Paul Smiley

@petermblackburn What’s wrong with that ?

Good lord.

Dear Prime Minister & Home Secretary, I hope this letter finds you well, fully caffeinated, and in possession of a calculator. I’m writing with what I believe is a modest, fiscally responsible proposal. I understand the Government is offering up to £40,000 to certain individuals to voluntarily leave the United Kingdom. First of all — bold strategy. Nothing says “strong borders” quite like a cashback scheme. Now, I regret to inform you that I am, in fact, a fully tax-paying, law-abiding British citizen. I know — awkward. I appreciate this may disqualify me from the premium exit package, but I’m willing to negotiate. I would like to formally apply for £35,000 to leave. You see, unlike some applicants, I haven’t broken any laws to get here. I didn’t arrive by dinghy. I didn’t require processing, housing, or legal appeals. I’ve actually been funding the whole operation through PAYE for years — which I believe makes me a loyal shareholder in this enterprise. Given that you’re prepared to offer £40,000 for someone to depart voluntarily after entering illegally, I feel £35,000 for someone who’s been here legally all along represents excellent value for money. Think of it as a “Buy British, Get One Gone” discount. For £35,000 I will:    •   Leave quietly.    •   Not require a press conference.    •   Not demand a diversity officer to wave me off.    •   Even carry my own suitcase to the airport. I may also tweet a polite thank-you note on departure, praising the efficiency of the scheme. Frankly, it feels like I’ve misunderstood how incentives work in modern Britain. All these years I thought obeying the law, paying taxes, and contributing to society were the winning strategy. Turns out the real pro-move is to arrive unlawfully and wait for a loyalty bonus. Who knew? While British families are juggling rent, energy bills, and the weekly food shop like contestants on a dystopian game show, it’s reassuring to know the Treasury has located a spare £40,000 per head for voluntary goodbyes. May I ask — is there a points card? Ten years of National Insurance contributions and I get a free exit bonus? If so, I believe I’m overdue. In the spirit of fairness and fiscal responsibility, I am not even asking for the full £40,000. I’m trimming £5,000 off to help balance the books. That’s the kind of responsible budgeting I was raised on. If successful, I promise to:    •   Leave via a scheduled flight (economy is fine).    •   Not stage a protest on the runway.    •   And refrain from re-entering on a small boat to see if I qualify twice. All I ask is equal treatment. If departure is now a funded career pathway, I would very much like to submit my CV. Yours in hopeful relocation, A slightly confused taxpayer

Let’s deal with this nonsense properly, because this comparison deserves to be fired straight into the nearest star. Yes — without immigrants, Manchester United wouldn’t have much of a starting XI. Stunning revelation. Stop the presses. But here’s the bit the woke-by-reflex crowd keep either missing or deliberately ignoring: Manchester United’s players are not undocumented migrants. They are:    •   Legally vetted    •   Highly skilled    •   Contracted professionals    •   On strict work permits    •   Paying tax    •   Selected because they are the best on the planet at what they do In other words, they are the polar opposite of hundreds of thousands of unskilled, undocumented illegal migrants entering the country with no papers, no skills verification, no job, no housing, and no plan beyond “the state will sort it.” Comparing elite professional footballers to illegal immigration is like comparing a fighter jet to a shopping trolley because they both have wheels somewhere. This is the absolute breaking point of the left-woke mindset:    •   Conflating legal immigration with illegal mass migration    •   Treating borders as a social construct    •   Pretending skills, law, consent, capacity, and numbers don’t matter    •   And shouting “racist” as a substitute for thinking Britain has never been anti-immigration. Britain is anti-loss of control. There is a vast, glaring difference between:    •   “Come legally, work, contribute, integrate” and    •   “Arrive undocumented and invoice the taxpayer” One strengthens a country. The other quietly breaks it. Footballers don’t prove the case for open borders. They prove the case for standards, selection, and control.

Des Lynam reading out the updated league tables on Grandstand, with Bruce Hornsby playing in the background. Pure nostalgia.

