Aha! Found it.

And the Gazette March 1942.

So, anyway, that regular commenter around here who doesn’t like me claimed, just recently, that of course my grandfathers were simply lanyards. So Hal was one of them, the other was Bill Worstall.

1945: Command Engineer Officer, HQ Fighter Command.

And. OK. Lanyards then.

The post Dr Halstead Middleton Turnbull GM first appeared on Tim Worstall.

The Financial Times has published remarkable data on inheritance tax in the UK. Just five London parliamentary constituencies paid more inheritance tax than the whole of Scotland and Wales combined. Ten London seats paid more than the entire north of England over five years.

But the FT then drew the wrong conclusion.

This video explains why the real story is not that Britain depends on wealthy Londoners to fund the state. A currency-issuing government does not depend on the rich for money. Instead, the data reveals something much bigger and more important, which is the catastrophic consequences of the concentration of wealth in London and the long-term failure of UK regional economic policy.

Rich peoples move to London. Woes, eh?

The post Scandal! first appeared on Tim Worstall.

Homes with bigger gardens to be penalised with higher water bills
Water firms test tiered tariffs that charge more per unit as consumption rises

That a place as wet as England has problems with water supply is odd, obviously. That system of never allowing any reservoirs etc. But yes, rising charges for water consumption, entirely sensible. Exactly what we have here. Can be painful if a pipe bursts or even if a toilet cistern keeps running. But then that’s part of the point – get ‘er fixed.

The post Yes, this is fair first appeared on Tim Worstall.

“At what point do we start believing the children,” asked Jeanne. She is one of seven parents who spoke to The Telegraph about alleged abuse at nurseries and elementary schools in the French capital.
Some of the children, who were aged from three to 10, were allegedly locked in rooms, sexually abused and threatened with violence if they told anyone.
The accused are not teachers but “animateur périscolaires” – extracurricular activity leaders who look after children before and after classes, and during breaks.
Fewer than one in five has a permanent role, and they are paid as little as €12 an hour (about £10.50). They are employed by the town hall, rather than by schools.

We know very well that not every allegation of child abuse is true. But it’s also true that those who wish to do so will go where the kiddies are that they can then abuse.

There have now been 15 complaints of alleged rape by the same man, but there has never been a trial.

Adult blokes willing to work for the occasional €12.50 an hour might be worth the occasional side eye, eh?

The post Erm, yes, OK first appeared on Tim Worstall.

Far right and reactionary these days means anti-immigration does it? Rather than, say, invading Poland?

Which tells us something about how far right anti-immigration is or where the declared centre of French politics is?

The post Bollore first appeared on Tim Worstall.

Everywhere, and without exception, traders are, utterly bizarrely, at a time of crisis when they should be heading for safety, selling bonds and buying shares. After all, the money to fund this mania has to come from somewhere, and this chart makes clear its source. When government bonds are sold, the effective interest rate increases. That is because, in practice, the amount of interest paid on bonds is fixed, meaning that if the price falls, as happens in a net selling market, that fixed interest payment appears to be more valuable in terms of the interest rate earned.
….
The likelihood that this might be as bad as 1929, with consequences at least as severe if governments do not take action to bail out many of those who will be impacted, is very high indeed. In that case, if you look at what is happening in financial markets, the only reasonable conclusion to reach is that those trading in them are giving themselves a massive dopamine hit at cost to the rest of the world before the crisis arrives.

I am angry because governments are going to have to bail out banks and even major corporations as a result of what is going to happen. We will be doing QE again, but this time we have to get it right.

Govts are going to print more money and piss it up the wall again. This will ignite inflation.

Bond prices should be falling in such a scenario, no?

The post If only someone could explain financial markets first appeared on Tim Worstall.

The climate crisis should be declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization, or millions more people will die unnecessarily, leading international experts have said.

The independent pan-European commission on climate and health, which was convened by the WHO, concluded the climate crisis was such a worldwide threat to health that the WHO should declare it “a public health emergency of international concern” (Pheic).

