Adrian Cole

Small business owner. Pragmatist, optimist, cyclist.

[Daniel Priestley @DanielPriestley]

Before Windows95, before Oasis released Wonder Wall and before OJ Simpson faced trial, our new PM Andy Burnham had a job. He had a job as a journalist working for a little publishing company for 3 years.

This is the only job any of the new UK Government Cabinet has had.

Other than those three years, more than 30 years ago the entire cabinet has only ever worked in tax payer funded roles.

None of them have ever had to make a sale. None of them have been paid to pour a pint. None have felt a sick feeling about making payroll. None have been answerable to investors.

In the UK 50% of the jobs are small businesses and almost ALL of the jobs growth is small businesses. None of them has ever started, owned or run one. Wouldn’t it be nice if just one of them had some experience in making a small business profitably grow before having a crack at the 7th largest economy.

Imagine what it must feel like to KNOW that your wage is paid for by the tax-payer. Imagine the certainty and security working for a government that never fires anyone for anything. Imagine how it would feel knowing you could blow out a budget with no real consequences or you could completely screw up a project and nothing bad would happen. Imagine that level of insulation and comfort for decades.

I can’t. I’ve been in business for the last 25 years. If I don’t sell I don’t eat. If I screw up I face very real consequences very fast. Millions of small businesses are being asked to get out there and hire people and grow the economy by a team of people who’ve never had a proper job. Surely something isn’t right with that?

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@freddienew @Thesecretinves2 @danhowitt Thanks for all your work Freddy

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@lewis_goodall I know you are just being provocative, but it’s a foolish argument and the comments show that. Apart from being foolish, this would end all family business - can’t have a family business if you can’t pass it on.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@lewis_goodall @lewis_goodall you should do some more research into the impact IHT has on family businesses. It’s a cruel and deeply immoral tax. I’d be happy to tell you about my case!

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@starkness @DavidFBailey @BitcoinIsaiah @speedwallet It should be just a tiny bit cheaper, 1% would be enough to make a conversation. Should be easy given the savings in cc fees.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@PeterMcCormack @jjpoconnell So utterly depressing listening to these wonderful ideas and knowing there is zero chance our system will change anytime soon. If only. If only.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

Me: 'AI Please fix this'
AI: 'I've done it'
Me: 'No thats worse'
AI: ' You are right, but I fixed it now'
Me: 'Try again, still broken, check the logs'
AI: 'I fixed it now for sure'
Me: 'Thats the same kind of broken as before'
*sigh*

[Robert Sterling @RobertMSterling]

I don’t want to connect my coffee machine to the wifi network. I don’t want to share the file with OneDrive. I don’t want to download an app to check my car’s fluid levels. I don’t want to scan a QR code to view the restaurant menu. I don’t want to let Google know my location before showing me the search results. I don’t want to include a Teams link on the calendar invite. I don’t want to pay 50 different monthly subscription fees for all my software. I don’t want to upgrade to TurboTax platinum plus audit protection. I don’t want to install the Webex plugin to join the meeting. I don’t want to share my car’s braking data with the actuaries at State Farm. I don’t want to text with your AI chatbot. I don’t want to download the Instagram app to look at your picture. I don’t want to type in my email address to view the content on your company’s website. I don’t want text messages with promo codes. I don’t want to leave your company a five-star Google review in exchange for the chance to win a $20 Starbucks gift card. I don’t want to join your exclusive community in the metaverse. I don’t want AI to help me write my comments on LinkedIn. I don’t even want to be on LinkedIn in the first place.

I just want to pay for a product one time (and only one time), know that it’s going to work flawlessly, press 0 to speak to an operator if I need help, and otherwise be left alone and treated with some small measure of human dignity, if that’s not too much to ask anymore.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@samcallah It is difficult to get someone to understand something when their salary depends on their not understanding it.

[Izabella Kaminska @izakaminska]

Also the euphemistic language deployed on all fronts is hilarious. “Regulatory innovation”. “Simplification”. “Government efficiency”. Reality = we need to slash cushy govt jobs which exist primarily to absorb the legions of elites our education systems over produce.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@PeterMcCormack What about the next level - for example the SPADs supporting them? I wonder how deep the ignorance goes?!

[Peter McCormack 🏴‍☠️🇬🇧🇮🇪 @PeterMcCormack]

I asked ChatGPT if anyone on Labour’s front bench has ever created or run a successful business. The answer? NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM.

Despite zero experience in setting up or operating a private business, these are the people shaping policies for the economy. No wonder they appear to have no fucking clue with what they are doing.

Anyway…
1. Keir Starmer – Practiced as a barrister specialising in human rights law; appointed Queen's Counsel in 2002.
2. Angela Rayner – Worked as a care worker before becoming a trade union representative.
3. Rachel Reeves – Served as an economist at the Bank of England and later at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.
4. Yvette Cooper – Worked as an economic policy researcher and advisor, including roles in the private sector.
5. David Lammy – Practiced as a barrister after being called to the Bar in 1994.
6. Wes Streeting – Worked for the National Union of Students and in various roles within the Labour Party.
7. Ed Miliband – Worked as a television journalist and researcher before entering politics.
8. Bridget Phillipson – Worked for a women's refuge charity prior to her political career.
9. Pat McFadden – Worked as a researcher and advisor within the Labour Party.
10. Shabana Mahmood – Worked as a barrister specialising in professional indemnity law.
11. Jonathan Reynolds – Worked as a solicitor before entering politics.
12. Liz Kendall – Worked as a health policy advisor and in the charitable sector.
13. John Healey – Worked for the Trades Union Congress and as a journalist.
14. Louise Haigh – Worked in public sector IT and as a trade union representative.
15. Thangam Debbonaire – Worked as a professional cellist and in domestic violence charities.

We need politicians qualified for the job they are doing.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@PeterMcCormack I agree, it’s v lazy legal theft - but what can be done about it? It’s been thus for thousands of years.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@BitcoinVanguard There is no price - there is only ‘for what purpose’ - you ask the wrong question.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

Another example of government over-reach or a worthy safety driven improvement?https://t.co/gtLmF5xT1z

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@TheNewsAgents @maitlis @jonsopel Hey @thenewsagents can you cover where al lthe billions of pounds of extra interest on mortgages is actually going? Who is getting this money that we are all having to pay now?

[Dan Schwarz @dschwarz26]

I bet I'm not the only one that has convos like this:

Me: LLMs are generational tech. I'm excited and terrified.

Them: You're worried about a Terminator / Kurzweil scenario?

Me: A bit. I'm more worried about chaos in the next 2-5 years.

Them: What exactly do you mean?

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@maitlis @jjenas8 I can just imagine the WhatsApp groups at the BBC right now!

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

@1986mattw @PaulWoldfarm I’ve had ‘trained’ forklift drivers from and agency at my business who had no place behind the wheel until I had re-trained them. Machines and tasks vary so much, the training needs to be specific to the job or it’s no good. Also, some people just don’t ‘have it’.

[Adrian Cole @adriancole]

The humble potato is a wonderful food