<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392</id><updated>2026-09-16T16:03:38.776+00:00</updated><category term="greece"/><category term="recession"/><category term="euro"/><category term="banks"/><category term="EU"/><category term="debt"/><category term="bank of england"/><category term="interest rates"/><category term="fraud"/><category term="mortgages"/><category term="bailout"/><category term="grexit"/><category term="inflation"/><category term="property"/><category term="IMF"/><category term="fsa"/><category term="ECB"/><category term="Gordon Brown"/><category 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term="pump and dump"/><category term="quantitive easing"/><category term="queen"/><category term="rare earth"/><category term="rate cut"/><category term="rates"/><category term="recall"/><category term="recession warning"/><category term="refugees"/><category term="religion"/><category term="rent"/><category term="rental"/><category term="rial"/><category term="rial crash"/><category term="rishi"/><category term="rising inflation UK"/><category term="risk"/><category term="robots"/><category term="rolet"/><category term="salt"/><category term="sap"/><category term="schengen"/><category term="schwab"/><category term="security"/><category term="seiss"/><category term="selftrade"/><category term="services flat"/><category term="services flatline"/><category term="setanta"/><category term="shareholders"/><category term="shell"/><category term="shenzhen"/><category term="shipping"/><category term="shopping"/><category term="shorting"/><category term="sick pay"/><category term="sid"/><category term="silver"/><category term="smartphone"/><category term="sme"/><category term="sony"/><category term="southern water"/><category term="spacex"/><category term="spending review"/><category term="sports direct"/><category term="spy"/><category term="sse"/><category term="stagflation"/><category term="stargate"/><category term="starmer"/><category term="stealth taxes UK"/><category term="stoc"/><category term="strategic energy vision UAE"/><category term="stress test"/><category term="supermarket energy costs"/><category term="suppliers"/><category term="supply"/><category term="supply chains"/><category term="surcharges"/><category term="sweden"/><category term="switzerland"/><category term="t charge"/><category term="takeover"/><category term="tata"/><category term="tax and spend disaster"/><category term="tax policies UK"/><category term="taxpayer impact budget"/><category term="taylor wimpey"/><category term="thames water"/><category term="the apprentice"/><category term="three"/><category term="tiers"/><category term="tobin tax"/><category term="too little too late"/><category term="tourism"/><category term="tpt deal"/><category term="tube"/><category term="turing"/><category term="tuttle"/><category term="twat"/><category term="unemployment 5.1%"/><category term="unicredit"/><category term="unite"/><category term="universal  credit"/><category term="us"/><category term="vacancies"/><category term="value for money"/><category term="venezuela"/><category term="volatility"/><category term="wage growth slump"/><category term="wealth"/><category term="wells fargo"/><category term="west bromwich building society"/><category term="wetherspoons"/><category term="whitbread"/><category term="wholesale electricity"/><category term="wilko"/><category term="windfall"/><category term="winter economic plan"/><category term="working from home"/><category term="world cup"/><category term="worst growth forecast"/><category term="x"/><category term="yellen"/><category term="yen"/><category term="yields"/><category term="yorkshire bank"/><category term="young people unemployed 713000"/><category term="youth employment rate fall"/><category term="youth unemployment 15.8%"/><category term="£1"/><category term="£3bn sell-off"/><title type='text'>Loans and Finance</title><subtitle type='html'>News and information about loans, money, debt, finance and business issues.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default?redirect=false'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25&amp;redirect=false'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>3654</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-2236987536375304391</id><published>2026-09-16T16:03:38.776+00:00</published><updated>2026-09-16T16:03:38.776+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bank of england"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="healey"/><title type='text'>Nosferatu Appoints Nowak To Bank of England</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXH5qUGQpLFOXyPlrZuE5ZPs74NzfWZabUTPb0y1SlbJtwbt602FmE_gTz0KEG-WHOm5PCezEX8FIdjDB0TXvBYJTL-dRPC_wDUZHCA2x02xrMJuHqQ_odwSAqXRwIBCgMtNkIw7lvgD_iKeMPlBJjXULxEoomW8reYDHQEgKSZXyIQDrnJvak4Q/s679/heal.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;209&quot; data-original-width=&quot;679&quot; height=&quot;122&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXH5qUGQpLFOXyPlrZuE5ZPs74NzfWZabUTPb0y1SlbJtwbt602FmE_gTz0KEG-WHOm5PCezEX8FIdjDB0TXvBYJTL-dRPC_wDUZHCA2x02xrMJuHqQ_odwSAqXRwIBCgMtNkIw7lvgD_iKeMPlBJjXULxEoomW8reYDHQEgKSZXyIQDrnJvak4Q/w400-h122/heal.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;Nowak has called for windfall taxes on banks.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;Nosferatu wants to deliberately crash the economy so that he is forced to bring in the IMF. Then labour can blame the IMF for the welfare cuts that will be enforced!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/2236987536375304391/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/nosferatu-appoints-nowak-to-bank-of.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/2236987536375304391'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/2236987536375304391'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/nosferatu-appoints-nowak-to-bank-of.html' title='Nosferatu Appoints Nowak To Bank of England'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXH5qUGQpLFOXyPlrZuE5ZPs74NzfWZabUTPb0y1SlbJtwbt602FmE_gTz0KEG-WHOm5PCezEX8FIdjDB0TXvBYJTL-dRPC_wDUZHCA2x02xrMJuHqQ_odwSAqXRwIBCgMtNkIw7lvgD_iKeMPlBJjXULxEoomW8reYDHQEgKSZXyIQDrnJvak4Q/s72-w400-h122-c/heal.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-4419490187326194169</id><published>2026-09-16T10:38:48.813+00:00</published><updated>2026-09-16T10:39:43.142+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="anthropic"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="dario amodei"/><title type='text'>Dario Amodei Fired, New CEO Appointed</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzHx8iE9XhJGRrJJuojCjWopEsLa2uoDasMKQVlstugfeWWAYWSmuBKlY7gdE6iYCbN0GC9CZL2Y3LJ0nCzkdjW8nLlF2NXl3g1mwKAJhDEN3okJiANtfosjTXWswZ8Ql-MBQTv_eVRHv6S1syfckDefSJ-VcLeSILpiTJDhIc57HQns9XQu9Ew/s479/catking.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;468&quot; data-original-width=&quot;479&quot; height=&quot;391&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzHx8iE9XhJGRrJJuojCjWopEsLa2uoDasMKQVlstugfeWWAYWSmuBKlY7gdE6iYCbN0GC9CZL2Y3LJ0nCzkdjW8nLlF2NXl3g1mwKAJhDEN3okJiANtfosjTXWswZ8Ql-MBQTv_eVRHv6S1syfckDefSJ-VcLeSILpiTJDhIc57HQns9XQu9Ew/w400-h391/catking.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/4419490187326194169/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/dario-amodei-fired-new-ceo-installed.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4419490187326194169'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4419490187326194169'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/dario-amodei-fired-new-ceo-installed.html' title='Dario Amodei Fired, New CEO Appointed'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzHx8iE9XhJGRrJJuojCjWopEsLa2uoDasMKQVlstugfeWWAYWSmuBKlY7gdE6iYCbN0GC9CZL2Y3LJ0nCzkdjW8nLlF2NXl3g1mwKAJhDEN3okJiANtfosjTXWswZ8Ql-MBQTv_eVRHv6S1syfckDefSJ-VcLeSILpiTJDhIc57HQns9XQu9Ew/s72-w400-h391-c/catking.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-1153435814994275887</id><published>2026-09-15T11:09:29.362+00:00</published><updated>2026-09-15T11:09:29.362+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="public sector"/><title type='text'>Public Sector Draining The Life Out of The Economy</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZFA74pHvyNdDRL3hkUpw1LSEOwHe5ZOxfEuGRh3JMqvy0b0CGlg4FCBNvIAReswxznpDQ-MjPsuQQbWsVjNEzEQ26Vyl23VEnZTySI1xu_7oJ6OhLPGVlsalv0FNkPEn2ywxptjYikGm3veeuBKRPPv6y-nRA6A_XM_4ToC48prKI_5CWXgvzA/s1536/priv.png&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;1024&quot; data-original-width=&quot;1536&quot; height=&quot;266&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZFA74pHvyNdDRL3hkUpw1LSEOwHe5ZOxfEuGRh3JMqvy0b0CGlg4FCBNvIAReswxznpDQ-MjPsuQQbWsVjNEzEQ26Vyl23VEnZTySI1xu_7oJ6OhLPGVlsalv0FNkPEn2ywxptjYikGm3veeuBKRPPv6y-nRA6A_XM_4ToC48prKI_5CWXgvzA/w400-h266/priv.png&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;The annual average regular earnings growth was 6.3% for the public sector but just 2.9% for the private sector.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;UK gilts this morning: 10-years hovering around 5.4%, 30-years just shy of 6%.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;This is not sustainable!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/1153435814994275887/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/public-sector-draining-life-out-of.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/1153435814994275887'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/1153435814994275887'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/public-sector-draining-life-out-of.html' title='Public Sector Draining The Life Out of The Economy'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZFA74pHvyNdDRL3hkUpw1LSEOwHe5ZOxfEuGRh3JMqvy0b0CGlg4FCBNvIAReswxznpDQ-MjPsuQQbWsVjNEzEQ26Vyl23VEnZTySI1xu_7oJ6OhLPGVlsalv0FNkPEn2ywxptjYikGm3veeuBKRPPv6y-nRA6A_XM_4ToC48prKI_5CWXgvzA/s72-w400-h266-c/priv.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-1481609453787349523</id><published>2026-09-09T11:29:51.108+00:00</published><updated>2026-09-09T11:30:43.036+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bonds"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="yields"/><title type='text'>Yields Highest Since Records Began</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb806x-pzlRiHC5piiqtIb8Om4GRQwEAEJIWuAVPC7Cz-kcriB6NbENEiHKMdCw01vBP78lUkCq3kgc0nkgisQLnQW6XcS-0FvJVWA9ORBXqEDs7M5Rq8PhSVwUA1xRo0slwe5JrVhHLLSqJXZ9pHgrDcakNjvsY3V7RuLIn8YFS3xZXu3VtlGzg/s423/Blakey.webp&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;423&quot; data-original-width=&quot;377&quot; height=&quot;400&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb806x-pzlRiHC5piiqtIb8Om4GRQwEAEJIWuAVPC7Cz-kcriB6NbENEiHKMdCw01vBP78lUkCq3kgc0nkgisQLnQW6XcS-0FvJVWA9ORBXqEDs7M5Rq8PhSVwUA1xRo0slwe5JrVhHLLSqJXZ9pHgrDcakNjvsY3V7RuLIn8YFS3xZXu3VtlGzg/w356-h400/Blakey.webp&quot; width=&quot;356&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On 9 September 2026, UK short-dated gilt yields rose to a one-week high after oil prices climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time in six weeks, reigniting inflation concerns.