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