Nicholas

Co-Founder of @caretoshareuk #sharingeconomy #caretoshare

[Rob Rinder @RobbieRinder]

On Carnaby Street last night, a kid on a bike cycled up, saw it was me, looked friendly at first then offered up his favourite “lyric”: “Heil Hitler.” I wasn’t sure whether to share this. I hadn’t experienced that personally before. The most striking thing: I wasn’t shocked. No threat. No anger. Not a victim. Just: what has he been taught Hatred is learned. We are not defined by it. We answer it by what we teach.

[Gabriel Pogrund @Gabriel_Pogrund]

Personal news: I am exceptionally honoured to be appointed editor of Insight, the Sunday Times investigations team.

As part of the Sunday Times' commitment to investigative journalism, and storytelling in the written word, audio and video, I am also pleased to welcome two of the most talented and inspiring people I have worked with to a newly-expanded team. They are @ManuMidolo, currently investigations reporter, and @venetiamenzies, visual investigations editor. I will be hiring a deputy editor in due course.

Our hope is keep the flame of Insight alive by producing fearless and forensic journalism - while delivering our stories in the most elegant and innovative way possible. The Sunday Times is the best place in the world for any journalist - but also any source. We have the resources, and integrity, to back the people who come to us 100%: if you have a complex, surprising, sensitive - but significant, story to tell, we are open for business.

Insight, founded in 1961, pioneered investigative journalism in Britain, championing the voiceless — including, most famously, the victims of thalidomide — and revealing truths which the powerful hoped to suppress. It dismantled the government's narrative about Bloody Sunday, revealed the defection of Kim Philby, and exposed the nuclear plant at Dimona. More recently it has lifted the lid on FIFA corruption and the government's handling of the pandemic.

I have been blessed to have had the paper's backing in combining investigative reporting on the summit of society — monarchy, MI5 and MI6, Downing St — with less glamorous stories ranging from the victims of funeral poverty in London to the abandonment of spouses in Pakistan. It has been the best experience any reporter could have hoped for - and I will draw on it as I try, to the best of my abilities, to maintain Insight's special traditions.

I would also like to thank Ben Tayor, Krissi Murrison, Lindsay McIntosh, Becky Barrow and perhaps above all Pia Sarma for supporting me over the last decade.

https://t.co/71kMkKovZe

[Gabriel Pogrund @Gabriel_Pogrund]

Tice, who said Angela Rayner would resign if she had "any moral decency", did not respond to our latest inquiries about his tax affairs or even acknowledge receipt. Nor did his lawyer or Nigel Farage's team.

However, he has now posted a statement saying of his wider affairs: "Naturally I am always happy to put things right and if numbers need rechecking, of course I will pay what is owed - be that more or less."

Where does that leave us?

- Story #1: Tice avoided £600k in corporation tax by classifying his company as a real estate investment trust in unusual circumstances and benefitting from a loophole meaning he did not have to meet technical rules that otherwise applied. Tice accepts this, and said everyone should seek to avoid as much tax as legally possible.

- Story #2: Tice broke the law by failing to pay at least £92k - or, per further analysis by @DanNeidle, £120k - in withholding tax before paying incorrectly large dividends to himself and his off-shore trust in Jersey. He says the dividends he personally received meant he ultimately paid more income tax, meaning HMRC received the money it was owed, or even more. He has not provided any evidence for this or addressed what tax the trust paid. He has dismissed the fact the law was broken - and the accompanying fact that the company still has an unsettled tax bill - as a "technicality". Farage, when asked to evidence Tice's claim that HMRC received equal/more tax, snapped at a reporter and demanded she provide a "lecture" on the nature of real estate investment trusts.

- Story #3: Tice failed to pay ~£100k in corporation tax on dividends deposited in four shell companies he owned and which were part of a group which donated huge sums to Reform. Last month he gave us contradictory stories as to why dividends were not taxed. a) He said they were tax-exempt. (They were not in this case.) b) He said the parent group suffered losses allowing tax bills to be offset. (This is not the case.) He did not respond to further inquiries which we sent yesterday morning.

Overall, the evidence indicates Tice used unusual measures to avoid £600k, and failed to pay up to £220k on tax owed. Per @DanNeidle the underpayments mean the firms are vulnerable to HMRC investigation which could lead to required repayment plus interest and fines.

[Marc Randolph @marcrandolph]

Every successful company I can think of started out doing something that bares only a passing resemblance to what they eventually became successful with.

