There is no point in the Rachel reeves Mansion House speech today unless she has it cleared by Mr Burnham. The announcements she makes could b e cancelled next week when and if a new Chancellor takes up the post, or sidelined in the confusion and demands for new initiatives as a new Chancellor tries to grapple with the job.
The speech has been well heralded, with briefings telling us what will be in it. The centrepiece we read will be easier access to commercial loans for smaller companies. The Chancellor is right to realise that smaller companies have been badly hit by her blizzard of extra taxes, with NI on jobs, business rates on premises and IHT on passing on a family business. She should be able to see that smaller and medium sized businesses have struggled to make profits, cancelled new recruitment, and in some case have had to get rid of staff to try to make the books balance. Encouraging them to take out more loans to pay running costs or to help survive is bad advice. What they need is some relief from the tax attack, and some boost to their turnovers from a more prosperous country having more money to spend on the goods and services they supply.
The Chancellor may be so ill informed she thinks smaller companies need easier access to cash to expand. In order to expand you need a growing market which she has done her best to stifle by taxing people with a bit of money to spend. You do not expand your business until it is profitable and generating cash, and has potential customers to serve that you cannot fit in to your existing capacity. The Chancellor needs to get to know the realities of her low growth bloated publlic sector approach.
What small businesses need to expand is more self generated cashflow. Cash generation comes from more turnover and from realistic costs. It comes from generating profit. The problem is Labour still seem to see profit as exploitation or as something the state should confiscate. They do not see that the main use of profit is for a company to spend on expansion. A company can afford to borrow more for new property or equipment if it is generating enough cash to pay some of the costs. Try doing it all on borrowing and the company will struggle to pay the interest, let alone repay the debt when due.
July 14, 2026
How disgraceful that some in Farage’s Reform UK are attempting to obtain the maximum publicity from the tragic death of Ann Widdecombe, including photoshoots pre-organised with the media
The outrage that this has caused among Ann’s family and friends is palpable. For shame.
Reply Have you spoken to the family? Important not to misrepresent their views or drag them into political debate against their will.
July 14, 2026
And of course the Left kept stum on the sad death of Joe Cox and George Floyd ?
July 14, 2026
@Mark B – it could be suggested that the countries leadership has been implying that everything possible should be done to smash the ‘fascist right’ – meaning anyone not signed up their personal way of thinking.
July 14, 2026
And you are privy to the feelings of Ann’s family and friends?
Try just for once displaying some control and respect.
SILENCE!
July 14, 2026
Well said & agreed.
No matter personal feelings & opinion or inside information one might have on family and friends, which most of us don’t, they are colleagues doing and saying what any normal human being might wish to do when showing respect & love to ‘one of their own’ who was respected and played a big part in their party and who spoke on the party’s behalf on a subject on which she could be considered by many of us to be well informed & experienced.
July 14, 2026
How disgraceful that for political reasons you are pretending to know what AW’s family want – anti-Reform newspapers have cited “highly-placed sources” claiming to know what the family wishes are – we can guess where they are located. In fact AW’s closest family member appeared alongside Farage at a wreath-laying ceremony. Anyway, Starmer and co are very selective about announcing that “family wishes should be respected” – in several other recent cases family wishes have been ignored by them.
However, well done for producing a post that is actually relevant to the discussion for once.
July 14, 2026
“Important not to misrepresent peoples’ views” I heard a Tory MP claiming rapidly after, the death of Anne Widdedcome, that she was not really an admirror of Nigel Farage.
Reply What is an admirror? I doubt a Tory MP used that made up word.
July 14, 2026
sorry “admirer” podgy fingers and/or auto correct.
July 14, 2026
I copy the Lib Dems : X post on 15/03/2026 at 19:00:
“The greatest danger to the Britain we love does not come from Tehran or Moscow. It comes from within. “From a dark form of politics that wraps itself in the Union Jack while working to undermine everything that flag is supposed to represent. “Of course, I’m talking about Nigel Farage. And Reform.” -Ed Davey”
July 15, 2026
Ah the Post Office man! Dark politics indeed! No Union flag in sight.
