Stuart Coster

Research & campaigns • Better democracy • End leasehold • Owner of broken cars • Director @DemocracyMovemt • Co-founder @PeoplesPledgeEU

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

"ONS clearly pointing to AI-related investments as biggest single driver [of growth] in 2026". #ThanksBrexit

Yet Andy Burnham's reset deal is going to hand back lawmaking to the EU. 😖

@JasonGroves1 @Steven_Swinford @FraserNelson @NickFerrariLBC @SophyRidgeSky @bbclaurak

[Faisal Islam @faisalislam]

September saw some growth, more than expected.

First 9 months of the year, annualised UK growth is now running above 2.5%, clearly strongest post pandemic first three quarters, close to 2019…

ONS clearly pointing to AI-related investments as biggest single driver in 2026.

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@hawkins_carole @DemocracyMovemt @David_Cameron @PeoplesPledgeEU "Not acceptable"? 🤷‍♂️ But then David Cameron made a speech explicitly pledging a referendum in January 2013. Media reports say he wrote to the EU on that tax issue long afterwards in November 2013. And the EU didn't say "No" either, by the way. That graphic is all wrong, sorry.

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@andyburnham @afneil @SophyRidgeSky @vicderbyshire @nicholaswatt @bbcnickrobinson ... disappointed both by what he has conceded to the EU and a realisation he won't go further.

All feels very last throw of the dice, a stop-gap to get through what remains of this parliament, given unwillingness to confront the big tax & spend challenges Britain really faces.

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

Cabinet splits on Burnham's re-litigation of Brexit are exposed once again.

Why is @andyburnham destabilising his "last chance" government, by pushing exactly what he promised not to do? Is it simply ...

@afneil @SophyRidgeSky @vicderbyshire @nicholaswatt @bbcnickrobinson

[Arj Singh @singharj]

🇬🇧🇪🇺EXC: Cabinet ministers air splits over EU strategy in private meeting with Burnham

Source points to a 'clear divide' in the discussion at political Cabinet on Tuesday

https://t.co/5rrP9RZvmO

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@andyburnham @afneil @SophyRidgeSky @vicderbyshire @nicholaswatt @bbcnickrobinson ... a narrow, short-term bid to attract LibDem & Green voters, to re-frame this government and gain an early poll bounce? Yet how many seats will that save/gain, versus potential Leave losses?

It's a strategy that could well only end up uniting people against Labour ...

[The Democracy Movement @DemocracyMovemt]

It's nothing less than a massive embarrassment for the European Union, as the entity it claims to be, to not even be invited to participate in peace talks concerning a European conflict.

If events like this don't skywrite for national leaders the pointlessness and failure of today's EU institutions, what ever will?

The EU is very obviously not delivering the role, respect and influence even in the affairs of their own continent that its members might erroneously expect it to. There's simply no avoiding that hard truth.

Feels at every level like an Emperor's New Clothes moment.

#Europe #Ukraine #democracy #EuropeanUnion #EU #UE

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

Government's proposed £17bn self-assessment cash grab;

"proposed changes to how self-assessment operates are completely unworkable as they stand and will cause enormous cash flow problems for many thousands of self-employed people"
~ says @fsb_policy
https://t.co/2eOtnCJvnm

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@anandMenon1 Six years. During a time of multiple economic shocks. Is that supposedly a credible evaluation of Brexit? Either ridiculous or sinister politics, depending on the advocate.

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@AndyBounds @pmdfoster @GeorgeWParker @FinancialTimes @faisalislam @TerraOrBust @CeeMacBee @DavidGHFrost @NickFerrariLBC We can put all those yoghurt poisonings behind us? Happy days! Thank goodness for the reset and EU yoghurt vets. 😏

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@JamesCrisp6 Welcome to EU misery. We'll be required to have our yoghurts pre-inspected by vets and trudging off to the takeaway with our sad little tupperware boxes next. 😢

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

'EU reset' deal puts the deep freeze on high growth agri-tech investment. Appears the UK will merely be in 'transition' towards looming new EU rules, despite promising a carve-out. Who would invest in meantime? So much for growth.

@griffitha @JuliaLopezMP @afneil @SamCoatesSky

[The Democracy Movement @DemocracyMovemt]

After all the psychodrama of this on-off 'EU reset' deal, the PM touts basically the same GDP uplift (0.4%) as the OBR noted the Brexit trade deals delivered (0.38%), mostly agreed calmly years ago. Yet, has the Treasury factored £bns in related EU costs, not to mention lost freedom opportunity costs, such as the deep freeze now placed on agri-tech growth?
@JackElsom @bbclaurak @afneil @vicderbyshire @nicholaswatt @SophyRidgeSky @Steven_Swinford @JasonGroves1 @Peston

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@CeeMacBee Yes, the PM has massively under-counted the cash & regulatory costs, not to mention lost sovereignty opportunity. Yet touts basically the same GDP uplift as the OBR noted the Brexit trade deals offer (0.38%), mostly agreed years ago. Can all the EU psychodrama be worth it? 🤔

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@JackElsom Yes. And now the PM touts basically the same GDP uplift as the OBR noted the Brexit trade deals delivered (0.38%), mostly agreed years ago. Yet, questions over the £bns in EU cash costs, not to mention lost sovereignty opportunity. Is all the EU psychodrama really worth it? 🤔

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@julianHjessop Basically the same (mysteriously elevated) GDP uplift as the OBR noted the Brexit trade deals delivered (0.38%), mostly agreed years ago. Yet, as you say, question over the £bns in costs, not to mention lost sovereignty opportunity. Can all the EU psychodrama be worth it? 🤔

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@Steven_Swinford @HugoGye All the psychodrama about this on-off EU deal and Burnham is claiming the same (elevated) GDP gain as the OBR noted the Brexit trade deals offered, mostly agreed years ago. Yet unclear if the Treasury has included the £billions in cash concessions to the EU in their calculations.

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

@HugoGye Odd. The OBR reported the deal at 0.24% of GDP (SPS + ETS), and the Brexit trade deals contributing 0.38%. A number indeed that you cannot ignore. But where has the claimed 'reset' uplift come from and does it account for the £bns in costs?

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

A vet to inspect yoghurts.😆 The EU is a total joke. Under the 'reset', will all yoghurts now have to be inspected by UK vets, instead? A great leap forward for trade!

So debasing to concede to copy obviously daft EU laws.

@PrivateEyeNews @GuidoFawkes
@max__young @CeeMacBee

[Stuart Coster @StuartCoster]

Vast cost of the pandemic + general govt incompetence on public spending, incl councils constantly hiking council tax, has led to taxation crossing a line to repress disposable income and, consequently, growth. Tax HAS to be cut back and that requires less waste on spending.

[Paul Johnson @PJTheEconomist]

Mindblowing chart from OBR. In 2029 real household disposable income per person expected to be just 1% higher than in 2019. What an unbelievably awful decade. It used to grow by 2%+ every year, not 1% in 10 years.