Twitter began life as Odeo, a podcasting platform. Airbnb was originally conceived as a solution for conference attendees. PayPal started as a way to beam money between handheld personal organizers.

Netflix, for example, started out as a video-rental-by-mail (with due dates and late fees) before eventually morphing into a subscription service, and then (9 years after launch) to a streaming company.

None of these companies could have gotten to where they are – which they did by twisting and turning their way to eventual success – if they had never taken that first step and collided their initial idea with reality and got testing.

Ideas, Fear, Idea Validation, Failure, and then if you’re persistent and a little lucky, Success.

[Nature is Amazing ☘️ @AMAZlNGNATURE]

Size Comparison: Polar Bear vs. American Black Bear

[Nicholas @UK2004]

@dpatrikarakos @TheGreenParty That looks like Corbyn's brother towards the end! 🤣

[Gabriel Pogrund @Gabriel_Pogrund]

EXCL w/@ShipleyWrites

Ann Limb, one of Starmer's new peers, will not take her seat in the Lords for now after a Sunday Times investigation.

We recently revealed she lied about having PhD - and today report she sold charity assets leading two staff to bank secret £1m+ bonuses.

[Nature is Amazing ☘️ @AMAZlNGNATURE]

This man helped an anxious swan find her way back to the water🤍🦢

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

The @bbclysedoucet report from Iran's family day is a travesty of true journalism, factual accuracy and moral decency.
Even in today's world of fake news + the many factual/morals flaws of BBC news, this is more than vapid or tonedeaf: the reporting from Iran @bbclysedoucet has shocked and embarrassed everyone who knows anything about Iran.
This puffpiece shamelessly heartlessly and cluelessly repeats the regime's propaganda. I am afraid this is in the ignoble tradition of Walter Duranty and Vogue's Assadist Desert Rose. It is literally trolling the innocents killed raped executed every day by the Iranian Islamic dictator and his myrmidons.
Iranians are long used to BBC apologia for the Islamic dictatorship but even Iranians are astonished that this could be broadcast in Feb 2026 - after the slaughter of around 40,000 people, wounding of 300,000, daily executions....
The report is filled with transparently despotic euphemistic jargon. Did the producers, editors, reporter not notice? It openly repeats the propaganda that the regime is listening to its people, the protests were just economic, and the protesters were working for outside powers (eg US/Israel). The interviews with supposed voxpops are laughable and disgraceful.
On integrity: We know access was ltd by the regime which is always a reason for caution in a totalist state. If this was all that was available, BBC should have flown home without filing. It was a clue that Iran demanded this not be shown on Persian BBC channel and the BBC agreed. The BBC has long promoted and apologized for this repellent dictatorship. But dont the anchors and reporters who are portenteously talking to Ms Doucet on this amazing report 'from inside Iran' have any sensitivity or hint that something is seriously wrong here?
And having long watched Lyse Doucet, i would still presume that she has the integrity to say: maybe this did not quite work out as we hope, can we take it down? That is the very least that should happen.

#bbcayatollah #IranMassacre2026 @BBCNews @BBCNewsnight @BBCWorld @BBCBreaking

[BBC Question Time @bbcquestiontime]

“Not only did the people at the top of the Labour party know about this… they didn’t think that that was disqualifying, they thought ‘actually, this is our guy’”

Journalist Oli Dugmore says Mandelson’s appointment was “extraordinary” given his links to Jeffrey Epstein

#bbcqt

[David Patrikarakos @dpatrikarakos]

Imagine being so ignorant, racist and historically illiterate that you can’t accept that Iranians want to overthrow their decades-long oppressors without being “manipulated” by the US or Israel.

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

It is amazing to hear a British MP actually explain why he supports a brutal murderous tyrant who is killing hundreds of brave young Iranian girls and boys who just want to live in a free Iran. A British MP.

[Zac Goldsmith @ZacGoldsmith]

This man was a Professor at Bristol University. Here he is demanding that the protests in Iran are liquidated, that no leniency is given to the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of extraordinarily brave people risking their lives to rid themselves of one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. 
To describe this as psychopathic is an understatement. But he has followers in the UK and is not alone. 
It demonstrates that people with this world view aren’t even remotely interested in human rights or ordinary people. They are interested only in power and governments. If a govt is anti Israel or anti west or anti capitalism, then it doesn’t matter what barbarity they inflict on their own people.
That is why when these types of people get into power, everyone else is plunged into misery.