The international spread of vector-borne disease, such as dengue and chikungunya,

Declare the climate emergency and thus stop creating wetlands. Kill all the beavers and keep pumping out the Soerset Levels. ‘S Climate change, see? A global emergency. Can’t be going around creating ague ridden swamps now, can we?

The post This works, yes first appeared on Tim Worstall.

Umm, why is Burnham advertising hafnium oxide? Seems a bit of a minority interest to be fair.

The post So, err, Andy? first appeared on Tim Worstall.

British Palestinians feel unable to speak openly about Israel’s war on Gaza, the director of the British Palestinian Committee has said, amid what campaigners believe is a growing climate of hostility around Palestinian identity and activism in the UK.

Given that we have weekly riots in the streets demanding the death and drowning in the sea of all Jews silly enough to live in the Middle East I dunno. What is it anyone wants to say that isn’t already rioted about?

The post Difficult one, this first appeared on Tim Worstall.

With one important exception, this life cycle is usually briefer for Labour governments, since they face more opposition from the media and powerful economic interests, and more suspicion from voters as a result.

Nowt to do with the fact that they and their policies are shite then…..

The post Infamy first appeared on Tim Worstall.

The former Sky News political editor Adam Boulton has said GB News should lose its broadcasting licence as he accused Britain’s media regulator of failing in its duty to protect impartial television news.

If we define impartial as what I like then anyone who says stuff I don’t like shouldn’t be allowed to, right?

The post But, but, Teach! They’re moving the Overton Window! first appeared on Tim Worstall.

US southern states are rushing to redraw congressional maps to eliminate Democratic districts and dilute the influence of Black voters in electing candidates, a bare-knuckled blitz occurring even in some states where voting in congressional primaries has begun, and prompted by the US supreme court’s decision gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

If the system was – hugely – biased in your favour and then bias is ruled as not being legal then yes, it’s going to be a bit of a shock as the system reverts to unbiased, isn’t it?

Louisiana, the state at the center of the supreme court’s Voting Rights Act decision, is on the verge of implementing a new map that would eliminate the seat of one of the state’s two Black Democrats in Congress.

Well, yes:

That is, more than a bit obviously, a fiddle, no?

The post When institutional bias disappears then…. first appeared on Tim Worstall.

]]> https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/when-institutional-bias-disappears-then/feed/ 23 https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/well-done-maded/ https://www.timworstall.com/2026/05/well-done-maded/#comments Fri, 15 May 2026 06:49:40 +0000 https://www.timworstall.com/?p=105510 But the greater factor in the past couple of months has been the UK’s painful exposure to higher oil and gas prices, and thus inflationary pressures. Britain imports 40% of its energy and already has some of the highest electricity prices in the western world. What a wondrous energy policy we’ve had since 2008 and… Read More »Well done MadEd!

The post Well done MadEd! first appeared on Tim Worstall.

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But the greater factor in the past couple of months has been the UK’s painful exposure to higher oil and gas prices, and thus inflationary pressures. Britain imports 40% of its energy and already has some of the highest electricity prices in the western world.

What a wondrous energy policy we’ve had since 2008 and the Climate Change Act, eh?

The post Well done MadEd! first appeared on Tim Worstall.

UK government borrowing costs are rising fast, and the official explanation does not make sense. Britain is paying far more to borrow than France or Italy, despite having its own currency, a central bank, and no meaningful risk of default.

So what is really going on?

10 year gilts, 4.75% apparently. Core inflation 3.3%. Eurozone 10 year bonds, 3.47%, eurozone core inflation 2.2%. We’ve a real interest rate of 1.45%, they of 1.27%.

Guess what Spud doesn’t explain?

Quite.

The post Yep, again first appeared on Tim Worstall.

As The Telegraph reports in an email this morning:

Britain’s economy expanded in the first three months of the year despite the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February, official figures show.

It was in line with analyst forecasts and up from 0.1pc in the final quarter of 2025.

