Grumpy Investor

@Telegraph Please don’t encourage him.

⚡️ Ed Miliband has introduced and continued a raft of net zero policies, which Labour promised would bring down energy bills. However, new figures show the UK is no less dependent on fossil fuels than it was when Labour took office 👇 telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/0…

@FT First time buyers need some support, but for everyone else, buy a home, somwhere you’re happy living in. Not the biggest you can afford, not to show off to friends, just a house you enjoy and stop thinking about homes as a cash machine. Not for everyone, but my view,

The housing market looks to have made it through the crises of the 2020s unscathed — but they have weakened it significantly, says Neal Hudson: ft.trib.al/mv7k7OC

@afneil Married to a Norwegian for 20+ years and Andrew is correct. They have different prices in different regions of Norway, feel inflation from changes in international oil prices and complain about the cost of electricity too.

Nearly all Norwegian gas is sold into the European market at prevailing market prices ie it’s a free market. It is not sold ‘cheaply’ in the domestic Norwegian market. The Norwegian people benefit from taxes on gas, the jobs it generates and the boost to the balance of payments, just as the British people similarly benefit, now on a smaller scale, from gas extracted from our part of the North Sea.

@peterkyle Out of interest, how many jobs for workers would there be if founders didn’t start firms? Your Bill will drag things backwards for workers, because it’s bad for founders.

Labour is bringing workers’ rights into the modern age. Reform would drag Britain backwards. mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

@Telegraph The fact we’re even having this debate shows what an unserious country we are. The debate should be about whether we start drilling today or after the bank holiday.

🔴The UK’s largest untapped oil field is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil Read more about the Energy Secretary's plans ⬇️ telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/…

@ChristianJMay Fear suggests there’s some hope. We’re utterly doomed until the next election - and that’s a grim choice.

Why I fear for the UK economy

@wesstreeting Thought it was all the Tories fault? Not so easy is it, Wes.

Thanks to this Government resident doctors have already received a 28.9% average pay rise. The deal on offer goes further on pay, and would create more training places - including 1,000 now. The BMA can’t even offer an alternative proposal. I’d urge everyone to read this👇🏻

@RobertJenrick She’s right.

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@IainDale Same needs saying about NHS, public sector pensions, and so much else. Good post Iain.

One day, a politician will have the bollocks to say in public what they're quite happy to say when the microphone is off, and that is this. The Triple lock is unaffordable and must go. We all know it. And I say that as someone who in four years would benefit from it.

@PolitlcsUK @thetimes We may as well, when broke you may as well be totally broke.

🚨 NEW: Nigel Farage is set to announce Reform UK will keep the state pension triple lock [@thetimes]

@griffitha Recruiter of 25 years, over 50s are having a nightmare too. Listed recruiters share prices massively down.

👀I've told Ministers time and again about the unemployment disaster they've caused. Clearly they weren't listening. As a refresher: the damage is worst for young people where 1 in 6 now can't find a job. Please do share in hopes that Peter Kyle is shown the figures!

@RobertJenrick Im a a white collar recruiter and I’m inundated with people being made redundant - very sad.

NSK Newark Update: Earlier today I met with Dr Ulrich Nass, CEO of NSK and members of the Newark management team at the Newark site. I expressed my great sadness and disappointment that this iconic business is likely to cease production and that so many employees were at risk of losing their jobs. Employees who have served NSK well, some for up to 40 years, some as members of families that worked there for generations. Newark without NSK will not feel the same. It’s a business we all know, its building stands tall above much of the town and Newark Northgate station and has been part of the fabric of Newark since Victorian times - with a particularly important role in both world wars. The company informed me that not all roles at NSK are at risk. The company is committed to maintaining some functions in Newark - up to 100 jobs. But manufacturing is not one of them sadly. I sought assurances as to how the process will now work and if employees are made redundant, the support that will be provided to them, both financial (will it be over and above statutory minimums?) and in finding new jobs. I offered my help. I’ll be reaching out to comparable businesses in Newark and within commuting distance in the next few days to see what other jobs might be available. If you know of any, please get in touch with me. If you are in danger of losing your job, please contact me if you think I can help. Email or call my office. I’ve also left my personal mobile number with the company, so call me on that if you want to speak directly. I will offer my help to Unite, the union, also. How have we got here? Dr Nass said the business generally has suffered from low demand, and Newark is a factory that is less competitive (an older building) than some of their other plants in the Far East, where manufacturing will likely move. I suspect Chinese competition has also been tough and the terms of trade are not fair. Free trade is one thing, but not British workers and businesses being mugged by Chinese firms. It’s a familiar story and a sad reflection on the state of British manufacturing. It’s one we must battle against. We can and must make things in this country. We can make our industry competitive, with lower energy costs, more adoption of technology and taxes which encourage investment and job creation. We can preserve and bring back good jobs.

