Sean Withington

616 posts

Sean Withington

Sean Withington

@Withington22013

Katılım Aralık 2023
138 Takip Edilen6 Takipçiler
Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@Victoria_Spratt This is a defence if said politician isn’t out there campaigning for more of the type of complexity that ensnared her. But she is. The tax code is confusing precisely because of the ever more specific circumstances people like her are trying to capture.
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Vicky Spratt
Vicky Spratt@Victoria_Spratt·
Two leading tax specialists tweeting acknowledgments that they were wrong about Angela Rayner’s case now that they’ve seen all of the information and spoken to her KC… We don’t like to think the law is confusing or subjective, but it is!
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@adb0wen Is it insane crankery? You could make the case that the Lab-con continuity is what created the rentier economy we have today…
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@laurence_hulse Made worse by the fact he quite obviously never runs. You can tell by his gate, his heels striking first, and his quads (or lack of).
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Simon French
Simon French@Frencheconomics·
The Pound is softer, yields are higher on the Josh Simons/ Burnham news. This is not trying to “constrain democratic choice” this is rational repricing of expectations for more Gilt issuance, and more inflation.
Richard Murphy@RichardJMurphy

UK gilt yields have hit an 18-year high. That's not because the economy collapsed. It's because bond markets fear Labour might elect a slightly more left-wing leader. When financial markets seek to constrain democratic choice, that is not economic discipline. It is political power, exercised without a ballot. cnbc.com/2026/05/13/gil…

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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@PatriciaNPino What does this even mean? Investors would simply shift to other countries’ bonds. The UK doesn’t have the captive market of the 60s.
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Patricia
Patricia@PatriciaNPino·
Stop issuing bonds. See how quickly the bond markets fall in line.
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@rorymeakin Compared to the labour growth group’s plan*, it’s totally underwhelming. *I don’t agree with it all but it’s undeniably ambitious.
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich@RBReich·
There are basically 5 ways to accumulate a billion dollars: 1) Profiting from a monopoly 2) Insider-trading 3) Political payoffs 4) Fraud 5) Inheritance Don’t believe the self-made myth.
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@s8mb The consistent thread is lack of detailed preparation one way or another.
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Sam Bowman
Sam Bowman@s8mb·
The trouble with fixing Britain's shambolic politics is that there are too many plausible explanations for what has happened. I don't think it can just be bad luck. Britain has had five in a row of the most unsuited people in its history as Prime Minister, with a sixth almost certainly on the way. (I would like to be wrong.) Is it institutional sclerosis in the British state binding their hands, and putting off more capable people from the job? Is it bad conditions and pay for MPs creating a shallow talent pool? Is it post-financial crisis scepticism about capitalism and economics, and fading memories of the 20th Century's mistakes? Is it weak economic growth encouraging zero-sum politics? Is the media environment rewarding charlatans? Is it social media making backbenchers harder to control, or party memberships harder to ignore? I genuinely don't know which of these are the strongest hypotheses. How can we even begin to fix the problem when we don't even know what its causes are?
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Workhouse Overseer 🌐🥑🍌
@nobodyknows2322 I think Britain has the crazier centre-left (the kind of ppl who actually form govts), and far left (there isn't really an American equivalent to the British Green party) but America has by far and away the most insane online left
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@REITStrategist @John_Stepek @MarkDampier @MerrynSW There is no British exceptionalism. How our politicians conduct themselves really matters. x.com/alexwickham/st…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham

BREAKING: Top investors warn Britain faces a Liz Truss-style bond market revolt if Labour ousts Keir Starmer Michael Pfister, FX strategist at Commerzbank: “The goal of a balanced budget is likely to falter should a less fiscally conservative candidate take over. And in recent years, we have repeatedly seen situations where the British government bond markets came under pressure and the pound followed suit. This time, the situation is unlikely to be any different.” Cathal Kennedy, senior UK economist at RBC Capital Markets: “I think this morning there is a 2022 feel toward this, with the Prime Minister carrying on as normal while all indications show he has lost his authority in the party.” Craig Inches, head of rates and cash at Royal London Asset Management Ltd: “The market is now pricing almost four rate hikes for the UK which it can’t withstand. Whoever replaces Starmer will not be able to borrow more money via gilts regardless of what they say.” Mohit Kumar, chief economist and strategist for Europe at Jefferies: “Any replacement would likely be left-leaning and be negative for the long end of the curve and the currency. We maintain our steepeners and short position in sterling.” Jordan Rochester and Evelyne Gomez at Mizuho: “We’ve been looking for 10 year UK gilts to sell off towards 5.15% by year end for quite some time, but this political drama accelerates the timeline, and we could see a move toward 5.20% until the political situation is settled and/or 5.35% in extreme stress.” Laura Cooper, global investment strategist and head of macro credit at Nuveen: “Gilts are increasingly behaving like a real-time referendum on fiscal and political credibility, aggravated by the recent move higher in oil prices.” Roger Lee, head of equity strategy at Cavendish: “Even if Starmer resigns the political uncertainty is unlikely to end as internal rivalry within the Labour Party ramps up. To stabilize the gilt market the government may have to commit to the fiscal rules and the only candidate seemingly prepared to do that is Wes Streeting.” James Athey, fund manager at Marlborough Investment Management Ltd: “The last thing that Gilts needed was weakness in the US treasury market. Now we’ve got potential for the ceasefire to collapse, the US doing some fiscal expansion all on top of the utter domestic shambles that is UK politics.”