[Afshine Emrani MD FACC @afshineemrani]

No. Matter. What.

As a cardiologist, I spend my life listening to the rhythm of the human heart. I study the electrical signals. I watch the mechanics of the pump on the echocardiogram. I analyze stress tests, measuring exactly how much a human being can physically endure before the system fails. Science tells us there are limits. Physiology dictates that when the body screams for something—whether it’s oxygen, sugar, safety, or a chemical fix—the brain obeys. We are biologically wired for survival, and the "natural" path is always the path of least resistance.

But in all my years of practicing medicine, standing at bedsides and looking into the eyes of patients facing the impossible, I have learned a truth that I cannot measure on an EKG: There is a force inside the human chest that is stronger than biology. It is stronger than nature.

I was reminded of this recently by a patient who sat in my office. He is a man of profound wisdom now, but forty-one years ago, he was standing at the edge of an abyss. He was fighting a battle for his sobriety, a battle that statistics said he would lose. He shared with me the secret that saved his life. Not a medication I prescribed, not a procedure I performed, but a decision he made. A decision encapsulated in three simple words:

No. Matter. What.

He explained to me that in the beginning, the voice of the addiction was seductive. It was comforting. It promised relief from the pain. He realized that if he left his sobriety up to how he felt that day—to his mood, his stress levels, his anxiety, or the noise in his head—he would eventually break. If he allowed himself to "negotiate" with the urge, he would lose. So, he created a new protocol for his existence. He decided that the option to give in was simply not on the table. Not if he was sad. Not if he was celebrating. Not if the sky was falling. No matter what.

When I heard him say that, I didn’t just hear a recovery slogan. I heard the heartbeat of our history. I heard the anatomy of the Jewish soul.

In our tradition, we study the life of Yosef (Joseph). We call him HaTzaddik—The Righteous. Why? He wasn't called "The Righteous" because he was a powerful ruler of Egypt. He wasn't called "The Righteous" because he saved the world from famine. He earned that title because of one single, agonizing moment in a quiet room, when no one else was watching.

When he was faced with an overwhelming temptation—when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him, when his own raging biology and his lonely circumstances were screaming at him to give in—the Torah uses one specific word to describe his reaction: "Vayanas." He fled.

He didn't negotiate. He didn't rationalize. He didn't say, "I'll just stay for a moment." He went against every natural instinct in his body, and he ran. He tore himself away from the "nature" of the moment.

The Midrash reveals something about this that gives me goosebumps every time I share it. Generations later, when the Jewish people were trapped at the Red Sea, the Egyptian army was behind them and the roaring waters were in front of them. They were trapped. They screamed out. And the waters refused to split. Why should they? The laws of physics are stubborn. Water flows down; it doesn't stand up like a wall. Nature does not change its rules for men.

But then, the Midrash asks: "What did the Sea see that finally made it flee and split?" The answer it gives is shattering: "It saw the coffin of Yosef."

The Midrash notes that the same Hebrew word is used: Vayanas (and it fled). The Sea looked at the bones of the man who conquered his own nature. It saw a human being who had every reason to break, every biological impulse to give in, but who found the strength to say "No." And nature understood: If a human being can bend their own nature, then I must bend the laws of nature for him.

This is not just a nice story from the past. This is the code for your life right now.

In my practice, I see people facing mountains. I see the crushing weight of addiction, the paralyzing grip of anxiety, the dark fog of depression, or the terror of a life-altering diagnosis. The "natural" reaction is to collapse. The "natural" reaction when the dopamine pathways are hijacked is to use. The "natural" reaction to trauma is to stay broken. We tell ourselves: I’m too weak. The urge is too strong. It’s genetic. It’s hopeless.

But the "Yosef" inside you—and the patient inside my office—knows the secret. When you put your foot down and say, "No Matter What," you stop being a victim of your physiology. You become its master. You are telling your body, your anxiety, and your fear: "I am not a machine that simply reacts to stimuli. I am a soul with a will of fire."

I have seen patients defy medical expectations because they tapped into this will. I have seen people rebuild families from ashes because they decided that failure was not an option. When you act with Mesirat Nefesh—when you commit to a goal of light, health, and purity at any cost—the obstacles often do exactly what the Red Sea did. They flee. They sense your resolve, and they back down. The anxiety loses its teeth. The craving loses its grip. Because you have removed the option of surrender.

