Ben

Our media fixation with Keir Starmer is becoming a literal drag on the country now. As I write this, I can already see the replies forming below, accusing me of being a Labour shill etc. but, believe it or not, I am not. Maybe it's worth setting this out — I have no party affiliation. None. I'm not 'on the right' … but that's as far as it goes. There are policies and people that I admire across the Lib Dems, Greens and Labour. Conversely, there are policies and people I am vehemently against within each of those parties as well. There are some decent Conservatives left but fewer and fewer in frontline politics and I can have excellent discussions with those moderate Tories that remain. Where my line in the sand is drawn though, as I'm sure you're all aware, is the far-right. Reform UK and Restore Britain. I have no common ground with their populism — I see through the propaganda. This doesn't mean that I think every member of Reform UK is a bad person, far from it, but I cannot rationalise their top-line bravado into credible politics. So, with all that being said, I think the witch-hunt of Keir Starmer is distracting the public from some far more serious crises. Since the very day Starmer took office, there has been an onslaught from the media; desperation to try and topple him and his principal team. This played out successfully with Angela Rayner, and they have been vicious and relentless pursuing Rachel Reeves. I listened to Paul Brand on LBC at the weekend continuously comparing Starmer to Boris Johnson in terms of sleaze. Have we collectively lost our minds? There is no other Prime Minister in history that compares to Johnson for scandal. The elephant in the room — Peter Mandelson. But is it really an elephant still? Clearly, Starmer should never have brought the Prince of Darkness into his team, that was a madness and severe failing of judgement. One for which he has accepted responsibility and apologised on multiple occasions. The vetting process appears to be, pretty much, a non-story, despite what Dan Hodges and GB News are shovelling out. So … we should be moving on. Shouldn't we? Kemi Badenoch and her famously robust judgement felt not yesterday, and spent more of her diminishing political currency by pushing Starmer with six questions at PMQs on the subject. She was met with a well briefed lawyer, that, in all honesty, made her look a bit silly for continuing her defeated line of questioning. While this continues to dominate the headlines, other far more crucial issues are being missed — we're going to run low on fuel soon, the cost of living is about to skyrocket, holidays will be cancelled imminently. But mainly ... the cost of living is about to skyrocket. We saw in yesterday's inflation rise that food is already moving upward, if Trump's ludicrous war in Iran continues, then we're all going to suffer the consequences. Surely, this is a far more pressing matter? One in which the government should be fully engaged in order to help protect the public — it's number one duty. It is very telling that Reform UK are spending very little time on the Starmer issue. They sent Lee Anderson out to raise this issue, for goodness’ sake. LEE ANDERSON. Farage is hyper focused on the local elections, safe in the knowledge that the media is obsessing over Keir Starmer, once again. He's making hay while the S*n shines on Labour. Jeez! This went on a bit, sorry, but it feels critical to me. We are being led around by the nose by the legacy media outlets. They smell blood in the water, but I really don't think the story is there. Not yet. And while the sharks circle, Reform UK are flying under the radar, ready to swoop on the local elections [sorry for the weird mixed metaphors — it's early!]. Have a lovely sunny day. 🌞

A final piece of advice from Holly Butcher - written the day before she passed away from cancer at just 27: “It’s a strange thing knowing you’re going to die young. At 26, I thought I had time… To fall in love. Start a family. Grow old. But cancer doesn’t care about plans. Now, I understand how fragile life really is. Every single day is a gift, not a guarantee. I’m not writing this to scare you. I’m writing to remind you: really live. Stop stressing over little things. Be kind to your body- move it, nourish it, stop criticizing it. One day you’ll wish you had appreciated it. Go outside. Look at the sky. Feel the sun. Just be. Spend less time chasing “stuff” - more time making memories. Don’t skip moments with people you love. Laugh more. Write a note. Tell someone you love them. Complain less. Give more. Helping others brings more joy than anything you can buy. Be present. Put your phone down. Show up - really show up. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t need a perfect body, or a perfect life. Just follow what makes your heart light up. Say no to what drains you. Make changes when you need to. And please - donate blood. I wouldn’t have had that extra year without it. And that year gave me memories I’ll hold close… forever. Thank you for reading this. Live your life well. And maybe… we’ll meet again someday.” Holly 🩷 Repost & share Holly’s important advice. ❤️

I figured out why the Artemis stream felt so different It's because for the first time in decades, we collectively witnessed something that was untouched by politics, celebrities and influencers

There are no words.

Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! 🫶 The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end.

Remember when they were going to save the Iranian people

BREAKING Spain’s PM Sánchez: “They say that Spain is alone.” “They’re the same people who said that when we recognized the State of Palestine, and then others followed.” “We are not alone. We are the first.” “Those defending the indefensible will be the ones left alone.” 🇪🇸

@CharlieHuggins_ @conkers3 @HTVIOLA Brilliant episode and insights. Definitely worth a listen

It was a great pleasure to appear on the Twin Pete's Investing Podcast with Peter (@conkers3) and Henry (@HTVIOLA). We covered so much ground: - Challenges of running money professionally - Importance of cash flow - Loads on AI - Companies I like & those I avoid - Lots more...