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Two-year gilt yields reached about 4.629% (up more than 3 basis points), their highest since 2 September (when they hit a five-month high of 4.691%). Five-year yields peaked near 4.727% (also up ~3 bps), the highest since the previous week’s three-year high of 4.785%. Longer-dated yields, including the 10-year (around 5.19–5.21%), edged higher as well amid increased pricing of potential Bank of England rate hikes later in the year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This follows Tuesday’s (8 September) syndication of £4.25 billion of 30-year gilts, sold at a yield of 5.8168% (or ~5.817%). That marked the UK’s highest borrowing cost on comparable 30-year issuance since at least 1998 (when the Debt Management Office was established), surpassing the prior record of 5.79% from a May 1998 auction. Demand was strong (orders exceeded £87 billion), but the elevated yield highlights ongoing pressure on public finances ahead of the new finance minister’s debut budget.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Broader drivers include the global energy price shock (linked to geopolitical tensions), sticky inflation risks that could keep policy tighter for longer, and elevated term premia/fiscal concerns. Markets have been pricing a higher chance of BoE hikes (e.g., ~70% probability of one by November in some snapshots), even as economists largely do not expect an immediate move.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/1481609453787349523/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/yileds-highest-since-records-began.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/1481609453787349523'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/1481609453787349523'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/yileds-highest-since-records-began.html' title='Yields Highest Since Records Began'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb806x-pzlRiHC5piiqtIb8Om4GRQwEAEJIWuAVPC7Cz-kcriB6NbENEiHKMdCw01vBP78lUkCq3kgc0nkgisQLnQW6XcS-0FvJVWA9ORBXqEDs7M5Rq8PhSVwUA1xRo0slwe5JrVhHLLSqJXZ9pHgrDcakNjvsY3V7RuLIn8YFS3xZXu3VtlGzg/s72-w356-h400-c/Blakey.webp" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-9098658809502954270</id><published>2026-09-08T15:28:25.054+00:00</published><updated>2026-09-08T15:28:25.054+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="tax"/><title type='text'>The Consequences of High Taxes and Socialism</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBXe1gBmJ2qm3eU86N58hJlLbipJRtCkhoaQM42YvcJj6n_d6tcltEX5UFu9x67f95mLVkBhLRzH9D92F2OY-2zZP8BUTAQhVnhhG50M4dJc6-6RD-nd2bf0n3zKuVRiKT_rDD6L31vXahgabO681DgAi5enm1TMs1QyvK3hpZYPxV6NmvK2ihQ/s680/capitalflight.png&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;226&quot; data-original-width=&quot;680&quot; height=&quot;133&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBXe1gBmJ2qm3eU86N58hJlLbipJRtCkhoaQM42YvcJj6n_d6tcltEX5UFu9x67f95mLVkBhLRzH9D92F2OY-2zZP8BUTAQhVnhhG50M4dJc6-6RD-nd2bf0n3zKuVRiKT_rDD6L31vXahgabO681DgAi5enm1TMs1QyvK3hpZYPxV6NmvK2ihQ/w400-h133/capitalflight.png&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;Hedge fund titan Chris Rokos to leave the UK for Greece, the latest exit by one of the country’s top taxpayers and biggest names in finance.  He ranked 3rd in the Sunday Times’ latest annual list of top tax payers, with a bill of £330m.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/9098658809502954270/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/the-consequences-of-high-taxes-and.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/9098658809502954270'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/9098658809502954270'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/the-consequences-of-high-taxes-and.html' title='The Consequences of High Taxes and Socialism'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBXe1gBmJ2qm3eU86N58hJlLbipJRtCkhoaQM42YvcJj6n_d6tcltEX5UFu9x67f95mLVkBhLRzH9D92F2OY-2zZP8BUTAQhVnhhG50M4dJc6-6RD-nd2bf0n3zKuVRiKT_rDD6L31vXahgabO681DgAi5enm1TMs1QyvK3hpZYPxV6NmvK2ihQ/s72-w400-h133-c/capitalflight.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-3686714761966237941</id><published>2026-09-02T11:05:18.280+00:00</published><updated>2026-09-02T11:05:18.280+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="gilt yields"/><title type='text'>Gilt Yields Explained</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgw8HJTDfzSOd3RbbC6275-1asSkNYx_iqpA1oihoJrkqF5OkfAVZogO8nCkPjxcTzHG3XQ-y4R2sIrZCRZZuULXmx9yVoVSy49_fzotQxxpIPWPw5TBcnX2-VwwCZufz79qWlBmCHVHrTRGtmI1hIcZ6tKhISRbWmJCWQAUkaCvv6pYyYbK2SA/s1268/gilts1.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;1268&quot; data-original-width=&quot;1040&quot; height=&quot;400&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgw8HJTDfzSOd3RbbC6275-1asSkNYx_iqpA1oihoJrkqF5OkfAVZogO8nCkPjxcTzHG3XQ-y4R2sIrZCRZZuULXmx9yVoVSy49_fzotQxxpIPWPw5TBcnX2-VwwCZufz79qWlBmCHVHrTRGtmI1hIcZ6tKhISRbWmJCWQAUkaCvv6pYyYbK2SA/w328-h400/gilts1.jpg&quot; width=&quot;328&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/3686714761966237941/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/gilt-yields-explained.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/3686714761966237941'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/3686714761966237941'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/gilt-yields-explained.html' title='Gilt Yields Explained'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgw8HJTDfzSOd3RbbC6275-1asSkNYx_iqpA1oihoJrkqF5OkfAVZogO8nCkPjxcTzHG3XQ-y4R2sIrZCRZZuULXmx9yVoVSy49_fzotQxxpIPWPw5TBcnX2-VwwCZufz79qWlBmCHVHrTRGtmI1hIcZ6tKhISRbWmJCWQAUkaCvv6pYyYbK2SA/s72-w328-h400-c/gilts1.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-4482849496927101051</id><published>2026-09-01T10:41:19.420+00:00</published><updated>2026-09-01T10:41:19.420+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bonds"/><title type='text'>UK Bond Yields Spike</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIomg2zMTO8f4hxFAzyynBljepAEOmMrnlqFAc8LItl9PKczFrcX5ULnsXdx6t3a3x6fdRnMMDO9AAl0l0pS23U8_-n5RGVL2kycIIdQUNLE0VWadOsGPhmyWYB0U3lroYjJFu1tWGaN493ntWUs4nsdBAhsXZ5gwTSnmYyrqgyd1lR0wo37_nSw/s1485/image.png&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;886&quot; data-original-width=&quot;1485&quot; height=&quot;239&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIomg2zMTO8f4hxFAzyynBljepAEOmMrnlqFAc8LItl9PKczFrcX5ULnsXdx6t3a3x6fdRnMMDO9AAl0l0pS23U8_-n5RGVL2kycIIdQUNLE0VWadOsGPhmyWYB0U3lroYjJFu1tWGaN493ntWUs4nsdBAhsXZ5gwTSnmYyrqgyd1lR0wo37_nSw/w400-h239/image.png&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UK gilt (government bond) markets are in a sharp sell-off on 1
 September 2026, with yields rising to multi-year or multi-decade highs 
amid a global bond market move driven by renewed Middle East 
(Iran-related) tensions, higher oil prices, and reignited inflation 
fears.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&quot;key-yields-approximate-levels-as-of-early-mid-session-1-september-&quot;&gt;Key yields (approximate levels as of early/mid-session 1 September)&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;10-year gilt&lt;/strong&gt;: Around 5.23–5.25% (up ~7–11 basis points on the day), the highest since June 2008.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2-year&lt;/strong&gt;: Around 4.51–4.59% (near recent highs).&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;20-year&lt;/strong&gt;: Around 5.82%.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;30-year&lt;/strong&gt;: Around 5.89–5.90% (up ~10–12 bps), the highest since around March 1998.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Longer-dated gilts have been particularly hard-hit. Nearly all 
conventional gilts saw yields rise. The market was also catching up 
after the UK public holiday on Monday.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&quot;drivers&quot;&gt;Drivers&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Escalating Middle East hostilities and higher oil prices (Brent 
rising) have revived concerns about inflation persistence and potential 
second-round effects.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Broader global bond sell-off, with yields rising elsewhere (including Japan and the US).&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Markets pricing in roughly 30–32 basis points of Bank of England 
tightening by year-end (e.g., a November hike seen as likely in some 
pricing), despite the BoE holding Bank Rate at 3.75% in its July 
decision.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Domestic factors include rising shop-price inflation and ongoing 
fiscal/borrowing concerns ahead of the Budget under the current 
government (references to PM Burnham and Chancellor Healey appear in 
coverage). Quantitative tightening (gilt sales from the Asset Purchase 
Facility) continues in the background.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&quot;broader-implications&quot;&gt;Broader implications&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Higher yields mean higher UK government borrowing costs. Gilt prices 
have fallen correspondingly (yields and prices move inversely). Some 
analysts note that elevated yields may already price in a fair amount of
 inflation and fiscal risk, potentially limiting further sharp moves, 
though the situation remains sensitive to oil prices, geopolitical 
developments, and upcoming BoE decisions (next meeting mid-September).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Overall, the gilt market is under clear pressure from external 
inflation risks and a shift toward higher-for-longer rate expectations, 
