W Whitbread

@spectator Coutts now charge £1,200 annual fee for having an account with them... I suggested to them that their the strap line should be, 'Just like NatWest, only more expensive.'

I had an account at Coutts opened for me by my mother when I was 15 at a small, rather cosy little branch it used to have on the corner of Sloane Street and Cadogan Square. As I went in and out, I got to know the cashiers who greeted me by name, which made me feel I’d really arrived, although where I wasn’t quite sure. I knew that it was a grand bank and felt rather privileged to have an account there, mainly because it seemed to impress people and make them think I had more money than I did. ✍️ Julia Hamilton Article | spectator.com/article/my-tim…

@thesincerevp @KobeissiLetter It does beg the question - if the coupon had been 4.8%, would the issue have been fully subscribed?

10x oversubscribed. that's the part everyone skips past. when Truss blew up the gilt market in 2022, yields spiked because nobody showed up to buy. this is the opposite — investors are lining up to lend the UK money. they just want 4.9% for the privilege now. highest yield since 2008 makes a great headline but the demand side tells you this isn't a crisis. it's a repricing. the UK can still borrow whatever it wants — the cost of doing it just went up permanently

BREAKING: The UK just sold 10Y Government Bonds at the highest yield since the 2008 Financial Crisis, at 4.9158%. The 2036 gilt syndication raised a record £15 billion and attracted £148 billion of investor orders. Keep watching the bond market.

Right now, British electricity pricing is bonkers. Prices are disconnected the from the underlying reality in several very important ways. 1. The costs of keeping the grid going, like transmission and balancing, are spread over every unit of electricity sold. This means the price of an extra unit of electricity is vastly higher than the social cost of providing that unit. The cost of having a grid connection at all is, conversely, much lower than it actually costs society to provide you one. Economically, this amounts to a crippling price cap on grid connections, which is part of why we can't expand infrastructure to plug people in: they don't pay for it. It also amounts to an enormous tax, over 2/3 of the price of electricity, on using an extra unit of it. Which is presumably why electricity use has cratered since 2003, when we started driving up the cost of our grid like this. Note how perverse the incentive is here. We are heading into a situation where electricity is extremely expensive because the ratio of grid costs to the amount of electricity put through that grid. Our high prices incentivise everyone to have a connection, but then to use it as little as possible, the EXACT opposite of what we need. We charge the most tax on people use their connection most intensively (i.e., efficiently) and the least on those who use it the least intensively! 2. We impose carbon taxes on electricity produced through gas that we don't impose on gas used directly. This is part of why electricity is so expensive, and means people electrify less than we would like, which leads to less decarbonisation overall. A child, with a basic understanding of supply and demand, would see how perverse this is. 3. We charge the same price for electricity nationwide, and pay the same amount, in a single market, even though electricity is worth more and less at different places. This is part of why people are building solar farms in Scotland, where it is not only less sunny, but which is on the other side of massive grid congestion that we are paying BILLIONS of pounds to relieve. Yet we keep paying people to make the problem worse. 4. We keep buying Contracts for Difference off electricity generators. CfDs say 'we will pay you X for every unit of electricity you produce, whenever you produce it'. (Recent iterations have cut off these payments when prices go negative, but they will still pay them £90 per megawatt hour when the megawatts they are producing are worth 1p each!) Renewables Obligations Certificates were a lot more honest. They just paid producers a top up on what they got on the open market: a straightforward subsidy. CfDs are a totally hidden subsidy. The amount of subsidy is set by the market trajectory after today. So, for example, every time we sign a new wind CfD we increase the subsidy for past tranches. The really messed up thing is that CfD recipients do not cover for when they don't provide any power. If the CfD was set on quantity as well, so generators had to pay back money when they didn't produce, to cover the cost of running the grid to accommodate them, and for the gas needed to keep the lights on, then we would get a good sense of how much we were actually paying. Buying a CfD would be buying new electricity at its going rate. Instead, practically all the important pricing functions are hidden. The result of all these broken pricing systems is poor coordination. Everyone is working exactly as the price system tells them to: plug in but only use your grid connection when the grid is having trouble, use less electricity, don't electrify, add generation far away from where it is consumed, and produce the most electricity possible whenever and wherever you like, not when or where it's rare and expensive. The ultimate result is expensive electricity, industrial decline, and economic stagnation.

@drrogergospel @TheBembridge All a bit wishy washy. I would be interested in hearing of any concrete plans you have.

My 5-point plan to fix Westminster is simple, honest, and focused on you. From stopping the crime to shutting down fake shops, we are bringing real change to Regent’s Park. 🛑🛍️ Read the full campaign details below. 👇

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR ME. 🗳️🇬🇧 For years I’ve been asked to step into the ring, and for years I said no. But I can no longer watch this country be steered into madness. It is as plain as the nose on your face: somebody has to stop the rot. I am officially standing as the @reformparty_uk candidate for Regent's Park Ward in the May 7th Westminster elections. Watch for the Gospel Truth. 👇 (See my 5-Point Plan in the next tweet!)