@Investanswers Why are you playing their game - thought you were better than that.

Gold just lost $7 TRILLION since Wednesday. That’s 4.3× the entire Bitcoin market cap wiped out in 48 hours. 👀📉

I remember when #BrooklynBeckham got a gig on the Today show as a TV chef and his recipe was a breakfast sandwich. Something I’ve been making since I was like, 9. That was his big recipe. Sausage, bacon, egg on untoasted bread. As mediocre as he is. How did he get this gig, you may be asking? Well, during lockdown he cooked and began to fancy himself a chef. He used his family name and connections to get spots on TV but you can see how hard the hosts are trying to keep this nightmare afloat. #NicolaPeltz #VictoriaBeckham #DavidBeckham

Liverpool's build up play v Leeds

@PRodr1guez @TimPrice1969 @sotmpc I think the pleasure has been all ours.

Wishing all our loyal listeners and the great guests on our State of the Markets Podcast a very Merry Christmas and a Peaceful and Prosperous 2026 ❤️ With Three awards from #Spotify @TimPrice1969 @sotmpc #podcast #finance

@paullewismoney The irony of the reporters surname 😆

Michel Mone linked firm goes bust bit.ly/3Yzqwns Liquidation means the money will not be repaid unless the govt can go after the personal assets in trust but that could be tricky.

The 2 dogs in Bondi Beach have been neutralised

How the City of London is not part of the UK. For those who have not seen this before it’s important you watch and listen. The City of London, Washington DC and the Vatican City all have special status. This gives special rights and protections to those in these areas. The speaker is Professor Richard Werner. One if not the most important video in the history of the 20 century!

🚨Bullish reversal incoming for $MSTR‼️ Something that statistically only occurs once every 5-20 years for a stock and is incredibly reliable. The “Abandoned Baby” candlestick pattern is a super-rare three-candle pattern on a chart that screams “strong trend reversal coming!” It looks like this: 1. A big candle going with the trend (e.g., a long red one in a downtrend). 2. Price gaps the opposite way and forms a tiny “baby” candle that doesn’t touch the first candle at all. 3. Price gaps again and a strong candle closes deep into the first candle’s body. This perfect sequence almost never happens in stocks—only once every 3–10 years per stock, or roughly 0.02–0.08% of all trading days. It’s 10–50 times rarer than common patterns like doji or shooting stars. Because it’s so scarce and requires two clean gaps plus exact positioning, when traders actually see a real one, they trust it heavily. Studies and big quant firms show it’s one of the most reliable reversal signals available. In simple terms: it’s the market’s version of a unicorn. Spotting a genuine Abandoned Baby is like getting a loud, trustworthy heads-up that the price direction is about to flip hard. H/t: @matthew_sigel

Tom Lee explain's why MSTR has been pushed so aggressively down 👇

I spoke with @YahooFinance about $BTC volatility, treasury strategies, energy challenges, $MSTR short-sellers, the shutdown, using AI & social media to turbocharge growth, and the role of digital equity, capital & credit—like $STRC.

WOW! Tesla full self driving dodges a freaking plane falling out of the sky! @Tesla fsd for the win! @elonmusk

@investanswers @AlexPereiraUFC James, spoilers ! Can’t watch till the morning.😜

and my guy wins at the same time #POATAN @AlexPereiraUFC Todo mundo agora mandando energia pro Alex ''Poatan'' Pereira #CHAMA

BOOM THERE IT IS - new Bitcoin ATH

Anxiety, depression, and burnout are not “all in your head... They’re in your gut. Your gut makes 90% of serotonin and 50% of dopamine. When the gut is inflamed, your mind suffers. Since your doctor won’t tell you this... Here are 7 ways to fix the gut–mind connection: 🧵

This routine changed my life. It will be yours as well!

With Larry Fink & Andre Hoffmann having everything to gain, today the WEF published a blueprint for the complete monetization of everything in nature. Natural Asset Companies, Biodiversity Credits, Debt for Nature Swaps, Payments for Ecosystem Services reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Finan…