Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.10, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Tim Worstall It is all obvious or trivial except... ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://www.timworstall.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Works for me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/works-for-me-5/) - [Umm](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/umm-53/) - My starting point is definitional and a departure from conventional framing. A government bond, or, in the UK context, a gilt, is not in any meaningful economic sense a loan that the government takes out and must repay. It is the equivalent of a fixed-term bank deposit account. But a bank deposit account is the - [Digital ID](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/digital-id/) - We Couldn't Have Done This Without You Yesterday was a huge moment for the No to Digital ID campaign. Following months of public pressure, incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the Digital ID policy will be scrapped. This is a victory that belongs to every one of you. From day one, this campaign has - [Depends what he axes, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/depends-what-he-axes-no/) - Outlining plans to axe the digital ID scheme, a spokesman for Mr Burnham said: “One of the first things this government will do is put its focus where people need it right now: creating breathing space and delivering change they can feel in their everyday lives. “That means all the time and resource that was - [So, not going to solve the problem at all then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/so-not-going-to-solve-the-problem-at-all-then/) - The options. Burnham could revisit the idea of tightening eligibility requirements, or he could reduce the value of some benefits. But this seems unlikely given his political instincts and pledge to avoid “crude cuts”. Instead he will probably focus on reducing demand. Clues. Burnham has already given indications he intends to pursue this path. He - [We need new immigration judges, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/we-need-new-immigration-judges-no/) - An Albanian former drug dealer who snuck back into Britain 40 days after being deported has been allowed to stay in the country after a judge ruled it would be unfair on his wife if he were deported. Or, perhaps, we do not need the ones we've got? - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/snigger-301/) - The grants are part of a broader shift that has caused dismay among veterans of the state department. In interviews, five former officials suggested that there has been a months-long effort by Trump-aligned individuals in the state department to subvert normal funding procedures and allocate US taxpayer money to conservative and Maga-aligned causes in the - [Umm, OK.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/umm-ok/) - Patrick Spencer was seen on camera coming up behind two women and putting his arms around them at the private members’ club during a night out in August 2023, less than a year before he was elected to the seat of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. Spencer, 38, was accused of “cupping” the breasts of - [At lesat they're mentioning it now](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/at-lesat-theyre-mentioning-it-now/) - In Spain, firefighters used to dealing with a couple of blazes at a time say they struggle with an increase in number and strength. The situation has been worsened by recent wet winters and springs that allow vegetation to flourish – leaving more surplus fuel when it inevitably dries in summer – as well as - [Ignorance, ignorance](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/ignorance-ignorance-2/) - The Washington Consensus was the notorious neoliberal prescription delivered to many developing countries by both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank from the late 1980s onwards. My glossary entry on this subject is well worth noting. It explains how these two Bretton Woods agencies were captured by neoliberal economics to spread its - [Just can't trust 'em](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/just-cant-trust-em/) - Drivers have been hit with parking charges while queueing for petrol pumps in a possible breach of consumer law, the competition watchdog has said. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Euro Car Parks over whether its practices at petrol stations and its handling of appeals may have broken the law. The watchdog said - [Because it's said in Parliament](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/because-its-said-in-parliament/) - Nicola Sturgeon tried to destroy Alex Salmond to stop him uncovering her husband’s embezzlement of SNP funds, MPs have been told. Speaking in the House of Commons, Sir David Davis said that Ms Sturgeon “knew full well” that Peter Murrell was stealing money from the party and using it to fund “luxury purchases”. But the - [Bugger the locals](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/bugger-the-locals/) - The reality is that these colonies will sooner or later inevitably become part of their continents. They cannot indefinitely be protected by a European patron, and Argentina’s claims are not going away. Doesn't matter what the locals think. Which is odd, when the whole decolonisation thing was driven by ew must do what the locals - [See the point, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/see-the-point-no/) - What distinguishes Reform from other parties, however, is its refusal to believe that words have consequences. Inextricably wedded to unfettered free speech online, its answer isn’t to regulate platforms that algorithmically amplify and normalise hate but simply to build ever higher walls around the targets of that hate Free speech is important, yes. So, the - [Hmmm](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/hmmm-48/) - Unite, the union representing most cabin crew, which has 30,000 female members in the sector, last year found that 34% of women had been sexually assaulted at work (this includes ground staff); 67% had experienced unwanted flirting, gesturing or sexual remarks; Unwanted flirting? But how does anyone know whether flirting will be wanted until it - [Not colloquial English speakers](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/not-colloquial-english-speakers/) - Birds masturbate, and that’s perfectly normal Sure, it's true either way, but that headline might have been written a little differently in a colloquial English speaking country.... - [Skittles do fall just right for him, don't they?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/skittles-do-fall-just-right-for-him-dont-they/) - Man arrested over threat to shoot Farage Police detain suspect over social media post that said ‘I am going to shoot you in the head if you win’ So two weeks back the press was in full cry hunting him for accepting money to pay for security. Now this. This is only a comment as - [Well of course he is](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/well-of-course-he-is/) - Andy Burnham admits he is considering raising taxes Jobs and growth under threat from Britain’s record tax burden, economists warn What's the point of a decades long struggle to the top if there's no new money to spend? - [Bollocks](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/bollocks-31/) - Starmer said: “British Steel is part of the fabric of our nation and a cornerstone of Britain’s industrial strength. “Today’s decision secures the future of steel making in the UK, protects skilled jobs and safeguards a vital national capability. This government will always act in the national interest to support British industry, strengthen our economy - [Fuck off, Honey](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/fuck-off-honey-2/) - Layla Moran, the committee’s chair and a Liberal Democrat MP, highlighted the widespread advertising and availability of unhealthy food, and urged ministers to take strong action We've only just solved humanity's most basic problem - do we have enough food? - and now you want to ban the stuff? - [It happens](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/it-happens/) - IBM is on track for its biggest share price slump on record after warning that AI is eating into its business. More than $68bn (£50bn) was wiped off the company’s value at the start of trading on Tuesday after the company said customers were ploughing money into the AI boom rather than its products. Eventually - [To whom?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/to-whom-3/) - The main reparations committee for Caribbean nations has called on the UK to return the British Virgin Islands Got a few Arawaks, Caribs in mind? Or is this a demand to hand it over to colonial products like those of African descent? - [The Demand!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/the-demand/) - Private companies could be prevented from accumulating untaxed personal wealth. People must stop reinvesting past profits. That'll sort things out, no? - [Bold assertion](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/bold-assertion/) - Those with privilege carry half the risk of childhood obesity that those in deprived groups have. This is the real cost of the toleration of income and wealth inequality, discrimination, and the failure to recognise the impact of neurodivergence, since all those subject to these are more likely to be in the deprived groups. The - [Pity that not all science works this way](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/pity-that-not-all-science-works-this-way/) - Museum loans were also problematic, Carr said. “The problem is that a privately owned fossil can be recalled from a museum at any moment back into an owner’s home, so the principles of availability and replicability are not guaranteed.” Indeed many journals now stipulate that research papers must be based on fossils housed in permanent - [Maybe, maybe not](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/maybe-maybe-not/) - ​Jim Glennie, who has died aged 100, was one of a dwindling number of surviving veterans of Operation Overlord, the landings in Normandy in June 1944, the largest amphibious assault in history. James Glennie was born at Turriff, Aberdeenshire, on August 19 1925. Always known as Jim, aged 16 he joined the Home Guard. In - [This seems fair](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-seems-fair/) - How a convicted fraudster became Andy Burnham’s right-hand woman If every reference to George Cottrell is "th convicted moneylaunderer" or watever it is they're using then and therefore: Louise Haigh, the convicted fraudster. Always, every reference. - [Now this could be fun](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/now-this-could-be-fun/) - George Cottrell and Stephen Cottrell are, respectively, mates with Nige and the Archbishop of York. Names don't lie, they're connected! I shall soon be launching an investigation into how Big Church is controlling Reform. Send money now to fund this! - [Should women have the vote?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/should-women-have-the-vote/) - The 2022 election brought a record-breaking gender gap between men and women, and the latest statistics show that in September the gulf is likely to be even wider: a recent survey by Statistics Sweden found that twice as many men as women support the far-right Sweden Democrats, while female support for the Social Democrats is - [That's why it's being suggested. Of course.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/thats-why-its-being-suggested-of-course/) - Reform UK would have held just 15% of the donations it received last year if a proposed £100,000 cap on political donations had been in force, according to analysis shared with the Guardian. The analysis by Friends of the Earth using Electoral Commission data highlights the party’s reliance on a handful of wealthy backers in - [Not that I believe this in the slightest](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/not-that-i-believe-this-in-the-slightest/) - The heatwave that affected England and Wales in June killed about 440 people a day during its three-day peak, scientists have estimated. Across the whole of the June heatwave, plus the one in May, about 2,700 people lost their lives prematurely. The data starkly illustrates the danger of extreme heat, which is being supercharged by - [Cry more indeed](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/cry-more-indeed/) - As her comments made the rounds on social media, two MEPs from rightwing populist parties shot back at her online. “Cry more,” wrote the Finnish MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen, of the Finns party, in response to a clip of Al-Sahlani addressing parliament, while the Danish MP Kristoffer Storm, of the Denmark Democrats, said she “should go - [Not really, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/not-really-no-28/) - The issue that should be convulsing France is Le Pen’s legitimacy as a public representative. If the voters vote for her, knowing what they know, then she's in. 'S democratic that way, see? - [Odd this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/odd-this-5/) - Because what is taking place is not an aberration, not a deviation, but a norm that is enacted and blessed explicitly by successive generations of Israeli politicians and, it seems, by Israeli society. Until that fact is confronted, Palestinians will continue to be detained, disappeared, tortured and sexually abused, and the abusers asked politely, concernedly, - [Trans-terrorism?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/trans-terrorism/) - A militant transgender group has urged supporters to target Wes Streeting’s office as part of a direct action campaign. In a guide distributed to activists, Bash Back instructs them to cause “direct harm” with “lasting effect”. Borrowing the methods of direct action campaigns organised by pro-Palestinian and environmental activists, the group is urging supporters to - [Yes, but why?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/yes-but-why-3/) - Andy Burnham is to press ahead with the deal that cedes the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, according to a senior Foreign Office official. Robbie Bulloch, the director of the Foreign Office’s overseas territories and polar directorate, met Gavin Glover, the attorney general of Mauritius, last week and said that plans to give the archipelago to - [So, leave the ICJ then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/so-leave-the-icj-then/) - In a critical passage of its advisory opinion the ICJ held that a state’s failure to take appropriate action to protect the climate system from GHG emissions – including through fossil fuel production, fossil fuel consumption, the granting of fossil fuel exploration licences or the provision of fossil fuel subsidies – may constitute a violation - [Bit too Borg for my liking](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/bit-too-borg-for-my-liking/) - What is society? It sounds like an obvious question, but modern economics rarely answers it well. Too often economics starts with the idea of isolated individuals making rational choices in markets, as if society somehow emerges afterwards. I argue that this has the relationship completely the wrong way round. We are not born as independent - [From the guru](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/from-the-guru/) - Well. OK. Can we test this? So, govt creates and spends narrow money. Does the national debt equal the narrow money base? Hmm, tt doesn't? Oh, then the statement is not true, is it? - [The problem with a truly democratic society](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/the-problem-with-a-truly-democratic-society/) - If adopted, these motions would become official Green Party policy, meaning thousands of hospitality venues would need to adjust their menus if the party gained power. The motion, which is being backed by at least one senior Green, also calls for the introduction of plant-based-only catering across the entire public sector, with vegan diets being - [So, who then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/so-who-then/) - A 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering Ann Widdecombe has been released. The man was arrested on Friday but is no longer part of the investigation, Devon and Cornwall Police said on Saturday morning. - [This is a little extreme as a description](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-is-a-little-extreme-as-a-description/) - Even after slavery ended, the dictator Salazar established an Auschwitz-style concentration camp in the mountainous city of Tarrafal on the other tip of Santiago. It was there that he shipped detained communists between 1936 and 1954 and from 1961-1974 – prisoners from the colonies. Salazar was no pussycat and he wasn't nice at all to - [So, compare the two positions](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/so-compare-the-two-positions/) - “If every extreme weather event ends up being attributed to climate change in one way or another, is it really attribution science ... or just confirmation bias dressed up as science? A hypothesis that can explain everything risks explaining nothing,” he posted on social media on Thursday, responding to a scientific assessment showing Europe’s recent - [We have a saviour!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/we-have-a-saviour/) - Count Binface alone can‘t clean up British politics. MPs now have that chance, and they must seize it Stella Creasy Amid the allegations about dark money and funding, I have a solution: limit all single donations in a year – from any individual – to £100,000 Also: my enemies get their money in big chunks - [Man meets his grandchildren!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/man-meets-his-grandchildren/) - King Charles understood to have met Prince Harry’s children at Highgrove Stunner of a headline, that..... - [How Glorious](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/how-glorious-5/) - I watched Gary Stevenson's Channel 4 documentary, How to Get Filthy Rich With Gary Stevenson, last night. I have a recommendation for you. It is that you do not waste your time. This programme is deeply embarrassing. Gary shows himself quite unable to make the argument he sets out to deliver and, in the process, - [Well, yes, but, but](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/well-yes-but-but-2/) - It has taken more than seven decades, but the grievous wrong done to Ruth Ellis has finally been recognised. Ellis was the last woman to be hanged for murder in the UK, the victim of a pitiless justice system that was uninterested in her history of horrific domestic abuse. The announcement of a posthumous conditional - [Hadn't known this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/hadnt-known-this-2/) - Ann Noreen Widdecombe was born in Bath on October 4 1947, the daughter of Murray Widdecombe, a senior Admiralty civil servant, and the former Rita Plummer. She was educated at the Royal Naval School, Singapore, and the “very, very strict” La Sainte Union convent in Bath, joining the Church of England when she left. The - [Hope they understand joint and severally liable](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/hope-they-understand-joint-and-severally-liable/) - The scene is now set for a battle over the costs of the case. Estimates have been put at as much as £50m by Mail figures, though other sources close to the case said the real costs could be a small fraction of that amount, following previous court rulings. However, it is understood that whatever - [Oh, right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/oh-right-87/) - French police last week named Anastasia Berezovska as the person captured on CCTV leaving a rucksack outside a Monaco apartment block. It blew up, injuring the Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev as he emerged from the building with his partner and their 13-year-old child. Prosecutors said that Berezovska, 39, who had disguised herself as a man, - [Well, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/well-no-14/) - You can’t argue with Stevenson’s statements that living standards are falling and people are struggling to get by, nor can you doubt the sincerity of his beliefs. Undeniably, wealth is concentrated in the hands of the super-rich, and home ownership is becoming a pipe dream in many parts of the country. Living standards are not - [This will work, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-will-work-eh/) - Ministers also considering licence requirement and regulator to try to cut bills and increase choice As it happens that's about vets' prescriptions. But the subject matter isn't relevant, it's the very idea. Not gonna work, is it? - [This isn't how it works, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-isnt-how-it-works-no-2/) - SARs are a formal mechanism by which banks, solicitors and other regulated parties can send the NCA, as the agency explains, details about “knowledge or suspicion of money laundering”. They are not crime reports or proof of a crime, but as the NCA says, they are “a vital source of intelligence …[and] provide information and - [This is not true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-is-not-true-2/) - None of the major political parties or Restore are fielding a candidate because the chance of another by-election if Nigel Farage were to win this contest is very high indeed. That is because, if he is returned to Parliament, it is thought to be highly likely that the Parliamentary Standards Office will exclude him from - [Eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/eh-221/) - that bond markets set interest rates, and can withdraw from the gilts market even though they cannot function without gilts, There are some who must hold gilts because the law says they must. Defined benefit pensions schemes perhaps. But those that are left of those tend to be in run off so will fade from - [Tee Hee](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/tee-hee-124/) - Mackay’s decency, intellect and freedom from pomposity – rare in a Lord Chancellor - [Look! Look!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/look-look/) - A 37-storey skyscraper in the centre of New York City is shifting and at risk of collapse. Pfizer’s former headquarters in Midtown Manhattan and its surrounding streets were evacuated on Tuesday, amid fears the building would fall and crush nearby buildings. Hundreds of police cars and ambulances were outside the “collapse zone”. A police official - [Umm, yes?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/umm-yes-34/) - Of the 20 million Africans forcefully transported across the Atlantic, about 30% were women, and 1.2 million experienced sexual violence, according to data in the Caricom plan. So, 6 million women, of whom 20% suffered sexual violence. What was the prevalance of sexual violence at the time? In Africa? Also, this, remarkably ahistorical: During the - [Taboo?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/taboo/) - At Menopunkapalooza, riot grrrls sang and rallied around a topic still taboo today: women’s health during midlife Srsly? We never stop hearing about it. Especially from those enjoying women's midlife..... - [Hu Hum](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/hu-hum/) - Trump has run out of cards to play in the midterm elections, which is why he’s now talking about the “communist menace”. He can’t talk about the economy because prices continue to rise faster than wages, which means most Americans are getting poorer. That's Robert Reich, that is. Real wages (OK, median weekly earnings) fell - [](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/106391/) - What is the chief obstacle that must be overcome in most modern-day big-screen romcoms? Lack of attraction? Misaligning schedules? Or, perhaps, heteromonogamy? If that wasn’t the dominating norm of human relationships, many movie plots would be much swifter to resolve. What if Elizabeth Olsen didn’t have to choose between Callum Turner and Miles Teller in - [£50 million legal bill, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/50-million-legal-bill-eh/) - There were, what, 7 people in the case against the Daily Mail? Whoi now face a £50 million legal bill? Dunno if that's including their own costs or just the Mail's costs. Apparently there's some insurance around somewhere. But I'm dubious about whether that really exists. Certainly dubious about how much of anything it would - [No, no, no bias here at all](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/no-no-no-bias-here-at-all/) - But this sort of scrutiny of the evidence by independent professionals was not at all Farage’s preferred solution, it transpired. .... Farage, the public school educated son of a stockbroker, Guy Justus Oscar Farage, has often played this card: presentation of himself as a tribune for the little man. ... Perhaps. Much, though, depends on - [Spud tries a rethink](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/spud-tries-a-rethink/) - The politics of grievance has dominated debate in both Britain and the United States. Spud, Gazza and Zack have all built political narratives around anger, blame and the promise that someone else is responsible for people's hardship. But is that politics now running out of road? Hope so, eh? - [It's when you dunnit](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/its-when-you-dunnit/) - A fundamental principle is that you're charged,tried and punished under whatever the law was at the time of the offence, not whatever happened to the law after you dunnit. Alex Norris, the Home Office minister, said “all options are on the table” when asked in the Commons whether the Government could fast-track legislation to pave - [Pay for it yourself, Matey](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/pay-for-it-yourself-matey/) - Rolls-Royce, the £120bn aerospace giant, fears that Labour’s leadership turmoil will ground its £3bn bid to build engines for the best-selling short-haul passenger jets made by Boeing and Airbus. The engineering giant had been close to securing vital development funding for the scheme after intensifying discussions with Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, The Telegraph understands. I - [Ah, some sense is made](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/ah-some-sense-is-made/) - Paul Marshall - a backer of UnHerd - is evangelical. Tim Montgomerie is evangelical. Didn't know that. - [You'd think Polly would know this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/youd-think-polly-would-know-this/) - The true “middle class”? You’ll find it around the median salary of £39,039, the midpoint where half the population earns more and half less. I mean, of all people. Class, in England, is only tenuously conected to income. As Pollyanna should know herself, obviously. - [You can make laws, you know?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/you-can-make-laws-you-know/) - While dowries have been banned in India since 1961, demands from a bridegroom’s family persist and remain widespread, according to the research, and women who fail to provide them can face abuse, harassment and, in some cases, murder. Doesn't mean people are going to obey the laws that you make. A useful thought about taxes, - [Allegations, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/allegations-eh-2/) - Calls for Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Maine, to withdraw his candidacy intensified Monday after a woman accused him of sexual assault in an exclusive report by Politico. While Platner denied the claims, many top Democratic figures quickly called on the beleaguered nominee to step down. So, which internal section of - [Bollocks](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/bollocks-30/) - The real purpose of saving should be capital formation Nope. The purpose of saving is saving. True, it might be nice if it creates lovely new capital things but that's not the same. The purpose of savings is to have savings. - [Oh Dear](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/oh-dear-77/) - Of course, this is written from the press release, the full report is not yet published. But you would hope that the engineers can do better than this: Its report found that almost half of disabled professionals have turned down job opportunities because of transport issues, leaving about 2.8 million people effectively locked out of - [It's not going to happen](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/its-not-going-to-happen/) - Artificial intelligence poses a “Hiroshima”-style risk to humanity if governments do not agree to curb how it is developed, the foreign secretary has warned. Yvette Cooper urged countries, including the US and China, to agree international rules for AI, telling the Guardian she believes the issue will dominate foreign policy over the next two years. - [Rilly?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/rilly-61/) - Opening the one-day event, the MCC director, Frank Furedi, .... Furedi, once a member of a Marxist fringe party, now a leading ideologue for the new right, Furedi? Wasn't he "Living Marxism" or some such then Spiked? Fun that he ended up funded by Orban of course. But my, my, isn't The Guardian sniffy about - [Problem is, as a way of describing the problem it is useful](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/problem-is-as-a-way-of-describing-the-problem-it-is-useful/) - The scientist who pioneered the “extreme male brain” theory of autism has said he regrets characterising the condition in this way because the phrase lends itself to misunderstandings. Prof Simon Baron-Cohen’s theory that autistic people tend strongly towards systemising over empathising has been hugely influential in shaping the popular perception of autism over the past - [This is interesting](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-is-interesting-41/) - People often ask me what difference Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) would actually make in practice. The surprising answer is that, in many respects, MMT already describes how the UK monetary system actually works. Therefore MMT is neoliberal and we must abjure it. Right? - [The fix is in, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/the-fix-is-in-eh/) - The Health Secretary stripped responsibility for a puberty blocker trial from a junior minister who had raised safeguarding concerns, The Telegraph understands. James Murray stopped Preet Kaur Gill, the minister for health innovation and safety, from taking a leading role on the controversial Pathways trial, according to people familiar with the matter. Can't have anyone - [This would be illegal in the US, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-would-be-illegal-in-the-us-no/) - Crypto billionaires Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo will face restrictions to making multimillion pound political donations for a year after moving back to the UK under strengthened legislation returning to parliament this month. The Observer understands that changes to the representation of the people bill will prevent overseas voters who have returned to the UK - [This is very fascinating.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-is-very-fascinating/) - I do? Tim Worstall Casino expert and lead reviewer at aea.asn.au TW Tim Worstall — Casino Expert & Lead Reviewer Focus: payments & withdrawals · online pokies & RTP · bonus fairness · responsible gambling Reviews based on real deposits, real play and real cash-outs. Tim Worstall is the casino expert and lead reviewer at - [Just wondrous](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/just-wondrous/) - Most discussions about economics begin with money. I think that's a mistake. In this video, I explain why money is not the economy, why wealth is not the same thing as money, and why economics has become obsessed with the wrong things. Starting with a simple thought experiment about being stranded on a desert island, - [Well done here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/well-done-here/) - For of course this logic is not true If a government declares a unit of account to be legal tender, it establishes the only means by which any claim in the economy can be legally enforced. No debt, no obligation, and no claim of any kind can be compelled to settlement except in that unit. - [Glory Days!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/glory-days/) - Russian cars stuck in three-mile queue for petrol after Ukraine strikes Motorists wait up to 36 hours for fuel as long-range attacks on oil facilities create supply crisis The Soviets are back! - [Yes, but who is at fault here?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/yes-but-who-is-at-fault-here/) - Take maternal care: women from Black and Asian backgrounds are less likely than their white counterparts to receive an epidural while giving birth. And this isn’t because they don’t ask for one. They ask and are ignored. New research finds that Black women are stereotyped as having “thick skin” and being able to tolerate pain, - [What fun](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/what-fun-45/) - Sky Kanyarat was playing pool in the early hours of the morning in one of Thailand’s most famous red light districts when a middle-aged foreigner with a heavy gait approached her. She had often seen him walking past the bar where she worked in Pattaya, a city about a two-hour drive from Bangkok. But this - [So I'm trying a new dictation tool here.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/so-im-trying-a-new-dictation-tool-here/) - The big question is whether I can actually speak in a way that the dictation software will actually write out. I think I can see what the problem is going to be here. It's that the software doesn't put the words down as they're spoken but waits until the whole sentence or even the whole - [We are saved, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/we-are-saved-eh/) - I have appreciated all the messages of goodwill over the last week or so, but as Steve Keen and I agreed in a discussion this week, we both feel driven by the scale of the crisis the world's economy, its democracy, and its environment face. As a consequence, we are both taking a decidedly unusual - [Our Andy wants to put up high st rents](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/our-andy-wants-to-put-up-high-st-rents/) - Andy Burnham promised to ease the cost of living if he becomes prime minister in his first interview since returning to parliament. The Makerfield MP told LBC that if he became prime minister later this month, as expected, he would look at reducing business rates for some high street businesses, Rates are incident upon landlords. - [Here comes the censorship!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/here-comes-the-censorship/) - A cartoon for preschoolers depicting the adventures of a small girl and a retired circus bear may seem an unlikely source of parliamentary concern. Yet a cross-party group of MPs has written to ministers urging them to examine whether they can stop Masha and the Bear from being broadcast in the UK, alleging it amounts - [I love this. No, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/i-love-this-no-really/) - A government minister and a senior official have been accused of misleading MPs over their plans to strip coastguard officers of their hourly pay. Keir Mather, the maritime minister, was said to have made false claims on Wednesday, while Virginia McVea, the chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), was accused of having - [But, but....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/but-but-5/) - Discounts and shopping vouchers will be given to people who walk 20 minutes a day, under an NHS-backed plan to get Britain moving. What if the shops are less than 10 minutes away? - [Wouldn't it be terribly fun?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/wouldnt-it-be-terribly-fun/) - Talk is of newlywed Taylor Swift taking a break from music. Did I take a nap and wake up in the 1950s? Laura Snapes What if she did? Actually said, well, now I've found my man I'm stayin' home to bake cupcakes and have babies? Victoria Coren actually wrote articles about how she was doing - [Well, Matey](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/well-matey/) - If money is just an accounting entry, why do we spend so much time worrying about it? After all, nobody lies awake worrying whether there are enough metres or kilograms. They are simply units we use to measure things. If money is just the unit we use to organise economic activity, why does it dominate - [Well, yes, but.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/well-yes-but-43/) - OK, one answer is why the hell doesn't this already happen? All foreign criminals face deportation Home Office to expand removal orders beyond high-level crime Bonzer! Except, well: Foreign offenders will face deportation irrespective of the seriousness of their crime under Shabana Mahmood’s immigration crackdown. Under the current legislation, only foreign criminals handed a sentence - [Well, quite](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/well-quite-29/) - Restoring the corporation tax surcharge on banking profits to its former level, or even a catch-all windfall profits tax on the sector, will be high on the former Greater Manchester mayor’s list of possible actions in his hunt for additional sources of revenue. But can he afford to risk a further assault of Britain’s most - [This could be true, I guess](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-could-be-true-i-guess-2/) - However, the bumper survey findings – based on polling of about 10,000 voters – show that if whoever succeeds Keir Starmer adopts radical policy measures, including rent controls and higher taxes on wealth, they could engineer a dramatic turnaround against Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in important battleground seats across the country. But if so, why - [What a cracking idea](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/what-a-cracking-idea/) - The latest is that you should save in bonds in order to back quantum computing. I dunno, really. I find it difficult to think of something so much more suited to risk capital..... - [This isn't new](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/this-isnt-new-3/) - The breakaway Catholic ‘bishops’ mounting rebellion against the Pope Ultra-conservative faction is consecrating four of its clergy in an ‘earthquake’ schism from the Vatican Been going on for near two millennia in fact. The world is littered with such breakaways. Some survive, most don't. There's even one out there that was will to make Calvin - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/snigger-300/) - The government announced in January its commitment and funding for the NPR project to connect cities across the north, consisting of new or upgraded lines between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York and Sheffield. However, a report from the public accounts committee (PAC) said it was not confident that the Department for Transport had “learned all the - [It's 'mazin' arguing here, that black is white etc](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/its-mazin-arguing-here-that-black-is-white-etc/) - Transgender youth athletes have vowed to keep playing sports and fighting for equal access to teams after the US supreme court ruled in favor of laws banning their participation. The court’s conservative supermajority on Tuesday upheld laws in West Virginia and Idaho prohibiting trans girls from participating in women’s teams, finding the laws were constitutional. - [These people are mad, aren't they?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/07/these-people-are-mad-arent-they-2/) - Mike Reader, the Labour MP for Northampton South, said: “Opening up the North Sea would be tin-eared while we’re dealing with record-breaking heat, and the second energy spike in four years caused by our over-reliance on oil and gas. Anyone who thinks this is a good time to take our focus off clean, secure power - [May?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/may/) - Now it is reversing that process through quantitative tightening (QT). QT increases the amount of government debt that private investors must absorb and may therefore contribute to higher yields. It is impossible to understand today's gilt market properly without understanding QE and QT, and their role on interest rates, but Gary almost ignores them. The - [What is this democracy thing then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/what-is-this-democracy-thing-then/) - As a reality TV show host, Donald Trump rose to fame with the catchphrase: “You’re fired!”. On Monday, the US supreme court handed him – and all future presidents – the power to fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions, overturning 90 years of court precedent curbing executive power. While Trump celebrated the decision on - [That's some spending](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/thats-some-spending/) - Prosecutors said Netflix initially paid Rinsch about $44m for “White Horse” in 2018 and 2019, then provided another $11m in 2020 after he said he needed more money to wrap up production. But instead of putting that money toward the show, Rinsch steered the cash to a personal account and made a series of failed - [Been happening for some time, Love](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/been-happening-for-some-time-love/) - But it is a sign of the scale of the political and social turmoil of the past decade, and deep-seated displeasure with Starmer, that it seems quite normal – rational, even – to take a punt on someone to run the country who hasn’t even had to pitch for the job, all on a vague - [Getting a clue?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/getting-a-clue/) - What should my primary focus now be on? - [Mazzo's Madness](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/mazzos-madness/) - When Labour won its landslide in July 2024, it did so on the promise of a new kind of governance: five national missions to tackle the UK’s deepest structural challenges, from clean energy to child poverty, inspired by my book, Mission Economy. That was the right answer to a real question: what is the economy - [Phineas is a one](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/phineas-is-a-one/) - So, apparemtly Britain requires more air conditioning. Furthermore, dealing with extreme heat represents a huge engine for new skilled jobs and profitable state enterprise that the left should embrace. The French government holds major stakes in critical industries including energy, transport and communications. As temperatures rise, cooling systems will become just as fundamental to a - [This is just great](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/this-is-just-great-2/) - He said the problem did not lie with private equity in and of itself, but with the way in which these firms often had a disproportionately large amount of debt that made them more vulnerable to shocks. “The core risk is not just ‘private equity’. It is for-profit provision, plus high leverage, in an essential - [So, err, why not go for a walk?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-err-why-not-go-for-a-walk/) - According to my Instagram feed, I am not doing enough. Not spending enough, not saying enough, not taking enough care. I feel more sure of this than anything. And it’s bringing out an irrationality I’m not proud of: one afternoon, in between screengrabs of masked men snatching civilians from their homes, videos of wellness influencers - [Glory Be!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/glory-be-3/) - But what is potential? It isn't unlimited. None of us is born with infinite possibilities. We each have one lifetime. Spud discovers opportunity costs! How far is he going to get into economics now he's discovered the second secret of the subject? - [Surely not! In London?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/surely-not-in-london/) - Scotland Yard has identified more than 4,000 grooming gang cases that may need to be reinvestigated, The Telegraph can reveal. The Metropolitan Police has been carrying out a major audit of group-based sexual abuse in London dating back to 2010, amid concern victims have been denied justice. More than 12,000 alleged incidents were reported to - [Bodes well, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/bodes-well-eh-2/) - Mr Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister next month, has been accused of “capitulating to union demands” over the deal. The pay settlement for Manchester bus drivers, worth up to 56 per cent over three years, is one of the highest in modern times. Now that the trains are all nationalised again..... - [My spending is essential, yours is negotiable](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/my-spending-is-essential-yours-is-negotiable/) - So, estimating our expenses for the next year, I included £300 a month for the jabs, plus £200 as an estimate for my gym, hair, cosmetics, contacts, nails and clothes budget. It is a chunky ongoing cost for sure, and even I was shocked at what it adds up to. I did mention to him - [One of those little puzzles, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/one-of-those-little-puzzles-eh/) - The Remain campaign in 2016 was derisively called “project fear” by Brexiters. A decade on, the evidence shows that the warnings were actually misplaced – the damage is even worse than previously feared. Research commissioned by City Hall found that London’s economy was £30bn smaller than it would have been without Brexit and that Londoners - [Therefore and QED](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/therefore-and-qed/) - Imagine you are alone on a desert island. You have nothing. You have a choice. You can spend the day making money. You could carve shells into coins. Print banknotes on leaves. Even declare yourself Governor of the Island Bank. By sunset, you could be a billionaire. Would you be any better off? Of course - [This is what you get for belting a copper](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/this-is-what-you-get-for-belting-a-copper/) - A man has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail after being convicted of assaulting two female police officers and a member of the public at a Starbucks in Manchester airport. Doesn't really seem enough, does it? No, not to punish this individual, that's not the point. Rather, to dissuade from belting - [Well, yes, 's interestin', innit?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-yes-s-interestin-innit/) - I have seen this at first hand. On my way back from the Hay festival this month I was told by a local man that we were in a time of war. He was not talking about Ukraine or Iran. He was referring to Westminster as a battleground. “They are all enemies and this is - [Debentures again](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/debentures-again/) - Someone should slap this idiot: Like many of us, Marcos Ortega enters the Wimbledon public ticket ballot every year in the hope of seeing some championship tennis. In seven straight years of trying, however, he has never got lucky. So he was delighted – initially, at least – to learn there was a way to - [So now he's a foreign correspondent, is he?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-now-hes-a-foreign-correspondent-is-he/) - The second event happened in the cab on the way home, because Jacqueline had reached the point of being too fatigued to safely drive me, but still accompanied me. We were talking about the care I had enjoyed, and how the NHS would be totally incapacitated by the policies of Farage and Lowe. Our taxi - [There is an alternative solution available](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/there-is-an-alternative-solution-available/) - David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, is to implement legal changes that will see criminals accused of serious offences released early for the first time as part of Government efforts to prevent jails from running out of space. They include prisoners convicted of manslaughter, rape, GBH and sex offences who will be eligible for release halfway - [How public is public?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/how-public-is-public/) - Parisians will ⁠be temporarily banned ​from drinking alcohol in public as hospitals in the capital buckle under a deadly heatwave ‌gripping France ‌and much of Europe. Does this mean terrasse or street? It does not include restaurants and cafes with public seating areas. Takeaway alcohol sales will be banned from 6pm Friday to 7am Saturday, - [Monomania](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/monomania-2/) - Broadly speaking, the right of the party sees the left as too hopeful about how much can be done to make Britain more equal, while the left sees the right as not hopeful enough. The one single measure - equaliddee - does rather miss the joy and complexity of life, no? Absolute standards of living - [So, what are they, hamsters?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-what-are-they-hamsters/) - The Trump administration is calling frozen embryos children Moira Donegan A document on an embryo adoption program may be marginal – but it marks an escalation in the pursuit of fetal personhood Moira's wholly adamant about this. A fetus cannot be a human because if it is then we can't kill it. Therefore.... - [Well done Rhiannon](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-done-rhiannon/) - Manages to whinge about how bad maternity services are - and they are, it's a fair whinge - and not once mention that it's all female led. It's really the madwives of course - and to note that a toxic culture, even many toxic cultures, come from wimmins wouldn't be politic, would it? It's all - [Oh Aye?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/oh-aye-74/) - It also addresses climate justice, which the document asserts is “inextricably linked” to slavery reparations. Slavery reparations is sputtering as a general interest. If we link it to climate change then we get every lefty, right? On compensation, the document makes it clear that in addition to other forms of repair, Caricom is demanding “monetary - [Well, no, not really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-no-not-really-61/) - But they are questions that Burnham will now have to answer Andy really doesn't have to answer indignant questioning from some random blogger, no. - [Who didn't know this would happen?