David Whitehouse

Ex-CFO in the City. Small cap stock investor.

[David Whitehouse @DBWLondon]

@DCBMEP All the trappings of high office, no responsibility and a gold-plated pension - sounds all right to me.

[Simon Danczuk @SimonDanczuk]

I’ve been in British politics nearly 40 years and the only politician I’ve come across who is worse than Starmer at connecting with the public is Gordon Brown. What an appointment…

https://t.co/pGysIrUsI7

[Matt Cartoons @MattCartoonist]

My latest cartoon for tomorrow's @Telegraph

Buy a print of my cartoons at https://t.co/ILFJjPmckx

Original artwork from https://t.co/bVPAkgE34y

[David Whitehouse @DBWLondon]

@ThomasSowell Californians believe the rich belong to it.

[David Whitehouse @DBWLondon]

@iealondon @DanielJHannan Good appointment, but so was Lord Frost. What happened?

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

Last 20 yrs, UK inflation has been 75% but house prices rose only 68% in the SW and 64% in the Midlands. Only in London did you make real money—prices up 79%. Last 10yrs..that didn't work either. Inflation 39%. Greater London prices 18%.  https://t.co/ehiwmJ3QJN

[Sam Bowman @s8mb]

Europe keeps trying offshore processing for asylum seekers. Britain attempted its Rwanda scheme; Italy is dispatching asylum seekers to Albania; Denmark has passed legislation to process claims abroad.

They are trying because of Australia, where small boat crossing are widely thought to have been stopped by offshore processing. But they weren't.

https://t.co/hlJo7hWknr

Australia has used two policies to stop boat migration: offshore processing and naval turnbacks, where asylum seekers are transferred onto purpose-built lifeboats and towed back into Indonesian waters. It was turnbacks *alone* that stopped the boats:

• In 2001, during the first wave of boat arrivals, the Australian government introduced both offshore processing and turnbacks. Arrivals fell from 5,516 in 2001 to just one person in 2002.

• In 2008, both policies were abolished. Arrivals rose seventeen-fold the following year.

• In 2012, the Gillard government reintroduced offshore processing, but without turnbacks. Arrivals did not fall.

• In 2013, turnbacks were reintroduced alongside offshore processing and boat migration collapsed.

• In 2014, offshore transfers were abandoned entirely, leaving turnbacks to do the work alone. Arrivals have remained at essentially zero ever since.

Offshore processing is expensive and politically toxic. It is also unnecessary. Governments that want to reduce boat migration should learn from Australia and focus on turnbacks instead. New in Works in Progress by @AmeliaERWood.

https://t.co/hlJo7hWknr

[NyanChuu🔮🇯🇵🍭 @tanpukunokami]

In Tokyo, there's a cleaning crew that does the impossible every 12 minutes.

They're called TESSEI. They clean the Shinkansen bullet trains at Tokyo Station.

When a train arrives, it stops for 12 minutes before departing again.

Two minutes for passengers to exit.
Three more for the next batch to board.

That leaves seven.

In those seven minutes, one person must:
- Clean 100 seats
- Wipe every tray table
- Vacuum the floor
- Rotate every seat to face the new direction of travel
- Replace all headrest covers
- Check the overhead bins
- Bow to incoming passengers

Seven. Minutes.

They do this hundreds of times a day.

Harvard Business School published a case study about them.
The New York Times called it "the 7-minute miracle."
Tourists now stand on the platform just to watch.

Before they start, they bow to the train.
When they finish, they line up and bow to the passengers.

They're paid by the hour. Many are in their 50s and 60s.

Japan didn't invent cleaning.
They invented the dignity of doing small things perfectly.

[Luke Hogg @LEHogg]

They’re gonna be shocked when they figure out how QR codes work

[Internet Slop @GimmickSlop]

this is still one of my favorite things on the internet

[David Whitehouse @DBWLondon]

Matt cartoons – March 2026 https://t.co/AXuwibU1nF

[David Whitehouse @DBWLondon]

@alexmassie I recognised his photo immediately, clearly he had a bigger impact on me than I realised. And what a career after Drumtochty. A true scholar and a gentleman - a life well lived!
When my time comes there is nothing I too wish for, than to be surrounded by family.

[David Whitehouse @DBWLondon]

@alexmassie Allan was my English teacher at Drumtochty Castle school in about 1965. Demanding and always interesting. I follow you because my son recommended I should, before I realised who you father was!
He was the most pleasant and decent person on the staff.

[The Best @TheBestqueenx]

😂😂

[Cut My Tax @CutMyTaxUK]

HMRC's Making Tax Digital (MTD) scheme will result in significantly lower tax revenues as those affected leave the workforce to avoid it.

The Telegraph reveals that many older workers are taking or planning early retirement simply to avoid the increased layers of bureaucracy.

The NAO says the overall MTD will cost 5 times the original forecast & that the cost-benefit analysis of the project failed to include £1.5bn in upfront costs for taxpayers. Total costs exceed any additional tax revenue so MTD actually costs money.

Moreover, that NAO estimate of £1.5bn taxpayer costs doesn't include taxpayer time. Based on a self-employed electrician’s average hourly rate of £55 the cost to 6.5m self-assessed taxpayers spending two hours submitting each quarterly return would be another £2.9bn a year.

Add all these factors together & it's clear MTD will be a financial disaster.
1/2

[Thomas Sowell Quotes @ThomasSowell]

Denzel Washington: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read it, you’re misinformed.”

[Mike Bird @Birdyword]

Mind-blowing chart of the week here. Southern Europe has, for perhaps the first time in modern history, a lower headline unemployment rate than Northern Europe.

[David Whitehouse @DBWLondon]

@alexmassie He was also the most decent of all of the school staff at the school and the only one who clearly did not enjoy his occasional duty of delivering corporal punishment!
Thank you Alan and may your coming days be peaceful.

[David Whitehouse @DBWLondon]

@alexmassie Your father was my English teacher at Drumtochty castle school around 1965. His teaching was beautifully clear and stood me in good stead for the rest of my life, even though I'm not a literary person (now an accountant).