rather than purely domestic issues.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/4482849496927101051/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/uk-bond-yields-spike.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4482849496927101051'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4482849496927101051'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/09/uk-bond-yields-spike.html' title='UK Bond Yields Spike'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIomg2zMTO8f4hxFAzyynBljepAEOmMrnlqFAc8LItl9PKczFrcX5ULnsXdx6t3a3x6fdRnMMDO9AAl0l0pS23U8_-n5RGVL2kycIIdQUNLE0VWadOsGPhmyWYB0U3lroYjJFu1tWGaN493ntWUs4nsdBAhsXZ5gwTSnmYyrqgyd1lR0wo37_nSw/s72-w400-h239-c/image.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-2239702570152753090</id><published>2026-08-25T10:40:25.808+00:00</published><updated>2026-08-25T10:40:25.809+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="investment"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="uk"/><title type='text'>UK Less Investable Than Venezuela</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dMZHEI392dLDAP2rV82VGTJrvUnVFAqB7e-Ev2B61Wsc8tWdFm9jOQbwwTDeWEveslmt_Pug_aidaBYO8dtuE8EUVj9j4ERSasG6rHOgevC2DUajG3_cLkj9MgWyCY7jvOQIbInq9fsL8JKcFm61_r9tooIfND7nSUQ-a4v8Xhu-jaCQkoYn7Q/s1015/invest.png&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;601&quot; data-original-width=&quot;1015&quot; height=&quot;236&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dMZHEI392dLDAP2rV82VGTJrvUnVFAqB7e-Ev2B61Wsc8tWdFm9jOQbwwTDeWEveslmt_Pug_aidaBYO8dtuE8EUVj9j4ERSasG6rHOgevC2DUajG3_cLkj9MgWyCY7jvOQIbInq9fsL8JKcFm61_r9tooIfND7nSUQ-a4v8Xhu-jaCQkoYn7Q/w400-h236/invest.png&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/2239702570152753090/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/08/uk-less-investable-than-venezuela.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/2239702570152753090'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/2239702570152753090'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/08/uk-less-investable-than-venezuela.html' title='UK Less Investable Than Venezuela'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dMZHEI392dLDAP2rV82VGTJrvUnVFAqB7e-Ev2B61Wsc8tWdFm9jOQbwwTDeWEveslmt_Pug_aidaBYO8dtuE8EUVj9j4ERSasG6rHOgevC2DUajG3_cLkj9MgWyCY7jvOQIbInq9fsL8JKcFm61_r9tooIfND7nSUQ-a4v8Xhu-jaCQkoYn7Q/s72-w400-h236-c/invest.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-5627173975223312828</id><published>2026-08-18T11:30:46.563+00:00</published><updated>2026-08-18T11:39:56.964+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="private sector"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="public sector"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="wages"/><title type='text'>Public Sector Is Killing The Private Sector</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YOkbMTtVJWWuyhlxKoO2KAS3StscvPQe5giMgOCOt5tlAmhcFKH46f5TJQgmnJP7rZmywMJaDL-G1Y6pKfEq8pof3sPTBgUvyf6R-asOV9ofwO0u5J4r2grumpXH__sSYRgcOBE9GiAWb0hS6s-9p1kyXDtv3Dhc3kHm4qMTQPZqqqoxufMqbg/s1168/image(30).jpg&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;1168&quot; data-original-width=&quot;784&quot; height=&quot;400&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YOkbMTtVJWWuyhlxKoO2KAS3StscvPQe5giMgOCOt5tlAmhcFKH46f5TJQgmnJP7rZmywMJaDL-G1Y6pKfEq8pof3sPTBgUvyf6R-asOV9ofwO0u5J4r2grumpXH__sSYRgcOBE9GiAWb0hS6s-9p1kyXDtv3Dhc3kHm4qMTQPZqqqoxufMqbg/w269-h400/image(30).jpg&quot; width=&quot;269&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;Private sector pay up 2.8% public sector up 6.1%.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;This is of course unsustainable, the public sector is killing the private sector that funds it!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;twitter-tweet&quot;&gt;&lt;p dir=&quot;ltr&quot; lang=&quot;en&quot;&gt;Regular wage growth in the three months to June 2026 was 3.5% excluding bonuses, up on the previous period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Including bonuses the rate was 4.1%, down from the previous period.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Read the release ➡ &lt;a href=&quot;https://t.co/8FKHMf2iHI&quot;&gt;https://t.co/8FKHMf2iHI&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;https://t.co/FyDXTJyGTT&quot;&gt;pic.twitter.com/FyDXTJyGTT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) &lt;a href=&quot;https://x.com/ONS/status/2089594061329961309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&quot;&gt;August 18, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;script async=&quot;&quot; charset=&quot;utf-8&quot; src=&quot;https://platform.x.com/widgets.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt; ONS UK labour market data from August 2026, where unemployment held steady at 4.9% instead of dropping to the expected 4.8%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Julian Jessop, at the Institute of Economic Affairs, described the latest jobs figures as “dire”.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said: “The unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, with a big jump in the single month figure for June.”

&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/5627173975223312828/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/08/public-sector-is-killing-private-sector.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/5627173975223312828'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/5627173975223312828'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/08/public-sector-is-killing-private-sector.html' title='Public Sector Is Killing The Private Sector'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YOkbMTtVJWWuyhlxKoO2KAS3StscvPQe5giMgOCOt5tlAmhcFKH46f5TJQgmnJP7rZmywMJaDL-G1Y6pKfEq8pof3sPTBgUvyf6R-asOV9ofwO0u5J4r2grumpXH__sSYRgcOBE9GiAWb0hS6s-9p1kyXDtv3Dhc3kHm4qMTQPZqqqoxufMqbg/s72-w269-h400-c/image(30).jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-3413027957518638662</id><published>2026-07-31T15:27:28.391+00:00</published><updated>2026-07-31T15:27:28.392+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Budget"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="healey"/><title type='text'>Budget Day 28 October</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMyBbkB6VNVnHQ-_ms7zr1LdCVGZ9HQf9hqKkN0qtqJ9DbinDP1s7XIyMAlgLYwWezUCg99RigPyWk3EmYq6cNgCzaBCwYW5lz8BOJJwfROIk8KvrizYAKgTOTwWJy12df749WNFm2Ome-Sz02OeZ7fJsWtnPyRmvx1HFg0TnGABD-r1tLfXdHA/s678/healey1.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;452&quot; data-original-width=&quot;678&quot; height=&quot;266&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMyBbkB6VNVnHQ-_ms7zr1LdCVGZ9HQf9hqKkN0qtqJ9DbinDP1s7XIyMAlgLYwWezUCg99RigPyWk3EmYq6cNgCzaBCwYW5lz8BOJJwfROIk8KvrizYAKgTOTwWJy12df749WNFm2Ome-Sz02OeZ7fJsWtnPyRmvx1HFg0TnGABD-r1tLfXdHA/w400-h266/healey1.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Healey&#39;s first budget will be on 28 October....unless Burnham calls a snap election first!&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/3413027957518638662/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/07/budget-day-28-october.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/3413027957518638662'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/3413027957518638662'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/07/budget-day-28-october.html' title='Budget Day 28 October'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMyBbkB6VNVnHQ-_ms7zr1LdCVGZ9HQf9hqKkN0qtqJ9DbinDP1s7XIyMAlgLYwWezUCg99RigPyWk3EmYq6cNgCzaBCwYW5lz8BOJJwfROIk8KvrizYAKgTOTwWJy12df749WNFm2Ome-Sz02OeZ7fJsWtnPyRmvx1HFg0TnGABD-r1tLfXdHA/s72-w400-h266-c/healey1.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-4467864003769950067</id><published>2026-07-02T10:43:07.615+00:00</published><updated>2026-07-02T10:43:07.615+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="house prices"/><title type='text'>Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That - House Prices Collapse</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi153ucwGnMe-Z4n2GzH3ZYAUnVjxx_mNk_2DZyo1mZ9iMEOm-z8dWIiJcJiBzUWw0Qo3aEacigUQUejL9MWpkDFS3pwzVhG6pUQZ5qGOy33t543vO-qeVL5Mfc0wslV_4UVGoOgV8dRNcNeT8SBuAqPJMkld2OKjN_NkAiT_cIcCWfBQb4WZ9bZA/s500/riddler.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;371&quot; data-original-width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;296&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi153ucwGnMe-Z4n2GzH3ZYAUnVjxx_mNk_2DZyo1mZ9iMEOm-z8dWIiJcJiBzUWw0Qo3aEacigUQUejL9MWpkDFS3pwzVhG6pUQZ5qGOy33t543vO-qeVL5Mfc0wslV_4UVGoOgV8dRNcNeT8SBuAqPJMkld2OKjN_NkAiT_cIcCWfBQb4WZ9bZA/w400-h296/riddler.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When is a house price collapse, not a house price collapse?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When it is a &quot;down valuation&quot;!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class=&quot;twitter-tweet&quot;&gt;&lt;p dir=&quot;ltr&quot; lang=&quot;en&quot;&gt;&#39;Down valuation&#39; phenomenon happening at &#39;scale not seen before&#39; - and it&#39;s threatening house sales &lt;a href=&quot;https://t.co/dekHJNk9Q6&quot;&gt;https://t.co/dekHJNk9Q6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Sky News (@SkyNews) &lt;a href=&quot;https://x.com/SkyNews/status/2072432865455767738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&quot;&gt;July 1, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;script async=&quot;&quot; charset=&quot;utf-8&quot; src=&quot;https://platform.x.com/widgets.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt; </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/4467864003769950067/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/07/riddle-me-this-riddle-me-that-house.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4467864003769950067'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4467864003769950067'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/07/riddle-me-this-riddle-me-that-house.html' title='Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That - House Prices Collapse'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi153ucwGnMe-Z4n2GzH3ZYAUnVjxx_mNk_2DZyo1mZ9iMEOm-z8dWIiJcJiBzUWw0Qo3aEacigUQUejL9MWpkDFS3pwzVhG6pUQZ5qGOy33t543vO-qeVL5Mfc0wslV_4UVGoOgV8dRNcNeT8SBuAqPJMkld2OKjN_NkAiT_cIcCWfBQb4WZ9bZA/s72-w400-h296-c/riddler.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-9011698529884806277</id><published>2026-06-24T09:34:48.669+00:00</published><updated>2026-06-24T09:35:43.581+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="isa"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="tax"/><title type='text'>Stocks and Shares ISAs To Be Taxed at 22%</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtaZoT-psEnAWdrx3IBOT3aTJv_9niLsXKfOCG3veSuGY3rETLyDzQ-z6-k-71ulFiOnVtMfQ1lBv2ztzsGBqndwLydrqfik21GZGV2POpTx7qIdiZVExxh4nd9gWM_PJ7BbJHBGVj-YQDEeK99LOHs7MrE2Y_xENvbvoNYPzRZc5EueD-fnzrGg/s679/isa.jpg&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;456&quot; data-original-width=&quot;679&quot; height=&quot;269&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtaZoT-psEnAWdrx3IBOT3aTJv_9niLsXKfOCG3veSuGY3rETLyDzQ-z6-k-71ulFiOnVtMfQ1lBv2ztzsGBqndwLydrqfik21GZGV2POpTx7qIdiZVExxh4nd9gWM_PJ7BbJHBGVj-YQDEeK99LOHs7MrE2Y_xENvbvoNYPzRZc5EueD-fnzrGg/w400-h269/isa.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The government has announced that interest earned from uninvested cash balances held within Stocks and Shares ISAs will be taxed at 22% tax (they were tax free), effective April 2027.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reeves&#39; parting gift!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/9011698529884806277/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/stocks-and-shares-isas-to-be-taxed-at-22.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/9011698529884806277'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/9011698529884806277'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/stocks-and-shares-isas-to-be-taxed-at-22.html' title='Stocks and Shares ISAs To Be Taxed at 22%'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtaZoT-psEnAWdrx3IBOT3aTJv_9niLsXKfOCG3veSuGY3rETLyDzQ-z6-k-71ulFiOnVtMfQ1lBv2ztzsGBqndwLydrqfik21GZGV2POpTx7qIdiZVExxh4nd9gWM_PJ7BbJHBGVj-YQDEeK99LOHs7MrE2Y_xENvbvoNYPzRZc5EueD-fnzrGg/s72-w400-h269-c/isa.