may have been committing tax fraud. In short, a subcontractor working on the project had falsely declared self-employed workers as directly employed staff and charged inflated rates, including submitting fake payslips to auditors.

I am not sure what I am most offended by……insufficient due diligence on the subcontractor receiving ‘our’ money……the auditor not picking up on the fraud (it was a whistleblower that highlighted the issue)……or the fact that I am simply not surprised by any incompetence offered by HS2. Nuts on every level.

Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, offered plenty of head scratching opportunities this month. A report into the Department for Business and Trade (which he fronts) efforts to recoup fraud-related losses from the £47 billion covid bounce-back loan scheme have been “passive” and “largely unsuccessful, with only a small fraction of losses recovered”. The Government has estimated that at least £1.9 billion of pandemic loans have been flagged as suspected fraud. This is in addition to the £10.5 billion the Government has paid to banks under the state guarantee for loans that went bad. Any chance of a little more effort Jonny?

And don’t get me started on Gillian Martin (the Scottish Energy Secretary). In short, households have paid £810 million for Scottish wind farms not to produce planned electricity output over the last 6 months as the national grid did not have the capacity to move it to where it was needed.

I’m no expert in renewable energy but it’s absolutely crazy to build wind farms where there’s no grid, then pay them to sit idle and then pay the most expensive fossil fuel plants to generate the power instead.

Gillian Martin said: “I have been clear that the current UK energy system is not fit for purpose.” Ok, so make it fit for purpose then. Mental.

And what to make of Angela Rayner? Her department (Ministry of Local Government) said "a significant amount of money" could be saved by merging councils in 21 areas into single authorities. A £2.9 billion saving over 5 years……I’m all for that.

Except it has come to light this month that the department based its cost estimates on a 2020 report by County Council Network. The figures have now been reworked and, you guessed it……the reorganisation is likely to make no savings and actually cost money in some scenarios (up to £850 million extra). Take a bow Angela Rayner……impressive lunacy.

Which leads me to suggest that David Goldstone, the head of the Office for Value for Money might just be offering us maddening levels of incompetence that is off the scale. The department was set up to ‘root out waste and inefficiency’. So why is it not scrutinising the above?

It’s not like the stories are buried and difficult to find. If I read them, surely somebody who is responsible for ensuring public money is well used must raise an eyebrow? Surely! Exactly what else are we paying David Golstone a daily rate of £950 to do?

August 2025’s Trump of the Month could only go to…… David Goldstone.

I think we are now at the stage that we need to set up a department to investigate if we are getting value for money from the Office for Value of Money.

It shouldn’t be like this. Absolutely bonkers.

Trump Lunacy Rating: 10 / 10

And Finally……

“Money often costs too much.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Month That Was……July 2025

July saw the one year anniversary of Labour getting into power. As anniversaries go, this was right up there with the Brexit Referendum anniversary in June.

On his first anniversary, you would expect the Prime Minister to be all over the media blowing his own trumpet (or any musical instrument involving wind for that matter) and doing a political lap of honour. Instead, he went on the Sunday morning political TV programmes to explain that he didn’t make Rachel Reeves cry during PM Q’s the previous week.

If ever there was a metaphor……the Chancellor of the Exchequer in floods of tears behind a Prime Minister who carries on regardless……oblivious to the train crash happening behind him. How apt.

When asked whether Rachel Reeves was for the chop……Keir paused……and then didn’t answer the question. So, the financial markets wobbled like only a Rachel Reeves chin can……the cost of Government borrowing shot up……and then finally Keir confirmed……oh, go on then, she can stay a little longer……pacifying all things financial for 10 minutes.

It was the most surreal political scene since……Liz Truss’s 10 minutes of fame……no hang on, BoJo’s lockdown lies……wait, Matt Hancock's kiss / grope during Covid……(in fact, insert anything to do with the Tories since the Covid outbreak).

The most remarkable thing about this Government is that they have had 14 years to prepare for this moment. 14 years of saying it’s their fault, followed by 1 year of saying it’s their fault from the other side of the house.

Inspirational leadership it is not. A political mess, it is. U-turns, incompetence, a split party, no direction, et al. Labour were voted in to change things……but there has been no difference whatsoever. Tory chaos rebadged with a red tie. Even Labour’s backbenchers have had enough of the political ineptitude.

The key thing about politics is that you have to get elected and then you have to deliver what you said you were going to do. Wake up Starmer……20% of your time in Government has gone already. A majority of 165, yet he looks absolutely clueless. We need better. We deserve better.

And the biggest winner in all of this…… Nigel Farage. 

Enough now.

The Numbers

The narrative dominating the numbers was the Office for Budget Responsibility ringing the alarm on the ballooning trajectory of public debt and the widening budget deficit. It was another reminder for the Government of its perilous fiscal situation.

