Rick
@flipchartrick.bsky.social
Nottingham-born West Londoner. Author of Flip Chart Fairy Tales blog. Patient #NFFC supporter.
Another one from today’s @resolutionfoundation.org report.
If anyone is complaining about the mansion tax, show them this.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
If anyone is complaining about the mansion tax, show them this.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
November 27, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Another one from today’s @resolutionfoundation.org report.
If anyone is complaining about the mansion tax, show them this.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
If anyone is complaining about the mansion tax, show them this.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Reposted by Rick
Lots of people predicted that the election of Donald Trump would mark the end of the left.
The opposite is true.
Here’s why @telegraphnews.bsky.social👇🏽
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/5932718...
The opposite is true.
Here’s why @telegraphnews.bsky.social👇🏽
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/5932718...
One leader has enjoyed a Trump bump and it’s not Farage
Under the cover of the new president, Keir Starmer is using the chance to drive Labour to the ‘hard centre’
www.telegraph.co.uk
March 11, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Lots of people predicted that the election of Donald Trump would mark the end of the left.
The opposite is true.
Here’s why @telegraphnews.bsky.social👇🏽
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/5932718...
The opposite is true.
Here’s why @telegraphnews.bsky.social👇🏽
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/5932718...
Reposted by Rick
Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action...
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
November 27, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action...
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
Also true of the supposedly radical alternatives.
‘Tax the rich’ or ‘cut woke initiatives and chuck the immigrants out’ are still variations on the ‘someone else will pay’ narrative.
‘Tax the rich’ or ‘cut woke initiatives and chuck the immigrants out’ are still variations on the ‘someone else will pay’ narrative.
As since at least 2016 but quite possibly 2008, UK politics is fatally undermined by dishonesty, cowardice and simplism, and nothing in this budget changes that picture. Whether it is demographics or the global economy, governments haven't wanted to level with people.
November 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Also true of the supposedly radical alternatives.
‘Tax the rich’ or ‘cut woke initiatives and chuck the immigrants out’ are still variations on the ‘someone else will pay’ narrative.
‘Tax the rich’ or ‘cut woke initiatives and chuck the immigrants out’ are still variations on the ‘someone else will pay’ narrative.
Reposted by Rick
I'm doubling down in my view that other governments would have given broadly similar budgets and be castigated by the electorate as a result for not delivering the miracle that are promised but isn't available, and until you break that cycle on we go...
So this is also a continuity budget, there's quite a lot of austerity in non-protected departments, higher welfare budgets that nobody really knows how to tackle, lots of little bits of spending and taxes here and there, and nobody is really happy with the outcome.
November 27, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I'm doubling down in my view that other governments would have given broadly similar budgets and be castigated by the electorate as a result for not delivering the miracle that are promised but isn't available, and until you break that cycle on we go...
From today’s @resolutionfoundation.org report.
Feels like a caretaker budget.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Feels like a caretaker budget.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
November 27, 2025 at 8:50 AM
From today’s @resolutionfoundation.org report.
Feels like a caretaker budget.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Feels like a caretaker budget.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Reposted by Rick
🚨 Overnight Budget analysis now live 📢
Read 'Stairway to headroom' to put the Autumn Budget decisions on tax, spending and borrowing into context.
The Chancellor has raced ahead with cost of living support but tax rises and spending cuts loom ⤵️ buff.ly/U9ZeozU
Read 'Stairway to headroom' to put the Autumn Budget decisions on tax, spending and borrowing into context.
The Chancellor has raced ahead with cost of living support but tax rises and spending cuts loom ⤵️ buff.ly/U9ZeozU
November 27, 2025 at 8:27 AM
🚨 Overnight Budget analysis now live 📢
Read 'Stairway to headroom' to put the Autumn Budget decisions on tax, spending and borrowing into context.
The Chancellor has raced ahead with cost of living support but tax rises and spending cuts loom ⤵️ buff.ly/U9ZeozU
Read 'Stairway to headroom' to put the Autumn Budget decisions on tax, spending and borrowing into context.
The Chancellor has raced ahead with cost of living support but tax rises and spending cuts loom ⤵️ buff.ly/U9ZeozU
Reposted by Rick
No less than €180 billion in frozen Russian assets are dispersed across the European Union.
The EU plan would be to deploy €140 billion (£122bn) of these assets as a zero-interest “reparations loan” to Ukraine, providing Ukraine with urgently needed resources.
The EU plan would be to deploy €140 billion (£122bn) of these assets as a zero-interest “reparations loan” to Ukraine, providing Ukraine with urgently needed resources.
Making Russia pay: the EU’s plan to rebuild Ukraine
A proposal to loan Ukraine billions in frozen Russian assets has split members of the EU on the right course of action
kentandsurreybylines.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 7:08 AM
No less than €180 billion in frozen Russian assets are dispersed across the European Union.