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-7079897983098230624</id><published>2026-06-23T11:13:04.624+00:00</published><updated>2026-06-23T11:13:04.624+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="chancellor of the exchequer"/><title type='text'>Frontrunners For Chancellor</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWV3KpIbmX8mrvd5dRWtFBZu1iAhji89h3CrIt1K6FTQgD19DlyOeeoCzbVrJfaj6oNrfECO9Kh2NQmbcDZLm5G_7Lniqwy3buWuYlHNCD3Ji_2jonVSY15l93mdC7SHvgjewjhdfVwqVTbWaCmBxIuSNbC90JOuRdt09Q7c5drkgaf5Dzzfo8Q/s251/whatthe.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;200&quot; data-original-width=&quot;251&quot; height=&quot;319&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWV3KpIbmX8mrvd5dRWtFBZu1iAhji89h3CrIt1K6FTQgD19DlyOeeoCzbVrJfaj6oNrfECO9Kh2NQmbcDZLm5G_7Lniqwy3buWuYlHNCD3Ji_2jonVSY15l93mdC7SHvgjewjhdfVwqVTbWaCmBxIuSNbC90JOuRdt09Q7c5drkgaf5Dzzfo8Q/w400-h319/whatthe.JPG&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;Ed Miliband: zero private sector economics or financial experience.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;Wes Streeting: zero private sector economics or financial experience.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;Shabana Mahmood: zero private sector economics or financial experience.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3&quot;&gt;The country is truly fucked!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/7079897983098230624/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/frontrunners-for-chancellor.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/7079897983098230624'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/7079897983098230624'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/frontrunners-for-chancellor.html' title='Frontrunners For Chancellor'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWV3KpIbmX8mrvd5dRWtFBZu1iAhji89h3CrIt1K6FTQgD19DlyOeeoCzbVrJfaj6oNrfECO9Kh2NQmbcDZLm5G_7Lniqwy3buWuYlHNCD3Ji_2jonVSY15l93mdC7SHvgjewjhdfVwqVTbWaCmBxIuSNbC90JOuRdt09Q7c5drkgaf5Dzzfo8Q/s72-w400-h319-c/whatthe.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-3242066997676094811</id><published>2026-06-18T11:15:11.702+00:00</published><updated>2026-06-18T11:15:11.702+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bank of england"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="interest rates"/><title type='text'>Bank of England Holds Rates at 3.75%</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDA9ob1r5e7m0jpb__caNxIssWys39JpLyN30DbmgOqgRAuJVzuI6o6gXgxsoivysMzy2o9j76OnmZ9Any_L4rMJCaMxNj8spD3HyRn4FNFt8iWI470iS8C6b00XipBCO9U_yWDGnqIc0vW0C9qNcpG6kDqujKMEPsgrpmXTk_fjNP-EUq51IOmw/s460/BANK-OF-ENGLAND_2129155c.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;287&quot; data-original-width=&quot;460&quot; height=&quot;250&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDA9ob1r5e7m0jpb__caNxIssWys39JpLyN30DbmgOqgRAuJVzuI6o6gXgxsoivysMzy2o9j76OnmZ9Any_L4rMJCaMxNj8spD3HyRn4FNFt8iWI470iS8C6b00XipBCO9U_yWDGnqIc0vW0C9qNcpG6kDqujKMEPsgrpmXTk_fjNP-EUq51IOmw/w400-h250/BANK-OF-ENGLAND_2129155c.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rates held, Bank states it is ready to act on inflation; ie it remains a passive observer!&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/3242066997676094811/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/bank-of-england-holds-rates-at-375.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/3242066997676094811'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/3242066997676094811'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/bank-of-england-holds-rates-at-375.html' title='Bank of England Holds Rates at 3.75%'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDA9ob1r5e7m0jpb__caNxIssWys39JpLyN30DbmgOqgRAuJVzuI6o6gXgxsoivysMzy2o9j76OnmZ9Any_L4rMJCaMxNj8spD3HyRn4FNFt8iWI470iS8C6b00XipBCO9U_yWDGnqIc0vW0C9qNcpG6kDqujKMEPsgrpmXTk_fjNP-EUq51IOmw/s72-w400-h250-c/BANK-OF-ENGLAND_2129155c.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-4483817812429991703</id><published>2026-06-12T14:51:08.189+00:00</published><updated>2026-06-12T14:51:08.189+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="spacex"/><title type='text'>SpaceX World&#39;s Largest IPO </title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLF-edUXDzLxa1iF97OHfS_-VUD6p5RVDJaYz_9D4MDlc6KgURU0ppbeDT55WpM0OtNVSIgxiM-pLqbANQo8JDylAm2VtELUVp38dMqhYdFBZNhdPbsM5H_KTFhEzcHvuFSwxsXr3BI4ZZahiaB6ke8vvGbOlRN4ypvdOOQ9cTv1HTXi1CguOMpw/s640/spacex.png&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;427&quot; data-original-width=&quot;640&quot; height=&quot;268&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLF-edUXDzLxa1iF97OHfS_-VUD6p5RVDJaYz_9D4MDlc6KgURU0ppbeDT55WpM0OtNVSIgxiM-pLqbANQo8JDylAm2VtELUVp38dMqhYdFBZNhdPbsM5H_KTFhEzcHvuFSwxsXr3BI4ZZahiaB6ke8vvGbOlRN4ypvdOOQ9cTv1HTXi1CguOMpw/w400-h268/spacex.png&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;SpaceX ($SPCX) has gone public, having raised a record $75 billion through its IPO. Reuters reports it is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange at $171 per share, rocketing far beyond the expected price of $135.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Elon Musk is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire.&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/4483817812429991703/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/spacex-worlds-largest-ipo.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4483817812429991703'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4483817812429991703'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/spacex-worlds-largest-ipo.html' title='SpaceX World&#39;s Largest IPO '/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLF-edUXDzLxa1iF97OHfS_-VUD6p5RVDJaYz_9D4MDlc6KgURU0ppbeDT55WpM0OtNVSIgxiM-pLqbANQo8JDylAm2VtELUVp38dMqhYdFBZNhdPbsM5H_KTFhEzcHvuFSwxsXr3BI4ZZahiaB6ke8vvGbOlRN4ypvdOOQ9cTv1HTXi1CguOMpw/s72-w400-h268-c/spacex.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-4508134312911506123</id><published>2026-06-08T10:30:12.426+00:00</published><updated>2026-06-08T10:30:12.427+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="botswana"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="debt"/><title type='text'>Britain Outperforms Botswana</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpoiS8a0QEe8kNU-t68EphyphenhyphenPwWG8jmiqSbIBN1Tsqwts5-2hb_gPnJXUfDHHQJwbssaOee2z9IgmfPB0OIf_BTHAXI_QsSqg02YVat8E94VLmugfohxZ1TB7iLkOwZQzgKjYCsK5ns5JhK0v2xUnaOGV0NluvXvfKjvANjlpd4DBmVfv1pg-9Bg/s680/botswana.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;509&quot; data-original-width=&quot;680&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpoiS8a0QEe8kNU-t68EphyphenhyphenPwWG8jmiqSbIBN1Tsqwts5-2hb_gPnJXUfDHHQJwbssaOee2z9IgmfPB0OIf_BTHAXI_QsSqg02YVat8E94VLmugfohxZ1TB7iLkOwZQzgKjYCsK5ns5JhK0v2xUnaOGV0NluvXvfKjvANjlpd4DBmVfv1pg-9Bg/w400-h300/botswana.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/4508134312911506123/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/britain-outperforms-botswana.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4508134312911506123'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/4508134312911506123'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/britain-outperforms-botswana.html' title='Britain Outperforms Botswana'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpoiS8a0QEe8kNU-t68EphyphenhyphenPwWG8jmiqSbIBN1Tsqwts5-2hb_gPnJXUfDHHQJwbssaOee2z9IgmfPB0OIf_BTHAXI_QsSqg02YVat8E94VLmugfohxZ1TB7iLkOwZQzgKjYCsK5ns5JhK0v2xUnaOGV0NluvXvfKjvANjlpd4DBmVfv1pg-9Bg/s72-w400-h300-c/botswana.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-8914425564809957196</id><published>2026-06-03T11:19:51.007+00:00</published><updated>2026-06-03T11:19:51.007+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Labour fiscal failure"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="OBR blunder"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="OBR useless forecasts"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="public sector borrowing surge"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rachel Reeves pressure"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Reeves tax tsunami exposed"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="UK borrowing £60 billion higher"/><title type='text'>OBR Fucks Up Again: UK Borrowing £60 BILLION Higher Than Predicted</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQs036MVQjaVoTQ2QPlQ6jZZrvyvl3f_dseGkg6EUOWoK_EAoEvtK928zOoDso0Umf99zIpUBlCoXw9edUzR1WSuNv3SH8n4yLjS_414nlWnIDgCVGOiFIk15RYToxKTPpFDmRuS7HCDXRwn_OEx4GF-Nm4MmRQa3AZormDdvTn4inxIHFevMJQ/s2626/gobshitesflag.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;1711&quot; data-original-width=&quot;2626&quot; height=&quot;260&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQs036MVQjaVoTQ2QPlQ6jZZrvyvl3f_dseGkg6EUOWoK_EAoEvtK928zOoDso0Umf99zIpUBlCoXw9edUzR1WSuNv3SH8n4yLjS_414nlWnIDgCVGOiFIk15RYToxKTPpFDmRuS7HCDXRwn_OEx4GF-Nm4MmRQa3AZormDdvTn4inxIHFevMJQ/w400-h260/gobshitesflag.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;OBR Blunder of the Century: UK Borrowing £60 BILLION Higher 
Than Predicted – Useless Forecasters Exposed as Rachel Reeves Squirms&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Posted by Ken Frost – The Loanbuster – 27 May 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Blimey, what a complete and utter farce!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Office for Budget Responsibility – those so-called “independent” 
fiscal geniuses who are supposed to keep the government honest – has 
cocked it up on an industrial scale yet again. Latest figures reveal UK 
public sector borrowing is running a staggering &lt;strong&gt;£60 BILLION higher&lt;/strong&gt; than the OBR first forecast just months ago.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;£60 billion! That’s not a rounding error. That’s real money. Your 
money. Taxpayer cash vanishing into the black hole of Labour 
incompetence while the OBR’s crystal ball merchants scratch their heads 
and mumble “whoops”.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Rachel Reeves is now under massive pressure as the Chancellor who 
promised fiscal responsibility is watching her borrowing forecasts 
explode like a cheap firework. The woman who lectured us all about 
“tough choices” and “fixing the books” is facing the brutal reality that
 her entire fiscal strategy was built on sand – and the OBR supplied the
 dodgy blueprints.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&quot;the-obr-consistently-useless-since-day-one&quot;&gt;The OBR: Consistently Useless Since Day One&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Let’s be crystal clear – this isn’t their first monumental cock-up. 