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/who-didnt-know-this-would-happen/) - More than 80% of under-16s in Australia said they were still using social media three months after legislation banning them from it came into force, research shows. Surprise, eh? But experts and campaigners say the research, published in the BMJ, shows that banning social media is not enough to stop children accessing harmful content online - [Borrowing more just doesn't help](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/borrowing-more-just-doesnt-help/) - Senior government officials are planning to lobby Andy Burnham during access talks to revive the idea of “war bonds” to pay for higher defence spending when he becomes prime minister, the Guardian understands. They really do seem to think that if they just have more of what is currently produced to spend then everything will - [What excellent journalism this is](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/what-excellent-journalism-this-is/) - What are Trump’s connections to the Tate brothers exactly? Rebecca Solnit Well, after assertions that both Epstein and Tate are bad people - something that could be true of course - it appears to be that Tate has been to Mar a Largo. Possibly. And that's it. So, The Guardian's US office is now running - [Better legalise air conditioning then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/better-legalise-air-conditioning-then/) - One in every six babies in England are living in overheated homes, causing sleep disruption and serious health risks, according to new analysis. The National Housing Federation (NHF) and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) found that more than 70,000 babies are living in overly hot homes as climate change drives record temperatures across the - [We need to work custard into this somehow](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/we-need-to-work-custard-into-this-somehow/) - Emma Raducanu launches eco-friendly vegan deodorant ‘inspired by Kent upbringing’ British No 1 unveils ‘The Garden of England’ range, featuring scents of rhubarb, rose petals and fresh green leaves There's clearly some sort of joke to be made about the toothsome Ms. Raducanu, rhubarb and custard. But the precise formulation is escaping me this morning. - [Someone has to say it](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/someone-has-to-say-it/) - Bill Gates named three women he had extramarital affairs with as part of an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein by US politicians. The billionaire Microsoft co-founder told the House Oversight Committee that he had affairs with two Russian women, whom he named for the first time as Mila Antonova, a bridge player, and Karima Nigmatulina, a - [We are all really surprised, right?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/we-are-all-really-surprised-right/) - The UK’s accounting watchdog has fined and temporarily banned a tiny audit firm for “egregious” failures and “widespread deficiencies” linked to its work in signing off accounts of several companies in Sanjeev Gupta’s metals empire. King & King and its managing partner Milankumar Patel have been fined a total of £378,184, received a “severe reprimand”, - [All of whom are entirely balanced, right?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/all-of-whom-are-entirely-balanced-right/) - A significant body of research by legal and rights experts has concluded that Israel is intent on destroying Palestinians, including analyses by UN investigators, rights bodies such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and genocide scholars worldwide. No bias nor partiality here at all. Right? - [Well, it's a definition, sure](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-its-a-definition-sure/) - It kept being said that seven prime ministers in 10 years is unacceptable. Questions were asked. But no one that I saw made the obvious point. Everyone of these people was or is a neoliberal. And the reality is neoliberalism has failed. Of course, no prime minister can deliver a failed idea. Not a very - [The terrors of climate change](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/the-terrors-of-climate-change/) - Glad I moved if that's what climate change is going to do to the old home town.... - [](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/106153/) - A man who fled to Pakistan before he was found guilty of raping vulnerable girls as young as 12 has been jailed for 27 years in his absence. Amar Ilyas, 41, who used the nickname Killer, “remorselessly terrorised” girls in Sheffield, biting one victim and using a gun and threats of gang rape to coerce - [Union restrictions](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/union-restrictions/) - Developed by former Apple software engineer Christoph Buskies, KeyComp allows musicians to perform alongside prerecorded orchestral parts without sacrificing a “live” feel. Using prerecorded instruments and samples is nothing new; several similar systems are already used in theatres worldwide. KeyComp differs in that it allows a single keyboardist to play a show’s melodic lines while - [Don't even think about it](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/dont-even-think-about-it/) - No, we're not going there On the simple basis that we don't, we're better than that. - [This seems a bit confused](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/this-seems-a-bit-confused/) - Police suspect Peter Murrell used a six-figure loan to the SNP to “launder” the proceeds of his embezzlement spree, The Telegraph can disclose. Officers who investigated the party’s finances are understood to believe that the £107,620 loan in June 2021 was an attempt by the then-chief executive of the SNP to disguise its stolen origins. - [Spudulicious policy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/spudulicious-policy/) - Taxpayers want the UK to increase levies on giant global technology companies such as Facebook owner Meta, Google and Amazon, a survey of Britons’ attitudes on corporate taxes suggests. The polling released on Monday by the Fair Tax Foundation – abody providing businesses with certification around responsible tax conduct – found that 67% of respondents - [Bit detailed but fun all the same](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/bit-detailed-but-fun-all-the-same/) - Millennials – those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s – are the first generation not to have enjoyed higher disposable incomes than previous generations, according to the thinktank. The researchers added that this setback was partly driven by millennials’ careers kicking off at around the time of the 2008 financial crisis, and the long - ['Mazin'](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/mazin-2/) - As an unbaptised agnostic raised with no religion, the closest I ever really come to a spiritual experience is when I’m standing in front of an artwork. Last week I went to Florence to do exactly that, drawn there not by Michelangelo’s David or Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, but by the works of Mark Rothko, - [Impressive, impressive](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/impressive-impressive/) - We get to fiftytwoothly: If Andy Burnham is serious about becoming prime minister, then there are a series of questions he needs to answer before anyone can sensibly judge whether he offers a genuine alternative to the current government, or merely a different personality pursuing much the same agenda. The questions need to go beyond - [Well, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-no-13/) - Willy Hutton asks the question: So, is Andy Burnham’s credo of business-friendly socialism a contradiction in terms – No. What it is is fascism. Note this is different from spiffy uniforms and invading Poland. The fascist economy was one in which capitalists, business, were nominally independent as long as they did what government told it. - [No, this isn't bonkers, it's perfectly rational](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/no-this-isnt-bonkers-its-perfectly-rational/) - Because the light fantastic trip from "society" to "capitalism" is a tiny step for these people. So, once it is agreed that it's society then abolish capitalism becomes the cure. It's another excuse that is. - [So it is claimed](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-it-is-claimed/) - Starmer expected to resign on Monday On the other hand there's a deffo whiff of his enemies saying this to the newspapers so as to force it. So, you know. - [Eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/eh-220/) - The organisation of education and work into narrow subject silos, reinforced by neoliberal ideology, That people do grievance studies classes - thus learning nothing of history, economics, literature or science - is neoliberal? - [Of course this is true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/of-course-this-is-true/) - There were quite a lot of heated, and sometimes furious responses on LinkedIn to my suggestion in a recent video that concerns about the level of the national debt in the UK were completely misplaced because the UK could never go bust. That was because, as a matter of fact, the UK government could always - [Your weekend laugh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/your-weekend-laugh/) - The BBC could be our best weapon against Trump, Musk and fake news. Here’s how that could work Jane Martinson The BBC. A weapon *against* fake news. Eh? - [So, planning then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-planning-then/) - A politics of care does, therefore, have to provide or identify the purpose that markets inherently lack. You'll not be allowed to have what you so obviously, by your actions, want. But what The Great Potato will allow you to have. Fun times ahead, eh? - [So, ineffective then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-ineffective-then/) - Having reflected, I do not think the politics of care needs a human enemy in the way many political movements do. There is a good reason for that. As I have often pointed out, much modern politics depends upon identifying a group to blame. As the Two Minute Hate idea showed, humans unite against enemies. - [Expect a volcano in Ely](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/expect-a-volcano-in-ely/) - Three economic heavyweights have been brought in to advise Andy Burnham as he attempts to reassure the markets before his return to parliament and possible challenge to Keir Starmer. Burnham is understood to be getting advice from Andy Haldane, a former Bank of England chief economist, as well as Richard Hughes, a former chair of - [Erm, no Love](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/erm-no-love/) - Highlighting the update, Mottley said that “the compensation for gender-based violence and assault on family” is “no different from the compensation that has been awarded to other nationalities such as the Japanese”. By the Japanese, perhaps. The document, which is still to be rubber-stamped by Caribbean governments, makes it clear that Caricom is demanding monetary - [Lanyard Alert!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/lanyard-alert/) - We must be alive to the dangers of a UK social media ban – and the way to really help young people Rosie Parkyn A ban alone will have limited impact and could make things worse. A good strategy needs more educational content – and more money A Lanyard writes - give me more money. - [D'Oh, yes, 's obvious](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/doh-yes-s-obvious/) - Dust events, when thousands of tonnes of fine sand whipped up from the Sahara are dumped over Europe, are becoming more intense. These sometimes produce “blood rain” that leaves visible red streaks, and while generally harmless, the dust is not sterile but brings a freight of microorganisms. We get them here in the Alentejo, they're - [Well, OK](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-ok-5/) - Three questions arise, then, whether or not Reform wins. The first requires that serious consideration be given as to why this alienation exists, with an associated demand that the causes be addressed. The second is why racism is now such a powerful rallying call inside UK politics, and to ask what can be done about - [Well, why not?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-why-not-7/) - The politics of care The politics of care suggests: We are social, caring, creative and interdependent creatures. We flourish through relationships of care. The purpose of society is to help everyone realise their potential. The purpose of the economy is to support that task. The purpose of the state is to help society achieve it. - [Because they're not my idea](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/because-theyre-not-my-idea/) - Why I oppose unworkable wealth taxes QED. - [Works for me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/works-for-me-4/) - A fraudster has been jailed after making £300,000 by doing university students’ coursework and exams for them. Shahid Adnan, a “highly educated” Amazon delivery driver, sat students’ online exams while posing as them and charging £250 a time. Well, it would work for me if I knew enough about any subject to be able to - [Hmm](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/hmm-128/) - A recent analysis by the Financial Times found that six institutions in England admitted more than 50% of their UK-based student intake without qualifications such as GCSEs in 2024-25, including three that took on more than 60% – Ravensbourne University London, Bath Spa and Leeds Trinity. Bath Spa used to be Bath Technical College (plus - [Pecunia non olet](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/pecunia-non-olet-5/) - White supremacists with links to banned neo-Nazi groups are helping to fund Restore Britain. Rupert Lowe’s party could hold the balance of power in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election by splitting the Right-wing vote with Reform UK, clearing the way for Labour’s Andy Burnham to win. Some of Restore’s supporters are so openly racist that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, - [Yeah, but....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/yeah-but-2/) - The kind of regulation we need is not new: a licensing regime that requires a minimum safety standard before a system can be built and released. This is how we handle nuclear power, airplanes, buildings, elevators, hairdressers and sandwich makers. Is it too much to ask of trillion-dollar AI corporations, who claim to be building - [This makes me vicious](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/this-makes-me-vicious/) - For as long as I can remember, I have known I am a girl. That certainty is as instinctive as knowing I am right-handed. It is difficult to explain to someone who has never been transgender or loved someone who is, but I have never lived this way to gain an advantage or take something - [There's something in this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/theres-something-in-this/) - Entirely missing from either story is the streets. Those rainy streets outside polling stations where on 23 June 2016 people queued up, many of them for the first time in years. The slim majority opting to leave did so not necessarily because they cared much about the EU, but as part of a giant vote - [Even the blind squirrel finds the occasional nut](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/even-the-blind-squirrel-finds-the-occasional-nut/) - The Global Justice Report's plan for a global wealth tax is fantasy, not policy: it assumes away tax havens, tax competition, the impossibility of valuing and locating wealth, and the fact that owning wealth does not give you the cash to pay a tax bill on it. Well, yes. So? Real tax justice comes from....the - [If only George were able to notice things](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/if-only-george-were-able-to-notice-things/) - “If you are targeting people on the basis of the colour of their skin,” the Northern Ireland secretary, Hilary Benn, asked last week, “how else can you describe them? That is racist thuggery.” It is. But there is another way of describing the actions of the rioters burning people out of their homes in Belfast, - [Too bloody right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/too-bloody-right-2/) - A law proposed by Nigel Farage to “strengthen women’s rights” could cost female workers money by removing equal pay for work of equal value, unions have said. Killing that very idea of equal value is a dman good idea. Getting judges to set wages really does not have a good track record. It's the direct - [Ooooh, naughty!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/ooooh-naughty-2/) - A BBC presenter lauded by the corporation for his appeal to young male audiences has a history of making abusive and misogynistic remarks about women, whom he has variously called “slags”, “sluts”, “psychos” and “bitches”, the Guardian can reveal. Apparently he's been reading the lyrics off the back of the rap albums.... - [Erm, no.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/erm-no-14/) - Firstly, this is a subsidy for employing British workers funded by a tax on employing migrants. Reform is trying to change employer behaviour through the tax system, making it more attractive to recruit UK citizens and less attractive to recruit people from overseas. This policy is blatantly racist As the policy would apply to a - [Ooooh, this is fun!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/ooooh-this-is-fun-2/) - Roy Hattersley senior was an enigma: a amiable, quietly authoritative man who seemed out of place as an NHS clerk. Only in middle life did Hattersley discover that his father had been a Roman Catholic priest, forsaking Holy Orders to marry his mother. Later still, he learnt that Roy senior had run off with his - [This is a fun rumour](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/this-is-a-fun-rumour/) - He also had to endure a whispering campaign that a prominent female Labour ​MP had borne his child, a charge he (and she) resolutely denied. Who was - claimed, obvs - to have had Roy Hattersley's child? - [This just isn't true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/this-just-isnt-true/) - Just look at how, when Wes Streeting criticised Starmer’s handling of the defence budget last week, he lamented the £4.5bn the government is set to spend on walking and cycling projects. That the former health secretary will presumably be well aware such initiatives ultimately pay for themselves in improved public health outcomes just doesn’t fit - [Up the propaganda, Comrades!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/up-the-propaganda-comrades/) - It will, however, take a marathon of democratic persuasion to get us there......the democratic persuasion has to start now......the best place for Britain is indeed “at the heart of Europe”, and the only way to be at the heart of Europe is to be a full member of the EU. Up the propaganda! - [Who gives a buggery?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/who-gives-a-buggery/) - As Britain approaches the 10th anniversary of its vote to leave the EU, the British are beginning to debate rejoining what they call Europe. But, as in most previous British debates about “Europe”, this is Europe with the Europe left out. The discussion is all about what would be best for Britain economically and the - [Ah, the MMT bank](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/ah-the-mmt-bank/) - Italian police have dismantled an underground bank used by drug traffickers through which several hundred million euros are believed to have moved over at least three years. The clandestine bank, whose logistical base was located in Prato, north-west of Florence, has been run since 2021 by a Chinese national, officials said. The operation acted as - [Man uses internet to bemoan effect of internet](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/man-uses-internet-to-bemoan-effect-of-internet/) - Banks are closing branches across the UK. Post offices are disappearing. HMRC no longer offers local tax offices. Local authorities increasingly expect everything to be done online. Face-to-face support is becoming increasingly hard to find. We are facing the disappearance of functioning communities, the loss of public services, and the growing assumption that efficiency matters - [EU Digital Sovereignty!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/eu-digital-sovereignty/) - Brussels fails to recognise that digital sovereignty isn’t just about who owns or controls your technology. It’s also about having an independent vision for how that technology is designed, developed and deployed. Well, there are those of us who say that the absence of such a vision is a damn good thing. What the Fuck's - [Tumbled?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/tumbled/) - The peace deal agreed between Iran and the US is sending a wave of relief through the markets today. Oil has tumbled 4%, 4%, on something generally as volatile as oil, is not exactly tumbled. But, you know..... - [This is fairly ballsy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/this-is-fairly-ballsy/) - Foreign nationals living in social housing would be given three months to find private accommodation or face being deported under a Reform UK government, Nigel Farage has announced. Not that the Lanyard Classes will allow this to happen. Would require primary legislation that overrides every possible roadblock, obviously. But ballsy, deffo. A source close to - [Might be a certain bias here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/might-be-a-certain-bias-here/) - Everything always, is the fault of the Proddie Ulstermen. Obviously: On the other hand, what value democracy if it doesn't produce what the local population desires? - [Sell! Sell! Sell!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/sell-sell-sell/) - Ed Miliband is pushing to be made chancellor if Andy Burnham becomes prime minister, The Telegraph can reveal. - [Don't ever work with government](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/dont-ever-work-with-government/) - The company has been left reeling after cost overruns on projects and delays to Labour’s £39bn social housing programme, on which Vistry is a crucial housebuilding partner. Great way to go bust, eh? - [Customs documents](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/customs-documents/) - So, clearing out Mum's old house. Shipping some of the furniture to me. One removals company is asking for: Death Certificate Will of deceased Passport of deceased Inventory list Passport of person inheriting the items I refuse to believe that such documentation is necessary to ship a few bits of furniture from the UK into - [One of those little signals, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/one-of-those-little-signals-eh/) - Ricardo Gama, a partner at the law firm Leigh Day, which is representing So we know that argument, whatever it is, is bollocks then, don't we? Its consultation proposed that the HSE should be allowed to fast-track chemical hazard classifications from other countries into British law. When the HSE published its response to the consultation - [Discretion means censorship](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/discretion-means-censorship/) - Teenagers under the age of 16 are to be banned from accessing “high-risk” social media apps while safer platforms will be subjected to restrictions, under a sweeping government crackdown. What will happen - no, will - is that those in power will decide that safe means not showing stuff that discomfits those in power. After - [Ms French Gates](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/ms-french-gates/) - The philanthropist always saw Epstein for who he really was – despite his meetings with her then husband Bill Gates. Now carving out a life on her own terms, she explains why she’s focused on the fight for women’s health That fight for women's health taking place by buying lots of articles in places like - [Bobbie Reich's Lament](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/bobbie-reichs-lament/) - The closer you look at the SpaceX IPO, the more it looks like Musk’s ill-fated Doge. It also bears a striking resemblance to Trump’s takeover of the US government. All of it is arbitrary – based on the hype and will of one man with a giant ego and an insatiable thirst for money and - [New argument - well, to me anyway](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/new-argument-well-to-me-anyway/) - Much of this is broadcast in real time from the phones of bystanders. That includes the horrific footage out of Belfast this week, of a Sudanese refugee alleged to have carried out a knife attack on a white man, gleefully circulated on X by the likes of far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Considerations of the decency - [To answer a Guardian question](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/to-answer-a-guardian-question-2/) - How much money did Elon Musk make in SpaceX’s stock market debut? None? There's now a valuation on some of what he owns. That valuation might be higher than before. But Elon's not received any more money as a result so "make" isn't quite right, is it? - [General Potato](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/general-potato/) - That question seems to me to go to the core of the real defence crisis we face, which is not financial at all. And therefore we will repel the Frenchies by having more universities and social housing. Ho Hum. The correct answer is that the British military is proof that we shouldn;t allow government to - [Shouddaknowed](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/shouddaknowed/) - A surge in migration across Northern Ireland had already caused racial tensions to spiral long before Monday night’s knife attack. The country’s foreign population has risen at almost twice the rate of that of mainland Britain. NI really is one place where migration has already been shown to be an issue, no? However, for some, - [Andy Beckett is slightly odd, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/andy-beckett-is-slightly-odd-no/) - In a broader sense, too, Farage and Lowe make the same promise: that Britain’s supposed decline will be reversed through a population purge, tougher policing, the promotion of Christianity and traditional patriotism, the removal of red tape and environmental targets, and the elevation of self-reliant, entrepreneurial citizens. I've not known Nige to say anything at - [So, err, what's the solution here then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-err-whats-the-solution-here-then/) - Ever since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, women’s bodies have been the business of the state. In the 1950s, labour for state-controlled work units was organised according to women’s menstrual cycles. Then for decades, there was the one-child policy. Across vast swathes of the country the policy was enforced with - [Other funding methods, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/other-funding-methods-eh/) - Healey’s decision appeared to have taken No 10 by surprise despite a protracted row over defence spending, during which he had called on ministers to consider “creative funding” mechanisms like those adopted by other European countries, based on more borrowing. Or why not just print the money? After all, as Spud says, most of it - [To answer a Spud question](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/to-answer-a-spud-question/) - This is one answer This is another The question being: What motivates neoliberals? We neoliberals believe that poverty - no, poverty, not inequality - is a bad thing. Therefore we need to run the economy in a manner that reduces poverty. So, free market capitalism it is then. Doing a grand job, we need more - [We await salvation, yes?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/we-await-salvation-yes/) - But the question of what I must be thinking about now seems particularly important at this moment. Bated breath.... - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/snigger-299/) - A German high-speed railway project likened to HS2 has been delayed after engineers incorrectly laid 1,000km (620 miles) of cables. Stuttgart 21, an €11bn (£9.4bn) mega-project that was scheduled to open in 2019, will not open for at least another five years as the cables need to be replaced, German media reported on Wednesday. OK, - [This is largely true, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/this-is-largely-true-yes/) - A telling critique of the sexual revolution of the 1960s is that it mainly benefited heterosexual men, When birds were free to spread it about there was lots more being spread about. Thus committment from men was not necessary before getting nookie. True, birds got a choice of nookie too. But that general societal insistence - [So, let's correct US history then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-lets-correct-us-history-then/) - African American historians marked 2019 as the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first slave ship on US shores. In a special issue of the New York Times magazine that would become the bestselling 1619 Project, journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones posited that 1619, not 1776, was the true birth of the nation, establishing slavery and - [Important news just in from The Guardian](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/important-news-just-in-from-the-guardian/) - Adrill with a speed of 35,000 revolutions per minute sits on Alina Huck’s orderly work station. The drill bit is the length of an almond, and as soon as it touches the client’s nail it whips up a fine dust of dead skin. “It’s definitely a satisfying experience,” says Huck, a Sydney-based nail technician who - [Does the Telegraph still have subs?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/does-the-telegraph-still-have-subs/) - Prostate beam therapy spares patients daily hospital trips I think it's likely that this is proton beam therapy for prostate cancer. Not, you know, prostate beam therapy..... - [Well known around town](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-known-around-town/) - Spurrell, in his early Bath years, combined his rugby with working as a shepherd in the Mendip Hills. Subsequently he ran a well-known nightclub in what used to be the public conveniences near the river Avon in Bath. and the former paratrooper was renowned as one of the hardest players in a notable tough Bath - [Meet Captain John Sparrow](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/meet-captain-john-sparrow/) - Yes, another one fell out of the tree. Eating soaked cat food already. - [Huzzh! Huzzah!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/huzzh-huzzah/) - UK universities are being killed Great. How many will be left? Half a dozen? A score? No more than that, right? - [Hang the Lanyards](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/hang-the-lanyards-2/) - Police forces are hiring diversity officers on high salaries while crime rates in their areas rise. Jobs being advertised by police forces with rising crime rates include a £75,000 equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights role and a £64,000 culture and inclusion lead. C Northcote would approve. - [Mehdi Hasan on free speech](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/mehdi-hasan-on-free-speech/) - Last week, the British state took another extraordinary step in its campaign of repression against pro-Palestine figures, blocking US commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker from entering the UK. The Home Office did not explain its reasoning, simply saying their presence in the UK was not “conducive to the public good”. The Guardian reported that - [So, there're some phone tecchies here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-therere-some-phone-tecchies-here/) - This idea that a phone cannot be used to take a naked piccie. Of a child, according to Jess Philips. Something in the OS - iOS, Android - that can be turned on apparently. Now, me, I think this is just an excuse to start censorship. But then I know very little to nothing about - [Neuroses](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/neuroses/) - For years, I have been caught in a tiresome, expensive cycle: when I’m bored (or sad, or insecure) I scroll through my phone, looking for stuff to buy. In those moments, it feels like the right purchase will relieve me of ennui or unpleasantness. These shoes will make my life more glamorous! This face wash - [How to tell something is bollocks](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/how-to-tell-something-is-bollocks/) - “As a barrister, I have stood in family courts and watched judges normalise abuse, trivialise trauma and silence survivors,” Dr Charlotte Proudman, a co-director of Right to Equality, said. Ah, there we are then. A report has found “widespread and concerning evidence” of bias and victim-blaming in the family courts – primarily disadvantaging women. Bin - [Yeah, yeah, sure](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/yeah-yeah-sure/) - We believe, really, we do: With many Democratic voters hanging on to their ballots until the election’s final days and California’s notoriously thorough, but slow, processing time for ballots, Unh hunh. - [Sigh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/sigh-211/) - Today, however, the Bank of England is doing the opposite. Despite ongoing economic weakness, a cost-of-living crisis, stagnant growth, unaffordable housing and rising business pressures, it has deliberately pushed real interest rates back into positive territory. The result is a transfer of income from borrowers to lenders and from ordinary households to those who already - [Spud betrays yet more ignorance](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/spud-betrays-yet-more-ignorance/) - What is more, unlike any other business, banks' business is explicitly underpinned by the government through the provision of a guarantee to those who place deposits with them. No one would trust them without that guarantee. People need to know that they will be bailed out when banks fail, but as a result of it, - [Hang the Lanyards](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/hang-the-lanyards/) - Extra £174m earmarked for ‘spiralling’ bill for Lower Thames Crossing It's the only way. - [Nesrine on Nowak](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/nesrine-on-nowak/) - You knew what her view was going to be, right? This is a legacy of a much wider erosion of the ways in which we can come together as a collective around things that aren’t just about competitions with other races for the prize of most subjugated. A rapacious individualisation is the legacy of the - [Guess what this lassie is going to say, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/guess-what-this-lassie-is-going-to-say-eh/) - Marie-Annick Gournet is an associate professor and associate pro vice-chancellor for reparative and civic futures at the University of Bristol Her views on the subject of slavery are going to be? The French government therefore does not need to invent a model from scratch. There are examples to draw upon. The Caribbean nations’ 10-point plan - [So the sub has his fun](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-the-sub-has-his-fun/) - Jakupovic was referring to the comic book Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which depicts the lives of four turtles who live in the New York City sewer system. The turtles, who are brothers, were exposed to radioactive waste as youths, which turned them into human-turtle hybrids. Trained in martial arts by a large rat, the turtles - [Trafficking, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/trafficking-eh/) - Survivors of abuse perpetrated by the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed are calling for a full trafficking investigation to be launched, arguing that without it the “true scale” of the billionaire’s alleged network would remain hidden. What we used to call the White Slave Trade. Innocent lovelies drugged and kidnapped to wake up in - [I'll take things that did not happen for $1,000, please](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/ill-take-things-that-did-not-happen-for-1000-please/) - A doctor stopped me in the street recently to thank me for making videos that make sense of a world that doesn't. I get messages like that all the time. And I want to say this clearly: you are not going mad. The world around you is. - [He could well be right about this too](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/he-could-well-be-right-about-this-too/) - In his own statement, Sullivan said: “After a lifetime spent building businesses in the adult industry in which I have met thousands of women, it is sadly inevitable that a small number of improper conduct claims are being made against me. The strategy has, after all, worked elsewhere, no? - [Yes, we know this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/yes-we-know-this-3/) - Scotland Yard has been captured by the “woke mind virus” and no longer treats citizens equally under the law, a veteran police officer has claimed. Rick Prior, the former chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said the force had prioritised equalising outcomes among different ethnic groups over ensuring equality of opportunity for more than a - [Kids these days, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/kids-these-days-eh/) - 17% is LBGTetc? And wishing to be mongamous with it? Ho Hum. The Observer then goes on to talk about, well, why monogamy? In their preview of the science they manage, not once, to mention children. The human experience is that to raise children requires a pair for a decade or three. The resources necessary - [The Archbish might not know his Holy Books, you know?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/the-archbish-might-not-know-his-holy-books-you-know/) - Rowan Williams: I'm willing to be corrected - don't want to cause a schism - but that does, I think, betray a certain ignorance of the Holy Screed. 'Ee might know 'is Matthew from his Mark but of the canon of Pelham G I'm not so sure. Bertie would misremember, no? Other than that it's - [So, just thinking, as you do.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/so-just-thinking-as-you-do/) - Cuba, tropical island, famously fertile soil, why're there food shortages? Even peasant farming should be able to get somewhere, right? And sure, they do now allow the peasant plots. Which do have much better yields than the state farms. They use a lot of "agroecological" techniques which is, I think, the modern code word for - [Fairly high risk occupation](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/fairly-high-risk-occupation/) - A Virginia man who was having an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair was sentenced on Friday to life in prison without parole for the murder of his wife and a man who was lured to the couple’s home as a fall guy. Brendan Banfield, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) law enforcement officer, - [Jonathan Freedland is right on target here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/jonathan-freedland-is-right-on-target-here/) - As if that were not cavalier enough, Britain’s place in Europe became dependent on the soap-opera dynamics of the Notting Hill set: it was all tennis in Regent’s Park and weekends at Chequers, Michael (Gove) letting down Dave and what will Sam (Cameron) think of Boris. Johnson insists he didn’t “give a fuck about being - [Guess what?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/guess-what-6/) - In the United States, millions of homeowners have fixed-rate mortgages that last for the entire life of their loan. They know what they will be paying not just next year, but potentially for the next 20 or 30 years. And, if interest rates fall, they can usually refinance and benefit from lower rates, whilst if - [What Spud really doesn't get about markets](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/what-spud-really-doesnt-get-about-markets/) - They're self-correcting, see? Tech stocks have fallen sharply across the globe over fears that valuations of AI companies have surged too high. - [If only people understood how leases work](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/if-only-people-understood-how-leases-work/) - Mountbatten-Windsor, now evicted to Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk, had a lease that permitted subletting, though it was not known how much he received through this. He paid a £1m premium and £7.5m on refurbishment of Royal Lodge under the 75-year lease in 2003, and could be entitled to between £301,967.66 and £488,342.21 - [Something in the news](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/something-in-the-news/) - Police footage showing Nowak’s final few minutes of life have been shared across the world. The 18-year-old was arrested and handcuffed as he lay dying from stab wounds, while his murderer, Vickrum Digwa, who had stabbed him five times, lied to police that he had been racially abused. Sort of thing that should be reported - [Thankfully no one asks him to spud a well](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/thankfully-no-one-asks-him-to-spud-a-well/) - You can call me picky if you like, pendant even, but if you're going to try to comment upon oil you really do have to know the difference between oil reserves, strategic reserves and inventories. Myself I predict a boom in US oil production. Takes a few months, at most, to bring new fracking online. - [Oh, right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/oh-right-86/) - The NHS is taking action to tackle antisemitism after a government-ordered report found that Jewish patients and staff face “routine ostracism” in the service. Anti-Jewish hatred in the NHS means some patients hide their identity and staff “suffer in silence”, a review by Lord Mann, the government’s adviser on antisemitism, has found. What action is - [Logic, logic](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/logic-logic-3/) - Policing could be driven back to the 1960s by false claims officers are biased against white people, the leader of Britain’s black officers has said. Ch Insp Andy George, president of the National Black Police Association, The non-existence of the National White Police Association rather makes the point for us, no? - [But it's a real and deeper kind of freedom, right?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/but-its-a-real-and-deeper-kind-of-freedom-right/) - Cuba’s constitution declares that the Communist party, which is the only legal political organisation, has regulatory jurisdiction over all radio, TV and print media. It also prohibits journalism outside this sphere. Starting an independent magazine meant declaring war on the government. You're not being exploited by either the Americans or the capitalists.....freedom, d'ye see? BTW, - [Well, erm, yes.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-erm-yes/) - The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, stripped nine navy officers including women and Black service members from a promotion list last month, according to a person familiar with the matter, resulting in an all-male, overwhelmingly white slate of 22 advancing as nominees to become one-star admirals. So, the biggie here: The move has direct parallels - [Ahem](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/ahem-22/) - Why do so when there is already a shortage of demand inside European economies, and when it is known that raising interest rates can only work as a tool to tackle inflation when there is excess demand? And why raise interest rates when this inflation is clearly being caused by a shortage of oil, gas, - [Strawman!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/strawman/) - In this video, I challenge one of the most deeply embedded assumptions in modern economics: the idea that there is a shortage of money. No one in economics thinks there's a shortage of money. Everyone agrees that it's entirely possible to print more. Well, Duh! There are quite a lot of people who insist that - [Define "exploit" for me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/define-exploit-for-me/) - Starmer urges calm as far right seeks to exploit Henry Nowak murder People getting pissed at the police fuck up here is not "exploit". Telling people that they are exploiting is only going to increase the righteous anger of course. Because all that sonorous "do not exploit!" shite is just going to get people even - [Yes, yes, of course it is](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/yes-yes-of-course-it-is/) - It’s a nice thought. But Jessica M Goldstein, a journalist who has covered Hollywood aesthetics and culture, is not as hopeful. “Beauty standards under capitalism require there to always be something new to purchase,” she said. “There might be a superficial change – humanmade things become a badge of prestige or class, like how brands - [Standard tactic](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/standard-tactic/) - Donald Trump called me “crooked as hell” as he spread lies about the fraud that occurred in Minnesota. Any keen observer will recognize the pattern of inciting hostility against me and the Somali community whenever his own failures and corruption catches up to him. He routinely reaches for the same tired playbook of lies, racism - [Well, OK](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-ok-4/) - The reality is, as I know from several meetings with him over an extended period, Pat McFadden is a man of very little intelligence, and even less curiosity. Yet these are the people Spud insists should have much more power. - [Squeeee! But! But!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/squeeee-but-but/) - Despite what the UK right will tell you, appeasing bond markets has actually led to instability Andy Beckett Usual idiocies. But lefty plans will be so lovely and so why are bond markets nasty to us? Because you want to do it with the bond markets' money. If you went off and did all that - [Can't get the staff these days](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/cant-get-the-staff-these-days/) - Oh Dear: Maureen Duffy, who has died aged 92, was a wide-ranging novelist, playwright, poet and biographer who gained recognition in the 1960s for her pioneering fiction about lesbian relationships; in the days when homosexuality was still illegal, she was one of Britain’s first openly gay women. The way that reads - the way it - [OK, so, first question](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/ok-so-first-question/) - Her disappearance had been linked to a string of missing person cases involving US scientists, which have fuelled internet conspiracy theories. At least 10 scientists connected to sensitive US nuclear and aerospace research are thought to have disappeared or died under mysterious circumstances in recent years, prompting the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to launch - [Seems fair enough](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/seems-fair-enough-8/) - Reform UK support could plateau as it relies on socially conservative views, study finds You know, as with Green Party support having an upper limit as there are only so many shrieking morons to be found in even in Britain? But to turn away from truth telling and to whimsy. Support for a political party - [Spud's about to get very, very, rich](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/spuds-about-to-get-very-very-rich/) - Why are oil traders stupid? That's the question. I have said it before, and I will no doubt say it again, but these supposedly rational market players are demonstrating they are anything but that. ... The current oil price is around $93 per barrel, which, as the chart shows, represents a marked decline from the - [Well, yes, this is the point](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/well-yes-this-is-the-point/) - A coalition of more than a hundred refugee children’s organisations has said controversial plans to use AI to assess the age of young asylum seekers could lead to more children wrongly ending up in adult prisons or detention centres. To be able to stick more claimed kiddies into adult centres. Thus, presumably, the complaint is - [Gosh, really?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/gosh-really-11/) - Espriella, who calls himself el Tigre (the Tiger), celebrated the result: “Compatriots, defenders of the homeland, more than 10 million Colombians placed their trust in el Tigre and joined the pack ... In 21 days, we are going to change the history of Colombia forever,” he said in a video alongside his wife and children, - [Nesrine gets meta](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/nesrine-gets-meta/) - And, well: What are we losing in this fire? Writing is not just about rendering thoughts through words in a certain style: analysis, literary fiction, storytelling. It is about the particular alchemy of a single individual drawing on their own unique profile to construct an idea. It is about the way their brain works, the - [Who is to blame, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/who-is-to-blame-eh/) - A Mumsnet report drawing on a decade of users’ posts from the site paints a picture of a system where women fail to get the healthcare they need, with symptoms “brushed aside, treated as psychological, or simply not believed”; in a survey published with the report, 64% said they had been explicitly told pain or - [Seems fun](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/06/seems-fun/) - Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams was forced to sit in silence on stage at an event at Hay festival, after lawyers advised her not to speak because of ongoing legal action brought by Meta. Wynn-Williams, whose bestselling memoir, Careless People, details her years working at Facebook, was due to appear in conversation with the investigative journalist - [Lordy be, no, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/lordy-be-no-really/) - From there, it was just a step to consider how a politics of care might be very different from the stereotypical politics of the assumed “normal person”, which is common to all neoliberal political parties at present, including both Reform and Restore. What we realised was that we had found the defining difference between those - [No](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/no-49/) - Could these policies succeed where decades of orthodox economics have failed? So, that's the Spud rhetorical quesxtion of the day answered. - [Works for me. I guess.