July 15, 2026
+1 does not look that good in a wet suit either. Have we seen any prosecutions for perverting justice yet in these post office actions? Why not? What a wonderful court system we have in the UK has Lucy letby been given any appeal yet?
July 15, 2026
The reason why Hinkley point C is so expensive is because Cameron, Osborne and Davey decided to use Chinese finance at 9% instead of UK taxpayer funding at 2% (the rate at the time). Professor Sir Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at Oxford University, told the BBC in 2018 that the cost of HPC would have been halved if the Government had borrowed the money itself at 2% instead of using Chinese capital at 9%:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44363366
July 14, 2026
In addition to making tax digital, or difficult, requiring 5 returns pa on expensive software, Mr Burnham is reported to be planning to make self employed and landlords pay tax monthly, even on earnings not yet received. And if that wasn’t enough, landlords will have to pay National insurance. It appears that this government is determined to reward the public sector and punish the private until it isn’t worth bothering to do anything which could be called enterprise.
Personally, my investment earnings have halved over 2 years and I am surviving on savings.
July 14, 2026
There is no point in the Rachel reeves Mansion House speech today unless she has it cleared by Mr Burnham.
Let’s put it another way, There is no point in Liebour
July 14, 2026
Reeves thinks she has left the economy in a better place than where she found it. She is as deluded as Starmer?
Her policy is a Growth, Growth, Growth rain dance combined with endless economic strangulation of the real economy and a doom loop tax, net zero rip off energy and red tape agenda.
July 14, 2026
Rachel Reeves exhibits signs of enjoying depriving people of their money.
She would be better employed as a traffic warden; preferably beyond UK reach in somewhere like India or China.
July 14, 2026
From Wiki – Reeves cites the influence of her father on her social-democratic politics and those of her sister Ellie Reeves, also a Labour politician. She recalls how, when she was eight years old, her father, Graham, pointed out the then Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock on the television and “told us that was who we voted for”. Reeves says she and her sister have “both known we were Labour since then”. She joined the Labour Party at the age of sixteen.
Perhaps indoctrination of immature young minds into mad religions like Socialism and the CO2 devil gas and other religions should be considered a form of child abuse? Although she read PPE Oxon she got four As in Maths, F Maths, Economics and Politics so should know better than her doom loop lunacy. A shame her father or teachers did not introduce her to sensible economists like Milton Friedman to explain reality to her rather than encourage her to follow dire politicians like Neil Kinnock.
July 14, 2026
Former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock recently said that rejoining the EU is “the only patriotic thing to do” for Britain, calling Brexit a “self-inflicted wound”.
So submission to an anti-democratic EU and ignoring the referendum is “patriotic” says the Kinnock. I suppose the failed dire politician has to earn his and his families huge EU pensions with their special tax rules?
July 14, 2026
Kinnock did not win an election. Blair won three. He says rejoining the EU is madness. He also is (critical of ed) Milliband.
July 14, 2026
Milliband – the Net Zero Hero – has now decided to ‘sacrifice the earth’ (approve North Sea Drilling) to land Nr 11.
Cheap at the price!
July 14, 2026
Practicality of extra taxes overcomes idealism. Who knew a Labour politician had such sense?
July 14, 2026
I suspect that he will do more than sell off our oil and gas reserves to the EU, notably Germany who is completely reliant on importing oil and gas from Russia, with all that that implies in benefiting Putin and his war.
We won’t get any benefit from that other than income from the sale of our gas and oil because it will be a welcome source of money needed to offset our terrible deficit.
July 14, 2026
Indeed, but all his mad deluded policies do not even save any CO2 they just export it, import LNG and usually increase it. Not that a tiny saving in our 1% of manmade CO2 about 0/3% of total world CO2 emissions. EV, burning wood at Drax, importing natural gas, exporting industy all increase CO2. Not that a bit more CO2 is a serious problem anyway. Indeed it is a net good on balance.