@JoxyButler @montie @TimesRadio

@montie @TimesRadio There are only 8 Reform MPs. Of those 8, four are defects (none of whom has been willing to call a bye election) and one’s a former Tory defect. There are currently 72 LibDem MPs. Stop moaning and try and be a grownup.

I love the @TimesRadio claim that they are a place of "diverse opinion". My rough totting up of over forty regular voices finds eight committed Labour voices, seven committed Tories, zero Reform. It's a very good channel but the idea it represents all diversity of opinion fairly is complete nonsense. It's the radio station of the uniparty.

The Chagos deal is dead and good riddance. It was a strategic blunder from the start by this Labour government and a disaster waiting to happen. Many of us warned the government but they simply refused to listen, now they will have to make another humiliating U-turn. telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/… Perhaps those close to the government who made very tidy sums promoting this disastrous deal might now consider donating some of those earnings to the Chagossian people whose interests were so often overlooked in the process.

"Have you met my friend Phil Shiner? Dont worry. You will."

@ariaa78 @BBCWorld @ClaudetteGGibs1 Err...

@BBCWorld @ClaudetteGGibs1 Do you condemn killing JOURNALIST?

Al Jazeera condemns killing of journalist in Israeli strike in Gaza bbc.in/4vBZsUf

@donald_s_miller @BBCWorld Correct. It's hyperbole AND exaggeration.

@BBCWorld 'Israelis enjoy killing the innocent' is not hyperbole or exaggeration

@VallaNils13872 @BBCWorld 'Journalists... 🤔

@BBCWorld Must be over 300 journalists murdered by Israel now

@estockyard @BBCWorld Err...

@BBCWorld all media people will condemn it except racist morons working in media...this is a war crime...theguardian.com/media/2026/feb…

@Tzioni2 @BBCWorld @Shayan86 Shayan has made a habit of retweeting Hamas propaganda... The BBC should fact check his posts.

@BBCWorld @Shayan86 would be interested if you have seen this. Is it credible? x.com/EFischberger/s…

Journalist Mohammed Samir Wishah with AlJazeera was murdered moments ago after an Israeli airstrike targeted his car. In February of 2024, the Israeli occupation alleged, as they always do, that Wishah simultaneously served as a commander in Hamas.  The IOF’s Arabic media spokesperson stated that during operations in northern Gaza, a laptop belonging to Muhammed was seized and documents on it indicated he was a prominent commander in Hamas’s anti-tank missile units. Lies to justify their murderous agendas.

Since the “ceasefire”, Israel has: 📌Killed its 262nd journalist in Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Wishah 📌Killed & injured over 1,400 in Lebanon 📌Netanyahu: “Our finger is on the trigger” Israel and America can’t be trusted. Hellbent on destruction for twisted devious goals.

@AlexCrawfordSky @pressfreedom

Three journalists (at least) killed in Israeli attacks in one day in Lebanon and Gaza - @pressfreedom

@MaramGaza @sommervilletv @AJEnglish

Israeli attack kills Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Wishah in Gaza aje.news/8zu5ip via @AJEnglish

ALERT: Suspected North Korean spy posing as an IT worker, is completely stumped after being asked to insult Kim Jong Un. Interviewer: “Kim Jong Un is a fat ugly pig. Can you say that for me?” Suspected Spy: “Uhhh.”

@MinnOrchia @jamesdavis6939

@jamesdavis6939 Are you a woman, trans or otherwise? If not, why the hell is it any of your business?

A year ago this month, the Supreme Court made it clear that a woman is defined by biological sex. However, parkrun continues to defy their ruling and allow men to cheat in the female category. It’s time you stopped breaking the law parkrun and make the female category XX only!