And the figures are not good reading:

- UK debt interest spending for the month jumped to £16.4 billion, the second highest for a month since the records began in 1993 (behind only June 2020, which was heavily affected by the pandemic).

- Borrowing, essentially the difference between public spending and tax income, was £20.7 billion for the month, up £6.6 billion from the same month last year.

- £1 of every £10 of Government spending is spent servicing Government debt.

Big figures, which are compounded by the cost to borrow.

The rate on the 30-year UK Government Bond (or gilt) now stands at 5.43%, up from 4.67% compared to a year ago. By comparison, the US equivalent has risen to 4.93% from 4.48% over the same period.

It is clear that Reeves needs tax income……and quick.

The biggest rumour seems to centre around a wealth tax, which Reeves believes will raise around £10 billion. However, 80% of the potential revenue will come from just 5,000 people……and 15% from just 10 people. So, it would just take a handful of people changing residence and it could remove billions.

Another option is to remove the triple lock on the State Pension (the promise to raise the state pension every year in line with the highest of consumer price inflation, average earnings, or 2.5%). Raging inflation and wage growth since 2021 has meant that the policy will end up costing £16 billion by the end of the decade compared with original forecasts of £5 billion. With inflation jumping to 3.6% this month (the highest since January 2024), this is a strong consideration……but clearly not a vote winner!

Keir was pushed and prodded on whether he was ruling out extending the stealth tax. He refused to say whether the Government would lift the freeze on income tax thresholds in 2028, as it has previously stated. Freezing income tax bands for longer would drag an estimated 1 million people into higher rates by 2030.

No doubt further options will be rumoured but this will be a theme running up to the Autumn Budget as the Chancellor will look to raise as much as £30 billion.

Debt was a key theme also in the US this month as The Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ passed through the Senate by one vote. Estimates suggest the fiscal impact of the bill will add $2.4 trillion to deficits over the next decade, with a total debt increase of $3.0 trillion.

Don’t panic though……The Trump is still flexing his orange muscles as he threatens 30% tariffs on Mexico and the EU bartering him down to 15%.

My favourite number this month was……6……the little lady finishing Year 6 at Primary School with the School Girl of the Year award tucked under her arm as she skips towards Senior School.

Trump of the Month

I am not messing about this month. The Trump of the Month award for services to lunacy has to be…… Keir Rodney Starmer.

See above.

End of.

No further questions your honour.

Trump Lunacy Rating: 10 / 10

 

And Finally……

“Incompetence is often highly regarded in governmental circles.”

William Wallace

The Month That Was……June 2025

June has been a funny old month of jumping from one video conference to another for regulatory briefings, pension legislation changes and economic guidance. I know……living the dream. It really feels like death by webinar.

One of the most disturbing things I have learnt is that we are now morphing into a completely different language. And quite frankly, I am baffled by the moronic meaningless maunder.

“Just to bring you up to speed and take a deep dive before we circle back and drill down on the granular detail” was the opening line from Hugo on my webinar last week. When Hugo caught someone smirking on video (it wasn’t me, I was wiping the blood from my eye as I had stuck a fork in it) he responded with “I am pivoting to get you up to speed so you can hit the ground running and start on a level playing field.” Wow……and this was from a compliance consultant.

The day before, Casandra provided detailed analysis of new pension legislation by delivering “no one is trying to reinvent the wheel here, I’m just reaching out to run a few ideas up the flagpole and see who grabs the low-hanging fruit.” And just for good measure, apparently it is “going to require a paradigm shift in your attitude and a step change in gear.”

When I reached my third webinar of the week, I quickly looked to see who was presenting…….Dave. Thank goodness for that. A proper steady name and one that won’t be new-world brown box thinking. That was until the second minute when he let me down with “no one is trying to reinvent the playing field because I just wanted to loop you into a holistic approach from the get-go.” That handy fork was now in my other eye.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing of all is that the linguistic disease is highly contagious. I have since found myself “putting ducks in a row”, “getting plenty of boots on the ground”, “optimising the visuals” and “synergise to energise”.

Be very careful out there guys as it’s like the wild west as the sound bar is totally transmittable.

I’m off for some blue sky thinking to ensure I am an early adopter to move the needle on all things mission critical to ensure core competency.

Or alternatively, shoot me now.

 

The Numbers

This month’s numbers were dominated by Rachel Reeves Spending Review and announcement to Parliament.

The hours, days, weeks and even months after a Spending Review can feel like peeling away the layers of an onion.

First, there is the speech from the chancellor in the Commons: the political rhetoric and the numbers often designed to sound big but which are often incomprehensible. Then there are accompanying documents……in this instance in particular a blue-covered, 128 page tome crammed with words, numbers and graphs.

And as the detail is pored over, elements that were not put up in lights by the chancellor become clearer.

