A 3-3-3 Strategy for the UK
Last week, the US Senate confirmed Scott Bessent as Donald Trump’s new Treasury Secretary. Trump — never one to resist a good tag line — was reportedly sold on Bessent after hearing about his economic strategy, dubbed “3-3-3”.
Britain never could have had a wealth fund from North Sea oil
Here’s Polly Toynbee bemoaning Margaret Thatcher: The one that most upends her claims to a grocer’s daughter’s thrift is her squandering of North Sea oil proceeds that came onstream just as she arrived in No 10.
Happy morning
A study has found that most people are happier in the morning.
Using survey data from 49,218 adults between March 2020 and March 2022, the researchers found people generally woke up "feeling best" but were "feeling worst" by midnight.
A Manifesto for Lord Mandelson- Part 4
Lord Mandelson has his agrément. Once he presents his credentials, his central objective will be to avoid new US tariffs. He will rely on US figures which show a surplus in their trade with us of $15bn, aiming off ours which show the reverse, a surplus in our favour of £67bn.
In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act
How dare they, eh? How very dare they! McDonald’s has thwarted attempts to stop it opening new outlets by stressing that it sells salad, promotes “healthier lifestyles” and sponsors local children’s football teams.
Oh dear, how sad - cars might get cheaper in Britain
Possibly just a little oddity of how the world works out but it’s possible that cars in Britain are about to get significantly cheaper:
Why does the SNP want to ban cats?
Forget Anas Sarwar - the SNP has discovered a new arch-enemy: cats. And no, I’m not talking about the ill-fated Cats film adaptation - though that might actually be worth banning.
The new slave economy
While we rightly admire the magnificent cultural achievements of ancient Greece and Rome, we should remember what made them possible.
Yes, very bad, totally, but they’re not our regulations
Of course, of course, deepest sympathy to the musicians, actors and the like caught up in this nonsense: As Sir Keir Starmer talks of a reset with the EU and Rachel Reeves strives for growth, now is surely the time to free up musicians and artists from the massive bureaucracy and costs of performing in Europe.
A Return to Pre-Revolutionary Thinking?
1776 was a year of new thinking in Scotland and America. Great figures put quill to parchment, declaring that freedom was the route to prosperity - the American revolutionaries wrote the Declaration of Independence and Adam Smith published the Wealth of Nations.
Police Priorities
Monday saw dozens of small traders’ vans converge on Parliament in protest against police inaction over the theft of tools from their vans. Four in five small traders are reported to have been victims of this crime, and the traders want police protection from it.