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/works-for-me-i-guess/) - Been frightening the horses, see? Gay people to be jailed in Ghana Oh, oh, I see. You mean gay people who are in Ghana will be jailed, not that gay people will be......British equines not alleviated then. - [Given that it's Trumpy there's an obvious question here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/given-that-its-trumpy-theres-an-obvious-question-here/) - Trump gains a stone but has ‘body of 65-year-old’ Which 65 year old has he nicked the body of? - [Not really, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/not-really-no-27/) - How spiralling costs are cutting off expats from their families As jet fuel prices soar, Britons abroad face tough choices Ryanair (no picking and choosing, just two near random dates about 2 weeks ahead) wants to charge me all of £75 for a round trip Faro to Bristol. If life has led to £75 being - [It's possible this is overthinking things](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/its-possible-this-is-overthinking-things/) - Or even not thinking about them enough? 30 years of talking to a sofa? Really? - [Captain Jack Sparrow* has left the building](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/captain-jack-sparrow-has-left-the-building/) - So this little fledgling that turned up on the doorstep. As I've said, he hung around our front door for 5 hours after a nest got blown over - and there was an adult bird dead that we had to clean up. That he - and a sibling - hung around for 5 hours showed - [So, fire the power skirts, Hang the Lanyards](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/so-fire-the-power-skirts-hang-the-lanyards/) - Sir Tony Blair’s legacy is a country “run by HR” and governed by his worst ideas, Kemi Badenoch has said. Works as a policy set to me. - [Money stolen - women hardest hit](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/money-stolen-women-hardest-hit/) - Sturgeon: I’m the victim of my husband’s fraud Quite: Nicola Sturgeon said she “should not be held responsible for the wrongdoing of men” after Peter Murrell, her estranged husband, admitted to embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP this week. The Big Boy did it and then he ran away. - [Definitions of what is illegal](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/definitions-of-what-is-illegal/) - Shabana Mahmood’s plan to house more asylum seekers in former army barracks is facing a major hurdle after the high court ruled that a policy change forcing torture victims to share rooms was unlawful. According to a judgment seen by the Guardian, the government failed in its duties when it forced survivors of trafficking, torture - [Either the EU is rules based or it isn't](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/either-the-eu-is-rules-based-or-it-isnt/) - The EU is to release more than €16bn to Hungary that had been frozen under the rule of Viktor Orbán, with Ursula von der Leyen hailing the “winds of change” in the country since the election of Péter Magyar last month. The decision, described as a “historic breakthrough” by the new prime minister, comes as - [World's about to end](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/worlds-about-to-end/) - As Spud tells us, Hormuz is closed, world's running out, The Depression awaits: Oil prices on track for steepest monthly fall since 2020 Brent crude futures down 19% since end of April Oh. Now that is a tad inconvenient..... - [They're still trying it](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/theyre-still-trying-it/) - American presidents don’t have a stellar record of transparency about their health problems. After a polio diagnosis that caused paralysis of his lower body, Franklin Delano Roosevelt used a wheelchair to get around, but went to great lengths to conceal it from the public. John F Kennedy suffered debilitating back pain, but most Americans never - [Well, the title's correct at least](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/well-the-titles-correct-at-least/) - There is a NEETs crisis – but it is being deliberately created by the government Sure, higher min wage, no firing of dullards, more taxes on employing someone, too many degrees and not enough training, hte nationalisation of apprenticeships. Sure, all being deliberately created. The analysis following that title somewhat fails of course: The fact - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/snigger-298/) - A former CIA official with a top-secret security clearance has been accused of stealing 303 gold bars worth more than $40m (£29.7m) and stashing them at his home. Well, OK, crooks everywhere. Obviously. Between November 2025 and March this year, Mr Rush allegedly made several requests to the US government to receive the bars, each - [Owen and economics](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/owen-and-economics-2/) - That is surely the US calculation: that Cubans will be so exhausted by an intolerable, externally imposed economic nightmare that they will acquiesce to anything that promises to end it. Anything, anything, but admitting that socialism doesn't work.... - [So Polly, what's the plan?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/so-polly-whats-the-plan/) - Alan Milburn is right, a young generation has been betrayed. Forget Tony Blair: we must attend to this Polly Toynbee OK: The diagnosis is dire. Alan Milburn has published the first part of his forensic report on the lives and chances of young people, their fate after leaving school or college, the inadequacy of their - [Really?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/really-44/) - Married at First Sight UK had ‘unhealthy’ focus on sex, say show’s insiders What other plot point was there to the show? - [The modern media is fun](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/the-modern-media-is-fun/) - The Irish singer-songwriter CMAT has responded to ongoing abuse she has received about her body and her weight following an appearance last week at BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend. The things that get reported upon. CMAT pointed out to “well-meaning” commenters that her body size was not a choice: “I am not being defiant. I - [Twat](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/twat-13/) - The inequality caused by technological innovation is not a given. Technological innovation reduces inequality, not produces it. Half the species gets free telecoms from Zucks. Telecoms inequality is thereby reduced. Amazon has knocked 2 to 4% off the US price level. Given that consumption is income constrained at the bottom but not at the top - [Obviously not](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/obviously-not/) - The UK will get no special treatment in its future economic relationship with the EU, European ministers have said, in a further blow to Keir Starmer’s hopes of negotiating a single market for goods. You do not, at the beginning of a negotiation, say "We'll give you lots of prezzies". Rather, you insist that they - [Ah....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/ah-9/) - Seems a bit extreme: Patagonia has launched a trademark lawsuit against an environmentalist drag queen named Pattie Gonia, who has accused the outdoor clothing company of “trying to erase an activist”. Wyn Wiley, who performs as Pattie Gonia, has accumulated millions of followers online for their environmental activism, raising almost $4m for non-profits so far. - [Erm, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/erm-no-13/) - Sting, who wrote the music for the show and will star in a run at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in September, said the closure of the shipyards began an era when the north of England was failed by successive governments. “Britain’s wealth was created in the coalfields and the steel towns and the mill - [So I've decided Jack the Sparrow is indeed male](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/so-ive-decided-jack-the-sparrow-is-indeed-male/) - Put him down on the desk to let him have a look around - and he's decided he can fly. My office is up in the "sotao" (loft/attic, but not wholly) and he flies down the stairs and down there it's pretty open plan. Cannot find him so do something else for an hour. Come - [Not enough, not enough](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/not-enough-not-enough/) - A Reform UK plan to cut the size of the civil service would involve sacking more planning officers than exist Given that what the country requires is negative planning this seems entirely sensible to me. - [Hah! Whaddatheyknow?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/hah-whaddatheyknow/) - Ministers should press ahead with a ban on zero-hours contracts, campaigners say, despite claims by business leaders that it would deter hiring and lock more young people out of the labour market. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and the union umbrella organisation the TUC were among eight signatories to a letter to the department - [But this is what the true complaint is about](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/but-this-is-what-the-true-complaint-is-about/) - Europe’s rules are not necessarily constraints, but at their best, they are instruments of power. They shift the burden of collective choices away from individuals and on to the companies best placed to bear them. That is why those companies so often oppose them and why, once the rules exist, they usually comply. The bottle - [No, I don't believe it](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/no-i-dont-believe-it/) - The main drivers of antibiotic resistance are still the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which are used to treat infections. But the research suggested the problem is being worsened by climate change. “The accumulated evidence suggests that climate change is an accelerating force behind the global spread of antimicrobial resistance,” the study authors wrote. “Our - [Georgie Porgie](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/georgie-porgie-2/) - Three astonishing things are happening simultaneously. One is the government’s utterly baffling failure to communicate with us on this existential issue. Where are the public information videos? Where are the televised emergency briefings on climate breakdown, like the emergency briefings on Covid-19? Up the propaganda, Comrades! This is the reasonable demand of the National Emergency - [Honey chile.......](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/honey-chile/) - For more than two years, John “Jay” Morris, a Louisiana state senator, helped pave the way for Meta to build one of the world’s largest datacenters, called Hyperion, in Richland Parish. The Republican attorney lobbied a utility regulator for a key approval. He cosponsored two bills that enabled the land deal between Meta and the - [Very funny](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/very-funny-6/) - Bloke writes careful, competent, book about the real differences between men and women. To be clear, when Stewart-Williams argues that there are innate differences between men and women, he is quick to add that this doesn’t imply that one sex is better than the other, that we have a moral imperative to uphold or enforce - [Path dependence and real world constraints](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/path-dependence-and-real-world-constraints/) - Whatever is true about where we'd like to be we are here right now, and here includes a number of decisions made in the past: The Japanese government has pledged to suspend an 8% sales tax on food but says it is being thwarted by an unexpected opponent – uncooperative cash registers. According to the - [Jack, the sparrow, adventure](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/jack-the-sparrow-adventure/) - So, the little sparrow who got blown out of his nest. Or, as I think happened, the nest came down, one of the parents died, and he (?? how to tell with birds? Is it something only lady birds need to worry about?) ended up, with a sibling, huddled by our front door for 5 - [Well, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/well-yes-121/) - In this video, I explain why every pound of government debt is also somebody else's financial asset. That's why it's a debt that has to be repaid. Because it's someone else's financial asset. - [Oh, well done](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/oh-well-done-6/) - There are trillions of pounds available for investment in the UK. More than £700 billion is saved in ISAs, much of it in cash, and there is much more in pension funds, again with significant amounts of cash being held, as I noted in an article on Substack yesterday. The problem is not, then, that - [Seems a heavy weight to put on writing](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/seems-a-heavy-weight-to-put-on-writing/) - Since then, I’ve published many thousands of words, with countless more left on the cutting-room floor. But even the discarded words never felt wasted, because they were the byproduct of thinking. Any writer can attest to the transformational nature of the writing process: you can start out with one idea, only to end up somewhere - [It's fun when the G puiblishes the American political stuff](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/its-fun-when-the-g-puiblishes-the-american-political-stuff/) - When the Democratic National Committee finally released its autopsy on the 2024 election disaster, not even the DNC chair could defend it. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report,” Ken Martin conceded as the autopsy went public on Thursday. After several months of withholding the autopsy on the grounds of not wanting it to be - [So, we can dismiss this as bullshit then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/so-we-can-dismiss-this-as-bullshit-then/) - What distinguishes Islamophobia from other forms of racism is that it is rarely expressed in overtly racial terms. Instead, it is mediated through specific language, making it easier to defend and harder to challenge. The Trinidadian historian and writer CLR James argued that racism was not about attitudes, but systems of exploitation, while the psychiatrist - [As previously](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/as-previously/) - France is facing a child abuse scandal as ‘monitors’ at dozens of state nursery and primary schools are investigated for violence, sexual assault and rape. Paris police are examining more than 100 allegations of mistreatment, physical violence and rape of children as young as three by school monitors during lunch breaks, nap times and after-school - [Rescued baby sparrow](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/rescued-baby-sparrow/) - And, well, 'ees tryin'. I know, I know, don;t rescue them, they'll never survive and nature take its course and so on. And yet.... So, I cannot get the bugger to eat. Yes, seen the videos. Tap the beak atc. And he will just not open that mouth for feeding. So, err? - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/snigger-297/) - Leaky European lavatories could be banned in Britain under water-saving plans. Ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have convened a “leaky loo taskforce” to stop hundreds of litres of water a day being lost from malfunctioning loos. Policymakers are considering a ban on “eco” dual-flush lavatories, which are designed to - [As I've been saying](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/as-ive-been-saying-9/) - This scarcity is apparent in several ways, with issues related to environmental projects being particularly notable. Good managers capable of thinking up such schemes are in incredibly short supply, and whilst schemes that are themselves environmentally essential can be identified, working out how to monetise them is hard at a microeconomic level, so they do - [We're being told the nationality here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/were-being-told-the-nationality-here/) - Seven men have been accused of being part of a grooming gang and charged with rape and child sexual abuse offences, police said. The Afghan nationals were charged as part of an investigation into group-based child sexual exploitation in Norwich, Norfolk police said. The men are accused of sexual offences committed between August 2023 and - [You knew this was coming, didn't you?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/you-knew-this-was-coming-didnt-you/) - Public funding for journalism and the arts is certainly part of the answer. Democracy is healthier where public media funding is high. Democracy, here, is defined as whatever it is that luvvies like this week. What is not meant is that as the peoples' tatste changes so too does what luvvies boradcast this week - - [Guess which newspaper this is from?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/guess-which-newspaper-this-is-from/) - Being a carnivore is often seen as an expression of manhood, but the need has never been greater for men to cut down their intake Too easy, innit? Overall, there’s a persistent theme: many men see meat eating as an expression of manhood, and view attempts to force change to their diets as a personal - [Sigh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/sigh-210/) - I argue that food, fuel and energy must be treated as public goods in a crisis. They're rivalrous, excludable, they are not public goods. Therefore they cannot be treated as public goods. In fact, the entire problem is that they are rivalous and so cannot be public goods. - [Yoko's not done herself that many favours, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/yokos-not-done-herself-that-many-favours-really/) - The album was released in November 1980 to critical disdain, but Lennon’s murder the following month sent sales stratospheric, and Lennon, Yoko Ono and Douglas went on to win a Grammy. They had already recorded the intended follow-up, Milk and Honey, but its release was delayed until 1984. That year, Douglas sued Yoko Ono over - [It's all in the definition of trafficking](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/its-all-in-the-definition-of-trafficking/) - TVP is currently assessing one allegation that a woman was trafficked into Britain by Epstein in 2010 to have sex with Mr Mountbatten-Windsor at Royal Lodge in Windsor. The force has been in contact with the woman’s legal team. Flying in a willing tart is - these days - classed as trafficking. Which, of course, - [OK, so this works](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/ok-so-this-works/) - A group of “accidental activist” families have succeeded in their efforts to secure the future of their children’s care home after uncovering serious alleged management failures that took the charity to the brink of bankruptcy. The families launched a campaign after discovering that William Blake House, a residential learning disability care home charity in Northamptonshire, - [So I've heard](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/so-ive-heard/) - Those anxieties lie at the heart of Taiwan Travelogue, the first book originally written in Mandarin to win the £50,000 prize. Presented as the translation of a rediscovered travel memoir from 1938, the novel follows Aoyama, a Japanese novelist with a “monstrous appetite” touring Taiwan on a government-sponsored culinary trip. There she meets an enigmatic - [Let's go fracking then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/lets-go-fracking-then/) - And drill that North Sea, Baby! Overall, the reputation of the Middle East as a secure supplier of energy had been damaged, he said, predicting that countries would pay a premium for supplies from secure sources and for renewable energy. Birol predicted that governments around the world would review their energy strategies in the next - [No](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/no-48/) - Now, where did Wes Streeting get this idea from? And where, come to that, did his estimate of the tax that it might raise come from? It so happens that the £12 billion figure that he refers to is exactly the sum that I proposed might be raised as a result of the equalisation of - [Ah, the wowsers](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/ah-the-wowsers/) - Individuals bear at least 80% of the responsibility for their ill health in old age, according to a report aimed at challenging the belief that physical decline is either inevitable or primarily the responsibility of the state. The report, launched at the Smart Ageing Summit in Oxford last week, argues that individuals have far greater - [Perhaps we should try to translate this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/perhaps-we-should-try-to-translate-this/) - Rainwater harvesting, the use of grey water in homes and an urgent campaign to reduce water usage across society are vital to prevent water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, the government has been told. I assume, at least, that "rainwater harvesting" means "build some fucking reservoirs". Ah, no, silly me: Changes to - [Perhaps there are just more whales?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/perhaps-there-are-just-more-whales/) - But instead of simply passing offshore, increasing numbers are now diverting into San Francisco Bay and lingering for days or even weeks inside the crowded estuary – a shift scientists increasingly link to climate change. Warming temperatures and shifts in sea ice in the Arctic are disrupting the food web gray whales rely on during - [That's democracy, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/thats-democracy-eh/) - Elaine Roe, 61, a cafe worker, has no doubt what is the most important issue in this week’s byelection for Dublin’s north inner city. “The government is wrecking our country, they’re bringing in rapists and murderers and kidnappers. It’s a shame. I might vote Hutch, he seems a normal person.’ That would be Gerry “the - [Spud on inflation](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/spud-on-inflation-2/) - But that said, the index has fallen. I cannot deny that this is the reported data. However, I should draw attention to three things. The first is that this is backwards-looking information. It records what has supposedly happened (and I use the word supposedly very wisely, because these things are subject to revision), and it - [Could the "Anon" contact me please?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/could-the-anon-contact-me-please/) - Your highly-regarded commentator 'Anon' had some very nice things to say about my Grandad's war memoirs. I'd like to discuss further, but adding comments to a now 3-day-old article may not be very effective. Could you let him (or possibly her, but I'm betting it's him 😊) have my email address. Drop me a line - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/snigger-296/) - Starmer ‘destroyed public confidence in ID cards’ Policy rushed and poorly thought through, says home affairs committee Maybe ID cards are just a fuckwit idea? Sir Keir Starmer’s botched announcement of compulsory digital ID cards “destroyed” the public’s confidence in the idea, a committee of MPs has said. The Prime Minister’s initial announcement was “rushed, - [On the subject of diet again](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/on-the-subject-of-diet-again/) - “Miss Owen had followed a vegan diet from 2016 stemming from her environmental concerns,” Ms Gray said. “Investigations were carried out to determine whether Miss Owen may have had a Vitamin B12 deficiency as a result of her vegan diet and whether, if that was the case, a Vitamin B12 deficiency could have caused her - [Behr's not letting go, is he?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/behrs-not-letting-go-is-he/) - Britain can choose to be a partner in that project or accept a role as adjunct. National power could be boosted in an alliance of neighbours with broadly aligned global interests. Or it can be circumscribed by the Brexit cult of sovereignty that sees regulatory harmonisation with Europe as colonisation but welcomes subordination to US - [Oh, right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/oh-right-85/) - The international criminal court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has been on an exoneration tour, with stops including an interview with Mehdi Hasan and an appearance at the Oxford Union. Accused by a lawyer in his office of repeated sexual misconduct, which he denies, he claims that an internal review of the allegations has vindicated him - [Japanese Navy Curry](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/japanese-navy-curry/) - OK, so it's a tradition, every Friday lunchtime in the Japanese Navy - curry. Despite its south Asian origins, it’s no exaggeration to describe curry as Japan’s de facto national dish: a soupy, mild version beloved of schoolchildren and office workers, and generations of SDF personnel for whom kaigun kare – or navy curry – - [How glorious](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/how-glorious-4/) - Trump’s attack on the ICC is really an attack on the rule of law Posted on May 19 2026 The Financial Times has reported that during discussions with Xi Jinping, Donald Trump suggested that the US, China and Russia should effectively collaborate against the International Criminal Court (ICC). As the paper put it: During his - [Tsk, Subs!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/tsk-subs/) - He was called up for the Lions tour to Australia in 1989, playing in nine of the 11 games; his centre partnership with England’s Jeremy Guscott was a big part of the Lions’ 2-1 Test series victory, and one of the highlights was Hastings’s try-saving tackle on the great David Campese in the third and - [A last taste of the west, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/a-last-taste-of-the-west-eh/) - Pork sausages were served to passengers on a deportation flight from Ireland to Pakistan, it has emerged. The men, from the Muslim-majority country, were offered a traditional Irish breakfast on the flight from Dublin to Islamabad last year, which was described as “inappropriate” in a human rights monitor’s report. If only we could believe that - [Erm?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/erm-41/) - Channel 4 has pulled all episodes of Married at First Sight UK (MAFS) after two women claimed they were raped by their on-screen husbands during filming. A third woman claimed she had an abortion following a non-consensual sex act by her partner on the reality television show. The three former contestants said they were not - [Great. So, don't](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/great-so-dont/) - Britain would not be able to rejoin the EU on the special terms it enjoyed in the past, veterans of the Brexit negotiations have said. We didn't like it even with the special deal. We'll like it even less without. So, don't rejoin. Seems simple enough. - [Hoarding, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/hoarding-eh/) - The billionaires of today are unusually aggressive in their hoarding of cultural and technological influence, according to Mordecai Kurz, a Stanford economist whose research connects monopoly power with political and economic inequality. It's the buzzword du jour, hoarding is. And, of course, if we take more of their money off them then they'll have less - [Owen's demands!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/owens-demands/) - Public control must mean democratic public ownership of our utilities. I never do understand why here. Better control? Well, OK. But this demand that it must be public, democratic...don't get it. Anyway: But the left is a force that must be listened to, rather than swindled all over again. No, swindle 'em. Then stomp 'em, - [The AI doesn't grasp Spud's views](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/the-ai-doesnt-grasp-spuds-views/) - Few topics in contemporary British economic debate attract more sustained criticism from Richard Murphy than fiscal rules. For the better part of three decades, successive Chancellors of the Exchequer have reached for these self-imposed constraints as proof of their financial seriousness. Richard Murphy's view is simple and consistent: fiscal rules are not laws of economics. - [Standard march through the institutions](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/standard-march-through-the-institutions/) - Children are being taught that black people cannot be racist towards white people as part of an education initiative aimed at countering racism. Teenage pupils are told that black people can be racially prejudiced towards white people but that this is not racism because that can be exhibited only by those who hold cultural power, - [Fun, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/fun-eh-3/) - The area has become more European now but back then it was quite wild, and while lots of dual-nationality couples (French, British and Canadian women with Moroccan partners) Seems a little biased there, no? - [To borrow from El Reg's subeditors](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/to-borrow-from-el-regs-subeditors/) - A fine set of Bulgarian airbags, no? - [I see Nesrine's error](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/i-see-nesrines-error/) - But the words that fill our papers and airwaves have consequences. They shape the beliefs and political views of the people who have, make no mistake, turned against their neighbours and voted Reform. The media follows the prejudices of the population, not causes them. That things Nes is not happy about are believed by significant - [Clear? How?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/clear-how/) - “Farewell,” the flag-waving Chinese children chanted to Donald Trump as he strolled along the red carpet back to Air Force One at the end of his summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing. The US leader claimed he was leaving with a cluster of “fantastic” trade deals to sell US oil, jets and soya beans to - [Dr Halstead Middleton Turnbull GM](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/dr-halstead-middleton-turnbull-gm/) - Aha! Found it. And the Gazette March 1942. So, anyway, that regular commenter around here who doesn't like me claimed, just recently, that of course my grandfathers were simply lanyards. So Hal was one of them, the other was Bill Worstall. 1945: Command Engineer Officer, HQ Fighter Command. And. OK. Lanyards then. - [Scandal!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/scandal-3/) - The Financial Times has published remarkable data on inheritance tax in the UK. Just five London parliamentary constituencies paid more inheritance tax than the whole of Scotland and Wales combined. Ten London seats paid more than the entire north of England over five years. But the FT then drew the wrong conclusion. This video explains - [Yes, this is fair](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/yes-this-is-fair/) - Homes with bigger gardens to be penalised with higher water bills Water firms test tiered tariffs that charge more per unit as consumption rises That a place as wet as England has problems with water supply is odd, obviously. That system of never allowing any reservoirs etc. But yes, rising charges for water consumption, entirely - [Erm, yes, OK](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/erm-yes-ok-2/) - “At what point do we start believing the children,” asked Jeanne. She is one of seven parents who spoke to The Telegraph about alleged abuse at nurseries and elementary schools in the French capital. Some of the children, who were aged from three to 10, were allegedly locked in rooms, sexually abused and threatened with - [Bollore](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/bollore/) - I've no idea about his other views - apparently conservative Catholic - but: Far right and reactionary these days means anti-immigration does it? Rather than, say, invading Poland? Which tells us something about how far right anti-immigration is or where the declared centre of French politics is? - [If only someone could explain financial markets](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/if-only-someone-could-explain-financial-markets/) - Everywhere, and without exception, traders are, utterly bizarrely, at a time of crisis when they should be heading for safety, selling bonds and buying shares. After all, the money to fund this mania has to come from somewhere, and this chart makes clear its source. When government bonds are sold, the effective interest rate increases. - [This works, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/this-works-yes-2/) - The climate crisis should be declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization, or millions more people will die unnecessarily, leading international experts have said. The independent pan-European commission on climate and health, which was convened by the WHO, concluded the climate crisis was such a worldwide threat to health that the - [So, err, Andy?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/so-err-andy/) - Umm, why is Burnham advertising hafnium oxide? Seems a bit of a minority interest to be fair. - [Difficult one, this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/difficult-one-this-3/) - British Palestinians feel unable to speak openly about Israel’s war on Gaza, the director of the British Palestinian Committee has said, amid what campaigners believe is a growing climate of hostility around Palestinian identity and activism in the UK. Given that we have weekly riots in the streets demanding the death and drowning in the - [Infamy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/infamy/) - With one important exception, this life cycle is usually briefer for Labour governments, since they face more opposition from the media and powerful economic interests, and more suspicion from voters as a result. Nowt to do with the fact that they and their policies are shite then..... - [But, but, Teach! They're moving the Overton Window!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/but-but-teach-theyre-moving-the-overton-window/) - The former Sky News political editor Adam Boulton has said GB News should lose its broadcasting licence as he accused Britain’s media regulator of failing in its duty to protect impartial television news. If we define impartial as what I like then anyone who says stuff I don't like shouldn't be allowed to, right? - [When institutional bias disappears then....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/when-institutional-bias-disappears-then/) - US southern states are rushing to redraw congressional maps to eliminate Democratic districts and dilute the influence of Black voters in electing candidates, a bare-knuckled blitz occurring even in some states where voting in congressional primaries has begun, and prompted by the US supreme court’s decision gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. If - [Well done MadEd!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/well-done-maded/) - But the greater factor in the past couple of months has been the UK’s painful exposure to higher oil and gas prices, and thus inflationary pressures. Britain imports 40% of its energy and already has some of the highest electricity prices in the western world. What a wondrous energy policy we've had since 2008 and - [Yep, again](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/yep-again/) - UK government borrowing costs are rising fast, and the official explanation does not make sense. Britain is paying far more to borrow than France or Italy, despite having its own currency, a central bank, and no meaningful risk of default. So what is really going on? 10 year gilts, 4.75% apparently. Core inflation 3.3%. Eurozone - [OK](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/ok-7/) - As The Telegraph reports in an email this morning: Britain's economy expanded in the first three months of the year despite the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February, official figures show. The UK's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.6pc in the first quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics. - [In the streets and frightening the horses](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/in-the-streets-and-frightening-the-horses/) - A Labour party spokesperson criticised Farage for promoting Clayden’s cause, saying: “Time and time again, Nigel Farage finds himself in the company of extreme voices. Farage should have called out these grim homophobic remarks and condemned them. Instead, he is throwing his support behind the individual peddling them, so that he has a bigger platform - [Well, obviously](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/well-obviously-7/) - Angela Rayner has been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs, the Guardian can reveal, paving the way for a potential leadership bid as Keir Starmer’s grip on power unravels. The former deputy prime minister has settled £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty after initially paying the lower rate, but has - [Cometh.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/cometh/) - ...well, you know the rest: Why does Britain keep ending up with weak Prime Ministers? In this video, I argue that the problem is no longer simply about personalities or political parties. The deeper issue is that the UK political system now rewards the wrong qualities and filters out many of the people who might - [Limiting access is limiting access](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/limiting-access-is-limiting-access/) - The European Union could announce a ban on social media for children as soon as this summer, Ursula von der Leyen has said. Any system that can exclude one group can be used to exclude another. Say, those fascist right wingers who might oppose membership of the European Union? - [Subs! Subs!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/subs-subs-10/) - Queen backs decision to keep pilot who bludgeoned wife to death in prison Why was the wife in prison? How did he get in there to bludgeon her? Royal consort told campaigners she supported their efforts to prevent the early release of a notorious killer Ah, that headline needs rewriting, no? - [Yes, really, we're running out of sand](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/yes-really-were-running-out-of-sand/) - Malé is one of the world’s most overcrowded cities, but it faces double pressure. As well as a growing population, the capital of the Maldives is also threatened by rising sea levels. Owing to climate breakdown, its living space is shrinking. So the justification for a land reclamation project seemed clear. Take sand from elsewhere - [Jeebus but this is biased](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/jeebus-but-this-is-biased/) - Incompetent even: Writing in 1943, the historian Henry Steele Commager delivered both a stern history lesson and a warning about the United States supreme court. The court, he said, had never been a friend to US democracy, and it never would be. For anyone committed to the advancement of majority rule, he added, judicial review - [And also....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/and-also/) - With the Trump administration aggressively meddling in what schools and universities are able to teach, it may not be long until billionaire life stories are taught to US schoolchildren. Who needs to learn about slavery, and how it continues to shape the racial wealth gap, when you can hear the heartwarming story of how a - [This is fascinating](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/this-is-fascinating-12/) - Russian ship that sank near Spain may have been carrying nuclear reactors to North Korea Western military may have targeted the Ursa Major, which went down after mysterious explosions, reports suggest Well, OK. The Ursa Major, a 142-metre-long, Russian-flagged ship owned by the state-linked Oboronlogistics company, was purportedly sailing from St Petersburg to Vladivostok in - [This is not true, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/this-is-not-true-no/) - The top 10% of wealth owners, who broadly coincide with the top 10% of income earners, The vast majority of UK wealth is in housing equity and pensions. Wealth is this concentrated in an age cohort - those in their 10 years before retirement and a couple of years after it - and so doesn't - [UK bond yields go wild](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/uk-bond-yields-go-wild/) - Part of the worry is that if Starmer is forced out of Downing Street, his possible replacements may seek to increase public spending and loosen the government’s fiscal rules. Well, quite. Someone, somewhere, might have been listening to Spud. And then what will happen with inflation? - [As the US Supreme Court just put it](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/as-the-us-supreme-court-just-put-it/) - If our culture wars are to reach a nadir, it may be this single, absurd moment: a white female influencer is moving to sue a positive action charity over anti-white discrimination. If we say that you're not allowed to discriminate on hte basis of race then that means we've said you are not allowed to - [Well, yeah, but....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/well-yeah-but/) - A more fundamental weakness lies in the very essence of Reform as a rightwing populist party. What if what you call right wing is in fact popular? Or, as it seems to be turning out, the working class that actyually works isn't all that taken with the concerns of the metropolitan left? - [This is a surprise, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/this-is-a-surprise-eh-3/) - Zelenskyy’s ex-chief of staff accused in Ukraine corruption investigation Anti-graft agencies say Andriy Yermak suspected of participating in criminal group that laundered $10.5m in housing project, which he denies ownership in Before the war Ukraine was generally regarded as even more - yes, even - corrupt than Russia. Which is, you know, going some. Doesn't - [Yes, very good](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/yes-very-good-3/) - What happens when markets stop working? That is the question at the core of this video, and it matters because we are entering a period in which shortages of essential goods may become impossible to ignore. Oil supplies are already being disrupted. Gas, fertilisers, industrial chemicals and food supply chains are under pressure. And when - [Worstall's Definition Of A Good Scientist](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/worstalls-definition-of-a-good-scientist/) - "Someone willing to publish results opposing what he wishes to be true". - [Ooooh! Ooooh! Evil Dollars!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/ooooh-ooooh-evil-dollars/) - This is, in fact, fairly pathetic: Their battered metal safes, filled with millions of Somali shillings, are closed and locked. The paper fortunes inside have suddenly become worthless. “It’s like we went bankrupt overnight,” says Jama. Last month, fed up with greasy, ripped and aged banknotes, a handful of traders in Mogadishu decided they would - [Rhetoric is what worries now, is it?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/rhetoric-is-what-worries-now-is-it/) - Reform UK’s success has caused trepidation among many members of minority communities across the UK, with concerns there could now be a rise in hostile rhetoric. Didn't the people just have their say? - [Eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/eh-219/) - Saudi Aramco profits jump despite conflict in Middle East Despite? Oil price doublkes (or whatever) and a rise in profits for an oil company is a despite? But Guardian, numbers, business, etc, etc. - [Cometh the Hour](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/cometh-the-hour/) - But let me be clear, we do not need a new Labour Prime Minister. Even less do we need a new Conservative Prime Minister. And we most certainly do not need Nigel Farage in Number 10, not that I really think he has any ambition to get there, so keen has he been in the - [Blimey](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/blimey-81/) - By keeping everything on a small scale, most micropubs do not make more than £90,000 profit in a year, which keeps them below the VAT registration threshold. The Tele needs to get with the program. It's sales, not profits, of under £90k that leaves out VAT. But, you know journos and numbers. Acshully, journos and - [Oh Dear. Never Mind.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/oh-dear-never-mind/) - Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield, agreed that the result risked leaving Birmingham “ungovernable”, adding: “There was the hope that there might be a chance for strong and sensible leadership. But I’m afraid that is not the result that the electorate has delivered. Perhaps the electorate prefers not to have strong leadership? Now, - [The set reading text for today is The Mouse That Roared](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/the-set-reading-text-for-today-is-the-mouse-that-roared/) - Sir Keir therefore had a 45-minute warning that his premiership was being formally challenged – by an MP almost no one outside Westminster or her north London constituency has ever heard of. Ms West told the BBC that she already had 10 backers for her “stalking horse” bid, which is designed to trigger a leadership - [The purpose of a thing is what the thing does](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/the-purpose-of-a-thing-is-what-the-thing-does/) - The purpose of this law is to enrch lawyers. Job done. - [Well, isn't this a useful lesson?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/well-isnt-this-a-useful-lesson/) - AI deepfakes reveal exactly what the bird would be saying without deep fakes. Isn't that, therefore, a glorious revelation? - [Ouch](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/ouch-31/) - Reform UK came second, pushing Labour into a distant third place. Plaid won 43 seats, Reform 34, Labour nine, the Conservatives seven, Greens two and Liberal Democrats one. 49 needed for a majority. PC plus L or C? How else can one be cobbled together? - [In other words](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/in-other-words/) - In our view, that’s a good thing. But as the anti-datacenter movement has grown, it’s come under fire from all sides, including from liberal critics who dismiss it as another privileged form of nimby (not in my backyard) politics with naive demands. A New York Times op-ed, for example, called the fight against datacenters a - [Something of a summing up](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/something-of-a-summing-up/) - While hunting basking sharks he met the author Gavin Maxwell, an SOE instructor at Arisaig. “Frightful little pansy,” said J M Scott. “Wears dark glasses.” - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/snigger-295/) - Not only is deep canvassing persuasive but, by contrast to almost all other approaches, the change appears to be durable, at least over the course of months. It seems to have been a decisive factor in the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York. What makes the difference is the listening. There’s a - [Usual guff](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/usual-guff/) - Whoever wins today’s elections, democracy is the loser under first past the post Polly Toynbee That it is possible to throw the bsatards out is rather the point of an electoral system, no? - [Finally, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/finally-eh/) - On Wednesday, the body published a long-awaited review of Cass’s findings, conducted by 12 union members. Prof David Strain, the chair of the BMA’s board of science, who led the review, said the Cass report’s methodology was robust and the BMA was no longer opposed to any of its 32 recommendations. Presumably they found some - [Nonce prisoners](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/nonce-prisoners/) - Watkins was a “particularly notorious and high-profile” prisoner, who had received threats from other prisoners including on the day before he was killed, said Storey. Gedel, whom prison officers described as “perky” when they detained him after the attack, allegedly said “have a good night’s sleep Watkins lad” when he was taken past the cell - [This might need more work, this story](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/this-might-need-more-work-this-story/) - For hundreds of years, he was known only as “Jersey”, an enslaved boy of about 11 rendered in oil on canvas by the great 18th-century portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. But now the life of the youngster, believed to be Reynolds’ earliest depiction of a person of colour, has begun to emerge, thanks to a - [This works. No, really.