The OBR has form for being about as reliable as a chocolate teapot:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Repeatedly underestimated borrowing under both parties  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Wildly optimistic growth forecasts that never materialise  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Failed to spot the impact of Reeves’s own tax raids and spending sprees  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Now missing &lt;strong&gt;£60 billion&lt;/strong&gt; in a single update – that’s bigger than the entire defence budget&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;These people are paid handsomely from your taxes to get the numbers 
right. Instead they produce fantasy spreadsheets that bear no 
resemblance to reality. Why do we even bother with this quango? It’s 
nothing more than a fig leaf for whichever government is in power to 
pretend their plans add up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The truth is simpler and uglier: Reeves’s £40bn+ tax tsunami, 
combined with rampant public sector bloat, green energy subsidies, and 
zero growth, was always going to send borrowing spiralling. The OBR just
 gave her false comfort and now the chickens are coming home to roost 
with a £60 billion vengeance.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Real people are paying the price — higher taxes, squeezed services, 
and a national debt mountain growing faster than ever. Meanwhile, the 
“independent” experts who got it so badly wrong will probably get 
another pay rise and a polite “lessons will be learned” memo.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is what happens when you put political forecasters in charge of 
fiscal reality. The OBR isn’t independent – it’s institutionalised 
incompetence. And Reeves, who leaned on their forecasts to justify her 
raids, now looks completely exposed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Time for heads to roll. The OBR should be scrapped or properly reformed, and Reeves should be considering her position. Again.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Britain deserves better than this endless cycle of fiscal fairy tales and expensive mistakes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amazon Suggested Reads – See Through the Fiscal Lies&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4o8EDMG&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Government by Fantasy&lt;/a&gt;” – how official forecasts fail Britain  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/3RKlFzS&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The Debt Time Bomb&lt;/a&gt;” – surviving Labour’s borrowing binge  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4fXIIkH&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Taxed Into Oblivion&lt;/a&gt;” – the true cost of Reevesomics  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ken Frost&lt;br /&gt;Professional Cynic, Chartered Accountant and relentless Loanbuster&lt;br /&gt;www.kenfrost.net – exposing the economic charlatans since 2005&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/8914425564809957196/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/obr-fucks-up-again-uk-borrowing-60.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/8914425564809957196'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/8914425564809957196'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/06/obr-fucks-up-again-uk-borrowing-60.html' title='OBR Fucks Up Again: UK Borrowing £60 BILLION Higher Than Predicted'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQs036MVQjaVoTQ2QPlQ6jZZrvyvl3f_dseGkg6EUOWoK_EAoEvtK928zOoDso0Umf99zIpUBlCoXw9edUzR1WSuNv3SH8n4yLjS_414nlWnIDgCVGOiFIk15RYToxKTPpFDmRuS7HCDXRwn_OEx4GF-Nm4MmRQa3AZormDdvTn4inxIHFevMJQ/s72-w400-h260-c/gobshitesflag.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-7796940234567169590</id><published>2026-05-26T14:57:16.013+00:00</published><updated>2026-05-26T14:57:16.013+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Albert Manifold ousted"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="BP boardroom chaos"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="BP chairman removed"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="BP governance scandal"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="BP share price fall"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="BP strategy failure"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="corporate governance BP"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Elliott activist investor"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="UK energy company decline"/><title type='text'>BP Axes Chairman Albert Manifold</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLRuYlKFl0oSE35lB0tSuG8KkLflIDZ9NDNO-uy6bck1Te79BJWMs51XW6n55djek3xKt7FW1NCeFv0qi89G1uhwxqhHcQdc65aFomTMb2Kfjc7qMqjX6Chfgf3k19KsU0B3ieDQxzRs6RlhDcvXCeT8kpUu9mdiuQGzqzs_uSXo8jJuWElluWA/s300/albertman.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;168&quot; data-original-width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;224&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLRuYlKFl0oSE35lB0tSuG8KkLflIDZ9NDNO-uy6bck1Te79BJWMs51XW6n55djek3xKt7FW1NCeFv0qi89G1uhwxqhHcQdc65aFomTMb2Kfjc7qMqjX6Chfgf3k19KsU0B3ieDQxzRs6RlhDcvXCeT8kpUu9mdiuQGzqzs_uSXo8jJuWElluWA/w400-h224/albertman.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BP Axes Chairman Albert Manifold in Shock Boardroom 
Bloodbath: Another Chapter in Britain’s Once-Great Oil Giant’s 
Slow-Motion Car Crash&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Posted by Ken Frost – The Loanbuster – 26 May 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Blimey, what a total shambles!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In a stunning move this morning, BP has &lt;strong&gt;booted out its chairman Albert Manifold&lt;/strong&gt; with immediate effect after just &lt;strong&gt;eight months&lt;/strong&gt;
 in the job. The board cited “serious concerns” over governance 
standards, oversight and conduct – the corporate equivalent of “you’re 
fired for being a liability”.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Shares in BP promptly tanked, becoming one of the FTSE 100’s biggest 
fallers. No surprise there. Nothing screams “instability” louder than 
firing the chairman faster than you can say “strategic review”.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Let’s be brutally honest. This isn’t just a personnel change – it’s 
symptomatic of the deeper rot at BP. A once-proud British energy titan 
that helped power the world is now a punch-drunk boxer lurching from one
 crisis to the next:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;CEO musical chairs (this is the fourth boss in six years)  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Endless flip-flopping on strategy – green dreams one minute, back-to-oil realism the next  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Activist investors (hello Elliott) circling like vultures  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Chronic underperformance versus global peers  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Endless virtue-signalling that’s cost shareholders billions while delivering sod-all returns  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Manifold was brought in last October specifically to steady the ship 
and oversee a strategy reset. Eight months later he’s out on his ear 
with the board unanimously agreeing he’s no longer fit for purpose. 
