Robert Harris

European. Social Democrat. Owned by a Jack Russell. Entirely own views.

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@JamesMelville Why the fuck?
A proposal to ruin the beautiful Fife countryside.
And don't get me going on the horrendous offshore wind farm blighting the spectacular sea views from St Andrews.
Pure tossery.

[InfoGram @_InfoGram_]

This is extremely shameful.

🇦🇺Australian filmmaker Juliet said:

"I was raped by an Israeli soldier inside a darkened shipping container while handcuffed and shackled on a Gaza aid flotilla.

They also used water torture and beatings."

The matter is even more shameful when the whole world is silent and toothless on this 😭

[sarah @sahouraxo]

BREAKING:

Israel is dropping white phosphorus bombs on civilian areas in the village of Arnoun, Nabatieh, South Lebanon.

These are internationally banned munitions — and Israel is unleashing them against civilians.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🎥 Juliet Lamont, an Australian documentary filmmaker and Gaza flotilla activist, speaks to Double Down News about being raped by Israeli soldiers after the aid vessel she was aboard was intercepted earlier this month.

Lamont says soldiers pulled down her trousers and underwear and that an Israeli soldier forcibly penetrated her vagina while she was in detention. She was among more than 450 activists seized when Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud flotilla in international waters. Organizers say at least 15 detainees reported sexual assault or rape while in Israeli custody.

Full interview is linked below.

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@simon_schama "It's exhausting to be Jewish in the UK"

but...

It's a death sentence to be an Arab in Gaza.

#Perspective

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

I'd like to say unbelievable, but we have all heard so many similar stories from returning medics that I am so sad to say I believe every word.

And yet western governments are doing almost nothing to stop the atrocities that are persisting in Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon.

[Paul Graham @paulg]

Tucker Carlson interviews a British doctor who worked in Gaza.

"Four young teenage boys were brought in, all of whom who'd been shot in the testicles."

[Paul Graham @paulg]

Tucker Carlson interviews a British doctor who worked in Gaza.

"Four young teenage boys were brought in, all of whom who'd been shot in the testicles."

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@StAndrewsCit I walk past it often. Never been tempted to go in.

It seems no one else is either.

Reinstate the cinema. A far more valuable local resource.

[Shaun King @shaunking]

If 9 Jewish paramedics were killed ANYWHERE in the world it would be called terrorism.

And we’d never hear the end of it.

Israel slaughtered 9 paramedics in 72 hours, most of which we’ve seen on film, and we only hear their names on Twitter.

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

The consequences of choice:

[Jack Prandelli @jackprandelli]

Norway and the UK drilled the same North Sea.

🇳🇴Norway got $2 trillion.
🇬🇧The UK got tax cuts.

Same basin,Same era.... Completely different outcomes.

Norway captured $30 per barrel in government revenue. The UK captured $11.

That gap, compounded over 50 years of production, is the entire difference.

Norway's model was simple: tax heavily (78% marginal rate), take direct equity stakes in fields via the SDFI, own part of Equinor, and put everything surplus into a fund invested abroad.

The Government Pension Fund Global now holds over $2 trillion in assets.
That's $390,000 per Norwegian citizen about 1.5% of all listed equities on earth.

The fiscal rule: only spend the 3% annual real return. Never touch the principal.

The UK started producing earlier, at lower prices, with a lower tax rate (40%) and no saving mechanism.

North Sea revenues flowed straight into the general budget.

Economists estimate the UK missed out on roughly £400 billion compared to a Norwegian style regime.

The windfall largely financed tax cuts in the 1980s rather than a fund.

Where things stand in 2026?

Norway's petroleum sector will generate $63 bn in net cash flow this year alone feeding a fund already large enough to cover 10-15% of the national budget from returns alone.

The UK is a net energy importer.
Since 2021 it has paid countries like Norway more than £100 billion for gas.

One country treated oil as a finite resource to convert into permanent financial wealth.

The other treated it as income.

image source:eia

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

Two marches in Central London today.

Two very different vibes.

I don't think I've ever seen so many shaven headed, middle aged white guys in one place at the same time.
#HonestlyNotMyTribe

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@DanNeidle
Dan, I've always respected your fact driven logic. A question:

If I receive an 'unconditional gift' of £5m do I pay tax on this sum?

Or does the risk remain for 7 years (if my benefactor UK taxpayer, which he may not be), with the [crypto] donor making the gift?

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

He was my boyhood hero in the 70's.

I met him in the 90's.

We shared stories (mainly his) and drinks (mainly his).

But I was blessed to have known him.

A legend.

[The Extreme Football Enthusiast @ExtremeFootbal4]

"If I had to choose between dribbling past 5 players and scoring from forty yards at Anfield or shagging Miss World, it'd be a hard choice. Thankfully I've done both."

— George Best

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@JamesMelville Always delicious.
Try their (large) steak pies too. Beyond yummy.

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@UndisScot Lauder.

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@JamesMelville Spooky, you must have followed me around today.
Walked the dog down those very same streets before buying a sandwich to eat in the wonderful St Mary's quad.
I love living here.

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@JamesMelville Which is why I love having a home there.
Well presented, James.

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@DaleBissland Hi Dale
Where can your originals be seen and purchased?
Thanks

[Joe Biden @JoeBiden]

What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans. We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights. We are not a nation that tramples the 4th Amendment and tolerates our neighbors being terrorized. The people of Minnesota have stood strong — helping community members in unimaginable circumstances, speaking out against injustice when they see it, and holding our government accountable to the people. Minnesotans have reminded us all what it is to be American, and they have suffered enough at the hands of this Administration. Violence and terror have no place in the United States of America, especially when it’s our own government targeting American citizens.

No single person can destroy what America stands for and believes in, not even a President, if we — all of America — stand up and speak out. We know who we are. It's time to show the world. More importantly, it's time to show ourselves.

Now, justice requires full, fair, and transparent investigations into the deaths of the two Americans who lost their lives in the city they called home. Jill and I are sending strength to the families and communities who love Alex Pretti and Renee Good as we all mourn their senseless deaths.

[Robert Harris @ProfRHarris]

@campbellclaret @willie_rennie A very fitting tribute to a lovely and authentic man, too often traduced in his lifetime by other, much lesser men.