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/this-works-no-really/) - Former China defence ministers convicted of corruption in latest purge of military leaders Ex-defence ministers, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe both sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, among the most severe sentences in a years-long purge If you are the authoritarian, dictatorial, type, then you'd quite like all your underlings to be corrupt. For - [](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/105407/) - I added the highlight in italics because that is the core question I am being asked, and it really did not take long to deal with this one, as the argument that politicians cannot be trusted with fiscal policy is, in my opinion, one of the strangest claims in modern economics. We already trust politicians - [Difficult, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/difficult-really-2/) - The analysis also found that during this period where stroke incidents were on the rise, people from black African and Caribbean backgrounds were more than twice as likely to experience a stroke compared with their white counterparts. More specifically, stroke incidence was 131% higher in black African and 100% higher in black Caribbean populations in - [Wowsers](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/wowsers/) - Want to reduce your intake of ultra-processed food? If so, cook at home more often, don’t eat late at night and chew your food more slowly. Those are among some of the tips doctors have offered to help people limit the amount of UPF they consume given the acute and growing danger it poses to - [Bit difficult for Gazza here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/bit-difficult-for-gazza-here/) - He hjust does live shouting that the Duke of Westiminster doesn't pay tax. The group paid out dividends of £53.7m to the duke’s family and its trusts, up from £52.4m in 2024. Grosvenor paid total taxes of £248m, against £107.4m in 2024, including £200m in the UK. This is largely because of UK property sales, - [Hmm](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/hmm-127/) - On one side are millions of left-leaning Britons – many of them young – whose economic prospects are worsening, whose anxieties about the climate crisis are rising, whose horror at Israel and the US’s wars is absolute, and whose alienation from the compromises of conventional Labour politics is deep. This is the large minority of - [Oh, very wise indeed](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/oh-very-wise-indeed/) - Sanctions on American businessmen: The foul men – they are mainly men – burning the planet should have access to as little of it as possible. Trump’s own name should not adorn the gates of his golf courses in Scotland and Ireland, and his minion Lee Zeldin, who leads the ironically named Environment Protection Agency - [Thank goodness for speculation in financial markets, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/thank-goodness-for-speculation-in-financial-markets-eh/) - It’s not really in the spirit of capitalism for a thing to get more expensive after you’ve bought it; though anyone with a student loan will know that it’s very much in the spirit of late capitalism. EasyJet has been able to offer its guarantee because it’s 70% hedged, though only until September. (In other - [See if you can guess who this is](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/see-if-you-can-guess-who-this-is/) - 'Oi bruv, listen up innit, it’s ya boy Gazza Stevenson here, the one who made it big time back in the day. Yeah, I was that trader geezer, stackin’ mad P’s on the bond desk, livin’ the dream, flyin’ first class, birds everywhere, the full works... But please bro, don’t even try it, yeah? I - [Really very joyous](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/really-very-joyous/) - I accept her point. Something deeper is wrong if this many children are having behavioural problems in our society. We're then told the answer is neoliberalism - because of course it is. Rather than, say, locking every child into a house for a couple of years during their formative period. But then Spud was in - [Pendantry Alert!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/pendantry-alert-2/) - Being a Cassandra is never popular. A reminder. Cassandra was right. - [How terribly British](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/how-terribly-british/) - Whatlington (population: 320) is near Battle. I grew up there. Opposite the church and a mill-house formerly occupied by the famous sage (once deputy editor of this newspaper) Malcolm Muggeridge, runs an attractive bridle path with farms on each side. I know it well because I used to ride along it as a boy. Two - [There is that, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/there-is-that-yes/) - There were some neutral observers who felt uneasy about the size of the surcharge, given that she had been given legal advice that the policy of council-house sales was lawful. And apologists for the policy liked to point out that homes-for-votes was a mirror image of what Labour councillors up and own the country had - [It's possible for this to go either way, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/its-possible-for-this-to-go-either-way-really/) - My husband left me for a man. It was a uniquely painful betrayal After more than 40 years together, finding out that the father of my children was gay and had been having a secret affair blindsided me Not a Fnarr, Fnarr there in the headline. But, sorta, which is worse? Hubby doesn't like women - [Gamestop bids for e-Bay](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/gamestop-bids-for-e-bay/) - Obviously this is not advice in any sense at all: Cohen said the 1,600 remaining sites would offer eBay a “national network for authentication, intake, fulfilment, and live commerce”. Those stores could serve as “drop-off and shipping nodes”, and double as broadcasting studios, with eBay providing the goods and customer base for events like livestreamed - [No one will listen](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/no-one-will-listen/) - The next Scottish government will need to make “really difficult” spending decisions soon after taking power, including tackling its large public sector pay bill, senior economists have said. Economists with the Fraser of Allander Institute, at the University of Strathclyde, believe the manifestos published by Scotland’s political parties during the campaign failed to tell voters - [Once again with the Potato](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/once-again-with-the-potato/) - BP made $3.2 billion in the first three months of 2026, which was more than double its profit from the same period last year. It did not achieve this by finding new oil or selling more of it. It did it by trading oil contracts. In other words: by betting on war. And your energy - [Spud is a one](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/spud-is-a-one/) - Having reflected on this, I then came across this issue of capitalism running out of road in a different way. Since we started our YouTube channel, I have watched videos on cameras, video equipment, lenses, microphones, and all the things I had to learn about to reach an acceptable level of production quality. During that - [The lefty challenge and ambition](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/the-lefty-challenge-and-ambition/) - Today’s task is also to reclaim and reassert democratic control over the economic, digital and geopolitical system that nationalists are challenging. Near complete list of the things I'm against. "Democratic control" means the lanyards get to tell everyone what to do. This is lovely for the lanyards and a disaster for everyone else. In short, - [Oh Dear](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/oh-dear-76/) - Afeature of living at the end of an era is that some events in the present already feel like future artefacts – things you expect to see in a school history book, or a documentary many years from now. Here is King Charles’s 2026 state visit to the United States, right between the chapters on - [Erm, yes, and?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/erm-yes-and/) - However, it may not always have been like this. Research suggests that in the Victorian era and early 20th century, Northern Ireland was much more tolerant and accepting of gay men. “I was expecting to find repression but there was a sort of benevolent toleration,” said Tom Hulme, a historian at Queen’s University Belfast and - ['Mazin'](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/mazin/) - We saw two Met officers approach a man, stunned and lying on the ground, obviously unable to resist arrest and equally obviously unable to release the knife he held because the tasers used on him would have prevented his nervous system from reacting to that command (as the police should have known), then being kicked - [Foreign courts, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/foreign-courts-eh/) - Along-running dispute between HM Revenue & Customs and commodities giant Glencore over a £1.5bn tax bill may be decided in secret by a panel of foreign arbitrators, after changes to UK law and trade agreements. For 15 years British officials have been trying – and largely failing – to tax profits shifted from Glencore’s UK-based - [You're right, they are mad](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/youre-right-they-are-mad/) - Fruit could be stripped from yogurts under Labour’s “counter-intuitive” junk food crackdown, manufacturers have warned. Food giants such as Danone are understood to be concerned that new rules on sugar and nutrition may force manufacturers to rethink recipes or even withdraw perfectly healthy products from supermarket shelves altogether. Under the plans, health officials want to - [Cliche Alert!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/cliche-alert-2/) - Alan Cumming is Leo and David Morrissey is Clive, two middle-aged neighbours in a Manchester street. Leo is gay and runs a lively bar in Canal Street that’s become a refuge for waifs and strays – young people rejected because of their sexuality or how they present themselves – having inherited the place from a - [This doesn't work, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/this-doesnt-work-no/) - Largely self-funded and backed by Thiel and fellow contrarian entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan, a crypto investor, Objection says it wants to act as a “private accountability system” for journalism. For a starting price of $2,000 (£1,470), anyone who feels they have been unfairly reported on can file a complaint. A team of investigators – including, reportedly, - [Oh Aye?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/oh-aye-73/) - Colin and I ceased working together in early 2025when out work was heading in differem directions, and Ann Pettifor took the opportunity of that to suggest I should no longer be involved in this rump of a group because she has always had an incomprehensible and visceral loathing of what she thinks modern monetary theory - [How to put this indelicately?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/how-to-put-this-indelicately/) - Their results of those tests revealed something never before documented in British history. Lavinia and Michelle are twins who grew together in the same womb, were born from the same mother, and delivered within minutes of each other – but have different fathers. Oookay. Heteropaternal superfecundation – the vanishingly rare biological process to which Michelle - [One of the problems with these new layers of politics](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/one-of-the-problems-with-these-new-layers-of-politics/) - Andy Burnham has a credible plan to return to Westminster “within weeks”, his allies have said, with the Greater Manchester mayor expected to use a byelection fight to set out a new agenda for government. If gives someone like Burnham a job - and an income - from which to plot for the centre. So - [Another miss](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/another-miss/) - In this video, I explain why that is the case. The inflation we are facing is not driven by excess domestic demand. It is being driven by war, supply shortages, and speculation in global commodity markets. Interest rate rises cannot produce more oil or resolve supply disruption, but they can suppress demand further in an - [Spud swings and misses](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/spud-swings-and-misses/) - Secondly, regulation must change the investment landscape so that high-carbon activities are curtailed, and low-carbon alternatives are mandated. Private capital will follow when the rules change. It always does. Well, OK. Impose the carbon tax, everything is now in prices and we're done. Bloke did get the Nobel for this. - [Moira's Pissed](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/moiras-pissed/) - That’s because according to the court, it is now acceptable for voting districts to have racially discriminatory impacts so long as they cannot be proved to have racially discriminatory intent. Alito’s opinion overturns the 1982 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, which specifically said that voting district maps needed to be drawn in a way - [They're gonna ban chips at the footie, aren't they?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/theyre-gonna-ban-chips-at-the-footie-arent-they/) - Acton summarised the results: “The main surprise was particle pollution in the fan areas around the stadium. For a spectator attending a full day of events, their daily exposure would be more than doubled.” Particle pollution peaked before each stadium session, and reached a maximum just before the closing ceremony, when it was 10 times - [Such a lovely idea, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/such-a-lovely-idea-eh/) - That matters because real security is not created by weapons alone. A country is secure when its society is stable, cohesive, and resilient. That depends on the quality of its health service, its education system, its social security arrangements, its infrastructure, and its housing. These are not peripheral issues; they are the foundation of any - [Rent boys like money](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/rent-boys-like-money/) - Three men were paid by a Russian speaking contact known as “El Money” to target Sir Keir Starmer in a series of arson attacks, a court has heard. Roman Lavrynovych, 22, Petro Pochynok, 35, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27 are accused of firebombing properties linked to the Prime Minister in May 2025. On Wednesday, jurors were - [Oh, My.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-my-12/) - There have been further listings of confidential health records of UK volunteers on the Chinese website Alibaba since the breach reported last week, and the government is braced for further leaks, the science minister has said. Addressing a House of Lords debate on the attempted sale of data belonging to 500,000 UK Biobank volunteers, Patrick - [Of course, the answer to be given is no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/of-course-the-answer-to-be-given-is-no/) - The world is threatened by a “suicidal” model of capitalism that is leading to war, fascism and the potential extinction of humanity, Colombia’s president has said, as he convened 57 governments to address the climate crisis. Gustavo Petro blamed fossil fuel interests for taking ever more desperate measures to prevent a transition to green energy. - [This is true, yes.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-is-true-yes-2/) - A future Prime Minister Farage could legally go to war without consulting parliament, fire civil servants who block him, and potentially wield sweeping emergency powers if he chose to invoke the civil contingencies act (for example, in response to mass protests). Which is why the civil contingencies act is such a bad idea. From memory - [Seems fair to me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/seems-fair-to-me-4/) - In a 6-3 decision along partisan lines, the court rendered ineffective section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the last remaining powerful provision of the 1965 civil rights law that prevents racial discrimination in voting. Section 2 has long been used to ensure minority voters are treated fairly in redistricting. “Allowing race to play any - [Compared to what?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/compared-to-what/) - Urban areas host 80% of England’s homes at high risk of flooding, study finds Umm, OK. but is this good or bad? Compared to what? From AI: Approximately 83% of the UK population lives in urban areas So, I'd guess that around 80% - mebbe 83% - of Britain's houses are in urban areas. Which - [They abolishing the Equality Act?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/they-abolishing-the-equality-act/) - This week, though, the Labour leader of the city council, John Cotton, announced that a settlement with Unite was, miraculously, “within sight”. Cotton said the settlement could not be approved by the council before the local election next week, but pledged to get it over the line “as a matter of absolute priority” if Labour - [But, erm, what if some are?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/but-erm-what-if-some-are/) - Disabled people who use blue badges to go about their daily lives have said they are being harassed, questioned and even assaulted, as anti-benefits rhetoric becomes more mainstream in the UK. About 3 million people in the UK now have a blue badge, including 1 in 15 adults in England. The number of people who - [Racism is real prevalent then, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/racism-is-real-prevalent-then-eh/) - Stress from racism and deprivation could explain why black women are more likely to die during childbirth, a study has found. Researchers reviewed 44 existing studies that examined three physiological pathways associated with worse pregnancy outcomes: oxidative stress, inflammation, and uteroplacental vascular resistance, and found black women had higher levels of the three metrics. Such - [Abuse, abuse.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/abuse-abuse/) - What followed was, as she describes it in her memoir, a hellish four years for Cain during which, she says, Salazar became emotionally abusive. Cain details a coach who was obsessed with Cain’s weight, isolated her from her own parents, sent her to a sports “psychologist” who was not credentialed, and ignored her clear signs - [Wot?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/wot/) - Virginia Giuffre’s brother criticizes King Charles III for not meeting survivors of Epstein abuse Sky Roberts said survivors ‘still fighting to be heard’ after king, whose brother Andrew was accused of assault by Giuffre, did not meet with them The King must meet the enthusiastic tarts of a grubby New York financier? Really? - [Sigh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/sigh-209/) - This belief makes no sense at all. It is evidence of economic derangement, and little else. The reason for increasing interest rates when inflation rises is to suppress what is presumed to be heightened domestic demand arising from economic overheating, driven by excess private-sector activity that pushes demand beyond the economy's capacity to supply what - [Apparently Spud's on an e-Bay retainer now](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/apparently-spuds-on-an-e-bay-retainer-now/) - Secondhand goods: sell your unwanted items now to realise cash, before a downturn floods the market and prices collapse. - [In group and out group](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/in-group-and-out-group/) - For years, Viktor Orbán, with his anti-migrant and white Christian nationalist rhetoric – sentiments that endeared him to Donald Trump and his Maga base – offered his European counterparts the comforting fiction that racism in the EU was the preserve of a few unsavoury men and women. Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Racism is not - [Expatriation!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/expatriation/) - The Donald is evil, the US cannot be stood, I'm leaving! ‘I don’t want to be part of a dictatorship’: the Americans queueing up to renounce their citizenship OK. In the 00s, the numbers of US citizens renouncing were in the hundreds annually; since 2014, they’ve been in the thousands. This is expected to be - [Pikers](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/pikers/) - A network linked to the leadership of a militia accused of genocide has amassed a vast property portfolio in Dubai as part of a sprawling “paramilitary-industrial complex” across Africa and the Middle East, an investigation has revealed. Family members, sanctioned individuals, and entities linked to the leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan - [Just so wholly joyous](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/just-so-wholly-joyous/) - So the debt to GDP ratio is lower than many thought it was. Lower than ONS said it was in fact, as the FT highlights. But the thing that the Financial Times does not note is what is most important about this. They correctly record that the figure that has been altered every time the - [How excellent and glorious this is](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/how-excellent-and-glorious-this-is/) - The world is facing a financial crisis because we will be facing absolute shortages of oil, food, and raw materials very soon. And that changes everything. Markets can never solve the problem of absolute shortages: they simply supply whoever can pay the most. If we leave allocation to the market, the vulnerable will be left - [Well, not really, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-not-really-no-2/) - Dozens of MPs are opposing Wes Streeting’s decision to award himself power to dictate what the NHS pays for drugs amid growing concern the move may be illegal. Thirty-one MPs have signed a House of Commons motion voicing their disapproval of the health secretary being handed the power to override the National Institute for Health - [The of course here exists so as to show that does he Hell mean like of course](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/the-of-course-here-exists-so-as-to-show-that-does-he-hell-mean-like-of-course/) - There is a close relationship between the Trump era and violence – not just the attempts on his life but also the violence his administration has unleashed on the world, the violence his ICE and border patrol agents have caused inside America, the violence he has incited among his followers. (A few of Saturday night’s - [Of course, this sort of thing was only done by the fascists in Argentina](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/of-course-this-sort-of-thing-was-only-done-by-the-fascists-in-argentina/) - Andreas Laake, the head of a victims’ association for “stolen children in the GDR”, estimates the total number of forced adoptions over the state’s 40-year existence to be as high as 8,000, and has recorded 2,000 infant deaths that his organisation suspects could be disguising forced adoptions. In five of these cases, the association has - [Democracy, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/democracy-eh-9/) - The only reason to change the rules on indefinite leave to remain in the UK, as she is doing, is to use migrants already in this country with legal permission as weapons in Labour's war to fight off the threat from far-right political parties. Those "far-right" political parties are gaining a lot of political support - [As I like to point out](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/as-i-like-to-point-out/) - Inequality is lower than commonly measured: Councils are offering benefit claimants discounts on nights out, beauty parlours and beach huts under a spiralling “welfare culture” taking hold in Britain. A Telegraph investigation has found Universal Credit and mental health benefits claimants can receive concessions for drinks at bars, massages and eyebrow treatments via local government - [Oh, right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-right-84/) - My doctor husband is married to his job so I sleep with other men File this one under selfish bitch, do we? - [When BiS is right about Pigou Taxes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/when-bis-is-right-about-pigou-taxes/) - It wants eVED to be the successor to fuel duty. But the numbers don’t add up. Pay-per-mile will raise £7bn a year by 2050-51, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). That’s less than a third of the current £24bn tax take earned from fuel duty. It seems inevitable that a dramatic increase in - [Again?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/again-6/) - A gunman stormed a security checkpoint armed with “multiple weapons” in an apparent attempt to assassinate Donald Trump at a major event in Washington. The US president was rushed off stage by his security detail after several gunshots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday. Grainy footage released by Mr Trump - [Seems a little unambitious](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/seems-a-little-unambitious/) - Some of the Funding the Future team will be at a national model railway show today. Normally they're plotting to be the Fat Contoller for all of us. - [Not wholly, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/not-wholly-no-3/) - Lesley Fitt, who was wearing a gas mask to make her point, said: “The dangers of glyphosate are well known. I know there are many who claim such dangers but I'm unaware of any actual ones. You know, other than "Chemicals, nasty!" type statements. - [You could be right Andy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/you-could-be-right-andy/) - Rightwing populism is littered with broken promises. Its opponents need to make those failures count Andy Beckett Of course this is trivia as compared to left wing populism. Those extravagant promises of the 1940s have left us saddled, 80 years later, with one of the worst health care services in Western Europe for example.... - [He's not a world leading energy economist](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/hes-not-a-world-leading-energy-economist/) - He's a very naughty boy: The oil crisis triggered by the Iran war has changed the fossil fuel industry for ever, turning countries away from fossil fuels to secure energy supplies, the world’s leading energy economist said. Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), also said that, despite pressure, the UK - [This is not, in fact, true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-is-not-in-fact-true-8/) - If consumers spend less, as falling confidence suggests is likely, and businesses see a downturn in activity and, as a result, invest less, the unavoidable consequence is that the government will have to borrow more. This is what the sectoral balances suggest is inevitable, and they represent an unbreakable accounting identity that must always hold - [My word](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/my-word-28/) - And, despite the outcome of the election in Hungary, far-right nationalist populism is still on the rise, threatening democracy as well as principled, far-sighted policies on climate, energy, trade, technology and migration. The people who disagree with The Guardian's progressives are unprincipled, eh? So what is the answer? Most of the thinkers we spoke to - [Umm](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/umm-52/) - In the months after the invasion, Essar entered into complex offshore arrangements that appear to have enabled the group to keep dealing with a Russian bank under sanctions from the west. Essar shifted billions of dollars in loans, provided by the Kremlin-controlled lender VTB, from Cyprus to a subsidiary in the tax haven of Mauritius, - [Truly glorious](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/truly-glorious/) - First, as The Economist notes, the global energy system is not adjusting smoothly through price signals, as orthodox economic models suggest it should. Instead, market demand is being propped up by policy intervention, most especially through short-term inventory depletion. Politicians are maintaining the pretence that all is "normal". So, as Spud doesn't go on to - [So, it works then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/so-it-works-then/) - Weight loss drugs transformed our sex life A couple who lost 17st between them say Mounjaro gave them more than weight loss, restoring confidence and closeness I am reminded of a story - a story, not something fact checked. A farmer's wife - and of the size and shape of a proper farmer's wife - - [Just can't get the staff these days](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/just-cant-get-the-staff-these-days/) - The former private secretary of billionaire philanthropist Judith Neilson has been charged with dozens of counts of fraud after she allegedly used a business credit card to make more than $1m worth of purchases, including luxury clothing, artwork and jewellery. Annalouise Spence, 50, was refused bail at a local court hearing on Thursday after being - [To answer the Spud question](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/to-answer-the-spud-question/) - Hence, the Richard Murphy Question: If governments create the money that sustains our economies, and if we have the real resources to provide security, care and a livable future free from fear, why do we continue to organise society as if we cannot afford to do so? Because we do not share Spud's priorities? Because - [Don't think it'll work](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/dont-think-itll-work/) - Sir Keir Starmer must invest billions more in the military after decades of “over-reliance” on the United States allowed Britain to “neglect” its Armed Forces, an ex-Nato chief has warned. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, a former Nato secretary general, said Downing Street must “reassess” its “outdated and unhelpful” special relationship with the US. He's - [They're getting desperate](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/theyre-getting-desperate/) - Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather. Democracy is good! So, if we can link climate change to ani-democracy then hugs all around! Except Xir who is non-tactile. We win! - [Moira thinks she's got a gotcha](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/moira-thinks-shes-got-a-gotcha/) - Last month, the International Olympic Committee announced that transgender women athletes would be barred from competing in all Olympic events in the women’s category – but not the men’s events. Err, yes? The new rules effectively redefine womanhood – but not manhood – as a novel and previously unrecognized category consisting only of those with - [Ain't this a story with everything?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/aint-this-a-story-with-everything/) - X Factor finalist accused of driving car into influencer rival Social media creator on attempted murder charge after three people mown down by vehicle in Soho Well, OK, it's still missing the Ghost of Diana and Elvis flipping a cheeseburger but no doubt we'll get there. - [No it won't](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/no-it-wont-2/) - The Guardian reported last week that the so-called “legacy generators” will be offered the opportunity to sign up to the new contracts, which are similar to deals struck by low-carbon projects since 2017, or face higher windfall taxes on their profits. Securing the bulk of the UK’s electricity from fixed-price contracts should mean electricity costs - [Oh aye?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-aye-72/) - Baby was sexually abused before being killed by man adopting him, court told Boy died aged 13 months after ‘routine abuse’ by Jamie Varley and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, jury hears We do not have the death penalty any more. Well, except that meted out by prisoners themselves. a secondary school teacher - [This seems an excellent idea](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-seems-an-excellent-idea/) - Europe’s “stone age” system of booking train tickets makes it needlessly difficult for travellers to avoid polluting flights, a report has found. Booking equivalent train tickets is “difficult or impossible” on almost half of the EU’s busiest international air routes, analysis from the Transport & Environment (T&E) thinktank shows. Popular flight paths such as Lisbon-Madrid - [Typical Polly](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/typical-polly/) - Historically it may come to be recognised as equivalent to the 1948 creation of the NHS, with Ed Miliband the Nye Bevan of our day. He has fought his cause in much the same ruthless way Bevan did. He faces the same ferocious (and politically deranged) opposition from the right, who will have to eat - [Why isn't anyone listening to me?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/why-isnt-anyone-listening-to-me/) - The $2bn (£1.5bn) a week that Donald Trump was spending on his reckless war in Iran could have funded saving more than 87 million lives, the head of the UN’s humanitarian agency, Tom Fletcher, said on Monday. He also warned the normalisation of violent language, such as threatening to bomb Iran back to the stone - [Spud tries pensions again](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/spud-tries-pensions-again/) - The reality is that the fundamental pension contract, which is the collective acceptance of responsibility to provide for those in old age, is not reflected in the savings-based model of pension provision. Petitio principii. He reaches his conclusion by the assumption he makes rather than proves. If you assume that the base idea is the - ['S Glorious](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/s-glorious/) - The penny is dropping. Reeves' denial of reality is no longer sustainable. As I have been saying for weeks, Trump and Netanyahu's war is likely to deliver an outcome requiring a response at least as great as that required after WWII. We face shortages of gas, oil, other raw materials, and components for many manufacturing - [Most, most, amusing](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/most-most-amusing-3/) - Spud now bemoans the cost of regulation: HMRC's claimed logic is that, by imposing this obligation on businesses, with serious penalties soon to be attached for failure to comply, businesses will secure a supposed benefit as a result of them knowing their own real-time accounting performance. This claim by HMRC embraces, with an arrogance that - [Oh. Right then.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-right-then-4/) - Trump defies attempts to make his actions cohere with any particular strategy. His wars, killing of innocents, and indeed, the threatening of entire civilisations are reshaping the world, but without him even having orchestrated some master plan. He is animated by little more than momentary impulses and resentments. Not really necessary to read more of - [This offence of reproductive coercion then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-offence-of-reproductive-coercion-then/) - When the Grammy award winning songwriter, Olivia Nervo, agreed to start a family with her partner she believed she was in “a monogamous, committed relationship leading to a future”, and had never heard of reproductive coercion. Her world came crashing down when she was six months pregnant and she found out that her partner was - [This means less than you might think](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-means-less-than-you-might-think/) - A small amount of insect contamination is practically unavoidable in the fruit and veg chain. In the US, there is precise guidance on how many “fragments”, and of what, are allowed in food, which makes for stomach-churning reading. US consumers may have to put up with 30 insect fragments per 100g of peanut butter, 60 - [A certain confidence here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/a-certain-confidence-here/) - So why have I put up a chart of the oil price? That is because it is utterly baffling that those supposedly tasked with making rational decisions in speculative markets can be so utterly stupid that they actually appear to believe what Donald Trump says, as if it might either represent the truth or have - [Fuck off](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/fuck-off-4/) - Doctors and nurses have been ordered not to say “it’s raining cats and dogs” and “the early bird catches the worm” to avoid offending foreign patients. Yer wha'? NHS claims ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’ is culturally insensitive So I shall have to go back to being wholly culturally insensitive then. Because if this sort - [This is a spoof column, right?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-is-a-spoof-column-right/) - Instead of government performing that first and most base of all tasks, the defence of the realm, the money should be spent on luvvies instead. So that when the French land we give them interesting castings of George Boleyn? The worst thing about this is that all over North London there are heads nodding in - [Renewables are just so, so, cheap, right?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/renewables-are-just-so-so-cheap-right/) - And yes, of course, that £10 million is on electricity bills. This particular windfarm is shut about 65% of the time it could be operating. But no, it gets better: Only a planner could lead to this outcome, right? There's no way a market would allow this sort of fuck up. Largely on the ground - [This isn't going to make 'leccie cheaper. Well, not much](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-isnt-going-to-make-leccie-cheaper-well-not-much/) - Currently, the overall price is set by the most expensive source of power, which is usually gas power plants. This has led to a surge in electricity market prices across Europe, but particularly in countries such as the UK that rely on gas. The plans to increase the generator levy – which applies to nuclear, - [Well, quite](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-quite-28/) - Local government should be local, right? There is also an added local dimension to the party’s campaigning in Havering. Mr Farage has promised an independence referendum on whether the borough should leave Greater London altogether, escaping Sir Sadiq’s control and returning to its Essex roots. “Sixty years on from the 1965 expansion of London, people - [Well, yes, this is what happens](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-yes-this-is-what-happens/) - More than 1,000 low-paid workers in Kenya have been abruptly sacked by an outsourcing company contracted by Meta, in what activists said was a shocking move exposing the precariousness of tech jobs in the global south. Sama, a company based in Nairobi to which Meta outsourced content moderation and AI training work, announced on Thursday - [This is fun](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-is-fun-70/) - The prime minister said on Friday that it was “unforgivable” and “staggering” that senior officials did not tell him that Mandelson failed a security vetting process weeks before he took up his role as ambassador to Washington. Olly Robbins was forced out of his job as permanent secretary of the Foreign Office on Thursday after - [The 20th century called](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/the-20th-century-called/) - The core purpose of government is to provide freedom from fear. That means freedom from physical threat, Freedom from want, freedom from discrimination and freedom from the deliberate chaos that destroys the social fabric on which democracy depends. Couple of hundred million dead people would like to point out that freedom from government is also - [Well, quite, a very important aspect this is, Missus](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-quite-a-very-important-aspect-this-is-missus/) - Luba Kassova, lead author of the report, said: “What we concluded by doing this analysis is that the gender-inequality lens is all but missing from coverage of the Epstein story. This means that news coverage does not get to the root causes of the problem.” Birds able to screw $50k a year - which is - [But this is how politics works](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/but-this-is-how-politics-works/) - Fans of Nicola Sturgeon will not be drawn to read Joanna Cherry’s new memoir. Which is a pity, for Keeping the Dream Alive reads like a much-needed antidote – or at least balance – to Sturgeon’s own autobiography, published last year, a book that painted her as a much-abused feminist saint whose only concern was - [Can you say restrictive practice?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/can-you-say-restrictive-practice/) - Pet owners across the UK could be banned from buying flea treatment for cats and dogs under new government rules. Ministers have begun an eight-week consultation on letting only veterinary practitioners or pharmacists give out the potent, pesticide-based flea treatments, to ensure “correct usage”. At the moment, the flea and tick treatments can be bought - [It's an odd claim](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/its-an-odd-claim/) - So, Amazon wants low prices on its site. If you're selling elsewhere cheaper, then you don't get access to the goodies - promotion, good siting etc - on Amazon. Seems OK to me. CA claims this means Amazon is forcing higher prices everywhere else. Well, no, not really. Hundreds of previously redacted records reveal how - [Tin has got more expensive recently](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/tin-has-got-more-expensive-recently/) - The vast majority of this sum has been paid, as will be noted, since the Bank of England decided, wholly unnecessarily, to increase the Bank of England base rate from 2022 onwards, with the supposed goal of tackling inflation in the UK economy, on which those interest rate increases did not, and could never have - [I guess it's an idea](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/i-guess-its-an-idea/) - Lord George Robertson - a former Labour defence secretary, and former Secretary General of NATO - has made a claim about the UK's defence capability that is not merely wrong; it is dangerously wrong. His argument is that the Iran War now justifies higher defence spending, and that social security is the obstacle standing in - [I'd never trust any number from Ember](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/id-never-trust-any-number-from-ember/) - Not even if they tried to tell me my own age. On the other hand: The owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire received record subsidies of almost £1bn for burning trees to generate electricity in 2025, a climate thinktank has calculated. The company was paid £999m last year for generating about 4.5% - [Working well then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/working-well-then/) - where only 4,522 social and affordable homes were started in 2024-25, down sharply from the 26,386 starts in 2022-23, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). And Barrat Redrow is reducing the amount of land it buys to build upon, as Berkeley recently also did. Summat's wrong with housebuilding, eh? My - [Oh, Aye, Dale?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-aye-dale/) - Had he simply paid all the extra money he extracted from Ecotricity as salary or bonus, Vince would have coughed up nearly £27m in income tax, assuming a rate of 45 per cent. Of course, it’s hard to know the counterfactual, or precisely what he did pay. But, according to the tax expert Dan Neidle, - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/snigger-294/) - Allbirds, the maker of minimalist wool sneakers beloved by Silicon Valley, announced on Wednesday that it is leaving shoes behind and pivoting to artificial intelligence. The new focus and rebrand as “NewBird AI” sent the company’s stock up 582% as of mid-day during a flurry of trading. The surging stock price and new direction is - [Different ways of looking at this, obviously](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/different-ways-of-looking-at-this-obviously/) - Dianna Russini, one of the NFL’s most high-profile reporters, is photographed holding hands with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel at a fancy resort in Sedona, Arizona. Rumors fly. Vrabel and Russini, who are both married to other people, issue statements denying the assumptions of something untoward. But the firestorm only grows. Russini resigns - [Can't stick with anything, can he?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/cant-stick-with-anything-can-he/) - when we were both members of the Progressive Economic Forum, which eventually proved itself to be anything but progressive on the issue of modern monetary theory, as a result of which I was expelled from membership. My assumption is that he couldn't get his resignation in in time, unlike that accounting body. - [It's all a conspiracy, I tell 'ee](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/its-all-a-conspiracy-i-tell-ee/) - Unsurprisingly, the reaction of markets to the UK situation has been adverse. Alongside Italy, it has seen the biggest increase in its potential government borrowing costs as a consequence of this war. They have increased by 0.5% as a result. Apart from Italy, France is the only other large country to see an increase of - [Planning, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/planning-eh/) - The great British blackout was once a threat that hung over the country during the depths of winter, when generators struggled to meet demand or storms destroyed power lines. But today, as the net zero revolution rolls on, the greatest threat to grid stability could land on a sunny Sunday afternoon. According to the National - [Hmm, dunno](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/hmm-dunno-6/) - Walter Zanre told Sky News that wholesale olive oil prices had fallen in recent months but said supermarkets were refusing to follow suit. “We brought prices down twice last year and it’s not all been passed on to the consumer, which is a huge frustration,” he said. It follows a surge in the price of - [No, no, no, no no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/no-no-no-no-no/) - A Labour MP who told the Commons that she was a rape victim is leading a rebellion that threatens to kill off David Lammy’s plans to cut jury trials. Charlotte Nichols, the MP for Warrington North, has tabled an amendment to the Justice Secretary’s bill that would establish specialist courts with juries for victims of - [This is fun, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-is-fun-eh/) - “The US’s energy dominance strategy seeks to entrench dependence on fossil fuels, stall the green transition and strengthen US power,” said Kevin Cashman, a researcher with TSP, who wrote the analysis. But increasingly cheap and scalable solar power and battery storage weaken such a strategy. “For countries like Cuba – with enormous renewable potential, but - [Really? In Spain? Oh my gosh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/really-in-spain-oh-my-gosh/) - Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been charged with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds at the end of a two-year investigation by a judge in Madrid. Gómez, 55, has been accused of using her influence as the wife of the socialist prime minister to - [Seems a tad high](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/seems-a-tad-high/) - Remind me: when did the British people vote to allow the mass immigration of millions of low-skilled foreign nationals, many of whom don’t work and never will? Immigrants who will cost the British taxpayer hundreds of billions – a national bill that breaks down into £20,000 for every single UK household, and could bankrupt the - [Politics, "real politics" is not his thing, is it?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/politics-real-politics-is-not-his-thing-is-it/) - Seventhly, there's also a chance that the obvious corruption of the Orbán years might be addressed. So blatant has been the devotion of funds to his own family that it must be hoped that Orbán himself will be prosecuted. That would be an exceedingly useful precedent, not least in the message it might send to - [Surprise!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/surprise-41/) - Most Australian children have evaded the government’s ban on social media for under-16s, a new survey has found. Now that is just astonishing, isn't it? - [There's an obvious solution here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/theres-an-obvious-solution-here/) - As Laurie Penny will not agree to: Which is what happened in 2014. In May of that year, the terrorist Elliot Rodger killed six people and brought global attention to “incels” – young men radicalised by sexual resentment. 80% of women have to stop doing what they are doing, chasing the top 20% of men, - [As opposed to, say, the highly manipulable because increasingly gaga, Joe Biden](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/as-opposed-to-say-the-highly-manipulable-because-increasingly-gaga-joe-biden/) - The former Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan has added his name to growing calls for the president to be ousted on grounds that he is unfit for the job, arguing that the US constitution’s 25th amendment addressing involuntary removal from office was “written with Donald Trump in mind”. - [Well, yes, but Rhiannon](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-yes-but-rhiannon/) - Does having children make you happier? Apparently not, according to a new study published in Evolutionary Psychology which, despite involving more than 5,000 participants in 10 countries, including Britain, could find no strong evidence that parenthood led to a measurable increase in positive emotions. The researchers, led by Menelaos Apostolou of the University of Nicosia, - [Doublespeak](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/doublespeak/) - A government spokesperson said: “Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US. Ensuring its long-term operational security is, and will continue to be, our priority – it is the entire reason for the deal. We ensure the security of a military base by giving it away to a - [Oh, very funny, very funny indeed](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-very-funny-very-funny-indeed/) - The United Nations is reviewing whether Sir Keir Starmer’s Chagos surrender breaches international human rights laws in what could jeopardise the deal. Officials are assessing allegations that the Prime Minister is committing a “crime against humanity” for attempting to evict native Chagossians from the archipelago as part of his plans to cede the British territory - [Bureaucracy doesn't do nuance](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/bureaucracy-doesnt-do-nuance/) - It’s a big problem for the National Trust, which rents out 2,500 properties – a large number of which are thatched and built with cob and timber. The charity must upgrade them under the net zero rules at significant cost, and many of the properties are listed or else impossible to upgrade to the required - [So cheap, renewables, so, so, cheap](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/so-cheap-renewables-so-so-cheap/) - The solution to this is massive spending upon the grid. OK, so spend massively on the grid or spend massively on curtailment but either makes renewables really, really, cheap, dunnit? - [He's flipped](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/hes-flipped/) - The extension of this idea into supermarkets is, however, what truly worries me. As Steve Keen and I discussed today in our podcast/video, the risk of potential famine, including in the UK, is high right now. Famine? Jeebus. It is easy to imagine where this might be most easily achieved. I suspect, in view of - [Perhaps the asylum system requires change then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/perhaps-the-asylum-system-requires-change-then/) - Russian shadow-fleet crews will be able to claim asylum if Britain seizes their ship in the Channel, ministers fear. Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, are understood to have raised concerns that seizing tankers in British waters would allow Russian mercenaries to exploit the asylum system. - [This is one of Spud's stolons](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-is-one-of-spuds-stolons/) - Starbucks’s UK retail arm received a £13.7m corporation tax credit last year, even as its sales increased 6% and it added more than 90 stores. The credit, which can be used to offset future tax bills, comes after losses widened to £41.3m in the 12 months to the end of September – almost matching the - [It's an interesting mindset](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/its-an-interesting-mindset/) - Imagine your house is on fire, and when you dial 999 the call handler suggests you try putting the blaze out yourself. Resources are tight, you see, and demand high, and the service increasingly relies on volunteers. Or perhaps your child’s maths teacher is off sick. The headteacher texts and asks if you can leave - [What a lovely view](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/what-a-lovely-view/) - Since then, the US has pushed countries across the region to terminate these agreements, branding them “forced labour” and even “human trafficking” because the Cuban state retains a share of salaries. Conveniently ignoring that these doctors were trained free of charge by the Cuban government, unlike their heavily indebted counterparts in countries such as the - [As before, I think about](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/as-before-i-think-about/) - The 21 year old lass who wanted to sell some of her paintings to Eppie and ended up taking a concubine's posting (free flat in NY, pay in sex) from him: Survivors of Epstein’s abuse accuse Melania Trump of ‘shifting burden’ on to victims It's very difficult for me to think of that lass - - [Yep, wrong again](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/yep-wrong-again/) - Steve's data shows that the correlation between energy availability and consumption as expressed by GDP, or rather gross world product, which he calls GWP, is very clear and direct. If energy availability is reduced, so too will GWP fall, and the rather ridiculous neoliberal belief that there are alternative supplies to turn on to replace - [Moron](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/moron-2/) - “The UK’s glyphosate addiction has spiralled out of control,” said Nick Mole of Pesticide Action Network UK, a campaign group which carried out the analysis. “We know that glyphosate has links to a range of cancers and other life-threatening diseases. And that it damages the environment, polluting our waters and harming wildlife. “The government urgently - [It's a shocker of a negotiating tactic, innit?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/its-a-shocker-of-a-negotiating-tactic-innit/) - An hour before Trump said he’d cause the death of a “whole civilization” if Iran didn’t open the strait of Hormuz, an Iranian official said the shipping channel would be reopened for two weeks if the United States stopped bombing Iran. The US has now stopped bombing Iran. So we’re back to the status quo - [Sounds very evil really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/sounds-very-evil-really/) - As dystopian as this sounds, Doyley’s story is one among several of its kind, where pregnant people are being forced to undergo medical procedures such as C-sections. And it’s right on theme with the broader ways the US government is working to strip women of their bodily autonomy and their rights. Gosh. As opposed to - [One step forward](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/one-step-forward/) - With no options left, the doctors offered a treatment known as CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy, which has proved gamechanging for certain cancers. The team extracted the woman’s white blood cells and isolated her T-cells, which patrol the body and kill infected or abnormal cells. The doctors engineered the T-cells to recognise a protein - [Spud critiquing Mazzo](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/spud-critiquing-mazzo/) - No, me neither. Just can't be arsed. I assume that, somwhere, there's a claim that while Mazzo is thinking along the right lines it's actually Spud who has the right answer and therefore.......but can't be bothered to check that. - [This seems unlikely](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-seems-unlikely-2/) - There is a very short logical step from that to Headline Newds. And so we have the launch episode, The Sun is Daddy, in which Prescott slowly removes her clothes while explaining that solar energy could meet our global energy demands with less land than is being used by the fossil fuel industry. Or, in - [White Bwana show darkies](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/white-bwana-show-darkies/) - They've still a very colonial mindset, no? Opening new oil and gas fields in the North Sea would “send a shock wave around the world”, imperilling international climate targets, undermining the UK’s climate leadership and encouraging developing countries to exploit their own fossil fuel reserves, experts have warned. Credulous Darkies - lovely people, of course, - [Difficult to follow this logic here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/difficult-to-follow-this-logic-here/) - “Colonia Dignidad must be treated as what it is: a site where crimes against humanity were committed,” said Margarita Romero, the president of the Asociación por la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos Colonia Dignidad, whose sister was detained at the site under the Pinochet dictatorship. “It is not just about preserving a place, but about - [Rightie Ho](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/rightie-ho-8/) - The threat was made by a US president and appears to have been real. It seems likely that Iran took it seriously. That such a thing could happen, and that the words that he used, suggesting that he would annihilate a civilisation, means that Trump should now be treated as the pariah that he is - [This bird is complaining](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-bird-is-complaining/) - I was sucked in by the money, but it wasn’t like I wanted a Lamborghini. I just wanted to be able to buy myself a house, buy my family a house, travel, and not worry. Within the first six weeks, I got a £3,000 pay cheque. I come from a low-income family where no one - [Well, yes, and?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-yes-and-7/) - Colonised nations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Oceania suffered harms including genocide, loss of ancestral lands, cultural destruction, the impoverishment and dispossession of populations, and ongoing racial, economic and ecological disparities within and between nations, including the neocolonial order that followed postwar independence movements. Every single damn nation, everywhere, has suffered those things. And? - [Oh, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-really-6/) - Opening new oil and gas fields in the North Sea would “send a shock wave around the world”, imperilling international climate targets, undermining the UK’s climate leadership and encouraging developing countries to exploit their own fossil fuel reserves, experts have warned. Apparently we are such beacons of light and hope to hte more benighted parts - [This is slightly odd](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-is-slightly-odd-2/) - Brent crude oil, the international standard, dropped 14.4% to $93.48, and futures for US crude oil sank 14.7% to $96.27 a barrel. The prices remain well above where it was at the start of the war. WTI is above Brent these days? Long been a fixture in my mind that WTI - export constraints meeting - [The Herman Daly question](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/the-herman-daly-question/) - Hence, the Herman Daly Question: If the economy is a subsystem of the biosphere, and the biosphere has limits, why do we organise economic policy around the assumption that growth can continue indefinitely? Well, I actually had this discussion with Daly himself. In which I pointed out that GDP is value added, growth in GDP - [Not that I can afford it of course](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/not-that-i-can-afford-it-of-course/) - But this place is very tempting. Spent a couple of years of childhood living just to the left of that first picture. In the background there is Capri, that lake in the foreground is one of the entrances to Hell - Hades, rather - Lake Avernus. Just behind where the camera is standing is the - [You what?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/you-what-75/) - Each year, about 400,000 international students are granted study visas to the UK. A significant proportion do so with the help of education agents: middlemen paid by universities to find foreign students. In 2023, UK universities spent a total of £500m on education agents – but there is very little oversight of how these agents - [Eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/eh-218/) - “We are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously,” he said in prepared remarks that were amplified by the state department’s social media accounts. There is little debate among legal experts that such an attack on the life-supporting infrastructure for 93 million Iranians would constitute - [After the Rosicrucians....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/after-the-rosicrucians/) - ...came the Illuminati then the Trilateral Commission and the claim do jour is that it's all The Jooos. This is obviously passe and won;t prodyuce a bestseller and social position for an ambitious leftie writer. Therefore: I’ve spent the last four years researching private equity, and during that time I’ve been blown away by both - [Possibly not, Love](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/possibly-not-love/) - Do we really need truncheons and pepper spray to fight off London’s ‘feral’ teenage shoplifters? Zoe Williams We could probably do it with an increase - a substantial one - in the number of fathers sticking around to clout their kids over the ear when they think of doing something this damn stupid. - [You see how definitions morph here?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/you-see-how-definitions-morph-here/) - Much of the trafficking on Facebook and Instagram was happening in non-public areas of the platforms, such as Facebook Messenger and private Instagram accounts, I would learn later. Traffickers were searching for teens to target and groom, and to later advertise to sex buyers. Sex trafficking is the use of force, fraud or coercion in - [Oh, which one is this?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-which-one-is-this/) - The Greek prime minister has vowed to tackle what he has called a “deep state” he says is plaguing the country, as he sought to address a growing political crisis over a farm fraud scandal that has forced the resignation of multiple government ministers. Not which govt scandal, not which Greek govt scandal, but which - [Man's a cretin](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/mans-a-cretin-3/) - The Financial Times has reported that EU officials are urging governments to prevent member states from offering support to households and businesses in response to the latest energy shock stemming from the US/ Israeli assault on Iran. The concern, it is said, is that excessive intervention might trigger a “fiscal crisis”. That claim needs to - [Well, yes, but](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-yes-but-42/) - Fourth, neoliberalism denied complexity. It insisted that markets could solve problems that are, in reality, social, political and ecological. Markets do solve some problems that are social, political and or ecological in origin. They also don;t solve some other problems from those sources and some others from opther sources. The trick is in knowing which - [This explains a lot](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-explains-a-lot/) - The Fair Work Agency (FWA), which is being launched on Tuesday, is a cornerstone of Labour’s Employment Rights Act. It will bring together several existing labour enforcement bodies and its responsibilities will include policing the minimum wage, holiday pay and modern slavery. At a recent meeting with civil society groups, Matthew Taylor, its incoming chair, - [But how would you know?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/but-how-would-you-know/) - The legislation, which went into effect on 1 January, aims to bolster the military and demands all 18-year-old men fill out a questionnaire to gauge their suitability to serve in the armed forces, but stops short of conscription. If the “modernised” model fails to pull in enough recruits, parliament will be compelled to discuss the - [Il Papa preaches](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/il-papa-preaches/) - This Easter, the message of hope, renewal, and resurrection stands in direct contradiction to the world being built around us. Sigh. The ideological roots of this agenda lie in neoliberal economics, shaped by Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, and actively promoted today by organisations such as the Atlas Network and the Tufton Street network of - [Not wholly sure this is going to work](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/not-wholly-sure-this-is-going-to-work/) - Labour scrambles for candidates to avoid local elections bloodbath Emails implore party members to stand for office, telling them that ‘no experience is necessary’ More candidates might well mean a few more votes - picking up thoe of the candidate and their Mum in a seat you'd get no votes for no candidate for example - [Kill the planning system, kill it with fire](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/kill-the-planning-system-kill-it-with-fire/) - You have to tell the system what you're going to plant in hte garden in order to gain planning permission? Kill the system with fire. Take off and dust it from orbit, it's the only way. - [Incentives matter, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/incentives-matter-eh/) - Up to 12,000 of Britain’s most prolific shoplifters will avoid jail under Labour laws scrapping most prison sentences of under one year. Judges and magistrates should only impose jail sentences of less than one year in “exceptional circumstances” as part of the Sentencing Act passed last year. Ministry of Justice data show that 98 per - [One of those things](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/one-of-those-things-3/) - Three people charged over alleged arson attack on Jewish charity ambulances in London Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, and a 17-year-old boy The form, background, of those names is a big surprise, right? Still, the number of people I've seen claiming that this was all a false flag operation, that it was done by - [It can be seen why it might be popular](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/it-can-be-seen-why-it-might-be-popular/) - OM is a mindfulness practice with a strict choreography. It is done in pairs typically composed of a man and a woman. During the session, the woman lies back on an arrangement of pillows and blankets known as a “nest”. She is unclothed from the waist down, with her legs open in a butterfly position, - [Obviously he has a fan base](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/obviously-he-has-a-fan-base/) - Traoré has won fans across Africa with anti-French and anti-western rhetoric that often invokes the legacy of the revolutionary Burkinabé leader Thomas Sankara. Sankara, a Marxist, was president of Burkina Faso, which he renamed from Upper Volta, from 1983 until his assassination in 1987. Clearly, there will be fans. The usuals, but there we are: - [It's The Jooos, The Joooos I tell 'ee!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/its-the-jooos-the-joooos-i-tell-ee/) - ....while at the same time one third of the MPs in the cabinet and one quarter of MP's altogether receive funding from organisations sympathetic to Israel. There is a massive problem with the purchase of influence within the UK government, but it does not come from Iran. The problem is with Israel, which can now - [Ahem](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/ahem-21/) - I can think of no conceivable gains to humankind as a consequence of wasting so many of the world's resources blasting a few people into space to explore the dark side of the moon. I strongly suspect that it will be claimed that there are some spin-off benefits, but the probability that these could have - [Oh, well there's me being a fool then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-well-theres-me-being-a-fool-then/) - Badger bandit last seen in Wetherspoons It's a bird who took a stuffed badger for a walk having lifted it from the pub next door. Rather than, as I at first suspected, Scott Mills being spotted drowing his sorrows in a Weatherspoons. - [No, this isn't the same as 2008](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/no-this-isnt-the-same-as-2008/) - A leading Wall Street shadow bank has been hit with a surge in withdrawal requests of more than $5bn (£3.8bn) from spooked investors amid warnings of a 2008-style financial meltdown. Blue Owl Capital said on Thursday it would block some redemptions from two major funds after it was swamped by demands from its financial backers - [But there is no resolution to the strike](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/but-there-is-no-resolution-to-the-strike/) - She said: “The council continually denied it but the figures here, that the Guardian have exposed, show the truth. The facts are clear. The council needs to stop wasting Birmingham residents’ money trying to break the strike and instead resolve the strike.” The Equality Act says that binmen must be paid the same as workers - [Fiscal drag in the NHS](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/fiscal-drag-in-the-nhs/) - Stonkers! They are now available because the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) from this week has increased the amount of money the NHS can spend on a treatment in the hope of giving patients a longer and higher quality of life from £30,000 to £35,000 a year. That's per Qualy, per decent - [Oh, well then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/oh-well-then/) - A federal judge has thrown out the majority of Blake Lively’s claims against Justin Baldoni. In a court ruling on Thursday, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed 10 of the 13 claims in Lively’s lawsuit against her co-star and director of the domestic violence film It Ends With Us. Among the 10 claims that Liman threw out - [We need advice from Ely on this!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/we-need-advice-from-ely-on-this/) - More than half the countries that have qualified for the World Cup are facing additional costs and potential losses due to Fifa’s failure to agree a blanket tax exemption with the United States government and significant variance in the host country’s international tax treaties. As a not-for-profit organisation Fifa has had tax-free status in the - [This is gloriously funny](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/this-is-gloriously-funny/) - An investigation by Canada’s national broadcaster has found that a major Quebec producer has been diluting its maple syrup with cane sugar and selling the fraudulent product to grocery chains. OK, well, adultereated products are hardly new, But: The industry is worth nearly C$1bn annually and the immense value of the market has lured criminal - [One of those little strangenesses](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/one-of-those-little-strangenesses/) - It’s Trans Day of Visibility today, a day to celebrate trans people’s lives and raise awareness of discrimination. And like any other day, it’s a day when trans people continue to be invisible and powerless. There are no trans people elected to any of the UK’s parliaments; I once worked rather hard to get a - [Well, sorta, maybe](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-sorta-maybe-3/) - Trans panic is a variation of the gay panic defence, which is a tactic used in murder and assault cases to blame the victim rather than the attacker. In the UK it’s sometimes known as the Portsmouth Defence. It argues that if a straight person experiences sexual advances from someone who is gay, or has - [Surprise!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/surprise-40/) - The UK is in a war economy, and most people don't realise it yet. The Middle East conflict has already cut global oil supplies by around 20% and gas supplies by roughly 30%. With approximately half of all UK food imported, and global fertiliser supplies under severe pressure, the shortages hitting our shelves and energy - [It's the hypocrisy, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/its-the-hypocrisy-eh/) - Patricia Pino has written a thoughtful and detailed response to my recent posts on modern monetary theory (MMT) and the Job Guarantee (JG), which I shared this morning. I welcome that. These are issues that deserve serious engagement, not sloganising. And if there is one thing that matters in political economy right now, it is - [That's humans for you](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/thats-humans-for-you/) - The borderless, unifying sense of our world as a single global community that entranced us after Apollo, and might have marshalled us all to act together for a greater environmental good, could have been amplified by social media. Instead, these platforms’ profit-driven, algorithmically tuned echo chambers have driven many of us in the opposite direction. - [Democracy eh, democracy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/democracy-eh-democracy-2/) - It's just one of those things: Swedish PM offers deal that could see far-right allowed into government Party, which has neo-Nazi roots, will hold ‘important ministerial posts within immigration’ if four-party coalition wins in September If people keep voting for the Nazis then yues, the Nazis do get to be in government. That's what democracy - [Ah, well now](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/ah-well-now/) - Yes, everyone loves a sailor and etc. But: During a trip last year she allegedly behaved inappropriately towards a senior naval officer after becoming heavily intoxicated during an evening in the officers’ mess, according to the Times. ... A Royal Navy captain in charge of one of Britain’s nuclear-armed submarines stepped back from his duties - [Well, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-yes-120/) - This, though, is not simply about Trump's erratic behaviour or the latest Iran news. There is a deeper ideological logic at work here, which is neoliberalism. Neoliberal economics reduces human beings to units in a system, economic cogs with conditional worth. When civilians are treated as expendable targets in a war in Iran, that is - [Usual foolishness](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/usual-foolishness/) - Bangladesh could become the first foreign casualty of Donald Trump’s war in Iran as it faces running out of oil and gas within weeks. After weeks of rationing, the government in Dhaka is struggling to formulate a plan and is becoming increasingly desperate at the prospect of running out of fuel, sources have told The - [Excellent!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/excellent-25/) - Politicians hoping to persuade young people in the UK to have more children should prioritise tackling housing affordability, according to research by the Resolution Foundation thinktank. Abolish the TCPA, kill the Green Belt. 'S for the children, see? - [The security of the vote is important, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/the-security-of-the-vote-is-important-yes/) - The action, which the president has framed as an effort to enhance “election integrity”, directs the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration to create a national voter list and share that with states. It also directs the postmaster general to require all mail-in and absentee ballots to be placed in - [Could be true, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/could-be-true-yes-2/) - They said Daedone and Cherwitz, 45, used economic, sexual and psychological abuse and intimidation and indoctrination to force OneTaste members into sexual acts they found uncomfortable or repulsive, such as having sex with prospective investors or clients. The two told followers the questionable acts were necessary in order to obtain “freedom” and “enlightenment” – and - [Well, yes, but.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/04/well-yes-but-41/) - That awareness has, in turn, made it easier to push back against well-worn arguments that any new tax would, sooner or later, affect middle- and lower-income households and that any attempt to demand more from wealthy companies and individuals would cause them to flee the state for somewhere cheaper, resulting in lost jobs and a - [From Spud](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/from-spud/) - Third, and most importantly, Steve highlights the centrality of energy and material inputs. Production is not an abstract function of labour and capital; it is physically grounded. Cut the energy supply, and Steve suggests, based on economic modelling using his Ravel model, that output falls more or less proportionately. In that case, cut fertiliser supply - [Aha, aha, aha](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/aha-aha-aha-22/) - Ed Miliband faces cheating accusations over plans to exclude emissions generated in foreign gas-fired power stations from UK totals. He has pledged to make the grid 95pc gas-free by 2030 – but 15pc of UK power comes from neighbours such as Belgium, the Netherlands and France, which have coal and gas-fired power stations. Mr Miliband - [Ho Yus, military experts!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/ho-yus-military-experts/) - More drilling in the North Sea would do nothing to improve the UK’s energy security, former military leaders have said, as a new analysis finds no fossil fuel importer is safe from chokepoints in the global supply chain. Therefore MadEd is right etc etc. Retired R Adm Neil Morisetti, a professor of climate and resource - [This Scott Mills thing](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/this-scott-mills-thing/) - Fortunately, I have no idea who any of these people are, so plugged into popular culture I am. But: The BBC has been plunged into a new crisis after sacking the Radio 2 presenter Scott Mills over allegations about his personal conduct. Mills, who hosted Britain’s most popular radio breakfast show, was blindsided by the - [Gotta get this reference in!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/gotta-get-this-reference-in/) - The whole social contract of Dubai involves a wilful blindness to the proximity of suffering and violence. After all, Gaza is geographically close. Ta Dah! See? Those bastard tax exile influencers in Dubai are close to Gaza and the Eeeevil Jooos! Let 'em burn! It's also 1,500 miles. The distance from London to Tunisia. Or - [So, we're going to do this again, are we?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/so-were-going-to-do-this-again-are-we/) - British Steel is on track to be fully nationalised within weeks, the Guardian understands, a year after the government took over the daily running of the loss-making business from its Chinese owner. The steelmaker, which employs 3,500 people at its plant in Scunthorpe, was taken under government control last April amid fears that the owner - [It still astonishes me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/it-still-astonishes-me/) - Your savings sitting in a bank deposit simply give the bank cheap capital. That's just so appallingly wrong that I cannot bring myself to believe that even Spud thinks that is right. But he does appear to believe it. Deposits are capital? It's just so insane.... What's worse is that I grasp how he got - [Definitions matter, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/definitions-matter-no/) - The Iran war has led to a surge in pessimism in the UK as half of households are already struggling to afford everyday essentials. What's an "essential"? Savings are shifting from a safety net to a lifeline, with a quarter (26%) of households now regularly dipping into savings to bridge the gap between their income - [What a weird argument](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/what-a-weird-argument/) - “And big picture – the oil and gas industry are never going to build ‘excess production’ so there’ll never be meaningful spare capacity in global fossil fuel supply, which is why whenever there’s a big supply shock it has such catastrophic effects on prices.” If people build more production then prices fall so that - - [The strong and independent women of today, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/the-strong-and-independent-women-of-today-eh/) - I know many women, too, who feel acutely aware of their economic circumstances and how they differ from those of their peers. And I know many women who are only on the property ladder because they married “well” to a man with an inheritance – of the three-bed semi variety as opposed to a great - [Easy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/easy/) - ‘Visible from space’: why Spain has the world’s biggest concentration of greenhouses Southern weather but with European property rights, not African. From that, plus clustering, etc. Don't bother with the piece itself. It's very clearly PR from the growers' association. And if it isn't that then the writer has missed their vocation. - [Oh Aye?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/oh-aye-71/) - Of all those who have commented on MMT or contributed to the theory, as I have with regard to tax, it can reasonably be argued that I have the greatest reach. ... He acknowledged that it had received less attention than he would have wished and simultaneously suggested that MMT had, to date, produced only - [This is an interesting read, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/this-is-an-interesting-read-no/) - About which Spud says: Secondly, the belief that I have had for some time that the single transferable party system of power in the UK is broken is justified. Neoliberal parties now have no answers to the problems that the UK faces, and the people of the country have realised that. LibDems, Tories, Lab and - [Sounds like a day](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/sounds-like-a-day/) - Even when friends deserted him over his decision to leave Julia, his wife of 34 years, for Lucie, he had a few reliable coping mechanisms. “For a long time, I was persona non grata,” he reflects. “I was left with a lot of very angry wives, and I wasn’t invited to much, if anything at - [Interesting problem here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/interesting-problem-here-2/) - So define "addictive". If there's going to be a law about it then that is necessary. A legal definition of what is this addictive which is not to be allowed. Aaad, well, that's difficult, right? Humanity is varied, contains multitudes. What is addictive for one might well not be for another. Hell, we even have - [Bleedin' typical](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/bleedin-typical/) - So the wimmins finally get true choice. It is indeed possible to enjoy that shaggin' bit and yet also not have 10 kids. So now they moan about how difficult choiecs are. Welcome to reality, Honeys. Sigh. Here we are with that second lesson of the two that economics teaches us. There are always opportunity - [What Would Spud Do?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/what-would-spud-do/) - Second, we need to rethink the role of markets in essential goods. Pricing mechanisms that ration access based on ability to pay are not appropriate for something as fundamental as energy. There is a strong case for more direct intervention, including rationing if necessary, to ensure fair access. Well, clearly no more fuel for you - [Well, yes......](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/well-yes-119/) - I set out four solutions. First, interest rates on national debt must come down; they are too high. Second, unearned income from interest and government bonds needs to be taxed more heavily, not less than earnings from work. Third, we need more progressive tax systems worldwide. And fourth, the ownership of this wealth needs to - [Presumably she'd like this to be a bestseller](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/presumably-shed-like-this-to-be-a-bestseller/) - Anna Kilpatrick doesn’t have a bedroom. Or even a bed. The a 52-year-old content creator from East Sussex sleeps on a wide shelf in her hallway so that her two children, 21 and 18, can have their own rooms. And yet, she says, she has “enough”. She doesn’t hanker after a bigger house or shinier - [Excellence is difficult](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/excellence-is-difficult/) - Anyone willing to participate in the frenzied response to the Noma news cycle should also be willing to look at the system that creates environments for abuse. Profit margins, unrealistic demands by wealthy guests for luxury and theatre, a media that skips due diligence and the staggering lack of gender parity all play a role. - [Long piece here and not all that much understanding](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/long-piece-here-and-not-all-that-much-understanding/) - The holiday flat near(ish) the Roman ruins of Pompeii was “disgusting”, and smelled of “a mix of dampness and sewage”, according to one reviewer on Google Maps. I never visited, but I gave it five stars. I did the same for a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel across the River Thames, an Ibis budget hotel in - [Improvement is possible](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/improvement-is-possible/) - It is a monumental shift that means transgender women and athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), who were reported as female at birth but have internal testes and have undergone male puberty, are now banned from the female category at all future Olympics. Science intervenes! Then there was the science. It is hardly news - [Possibly not very nice to say so](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/possibly-not-very-nice-to-say-so/) - A Finnish member of parliament has been found guilty by the country’s supreme court of inciting hatred after claiming that homosexuality was a “developmental disorder”, in a conviction that prompted criticism from far-right government ministers. But illegal to say or suggest? Fuck off. And to think, there are people who suggest we should rejoin such - [We're fucked lads, completely fucked](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/were-fucked-lads-completely-fucked/) - ....because Miliband is the cabinet’s resident deep thinker at a time when big ideas are suddenly back. Given what he says about renewables etc we're wholly fucked, tight? - [Seems fair to me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/seems-fair-to-me-3/) - New research published in the journal Transnational Environmental Law offers the first systematic analysis of how major fossil fuel companies defend themselves when taken to court over their role in causing global warming. Drawing on case documents from landmark lawsuits, the research identifies three distinct strategies companies are using. The first and broadest argument is - [And yet Torsten will not change his mind](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/and-yet-torsten-will-not-change-his-mind/) - Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, is expected to update the House of Commons on the saga on Thursday. He is understood to be furious at how chronic failings have been able to reach this level. The State is not good at doing things: National Savings and Investments is set to pay out £400m to customers - [Bollocks](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/bollocks-29/) - As the resolution went ahead in New York, the British MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy presented a petition to the House of Commons, pushing for a state apology by the UK for its key role in slavery and colonialism of Africans. “So many of the intersecting global challenges we now face are rooted in the legacies of - [Jeebus](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/jeebus-29/) - Fortnite makes around $4bn a year in revenue, it is the fourth most played PC game in the world. Epic Games is estimated to have made $6bn in revenue in 2025. But somehow it is spending more than it’s making. Midway through his note, Sweeney tacitly alludes to the fact that one of the company’s - [Cretin](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/cretin-9/) - The second thing that banks do is borrow money. They borrow money from you. If you have what you call money in the bank, you have lent the bank that money. It's no longer your money, by the way. It's their money. You've lent it to them. They now own it. They owe it back - [Umm, isn't it supposed to work this way?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/umm-isnt-it-supposed-to-work-this-way/) - Polling for anti-immigration DPP is relatively low, but many feel its ideas have been co-opted by Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats The electorate indicates it thinks like this, the political parties scramble to do things like this? Isn't that the point? - [Close the universities!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/close-the-universities-3/) - Tarryn Phillips is a medical anthropologist and associate professor of crime, justice and legal studies in La Trobe University’s department of social inquiry. Danielle Couch is a public health researcher, health sociologist and adjunct senior research fellow at Monash Rural Health. Carmen Vargas is a research fellow at Deakin University’s school of health and social - [What a lovely word to use](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/what-a-lovely-word-to-use/) - Online commentary from men insisting that women should not advocate for higher salaries because their leagues are allegedly less profitable or entertaining exemplifies this obstruction. Allegedly. The leagues might be less profitable, or more, or less revenue generating or more, but those are facts to be established, no? In fact, facts that are establised - - [An accusation](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/an-accusation/) - The lawsuit claimed that an unnamed girl was drugged and raped by both Jay-Z and Combs at a party after the MTV music awards in 2000. Always believe the woman, of course. The suit alleged that Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped a a 13-year-old girl at a party in 2000. Combs and Jay-Z denied - [Is he really suggesting what I think he is?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/is-he-really-suggesting-what-i-think-he-is/) - I think he is you know: and it shows that the current borrowing cost on 10-year gilts is, supposedly, 4.99%. Let us be clear about this: there is no reason at all for this borrowing cost to be that high. Umm, well. The grand threat to bond holders is inflation. We expect the rise in - [Well, maybe](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/well-maybe-4/) - A war and maybe an unprecedented depression: it’s Trump’s mania, but now all of us will pay the price Polly Toynbee But oil at $100? Doesn't seem like something likely to trigger a depression to be honest. Oil's been higher before and we didn't have one. Plus, the price of oil is less important to - [Seems logical to me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/seems-logical-to-me/) - ‘They singled out non-white, foreign-born workers’: the restaurants raided by Britain’s version of ICE If you're looking for non-citizens, those without work permits, then that looks like a useful early filter. No? Or is simple Bayesian reasoning now illegal? - [Hmmmm](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/hmmmm-18/) - A California jury found Bill Cosby guilty of sexual assault in a civil trial on Monday, awarding Donna Motsinger $59.25m in damages. Motsinger alleged in the case that while working as a restaurant server in 1972, she was drugged and raped by Cosby after he gave her a glass of wine in his limousine. Motsinger - [Yes?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/yes-20/) - A leading Irish metals refinery is part of an international aluminium supply chain that appears to conclude with shipments to arms producers feeding the Kremlin’s war machine in Ukraine, leaked records and public data suggests. Well, yes. The plant converts buaxite into alumina, which is then sent off to a smelter to be turned into - [Fuck off, Matey](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/fuck-off-matey-5/) - At the heart of this effort is a commitment to partnership. The process we envision is one of engagement, bringing together states, institutions, scholars and communities to explore constructive and forward-looking approaches to reparatory justice. These may include investments in education, health, cultural restoration and economic opportunity, designed to close enduring gaps and build shared - [Grifters gonna grift](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/grifters-gonna-grift/) - ‘Ithink I’ve had at least seven books that have been banned in the United States,” says Ibram X Kendi, in a tone that carries no bitterness but stops just short of pride. It’s proof, he says, that his works on racism, which extend from deep, scholarly histories to a biography of Malcolm X for children, - [They do, do they?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/they-do-do-they/) - Campaign groups rail against Palantir, but the UK contracts keep coming I've never quite grasped why this hated of Palantir. I think it's the necessity for some of finding a bugbear, an omnicause that all can be blamed upon. Depending upon time and place that can be the capitalists, The Joos, Palantir etc. Can't really - [Grand detecting skills here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/grand-detecting-skills-here/) - Four ambulances belonging to the Jewish community ambulance service have been set on fire in Golders Green, with police saying they were treating the incident as an “antisemitic hate crime”. Does seem likely.... - [Don't forget the Nazis!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/dont-forget-the-nazis/) - War is becoming an economic process, not a military one. Supply chains, resources, and economic resilience now determine who survives. Both Japan and Germany lost the moment the US retooled Detroit to make tanks and 'planes. This has also always been true. A battle can be won with military tactics, sure, but a war is - [This is easy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/this-is-easy-4/) - Perhaps most revolutionary is Abson’s claim that, soon, he could teach anyone to make their own fuel cell within two weeks, something that could completely democratise the energy industry. Little wonder, he contends, the sector views him as a threat. “It leaves the establishment out of the picture,” says Abson, who studied philosophy and Taoist - [It's possible that too much is being made of this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/its-possible-that-too-much-is-being-made-of-this/) - As I discovered while researching my new book, Fashioning the Crown: A Story of Power, Conflict and Couture, Edward’s relationship with clothing was as complex and intense as his passion for Wallis. Indeed, their shared obsession with style would become a lifelong expression of their peculiarities and peccadillos, as well as providing clues to their - [Seems reasonable](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/seems-reasonable-10/) - A transgender volunteer Metropolitan Police officer who attacked a 12-year-old girl will be sent to a male prison for 24 years. James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman under the name Gwyn Samuels, was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting the girl after a trial last summer. In England, at least, rape is - [What damned experts?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/what-damned-experts/) - ‘A toad is a perfect tenner’: experts recommend wild candidates for new banknotes We have experts in what should be on banknotes now? Tony Juniper...Chris Packham....Lucy Lapwing....Isabella Tree....Hannah Bourne-Taylor.... The Guardian's continued linguistic degradation. "Expert" now means "Nutter we like". Anyway, the Wren: For the £50 note, as that's what it's worth after 80 years - [Stunning analysis, isn't it?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/stunning-analysis-isnt-it/) - There are many such ideas, and almost all of them challenge the neoliberal framework that has got us into this mess, and which cannot get us out of it. As Keynes argued in 1941, you cannot rely on markets in wartime. Nor can we do so now. Questions around rationing, regulation, price controls, capital controls, - [Well, yes, but....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/well-yes-but-40/) - If it sounds like his economic policy has been derived from hours of scrolling on his phone in a well-crafted echo chamber where nobody dissents, it’s because it has been. It sorta depends upon whose missives Zack has been reading on his phone. And that it's Spud, Grace and Gazza is the problem..... - [Wait for it, wait for it.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/wait-for-it-wait-for-it/) - The record-breaking heatwave scorching the US west this week would have been “virtually impossible” if not for the climate crisis, a team of scientists has determined. Millions of Americans from the Pacific coast to the Rockies baked under unseasonably warm and even dangerous temperatures this week, with temperatures up to 30F (17C) above average for - [Advising elsewhere](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/advising-elsewhere/) - Veronique de Rugy: The United States has a rare earth problem, but it is not the problem Washington is trying to solve (see this and this). The debate in Congress has centered on supply and on the fact that China dominates the processing of rare earth elements and that this dominance creates a vulnerability. The - [Bit of a surprise, must say](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/bit-of-a-surprise-must-say/) - So, last few days, bit of family biz to take care of. In which I find out that my nephew in law now does pretty much the same job I used to do for Nigel. But for a rather different political party: Volt aligns its political positions across Europe, presenting a common, pan-European manifesto. In - [My word, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/my-word-eh-6/) - The HR Executive caught on a kiss camera at a Coldplay concert with her boss has claimed that he lied to her about his relationship status. Kirsten Cabot, 53, a former HR manager at the tech company Astronomer, was filmed in a romantic embrace at the concert in July with Andy Byron, who was CEO - ['Xactly so](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/xactly-so/) - In the Pension Schemes Bill is a clause which gives Mr Bell, the pensions minister, the power to dictate where our pensions are invested. His objective is to drive more investment capital into the UK economy. They're going to steal your money. And the actual answer is: For starters: cutting regulation, reducing corporation and jobs - [You know this gas sets the electricity price thing?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/you-know-this-gas-sets-the-electricity-price-thing/) - Even though gas accounts for about a quarter of electricity in Britain, it sets the electricity price most of the time. This means that cheaper renewables, nuclear and hydro power are given inflated prices — set at that of the higher gas price. I have a feeling that's not actually true. Or, rather, the second - [Blinder of a quote here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/blinder-of-a-quote-here/) - One proponent of this idea is Prof Michael Grubb at University College London. In a March 2026 post on LinkedIn he says: “The impact of surging gas prices on electricity will again highlight the oddities of our current electricity market – which make sense to many economists, but to hardly anyone else.” Call me picky - [Seems a sensible complaint](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/seems-a-sensible-complaint/) - Who in Hillary Clinton’s team thought it would be a good idea to capitalise on the Jeffrey Epstein case? Arwa Mahdawi The you read on to what it is that's being talked about. Sure, sure, Bill palled around etc, it's not a good look. But the actual complaint is that Hills, at a hearing about - [Blimey](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/blimey-80/) - YouTube is changing how it treats educational content. The algorithm is now prioritising novelty over repetition — and that matters, because repetition is how people learn. ... This is a major issue for us, with significant consequences for how we promote the ideas that matter to the Funding the Future team. We have realised we - [In The Guardian](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/in-the-guardian-2/) - Your editorial (11 March) is correct in insisting that the economist and philosopher Adam Smith used “invisible hand” only once in The Wealth of Nations: to discuss investing at home or abroad, not as a general description of economic structure. If the capital is invested at home, the decision to do that being purely a - [As I've been saying](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/as-ive-been-saying-8/) - At least we still have juries, I hear you say? Well, only just. Juries, once held in high esteem by so-called political reformers, are the latest core democratic mainstay to be discarded for bogus and opportunistic reasons by this arbitrary and whimsical form of cabinet governance. The bastards. The English criminal jury system was developed - [The linkage.