The problem with casting a closer relationship with Europe as the solution to the world's current economic malaise is that it kind of misses the point. The key problem at present is a shortage of ENERGY. Europe has an energy deficit. Up until 2022 it filled that gap with gas from Russia. Now it fills that gap with gas (and oil) from the US and Middle East. It swapped one dependency for another. We can debate whether that dependency is inevitable, the extent to which it's a function of geology and/or political decisions taken years ago. Regardless, right now Europe is highly exposed to the problems in the Gulf. And without US energy imports it is in BIG trouble. A closer relationship between the UK and the EU does not solve this conundrum.

@ChristianJMay House building looks to be slowing massively. Berkeley out today reducing investment in work in progress and land buying. Recruitment firm share prices at multi-year lows. We’re grinding to a halt!

Starmer hails increase in minimum wage, increase in state pension and increase in welfare spending as part of plan to build a "fairer and more resilient" society.

@RobertJenrick House building looks to be slowing massively. Berkeley out today reducing investment in work in progress and land buying. Recruitment firm share prices at multi-year lows. We’re grinding to a halt!

More than two hundred people from Newark are losing their jobs. It’s a real tragedy for them and our town as another proud manufacturing business ceases production. I can only imagine how the loyal workforce of NSK and their families must be feeling today. If any of them need help, please get in touch with me. I know everyone in Newark will want to do what they can to support you all at this time. More broadly we’ve got to come up with a way to make British manufacturing viable. We can’t keep losing jobs like this. Energy is too expensive. We have to reindustralise and bring back good jobs.

@RecruitmentLif1 In same industry, super tough at the moment. The only change between now and the boom times of Covid I can see is a lack of confidence and growth in the U.K. Appreciate your honesty. Helps everyone not to BS.

My business is failing. In all my years in business, it’s dying. I am lucky that I have had good times and having savings. It’s the young guns coming through I feel for. It’s shit out there. Poor kids. Labour were the nail in the coffin for UK #business #labour #starmer #UK #bbc

@griffitha House building looks to be slowing massively. Berkeley out today reducing investment in work in progress and land buying. Recruitment firm share prices at multi-year lows. We’re grinding to a halt!

Today is April 1st, and far from a joke, it’s Armageddon for many on our high streets. This is the start of Labour’s multi year, multi billion business rates rise on already desperate hospitality and shops. They’re being forced out of business by Reeves’s endless attacks.

All the cliches coming out now “An underrated side”, “stick together”, a “blessing in disguise”. We have no chance in the World Cup, let’s stop pretending #itv #engvsjpn #itvsport #engvjpn

@AlanJLSmith @LiamHalligan He’s right, but they don’t care. As Liam said, it’s ideology. Milliband appears to be putting his own beliefs ahead of the needs of many.

Here @LiamHalligan absolutely nails everything that’s wrong with the UK economy now. Worth 10 minutes of your time.

@griffitha Could survive everything, but Labour.

Denby has been a proud stalwart of British pottery for over 200 years. In recent years their energy costs have more than doubled. That’s on top of tax rises imposed by the Chancellor. Their story is sadly not unique, and it’s are the direct result of Westminster failure. I’m under no illusions: failed energy policy has not been limited to Labour. I left 25 years in business for politics because I wanted to set things right. And under Kemi, Conservatives have committed to scrapping Net Zero, getting Britain drilling, and lowering energy costs. Unfortunately, Labour and Ed Miliband are still refusing to do what needs to be done. This can’t continue.