July 14, 2026
Blair finally coming back to a bit of reality. But I am with Starkey and his videos Tony Blair did more harm than two world wars. He was a disaster with all his constitutional reforms, his wars, the equalty act, climate change… He won three elections because John ERM Major disaster detroyed the Tories reputation for (relative) economic competence and buried the party just as Cameron/May/Boris and funally Sunak did with their serial betrayals, covid incompetence, open borders, huge tax levels and their big state net zero lunacy.
July 15, 2026
Funnily enough I had lunch with Nick’s Gibb just after Cameron won.
It was he who told me that ‘the Tories could not come up with anything better than Blairism, they just hoped to deliver it more efficiently’. He said the restaurants of London were full to bursting. When I told him it was all borrowed or CORPORATE MONEY (he’s an accountant), he said it ‘did not matter’.
I had been expecting good news of an about turn to better times.
When I told Rodney of their strategy, I think he thought I had had too much wine, but I remember word for word what people say, especially momentous news such as the abandonment of Conservatism. Can’t remember what I ate…
However Blair revealed in his latest publication that he has become a Tory, ‘do whatever it takes to STOP THE BOATS’ etc. he’s still authoritarian, but he’s learning, too little too late. I think he is afraid of what he set in train – the destruction of the United Kingdom.
July 16, 2026
@ Lynne +1
July 16, 2026
According to the Evening Standard: Neil Kinnock was the longest-serving Leader of the Opposition in modern British political history, serving for nearly nine years continuously.
That is the extent of his achievement; being out of power where he belonged.
July 14, 2026
I asked Google a question and got this answer :-
‘ You can certainly ask an AI to write a post in the highly specific style of the frequent commenter “Lifelogic” on John Redwood’s Diary.Lifelogic is a prominent, prolific, and distinct voice in the comments section, known for fiercely championing conservative, anti-net-zero, low-tax, and pro-Brexit principles.’
I did not prompt for ‘PPE’ or ‘doom loop’. I wonder if AI would include them?
July 14, 2026
@Peter – and ‘Your’ point!
July 14, 2026
Don’t worry, most youngsters trained in the deceit of rabid socialism wake up to it in adult life. It’s just the few wackos that carry it into their later years. Of those, I doubt few actually believe it, judging by the fact they behave like red in the tooth capitalists when it comes to their own affairs.
July 16, 2026
As Rachel Reeves will be out of authority and out of the picture it would be more sensible to postpone the Mansion House speech.
Attendees and other City observers will otherwise just be going through the motions of commenting on invalid nonsense as if it was an exercise in assessing ‘what ifs’,
July 14, 2026
On the Marxist bible, profit is exploitation. Having money to spend is bad as only the government knows how to spend it.
Rachel from complaints is a dyed in the wool communist and behaves as such.
Bankrupting the capitalist system is necessary to rebuild in the always failing socialist utopia.
Burnham will probably appoint Milibrain to accelerate the destruction before calling in the IMF to take control of government finances.
July 14, 2026
To the Govt are tax receipts not ‘profit’?
Time the Govts profit was stamped out!
July 14, 2026
Well you can also think of tax reciepts as effectively “uninvesting” for the economy you take money from those who made it and spend and invest it well and efficiently and then the government (after admin costs) wastes it or often worse than wastes it on net harm Covid vaccines, lockdowns, net zero, HS2, over regulation, a bloated state sector… this then results in a smaller economy the next year and a lower tax. Doom loop lunacy.
Reeves, Two Tier and the Labour Party seem unable to grasp this rather obvious concept.
July 14, 2026
Tell them tax is the Govt. PROFIT.
Let’s see them justify that.
July 14, 2026
Good morning.
Oh what was it that former President Ronald Regan said about governments and taxation ? Ah, yes !
We are now at the final stage. Shame for Rachel it has come a bit too late 😊
July 14, 2026
Regan
On Government and Freedom
“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.”
“Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.
“On Diplomacy and Peace”
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” (from his 1987 Berlin Wall speech)
“Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
“On Humor and the Economy”
Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”
“It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?”
