Paul Fisher

I invest in and help a very small number of entrepreneurs

[Paul Fisher @PaulFish]

@thetimmorgan Not 1. LP productivity is out put per worker per hour. So there is some hope that technology might improve it?

[Paul Fisher @PaulFish]

@thetimmorgan Risk of the property being worth less than purchase
Risk of interest rate rises
Risk of a tennant not paying and being unable to evict
Risk of uninsurable damaged. I'd say there are substantial risk of being a landlord today esp. with current property price stagnation.

[Dux @DuxVul]

All Labour did was make private schools elite again

They cancelled scholarships, bursaries and summer holiday use of facilities for the community

Rich kids still go to private school, middle class kids don’t

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

Further to Blair. Literally every honest sensible person in all the main parties privately agrees with all these propositions:

- welfare spending is too high and is throwing good people on the scrapheap
- defence spending is too low
- the triple lock is unsustainable
- without cheap energy we cannot exploit the AI revolution
- we should be investing in EVERY form of energy: renewables, nuclear and the North Sea
- migration needs to be controlled to boost social cohesion and because the boats look like a huge failure of the state
- any new relationship with the EU will be imposed on us until we are stronger and cannot involve the closeness some desire without freedom of movement
- we are deeply embedded with America in ways which the public does not understand and cannot be told and however joyous it makes us feel to hate Trump, disengagement at the deep state level is not only wholly unrealistic but also undesirable
- Whitehall needs a total overhaul so specific project expertise and political appointees can be brought in quickly

Blair basically says all that.

The one thing he doesn’t say and which the same group of people agree on is this and it’s something Blair left behind:

- judges and quangos have too much power, are unaccountable and without redressing the balance in favour of parliament it is very difficult to do anything big fast
- the bare minimum that needs to change in this regard is to reform judicial review and planning law so we can put building and economic growth ahead of newts and NIMBYs

None of that above really ought to be up for discussion. It is all common sense but not one of our politicians will publicly say all of it

Whatever you think of Blair, engage with what he’s saying not how he makes you feel. The bare minimum we should expect from any leader is that they have an analysis of the current situation and a plan to deal with it which is as coherent and realistic as his intervention. Pretty well every critique I’ve read so far has failed to meet this requirement.

Over to Andy and Keir and Kemi and Nigel and Zack and all the others

[Dr Anton Howes @antonhowes]

So many of Britain's problems in a nutshell:

>1952 council block falling apart, sewage leaking into flats, loose cladding, dangerous wiring
>£48m bill to completely overhaul it and ensure it's habitable, so cheaper to demolish and rebuild
>council evacuates most social tenants and tries to buy up a majority of flats to be able to demolish

BUT
>resistant residents, backed by Living Rent activists, don't want to sell because asking price too low, and say council should never have let it get so bad
>they submit the building to Historic Environment Scotland to be listed
>HES unexpectedly say they're likely to list, which would make repairs even more expensive, and demolition potentially impossible
>council stops buying the remaining flats while they wait for a decision, in case they just have to sell what they can or write it off
>now residents will potentially be unable to sell at all

https://t.co/AXZV1QHv6p

[Paul Graham @paulg]

The right way to use AI in schools is to have sharply different policies about how much you allow it. Using AI should be encouraged in some situations and absolutely banned in others.

[Tim Morgan @thetimmorgan]

Britain is 2-3 decisions away from being a great country. One of those decisions would be to decide if we need infrastructure we build it without petty squabbling and without delay. China would complete HS2 from start to finish in 6 months

[Tim Shipman @ShippersUnbound]

This is the best piece on Starmer you will read today, perhaps this year

[Tim Morgan @thetimmorgan]

Part of the reason for the perception that Britain is doing better than it is, is that our professional classes are ALSO like American tourists. They live in London, go to Edinburgh for the rugby, Cornwall on holiday etc. They NEVER go to Redcar or Merthyr or Tipton. No need to.

[Paul Mason @paulmasonnews]

In the name of public service, and as ex-economics editor of BBC Newsnight, I offer to do a zoom call, tonight, with any Labour MP who wants to understand why bond markets do not "fall into line" with governments. 1/

[John Stepek @John_Stepek]

We need to set up some kind of basic finance training course for MPs

[John Stepek @John_Stepek]

Britain's political problem is not "comms", and nor are we "ungovernable". We simply don't have politicians in place who are able to rise to the challenges we face. The problem does not lie with the voters, much as many seem to want to blame us/them.

[Anon Opin. @anon_opin]

If you're always running late for everything, it's not a funny quirk. It's annoying as fuck, and people who can stick to a time think you're a selfish twat.

[Duncan Stott 🏗️🔰🇺🇦 @DuncanStott]

I'm trapped with my £5,000,000 pen - I can't sell it

[Paul Fisher @PaulFish]

@anon_opin If only there was a way of explaining this using supply and demand....

[Paul Fisher @PaulFish]

@MhairiHunter I too feel sorry for them. But it doesn't mean that price co trolls are right. A level economics.

[Josh Hunt @iAmJoshHunt]

The retirement plan for an entire generation was 'my house will fund it.' Downsize, release equity, live off the difference. But that only works if the next generation can afford to buy at the prices you need to sell at. They can't. And that gap is going to define the next decade of British politics.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Every measure you list involves spending wealth.
You don’t list one measure that creates wealth.
And if you don’t create wealth you will soon run out of it to spend, which is already happening (hence all your extra taxes and borrowing).

[Paul Fisher @PaulFish]

@sturgios I think your original comment was mean spirited

[Ameer Kotecha @Ameer_Kotecha]

I find it a perpetual source of fascination that we have scientists, mathematicians, engineers and entrepreneurs literally reaching for the stars - using the sheer force of their brainpower to bend the universe to their will - creating space rockets and AI models. And at the same time we have a ministerial and bureaucratic class that are perhaps the lowest calibre of any time in history. In terms of raw talent, ability and brains, in the main they seem of just stunning mediocrity