The main political message of the spending review was to announce plans to “renew Britain”, betting that £20 billion a year in extra funding for public infrastructure such as railways, roads and power would spur the economy and improve living standards by the time voters go to the polls. Reeves promised an extra £29 billion a year for the NHS and cut spending elsewhere to channel money to “our most treasured public service”.

Reeves’s ferociously tight numbers leave no room for downturns, pay strikes, trade wars or shooting wars. Her plans also depend on £14 billion in hazily detailed “efficiency savings”. Significant tax rises look far more likely come the next Budget in Autumn.

Public spending is running at 44% of GDP, a historic high. Taxes, too, are historically high and universally expected to go higher.

Her report highlighted that, not only have we been spending like crazy (not least because of the pandemic) but we’ve been spending money we don’t have. The resulting annual bill of more than £100 billion just to cover the interest on our debts is quite the burden.

These numbers can be hard to put into context so consider this way of looking at it……we are now spending £23,757 for every adult in this country, which is roughly 65% of the average full-time salary (£37,500). That includes £3,807 on health, £5,817 on welfare and pensions and a shocking £1,955 for that debt bill.

Now, just for a bit of fun……restrict the calculation to those of working age and spending is above £30,000 a head. Factor in economic inactivity and the state is spending nearly as much as workers aged 18 to 65 are earning.

This is very obviously not sustainable, so is Rachel Reeves the right person to find the solution?

Elsewhere……

Love or loath, Amazon is ploughing in another £40 billion to the UK over the next 3 years for yet more expansion plans. Amazon is now one of the UK’s top 10 private employers with 75,000 members of staff.

And spare a thought for Elon Musk……his net worth dropped by $34 billion in a day as his personal feud with The Trump hit Tesla’s share price. The fortune of the world’s richest man fell to $335 billion, with his net worth declining by $98 billion since January. It is clearly an expensive hobby to be associated with the orange one.

My favourite number this month was……800……the little lady put on a fine display in the 800 metres at sports day.

 

Trump of the Month

There was some classic lunacy at front and centre stage this month and it wasn’t hard to find.

Elon Musk and The Trump ended their bromance over social media in a tit-for-tat slanging match in response to Musk disagreeing with The Trump’s proposed economic bill. Musk declared "I'm the reason Trump won!" and that The Trump was on "Epstein’s client list!" What Musk failed to mention is that he spent $275 million to elect a man he apparently knew to be ‘associated’ with Epstein. Crazy.

The Trump rose the lunacy stakes further by placing a travel ban on 12 countries after the targeted Boulder terror attack, yet didn’t ban the country where the attacker was from (Egypt).

There are clues as to why that is the case……the US and Egypt have a strong defence alliance……a partnership that the US calls a "pillar for regional stability". Egypt is one of the biggest beneficiaries of US economic and military aid in the Middle East, receiving a total of $1.4 billion from US agencies.

Then there was The Trump bombing Iran. In typical fashion……he created a problem……backed down……said he solved the problem……patted himself on the back.

And don’t get me started on Rachel Reeves desperate political u-turn on the winter fuel payment. It’s amazing how things change. Just a few months ago Rachel Reeves told us the financial situation was so grim she had no choice but to take the winter fuel payment from all but the poorest pensioners. And now, thanks to Labour, it’s all going so well she can afford to give it back. Utter madness. She must be on borrowed time.

All worthy, but this month’s Trump of the Month for absolute dedication to lunacy is……Daniel Hannan. I have waited 9 long years for this.

This month marked the ninth anniversary of the EU referendum of June 2016. This is a date that will be seared in many of your brains and will, for all the wrong reasons, be a permanent fixture in history books.

What you might not be aware of is that June 2025, is also a symbolic month……this is the date that featured in an article written by Conservative Party member, Vote Leave co-founder and former MEP……Daniel Hannan.

In his piece written two days before the referendum, Hannan invited us to cast our minds forward to June 2025 and imagine a utopian world where Britain is no longer part of the European Union. He writes of Independence Day celebrations with fireworks, improved relations with the EU and a country where the economy, democracy and liberty have all been reinvigorated thanks to nine years outside the EU.

Meanwhile, in Hannan’s imaginary world, the EU “continues to turn inwards, clinging to its dream of political amalgamation as the euro and migration crises worsen. Its population is ageing, its share of world GDP shrinking and its peoples protesting.”

And the article goes on like this for several paragraphs of sunlit Brexit uplands.

Of course, none of this has come to pass. Instead, Brexit has left the UK isolated, had a disastrous impact on the economy and is widely acknowledged by even the staunchest Brexiteers as being a failure of epic proportions.

And what of Hannan now? What was his punishment for misleading voters? A peerage to the House of Lords by none other than……Boris Johnson. If anybody knows anything about lunacy and being rewarded for failure, it’s Bo Jo.

Good luck explaining that to any rational person. UK political craziness as its finest.  

Trump Lunacy Rating: 10 / 10

 

And Finally……

“One person's craziness is another person's reality.”

Tim Burton