Fairly straight reporting of what happened.

Maybe they will also have forgotten that by the end of March, almost no one in mainstream media had realised the full implications of this war, or the scale of the shortages it will create, or the economic mayhem it will cause. At the end of March, the general expectation was that the Strait of Hormuz might reopen again soon, even though there was no evidence of that, and some of us were saying that mayhem was likely. So, of course, this war had caused little economic damage by then.

It has now. Although mainstream media is still in denial about the mayhem heading our way very soon, there are reports of consumer confidence collapsing and business supply lines looking perilous.

The damage is happening now, and it is going to be very much worse, but the Telegraph has chosen to adopt the “so far, so good” line. That is their right. The only problem is that there is no evidence to back it.

The complaint is about what will happen. Even if the report was about what did happen. These are – unless The Pud exists in some sense of appearing across all time equally – different things, no?

The post OK first appeared on Tim Worstall.

A Labour party spokesperson criticised Farage for promoting Clayden’s cause, saying: “Time and time again, Nigel Farage finds himself in the company of extreme voices. Farage should have called out these grim homophobic remarks and condemned them. Instead, he is throwing his support behind the individual peddling them, so that he has a bigger platform to spew them some more.

“This is just the latest in a string of examples that show Farage and Reform stand for division and are not on the side of working people.”

So it’s a Christian preacher being a bit fundamentally Christian in public. His local MP is supporting his free speech rights.

Footage of Clayden preaching last month, available on social media, shows him saying: “All adulterers, all fornicators, all sodomites, all drunkards, all thieves, all blasphemers, all liars, all mockers. Their home shall be in the lake of fire … we are here telling you what the word of God says.”

In the same session, he told passersby: “They hear about words in the Bible like judgment and sin and repentance. They don’t like hearing the holy words of God … they are offended by what the Bible says when the Bible says homosexuality is an abomination.”

Free speech is free speech even if the speech is hurty.

Clayden told Farage the council was objecting to the volume and some of the content of his preaching, including his references to hell and judgment. However, he has since acknowledged that the council raised concerns not just about the volume of his preaching but also his church’s warnings against homosexuality.

150 years ago the argument was the act, well, but not in the streets, eh? Now, apparently, it’s the preaching against the act that’s OK in private but not in the streets, eh?

Finally, I think it’s quite brave of Nige to support a preacher who insists all drunkards are to be consigned to the flames.

The post In the streets and frightening the horses first appeared on Tim Worstall.

Angela Rayner has been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs, the Guardian can reveal, paving the way for a potential leadership bid as Keir Starmer’s grip on power unravels.

The former deputy prime minister has settled £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty after initially paying the lower rate, but has not paid any penalty as a result of the investigation. HMRC was also satisfied there was no tax avoidance.

She’s paid the tax – how could there be avoidance? Anyway, as I keep insisting, avoidance is not a state, it’s an attempt. Which can succeed in which case it’s compliance, or not succeed in which case it’s evasion. Avoidance is not, as I say, a state or thing.

The post Well, obviously first appeared on Tim Worstall.

Why does Britain keep ending up with weak Prime Ministers?

In this video, I argue that the problem is no longer simply about personalities or political parties. The deeper issue is that the UK political system now rewards the wrong qualities and filters out many of the people who might actually be capable of governing well.

The post Cometh….. first appeared on Tim Worstall.

The European Union could announce a ban on social media for children as soon as this summer, Ursula von der Leyen has said.

Any system that can exclude one group can be used to exclude another. Say, those fascist right wingers who might oppose membership of the European Union?

The post Limiting access is limiting access first appeared on Tim Worstall.

Queen backs decision to keep pilot who bludgeoned wife to death in prison

Why was the wife in prison? How did he get in there to bludgeon her?

Royal consort told campaigners she supported their efforts to prevent the early release of a notorious killer

Ah, that headline needs rewriting, no?

The post Subs! Subs! first appeared on Tim Worstall.