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Merryn Somerset Webb
Just so everyone knows, @John_Stepek and I are not available to record an emergency podcast today. Scheduled service as normal tomorrow.
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REIT Strategist
REIT Strategist@REITStrategist·
@Withington22013 @John_Stepek @MarkDampier @MerrynSW Sure. It raised yields by a bit. What is the media covering and what's everyone talking about? Gilt yields rising on political turmoil or on faltering Iran negotiations? Which is more important to Gilt yields and is that what's being covered? That's my simple point
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@REITStrategist @John_Stepek @MarkDampier @MerrynSW Your implied argument is that uk politics isn’t having any impact on market moves though. Reactions to the cabinet suggest that isn’t true. Your political option is also too narrow - reframe: what would happen if it looks like Rayner is on course to be PM/CX?
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REIT Strategist
REIT Strategist@REITStrategist·
@Withington22013 @John_Stepek @MarkDampier @MerrynSW I'm glad you asked Attributing market moves to a specific event is a guess at best - nobody can reliably tell what's causing the market to sell off. (Also 8bps is nothing) With that said, if you answer this question, you may see which is more important x.com/i/status/20541…
REIT Strategist@REITStrategist

Here's 2 scenarios for you to consider 1. Political turmoil is resolved and Kier Starmer has his party's full support. 2. US/Iran war is resolved and hydrocarbon flows through Strait of Hormuz normalise. Which of these two developments bring Gilt yields down more?

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REIT Strategist
REIT Strategist@REITStrategist·
@John_Stepek @MarkDampier @MerrynSW Only market related story here is the breakdown in talks between Iran and the US The political circus rolls on in the UK but it's not really impacting markets
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@lawrencenewport Agree, but it once again points at the problem without offering solutions beyond vague “cut taxes and allow the markets to decide”. Correct path, but what are the actual trade-offs he’s prepared to make to achieve that? None forthcoming.
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Ben Riley-Smith
Ben Riley-Smith@benrileysmith·
Theresa May - 3 years Boris Johnson - 3 years, 2 months Liz Truss - 7 weeks Rishi Sunak - 1 year, 9 months Keir Starmer currently 1 year, 10 months If he goes today, it’s averaging a PM every two years. Are we the new Italy?
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The New Statesman
The New Statesman@NewStatesman·
How to get Andy Burnham back? One way forward would be for a current sitting MP – Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner  – to challenge Starmer for the leadership now, with the express and explicit intention of using their position as leader to recompose the NEC, bring Burnham back into parliament, and make way for him as leader and Prime Minister as soon as possible. Yes, the press would squawk about the bond markets. But Burnham could be brought into cabinet discussions as soon as the new leader were in place; that way, investors could be reassured that a consistent programme would be followed during the few weeks that it would take to complete this process: especially if, for example, caretaker PM Ed Miliband were to be appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer as soon as his more electable colleague was installed as Premier. ✍️ @jemgilbert newstatesman.com/comment/2026/0…
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@robertshrimsley You could argue that is, in turn, driven by the underlying fact that the voters simply do not want to hear the truth.
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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@DuncanStott I imagine everyone’s (understandable) assumption was that you do, at the very very least, need to be on a permanent visa to hold elected office. Shows how Westminster treats Scottish politics as a secondary consideration though, so maybe that’s where the lesson lies
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Duncan Stott 🏗️🔰🇺🇦
Was anyone criticising his candidacy *before* he was elected? Because complaining immediately after the voters elected him does seem like a failure on his critics' part.
The Telegraph@Telegraph

🗣️ 'A Scottish Green MSP on a short-term visa represents the kind of future that PR advocates want: politicians chosen by parties not voters' @TomTugendhat shares thoughts on the newly elected Green Party MSPs Q Manivannan ⤵️ telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/1…

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Sean Withington
Sean Withington@Withington22013·
@adb0wen The idea that rejoining the EU without being part of a wider economic strategy is going to re-energise growth is BS. The EU is under equally severe strain and is equally delusional about its position.
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