John Bennett

I help businesses recruit, retain, and realise their potential.

Founder of ultra running and cycling.

let's rethink together 🤔

[John Bennett @Rethinkingwork_]

@PolitlcsUK @BlewettSam Rishi's pledge when he came to power, after the debarkle of Truss and the dishonesty of Boris!

'This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. Trust is earned. And I will earn yours'.

Another prime example of why we can't trust them!

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

I believe this is now essential

[Yuval Noah Harari @harari_yuval]

We should be careful with what we put in our mind, not just our body – is it time for an information diet?

Full interview with psychiatrist @andershansen74 here: https://t.co/YcgdCw2Wq7

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

Brilliant !

[Yuval Noah Harari @harari_yuval]

When it comes to looming #climate disaster, are humans as helpless the dinosaurs were in the face of a massive asteroid around 65 million years ago?
Full interview with Jessika Gedin for @svtbabel available at https://t.co/kNJeboxHiF.

[Robert Peston @Peston]

We just learned that the world’s most powerful person, Donald Trump, has a boss: the bond market.

He may not have acknowledged this to himself, yet, but the global financial tumult he caused - and has temporarily eased - has locked him in a fiscal prison.

Because, as I have been saying for 24 hours, he came perilously close yesterday to having caused such an extreme fall in the price of US government debt that it would have become prohibitively expensive for his administration to fund a large deficit - more than 6% of GDP - and also to refinance the almost $8 trillion of government debt that matures in the coming year (almost a third of America’s sovereign debt).

The point is he is totally in hock to the good will of bonds investors.

And when he announced his reckless roster of massive tariffs eight days ago he alienated them, because they feared he would tank the economy such that tax revenues would plummet and the deficit would balloon.

So they sold US government bonds, Treasuries, and the yield on the bonds - the de facto interest rate - soared.

Which is why Trump blinked, and put on hold the more extreme tariffs, except for the 140% on China, for 90 days.

You might think the worst part of this is the uncertainty he has created for businesses and investors for the next 90 days. Since no one in their right minds would make a major US investment till the final tariff determinations are made.

But the cancerous uncertainty is not the worst of it.

The worst of it is he has shredded any respect that overseas governments and investors might have had for America’s economic and fiscal competence.

Shades - you might say - of how Truss and Kwarteng’s unwise unfunded tax cuts undermined the perceived fiscal competence of the UK.

But unlike Truss and Kwarteng, there is pretty much no mechanism for removing Trump.

All of which means that bond and stock markets will remain fragile and volatile - fearful that Trump will regain his mojo and engage in some other fiscal extravagance.

He has also handed a loaded gun to his perceived enemy, China, and his supposed ally Japan.

This matters in both cases, because he is engaged in the mother of all trade wars with China - and Japan wants a trade deal with him that would see it escape mega tariffs.

The loaded guns they have are their massive loans to the US government. Japan owns more than a trillion dollars of US Treasuries and China not much less.

If they were to sell those bonds, or even if they chose not to refinance maturing bonds, that could be a disaster for Trump. Because it could cause another potentially crippling spike in bond yields.

Here is the measure of Trump’s debacle.

He may well have trashed America’s single most important financial competitive advantage, namely that investors have traditionally bought the dollar and US Treasuries at a time of economic and political uncertainty.

No more - because he personally has become the world’s source of economic uncertainty snd anxiety.

So, as I say he, is now in a fiscal prison. And if bond investors, including Japan and China, see him imposing tariffs or cutting taxes in ways they don’t like, they learned yesterday they have the means and power to stop him.

[Yuval Noah Harari @harari_yuval]

How can we protect our democracies?
Full conversation with @dhanyarajendran from the @KeralaLitFest available on https://t.co/AG3ZHCTNLg
#Democracy #Dictatorship

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

I cannot even begin to underline to you what a victory this is for @FishLegal_, @pickeringfish and ultimately every river in the country, just immense.

The scandal is that they had to take this case at all and the 16 years the EA have wasted.

I now look forward to discussing with @EnvAgencySE the exact detail of the plans they are now going to put in place to save the Upper Lea from extinction.

[John Bennett @Rethinkingwork_]

@healthwell_uk good morning everyone. I am the new business director for https://t.co/60X2O6tyCp and we are looking for people to trial our app and be early adopters... anyone fancy jumping on some call to discuss? Please DM or ping me an email at [email protected]

[Emmanuel Macron @EmmanuelMacron]

There is an aggressor: Russia.

There is a victim: Ukraine.

We were right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago—and to keep doing so.

By “we,” I mean the Americans, the Europeans, the Canadians, the Japanese, and many others.

Thank you to all who have helped and continue to do so. And respect to those who have been fighting since the beginning—because they are fighting for their dignity, their independence, their children, and the security of Europe.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people.
Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.

[John Bolton @AmbJohnBolton]

Trump and Vance have declared themselves to be on Russia's side in the Russo-Ukraine war.  This is a catastrophic mistake for America's national security.  And let's be clear:  Trump and Vance now personally own that policy.  It is not the view of a majority of Americans of either or no political party.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen]

I met with President Zelenskyy before his meeting with Trump and Vance. As always, he expressed his gratitude for America's support for the people of Ukraine.

He has something Trump will never have or understand: courage and principle. Every American should be outraged⬇️

[Guy Verhofstadt @guyverhofstadt]

This is disgrace … this bullying, this arrogance of Vance and Trump attacking the most courageous man on earth …we can be happy that Roosevelt and not Trump was American President in 1941…otherwise we still lived in Europe under a Nazi regime…

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

This is utterly repulsive!

Trump and Vance just tried to humiliate Zelensky live on American TV, smugly demanding gratitude while openly mocking him like playground bullies counting favors. My respect for Zelensky—and my embarrassment as an American—just surged off the charts. I’m beyond disgusted!”

[Stephen Flynn @StephenFlynnSNP]

Starmer had better get back up off his knees and revoke that offer of a state visit.

[ALASTAIR CAMPBELL @campbellclaret]

Putin and his murderous thugs are watching this and laughing their heads off. Trump and Vance are singing his songs at the top of their voices. “This is going to be great television” says Trump. All he cares about. Was talking to Michael Woolf earlier today. “You have to remember he is a reality TV star,” he said. “All he cares about is attention. And together get ratings you need conflict, conflict, conflict.” As for Vance … vile. Zelensky is a great man being treated to Mafia style bullying, intimidation and extortion. Europe has to stand up as one when Zelensky arrives in London on Sunday.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

Thames Water shows two fingers to customers.

Having spent decades ram raiding customers bank accounts for billions £, loaded the company with £19bn in debt, demanding another £3bn in debt, dumped billions of litres of sewage into rivers, over abstracted chalk streams they’re now demanding and appealed to the CMA that they should be allowed to increase bills by 53%

We’ve been had!!!

https://t.co/fpvDKV9h4A

[Yuval Noah Harari @harari_yuval]

Democracy runs on trust. Dictatorship runs on fear. The moment trust erodes – whether in institutions, elections, or truth itself – democracy crumbles.

A quote from a conversation on @RealTimers with @billmaher about the fragile foundations of democracy in the age of AI and misinformation.

#BillMaher #RealTime #Democracy #Trust #Dictatorship #Politics

[Liz Cheney @Liz_Cheney]

I’m a Reagan conservative. I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year, I am proudly voting for @KamalaHarris. Donald Trump is too dangerous ever to hold power again. We must put love of country above politics and unite to defeat him on Nov 5.

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

.@KamalaHarris has spent her life fighting for people who need a voice and a champion. She’s more than ready to be President – let’s help her get elected. https://t.co/MzJFG9c4HI