Mike

@martinrw the research doesn't show that they made 1.6bn profit at all to get to the figure you have to:- Assume equipment lasts for ever Interest isn't a cost try trlling that to your bank The NHS pays the same price as everyone else despite having massive negotiating power Its rubbish

This is scandalous, but not surprising. If we re-nationalised the NHS, we'd stand to save £1.6bn every two years. theguardian.com/society/2026/a…

@DocShivSharma Its bollocks though, the report makes lots of rubbish assumptions such as interest isn't a cost, equipment never wears out, the NHS doesn't use its size to negotiate good deals, etc, etc I guess those on the Nokia phones driving Reliant Robins will think its ok

We’re told we can’t afford doctors. But we can afford £1.6 BILLION in profits for private companies. These are deliberate choices to move NHS money into private hands, not frontline care. The government's privatisation of the NHS isn't so secret anymore.

@RichardJMurphy He is playing with you and like a cat chasing a laser pointer you jump from one thing to another unable to control yourselves It should worry us that the supposedly intelligent are so easy to manipulate but it is funny

Trump thinks he’s God, and that should worry us youtube.com/shorts/A2JK9A1…

@Peston The ceasefire should include Lebanon, that is any attack of Israel from Lebanon can be treated as a breach of the ceasefire by Iran

Starmer and Macron spoke this afternoon with “both leaders agreeing that any ceasefire must include Lebanon to support wider regional stability”.

@DanielJHannan @LiamHalligan Pensioners should be protected from inflation, the problem with the triple lock is the same inflationary spike can impact the figures in consecutive years The answer is to change the reference period to say 5 yrs choose the biggest & deduct the 4 previous years increases from it

@RichardJMurphy £20bn extra for defence, its not enough, we don't have the frigates to protect the aircraft carriers, the army is undersized, ammunition stocks are miles too low, etc, etc Without adequate defence nothing is safe unless you trust Putin, Xi ,Trump, etc

The Tories' new policy: "Starve the Children" to pay for their misplaced fantasy about Britain's role in the world. theguardian.com/politics/2026/…

@LBC @rorysutherland nationally there is no affordability crisis, a couple FT on minimum wage can afford to buy the avg property (250k) the key to buying your own home has changed from having a pretty good job to having a working partner you trust Shoot the divorce lawyers to help homeownership

'Housing is more like a protection racket than a business.' People would be happier if they stopped buying houses and spent more at the pub, @RorySutherland says.

@moving_charlie @consumerofmonch that is not the way to bet though, minimum wage has risen far faster than pensions as the government has to fund pensions and employers fund minimum wage increases so increasing minimum wage is seen as a free lunch / vote winner

@consumerofmonch @Mike47w The pay for which doesn’t necessarily go up with inflation like pensions do.

This will not help Reform keep the younger vote, it'll drive them into the arms of the greens. The young will see this as yet more unfair advantage for the already-wealthiest generation. x.com/i/trending/204…

@consumerofmonch @moving_charlie So when you reach "retirement age" you should expect your living standards to fall off a cliff or go back to working until you die?

@Mike47w @moving_charlie An 18 year old on min wage has a job

@cjsnowdon Green party policies will lead to single male renting properties having to live in HMOs imho Restrictions on private LL & social LL allocate on need. Single men will be assessed as lowest need hence HMOs Will divorced dads be able to have spare rooms to have their kids stay

Polanski won’t survive a general election campaign.

@Davouts @RichardJMurphy the air defence systems that have worked so badly in Iran, I understand Pakistan has had issues with Chinese defence equipment/weapons as well

@Mike47w @RichardJMurphy Which Chinese weapons where?

The conflict in the Middle East is not a contained regional war. It is, instead, a geopolitical earthquake that is reshaping the global balance of power in real time. The United States and Israel began this confrontation against Iran, but it is China that will emerge as the dominant winner, without deploying a single soldier. And who will lose? People everywhere, plus the UK, clinging to a "special relationship" that is becoming untenable, whilst being left dangerously exposed without a functioning navy, an air force heavily dependent on the US, and a foreign policy with no clear direction. youtu.be/cRFx02_Keag?si…

@AngelInvestGuy I'm ignoring that we're in a bear market & thinking longer term rent should be about the same as a mortgage say 5-6% nominal capital growth about the same as nominal wages or inflation +1% say 4% In total 9% (nominal) or so tax free, low risk and can be increased by leverage

So tired of the British discussion / obsession with buying property to live in You scrape to buy something with 30 more years of fixed payments. Then you discover that your carrying costs are 40% higher than the equivalent rental costs You don’t have to buy something that makes little financial sense. As a matter of fact, I would strongly discourage it Invest your money, rent and buy when the numbers stack up Signed, the guy paying a 2.5% gross rental yield

@OllieC03 @moving_charlie Your broker should have told you if you'd done 10 most mortgages allow you to overpay by 10% of the capital each year, this would allow you to mimic reducing the term without remortgaging In short you can do this with the 10 yr fix

@moving_charlie Was offered 5 and 10. Massive regrets not doing the 10. The theory was we’d want to reduce the term after 5 as the need for lower monthly payments was only short term. Going to get slapped next year now (probably).

Anyone who took out a mortgage 6 years ago and wasn’t offered a 10yr fix by their broker should be asking them why

@VVawne2005 @kelvmackenzie There are mortgage brokers who don't charge a fee, if people shopped around and used them no broker could / would charge a fee

@kelvmackenzie I know someone who just purchased their first home. They had to pay a mortgage advisor £500? A license to print money to tick boxes and navigate red tape. Why are they legally allowed to charge these amounts?

Estate agents tell me home buyers are as rare as a heterosexuals at the BBC due to the Iran war. Mortgage rates over the last month have risen from 4.83% to 5. 89% pushing prices even further down. Most folk who bought their house in the last six years are facing negative equity. Thank you Starmer.

@emmafildes @marcshoffman IMHO there is a clear case against Rightmove abusing its dominant position Rightmove does not allow private individuals to list their properties for sale artificially restricting competition This should be ended Estate agents should welcome such a move if they are effective

Estate agencies will be willing Jeremy Newman’s £1.5bn legal action against Rightmove for “abusing its dominant position in the UK online property portal by charging excessive subscription fees”every success. Popcorn at the ready…⁦@marcshoffman⁩ estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/…

@moving_charlie The centre for policy studies believes we are 6.5 million homes short, roughly 30 years supply, then there's the fact UK homes are 20% smaller than European homes There's plenty of homes to build its that costs including regulatory ones are out of control

This is significant. The first home builder I’ve heard announce this. They’ve done the demographic and birth rate calculations and see the population decline ahead and realised long term demand is dead.

@RichardJMurphy FRACK BABY FRACK The price of electricity in the USA is about 14pp/KWH less than half the UK This regressive tax costs families £4-500 pa that could be spent in the economy instead is a tithe to meet the religious views of the green religion with no practical benefit

What should Rachel Reeves do right now to protect us from this war? youtu.be/0E2gWYX193Y?si…

@Kieron489735988 @moving_charlie You'd hope anyone could beat an average unless there are special factors such as 100% LTV, High income multiples, flying freeholds, etc

@moving_charlie I’m glad my whole of market mortgage advisor is able to find better rates than the moneyfacts average reported here.

A month ago these were a percent lower. The double whammy effect of this is firstly an immediate slowdown in buyer demand Then a reduction in buyers’ budgets once the mortgages approved at the new rates start being used in purchases. Fast and slow double hit.