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/the-linkage/) - The wealth tax, which Frederiksen announced in the Danish parliament, the Folketinget, as she called the election, is a 0.5% tax on assets held by an individual worth more than 25m kroner (about £2m) that will, among other things, lower class sizes for six- to nine-year-olds from about 26 to 14. Money is fungible so - [Lovely theory killed by an ugly fact](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/lovely-theory-killed-by-an-ugly-fact/) - In theory, competitive markets should drive prices down to the lowest sustainable level because firms compete to supply goods more efficiently. Consumers should therefore benefit from lower prices from the logic that the electricity regulator uses, but in practice, the opposite happens. As cheaper technologies such as wind and solar expand, the price paid by - [This is simply hilarious](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/this-is-simply-hilarious/) - Romanians are claiming a record number of student loans in a suspected widespread fraud, an investigation by The Telegraph has found. The number of Romanians taking loans of up to £13,000 is nearly four times higher than the closest other nationality and second only to the 1.1 million British students borrowing money to fund their - [Damn right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/damn-right-2/) - All Britons should do their best to pay the minimum tax possible, Reform UK’s deputy leader has argued as he dismissed a newspaper investigation over his own tax affairs as a smear. The more we fight about how much we must pay the lower is the peak of the Laffer Curve. Therefore, the less they - [How could this be? Maternity is run by the Wimmins!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/how-could-this-be-maternity-is-run-by-the-wimmins/) - Women feel put under pressure to have medical procedures such as caesareans during their maternity care, according to a report. The charity Birthrights collated the experiences of 300 people in England who said they had felt or witnessed coercion within a maternity setting. It said caregivers used authoritative language that undermined the idea of women - [Nice headline](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/nice-headline/) - Utah woman who wrote book on grief after husband’s death found guilty of murdering him - [Thou Shalt Not Have A Canal Boat](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/thou-shalt-not-have-a-canal-boat/) - What answering the Thorstein Veblen Question would require Taking Veblen's analysis seriously would require questioning the assumption that more consumption automatically improves well-being. At minimum, it would involve: Distinguishing between need-based consumption and status competition. Reducing inequality, which intensifies positional consumption pressures. Reframing prosperity around wellbeing rather than material throughput. Designing economic policy that discourages - [But this is just the cost!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/but-this-is-just-the-cost/) - The cost of keeping the UK’s last remaining blast furnaces going at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant could exceed £1.5bn by 2028 if it continues at its current rate, according to the government’s spending watchdog. Ministers took the plant into public control in April last year, after its Chinese owner – industrial firm Jingye – threatened - [There's a part of this story I simply do not believe](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/theres-a-part-of-this-story-i-simply-do-not-believe/) - Concerns around the loss of jobs to new technology dates back to the Industrial Revolution and the machine-smashing riots led by “Luddites”. Workers at the time were right to revolt. The initial effect of the factory system was not only to destroy the cottage industry of handloom weaving but to drastically increase the hours and - [Hey! Boss! I Got It! It's The Joos!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/hey-boss-i-got-it-its-the-joos/) - A war spiralling in the Middle East. A death toll now in the thousands across Iran and Lebanon. Energy prices soaring. The Gulf seized up with Iranian strikes. It’s one of those eras that feels bewildering, incomprehensible, out of control. But there is, at the heart of it, a simple logic: everything that is unfolding - [Fuck off](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/fuck-off-3/) - Gerard Lyons Dubai rescue scramble shows we need to consider a citizenship tax Passport taxation makes you a helot of the State by accident of borth. Fuck off. It will also increase taxes upon everyone. For it will be more difficult to escape high taxation, this shifts the Laffer Peak to the right, therefore taxes - [More than a little odd](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/more-than-a-little-odd/) - Cooper scoffs at this. “The idea that Reform or the Conservatives would want to make decisions just based on what the US do or say – or what any other country does or says – doesn’t feel like sensible foreign policy. It’s not based on values. It’s based on dogma. Look, our partnerships are really - [Seems about right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/seems-about-right/) - “The one thing that I think that even now is underestimated by all actors in industry … is how disruptive these technologies are,” Karp said. “If you are going to disrupt the economic and therefore political power significantly of one party’s base – highly educated, often female voters who vote mostly Democrat, and military and - [Travelling Timmy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/travelling-timmy-16/) - On the road for the next few days so service might be intermittent.... - [Sigh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/sigh-208/) - Global water bankruptcy !! ?? !! Spud's actually found a real problem. Huzzah. Of course Spud will never stumble over, let alone agree to, the known solution. Price water properly and farmers will stop using it to grow low value crops where the price is high. Reducing irrigation usage solves the entire problem. But that - [Just in case you hadn't heard](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/just-in-case-you-hadnt-heard/) - The Companies House website was wholly open. Get into your own account with authorisation code and so on. Then, with a bit of wibbling about (I understand it was "press back 4 times") you can get into any- and every- ones'. Change the address of Shell, close down BP, etc etc..... Brought to you by - [How joyous about elephant polo](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/how-joyous-about-elephant-polo/) - At first footballs were used, but thanks to the obvious pleasure the elephants took in popping them, a standard polo ball was substituted. - [Quite right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/quite-right-4/) - Only five MPs voted against passing the Climate Change Act in 2008. Before the last election, over Tory 130 MPs belonged to the Conservative Environment Network, or over half of all Conservative backbenchers. The star of the Centre for Policy Studies’ 2022 Margaret Thatcher Conference on Growth was Octopus Energy Group CEO Greg Jackson, who - [Gosh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/gosh-23/) - ‘No clear goal’: lack of Iran war plan has unleashed chaos and could stymie US military for decades, say critics Apparently, using a military ruins it. - [Err?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/err-29/) - In addition, our energy system has become fragile. We were at one time energy independent, and we did not learn the lesson and the benefit of that. We are now heavily dependent upon imported gas, and gas is used not only for heating, but also for electricity generation. But if you suggested increasing domestic supplies - [Dunno](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/dunno-3/) - Long-term contributor to this blog, Nigel Hargreaves, who lives in South Dorset, would like to know whether anyone in that area is interested in joining a local Funding the Future group. He has a free venue available for a meeting, which can accommodate 30 or so. I assume that isn't BiSD 'avin' a giraffe? - [Oh, Tee Hee](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/oh-tee-hee-3/) - Lady Hodge, Dame Margaret, Baroness Hodge, is now, apparently, a neoliberal. Now, circumstances have changed. Hodge, now a member of the House of Lords, seems to talk more about Zionist sentiment than anything else these days, despite which fact she is in line to become head of Ofcom, which oversees TV, radio, video-on-demand network broadcasting, - [Oh, he's back, is he?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/oh-hes-back-is-he/) - I blew the whistle on Covid jabs five years ago. Now, I’m fighting for my medical licence When my father died suddenly in 2021, I raised legitimate safety concerns about mRNA vaccines. The establishment backlash was immediate Aseem Malhotra Presumably the against sugar folk, the against salt folk, the against obesity folk, the against UPF - [Well, this is true, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/well-this-is-true-yes/) - The redress schemes for victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal have “serious structural failings”, a parliamentary committee has found. Still not jailed the entire board of directors yet so of course there are significacnt failings. - [The lies are truly amazin'](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/the-lies-are-truly-amazin/) - By far the cheapest component of our energy supply is the electricity produced by renewables, principally wind and solar. It’s the same story worldwide. But the price of electricity does not reflect the mix of sources. It is set at almost all times by its most expensive component. And what might that be? Oh yes, - [Isn't it lovely how well prices work?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/isnt-it-lovely-how-well-prices-work/) - When Middle Eastern wars sparked an oil crisis in the 1970s, tripling energy prices and throwing economies into chaos, some countries looked beyond short-term solutions. The French made nuclear the pillar of their power system. Scandinavians insulated buildings and funnelled waste heat into homes. The Dutch built bike lanes where others wanted motorways. The Danes - [This is, erm, terribly naive](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/this-is-erm-terribly-naive/) - The weaponisation of energy when Russia invaded Ukraine has given way to “weaponising everything” since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Germany’s former economy minister has said. Robert Habeck, the Green politician responsible for keeping the lights on during the last energy crisis, said the belief gas “would never be a political weapon” led - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/snigger-293/) - Libel law has too often been used to prevent the truth from being told, and that undermines our democracy. - [To repeat one of my wilder ideas](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/to-repeat-one-of-my-wilder-ideas/) - But shouldn't we be adding the USA and Israel? They are now the source of more evil than any other nations on earth. Objectively, given the harm they have caused, that has to be true. And shouldn't we be calling out the real problem? That is toxic zionism. That is the issue driving this evil. - [Let's introduce the bird to logic](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/lets-introduce-the-bird-to-logic/) - Marseille is a haven for artists and progressives. How could it be on the cusp of far-right rule? Mary Fitzgerald The more artists and progressives you've got around the further far right your views are driven..... - [The Vikings are back!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/the-vikings-are-back/) - Three Norwegian brothers arrested over US embassy blast in Oslo Hmm. Three Norwegian brothers have been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” at the US embassy in Oslo that caused minor damage at the weekend but no injuries. Oh, right. The police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference that the brothers, who were - [OK Gordon, OK](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/ok-gordon-ok/) - Gordon Brown calls for international criminal court for crimes against children Just, umm, have you spoken to Jess Phillips about this yet? - [Indeed this is true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/indeed-this-is-true/) - In fact, Smith used the phrase “invisible hand” only once in The Wealth of Nations, to describe whether merchants invest their capital at home or abroad – and not, as Friedman claimed, as a general theory of markets. This being of great interest as we mull taxing wealth. Will people invest at home or abroad - [A bit odd, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/a-bit-odd-no/) - José Antonio Kast, the Pinochet fan about to swerve Chile to the far right Far right, eh? .....was elected president at the third attempt when he won 58% of the vote. 58% sounds pretty centrist to me. Majority of the voting public isn't extreme anything. It's middle of the road by hte standards of that - [So now we've got a proper enemies list](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/so-now-weve-got-a-proper-enemies-list/) - Angela Merkel and Bono have been awarded gongs in the European Union’s first honours list. Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainan president, and Lech Walesa, Poland’s first president after communism, join Mrs Merkel in the highest rank of the new European Order of Merit. Bono, The Edge and the other U2 band members were also named laureates, - [Fortunately I'm already on the other side of the world from this shit](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/fortunately-im-already-on-the-other-side-of-the-world-from-this-shit/) - The Duchess of Sussex is set to headline a women’s-only weekend retreat in Sydney during her visit to Australia, with tickets starting at A$2,699 (£1,400) per person. The three-day event from April 17–19, touted as a “girls’ weekend like no other”, will be hosted by Her Best Life podcast at the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach, - [Could be a reason for this, of course](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/could-be-a-reason-for-this-of-course/) - The comments come amid speculation over the health and whereabouts of Khamenei, who has not engaged with the public since he succeeded his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, three days ago. Even, a sensible reason for this. - [Well, yes, maybe](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/well-yes-maybe-4/) - A cultural shift is also needed – one that can’t happen without young men first taking accountability for their attitudes towards women. They also need compassion – to be told that they do not need to wear the faulty armour of machismo; and that wealth does not define them. Above all, it is rising inequality - [Surprise!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/surprise-39/) - These were the headlines in a FT newsletter this morning: ... It is the ordering of these headlines that I find interesting. Financial markets come first. Then politics is of concern, with a hierarchy of the USA, Iran, and Britain. Only then is the important issue of this war's consequences actually highlighted. If millions of - [Difficult one, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/difficult-one-really-4/) - The first is that the politics of care is the most important idea that I am working on at present. Thomas put this very well in our discussion yesterday. He said he did not understand what I was talking about when I began discussing it in the videos, which he saw being recorded, but over - [Fewer](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/fewer/) - Sigh: Change needed to system that could potentially allow France to lift trophy with less wins than Ireland Less winning than, fewer wins than. - [Guess what, folks?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/guess-what-folks/) - It was never a typical school. No uniform. Vegetarian. Origins in eastern mysticism. No “Sir” nor “Miss”, with teachers referred to by their first names. For bohemian London parents who wanted to send their children off to board, this alternative culture was precisely the appeal of St Christopher’s School ever since its founding more than - [Yep, damn good thing too](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/yep-damn-good-thing-too/) - Let’s spell out what is happening here. A state committing genocide – Israel – has joined forces with an ailing superpower led by an aspiring autocrat. Together they have launched a plainly illegal war, as defined by the UN charter, which prohibits the use of force unless a state faces an actual or imminent attack. - [Outrage! Outrage!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/outrage-outrage-3/) - This seems entirely unremarkable to me: Every year, the German Bookshop prize, awarded on behalf of the federal government’s commissioner for culture and the media, serves as a financial injection for more than 100 independent, owner-managed bookshops all over Germany. An independent jury selects the winners, based on criteria such as carefully curated literary selection - [Err, right.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/err-right-5/) - We can, in fact, now expect more extreme reactions because it is now far from clear that the USA and Israel are going to win the conflicts they have started in Iran, Lebanon and elsewhere simultaneously. The economic impacts are already severe, and when people in the USA realise that their energy costs are going - [Sigh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/sigh-207/) - There is one thing that we do know now. This is that the exceptional profits that oil companies made in 2022 will recur. I sincerely hope that somebody has a plan to increase the tax rate on them to deal with this. The case for a windfall tax is going to be overwhelming. We need - [They were doing this then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/they-were-doing-this-then/) - The NHS is pausing new referrals for masculinising or feminising hormone treatment for 16 and 17-year-olds after an in-depth review found there was insufficient evidence to support its continued use. Prescriptions for hormones had been available in England for under-18s with a diagnosis of gender incongruence or dysphoria who met certain criteria. Thought we were - [Twats](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/twats-9/) - The human point of view is presented mostly on an aural level, through the use of voiceover. Laid over Ascension’s unique landscape, conversations with geological experts muse on the relationship between humans and nature. Unfortunately, many of these discussions lean towards the philosophical and speculative, offering little historical and practical insight into the pitfalls of - [Whingeing Wimmins](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/whingeing-wimmins/) - The performing arts industry in the UK is “inhospitable to parents” and falling far behind other industries in supporting women who have children, according to research. The report, titled “the Motherhood penalty”, criticises the industry for failing to consider how it might adapt to better accommodate parents, with the result that many, in particular women, - [Hereditary religious leadership then, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/hereditary-religious-leadership-then-eh/) - Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been chosen as his successor. Both east and west Christianity did away with that. Which is probably wise really, that they did. - [Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you......](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/happy-birthday-to-you-happy-birthday-to-you/) - [So, that rugby then, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/so-that-rugby-then-eh/) - Didn't Scotland do well? And Italy.....and I would imagine some of the old English war horses are seeing that pasture, being put out to, coming closer. I don't watch the matches these days. Not excited enough to then work out how to use the modern TV and get access. But, an impression of a change - [Well, yes and no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/well-yes-and-no-5/) - Ebisawa, the government said, conspired to sell uranium and plutonium to a DEA agent posing as an Iranian “general” in charge of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Asked whether the uranium was enriched above 5% because the Iranian government needed it for nuclear weapons, Ebisawa said: “I think so and hope so.” He later forwarded an - [So, err, why would they claim that?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/so-err-why-would-they-claim-that/) - Last month, the African Union adopted a motion put forward by Ghana to label slavery and colonialism as crimes against humanity. Issa mystery, eh? This month, the motion will be tabled at the United Nations, with demands made for redress. Oh, that's why. Ho Hum. - [Good question](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/good-question-12/) - So the real question is not, is there a deficit? The real question is, why is there a deficit, and what does it mean? It's because the gurning morons are pissing our money up against the wall. - [Isn't it lovely what he can misunderstand?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/isnt-it-lovely-what-he-can-misunderstand/) - Blackrock's private credit fund is limiting withdrawals to 5% of holdings. About which the Elyan Solanum tells us: If BlackRock is suffering cash flow constraints, there are signs of: Market panic A flight to safety Stress on credit lines for one of the biggest financial institutions in the world. If any of these are true, - [Axel Springer for the Telegraph, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/axel-springer-for-the-telegraph-eh/) - Hmm. Axel Springer’s offer raises fewer questions, but will also need government approval before being confirmed. Its £575m bid is a cash offer. The media giant, which already owns Politico, Business Insider and the German mass-market newspaper Bild, does not own other major UK-centred media assets. It's a number of years since I even saw - [Oh, right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/oh-right-83/) - The Duchess of Sussex has cut ties with Netflix and will take “complete control” of her domestic brand selling jams, wine and flower sprinkles. The correct reading of this is that Netflix has dumped her. Obviously. For as read it's saying that she allowed Netflix to spend all the investment money but now it's running - [It's all from a lost world, isn't it?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/its-all-from-a-lost-world-isnt-it/) - In August they played their first gig at the Cavern Club (minus McCartney, who was away at a Scout camp in the Peak District). Ivan Vaughan began the set on tea-chest bass, but when he left to finish his homework Garry took his place. The club’s jazz-loving owner Alan Sytner sent a note to them - [There was always a certain suspicion, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/there-was-always-a-certain-suspicion-no/) - Gerry Adams was identified by Sir John Major as a member of the IRA’s army council, according to US files seen by The Telegraph. In a diplomatic cable, the then prime minister is reported to have said that Mr Adams was on the council, which directed the activities of the paramilitary group. Another memo also - [So who will be running the U Boats this time?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/so-who-will-be-running-the-u-boats-this-time/) - The British government should be stockpiling food, according to a leading expert on food policy, as it is not prepared for climate shocks or wars that could cause the population to starve. Prof Tim Lang of City St George’s, University of London said the UK produced far less food than it needed to feed itself, - [Oh Aye?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/oh-aye-70/) - An increasingly acrimonious spat between Hungary and Ukraine has escalated further, as Budapest impounded two Ukrainian armoured bank vehicles carrying millions of euros of hard cash as well as bars of gold. Hungary’s national tax and customs administration said it had opened a money-laundering investigation over the shipment, which it said was made up of - [Now this, this, this is a strategic insight!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/now-this-this-this-is-a-strategic-insight/) - Thirdly, there is a very real risk that Israel and the USA will lose this war, as will the UK, as a result of its collateral involvement. Iran has been preparing for war for a very long period of time. It has a very large stockpile of admittedly low-grade missiles available to it, plus an - [It's an intersting question.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/its-an-intersting-question/) - UK must double down on renewables as wars drive up energy costs, experts say Fossil fuel price surge after US-Israeli attacks on Iran prompts calls to end dependence on ‘volatile’ energy source Should we have cheaper but volatile or more expensive and less volatile? It's possible to make philosophic arguments for both or either. Myself - [26 out of 27 European leaders support Trump](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/26-out-of-27-european-leaders-support-trump/) - Well, that's one way to read this headline: A lone battle: Why is Pedro Sánchez the only European leader to take on Trump? So, there's that. - [Anti-semitism in Ely](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/anti-semitism-in-ely/) - We now know from reliable sources that some claims already made, including that Iran launched a drone strike against the UK base on Cyprus, were false. This raises questions about where the drone in question was launched from, with the possibility that this was a false flag operation by Israel clearly being left hanging as - [All economics happens at the margin](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/all-economics-happens-at-the-margin/) - Rachel Reeves’s plan to raise the minimum wage for young people will push up the cost of hiring them by almost £7,000. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that employers faced a 40pc real increase in costs under Labour’s proposals to scrap the youth rate of the minimum wage. There will be - [There might be a reason I don't write for the Telegraph business section](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/there-might-be-a-reason-i-dont-write-for-the-telegraph-business-section/) - I laugh at them too much maybe? Yet that doesn’t change the fact that the TG Jones moniker has fallen flat with the great British public. With shoppers increasingly staying away from the stores, it is hardly a shock that Modella is already drawing up drastic cost-saving measures – a move that is expected to - [FFS, Telegraph](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/ffs-telegraph/) - Michael Deacon Don’t be fooled by the fall in net immigration Starmer has no right to boast when highly-skilled Britons fleeing the country are being replaced by men in dinghies It's immigration, emigration, or net migration. But not net immigration. Sadly, it's not just the absence of subs on that headline: Net immigration will be - [Ah, so they do grow up then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/ah-so-they-do-grow-up-then/) - Binge drinking rates among gen Z have risen sharply since their teenage years, according to research that challenges their reputation as “generation sensible”. Almost seven in 10 (68%) 23-year-olds reported binge drinking in the past year, while nearly a third (29%) said they did so at least monthly, up from 10% at age 17. While - [They're planning more than a little too much here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/theyre-planning-more-than-a-little-too-much-here/) - There are urban areas of England where no one lives within a 15-minute walk of nature, government data shows, as ministers scramble to meet their access to nature targets. While the data shows 80% of people live within walking distance of green or blue spaces such as a river, park or woodland, it also reveals - [Well, sorta, maybe](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/well-sorta-maybe-2/) - Faced with a shortage of available land in Europe, reindustrialisation would necessitate new approaches to construction, and some seriously creative thinking. Could tomorrow’s production be enmeshed in novel ways in landscapes and even within our cities? What if a factory could move and mutate to build a product where and when it was needed? What - [Oh. Right.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/oh-right-82/) - This illegal war was about regime change. The best claim for it was that it might bring a better life for Iranians. There is no evidence that aerial warfare has ever delivered this outcome. Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki. Going back to before 'planes the Zanzibari war sure worked with a few well placed shells. - [Cretin](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/cretin-8/) - The OBR is forecasting that in the short term, Bank of England base rates will fall to 3.25% (which looks less likely now for obvious reasons) and then return to 4%. This matters. UK GDP (excluding the absurd measure for notional rents) is around £2,700 billion right now. UK household financial wealth, excluding property wealth, - [Big surprise here!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/big-surprise-here/) - Four-year-old children were the most harmed by Covid lockdowns, new research has found. Kids at about the age of socialisation damaged by non-socialisation. More news as we get it..... - [Well, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/well-yes-118/) - The US military has destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including a submarine, since Saturday, Brad Cooper, the commander of the US Central Command, said late on Tuesday. “Today, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman,” he said in a video statement. Shipping through the - [But, but, we're Speshul!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/but-but-were-speshul/) - A bill to recognise English as an official language of New Zealand has cleared its first hurdle in parliament amid ridicule from opposition parties and linguists who say it is “unnecessary” and “cynical”. The bill seeks to give English, which is spoken by 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori - [Typical](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/typical-6/) - It was one of the most disproportional votes-to-seats results seen anywhere in the world. But then, nowhere in Europe but the UK still uses first past the post. The first-past-the-post system was the fortress sustaining the old parties, but “small” party interlopers it was designed to keep out have stormed the walls, and could yet - [Isn't this precious?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/isnt-this-precious/) - Between 2021 and 2025, Black nonbinary artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson visited 91 locations across 15 states – in all of these sites a trans, gender nonconforming, or intersex individual had died, either by murder or suicide. At each site they conducted a ceremony of their own to bear witness to what had happened there. “It - [Emergency tin foil hat delivery required in Ely](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/emergency-tin-foil-hat-delivery-required-in-ely/) - So, does the aggression have an explanation? Could it all be down to money? In fact, could it just be down to the only part of the international rules-based order in which Donald Trump has any interest at all? Is this all about defending the dollar? Trump has already taken out Venezuela, which has attempted - [Didn't take long, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/didnt-take-long-eh/) - The owners of WH Smith’s former high street empire have parachuted in a team of corporate troubleshooters less than a year after taking over the chain. The Telegraph understands that private equity firm Modella Capital has asked advisers at Teneo to come up with a restructuring plan that will put the business – now trading - [Ouch](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/ouch-30/) - Ireland has suffered nearly 150 incidents of anti-Semitism in the past six months, a Jewish group has revealed. The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland (JRCI) recorded 143 anti-Semitic incidents between July last year and January, averaging nearly one per day. It's one of those oddities that the place is alarmingly antisemitic. But: It called for - [Err, yes Bill](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/err-yes-bill/) - Mr Clinton told the hearing: “I wish Chauntae had told me [she was being abused]. I liked her.” “I didn’t think it was anything unusual, I can’t tell you how many aeroplanes I’ve been on where rich people ask me to go and they had someone offering me a massage,” he added. Definitions matter, eh? - [BrewDog and the cumulative preference shares](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/brewdog-and-the-cumulative-preference-shares/) - The UK and Irish assets of BrewDog, the Scottish self-styled “punk” brewer, have been sold to the US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray for £33m, in a deal that will cost nearly 500 jobs and leave legions of the company’s early-stage crowdfunders empty-handed. The cash out - such as it was - happened some years - [Fun stuff, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/fun-stuff-eh/) - Senator Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna, a representative, on Monday introduced legislation that would impose a 5% annual wealth tax on America’s billionaires. It didn't, doesn't, work in California so let's take is nationwide! Of course, Saez and Zucman say it will be great. Which is all we need to know to show they've stopped - [So says a man who has no fucking clue of the opinions of Iranians](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/so-says-a-man-who-has-no-fucking-clue-of-the-opinions-of-iranians/) - The one thing that we can be sure of is that if regime change is the plan, it is unlikely to succeed, because anything really acceptable to the people of Iran is unlikely to be acceptable to the leaderships of the USA, Israel and the UK. History has already proven that. - [Seems very weird](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/seems-very-weird-2/) - The health official behind the pause of the NHS’s puberty blocker trial has been blocked from any further involvement amid accusations of bias. Prof Jacob George is said to have raised concerns over the trial after taking up his role as the chief medical and scientific officer at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency - [Oh, she's back, is she?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/oh-shes-back-is-she/) - The world wants to ban children from social media, but there will be grave consequences for us all Taylor Lorenz Presumably the lithium dosage has been corrected..... - [The Guardian's economics coverage is always such fun, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/the-guardians-economics-coverage-is-always-such-fun-eh/) - The trade-weighted dollar, measured against a basket of global currencies, has lost 7% of its value over the past year despite strong US economic growth and soaring stock prices on Wall Street. That partly reflects the outlook for inflation, and therefore interest rates, but also perhaps a more nebulous sense that the US policy framework - [Zero in four men unaware](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/zero-in-four-men-unaware/) - Three in four women unaware menopause can trigger new mental illness, poll finds - [This all seems wholly logical](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/this-all-seems-wholly-logical/) - Under Monday’s changes, adults and accompanied children claiming asylum will receive a 30-month period of protection if it is granted. At a 30-month review refugees with a continuing need of sanctuary will have their protection renewed, while those whose countries are now deemed safe will be expected to return home. The new rules will not - [This is legally interesting](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/this-is-legally-interesting/) - The UK’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus has been hit by a drone strike, causing limited damage and no casualties, Cypriot authorities and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have said. That base is sovereign UK territory. So, legally, they've attacked the UK. If you really stretch it doesn't that mean we can call on Nato - [Yes, very good](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/yes-very-good-2/) - I loved this reaction by Tom Butcher to my video transcript on the MMT economy. He said in a comment: It strikes me that no-one spends any time worrying that they will run out of emails. I just type it in. The only concern is how much to write on what subject and where to - [His own analysis](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/his-own-analysis/) - And if the private sector runs a surplus, the government has to run a deficit. And by surplus, I mean saving, and therefore, private saving must equal a government deficit; otherwise, the equation doesn't balance because, in accounting, and this is important, credits and debits always match. This is based upon sectoral analysis, because of - [There's this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/theres-this/) - What do these three men share in common? A dedication to corrupt Zionism. Corrupt Zionism supports a government that pursues illegal wars from Israel. Apparently it's all The Jooos again. But this: There is no evidence whatsoever that Iran has a nuclear weapons programme capable of being used against Israel. Netanyahu has been claiming its - [If only Spud wasn't hopelessly ignorant](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/if-only-spud-wasnt-hopelessly-ignorant/) - Oil prices are soaring right now. The Straits of Hormuz are shut. The Suez Canal might be. These actions have consequences. One will be inflation. Keep the conflict going, and that inflation will have a serious impact. So, let me just make it clear to the Bank of England: Raising interest rates in response to - [This makes sense to me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/this-makes-sense-to-me/) - Nigel Farage has called for Commonwealth citizens to be banned from voting in British elections. The Reform UK leader said that only naturalised British citizens should be allowed to vote, while residents from Pakistan, India, and other nations should lose the privilege. The current rules allow Commonwealth citizens to register and vote if they meet - [Becoming an orphan](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/becoming-an-orphan/) - Janet Worstall RIP Please pray for the repose of the soul of Janet Worstall who died recently. Her Requiem Mass will be offered on Tuesday the 17th of March at 2pm. We offer our prayerful support to her family and pray that her soul and those of all the faithful departed through the mercy of - [Bangladesh might repeat a mistake](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/bangladesh-might-repeat-a-mistake/) - Then again, it might not. Maybe. - [Projection, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/03/projection-eh/) - Joe Biden warns that Donald Trump will try to ‘steal’ midterm elections In a rare public address, former president said US is experiencing ‘dark days’ and urged Americans to vote Trying to tighten up ID systems at the polls - say - would be stealing. Obviously, as it would lower D chances which is the - [This is going to work well, isn't it?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/this-is-going-to-work-well-isnt-it-3/) - These are the slides for my opening presentation for today's event in Cambridge. My core argument is this, based on an analysis of Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, How much of Smith d'ye think he'll get wrong? - [Funny Owen, funny](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/funny-owen-funny/) - This was a vindication of the unabashedly populist strategy pursued by Zack Polanski How recently did we have Owen Jones denouncing populism? Because I'm sure I've seen him do so about Nige, Reform and so on. - [Well, I guess it's a view, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/well-i-guess-its-a-view-yes/) - A political killing risks tearing the French left apart – and the far right is taking full advantage Philippe Marlière So, bunch of lefties - antifa types, even if French - kill a rightie type. The rightie was really pretty rightie, street gang rightie. Well, we'd probably all be thinking about the dead young lad's - [So the big question is](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/so-the-big-question-is/) - Blast heard across multiple cities - reports Blasts have been heard across multiple cities, including the capital Tehran and Isfahan in central Iran. Reuters reports there are long queues at gas stations in the capital, as many are trying to leave. An unnamed Iranian official who spoke to the agency said several ministries in southern - [Blimey, scientists, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/bilmey-scientists-eh/) - A gift that falls from the sky’: why farmers are using Etna’s ash as fertiliser Falling volcanic ash has for years been viewed as a nuisance. But a Sicilian project has discovered its agricultural potential and wants to spread the word Why d'ye think the peasants keep farming Vesuvius, Stromboli, Etna, the Flegrean Fields? You - [Can be direct, Slavic wimmins](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/can-be-direct-slavic-wimmins/) - On the 29th February 2024, she proposed – presumably because I wasn’t getting on with it. That’s if you regard: ‘I expect to be your wife, not your mistress’ as a proposal. At least, I think it was. - [Well, there's the pitch](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/well-theres-the-pitch/) - The Greens have to speed up their processes. They have to make sure that they can come up to date. They have to create policies which are acceptable now to people, particularly in the field of economics. They have still not properly updated their economic policy, which says that the government should create all money. - [Ah, one who did listen to Phil the Greek then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ah-one-who-did-listen-to-phil-the-greek-then/) - Prince Edward’s love letters have inspired a new memoir that promises to reveal “the bittersweet joy of first love”. The Prince dated Ruthie Henshall, the West End star, on and off for several years before meeting the then Sophie Rhys-Jones, who became his wife. Henshall has said her book, The Showgirl and the Prince, will - [Ouch](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ouch-29/) - Labour came third in the tightly contested race, 5,616 votes behind the Greens on 14,980 votes, while Reform UK finished second with 10,578 votes. Not even close. Turnout was v close to what it had been in the GE. - [Umm, yes?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/umm-yes-33/) - Danny Kruger, a recent defector from the Tories, who would rescind no-fault divorce, with a return to household taxation, as though that would cement families and raise the birthrate. “We are suffering from having a totally unregulated sexual economy,” he says. If consenting adult is to mean anything that's probably what we would say it - [Cretin](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/cretin-7/) - Why sell UK assets abroad when the government should be buying them instead? Umm? I did, of course, have just one thought, which is why couldn't the UK state have bought that company? Because we've had bad experiences with state owned energy companies? We learned today that the UK state will issue £247 billion of - [Evidence of trafficking, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/evidence-of-trafficking-eh/) - Using specialised technology known as the sexual trafficking identification matrix, the research identified that the 12 sites had 63,000 listings during a few days last month and over the course of January attracted 41.7m visits. Of the sex worker advertisements from the 12 sites analysed, 59% had three or more indicators of exploitation or trafficking, - [It doesn't matter, obviously](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/it-doesnt-matter-obviously/) - An increasingly bloody battle for the soul of the leftwing Your Party set up by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana will come to a conclusion on Thursday, when the results of its leadership election will be announced. The complete and total incompetence of the British left - the incapacity to do anything at all - - [Tee Hee](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/tee-hee-123/) - A North Dakota judge has said he will order Greenpeace to pay damages expected to total $345m in connection with protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline from nearly a decade ago, a figure the environmental group contends it cannot pay. In court papers filed Tuesday, Judge James Gion said he would sign an order - [It's a bad look, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/its-a-bad-look-no/) - The former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is living in Australia with her family, a spokesperson has confirmed. “The family has been travelling for a few years now,” her office told the Guardian. “For the moment they’re basing themselves out of Australia – they have work there, and it brings the added bonus of - [Yer man has a new book out](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/yer-man-has-a-new-book-out/) - Support your local authors. - [Ain't this an amusement?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/aint-this-an-amusement/) - Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse believe British police are failing them, a former top prosecutor has said. Nazir Afzal, who prosecuted grooming gangs in northern England, said there has been quick action when state interests are involved while allegations of harm to women have been ignored. Epstein shagged - or caused to have shagged - - [Sigh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/sigh-206/) - Now a New York-based literary agent, Romero owns an Amazon Kindle, which is roughly the same size as a mass-market paperback but can store thousands of books rather than one. Still, she feels that something is being lost. “Whether it was the ink or the paper, they had a certain smell and it’s very nostalgic - [OK, yes, we know this story](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ok-yes-we-know-this-story/) - Trump has lost the ability to entertain. Sadly, he hasn’t lost the ability to offend Moira Donegan Throughout the speech, Trump seemed tired. He had difficulty reading from his teleprompter; he gripped the podium with a tightness bordering on desperation 80 year old who is 80 year old acts like 80 year old - stop - [That film about the Tourette's bloke](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/that-film-about-the-tourettes-bloke/) - Bits and pieces of it turn up on YouTube and, well, it's a well trodden path. Yes, Tourette's is horrible and so on. But so the story is sufferer, meets a few folk who are able to overcome it and his embarrassment, gets asked to talk to other suffers, swelling strings and redemption in aiding - [Presumably this is why Spud does so little of it](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/presumably-this-is-why-spud-does-so-little-of-it/) - What he revealed was also true: thinking is hard. - [Spud questions we can answer](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/spud-questions-we-can-answer-2/) - Why have we got a monarchy? Because we've got to have someone to pin the VC on the heroes. No, President John Precott - for it would have been he - won't do it. This depsite the manner in which I rather admire Prescott, despite every economic idea of his being ridiculously stupid. - [So here's a target for cuts......](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/so-heres-a-target-for-cuts/) - Britain’s HR sector has grown by 83pc since 2011, expanding more than five times as fast as overall employment over the same period. It means 1.6pc of the workforce is now employed in human resources, far above America’s 1pc and double the EU’s 0.8pc. This translates into more than 200,000 workers, with incomes estimated at - [Rilly?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/rilly-60/) - The Nottingham killer was not sectioned after a previous violent attack because he was black, an inquiry has heard. Valdo Calocane attempted to break into a neighbour’s flat during a psychotic episode in May 2020 but was not committed to a psychiatric hospital after professionals considered an “over-representation of young black males in detention”. Calocane, - [Excellent, damn good idea](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/excellent-damn-good-idea/) - Lincolnshire’s Reform party mayor, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has courted the head of an American oil and gas dynasty in the hope of bringing fracking to the county, the Guardian can reveal. Because, of course: Fracking was effectively banned in England in 2019 because of concerns it could trigger earthquakes. But Jenkyns is keen to bring - [Good Grief](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/good-grief-41/) - The renewed protests serve as a further reminder that Trump has not yet fulfilled his pledge to “Iranian patriots” during the January demonstrations that “help is on its way”. Gotta be Trump's fault in some way, obviously. But that's pretty much a stretch, eh? - [Potentially, at last, something real](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/potentially-at-last-something-real/) - Peter Mandelson has been released on bail .....The Met has been investigating allegations that he leaked Downing Street emails and market-sensitive information to the disgraced US financier during his time as business secretary. The current nonsense of a society seems more concerned about the Prince getting his knob polished by a 17 year old than - [MoD’s Financial Recognition Scheme](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/mods-financial-recognition-scheme/) - As Chair of Fighting With Pride, the LGBTQ+ military charity, I spend much of my time talking to veterans who were dismissed from the Armed Forces because of who they were, not what they did. Many are now elderly. Some are in poor health. All were promised, by government, that the injustice they suffered would - [Ooooooh!