The EU plan would be to deploy €140 billion (£122bn) of these assets as a zero-interest “reparations loan” to Ukraine, providing Ukraine with urgently needed resources.
The EU plan would be to deploy €140 billion (£122bn) of these assets as a zero-interest “reparations loan” to Ukraine, providing Ukraine with urgently needed resources.
Reposted by Rick
the next couple of days are going to see a hell of a lot of "the rich declare themselves poor"
November 26, 2025 at 10:26 PM
the next couple of days are going to see a hell of a lot of "the rich declare themselves poor"
Reposted by Rick
Today's Budget will ease cost of living pressures next year – but it backloads the fiscal repair job to eve of next election ⤵️ buff.ly/PBAWLKZ
November 26, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Today's Budget will ease cost of living pressures next year – but it backloads the fiscal repair job to eve of next election ⤵️ buff.ly/PBAWLKZ
Who was the Tory on @channel4news.bsky.social blaming ‘Parliament’ for the bad Brexit deal?
I thought the Conservatives believed in personal responsibility.
I thought the Conservatives believed in personal responsibility.
November 26, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Who was the Tory on @channel4news.bsky.social blaming ‘Parliament’ for the bad Brexit deal?
I thought the Conservatives believed in personal responsibility.
I thought the Conservatives believed in personal responsibility.
Reposted by Rick
🚨BREXIT BUDGET🚨
Daisy Cooper MP: "There is a £90 billion hit to treasury income as a result of the Brexit deal."
"Brexit has been a disaster for our country. It has been a disaster for our economy."
Daisy Cooper MP: "There is a £90 billion hit to treasury income as a result of the Brexit deal."
"Brexit has been a disaster for our country. It has been a disaster for our economy."
November 26, 2025 at 7:15 PM
🚨BREXIT BUDGET🚨
Daisy Cooper MP: "There is a £90 billion hit to treasury income as a result of the Brexit deal."
"Brexit has been a disaster for our country. It has been a disaster for our economy."
Daisy Cooper MP: "There is a £90 billion hit to treasury income as a result of the Brexit deal."
"Brexit has been a disaster for our country. It has been a disaster for our economy."
Reposted by Rick
On Truss & Kwarteng in ‘22. Allister Heath, Telegraph: “the best budget I have ever heard a British chancellor deliver". Alex Brummer, Mail: “a genuine Tory package elbowing to one side the Treasury's fiscal conservatism".
These men will now be paid actual money for their analysis of today’s budget.
These men will now be paid actual money for their analysis of today’s budget.
November 26, 2025 at 4:32 PM
On Truss & Kwarteng in ‘22. Allister Heath, Telegraph: “the best budget I have ever heard a British chancellor deliver". Alex Brummer, Mail: “a genuine Tory package elbowing to one side the Treasury's fiscal conservatism".
These men will now be paid actual money for their analysis of today’s budget.
These men will now be paid actual money for their analysis of today’s budget.
Reposted by Rick
V interesting to see Giles and @chrisdillow.bsky.social coalescing around the strategic need to reduce private consumption in order to stimulate investment. Maybe they have done before, but it's the first time I've seen it so explicit.
Just before that OBR document dropped, I wrote this about why sluggish household spending is part of the grim plan
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
the chart of misery, and also a sign of success
stagnant household real consumption is what we were told we needed
open.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM
V interesting to see Giles and @chrisdillow.bsky.social coalescing around the strategic need to reduce private consumption in order to stimulate investment. Maybe they have done before, but it's the first time I've seen it so explicit.
Reposted by Rick
There's a lot in this chart. Would love to see the equivalent for e.g. France or Denmark.
I expect we'd see: less tax on median earner. More tax on top decile. More welfare and benefit-in-kind at the higher deciles.
I expect we'd see: less tax on median earner. More tax on top decile. More welfare and benefit-in-kind at the higher deciles.
November 26, 2025 at 6:13 PM
There's a lot in this chart. Would love to see the equivalent for e.g. France or Denmark.
I expect we'd see: less tax on median earner. More tax on top decile. More welfare and benefit-in-kind at the higher deciles.
I expect we'd see: less tax on median earner. More tax on top decile. More welfare and benefit-in-kind at the higher deciles.
Reposted by Rick
The OBR’s productivity downgrade was expected to present the Chancellor with lots of work to do to stick to her fiscal rules, but in the end that didn’t happen because the OBR also revised up wages and prices.
Wages are taxed more than profits, so that means they expect a more ‘tax-rich’ economy.
Wages are taxed more than profits, so that means they expect a more ‘tax-rich’ economy.
November 26, 2025 at 6:00 PM
The OBR’s productivity downgrade was expected to present the Chancellor with lots of work to do to stick to her fiscal rules, but in the end that didn’t happen because the OBR also revised up wages and prices.