Wow. Hats off. Words wrapped in absolute GOLD. I don’t think it can be explained any better than this. Respect to Kompany and Bayern Munich. 🙏

Gary Lineker is spot on here. Vini and Mbappe had no reason to lie.

This is a generational bit of viewing 😂😂😂😂😂

Watching the @NBA All Star game and @TeamUSA at the Winter Olympics, it’s clear that sports — just like music and art — still has the power to bring us together, build community, and remind us of our common humanity.

Thoughts on $UBER I have been studying $UBER more deeply for several weeks. Pundits and proponents say it’s either an unstoppable global platform with massive network effects, or it’s a commoditized ride app with no moat and permanent margin pressure. The bull story is easy to tell because $UBER finally proved it can generate real free cash flow, something it struggled with for a long time. That alone correctly changed the narrative because mobility and delivery are not loosing miney anymore. The scale advantage is huge and the brand is global. As volume grows, $UBER becomes more efficient, (ie matching improves, margins expand, etc). If that continues, earnings can compound at a decent rate. If autonomy ends up working “through” $UBER rather than “around” it, the upside can be interesting because $UBER becomes the demand aggregator for fleets it doesn’t even have to own. Yes, quite appealing indeed. That’s the optimistic version, and it’s not crazy. But bears say ride sharing is fundamentally a logistics marketplace, and logistics businesses historically do not have large margins. If growth slows and pricing gets competitive (again), margins can fluctuate down quickly. Autonomy is a double edge sword because it can help $UBER, or it could hurt it if supply explodes / becomes commoditized. This scenario doesn’t require total disaster, it just requires “pressure”. What makes this interesting isn’t whether $UBER survives, it almost certainly does because it’s a massive global platform, etc. The real issue is whether incremental returns from here are attractive. $UBER today is not a turnaround or a broken IPO story. It’s a scaled platform that now has to prove that the economics are durable and improving. And then there’s the most important part many people skip, which is “expectations”. Stocks don’t move because a company grows. They move because reality diverges from what the market already assumes. If the market already expects steady margin expansion and certain growth, then simply executing the base case may not be enough to generate outsized returns. This is not $UBER specific, it’s a truism for any equity. On the other hand, if investors are underestimating how profitable a model can become at scale, there could still be room for attractive returns, perhaps even more vast than initially meet the eye. So when I think about $UBER over five years, I’m not asking whether rides will still exist or if revenue / bookings grow. Of course they will. I’m interested in the much more complex question of whether the return on capital from this point forward is high. And, whether margins structurally improve, and if so, by how much? Or do they deteriorate? It’s been an interesting and honestly somewhat complicated business to study. The surface level story is easy, revenue grows, bookings grow, usage grows, but that’s not what really matters, at least in my humble opinion. To me, the thoughts outlined above are asked far less often, yet they are the ones that actually matter. The question isn’t whether revenue keeps growing, it probably will. The real question is whether the economics from here improve, how much margins can expand, and whether the return on incremental capital ends up being meaningfully better than what the market already assumes. It’s much easier to post charts all day with lines that move nicely from the bottom left to the top right. But the harder, less flashy questions that serious investors should be focused on are the ones above, the durability of margins, the sustainability of returns, and whether the capital being deployed today will actually earn more than what’s already priced in. TGIF! 🌹

Tax isn’t an opt in when you feel like it for most of us… it’s an annual % of what you earn and it’s as painful for someone on 50k as it is for someone on 50 mill… that’s the point of a percentage… if you don’t invest in your country why should your opinion matter?

I'm sorry but it's hard to see people lie about how legal immigration to the United Kingdom works, and say nothing about it. I am a legal immigrant to the UK. In 2023, I had to spent roughly £5,000 for a 2.5 years visa, NHS surcharge, biometric appointment and language tests. I will have to spend £4,000 this year, to extend my visa by another 2.5 years, after which, I'll need to pay again for indefinite leave-to-remain. On top of that, as a legal immigrant, I am understandably required to pay taxes, national insurance and can NOT claim benefits. This on-going myth that legal immigrants are free-loading on UK taxpayers is complete bullshit. If anything, I'm subsidising them. My legal immigrant ass is a net benefit to your country.

England national football team's heritage: Quansah - Scotland, Ghana, and Barbados Reece James - Grenadian and Dominican Trevoh Chalobah - Sierra Leone Djed Spence - Kenya and Jamaica Nico O'Reilly - Jamaica Ezri Konsa - Congo and Angola Declan Rice - Irish Jack Grealish - Irish Jude Bellingham - Irish Harry Kane - Irish Cole Palmer - St Kitts and Nevis Bukayo Saka - Ghana Eberechi Eze - Nigeria Kobbie Mainoo - Ghanaian Raheem Sterling - Jamaican Marcus Rashford - Jamaican and St Kitts and Nevis Anthony Gordon - Irish and Scottish Ollie Watkins - Jamaican

Who’s going to tell her

“The UK population was 58 million in 2020. Now it’s 70 million.” In reality, the UK population was 67 million in 2020, and it’s now 69 million. Sir Ratcliffe’s math is off by about 10 million.

@TIWtweets Listened to the pod today and right on cue the anthropic news drops. WKLA down 10% and RELX down 11%. RELX now the cheapest it’s been in a couple of years

This episode is now live!