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ooooooh-2/) - Anyone else that Farage's state might decide to target will also be in their sightlines. Think the LGBTQ+ community, trade unionists, awkward academics, bloggers they do not like, anyone whose face "does not fit", those with disabilities and those who are neurodivergent, and more. We can hope, eh? By my count Spud has claimed to - [Sigh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/sigh-205/) - Social media companies are using tobacco giants’ playbook in refusing to admit they are harming children, Lord Puttnam has said. In an exclusive interview and article for The Telegraph, the renowned film producer says social media firms are acting in the same way as tobacco manufacturers, who sought to “wilfully deny” the damage their products - [Lying toads](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/lying-toads-4/) - A spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “Our primary concern at this point is to ensure the safe departure of a group of individuals from an island that is not fit for human habitation, and on which any health emergencies or extreme weather could pose a serious threat to life." What annoys - [Sounds good to me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/sounds-good-to-me-2/) - Readers reply: what would be the most socially useful way to spend a billion dollars? So? A few years ago I wrote a book taking this idea and running with it. In How to Spend a Trillion Dollars I end up using most of the money on transitioning to a net zero society, and in - [Anyone know how to do this?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/anyone-know-how-to-do-this/) - My maths is so bad that no, I can't do this. So, US Real GDP since 1929. OK, what was the growth rate 1929 to 1938? What was the growth rate 1945 to 1980? The growth rate 1980 to today? And, finally, what was the growth rate 1929 to today? Just the average over those - [Isn't that lovely?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/isnt-that-lovely/) - Health is the capacity to heal, by which I mean the ability of a person, a community, or an ecosystem to move towards wellness. It is not a static state of perfection, nor the mere absence of disease. Health is a process; a direction of travel. It is a verb, not a noun. Leave aside - [One reason I don't trust government plans](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/one-reason-i-dont-trust-government-plans/) - Officials are also examining the possibility of stockpiling certain critical minerals. Metals such as gallium, germanium, yttrium, cobalt and neodymium, among others, are essential for making components that go into a wide range of defence systems, from radar in the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon fighter jets to the Royal Navy’s Dragonfire laser weapon. Well, you'd - [Oh, rightie ho](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/oh-rightie-ho-3/) - Four people have been arrested as part of an investigation into a gang that stole at least £3m in benefits. The suspects were detained following dawn raids at four addresses across south London and Berkshire, according to the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). The raids were carried out as part of Operation Mellow, an - [Fairly acute](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/fairly-acute/) - it is briefed that Prince William calls Andrew “a tosser”. - [Because it's Arabs slaughtering darkies mate, that's why](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/becasuse-its-arabs-slaughtering-darikes-mate-thats-why/) - Sure, sure, this is a fairly cynical, even potentially repellent, explanation but there could still be some truth to it: The latest report from the UN independent fact-finding mission on the fall of El Fasher in Sudan reads like a postmortem of a preventable tragedy. The report details what it calls the “hallmarks of genocide”: - [Isn't this strange?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/isnt-this-strange/) - Markets are systems in which goods, services, labour, and financial assets are exchanged under rules that determine prices and terms of trade. They are not natural phenomena. They are created and governed by law, regulation, custom, and power. First, markets are institutions: Property rights define what can be sold. Company law defines who can trade. - [Never knew this I didn't](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/never-knew-this-i-didnt/) - Tariffs decide who wins and who loses. They shape supply chains, wages, investment and prices. They determine whether industries survive and whether communities prosper or decline. So when any leader claims the right to impose them at will, they are claiming the right to redistribute wealth and opportunity without consent. That is not about efficiency. - [I know we talk about this but.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/i-know-we-talk-about-this-but/) - Labour will introduce new rules to revoke public servants’ pensions if it cannot stop Wayne Couzens from receiving a £7,000-a-year payout, The Telegraph can reveal. Government lawyers are currently locked in a legal battle to prevent Couzens, the killer of Sarah Everard, from claiming his pension from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). However, two years - [Will Spud speak out?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/will-spud-speak-out/) - David Lammy is to face down Labour rebels next week by pressing full steam ahead with his controversial plans to curb jury trials. The Justice Secretary is due to unveil the legislation without any alterations despite fierce opposition from within his own party. Legal professionals are also almost unanimously opposed to the plans, which would - [Well, yes, we knew this, right?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/well-yes-we-knew-this-right/) - The Defence Secretary has been accused by the Conservatives of misleading Parliament by saying Britain faced legal threats about the Chagos Islands. John Healey said in May that the Government faced a legal challenge “within weeks” if it did not agree to the handover to Mauritius of the islands, including the Diego Garcia military base. - [Punished might not be the right word. Filtered perhaps?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/punished-might-not-be-the-right-word-filtered-perhaps/) - Families claiming in-work benefits face giving them up and enduring hardship to avoid being “punished” under a planned government migration crackdown, experts have said. More than 200,000 people living legally in the UK are on the 10-year route to settled status, which requires legal migrants to renew 30-month visas four times – at a cost - [Well, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/well-yes-117/) - Nothing uncovered in the files has indicated any criminal activity by Ferguson, who appeared to stop using the duchess title when her ex-husband was stripped of his title, Tho' you can hear the Guardian's unspoken "yet" there, clear as a bell. Myself I think it extraordinarily unlikely. Who would give Sarah anything she could act - [These would, of course, be part of any properly fascist state](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/these-would-of-course-be-part-of-any-properly-fascist-state/) - Proper regulation of think tanks and lobbyists Proper controls on the media - [Could be, could be](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/could-be-could-be-12/) - Amanda Seyfried: ‘People walking out of our film means we’re doing something right’ The Mamma Mia! star and the Oscar-winning composer Daniel Blumberg on creating The Testament of Ann Lee – a tale of sex, suffering and faith People might also walk out because it's shite of course. Not that I have any intention at - [We did tell you so](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/we-did-tell-you-so/) - But did you listen? Nooooo, no you didn't, did you? But whatever your first job may have been, there’s a reasonable chance it combined the thrill of hard cash with several mortifying mistakes and a crash course in handling stroppy customers, taking criticism more or less gracefully and moaning about it only out of earshot. - [Seems probable](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/seems-probable/) - Global Counsel, the advisory firm co-founded by Peter Mandelson, is to collapse into administration, blaming the “maelstrom” caused by revelations about the former peer’s relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Companies including Barclays, Tesco and the Premier League have all deserted Global Counsel, despite the company’s efforts to sever ties with Mandelson and - [As Spud now admits](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/as-spud-now-admits/) - Second, labour market behaviour is distorted. People might alter hours, pay methods, or employment status to avoid thresholds. The Laffer Curve exists, folks. - [This is fun](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/this-is-fun-69/) - Chelsea Gods, a content creator and political activist, drove two-and-a-half hours from San Diego to attend the event. “Americans are poor. We are strapped for cash. We are struggling and we are tired,” she said. “People First-policies are the only way to win a political future for people on the left.” So someone who makes - [It's not genocide, is it?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/its-not-genocide-is-it/) - More than 75,000 people were killed in the first 16 months of the two-year war in Gaza, at least 25,000 more than the death toll announced by local authorities at the time, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Lancet medical journal. The research also found that reporting by the Gaza health ministry - [Pity really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/pity-really/) - For nearly two decades, the US quietly funded a global effort to keep the internet from splintering into fiefdoms run by authoritarian governments. Now that money is seriously threatened and a large part of it is already gone, putting into jeopardy internet freedoms around the world. Managed by the US state department and the US - [So, we're back, I think](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/so-were-back-i-think/) - Reconstruction work done.... - [Independent writing. No permission asked.](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/09/help-independent-journalism/) - I’ve spent the last 18 years writing frankly, freely and without apology — a practice that’s becoming rarer in Britain. As far back as 2016 more than 3,300 people were detained or questioned over online posts, and recent coverage shows thousands more arrests under the Communications Act and Malicious Communications Act. Thoughtcrime is no longer - [No to Digital ID.](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/12/no-to-digital-id-2/) - Thank You for an Incredible 2025 – Let’s Junk This Dystopian Nightmare in 2026! As we close out 2025, the No to Digital ID campaign wants to extend our deepest thanks to every single one of you. Launched right here on this blog just months ago, your contributions, retweets, shares, and invaluable insights have powered - [You know, like.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/you-know-like/) - The term the politics of hate describes the deliberate use of fear, resentment, and division to win and hold power. It works by persuading people that their problems are caused not by failed policy or unequal power, but by other people, whether they be migrants, minorities, the poor, neighbouring nations, people of another gender or - [Jail them all](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/jail-them-all-2/) - Allies of Sir Keir now stand accused of using false information contained in the firm’s report to smear the journalists and the newspaper, wrongly accusing them of being stooges for Russia, which it claimed had probably fed them information hacked from the Electoral Commission. Worse still, Labour Together tried to use Britain’s intelligence agencies to - [Obviously](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/obviously-10/) - Unemployment in the UK has risen to 5.2%, the highest level in nearly five years, while wage growth continues to slow, raising the prospect of another cut to interest rates in the spring. As we kept saying. Raise the minimum wage, increase taxes on employing people, unemployment will rise. Did you listen? Nooooo, you didn't - [One comment](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/one-comment/) - Via email from John Hearn. So, Starmer wants 15 year olds banned from social media and 16 year olds to vote. Quite a leap in responsibility in only the one day, no? - [This is a fun complaint](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/this-is-a-fun-complaint/) - The editorial independence of CBS News, and its flagship investigative show 60 Minutes, has been in doubt since the network’s new owner, David Ellison, installed Weiss, an opinion writer and editor with no prior experience in broadcast television. It's a very American form of privilege. We, the journalistic class, should be allowed to just get - [To be woke, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/to-be-woke-eh/) - To be woke is to see how illicit financial flows deprive countries of revenue, Apparently to be woke is to miss that the government of a country and a country are not the same thing. - [Dear God this is vile fucking hypocirsy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/dear-god-this-is-vile-fucking-hypocirsy/) - We owe it to every victim of Jeffrey Epstein to better protect women and girls in Britain. And we will Jess Phillips I am furious that women and children have to endure a crisis like this for progress to become politically possible. But I will seize this moment Not one mention - not even a - [How can this possibly be true?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/how-can-this-possibly-be-true-2/) - ‘Life requires cash’: Gaza’s jobs crisis leaves people struggling to afford basics Fresh fruit and other items now available but at high prices in territory where unemployment is estimated at 80% They're all dead already because genocide by the Jooos, aren't they? - [This could be true, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/this-could-be-true-yes/) - EU’s deportations plan risks ICE-style enforcement, rights groups warn Crackdown on undocumented people could lead to home raids, surveillance and racial profiling, 75 organisations say And what percentage of Europeans would be shouting "Well, get on with it then!"? - [Ho Hum](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ho-hum-19/) - Social security did not appear by accident. It was created because industrial capitalism exposed risks that individuals could not manage alone. Every system, hunter-gatherer onwards, exposed people to risks they could not manage alone. The prey species disappear, weather changes, the crop fails. What then happens is that everyone dies. Industrial capitalism produced sufficient surplus - [Ho Hum](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ho-hum-18/) - Sir Keir Starmer has drawn up plans under which the UK will ramp up its net zero targets and cede control over its energy policy as part of closer alignment with Brussels. A memorandum, published by the Cabinet Office earlier this month, spells out the price that the UK is willing to pay to reset - [This could be true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/this-could-be-true/) - 'Mazin' how bad politics and worse economics can turn a place right shitty, eh? - [D'ye think Willy Hutton might be a republican?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/dye-think-willy-hutton-might-be-a-republican/) - No, our sort, not the Septics type: Wayward royal Dukes is not exactly a new thing you know.....but if something can be claimed as a crisis then..... - [Amazing how often this happens](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/amazing-how-often-this-happens/) - You know, just everything is always the rise of unchecked corporate power since Ronald Reagan. - [It's more than a bit weird](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/its-more-than-a-bit-weird/) - Fiscal rules are works of fiction designed to constrain government activity to appease neoliberal interests within the financial services sector, and are part of the politics of destruction deliberately engineered to create the economics of failure that we are now witnessing all around us. MMT has a fiscal rule. Print and spend until inflation, then - [Brace yourselves, Shielas](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/brace-yourselves-shielas/) - Research published in the World Journal of Men’s Health found evidence that drugs such as Viagra and Cialis may also help with heart disease, stroke risk and diabetes, as well as enlarged prostate and urinary problems. Presumably we're about to get to where one or t'other is handed out like statins. Which will be fun, - [Another answer!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/another-answer/) - Given the toxicity of social media, a moral question now faces all of us: is it still ethical to use it? Frances Ryan With so many platforms rife with racism, misogyny and far-right rhetoric, there must be a point where decent people walk away As social media is no longer policed by the left - - [Ho, Yus! An Answer!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ho-yus-an-answer/) - Until this week’s latest dump of the Epstein files by Trump’s justice department, I hadn’t seen the connection between the two. But now it’s as clear as day. The abolition of gender studies is a way of further guaranteeing impunity to the elite men whose contempt for and exploitation of women and girls apparently knew - [Apparently we were attacked](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/apparently-we-were-attacked/) - Attacked! I say. Dunno why. Lost the last few days posts and comments. Ho well. It's the taking part, right? Work is ongoing, as they say. - [Being oppressed by technology](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/being-oppressed-by-technology/) - What I want seems to me to be one of those simple things. I am clearly simpler than that thing. What I want is to get one of the Epstein emails into an Open Office file. Now, yes, that's simple enough that even I can do that. But what I want is to get it - [The Owen Jones Solution](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/the-owen-jones-solution/) - If Labour had sense, it would understand that a broken economic model is the root of Britain’s malaise. It would adopt a programme of progressive taxation to fund investment in broken services and struggling communities. Owen believes that Britain does not have a progressive taxation system. Silly, ignorant, Owen. - [Moira is surprised](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/moira-is-surprised/) - The 3.5m documents that have thus far been released to the public – out of a reported 6m documents pertaining to Epstein in the US justice department’s possession – paint Epstein as someone for whom elites, and particularly elite men, often felt a sense of camaraderie and affection, maintaining intimate and friendly relationships long after - [Nonsense, Love](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/nonsense-love/) - All that being said, the pressure on women is unlike that on men, for reasons that stretch into the thousands before you even get to “which one of them has to give birth?”. The age of 29 was presumably chosen symbolically, to flag that 30 is just around the corner, and that’s when you’re supposed - [That's a right bastard sense of humour running the world, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/thats-a-right-bastard-sense-of-homour-running-the-world-eh/) - Yes, yes, we really shouldn't laugh and yet deep down we know this is darkly funny: Memorial for Swiss bar fire victimns catches alight - [Very democratic, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/very-democratic-eh/) - What should they do? I suggest this agenda: 1) Form a national government, or at the very least, a loose coalition of the willing to keep the far right out. It is not clear that it needs a Labour leader, but if it did, Ed Miliband is the person to do it. 2) Do electoral - [Rightie Ho then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/rightie-ho-then-5/) - First, he does not believe in the government's real role. He has never articulated a positive case for what government is for. That is because he has never wanted to govern in any meaningful sense. Politics has been about personal advancement, not public purpose. As such, he typifies the modern political apparatchik. He is not - [No, no, look over there!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/no-no-look-over-there/) - We’re often told the PM is a ‘decent’ man. But in appointing Peter Mandelson he chose political convenience over doing right by trafficked women and girls It's very important that we talk about Epstein's handful of willing - if underage - tarts and not about the thousands here at home. No, really. Bitch doesn't even - [Hey, Zach!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/hey-zach/) - In this video, I set out the opportunity facing the Greens, the risks they must avoid, and the hard truth that values alone are not enough. If plausible, deliverable, policy does not follow, and fast, the consequences will be severe. Spud's got your entire programme right here! Just enact that and......or hsa someone got to - [Bugger off, tossers](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/bugger-off-tossers/) - The Benin Bronzes were made from the manillas used in payment for slaves. They therefore should be part of the reparations by Nigeria for those sold into slavery. We should give them all to Dianne Abbot. - [Ghislaine and the money](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ghislaine-and-the-money/) - But, you see, $10 million isn't that much money Once you've a London town house and a NYC one then there's not a huge amount left of $10 million. Certainly not all that much to finance the usual lifestyle desired etc. Yes, yes, I know, and yet at that level that is true. - [Now this, this is a strong woman](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/now-this-this-is-a-strong-woman/) - Events came to a head on the night of November 29 1983 when a mob of 4,000 pickets set fire to buildings and repeatedly rammed the gates of the plant. Shah, trapped inside, feared for his life – and was eventually rescued by robust police action of the kind that would become familiar during the - [I don't think this is right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/i-dont-think-this-is-right/) - The US National Security Strategy published by the White House in November called for strengthening the growing influence of “patriotic” European parties such as Reform UK, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN), Fidesz in Hungary and Vox in Spain. As with the communist movements of the cold war, these nationalist, populist - [Seems a bit performative](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/seems-a-bit-performative/) - Police are searching two properties connected to Peter Mandelson as part of an investigation into claims that he passed market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein. A Metropolitan police statement, which did not name Mandelson, said searches were taking place in Camden, north London, and Wiltshire. Mandelson has been living in a rented property in Wiltshire since - [He can't even keep the story straight, can he?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/he-cant-even-keep-the-story-straight-can-he/) - Richard Murphy says: February 6 2026 at 9:48 am The injection of funds to benefit the wealthy has created artificial prices So, err, more money creation has produced inflation then. Except, of course, that whole and stout denial that inflation hsa had anythng to do with money creation.... - [No, not really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/no-not-really-31/) - Almost a quarter of soup on sale in UK supermarkets has too much salt, study finds Too much implies that there is some logical, supportable, definition of "enough". Analysis of nearly 500 tinned and chilled products finds 23% exceed government’s voluntary salt target Ah. So more than some made up number patrolled by pecksniff morons - [Well, yes Polly, they do](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/well-yes-polly-they-do/) - Somehow, the grooming gangs of Rotherham cause more visceral disgust and outcry than exploitation of these equally vulnerable victims procured for the lusts of the wealthy. Tens of 17 year olds being well paid to give blowjobs is indeed different from thousands, tens of thousands, of our own raped for decades. Odd that, eh? - [It's really pissin' in Portugal](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/its-really-pissin-in-portugal/) - I came over to England Weds morning to come and see my ailin' Mum. Who is ailin' at about the speed expected, no better, no worse. On my way here obviously I had to drive from the house to the airport. This involved driving, in that very first stage, the 9 km or so from - [Aha, aha, aha](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/aha-aha-aha-21/) - A commenter over there: Blimey, Tim Worstall appears in the Epstein files too and people have been using his work to criticise transaction taxes. What a remarkable world we live in where we are expected to take deep interest in these things. Are attentions being diverted from something more important happening under our noses I - [Really very bizarre](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/really-very-bizarre/) - There's no evidence that an increase in productivity will create growth. From that Spud goes on to claim that the only way to gain economic growth is to tax business and capital more. One more of his "Jeepers on a pogo stick" claims, eh? - [We've been told](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/weve-been-told/) - Charles has no viable successor. Ho well, right. - [Betteridge's Law unbeaten](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/betteridges-law-unbeaten/) - The lithium boom: could a disused quarry bring riches to Cornwall? No. So that's another of those questions in The Guardian we can answer. They're talking about Cornish Lithium and one part of that company I rather like. Extraction from geothermal waters. From an industry contact (one of those odd things, they came to me - [Telegraph's hiring](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/telegraphs-hiring/) - Not that I'd get the job there's a fatwa against me there. On hte Money pages they're looking for a senior (ie, not an intern) writer. One necessity is this: The ideal candidate will be{{:}} An excellent, accurate writer across a range of styles and formats Numerate Numeracy is an interesting, new, requirement for those - [Never believe it until it's denied](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/never-believe-it-until-its-denied/) - Bill Gates has said he “regrets” ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein, as his former wife Melinda French Gates alluded to “muck” in their marriage, and insisted the Microsoft founder has questions to answer over his relationship with the deceased child sex offender. Allegations that Gates hid a sexually transmitted disease from his wife after contact with - [What an offer, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/what-an-offer-eh/) - EU deal on Ukraine loan could boost UK if it agrees to help pay costs British firms could get more opportunities to supply defence equipment to Kyiv if agreement can be reached If UK taxpayers send moeny to Ukraine then some small part of that will come back to UK capitalists. Wouldn't it be cheaper - [From a PR email](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/from-a-pr-email-7/) - BLOOM releases an explosive investigation into US interference in the European Parliament Behind the dismantling of the Green Deal lies a conservative right-wing traitorous to the interests of the European Union, serving instead the agenda of climate-damaging lobbies and Trump’s bid to change Europe’s political regimes. Being anti-birdchopper is treason now, eh? In December 2025, - [Global warming](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/global-warming-4/) - Cold snap leaves Florida streets littered with frozen iguanas Reptiles drop from trees as mercury hits -4C in Orlando – the lowest recorded in February in more than a century Obvious, innit? - [So, this means what?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/so-this-means-what/) - Women working in tech and financial services are at greater risk of losing their jobs to increased use of AI and automation than their male peers, according to a report that found experienced females were also being sidelined as a result of “rigid hiring processes”. It means the wimmins are doing the more boring, routiune - [Lordy Be](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/lordy-be-11/) - Jeffrey Epstein described Peter Mandelson as “devious” after lobbying a bank to underwrite a mining project launched by their mutual friend Nat Rothschild, emails included in the latest tranche of Epstein files suggest. That would have been Bumi. Which went wholly tits up in very spectaular fashion. Almost Madoff in fact. On this one specific - [Well, yes, this is always true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/well-yes-this-is-always-true/) - In contrast, Mandelson’s tip-off over Brown’s resignation seems to have been sent during market trading hours, meaning it could have been easier for someone with inside information to trade on sterling, government bonds or stocks on the FTSE 100. However, “there’s the risk that the market might not interpret the move in the same way - [Eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/eh-217/) - you are under no moral obligations to become a fan of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, but to equate them with Trump (or say they are worse, as Wall Street leaders have done) means contributing to the destruction of democracy. Ah, but then he's a professor of politics at Princeton. Very sound that is therefore. - [Holy Dear Jaysus, no......](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/holy-dear-jaysus-no/) - But yes, he does: There are three incompatible approaches to estimating GDP. One is called the output method, which, unsurprisingly, measures what is produced in an economy during a period. Another is called the income method, which again, unsurprisingly, measures the income in an economy during a period. And the last is called the expenditure - [Yet more glorious ignorance](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/yet-more-glorious-ignorance/) - Then, the need for an urgent update to the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917 seems to be required. And then Mandelson needs to be stripped of his title. Yeah, well, it was all updated. House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 - [Ignorance, all around ignorance](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/ignorance-all-around-ignorance/) - ....the odds, but they are stacked in favour of the Greens in every case except one, where they have the same odds as Reform. In every case, Labour lags well behind, and the Tories and LibDems are far behind the Workers Party of Britain. What's the message? The bookies have noticed that people have learned - [Err, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/err-yes-118/) - This is the advantage I now have of working with a team, none of whom is the slightest bit worried about challenging me on anything. This is necessary because no one else, no one out here, is ever allowed to challenge and thought, theory or fact. Are they? - [Telegraph agony column](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/telegraph-agony-column/) - ‘I cut ties with my narcissistic twin brother" Apparently it's from a former Radio Norfolk presenter.... - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/snigger-292/) - Consumers searching for healthy food from trusted sources have fuelled the UK organic market’s biggest boom in two decades, according to vegetable box seller Riverford. The delivery business, which sells meat, cheese, cookbooks and recipe boxes alongside vegetables, recorded a 6% increase in sales to £117m in the year to May 2025, Ooooh, ooooh, squeal - [Is this even a crime?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/is-this-even-a-crime/) - One accuser said that Maxwell told her that Epstein had to leave his house but that there was a friend staying who she could massage. During this encounter, this associate allegedly offered her money if she engaged in sex. The woman alleged that she did so and that this friend paid her money. A “prosecution - [The Epsteen Files](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/the-epsteen-files/) - Otto has an excellent idea: July 26th 2008 "Met Scarlett J. yesterday while visiting her set. She thanked me for introducing her to Ottokring. She said he was "a stud" and "took me to heaven" but it could never be as he has his worldwide tech empire to manage :-( Besides, he has his own - [Nor can he get this right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/nor-can-he-get-this-right/) - At prices like this, much of US shale production is loss-making, Current US shale production runs at costs $30 to $35 a barrel. New wells, ah, but extant? - [He can't even get this right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/he-cant-even-get-this-right/) - The Trump boom, which started in late 2024, is not over yet, but like gold, silver, and oil, the price of Bitcoin is plummeting. It is also not a safe haven from reality, as has always been obvious. Now, I know, part of this might be down to pressure on the dollar. If the price - [These people are insane](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/these-people-are-insane-15/) - The British countryside will be made into a less “white environment” under nationwide diversity plans. Officials in rural areas, including the Chilterns and the Cotswolds, have pledged to attract more minorities under plans drawn up by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). The plans follow Defra-commissioned reports that claimed the countryside would - [I'm important I am.](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/im-important-i-am/) - Gonna have to check the accounts for an unexplained 75k.... - [So which is Bitcoin then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/so-which-is-bitcoin-then/) - It's possible to think that Bitcoin is as with gold, given that the politicians ccasnnot mess with it it is therefore a safe asset, a haven in choppy waters. The rhetoric and price rally helped to fuel Bitcoin’s status among crypto enthusiasts as a “digital gold” – a safe haven during times of uncertainty. It's - [I'd want this investigated too](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/id-want-this-investigated-too/) - A group of families have called for an urgent inquiry into a charity caring for their highly vulnerable disabled relatives which is under threat of closure after running up debts of £1.6m in unpaid taxes and paying £1m to one of its own trustees. Earlier this month, a judge gave the charity, William Blake House, - [Nesrine doesn't get it.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/nesrine-doesnt-get-it/) - Perhaps deliberately, perhaps she really is this ignorant: Not, as a columnist, to be a turkey voting for Christmas, but this fetishisation of opinion writing is a bad sign. Points of view should sit in tandem with domestic and global news coverage. News coverage should not be used for partisan ends or cannibalised for commentary. - [Rightie Ho, Petie](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/rightie-ho-petie/) - “Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me. It would be fun, for of course it would, if it turned out the Epstein files were full of completely made up bollocks now, wouldn't - [Not really, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/not-really-no-26/) - a special election for Texas State Senate District 9 ... As he notes, this is in effect a by-election in UK terms Not really, it's a level down. So, a byelection for a county council maybe..... - [To understand The English](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/to-understand-the-english/) - Or, Britons, to taste: The Zetland estates were acquired in the 18th century by Sir Lawrence Dundas, scion of a long-established Scots family, who became the chief merchant-adventurer of his day. Having made a fortune supplying bread and forage to allied troops in Germany during the Seven Years’ War, he bought swathes of land in - [This is the very point of an appointed Lords, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/this-is-the-very-point-of-an-appointed-lords-no/) - That people who actually know what they're doing, have direct and personal expertise in hte subject under discussion, get to moderate the laws that are passed? A professor of palliative medicine gets to weigh in on an assisted dying bill? This is the very point, no? Then this: What's unconstitutional about a house of the - [This is very worrying indeed](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/02/this-is-very-worrying-indeed/) - John Naughton talks of AI swarms and the like: So they've recreated standard lefty journalism then. But I think that train's left the station. Fooled once, twice etc. We all know the public information sources are polluted. Thus a change in who produces them is unlikely to shift that belief. - [Not sure I read this right but](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/not-sure-i-read-this-right-but/) - Just to be careful about it. Allegedly a software executive got the clap from a bird organised for him by a disgraced financier. Which could, you know, explain the ex-wife's rage etc. Ah, a development. The story is - hotly denied - that the s/ware guy then tried to slip his wife antibiotics without her - [Well, yes, sorta](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/well-yes-sorta-8/) - Thursday’s arrests of Lemon and Georgia Fort, an independent journalist – like the recent raid on Hannah Natanson, the Washington Post reporter – demonstrate the administration’s lawless crusade against routine journalism. In normal times the expectation is that even when a journalist’s conduct might technically fit the legal elements of a crime – jaywalking to - [Just some details](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/just-some-details/) - More than 200 people were killed this week in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, a spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the province where the mine is located, told Reuters on Friday. Rubaya produces about 15% of the world’s coltan, which is processed into - [Wonder if I can guess the reasoning here?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/wonder-if-i-can-guess-the-reasoning-here/) - From a PR email: Paris – At a time when the climate crisis has never been more urgent, the French Senate yesterday adopted a bill to revive oil and gas extraction in French overseas territories, in an unprecedented move to dismantle a cornerstone of French climate policy. The proposal tramples on the legacy of the - [Glorious, seriously](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/glorious-seriously/) - So Spud gives us an overview of the pensions system: These were once common. They were normal in big business as well as in government, but business, as I will note in a moment, has now retreated from them. They are now almost only found in the state sector: the NHS, teachers, local government, and - [Ouch](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/ouch-28/) - Junot came to public attention in 2008 when his business partner, René-Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, with whom he founded the hedge fund Access International Advisors, was identified as having invested 95 per cent of its assets with the crooked financier Bernie Madoff. - [Guess this is true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/guess-this-is-true-2/) - ‘Women hold our power in our orifices’: Kristen Stewart Fairly blunt way of putting it but yes, OK..... - [Fine and fair enough](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/fine-and-fair-enough/) - Older women disappear from presenting roles across the BBC while older men are regarded as “gaining gravitas and wisdom”, according to an internal review of the broadcaster’s record on representation. A “noticeable mismatch” in the number of staff and freelance male and female presenters over the age of 60 was uncovered by the review. It - [This is very fun indeed](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/this-is-very-fun-indeed-2/) - But while Gap’s public profile says the app is encrypted and does not share its data with third parties, Iranian digital rights experts say their investigations contradict those claims. A report from FilterWatch, an organisation monitoring Iran’s internet censorship, has accused Gap Messenger of being among the “main actors and entities that participate in the - [Well, hmm, and......](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/well-hmm-and/) - Donald Trump on Thursday sued the US treasury department and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn over the disclosure of his tax returns to the media in 2019 and 2020. In a complaint filed in Miami federal court, Trump, his adult sons, and his namesake company said the agencies failed to take “mandatory precautions” to prevent - [Bit Whingey, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/bit-whingey-no/) - The S&P 500 at 7,000: the insanity of stock markets continues So, if the S&P collapses then that will reduce wealth inequality. I thought that was supposed to be a good thing, decreasing wealth inequality? - [Ah, so just like Bath then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/ah-so-just-like-bath-then/) - Bridgerton is now just Cinderella with sex Once a breath of fresh air, the fourth series has become cheesy, cringey and crass You know, used to be a fun place then we elected the LibDems and it all went to pot. - [This is not archaic](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/this-is-not-archaic/) - This is in fact brand new: Supporters of assisted dying will seek to force through the bill using an archaic parliamentary procedure if it continues to be blocked by the Lords. The high stakes move – described by some backers as the “nuclear option” – would be the first time the 1911 Parliament Act has - [They are distinctly ageing models after all](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/they-are-distinctly-ageing-models-after-all/) - In the clearest sign yet that Tesla is pivoting away from its electric car business, CEO Elon Musk announced on Wednesday’s investor call that the company would discontinue production of its Model X SUV and Model S full-size sedan. “It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end,” Musk said. - [Well, this works as a line](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/well-this-works-as-a-line/) - “If you want to nuke your life, do crack,” Courtney Love. - [Oh, right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-right-81/) - I have three thoughts. First, I am not surprised. When you focus on growth in GDP as your primary goal without any concern for whether what creates that growth is of real value rather than simply being capable of being counted, whilst being indifferent to the distribution of the gains, those already vulnerable are bound - [Inconvenient as it might be it is actually true](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/inconvenient-as-it-might-be-it-is-actually-true/) - The Reform UK candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection has refused to disown his claim that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British. Matthew Goodwin, a hard-right activist, was presented on Tuesday as the party’s candidate in the demographically diverse seat in south-east Manchester. Goodwin has been criticised for claiming recently - [This isnt a reservoir](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/this-isnt-a-reservoir/) - The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has said he wants the North Sea to become the “largest reservoir of clean energy worldwide”, as he announced plans to accelerate efforts to link up offshore wind power projects with Europe. The UK and nine other European countries have agreed to accelerate the rollout of offshore windfarms in the - [Seems a bit harsh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/seems-a-bit-harsh-3/) - A French court has found a former senator guilty of drugging a female lawmaker with ecstasy with intent to sexually assault her. OK, so one man in the flat, one lady comes to visit, he drugs her in the champagne. So far all agreed. And also I think we all know what we expect it - [Whooo, Boy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/whooo-boy/) - The essay is rambling and in desperate need of a decent edit, Guess who. Go on, guess! - [Ahahahahahaha](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/ahahahahahaha-12/) - California governor Gavin Newsom has accused TikTok of suppressing content critical of president Donald Trump, as he launched a review of the platform’s content moderation practices to determine if they violated state law, even as the platform blamed a systems failure for the issues. Like, you know, the idea that the media - even social - [Seems fair to me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/seems-fair-to-me-2/) - Trump ‘has stopped dyeing his hair and thinks he will be dead in a decade’ Life expectancy for an 80 year old is 8 -ish years. OK, and? - [Once you've lost Polly, well...](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/once-youve-lost-polly-well/) - ....all over, innit? Here’s the lesson of the Andy Burnham saga: Labour needs a new leader – fast Polly Toynbee Cometh the assassins in the midnight hour at command of the Lady. Obvs. - [Party Time!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/party-time-2/) - Record 9 tonnes of cocaine seized from ‘narco-sub’ by Portuguese police Well, hmm. Depending upon how leaky the police station is maybe more party or perhaps less. Difficult to tell at present. - [As with Chernobyl](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/as-with-chernobyl/) - And can populations of wild animals that have proliferated since the disaster be controlled in a way that makes coexistence with humans possible? Evidence of the relentless march of the natural world is everywhere in Okuma and other communities located in the shadow of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. The plant, which is now - [Fuck me](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/fuck-me-2/) - Writers' retreats. Where you go off and work on that novel. The Old Chapel in Llanfrynach is £487 for three nights. Urban Writers’ Retreat has rooms from £415 for three nights. Acorn Writing Retreats’ all-inclusive rates are £525 for three days, £675 for four (the Acorn Access Fund offers discounts for marginalised and low-income writers). - [Cretins are still among us](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/cretins-are-still-among-us/) - The second was more abstract, the norms that those countries adhered to in action and rhetoric. They would not launch aggressive protectionist economic policies against each other, definitely not have designs on each other’s territory and not pass opinion on each other’s domestic affairs. The third was the ideological glue that held it all together, - [The situation in Iran](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/the-situation-in-iran/) - People were afraid to come to the hospital. They knew what happens afterwards. From experience, once the situation is considered “under control”, hospitals receive official letters from security institutions demanding patient information – names, details, injuries. If administrators refuse, they face serious consequences. This system existed long before these protests. I was told, directly, of - [Oh, right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-right-80/) - Creating a European UPI would not be easy. The EU is institutionally complex. Banks would resist change. Companies such as Stripe already provide cross-border wiring. But this is about state and bloc autonomy. Ms Lalucq’s curt dismissal of Wero – Europe’s bank-led payments wallet – makes sense as it is a private sector product, not - [A simple solution to the Burnham problem](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/a-simple-solution-to-the-burnham-problem/) - A Labour committee controlled by the Prime Minister’s allies will decide on Sunday whether to block Mr Burnham’s return to Parliament, amid fears that he will use his return to the back benches to mount a leadership challenge. Those close to Sir Keir are now faced with the dilemma of blocking Mr Burnham from standing - [Sadly not](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/sadly-not/) - Although he is as surprised as anyone to find himself an industry figurehead, a position he says is a “privilege”, Kerridge is a natural spokesman. At 52, he has an unassailable position in English cooking, with a gift for taking things Britons actually like to eat (steaks, fish and chips, pies) and honing them to - [Ah, no, this isn't quite right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/ah-no-this-isnt-quite-right/) - According to figures from the finance ministry this week, the so-called differential contribution, a special rate of income tax for the highest earners, generated an additional €400m last year. That compares to a forecast of €1.9bn. It is not exactly a minor shortfall. The tax only raised a quarter of what was expected. This year - [Have I got this right?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/have-i-got-this-right/) - So, this 10,000 steps a day thing (no, I'm not thinking of doing it. Rather, just seen it again and pondering it). So, average human footstep is 2.5 feet, 30 inches (for men at least). 