Wages are taxed more than profits, so that means they expect a more ‘tax-rich’ economy.
Wages are taxed more than profits, so that means they expect a more ‘tax-rich’ economy.
As @stephenkb.bsky.social says, this is a government that is hoping something will turn up, including "as yet unproven reserves of courage when it comes to implementing new tax rises and further spending reductions in the final year of the parliament".
www.ft.com/content/e1b1...
www.ft.com/content/e1b1...
Rachel Reeves doubles down on wishful thinking
A government that can’t make tough choices now is unlikely to do so on the eve of an election
www.ft.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:00 PM
As @stephenkb.bsky.social says, this is a government that is hoping something will turn up, including "as yet unproven reserves of courage when it comes to implementing new tax rises and further spending reductions in the final year of the parliament".
www.ft.com/content/e1b1...
www.ft.com/content/e1b1...
Reposted by Rick
I also had a take along these lines a while back. criticalfinance.org/2022/08/02/d...
Do economists need to talk about consumption?
This post was originally published here, as part of a series titled Demanding change by changing demand produced by environmental charity Global Action Plan. Some similar themes are explored in mor…
criticalfinance.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I also had a take along these lines a while back. criticalfinance.org/2022/08/02/d...
We need to reduce household consumption, says @gilesyb.bsky.social.
Just before that OBR document dropped, I wrote this about why sluggish household spending is part of the grim plan
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
the chart of misery, and also a sign of success
stagnant household real consumption is what we were told we needed
open.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:40 PM
We need to reduce household consumption, says @gilesyb.bsky.social.
Reposted by Rick
Just before that OBR document dropped, I wrote this about why sluggish household spending is part of the grim plan
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
the chart of misery, and also a sign of success
stagnant household real consumption is what we were told we needed
open.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Just before that OBR document dropped, I wrote this about why sluggish household spending is part of the grim plan
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
open.substack.com/pub/gileswil...
Reposted by Rick
Big fear for the Budget was the green transition.
✅ Heat pump funding remains.
✅ VAT remains on gas.
✅ Support for EVs extended.
✅ Renewable charges removed from electricity.
🤷🏻♂️ EV per-mile charge - barrier to entry as in NZ?
🤷🏻♂️ North Sea drilling
🤷🏻♂️ Fuel duty increase. U-turn likely?
Ok overall.
✅ Heat pump funding remains.
✅ VAT remains on gas.
✅ Support for EVs extended.
✅ Renewable charges removed from electricity.
🤷🏻♂️ EV per-mile charge - barrier to entry as in NZ?
🤷🏻♂️ North Sea drilling
🤷🏻♂️ Fuel duty increase. U-turn likely?
Ok overall.
November 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Big fear for the Budget was the green transition.
✅ Heat pump funding remains.
✅ VAT remains on gas.
✅ Support for EVs extended.
✅ Renewable charges removed from electricity.
🤷🏻♂️ EV per-mile charge - barrier to entry as in NZ?
🤷🏻♂️ North Sea drilling
🤷🏻♂️ Fuel duty increase. U-turn likely?
Ok overall.
✅ Heat pump funding remains.
✅ VAT remains on gas.
✅ Support for EVs extended.
✅ Renewable charges removed from electricity.
🤷🏻♂️ EV per-mile charge - barrier to entry as in NZ?
🤷🏻♂️ North Sea drilling
🤷🏻♂️ Fuel duty increase. U-turn likely?
Ok overall.
Reposted by Rick
Think Reeves can chalk this up as a win. A big win actually.
U.K 30 YEAR GILT YIELD DOWN 9.8 BPS TO 5.23%, IN BIGGEST ONE DAY FALL SINCE APRIL
November 26, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Think Reeves can chalk this up as a win. A big win actually.
Reposted by Rick
“This was a big Budget, but not in the way people were necessarily expecting.” – @helenmiller.bsky.social
📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...
📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...
November 26, 2025 at 3:06 PM
“This was a big Budget, but not in the way people were necessarily expecting.” – @helenmiller.bsky.social
📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...
📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...
Taxing all income at the same rate is reasonable when we face a proportionately shrinking working-age population.
Pity the government only inched towards it.
Pity the government only inched towards it.
New 2% tax rise on property income, savings and dividend income. A welcome step to reducing the gap between tax on work and other forms of income.
November 26, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Taxing all income at the same rate is reasonable when we face a proportionately shrinking working-age population.
Pity the government only inched towards it.
Pity the government only inched towards it.
Reposted by Rick
Cash ISA limit cut to £12,000 as expected - though only for under 65s! A new bias in the tax system towards pensioners is introduced....
November 26, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Cash ISA limit cut to £12,000 as expected - though only for under 65s! A new bias in the tax system towards pensioners is introduced....