Lee Brooke-Pearce

[Lara Korte @lara_korte]

Today, I was informed that the Department of Defense is firing me for insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@LFC Oh that’s gorgeous. Well done everyone involved x

[Sarrah Bellus @sarrah_bellus]

😭🇮🇷 The Iranian LEGO guys just made a Natalie Harp video.

I genuinely wasn’t prepared for this level of internet chaos. 😂

The internet has officially lost the plot.

Did you see this?

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@RobGutmann The spectrum of opinion about CJ is as wide as I can recall of any player. You’ve got @PhilBlundell at the ‘best of the lot’ end and, you and @Knox_Harrington in the ‘brings a lot to the table’ middle ground and then this mass of poisonous takes that he is garbage.

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@TheAnfieldWrap He’s being accused of attitude when he clearly cared and felt he could offer more. We need to say thank you, wish him all the best for him and his young family. Most of these replies reflect the increasing poison associated with our fan base

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

This guy is a beast. His Senate hearings provide further evidence. Surely a contender for the next ballot.

[Acyn @Acyn]

Ossoff: When he first announced the tariffs, you remember that? He called it Liberation Day, and it crashed the markets because it was clown policy. You remember that?

OK, so follow me through on this. He announces the tariffs on April 2 of last year. The markets tank nonstop for like a week because it’s a disastrous trade policy, and six days into the crash, April 8, Trump buys millions in stock. I’m talking Amazon, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, and then the very next morning, April 9, he posts on Truth Social, quote, “This is a great time to buy.” Three exclamation marks.

OK, now listen to this. Three hours and 41 minutes after that post, one day after he bought millions in stock, he canceled the tariffs and triggered one of the biggest same-day rebound rallies in market history.

He’s trying to get money. And you saw, now he’s offering paid subscriptions to presidential announcements, right? Just understand what’s for sale here: The sitting president’s pronouncements on war and peace and economic policy delivered first to paying customers.

What an absolute crook.

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@TTomTToro @danpfeiffer Oh that was plenty funny

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

Not convinced we’ve cracked the Wirtz puzzle yet nor the gaps around him #LFC #YNWA

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@TheAnfieldWrap I’m already imagining @Knox_Harrington’s flowery intro to the Pink. Alongside the flowery shirt. Bloody marvellous. However @PhilBlundell makes a decent point about the space in front and the DM gap remains. Bit worried that Gakpo has a sulky expression.

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

This is a thoroughly enjoyable half from both sides #LFC #YNWA

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

Jacquet already a cult hero #YNWA

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@TheAnfieldWrap As always it proves our back ups can’t possibly make up a whole side but you can see one or two being useful as replacements along the way.

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@PadsCav @chrisgambler247 Agreed. But if the regulators don’t regulate then it may as well be the black market anyway. I remember ‘peak FOBTs’ and it went on a WORRYINGLY long time and whilst it’s been contained it remains evil and nothing other than a way to trap addicts in another form

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@Rupey95 @Brockyhockey @andyburnham And that’s why we have a government to protect those that do. It’s not as if bookie’s even tolerate winning punters these days. It’s an industry that knows its market. If you’re not their target victim then lucky you.

[James Noyes @jranoyes]

Some thoughts on British horseracing.

This week the Government announced that it intends to reduce, through changes to primary legislation and planning laws, the number of shops on high streets which, in its view, add little social value to local communities. This will see a reduction in the number of vape shops and adult gaming centres – both of which are deeply unpopular features of the modern high street and which many people, myself included, would like to see less of.

The Government’s announcement also included betting shops, which historically have tended to cluster in areas of social deprivation and which, as well as providing traditional sports betting services, also allow easy access to addictive electronic gaming machines. It is a fact that many MPs, including the Prime Minister, want to see a reduction in the number of EGMs on the high street.

Another fact is that the Prime Minister recently talked about his support for high street premises which, in his view, add social value to local communities. He specifically mentioned pubs in this context and announced plans to reduce business rates on pubs by 20% in the next Budget. This morning he went further, by saying the he plans to look at business rates more broadly for high street businesses, promising support for SMEs and agreeing that “the cost of doing business is too high”.

The direction of travel is pretty clear. Higher tax on social harm, lower tax on social good. Support for local communities and small businesses. With the high street as the fulcrum for this vision.

Faced with these facts, where does that leave racing? I understand that much of racing’s business model has historically depended on betting shops, and that much of the betting shop business model now depends on EGMs. But I have to say that I am sometimes surprised by the rather defeatist attitude within racing and its meek acceptance that the future of this grand old sport should necessarily depend on an unhealthy relationship with the flashing lights and ching ching ching of harmful, unpopular slot machines. Surely it is better than that?

Racing cannot change the overwhelming political and popular desire to see changes to the high street. It needs to accept political reality. Whether racing likes it or not, high street gambling premises are now in the Government’s sights. At the same time, if the number of gambling premises decline, I don’t think anyone in Government would want racing to become collateral damage. So for racing to thrive, and not just survive, it needs to wean itself off a dependent and unhealthy relationship, and be creative about its long-term sustainability and future.

My colleague @tom_sav made a recommendation last year on one way of exploring different opportunities for revenue, based on a reworking of the levy and media rights. But other opportunities should also be looked, which can chime with the social and economic vision of this new government. If the Prime Minister has pledged business rates relief for pubs, recognising their social value, why should this not also be extended to racing? A rates relief for racecourses, on training yards and stud farms. What other types of tax relief unique to racing could also be applied – for example, on bloodstock or on yearlings, as we see in America? What other areas of agricultural and rural support exist which could be applied to racing? Who within racing is thinking of these alternative options, and making the case to Government?

It makes no sense for racing to just wring its hands while the inevitable happens, lamenting the decline of high street gambling venues while not proposing a bold, alternative, creative model for its long-term future. Racing has some great allies in Government, including Sally Jameson. The Treasury recognised the importance of the sport in last year’s Budget. These are strong foundations. Rather than defeatism, it should build on these foundations and make its case for a more sustainable future than the crisis management that we have seen in recent years. Be bold!

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@Rupey95 @Brockyhockey @andyburnham Since when did a high street ever need 3-4 of them. Come on. The FOBTs meant a shop could pay for itself from one poor prick who shoved his dole money into it within an hour.

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@Rupey95 @Brockyhockey @andyburnham What is incorrect about the facts I state. I think things have improved and this will affect very little as bookies are simply not opening up new shops.

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@chhddavid I suspect the ‘I can get your skilled ass for free right ?’ might be the one that tipped the scales.

[Lee Brooke-Pearce @LeftHandLee]

@MCYeeehaaa @racingoncourse @andyburnham If the high street was full of shops that sold crack cocaine would you have the same objections to somebody ruling against their over proliferation? A stronger argument would be to say that it appears their decline from peak is now at an appropriate level and no action needed