Roberta Builder

DEAL IS IMMINENT!

In 1988, a tube of smarties cost 18p and a first class stamp cost 19p Going by Bank of England inflation calculator that would now be 51p and 53p. In fact they are £1 and £1.80. Other than technology nothing seems to have got cheaper. Perhaps the Bank of England has got inflation wrong?

🇸🇪🇺🇦 Sweden's PM Kristersson at a joint presser with NATO chief Rutte: "We should help the Ukrainians as much as we can to direct their attacks in the right directions." That's NATO publicly offering to guide Ukrainian drones into Russian territory. The stated reason: Ukrainian drones keep straying into NATO airspace because Russia is jamming their guidance systems. A Romanian jet just shot one down over Estonia. Every week this year, the line moves. And nobody seems to notice until it's already there. Where does this end?

This should fix the UK's billionaire overpopulation problem

🚨⚡️ Putin said the strike on the Starobilsk college was deliberate, with 16 drones attacking the same location in three waves. He added that 6 people were killed and 15 remain missing.

Britain is at peak tax … so the government has decided to tax us MORE! a £ 1 BILLION extra tax grab on family holidays! because HOW DARE You have a holiday!… 20% VAT charged on airport charges, to use their runways and terminals. They hate you 🔥

EIA's weekly stock report: Just ahead of Trump's statement on Wednesday that the US was in the "final stages" with Iran, the latest EIA weekly status report delivered an on-paper bullish update, showing a record 17.8 million barrel decline in total US crude inventories. However, more than half of that move came from a 9.9 million barrel release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), while commercial inventories accounted for a still sizeable 7.9 million barrel draw. Stocks at Cushing, the WTI delivery hub, also fell for a fourth consecutive week, reinforcing signs of tightening prompt supply. A rise in imports, led by Venezuelan barrels reaching the highest level since 2018, was largely offset by another increase in US crude exports as strong international demand continued to pull light sweet US grades into global markets. As a result, net import flows were little changed on the week, while US production held steady. Across refined products, gasoline inventories declined while distillate stocks posted a modest increase. Despite that rise, distillate inventories - a key proxy for diesel and industrial fuel availability - remain near the lowest seasonal levels in more than two decades, highlighting ongoing tightness in middle distillates. US gasoline demand on a four-week average basis eased but remained above comparable seasonal levels seen in both 2025 and 2022, suggesting consumer demand has softened somewhat but not materially deteriorated.

Wes Streeting has this morning set out his tax plans - specifically bringing capital gains tax into line with income tax He says that the current system is unfair because it penalises work Higher or additional rate taxpayers will pay 24% on gains in the current financial year. Streeting said that the rates should mirror income tax bands - so 40% for higher rate taxpayers and 45% for additional rate taxpayers He says that the approach could raise £12billion a year Streeting said: “A member of my family is a cleaner in Lancashire. She pays a higher tax rate on her salary than her landlord pays for the growing value of the home she lives in. She slogs her guts out, he puts in far less effort, yet the state rewards him more than her. And we wonder why people are angry. “The system is penalising work. It’s not fair and it’s bad for our economy. We need a wealth tax that works. A pound made from simply owning assets should not be taxed less than a pound made from a hard day's work. We can do it in a way that is pro-growth, pro-entrepreneur and pro-work.”