That’s not a resignation – that’s a very public execution.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The timing couldn’t be worse. With global energy markets in turmoil 
thanks to the Iran situation and OPEC fracturing, BP should be 
laser-focused on producing reliable, profitable energy. Instead, they’re
 busy with another round of boardroom infighting and governance drama.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is what happens when you let activist hedge funds, net-zero 
zealots and weak leadership run a critical British company into the 
ground. Shareholders get diluted, the strategy lurches left and right, 
and the City laughs at us.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Britain needs strong, focused energy companies – not soap operas in 
suits. BP used to be a national champion. Now it looks like a case study
 in corporate decline.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The board can spin this all they like with their bland statements 
about “important governance standards”. The punters know the truth: 
another chairman gone, more uncertainty, more value destroyed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Until BP gets serious leadership that focuses on energy production, 
profits and shareholders — instead of endless virtue-signalling and 
boardroom coups — this sorry saga will continue.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amazon Suggested Reads – Understand the Corporate Carnage&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4uIEAcT&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Boardroom Bloodbaths&lt;/a&gt;” – how governance failures destroy great companies  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/3PEt2Iw&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Energy Giants in Decline&lt;/a&gt;” – the slow death of Big Oil in Britain  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4dTFrjY&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Activist Investors Exposed&lt;/a&gt;” – who really pulls the strings  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ken Frost&lt;br /&gt;Professional Cynic, Chartered Accountant and relentless Loanbuster&lt;br /&gt;www.kenfrost.net – exposing corporate and political cock-ups since 2005&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/7796940234567169590/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/bp-axes-chairman-albert-manifold.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/7796940234567169590'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/7796940234567169590'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/bp-axes-chairman-albert-manifold.html' title='BP Axes Chairman Albert Manifold'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLRuYlKFl0oSE35lB0tSuG8KkLflIDZ9NDNO-uy6bck1Te79BJWMs51XW6n55djek3xKt7FW1NCeFv0qi89G1uhwxqhHcQdc65aFomTMb2Kfjc7qMqjX6Chfgf3k19KsU0B3ieDQxzRs6RlhDcvXCeT8kpUu9mdiuQGzqzs_uSXo8jJuWElluWA/s72-w400-h224-c/albertman.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-5388140182209317369</id><published>2026-05-20T14:42:38.144+00:00</published><updated>2026-05-20T14:42:38.144+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="employers NI impact"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="food price controls"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="green taxes food prices"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Labour economic stupidity"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="net zero cost of living"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rachel Reeves price caps"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="supermarket energy costs"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Treasury cretins"/><title type='text'>Reeves &amp; Treasury Cretins Demand Food Price Caps</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi116bTI0A_k17T2C_qZFhrllCdGdD_uN_MrE0pNKApnjsACO7CPdSkJcss2uDQNUhFmvjj8PuCBspC27X5VQCJviz4C_4XpfW6TUU5Fg6a3oOZ-hPbDDeEEUfwJjoB1SbfaLDh4TAuq_4JBa_8J4pl7-Iw5hnVCLGkXi8DNwz7NF6LOCNZGdoBgQ/s600/pricecontrols.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;446&quot; data-original-width=&quot;600&quot; height=&quot;297&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi116bTI0A_k17T2C_qZFhrllCdGdD_uN_MrE0pNKApnjsACO7CPdSkJcss2uDQNUhFmvjj8PuCBspC27X5VQCJviz4C_4XpfW6TUU5Fg6a3oOZ-hPbDDeEEUfwJjoB1SbfaLDh4TAuq_4JBa_8J4pl7-Iw5hnVCLGkXi8DNwz7NF6LOCNZGdoBgQ/w400-h297/pricecontrols.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reeves &amp;amp; Treasury Cretins Demand Food Price Caps – The Stupidest Idea Since Brown Sold the Gold&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Posted by Ken Frost – The Loanbuster – 20 May 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Blimey, you really couldn’t make this up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While British families are still being hammered at the supermarket 
checkout, Rachel Reeves and her Treasury geniuses are reportedly 
floating the idea of &lt;strong&gt;price caps on food&lt;/strong&gt;. Yes, actual 
price controls – the sort of economically illiterate nonsense usually 
reserved for failing socialist states and banana republics.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is cretinous on every possible level.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Price caps don’t magically create more food. They don’t reduce the 
cost of growing it, transporting it, or stocking the shelves. What they &lt;em&gt;do&lt;/em&gt;
 create is shortages, black markets, lower quality, and supermarkets 
pulling popular lines because they can’t make a profit. We’ve seen this 
movie before – and it always ends in empty shelves and frustrated 
shoppers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here’s the truth the Treasury’s spreadsheet warriors refuse to accept:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&quot;the-real-way-to-cut-food-prices-is-sitting-right-in-their-hands&quot;&gt;The Real Way to Cut Food Prices Is Sitting Right in Their Hands&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Supermarkets and food producers are being absolutely crucified by 
government-imposed costs that Reeves and Starmer could slash tomorrow if
 they weren’t ideologically brain-dead:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Green levies and energy taxes&lt;/strong&gt; — These add hundreds 
of millions to supermarket and supplier energy bills every year. 
Refrigeration, lighting, transport fleets — all hammered by Miliband’s 
net-zero obsession.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Carbon taxes and environmental compliance costs&lt;/strong&gt; — Passed straight through to your weekly shop.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Employers’ National Insurance hike&lt;/strong&gt; — Reeves’s £25 billion raid makes every warehouse worker and delivery driver more expensive.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Planning madness and energy price insanity&lt;/strong&gt; — Making it harder and costlier to build efficient distribution centres or grow food domestically.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Regulatory burden&lt;/strong&gt; — Endless pointless red tape dreamed up in Whitehall.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Cut these green taxes and bureaucratic burdens and food prices would 
fall naturally through market forces. Instead, Reeves wants to slap on &lt;strong&gt;price caps&lt;/strong&gt; like some 1970s throwback, guaranteeing higher costs elsewhere and punishing the efficient operators.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is classic Labour thinking: ignore the root causes they 
themselves created (taxes, energy costs, regulation), then reach for the
 blunt instrument of state control to “fix” the problem they made worse.
 Genius.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Treasury knows full well that food price inflation has been driven by:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sky-high energy costs (thanks Ed)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Supply chain disruptions&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Tax raids on business&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Weak pound and imported inflation&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But rather than cut their own green taxes and NI burdens, they’d 
rather play God with price controls and blame “greedy supermarkets” for 
the mess they helped create.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Let’s be crystal clear: &lt;strong&gt;Price caps are for idiots and authoritarians&lt;/strong&gt;.
 They distort markets, reduce supply, and always hurt the very people 
they claim to help – working families who end up with less choice and 
higher prices long-term.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The means to genuinely lower food prices are entirely in Reeves and 
Miliband’s hands. All they have to do is stop waging economic war on 
British business and energy users. But that would require admitting 
their entire green-left agenda is financially toxic – and we all know 
that’s never going to happen.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This government doesn’t want solutions. It wants control.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Resign, Reeves. Take your price cap cretinism with you. Britain 
deserves better than ideological vandalism dressed up as compassion.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amazon Suggested Reads – Arm Yourself Against State Interference&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4eSOnIl&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The Price Control Disaster&lt;/a&gt;” – why governments always make shortages worse  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4uYg33h&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Green Taxes Exposed&lt;/a&gt;” – how net zero is emptying your wallet  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/49fmfeN&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Surviving Labour’s Cost of Living Lies&lt;/a&gt;” – practical ways to fight back  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ken Frost&lt;br /&gt;Professional Cynic, Chartered Accountant and unrepentant Loanbuster&lt;br /&gt;www.kenfrost.net – exposing economic illiteracy since 2005&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/5388140182209317369/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/reeves-treasury-cretins-demand-food.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/5388140182209317369'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/5388140182209317369'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/reeves-treasury-cretins-demand-food.html' title='Reeves &amp; Treasury Cretins Demand Food Price Caps'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi116bTI0A_k17T2C_qZFhrllCdGdD_uN_MrE0pNKApnjsACO7CPdSkJcss2uDQNUhFmvjj8PuCBspC27X5VQCJviz4C_4XpfW6TUU5Fg6a3oOZ-hPbDDeEEUfwJjoB1SbfaLDh4TAuq_4JBa_8J4pl7-Iw5hnVCLGkXi8DNwz7NF6LOCNZGdoBgQ/s72-w400-h297-c/pricecontrols.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-5425722914446150227</id><published>2026-05-19T10:34:30.383+00:00</published><updated>2026-05-19T10:34:30.383+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Labour jobs failure"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="lost generation UK"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="NEET crisis"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ONS labour market May 2026"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="private sector squeeze"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rachel Reeves NI tax"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="young people unemployed 713000"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="youth employment rate fall"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="youth unemployment 15.8%"/><title type='text'>Youth Unemployment Catastrophe: 15.8%</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnom4SLaGj0vJLJ2DNv-auXxScwlCUlGyvErvR6bbkbVjK0qiZVvLld6AJC67TvEfaVIcPet4KCG-Ud-UxR6AUpFfn_5lkPBgjMUfPAA6ri6OY5t8v8gWSb4Pw6TIerHOD_wsMAcaZ1j4oK_-EwNaSlswSK_StDU5uYj141P_ihuh-jaYF7blWQ/s680/reevessculp.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;680&quot; data-original-width=&quot;529&quot; height=&quot;400&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnom4SLaGj0vJLJ2DNv-auXxScwlCUlGyvErvR6bbkbVjK0qiZVvLld6AJC67TvEfaVIcPet4KCG-Ud-UxR6AUpFfn_5lkPBgjMUfPAA6ri6OY5t8v8gWSb4Pw6TIerHOD_wsMAcaZ1j4oK_-EwNaSlswSK_StDU5uYj141P_ihuh-jaYF7blWQ/w311-h400/reevessculp.jpg&quot; width=&quot;311&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Youth Unemployment Catastrophe: 15.8% Rate for 16-24 Year Olds – Labour&#39;s Tax Tsunami Creating a Lost Generation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Posted by Ken Frost – The Loanbuster – 19 May 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Blimey, what a utter disaster for Britain&#39;s young people!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Today&#39;s ONS labour market figures confirm the nightmare: youth unemployment for 16 to 24-year-olds has shot up to &lt;strong&gt;15.8%&lt;/strong&gt; in the three months to February 2026. That&#39;s up from 14.6% a year ago, with a staggering &lt;strong&gt;713,000&lt;/strong&gt; young people now on the dole – 70,000 more than last year. The employment rate for this age group has also slipped to 50.5%.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This isn&#39;t just a blip. This is a full-blown crisis for the next 
generation, and the finger of blame points squarely at Rachel Reeves, Ed
 Miliband, and the entire Labour government&#39;s economic vandalism.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Reeves&#39;s employers&#39; National Insurance hammer – that £25 billion raid
 on businesses – has made hiring anyone, especially inexperienced young 
workers, an expensive gamble few companies are willing to take. Why risk
 taking on a keen 18-year-old when every new starter now costs you a 
fortune in extra taxes? Result? Frozen recruitment, delayed starts, and 
graduates left sending out hundreds of CVs into the void.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Add in Miliband&#39;s green energy madness driving up business costs, 
stagnant growth, and a mountain of red tape, and you&#39;ve got the perfect 
storm for youth despair.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The grim facts:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;713,000&lt;/strong&gt; young people unemployed – a 70,000 year-on-year surge  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Youth unemployment rate at &lt;strong&gt;15.8%&lt;/strong&gt; – the highest in over a decade  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;More young people economically inactive, stuck in a cycle of rejection and demotivation  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Private sector hiring paralysed while the parasitic public sector continues its bloated expansion  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The so-called &quot;experts&quot; and media are wringing their hands, muttering
 about &quot;structural issues&quot; and &quot;global factors&quot;. Absolute cobblers. Real
 businesses on the ground have been screaming for months that Reeves&#39;s 
tax raids would kill job creation – especially for those starting out. 
