Merryn Somerset Webb

UK Wealth, Editor at large, Bloomberg. Ex Ed in C @Moneyweek. Ex Columnist/Contrib Editor @FT Opinions personal. NED: THRG and Schroder #SharePower

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

Stop being polite to your AI agent. No more please and thank you. It's a machine not a person. Treat it like one. This really matters (for the future of humanity...) https://t.co/N6g7BEBjvn

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@millie141414 @francessmith That's what trying to extend residence pre ilr is all about

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

If you think about the cost of immigrant workers in the care system in terms of wages plus long term welfare/benefits for them and family with ILR....it might be significantly more financially efficient for the state to top up care worker wages to the extent that our unemployed fancied it. No one's that into it for 20k. What about 50k? 75k?

[Fraser Nelson @FraserNelson]

Care homes have long ran a business model based on an ability to pay unskilled wages for skilled (and exhausting) work. They can do so because of the implicit offer of a visa

Mahmood is right to call time on this. If jobs are not domestically attractive, employers must do better

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@BIUKTradeUnions Point is that if you pay workers already in the country enough you don't need migrant workers (and their future welfare needs).

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@MarkGladman5 3m

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

7.1m people. Even if that is out by a million it's still extraordinary. And, key point...we have not expanded our infrastructure or public services to match.

[World of Statistics @stats_feed]

🌍 European countries that added the most migrants (2000–2024)

1. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: +7.1M
2. 🇪🇸 Spain: +6.8M
3. 🇩🇪 Germany: +6.4M
4. 🇹🇷 Türkiye: +5.8M
5. 🇮🇹 Italy: +4.4M
6. 🇫🇷 France: +3.0M
7. 🇦🇹 Austria: +1.4M
8. 🇳🇱 Netherlands: +1.4M
9. 🇨🇭 Switzerland: +1.3M
10. 🇧🇪 Belgium: +1.3M
11. 🇸🇪 Sweden: +1.3M
12. 🇵🇱 Poland: +917K
13. 🇮🇪 Ireland: +840K
14. 🇳🇴 Norway: +720K
15. 🇷🇴 Romania: +521K
16. 🇵🇹 Portugal: +476K
17. 🇩🇰 Denmark: +475K
18. 🇭🇺 Hungary: +393K
19. 🇨🇿 Czechia: +386K
20. 🇫🇮 Finland: +378K

Europe's migrant population grew by 40.8 million between 2000 and 2024, up 67%. The UK, Spain and Germany together account for almost half of that increase.

Source: UN DESA

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

And exports are...bad?

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 NEW: Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is reportedly set to reject Rosebank for oil drilling in the North Sea

She believes it would do less for UK energy security than Jackdaw as most of its oil would be exported

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@kayseezy I think you aren't quite understanding my point

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@1066Neil I have

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@TheBigOther1 Yes. Unless you care a new source of supply - immigrant workers prepared to work for low wages as long as also gave visa/ILR promise. Market corrupted by the state. Again.

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@dubes Say hello to AI and robotics. Plus our many millions of unemployed young

[Simon French @Frencheconomics]

You would have thought less carbon intensive gas compared to imported LNG would be welcomed by environmentalists.

It is economically rational and environmentally sound to supply the UK’s ongoing gas demand through the lowest carbon-emitting sources.

[John Stepek @John_Stepek]

To make this chart even clearer: from 2001 to mid-08, real annual wage growth averaged 2.3%. From mid-08 to late 2014, real wages fell by 1.1% annually on average. And from late 2014 to now, real annual wage growth has averaged 1% (and been more volatile).

[John Stepek @John_Stepek]

UK inflation, Sep '26: on the punchy side (PPI stronger too)

CPI: 3.5% (BoE tgt 2%), vs 3.4% forecast. (Aug was 3.1%).

Core CPI: 2.8%, vs 2.8% forecast. (Aug 2.6%).

RPIX: 3.9% (old BoE tgt, 2.5%), no forecast. (Aug 3.3%).

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@MCSNZTH Many key points

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

Finally

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

NEW: The Jackdaw gasfield will be given the go-ahead on Wednesday, signalling Andy Burnham’s commitment to the North Sea fossil fuel industry and threatening to trigger a row with climate campaigners and Labour MPs.

Story by @kiranstacey https://t.co/OmVJmT2XPd

[John Stepek @John_Stepek]

If you want to know why folk in the UK seem to be grumpier than they were before the 2008 financial crisis, a chart of real wages goes a long way. Prior to 2008, real wages rose consistently and strongly. Since then? Sporadic and unpredictable.
https://t.co/dXhaJAF8w5

[Kallum Pickering @KallumPickering]

My usual (frustrating) chart on labour market report day. . . . this is totally unsustainable!

Who is better off since Labour won power?

#labour #ukeconomy #ukmacro

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

@bridge_53 10% quite a lot of estates. And I think with pension changes it is also too low. Also remember that heirs see the tax as paid by them. And many more heirs than estates.

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

The problem with inheritance tax in the UK is same as the problem with all our taxes. It is too complicated and far too high. https://t.co/lHjV6V0gHr

[Merryn Somerset Webb @MerrynSW]

Basically buying indulgences at this point.

[Anthropic @AnthropicAI]

We’re committing a portion of Anthropic’s shares to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new wholly owned entity dedicated entirely to the public benefit.

It will start off with 5% of our shares. For every 50% increase in the company’s value over a set baseline, we can contribute up to an extra 2%, subject to our board’s discretion.

In total, this means that roughly 20% of Anthropic’s shares are committed to the public good. Our co-founders have already pledged to donate 80% of their equity, and around half our employees are donating a portion of their equity as part of a donation matching program we’ve run since our founding.

In the post below, we share more details about our new fund.

https://t.co/XzDntVH0vH