We are approaching Chanukah, the festival of lights. To a historian, Chanukah makes no sense. The weak defeated the strong. The few defeated the many. But to a physician, it reminds me that you cannot quantify the human spirit. The Maccabees decided to fight for light No Matter What. They didn't calculate the odds. They didn't check the polls. They refused to accept the "natural" outcome of darkness. And because they went above nature, the Creator responded with a miracle. One day of light became eight.

My friends, you might feel like you are running on empty today. You might feel like the waves are about to drown you. But you have a power inside you that is ancient and holy. You have the blood of Yosef in your spiritual DNA. You have the ability to look at your challenge—whether it’s a substance, a relationship, a fear, or a flaw—and say: "I don't care what the statistics say. I don't care how hard it was yesterday. I don't care how loud the voice in my head is screaming. Today, I am holding on."

You don't have to win the whole war today. You don't have to fix your whole life in an hour. You just have to win this moment. And then the next one.

No. Matter. What.

Shabbat Shalom.

[Nicholas @UK2004]

GBP getting hammered last few days....

[Howard Luks MD @hjluks]

Orthopedic surgery office based decision making isn’t easy …

[H.E.T. @HolocaustUK]

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. We remember the 6 million Jewish men, women, and children murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. As survivors grow fewer and antisemitism rises, today is more vital than ever.

[Daniel Hussey @DanielHussey2]

Absolutely outrageous from Gout Gout.

10.04 at the age of 16.

Speechless.

[Dan Neidle @DanNeidle]

The Budget employer national insurance increase will mostly end up being passed to employees in the form of lower wages and reduced employment. A thread on why I'm disappointed by the Budget, and why this chart makes me sad.

[Roger Federer @rogerfederer]

Vamos, @RafaelNadal!

As you get ready to graduate from tennis, I’ve got a few things to share before I maybe get emotional.

Let’s start with the obvious: you beat me—a lot. More than I managed to beat you. You challenged me in ways no one else could. On clay, it felt like I was stepping into your backyard, and you made me work harder than I ever thought I could just to hold my ground. You made me reimagine my game—even going so far as to change the size of my racquet head, hoping for any edge.

I’m not a very superstitious person, but you took it to the next level. Your whole process. All those rituals. Assembling your water bottles like toy soldiers in formation, fixing your hair, adjusting your underwear... All of it with the highest intensity. Secretly, I kind of loved the whole thing. Because it was so unique—it was so you.

And you know what, Rafa, you made me enjoy the game even more. 

OK, maybe not at first. After the 2004 Australian Open, I achieved the #1 ranking for the first time. I thought I was on top of the world. And I was—until two months later, when you walked on the court in Miami in your red sleeveless shirt, showing off those biceps, and you beat me convincingly. All that buzz I’d been hearing about you—about this amazing young player from Mallorca, a generational talent, probably going to win a major someday—it wasn’t just hype.

We were both at the start of our journey and it’s one we ended up taking together. Twenty years later, Rafa, I have to say: What an incredible run you’ve had. Including 14 French Opens—historic! You made Spain proud... you made the whole tennis world proud.

I keep thinking about the memories we’ve shared. Promoting the sport together. Playing that match on half-grass, half-clay. Breaking the all-time attendance record by playing in front of more than 50,000 fans in Cape Town, South Africa. Always cracking each other up. Wearing each other out on the court and then, sometimes, almost literally having to hold each other up during trophy ceremonies.

I’m still grateful you invited me to Mallorca to help launch the Rafa Nadal Academy in 2016. Actually, I kind of invited myself. I knew you were too polite to insist on me being there, but I didn’t want to miss it. You have always been a role model for kids around the world, and Mirka and I are so glad that our children have all trained at your academies. They had a blast and learned so much—like thousands of other young players. Although I always worried my kids would come home playing tennis as lefties.

And then there was London—the Laver Cup in 2022. My final match. It meant everything to me that you were there by my side—not as my rival but as my doubles partner. Sharing the court with you that night, and sharing those tears, will forever be one of the most special moments of my career.

Rafa, I know you’re focused on the last stretch of your epic career. We will talk when it’s done. For now, I just want to congratulate your family and team, who all played a massive role in your success. And I want you to know that your old friend is always cheering for you, and will be cheering just as loud for everything you do next.

Rafa that!

Best always, your fan, 

Roger