The private sector, the real engine of opportunity for young people, is 
being squeezed dry to feed Labour&#39;s big-state obsession.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is how you create a lost generation: price young workers out of 
the market, strangle business confidence, and then act surprised when 
NEET numbers explode. These kids aren&#39;t &quot;lazy&quot; – they&#39;re victims of 
disastrous policy that favours insiders, quangos and union paymasters 
over aspiration and hard work.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Labour promised opportunity and &quot;growth, growth, growth&quot;. What 
they&#39;ve delivered is rejection letters, benefit queues, and crushed 
hopes for hundreds of thousands of young Brits.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The damage will last years – skills gaps, mental health scars, and a 
generation increasingly disconnected from the world of work. Well done, 
Starmer and Reeves. History will remember you as the government that 
betrayed Britain&#39;s youth.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Time for serious accountability. These figures are indefensible.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Protect your own kids&#39; futures, folks. Push them towards skills, 
trades, and self-reliance – because this government certainly isn&#39;t 
creating the opportunities they desperately need.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amazon Suggested Reads – Arm the Next Generation Against Economic Failure&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/49R2bzx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The War on Youth&lt;/a&gt;” – how bad policy destroys opportunity  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4wEfoWn&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Surviving Labour&#39;s Jobs Drought&lt;/a&gt;” – practical advice for young workers  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/49cAKjv&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Skills Over Degrees&lt;/a&gt;” – building a future the state can&#39;t tax away  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ken Frost&lt;br /&gt;Professional Cynic, Chartered Accountant and eternal Loanbuster&lt;br /&gt;www.kenfrost.net – exposing the jobs destroyers since 2005&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/5425722914446150227/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/youth-unemployment-catastrophe-158.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/5425722914446150227'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/5425722914446150227'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/youth-unemployment-catastrophe-158.html' title='Youth Unemployment Catastrophe: 15.8%'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnom4SLaGj0vJLJ2DNv-auXxScwlCUlGyvErvR6bbkbVjK0qiZVvLld6AJC67TvEfaVIcPet4KCG-Ud-UxR6AUpFfn_5lkPBgjMUfPAA6ri6OY5t8v8gWSb4Pw6TIerHOD_wsMAcaZ1j4oK_-EwNaSlswSK_StDU5uYj141P_ihuh-jaYF7blWQ/s72-w311-h400-c/reevessculp.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-1282738977115095965</id><published>2026-05-09T10:17:00.007+00:00</published><updated>2026-05-09T10:17:58.341+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gordon Brown"/><title type='text'>Brown is Back - But DEFINITELY NOT As Chancellor..No Really!</title><content type='html'>&lt;blockquote class=&quot;twitter-tweet&quot;&gt;&lt;p lang=&quot;en&quot; dir=&quot;ltr&quot;&gt;BREAKING: Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown meets with Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street as part of PM’s ‘next steps’ plan &lt;a href=&quot;https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3&quot;&gt;https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube &lt;a href=&quot;https://t.co/ub6u8VBKpH&quot;&gt;pic.twitter.com/ub6u8VBKpH&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Sky News (@SkyNews) &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/2053041141042368769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&quot;&gt;May 9, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;script async src=&quot;https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js&quot; charset=&quot;utf-8&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt; </content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/1282738977115095965/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/brown-is-back-but-definitely-not-as.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/1282738977115095965'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/1282738977115095965'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/brown-is-back-but-definitely-not-as.html' title='Brown is Back - But DEFINITELY NOT As Chancellor..No Really!'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-6591932726831076235</id><published>2026-05-05T15:56:00.001+00:00</published><updated>2026-05-05T15:56:01.915+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="bonds"/><title type='text'>Major Financial Crisis Looming</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3v4-l53RmxJ8Q9uiAx2K9UjCaohO8gX9-44SH3cWHlaFjLagEDW6E3WOXrN1x540vsRXXzwR2wImKUoSnpzOuVHgUFpTVoGA_1M8oEx0yk0iajtEjuLrENaOgFcZyhCjHHs8mCbHp5VnKCpBzEIdSLzg42oXmIHJCSDXZ1PJ4_7hFaXySkiMLJg/s680/bonds.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;523&quot; data-original-width=&quot;680&quot; height=&quot;308&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3v4-l53RmxJ8Q9uiAx2K9UjCaohO8gX9-44SH3cWHlaFjLagEDW6E3WOXrN1x540vsRXXzwR2wImKUoSnpzOuVHgUFpTVoGA_1M8oEx0yk0iajtEjuLrENaOgFcZyhCjHHs8mCbHp5VnKCpBzEIdSLzg42oXmIHJCSDXZ1PJ4_7hFaXySkiMLJg/w400-h308/bonds.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/6591932726831076235/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/major-financial-crisis-looming.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/6591932726831076235'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/6591932726831076235'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/05/major-financial-crisis-looming.html' title='Major Financial Crisis Looming'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3v4-l53RmxJ8Q9uiAx2K9UjCaohO8gX9-44SH3cWHlaFjLagEDW6E3WOXrN1x540vsRXXzwR2wImKUoSnpzOuVHgUFpTVoGA_1M8oEx0yk0iajtEjuLrENaOgFcZyhCjHHs8mCbHp5VnKCpBzEIdSLzg42oXmIHJCSDXZ1PJ4_7hFaXySkiMLJg/s72-w400-h308-c/bonds.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-6114634010922298162</id><published>2026-04-28T15:32:00.003+00:00</published><updated>2026-04-28T15:32:43.789+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="global energy shock"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="higher energy bills"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran war oil crisis"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="oil cartel collapse"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="oil price impact"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="oil production quotas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="OPEC exit 2026"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="OPEC+ fracture"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="strategic energy vision UAE"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="UAE leaves OPEC"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="UAE quits OPEC+"/><title type='text'>UAE Quits OPEC in Massive Shock Move</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXnjQBk1KBx0zX0Y3Np7nkwl9BjdiamElYPpJ80YqscLu0TR7RmVMLSMDzascDoZUL2Zybx0VhQs4-JmlLyeqbHCMa4rw0MfBoyCgyQgr-s9M19CLZu3UPgpizyKJZjsORR3W6qmRKIm9vBnZA_l1bl-DmkhuVchA37EVDbnQdmp4dMqxqGe8Yg/s2360/uae.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;1327&quot; data-original-width=&quot;2360&quot; height=&quot;225&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXnjQBk1KBx0zX0Y3Np7nkwl9BjdiamElYPpJ80YqscLu0TR7RmVMLSMDzascDoZUL2Zybx0VhQs4-JmlLyeqbHCMa4rw0MfBoyCgyQgr-s9M19CLZu3UPgpizyKJZjsORR3W6qmRKIm9vBnZA_l1bl-DmkhuVchA37EVDbnQdmp4dMqxqGe8Yg/w400-h225/uae.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UAE Quits OPEC in Massive Shock Move: Oil Cartel Cracks Wide Open – What This Means for Prices, Energy Chaos &amp;amp; Your Bills&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Posted by Ken Frost – The Loanbuster – 28 April 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Blimey, the oil world just got a proper kick in the teeth!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In a bombshell announcement today, the United Arab Emirates has declared it is &lt;strong&gt;leaving OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance&lt;/strong&gt;, effective &lt;strong&gt;1 May 2026&lt;/strong&gt;.