10,000 steps is thus 25,000 feet, which is 14 miles, isn't it? Ah, yes, Timmy and numbers. It's 1720 (-ish) - [Spud and central bank independence](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/spud-and-central-bank-independence/) - Spud wants the Bank of England to lose its independence so that government can determine monetary policy. More democratic that way. The Observer on why this isn't a good idea: That The Don is in favour of it should give Spud thought, obvs. Inflation - thus interest rates - would be higher over time without - [Isn't this now such an excellent idea](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/isnt-this-now-such-an-excellent-idea/) - Defence isn't fundamentally about armaments. It's about legitimacy. If people do not believe a society is worth defending, then no quantity of weapons will save it. And neoliberalism, which is designed to reward the few, cannot now demand sacrifice from the many. That is why I think the only credible defence policy now is a - [Hmm](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/hmm-126/) - The Green Party is being sued by a former member who was suspended for mocking “fairy” pronouns. Emma Bateman, who was co-chair of Green Party Women, was found to have breached diversity rules by making “clearly antagonistic” comments about “fae/faer” pronouns, a type of “neopronoun” inspired by the mythical world. So, if you can believe - [It's going to be fun finding out about this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/its-going-to-be-fun-finding-out-about-this/) - The Crown’s Silence, a book by the historian Brooke Newman, follows the Guardian’s 2023 Cost of the crown report, which explored the British monarchy’s hidden ties to transatlantic slavery. The book reveals that by 1807, when Britain abolished the slave trade in its empire, the British crown had become the world’s largest buyer of enslaved - [Yes, you're right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/yes-youre-right-2/) - Research published last year found that the stretching of the polar vortex in this way is contributing to extreme weather in the US and that global heating, counterintuitively, could be playing a role in accelerating this process. Vast winter snowstorms are evidence of global warming. You're right, it's not a science, is it, given that - [Oh, right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-right-79/) - The killing was captured on a surveillance video which shows Zarutska, wearing the uniform of the pizza shop she worked at, staring at her phone when Brown appears to stab her from behind. The gruesome footage quickly went viral. Conservative circles took up Zarutska’s murder as an example of what they consider to be rampant - [He's going to spunk the cash, isn't he?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/hes-going-to-spunk-the-cash-isnt-he/) - The UK business secretary, Peter Kyle, has said he is “betting big” and “picking winners” as the government takes direct stakes in growing businesses to boost economic growth. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have been talking up Britain’s prospects, Kyle said ministers were taking an - [Whoo, boy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/whoo-boy-9/) - Prof Michael Jennions, study co-author, added: “While the human penis functions primarily to transfer sperm,..... A sexologist who says that has really missed a very large part of being human. Face to face mating, the existence of tits, the female orgasm, pair bonding, convealed ovulation eetc. All point to hte idea that the penis has - [Yes, Polly, yes](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/yes-polly-yes/) - Look how tough the bill is: those within six months of dying can ask for help (only in writing) to speed their ending, from two doctors seven days apart. After another wait, a panel of a psychiatrist, social worker and senior lawyer must agree, and the patient must be able to take the drug themselves - [Mehdi's stretching here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/mehdis-stretching-here/) - Which way, western man? That was the title of a racist tract published in 1978 by William Gayley Simpson, a former leftist Christian pastor turned one of the most influential neo-Nazi ideologues in American history. The book helped radicalize an entire generation of white supremacists in the US, with its vicious antisemitism, opposition to all - ['Mazin' the insight](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/mazin-the-insight/) - I was persuaded then, and remain persuaded now, that the costs of economic growth are seen in the climate breakdown that challenges our very existence, not just our economy. They gave that laddie the Nobel for exploring the externalities of the economy, right? - [CND again](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/cnd-again/) - In my opinion, this is entirely unacceptable, and not just because it will have been agreed under coercion. I have always found it repugnant that US bases in the UK are considered, for all practical purposes, to be US sovereign territory. In this context, I entirely agree with Zach Polanski that the time has arrived - [We know the answer here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/we-know-the-answer-here/) - Britain’s wind farm turbines wasted enough energy to power all of London’s homes last year, new figures show. A record 10 terawatt hours (TWh) of wind power went to waste in 2025, according to a report from energy analyst Montel – costing billpayers a total of £1.4bn in “curtailment costs”. This was up 22pc on - [Oh. Right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-right-78/) - So, something that works well enough must be changed: Child sponsorship schemes that allow donors to handpick children to support in poor countries can carry racialised, paternalistic undertones and need to be transformed, the newly appointed co-chief executives of ActionAid UK said as they set out to “decolonise” the organisation’s work. My word, eh? Paternalistic! - [Sigh, oh so typical](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/sigh-oh-so-typical/) - So, viaticals. Blokes dying of AIDS sell their life insurance policies, get cash now to live out their last months or years. Then treatments change and they're not dying and those who bought them are shafted. As with that French system of reverse mortgages, if they live then you're stuffed. As happened to that lawyer - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/snigger-291/) - And the conspiracy of silence about her defects is allowing Harris to quietly rebuild her support. Harris still places second or even first in the polling for who should be the Democrats’ 2028 nominee. Make JD's job easier, obviously. But this far out such surveys are records of who people have heard of, not who - [Terrible Twattishness](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/terrible-twattishness/) - Just 32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half the global carbon dioxide emissions driving the climate crisis in 2024, down from 36 a year earlier, a report has revealed. The idiots are assuming that the people who drill for the oil are responsible for the emissions of people using the oil. When, obvs, it's - [Dear God they're desperate here](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/dear-god-theyre-desperate-here/) - Iran’s central bank using vast quantities of cryptocurrency championed by Farage, says report What is this? FarageCoin is being used to beat sanctions? Iran’s central bank appears to have been using vast quantities of a cryptocurrency championed by Nigel Farage, according to a new report. Some close connection perhaps? “I’m going to go tomorrow to - [Oh, very good economics this is](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-very-good-economics-this-is/) - Don’t ignore UK unemployment: it’s the breeding ground for domestic fascism Well, OK then. Therefore raising the minimum wage is a precursor to fascism then. Good to have that sorted. The number of employed people in the UK has fallen again, particularly in shops, restaurants and hotels, reflecting weak hiring, OK, so that's what we - [Erm, helloo?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/erm-helloo/) - Whichever way you cut it, there is no reasonable excuse for handing a Chinese steelmaker a multimillion-pound order when British Steel has said it is capable of providing the materials. Business editor of Torygraph fails to ask "What's the price?" Ho Hum. - [Polly's Lament](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/pollys-lament-2/) - It’s a forever political mystery that low-paid/working-class voters will opt for the very wealthy with contrary financial interests. Like, you know, Toynbees? - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/snigger-290/) - To understand why the lights are on but no one is working at Oeno House is to delve into the murky world of fine wine investment, for which there is no financial protection when things turn sour. Dozens of people, possibly hundreds, fear substantial losses after Oeno House’s sister company, Oenofuture Limited, ran into trouble, - [Yep, OK](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/yep-ok/) - Local police forces can’t tackle modern crime, Mahmood believes Home Secretary raises concerns current 43-force structure ‘buckling under the strain So let's have an 86 force structure. Or a 129 force such. - [We're all really surprised, right?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/were-all-really-surprised-right/) - He was the youthful banker-president – a supposed liberal, feminist, pro-European foil to strongmen and populists alike. But Emmanuel Macron has turned the Elysée Palace into “Macholand”, where a tight clique of male aides hold the levers of power while sipping whisky and Bordeaux. We'd never have thought it. Macholand: Inside Macron’s ‘boy band’ clique - [Whatever did happen to arranged marriages then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/whatever-did-happen-to-arranged-marriages-then/) - His Slovakian father, Max, had fought for Austro-Hungary in the First World War; his mother Bertha, née Schreiber, was the daughter of a famous Hungarian rabbi. They had an arranged marriage and did not speak each other’s language. That's pretty arranged now, isn't it..... - [When did this happen?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/when-did-this-happen-4/) - Inspired by the First World War, the Islamic revolution in Iraq and the general air of malaise that hung around Britain, I mean, OK, in the obit for the drummer of Siouxie and the Banshees - Kenny Morris - so not that many will notice but come on Telegraph, islamic in Iraq? Iran now, well, - [Brooklyn Speaks!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/brooklyn-speaks/) - “Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me with no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed. “I do not want to reconcile with my family. I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself - [Ooooh, the attention to statistical detail here is impressive!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/ooooh-the-attention-to-statistical-detail-here-is-impressive/) - If Trump chooses to threaten Denmark militarily over Greenland, Denmark cannot respond militarily. It does not have the scale. But it does have the sort of leverage that matters in the modern global economy because Denmark is not just a small NATO state of about the size of Scotland; it is also a critical supplier - [Oxfam could do with a little increase in labour productivity](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oxfam-could-do-with-a-little-increase-in-labour-productivity/) - Lead Lawson Max ,Bignell Harry ,Solá Brown Carlos ,Kamande .Stahl Møller Rune and Bignell Harry :manager publication and Commissioning ,Bush Alex of assistance the acknowledges Oxfam ,Damle Ashish ,Hersi Amina ,Franck Anouk ,Court Alison Ceren ,Mofya Brenda ,Musili Beverly ,Monnens Bart ,Duran-Fernandez Cristina ,Putaturo Chiara ,Topgul Rio del Emilio ,Perez Efren ,Jacobs Didier ,Xavier Deepak - [Blimey](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/blimey-79/) - What ICE is doing on US streets looks terrifying, but don’t forget: it could happen anywhere Nesrine Malik This shocking moment is the outcome of a political, institutional and media environment that is not far off Britain’s Are we about to send Ms Malik off to Sudan? Really? - [Always fun, these descriptions](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/always-fun-these-descriptions/) - Moderate socialist Antonio Jose Seguro came out on top in the first round of Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday, followed by the far-right leader Andre Ventura, and the two will face off in a runoff on 8 February. The "far-right" is somewhat to the left of Macmillan and the moderate socialist just wants to starve - [Not really Telegraph stuff, is it now.....](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/not-really-telegraph-stuff-is-it-now/) - What ultra-processed foods really do to your body With UPFs making up 56 per cent of the average UK diet, experts reveal how over-consumption of them can impact our organs and overall health A properly conservative newspaper would be shouting "Fie!" to these morons. But nooooo: David Cox Health and medical journalist Sigh: “Overall, poor - [Umm, yeah, well](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/umm-yeah-well/) - A nurse who was disciplined for calling a transgender paedophile “Mr” is facing dismissal for allegedly speaking publicly about her ordeal. Jennifer Melle, 40, was issued with a final written warning after misgendering the patient at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, Surrey, in May 2024. Ms Melle said she referred to the individual, an inmate - [These people c'n fuck off 'n' all](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/these-people-cn-fuck-off-n-all/) - One story I've heard is of a laddie having 30 birdshot plucked out of his legs while lying on mother's sofa. Can't go to hospital, d'ye see, not with wounds from having been a protestor? So, the Progressive International peeps, they c'n fuck off 'n'all. Which includes that James Schneider laddie. Ah, yes: - [So, so, weird](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/so-so-weird/) - I have argued that AI can, and probably will, cause inflation, and it can, and probably will, cause unemployment, It's difficult to understand how AI can create inflation and it's really, near impossible to grasp how it will create both inflation and unemployment. But, you know, Spudnomics, a rare and different beast. That combination of - [Telegraph journos](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/telegraph-journos/) - The latest sorry saga featuring a multimillionaire celebrity and a hapless nepo baby centres on Rolling Stones guitarist, Ronnie Wood, and his son, Jesse. It was revealed this week, as Jesse appeared in court on speeding charges, that he is unemployed and living off savings of barely £1,000 a month. Savings of £1k a month, - [They're sellin' our data!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/theyre-sellin-our-data/) - ChatGPT is to begin showing users adverts for the first time unless they pay for a monthly subscription. OpenAI, the bot’s developer, said it would start displaying adverts in the coming weeks based on what people ask ChatGPT. However, it pledged not to sell users’ data and said the adverts would not influence what ChatGPT - [So, the NHS then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/so-the-nhs-then/) - If you were stuck in the waiting room at the fictional Pittsburgh trauma medical center (PTMC) – and, as is the case with most real emergency rooms, to be at “the Pitt” almost certainly means waiting for hours (unless you’re imminently dying, but even then …) – you would at least have a lot to - [Well, yes, quite so](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/well-yes-quite-so-5/) - In the meantime, there is something small everyone in the world can do – and that is to give the battered and besieged people of Iran our attention. After the massacres, the protests seem to have reduced in intensity – the natural consequence of fear. But as they have receded, so has media coverage and - [This is still rumbling on, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/this-is-still-rumbling-on-eh/) - A company linked to financier Lex Greensill “failed to act in good faith” by lending £250m more than it should have to businesses owned by steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta during the pandemic, the high court has been told. Greensill Bank AG (GBAG) is suing the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) for about £331m over - [Define conspiracy theory](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/define-conspiracy-theory/) - A Dutch anti-immigration influencer who has promoted conspiracy theories such as the “great replacement” appears to have had her authorisation for visa-free travel to the UK revoked. Migration numbers certainly lend some support to that replacement idea. So what is it that makes it a conspiracy theory? And yes, we need something more than that - [So, why not?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/so-why-not-3/) - The multimillionaire financier who has been made leader of Reform UK in Scotland has refused to say how wealthy he is, claiming that is a private matter. Do we know Ed Miliband's net worth? The Balls family? - [Very snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/very-snigger/) - Someone we all know has decided to analyse a post about liberalism. In doing so they've moved the meaning of "liberal" from the use in the original post being analysed - the American meaning of liberal - to the British one - classical liberalism. Hilarity ensues. - [An' 'nother thing to worry about](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/an-nother-thing-to-worry-about/) - There is no coincidence here, at all, of course. When draconian politics wants to suppress debate, it has a new weapon to do so, and one that is immediately effective. It just turns off the internet, and the whole population affected is discombobulated as a result. Let's be candid: that would be the consequence here, - [Oooooh, actual numbers!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oooooh-actual-numbers/) - He was interested in the traffic data for my YouTube channel. I suggested that so far this year, we are averaging 95,000 views a day. Hmmm. YouTube runs on 45% to Google, 55% to creator. Ad rates are $3 to $5/mille. £60k a year? -ish? Worth doing, obviously. But once the laddie is paid - - [Glad we've got that settled then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/glad-weve-got-that-settled-then-2/) - But it does not follow that pensions are the problem. On the contrary, state pensions are one of the defining achievements of the modern welfare state. Invented by Bismarck, of all people, they are a promise that old age will not mean destitution, dependency, or fear. And they were never meant to function only when - [Eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/eh-216/) - On X, a woman posts a photo in a sari, and within minutes, various users are underneath the post tagging Grok to strip her down to a bikini. It is a shocking violation of privacy, but now a familiar and commonplace practice. Between June 2025 and January 2026, I documented 565 instances of users requesting - [Sorry, I don't get it](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/sorry-i-dont-get-it/) - “It’s the actual back and forth of it, [trying] to shut someone down by saying, ‘Grok, put her in a bikini,’” she said. “The performance of it is really important there, and really shows the misogynistic undertones of it, trying to punish or silence women. That also has a cascading effect on democratic norms and - [Rulz is Rulz, see?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/rulz-is-rulz-see/) - It opened in 2013 and gained its first Michelin star a year later. It received another in 2022, making it the first site in Wales to win two stars. Prices start at £468 per person. The restaurant scored one out of five from a visit by Food Standards Agency officers on 5 November, meaning “major - [Jeebus](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/jeebus-28/) - Billionaire and career Bond-villain cosplayer Elon Musk has been forced by public backlash into a humiliating backdown over use of his AI chatbot, Grok. Watching the world’s richest man eat a shit sandwich on a global stage represents a rare win for sovereign democracy. Yes, it goes on like that for paragrpah after paragraph. Over - [My word, you mean bollocksy bollocks in environmental research?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/my-word-you-mean-bollocksy-bollocks-in-environmetnal-research/) - Studies claiming to have revealed micro and nanoplastics in the brain, testes, placentas, arteries and elsewhere were reported by media across the world, including the Guardian. There is no doubt that plastic pollution of the natural world is ubiquitous, and present in the food and drink we consume and the air we breathe. But the - [Not that I've bothered to check this you understand](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/not-that-ive-bothered-to-check-this-you-understand/) - Universal basic income (UBI) is often dismissed as unaffordable, unrealistic, or politically impossible. But the conversation I had recently with Howard Reed and Elliott Johnson of the Common Sense Policy Group at Northumbria University left me less sure of that. The Group's research challenges the Treasury orthodoxy in two important ways: Public investment multipliers are - [It's a good joke, give him that](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/its-a-good-joke-give-him-that/) - The comments on this blog are a perfect example of that free thinking, enabled by the work we do. - [Dust it from orbit, it's the only way](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/dust-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way/) - Labour is considering banning the sale of zero-alcohol drinks to under-18s over fears they are a “gateway” to drinking. The Government is considering making the sale of alcohol-free drinks, such as 0 per cent beers, to children including 16- and 17-year-olds illegal. Critics have branded the move “utterly bonkers” - [What a solution this is then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/what-a-solution-this-is-then/) - Donald Trump has already set the tone by saying the US will seize Greenland “one way or the other”, and no part of the triumvirate around him is trying to hide their imperial intentions any more. Not the nepotists and grifters amassing ever greater private fortunes. Not the white supremacist ideologues drawing inspiration from Ein - [This was always likely](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/this-was-always-likely/) - Erfan Soltani reportedly facing imminent execution Erfan Soltani is reportedly facing execution in Iran on Wednesday after he was tried, convicted and sentenced, following his arrest on Thursday. The 26-year-old was arrested in Karaj, a city on the north-west outskirts of Tehran, at the peak of the protests before the internet black-out. Soltani is one - [No, no, this works, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/no-no-this-works-really/) - Starmer tells Labour MPs his foreign trips can help fix cost of living crisis Inflation is caused by excess money chasing limited goods and services. So, if Starmer's demand for goods and services exits the UK economy - even for a day or two - then inflation will be lower than it would be if - [Questions in The Guardian we can answer](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/questions-in-the-guardian-we-can-answer-22/) - ‘Her time has come’: did Mondrian owe his success to a cross-dressing lesbian artist who lived in a Cornish cove? No? Or perhaps more importantly, who cares? - [You will be European!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/you-will-be-european/) - So, Venezuela and Greenland are a revival of Great Power -isms and play into hte hands of Russia over Ukraine, China over Taiwan. We must therefore have a European response! The third imperative concerns unity. European unity is essential, but it cannot become an excuse for paralysis. If unity cannot be achieved, those governments that - [So here's an interesting claim](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/so-heres-an-interesting-claim/) - Or claims even: US plan to exploit Venezuela’s oil could eat up 13% of carbon budget to keep 1.5C limit Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastrophe From which we can derive two claims. 1) US intervention in Venezuela is bad, see, because broiling Flipper. 2) Socialism in - [Oh, Maaaaan](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-maaaaan/) - Artificial intelligence is often presented as a growth driver. I argue the opposite risk is emerging. AI-driven cost-cutting threatens jobs and demand, with the risk of a GDP decline, He's arguing that increased labour productivity is a bad idea. Sigh. - [Interesting tactic](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/interesting-tactic/) - Other exposés followed and von Däniken’s reputation was on the ropes. His defence – that it had been necessary to fabricate evidence in order to convince people of the truth of his thesis – showed impressive chutzpah but failed to lend him much credibility. Sounds very like politics and NGOs, doesn't it? - [All your entertainment are belong to us](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/all-your-entertainment-are-belong-to-us/) - At first glance a more benign contender, Netflix presents an equally serious threat. Although CNN is currently excluded from the deal and would be spun off along with some of its old-line cable networks into a new entity, Discovery Global, the world’s largest subscription video platform has its own troubling history of bowing to political - [Perhaps we should track down the bastard who did this](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/perhaps-we-should-track-down-the-bastard-who-did-this/) - I know how lucky I am to have two healthy children, but I longed for a third. I still can’t believe how fast my two are growing – many of my friends still have lots of time to enjoy with their toddlers. However, fears for the future and the impact on the planet left me - [Which way will Spud jump here?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/which-way-will-spud-jump-here/) - The US attorney’s office inquiry, which includes an analysis of Powell’s public statements and an examination of spending records, was approved in November by attorney Jeanine Pirro, the NYT reported, citing officials briefed on the situation. In a statement on Sunday evening, Powell insisted the legal threat was “not about” his testimony last summer, or - [Harsh punishment here, very harsh](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/harsh-punishment-here-very-harsh/) - Donald Trump has said he might block ExxonMobil from investing in Venezuela after the oil company’s chief executive called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week. "We can't invest there" "I'll ban you from investing there!" Hmm..... - [Here's a business that will go bust then](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/heres-a-business-that-will-go-bust-then/) - As an entrepreneur – one who is well accustomed with feverishly surveying spreadsheets owing to my recently procured hotel, bar and restaurant – I must bow down and congratulate her royal jamminess. Right, OK, good luck to you then etc. The nation’s WI circles will be scratching their heads, of course. These ladies have been - [Tough Tittie, Love](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/tough-tittie-love/) - No woman or child should live in fear of having their image sexually manipulated by technology. Yet that is what many have faced in recent days with Grok. The technology to do this exists. The technology is not exclusive to Grok. There are open source AIs that can do this - perhaps not as well - [This is very amusing](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/this-is-very-amusing/) - This is from Sands. You know, the guy insisting we pay to give away Chagos. On the basis of a court ruling that does not, in law, apply to us nor our relations with Commonwealth countries? That Sands, squealing about international law. - [For those requiring reading matter](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/for-those-requiring-reading-matter/) - Longrider - who most around here will know - has you covered. - [The world awaits the white smoke](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/the-world-awaits-the-white-smoke/) - All this requires that I take time to think about what to do next, taking into account the risks that exist. That is what I propose to do today. It will, quite soon, look like I am bird watching, and I will undoubtedly be out in the open, with a pair of binoculars around my - [Canute](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/canute/) - Downing Street has condemned the move by X to restrict its AI image creation tool to paying subscribers as insulting, saying it simply made the ability to generate explicit and unlawful images a premium service. There has been widespread anger after the image tool for Grok, the AI element of X, was used to manipulate - [Well, quite, yes, 's'obvious, innit?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/well-quite-yes-sobvious-innit/) - If defence spending requires austerity elsewhere, the first and most fundamental question is not financial but moral and political and is instead what exactly are we trying to defend in that case? It should be obvious that a country in which public services are degraded, poverty is allowed to rise, and insecurity becomes a normal - [A question we can answer!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/a-question-we-can-answer-3/) - Artificial intelligence is not virtual, clean, or weightless. It has a rapidly escalating physical cost in electricity, water, and emissions—and ordinary people will pay the price. Research shows that AI data centres could soon consume electricity on the scale of entire nations. At the same time, AI cooling systems are diverting vast quantities of water - [Is this a lot or not?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/is-this-a-lot-or-not/) - Masses of toxic litter pours from Rhine into North Sea each year, research finds Citizen scientists help in University of Bonn study showing river carries up to 4,700 tonnes of ‘macrolitter’ annually I dunno. Perhaps we can work it out? The Rhine River has an average discharge (volume flow) of about 2,900 cubic meters per - [Interestink](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/interestink-2/) - A great deal of the mainstream media seems reluctant to question Donald Trump’s stunning move. CBS News, under new editorial leadership, is leading that pack. Its Tuesday-night broadcast was practically Fox Lite, including a too-cute montage of AI-created images of the US secretary of state and former Florida senator, Marco Rubio, and these words from - [Starlink would be useful here, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/starlink-would-be-useful-here-no/) - Iran was plunged into a complete internet blackout on Thursday night as protests over economic conditions spread nationwide, increasing pressure on the country’s leadership. While it was unclear what caused the internet cut, first reported by the internet freedom monitor NetBlocks, Iranian authorities have shut down the internet in response to protests in the past. - [Guess Who!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/guess-who-11/) - It’s very telling that the most vocal self-appointed “protectors of women and girls” have nothing to say about the absolutely horrific production of AI-generated sexual abuse images of real women and children that’s happening on X on an industrial scale. As they continue to post on X, in many cases paying for the privilege to - [Twat](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/twat-12/) - He was, of course, referring to the tanker that had been renamed and reregistered this week when sailing, without a cargo, from the Caribbean to Russia, and which was boarded by US troops, apparently airlifted from UK bases yesterday, with the active support of UK naval forces. I question the validity of that action: it - [Even the BMJ knows these days](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/even-the-bmj-knows-these-days/) - I recorded a podcast yesterday with the BMJ (the British Medical Journal), in which I was interviewed by its editor. We started on the subject of doctor pay and the justification for an increase, but went on to much broader issues, many of which I was warned would probably never make the cut, ending instead - [Well, yes Aditya](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/well-yes-aditya-2/) - Of all the commandments for living under a politician, the first is always this: don’t believe him. Nothing he says can be taken at face value; everything should be fed into a polygraph. Those of scrupulous courtesy can wrap it up in red ribbon, or uncork that aphorism about how the man must be taken - [That problem with Australia](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/that-problem-with-australia/) - The commission found it “implausible” that Pilton was unaware that a man called Lachlan, who did not have a responsible service of alcohol certificate, did in fact serve alcohol. This is a pub 200 km out in the middle of fick all. This is one of the reasons the booze licence has not been renewed. - [No, really, just no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/no-really-just-no-9/) - The US’s first overt attack on an Amazon nation last weekend is a new phase in its extractivist rivalry with China. The outcome will decide whether the vast mineral wealth of South America is directed towards a 21st-century energy transition or a buildup of military power to defend 20th-century fossil fuel interests. Doesn't mean anything - [What utter, utter, joy](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/what-utter-utter-joy/) - The Seagreen wind farm off Scotland’s east coast is squandering vast amounts of its power because there is not enough grid capacity to transport it to areas of the country where it is needed most. This inability to handle surplus electricity led to 77pc of Seagreen’s total output going to waste last year, new accounts - [It's the vote what done it](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/its-the-vote-what-done-it/) - But there is a new, arguably greater threat: the extremism of young women. If young men have trended Rightwards and downwards, young women have gone to the dark Left. Haven’t you noticed that the most passionate disrupters, yelling till puce in the face, are women? Major surveys have already shown that Gen Z women have - [Quite right too](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/quite-right-too-22/) - It’s far from easy being a northerner in spaces and places where the default identity is southern. Still, we survive. In ways many and varied. When I moved to London after university, I found myself further eradicating traces of the broad vowels my family and friends at home all had. I felt a need to - [They don't spend the money well, do they?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/they-dont-spend-the-money-well-do-they/) - A “catastrophic” decision by the Ministry of Justice to sign a 10-year lease on a prison where high levels of a poisonous gas had been detected is expected to cost the UK taxpayer more than £100m, parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded. The public accounts committee said the 2022 deal to rent HMP Dartmoor from the - [So, err, American schools are shit then?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/so-err-american-schools-are-shit-then/) - Reading fiction has been such a joy for me that my heart broke a little to learn recently that many schools no longer assign full books to high school students. Rather, teens are given excerpts of books, and they often read them not in print but on school-issued laptops, according to a survey of 2,000 - [Oh Dear](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-dear-75/) - Britain and France have declared they are ready to deploy troops to Ukraine in the aftermath of a peace deal, a major new commitment that has been under discussion for months, although one which Russia is likely to block forcefully. Boots on the ground, eh? We don't have enough troops to make a difference - - [Since you present us with a choice](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/since-you-present-us-with-a-choice/) - What is the US invasion / regime change / taking control of Venezuela all about? .... So, now we know. It is all about providing an opportunity for hedge funds. The trouble is, quite a lot of me believes that might well be true. In the battle between financial capitalism and the people, financial capitalism - [Dear Delta Force](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/dear-delta-force/) - If you want to understand Britain's future, look at how Trump is dealing with Venezuela. Ely is to be found at: 52°23′53″N 00°15′44″E - [They lie, of course](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/they-lie-of-course/) - The bosses of FTSE 100 companies will have made more money in 2026 before midday on Tuesday than the average worker will all year, according to figures laying bare the yawning income gap. Median annual pay for FTSE 100 chief executives is £4.4m, the High Pay Centre thinktank calculated, 113 times higher than the £39,039 - [How very boilerplate](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/how-very-boilerplate/) - Seen this way, Trump’s indulgence of Russian ambitions in Ukraine is hardly mysterious. Back in 2019, Russia reportedly proposed offering increased US influence in Venezuela in exchange for the US retreating from Ukraine. Who knows if such a deal has been made. What is certainly true is that a new world order is being born. - [Bureaucratic protection of the people!](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/bureaucratic-protection-of-the-people/) - Frustration is growing in Papua New Guinea weeks after the government ordered Starlink to shut down operations in the country as businesses, health providers and communities struggle without access to internet services. Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is a satellite internet company that provides internet to remote places. In mid-December, the National Information and - [Well, he does have to appeal to the ScotsNazis, no?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/well-he-does-have-to-appeal-to-the-scotsnazis-no/) - I then argued that from this perspective, Scotland could plausibly enter Trump's sights. Trump has a personal fixation with Scotland, claims ancestral ties, owns golf courses there, and views the country as familiar territory. More importantly, Scotland has significant strategic and economic value in a climate-stressed world: vast renewable energy potential, abundant clean water, and - [Well, yes, but what is to be done?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/well-yes-but-what-is-to-be-done/) - At least 30 dangerous mental health patients secretly freed from high security hospitals have gone on to kill in recent years, The Telegraph can disclose. Around 250 violent offenders are detained in institutions such as Broadmoor, Rampton and Ashworth each year after courts decide they are too mentally ill to go to prison Many, like - [Get used to it folks](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/get-used-to-it-folks/) - German leftwing militants protesting over the climate crisis and AI have claimed responsibility for an arson attack that cut power to tens of thousands of households in Berlin. Because, of course and as you know, if the lefties get their way then all of society will suffer such outages regularly. There is no possible way - [Just so you know](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/just-so-you-know-2/) - Trump In Venezuela Isn't About The Oil No, really, despite the usual screaming - [Chesterton was right](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/chesterton-was-right/) - In leafy, arty, upper-crust Hampstead, north London, there came a healer. Marianne Nicholls was well-spoken, well-groomed and evidently well-to-do. But beneath the polished exterior of Gucci handbags and BMW convertibles, the woman who claimed to be a daughter of high court judges had a secret. It was one which she would reveal after entering into - [Ahaha, no](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/ahaha-no/) - At Zohran Mamdani’s block party, I observed a simple truth: people want more politics, not less Samuel Earle The sort of people who go to a Mayoral block party want more politics. But this is hardly a surprise. As he was sworn in outside city hall in front of a crowd of a few thousand - [Willy Hutton's Vision](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/willy-huttons-vision/) - Private markets, very bad, really, terrible. All Yankee, see. Private markets very good, see. Add work "tech" and ...... That actually from the same Willy Hutton article. He can't even keep the story straight for a whole 1,200 words. - [No, no, you misunderstand](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/no-no-you-misunderstand/) - Going short Hahahahaha, no. He's not going to use the SageBrain to short that collapse he's absolutely certain is about to happen. He's going to make short videos. - [Apparent, eh, apparent?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/apparent-eh-apparent/) - The media storm that resulted forced a reckoning on an issue that has come to haunt Britain, not least because of the apparent over-representation of men of Asian heritage in the gangs that plagued towns such as Oldham. Sheesh. - [This is what is going to happen](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/this-is-what-is-going-to-happen/) - A Kentucky woman is facing multiple criminal charges after she allegedly induced her own abortion using medication. Kentucky state police arrested the woman, Melinda S Spencer, 35, on charges of fetal homicide in the first degree, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, according to a local Kentucky news outlet. Spencer reportedly ordered - ['Mazin' what they'll blame The Jooos for](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/mazin-what-theyll-blame-the-jooos-for/) - Thousands of tents supplied by China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to shelter displaced Palestinians in Gaza offer only limited protection against rain and wind, an assessment compiled by shelter specialists in the devastated territory has revealed. The assessment will undermine claims that Palestinians in Gaza are being supplied with adequate shelter. Fierce storms in recent - [System's rotten, see?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/systems-rotten-see/) - This is the case of financial capitalism, fuelled by financial engineering delivering technological change and physical investment for which there is no proven need, but with massive potential consequences for environmental capital, human capital and societal capital. That means this matters. This is because memory prices are going up given AI demand. In a Spudulous - [Now he talks of real interest rates?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/now-he-talks-of-real-interest-rates/) - The result would be a bank base rate close to neutral. In other words, it would be running at around the rate of inflation, assuming that continues its current downward trend. But if we're going to do this - adjust interest rates for the inflation rate - then we're close to neutral right now. The - [Guess who?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/guess-who-10/) - Campaigners against poverty must get their economics right Yep, and ain't that some brass neck? - [Dog bites man](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/dog-bites-man/) - This is not news: Burnham ‘would make better PM than Starmer’ Survey reveals voters think Greater Manchester Mayor would be stronger on cost of living crisis and immigration My (late and lamented) dog, Rosie, would be a better PM than Starmer. - [Bit a cope, really](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/bit-a-cope-really/) - Billionaires raised fortunes against him. The president threatened to strip his citizenship. Mainstream synagogues slandered him as the spawn of Osama Bin Laden and Chairman Mao. But today, Zohran Mamdani became the first socialist mayor of New York City. For all the hysteria, when I look at Mamdani, I didn’t see some radical departure from - [Umm](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/umm-51/) - The Trump administration is facing a legal complaint from a group of government employees affected by a new policy going into effect Thursday that eliminates coverage for gender-affirming care in federal health insurance programs. The complaint, filed Thursday on the employees’ behalf by the Human Rights Campaign, is in response to an August announcement from - [Brummies, eh?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/brummies-eh/) - The new year got off to an anticlimactic start for hundreds of people in Birmingham who were tricked into attending a non-existent New Year’s Eve fireworks display. Again. Crowds of revellers gathered in the city’s Centenary Square, hoping to catch a glimpse of a pyrotechnics display to welcome in 2026. They were left disappointed, however, - [Erm?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/erm-40/) - Under the scheme, they will target families who are not signed up with a GP or who struggle with travel costs, childcare, language barriers or other issues stopping them seeing a doctor. Children will be identified by the NHS using GP records, health visitor notes and local databases, sources said. So we're going to find - [Oh, atone now, is it?](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-atone-now-is-it/) - The very public claims that Farage, a man with pretensions to lead our country, hurt people as a racist school bully and refuses to atone or suitably acknowledge their hurt now that he is a dog-whistling adult. It'll be demanding reparations next. - [Oh, yes, very fun](https://www.timworstall.com/2026/01/oh-yes-very-fun/) - The Department of Health and Human Services is freezing all childcare payments to all states, an official for Donald Trump’s administration told ABC News in a report published Wednesday. States’ funds will be released “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately”. Of course, all such services should be paid for from state tax - [I think we've found the problem, Maties](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/12/i-think-weve-found-the-problem-maties/) - [How entirely gorgeous](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/12/how-entirely-gorgeous/) - By increasing its borrowing and spending, the state absorbs excess private saving and recycles them back into the economy through wages, public services, income support, and investment. This prevents a collapse in demand and provides confidence that incomes and institutions will be maintained. The Covid crisis illustrates this clearly. As private spending fell and precautionary - [Why we really should kill all the Fabians](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/12/why-we-really-should-kill-all-the-fabians/) - Founded in 1884 and initially most closely associated with the pioneering social reformers Beatrice and Sidney Webb, the Fabian Society was a co-founder of the Labour party and has been affiliated with it ever since. The political and economic idiocies of the Webbs - largely through their influence on Nehru and thereby delaying the economic - [It's not a wholly strong defence here](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/12/its-not-a-wholly-strong-defence-here/) - The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it is freezing federal funding for childcare programs in Minnesota after allegations of fraud – first exposed and prosecuted during the Biden administration – recently became the focus of conservative influencers and media outlets. Jim O’Neill, the deputy secretary of health and human services, said in a video - [Seems fair enough](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/12/seems-fair-enough-7/) - In the distance, you can see the outlines of the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which is in the slow process of being decommissioned at a cost so far of $35bn (£26bn) almost 15 years since it suffered a triple meltdown after being struck by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and a 15m - [Snigger](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/12/snigger-289/) - Asset price inflation alone does not constitute income Spud's now insisting that capital gains tax must have an indexation allowance. Odd he left that out of his taxing everybody into penury report, eh? - [Well, that's another reason to vote Reform then](https://www.timworstall.com/2025/12/well-thats-another-reason-to-vote-reform-then/) - Finally, and seventh, it looks as if Scotland might elect a strongly pro-Independence parliament, again. For how long this can be ignored by Westminster is now a very real question, and in the event that Reform did form a government in Westminster, the conflict between that government and the government in Scotland might become so ## Pages - [About](https://www.timworstall.com/about/) - Can be found on Twitter as @Worstall - [Privacy Policy](https://www.timworstall.com/privacy-policy/) - Privacy Policy What is a privacy policy? A privacy policy outlines an organisation’s approach to ensuring privacy around its user’s stored data. This is the privacy policy for timworstall.com and for certain services provided through these and other Echion (Online) websites and applications (“our sites”) by Echion (Online) Ltd (“EOL”). At EOL we collect - [](https://www.timworstall.com/69778-2/) - We are looking for little jokes, jests, concerning coronavirus and Covid-19 for an anthology. Clearly, time is of the essence here. What are we looking for? Jests, jokes, as above. But these can come in many forms, some of which we've not thought of yet. So, limericks, clerihews, those are obvious. Spoofs of song lyrics - [Donate](https://www.timworstall.com/donate/) - If you enjoy TimWorstall.com please consider donating to keep the site online. Any extra money we recieve will be rolled over and go to future use for hosting a development of TimWorstall.com and ContinentalTelegraph.com. 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