PAUL HOLDEN STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO INTERVIEW WITH JOSH SIMONS ON BBC NEWSCAST Yesterday, BBC Newscast published a lengthy, forty-minute interview with former Cabinet Minister Josh Simons MP. The interview addressed how Simons, as a director of @LabourTogether, had appointed a firm called APCO Worldwide to investigate me and my colleagues. I was not told by the BBC ahead of the broadcast that the episode was being recorded or aired. I was not approached to respond to the lengthy comments made about me or the small anti-corruption organisation, @ShadowWorldInv1 , that I run with my colleague @andrewfeinstein. Andrew, who is also repeatedly mentioned, was also not approached for comment. I only found out last night, when a friend texted me, that the person who hired a major multinational reputation management firm that produced a despicable and defamatory report on me and my colleagues, and who reported me on the basis of these false and defamatory reports to the UK’s security services, was being given forty minutes to give his version of events on a major podcast published by our national broadcaster. To be clear, the BBC has NEVER - not once - approached me to comment on a story that is, ultimately, about me, my investigations, my family and my colleagues. They did not approach me when the story first broke, and they did not approach me for this episode. If the BBC had done so, I would have raised several issues with the way in which matters related to me were discussed. For example, Simons repeatedly stated in the interview that he instructed APCO to investigate whether my reporting or sourcing derived from a ‘hack’ of the Electoral Commission. The word ‘hack’ is used eight times in the interview. At no time was it acknowledged in this discussion that this allegation – that I might have received hacked materials – is entirely false, and I have repeatedly proven it to be false. Following the broadcast, I contacted the BBC to complain and to raise serious issues with the broadcast. I was contacted by the Newscast editor, Sam Bonham, to say the BBC would update the Newscast episode and further reporting to reflect some of my concerns. This has not yet happened with regards to the podcast, although I note some online reporting finally reflects a very small and limited sampling of my comments. I will wait to see if amendments and updates will follow. If they do not, I will be escalating this matter to OFCOM. In the interim, I have decided to share the full statement I provided to the BBC, which is produced below: I would like to put certain things on the record. First, my reporting on Labour Together and Morgan McSweeney was entirely factually accurate and based on impeccable, legal sourcing. My sourcing has been reviewed by multiple media outlets, who confirmed the authenticity and legal provenance of my sources. Revelations based on my book, The Fraud, has subsequently been covered widely across the mainstream media, including in multiple front-page scoops, in outlets such as The Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The National and ITV. The stories I produced in 2023 and 2024, and which prompted Labour Together's investigation into me, were subject to extensive editorial and legal checks. They were, I believe, entirely accurate reporting on matters of profound public interest, which included raising concerns about the character of powerful individuals like Morgan McSweeney. Considering the recent Mandelson affair, I believe I have been entirely vindicated in attempting to alert the public about McSweeney's past, including how McSweeney made use of £700,000 in funding that he unlawfully failed to declare to the Electoral Commission to procure power and influence for himself and Sir Keir Starmer. Second, Josh Simons states that he never intended for APCO Worldwide to investigate me or my journalistic colleagues. However, a copy of the contract between APCO Worldwide and Labour Together, addressed to Simons, has now been published. The contract sets out a scope of work written in plain English. It states that APCO will 'investigate the sourcing, funding, origins of a Sunday Times article as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi.' The contract then states that the aim of the APCO investigation will be to 'provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together.' The contract then sets out a range of potentially invasive investigative methods that will be used to generate this 'package', including 'financial investigations' and 'human intelligence investigations.' I provide the full text of this contract below. This contract is clear. APCO were hired to investigate me to produce materials that would 'proactively undermine' my factually accurate, public interest reporting. They would use a range of investigative techniques to do so. APCO then did exactly as was suggested in the contract, using these investigative methods to "investigate" me. This investigation has caused me and my family significant anxiety and distress. Third, Josh Simons was provided with a report called Operation Cannon. It is the result of a lengthy investigation into me and my colleagues by APCO Worldwide. I have seen a copy of this report. It makes a series of extremely defamatory and utterly false allegations against me. It identifies my home address and sets out private information about my family. I cannot express how profoundly shocking, outrageous and defamatory this report truly is. Simons may claim he never intended for APCO to investigate me, but on receipt of this despicable report, he then chose to use it. He submitted sections of the report to the National Cyber Security Centre to convince them to investigate me. The Guardian has published the email correspondence in which Simons repeated some of the substance of the allegations in the APCO reports. Fourth, multiple media freedom advocacy organisations, including the NUJ, have strongly criticised the APCO investigation and these related matters. They have all, to my mind correctly, strongly criticised Labour Together and APCO for investigating journalists producing factually accurate reporting in the public interest. Finally, I am still reviewing the Newscast interview. I will be responding in due course and I hope that the BBC will, this time, give me the platform to set out what really happened and why. Text of Contract Between Labour Together and APCO Worldwide, addressed to Josh Simons Dear Mr Simons We are pleased that you have selected APCO Worldwide Limited (“APCO”) to provide the following scope of work (“services”) during Term: APCO will devise a concise strategy to aid Labour Together. APCO will investigate the sourcing, funding and origins of a Sunday Times article about Labour Together, as well as upcoming works by authors Paul Holden and Matt Taibbi – to establish who and what are behind the coordinated attacks on Labour Together. The approach should provide a body of evidence that could be packaged up for use in the media in order to create narratives that would proactively undermine any future attacks on Labour Together. The material can also inform any future legal strategy that Labour Together might wish to pursue against any of these parties. The work will include: • Open Source Investigations (OSINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Human Intelligence Investigation (HUMINT): Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Financial Investigation: Forensic Accounting Focus • Digital Forensics Investigation: Recovery and Preservation of Evidence • Stakeholder Outreach • Media Packaging and Dissemination