 After nearly 60 years as a key member, one of the world’s biggest and 
most sophisticated oil producers (around 4.5 million barrels per day 
capacity) has had enough of the cartel’s production quotas and is going 
it alone.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This isn’t some minor diplomatic tiff. This is a seismic fracture in 
the organisation that has tried to control global oil supply and prices 
for decades.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&quot;what-actually-happened-&quot;&gt;What actually happened?&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The UAE government cited its “long-term strategic and economic 
vision” and the need for greater flexibility to respond to market 
forces. Translation: they’re fed up with being told how much they can 
pump by Saudi Arabia and the rest of the gang, especially while the Iran
 war has already sent energy markets into meltdown.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They’re done playing by cartel rules. From tomorrow, the UAE will set
 its own production levels and ramp up investment in domestic energy 
without having to beg permission from the OPEC+ quota police.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&quot;what-does-this-mean-&quot;&gt;What does this mean?&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;OPEC just got significantly weaker&lt;/strong&gt; — Losing the 
UAE is a massive blow to the cartel and especially to Saudi Arabia, its 
de facto boss. The group’s ability to manipulate global supply (and 
therefore prices) has taken a serious hit.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;More oil likely coming to market&lt;/strong&gt; — Free from 
quotas, the UAE can crank up production when it wants. That could help 
ease some of the current supply tightness caused by the Iran conflict.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Increased volatility ahead&lt;/strong&gt; — Cartels work by 
restricting supply to keep prices high. When big players walk away, the 
market becomes more unpredictable. Expect sharper swings in oil prices –
 good for traders, bad for everyone else.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bad news for your energy bills&lt;/strong&gt; — We’re already 
seeing sky-high fuel prices feeding into today’s inflation numbers. A 
fractured OPEC means less coordinated control, which usually translates 
into wilder price movements at the pumps and on your gas and electricity
 bills.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This move exposes the truth we’ve known for years: OPEC was never a 
“stabilising force” – it was a price-fixing club that worked when 
members played ball. Now the biggest players are putting national 
interest first, and the whole shaky edifice is starting to crumble.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ed Miliband and the net-zero zealots in Westminster should be 
watching this very carefully. Their fantasy of “clean power by 2030” 
already looks ridiculous. With OPEC fracturing and geopolitics turning 
the energy market into a war zone, relying on intermittent wind while 
locking Britain into expensive long-term contracts looks even more 
suicidal.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The age of the oil cartel’s dominance may be ending. What replaces it
 – genuine market forces or more chaotic power plays – will decide 
whether your heating and motoring costs go up or down in the years 
ahead.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;One thing’s for sure: the days of a handful of desert kingdoms 
dictating the price of your weekly fuel fill-up just got a lot more 
uncertain.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Stay sharp, fill up when prices dip, and for God’s sake don’t believe
 the politicians who tell you they’ve got your energy costs under 
control.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amazon Suggested Reads – Protect Yourself from Energy Market Mayhem&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4vUca0q&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The Cartel Collapse&lt;/a&gt;” – how OPEC’s power is fading  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4dajX2O&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Energy Wars: Oil, Geopolitics and Your Wallet&lt;/a&gt;” – what the future really holds  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4n4CAJ6&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Surviving Volatile Fuel Prices&lt;/a&gt;” – practical strategies for British households  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ken Frost&lt;br /&gt;Professional Cynic, Chartered Accountant and relentless Loanbuster&lt;br /&gt;www.kenfrost.net – exposing the energy emperors since 2005&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/6114634010922298162/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/04/uae-quits-opec-in-massive-shock-move.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/6114634010922298162'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/6114634010922298162'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/04/uae-quits-opec-in-massive-shock-move.html' title='UAE Quits OPEC in Massive Shock Move'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXnjQBk1KBx0zX0Y3Np7nkwl9BjdiamElYPpJ80YqscLu0TR7RmVMLSMDzascDoZUL2Zybx0VhQs4-JmlLyeqbHCMa4rw0MfBoyCgyQgr-s9M19CLZu3UPgpizyKJZjsORR3W6qmRKIm9vBnZA_l1bl-DmkhuVchA37EVDbnQdmp4dMqxqGe8Yg/s72-w400-h225-c/uae.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-2106337707326682132</id><published>2026-04-22T10:55:00.001+00:00</published><updated>2026-04-22T10:55:03.000+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="CPI 3.3%"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran war oil impact"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="motor fuels price surge"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ONS inflation figures"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Rachel Reeves failure"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="rising inflation UK"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="UK inflation March 2026"/><title type='text'>UK Inflation Jumps to 3.3% in March</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjg_U1CalxCgsjR7hWMYzZ8go7lvObSaX-1XEpkoEi3lM_lU9sJBCPhB2YqV0hLQZmQ4aSeJ8wHMXds-RPw3rePNs77fPhcvXQ9q1TQ37HRBCpRqU_M7yRrbfacqtpUZmnTfsZCY3CchRaU0RjH_LL-1oq_T8NpZ7pmqiCYPd8c8lXBKj6wE32bA/s700/inflation2.png&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;394&quot; data-original-width=&quot;700&quot; height=&quot;225&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjg_U1CalxCgsjR7hWMYzZ8go7lvObSaX-1XEpkoEi3lM_lU9sJBCPhB2YqV0hLQZmQ4aSeJ8wHMXds-RPw3rePNs77fPhcvXQ9q1TQ37HRBCpRqU_M7yRrbfacqtpUZmnTfsZCY3CchRaU0RjH_LL-1oq_T8NpZ7pmqiCYPd8c8lXBKj6wE32bA/w400-h225/inflation2.png&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;UK Inflation Jumps to 3.3% in March – Thanks to Reeves, 
Miliband &amp;amp; the Iran Oil Shock: Another Taxpayer Gut-Punch as the 
&quot;Experts&quot; Scratch Their Heads&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Posted by Ken Frost – The Loanbuster – 22 April 2026&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Blimey, just when you thought the cost-of-living crisis was easing, along comes the ONS with another dose of fiscal reality!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Fresh out of the oven this morning: UK CPI inflation &lt;strong&gt;surged to 3.3%&lt;/strong&gt; in the 12 months to March 2026, up sharply from 3.0% in February. CPIH (including housing costs) hit &lt;strong&gt;3.4%&lt;/strong&gt;, also climbing from 3.2%. Monthly, prices jumped &lt;strong&gt;0.7%&lt;/strong&gt; in March alone – more than double the rise seen this time last year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The usual suspects are out in force: &quot;in line with expectations&quot;, 
&quot;driven by transport and energy&quot;, &quot;first impact from the Iran conflict&quot;.
 Translation? The punters are getting squeezed harder while the spin 
doctors polish their excuses.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Let&#39;s cut through the bollocks with the real numbers:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Motor fuels&lt;/strong&gt; led the charge: up 4.9%, with petrol 
rising 8.6p per litre and diesel a whopping 17.6p – courtesy of the 
Middle East flare-up pushing oil prices sky-high.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Housing and household services&lt;/strong&gt;: 4.3% (up from 4.2%), hammered by a staggering &lt;strong&gt;95.3%&lt;/strong&gt; surge in domestic heating oil prices.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Food and non-alcoholic beverages&lt;/strong&gt;: accelerated to 3.7% from 3.3%.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Services inflation&lt;/strong&gt;: ticked up to 4.5% – sticky as ever.  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Clothing provided the only real relief, falling 0.8%.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The &quot;experts&quot; and media are acting all surprised again, but come on –
 we&#39;ve been warning for months that Labour&#39;s policies plus global shocks
 would keep the pressure on. Rachel Reeves&#39;s tax tsunami, employers&#39; NI 
hikes, and Ed Miliband&#39;s green energy obsession (locking us into 
expensive offshore wind contracts) have done nothing to tame the beast. 
Higher energy costs flow straight through to everything else, while the 
bloated public sector and weak growth keep wages chasing prices in a 
vicious circle.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This isn&#39;t just &quot;global factors&quot;. It&#39;s domestic incompetence meeting 
geopolitical reality. Miliband&#39;s net-zero zeal has left us exposed to 
volatile fossil fuel prices instead of building proper baseload 
security. Reeves&#39;s spending spree and borrowing binge add fuel to the 
inflationary fire. And the Bank of England? Still dithering with rates 
at 3.75%, scared of the very mess their political masters helped create.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Real people – pensioners on fixed incomes, families filling up the 
car, small businesses watching input costs soar – feel this in their 
wallets every single day. Inflation at 3.3% might look &quot;moderate&quot; to the
 suits in Westminster, but when wages aren&#39;t keeping pace and taxes are 
rising, it&#39;s a stealth raid on living standards.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The ONS figures confirm what the man in the street already knew: the 
cost-of-living crisis is far from over. Promises of falling bills under 
Labour? Broken. &quot;Growth, growth, growth&quot;? More like stagnation with a 
side of price hikes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Stay angry, stay sharp, and protect what you&#39;ve got left. Because 
this lot in government certainly aren&#39;t going to do it for you.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Amazon Suggested Reads – Fight Back Against the Inflation Onslaught&lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4cJMX07&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The Hidden Tax of Inflation&lt;/a&gt;” – how governments erode your wealth  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/4ttQzKT&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Surviving High Prices in Broken Britain&lt;/a&gt;” – practical money shields  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;“&lt;a href=&quot;https://amzn.to/48hWUAu&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Energy rip-off Exposed&lt;/a&gt;” – why green policies cost you dear  &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ken Frost&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Professional Cynic, Chartered Accountant and unrepentant Loanbuster&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;www.kenfrost.net – calling out the economic vandals since 2005&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/2106337707326682132/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/04/uk-inflation-jumps-to-33-in-march.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/2106337707326682132'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/2106337707326682132'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/04/uk-inflation-jumps-to-33-in-march.html' title='UK Inflation Jumps to 3.3% in March'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjg_U1CalxCgsjR7hWMYzZ8go7lvObSaX-1XEpkoEi3lM_lU9sJBCPhB2YqV0hLQZmQ4aSeJ8wHMXds-RPw3rePNs77fPhcvXQ9q1TQ37HRBCpRqU_M7yRrbfacqtpUZmnTfsZCY3CchRaU0RjH_LL-1oq_T8NpZ7pmqiCYPd8c8lXBKj6wE32bA/s72-w400-h225-c/inflation2.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35861392.post-1616287812531659776</id><published>2026-03-31T12:15:00.003+00:00</published><updated>2026-03-31T12:15:35.583+00:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="energy security threat"/><title type='text'>Stupid Wankers Are Destroying The UK&#39;s Energy Security</title><content type='html'>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlTzhyphenhyphenqKroBvEvYwVFY6rKxImyRwns8zdrgEoerZn6GXPxPBjJBWWBNSwGVnXeOb9nKfUsGvwRYWA47TWcba08FEyA25a2sL_rZuyraTeY_gQ5ugdYcEx0j6LN0FZdBE0RU9YlkugLON0qsdVxdfCIV7WbuGLEaTp3eR3vpqKCthW4tjDlBgYrw/s680/coal1.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; data-original-height=&quot;674&quot; data-original-width=&quot;680&quot; height=&quot;396&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlTzhyphenhyphenqKroBvEvYwVFY6rKxImyRwns8zdrgEoerZn6GXPxPBjJBWWBNSwGVnXeOb9nKfUsGvwRYWA47TWcba08FEyA25a2sL_rZuyraTeY_gQ5ugdYcEx0j6LN0FZdBE0RU9YlkugLON0qsdVxdfCIV7WbuGLEaTp3eR3vpqKCthW4tjDlBgYrw/w400-h396/coal1.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/feeds/1616287812531659776/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/03/stupid-wankers-are-destroying-uks.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/1616287812531659776'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/35861392/posts/default/1616287812531659776'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://loanbuster.blogspot.com/2026/03/stupid-wankers-are-destroying-uks.html' title='Stupid Wankers Are Destroying The UK&#39;s Energy Security'/><author><name>Ken Frost</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13568488818950912374</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoj11TndbdDq39FhT0u6kmOnQcm5e9WCNBj6mJtvrfAhgfSASh7CwG5dLCOvYbpWiX-R8z0Y59X4vP0MFnqlW7DYVWEqMzsEJZRWKFe9Y_AxqeRce2zP0EAM8VxYKDQ/s151/Ken+2resized.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlTzhyphenhyphenqKroBvEvYwVFY6rKxImyRwns8zdrgEoerZn6GXPxPBjJBWWBNSwGVnXeOb9nKfUsGvwRYWA47TWcba08FEyA25a2sL_rZuyraTeY_gQ5ugdYcEx0j6LN0FZdBE0RU9YlkugLON0qsdVxdfCIV7WbuGLEaTp3eR3vpqKCthW4tjDlBgYrw/s72-w400-h396-c/coal1.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>