This especially when in the UK now you get more on benefits anyway – if you play the system. Far more with a bit of bartering and black market.
July 14, 2026
What smaller companies have REALLY been hurt by is Brexit. Extra paperwork, new rules to deal with, delays at the border – big firms can factor all that in, but it’s catstrophic for small firms. That’s why so many small firms are now in practice giving up on Mrs Thatcher’s big beautiful single market
Reply Most small firms have never exported. They now find UK taxes and rules greatly impede their work at home.
July 14, 2026
I realise that you’ve just made that up and know nothing about small businesses, but let’s pretend it’s true – under the Starmer reset small firms who don’t export or import from the EU will now be forced to follow thousands of EU rules and regulations for goods they sell ONLY in the UK. You’ve said yourself that “new rules to deal with” are “catastrophic”.
July 14, 2026
And why any problem at all as we have a free trade deal with the EU?
July 14, 2026
Roy
Correct, I ran my own small business for 30 years did no export anything, and did not want to, but had to obey thousands of EU rules, which increased my overheads.
With regards to the Mansion house speech, a complete waste of time, just like the Kings speech before Starmer resigned.
As for borrowing more money to expand, yes it can be helpful for some in the short term, but Banks do not do it for free, or at no risk, they often want your house as a guarantee against the loan, the interest which of course adds to your overheads and costs. Thus never borrowed a penny over 30 years in business, expanded and consolidated out of profit, much more slower growth, but far less risk.
July 14, 2026
The reset will provide a excellent opportunity for small firms either to re-establish trade they used to conduct before Brexit or to establish new trade. It makes perfect sense for the UK to follow EU rules – then exporters have only one set of rules to comply with not two, and we can once again enjoy the benefits of trade with the world’s largest transnational single market. And we can start undoing the folly of Brexit
Reply Exports went up after Brexit. You may make things in UK to EU standards to export and can sell things meeting EU standards in home market
July 14, 2026
@Thierry – sorry, but absolute nonsense. The EU is a protectionist block everything they do is contrived to block ‘World Trade’ That has nothing to do with the majority, the greater majority in the UK that do not trade with the block. The only hurt/damage is being done is by so-called ‘Resets’ that heap cost and burdens on the majority that otherwise wouldn’t have to dig deep to fund unnecessary bureaucracy.
Without being rude, but yes being a bit sarcastic, you are probably just ‘baiting’ – ‘Mrs Thatcher’s big beautiful single market’ where did that come from? a ‘free market’ is not the same as the EU Protected Single Market. One embraces the World the other is about isolation from the World
Only yesterday the Telegraphs owners were suggesting how good it was that the EU Commission wanted now to send EU Envoys into the block’s member countries to ‘tell’ them how to run their States in accordance to of what the EU defined as good practice. More democracy being kicked out by the authoritarians
July 14, 2026
As the owner of a small business that exports all over the world, Brexit is a very minor matter. Of far greater importance is bad government that over-taxes businesses. The doom loop isn’t being out of the EU, it’s the belief that any success in enterprise will be wiped out in the next tax take, so we don’t bother.
July 14, 2026
Indeed.
Were we still in the EU or EU friends could and would find it even easier to legally put even more grit in the engine and charge us £ billions for this kind “service”. We would have little say in anything they wanted to push though however damaging it was.
July 14, 2026
So, on your account, you export all over the world, but because of tax rules you don’t bother. Interesting take, Dave
July 15, 2026
We have to fund the EU and Ukraine as well as the Commonwealth. It’s a big ask from a shrinking wealth creating sector.
July 14, 2026
To reply: Indeed and also this extra paper work is not really needed anyway it is just our EU “friends” being deliberately unhelpful/spiteful to us and indeed also it damages themselves. Even the very few small businesses that do export much to the EU can replace this business elsewhere in the world or find other ways and partners to get round these pointless & artifical barriers to trade.
July 14, 2026
Your last paragraph says it all, it begs the question what’s so difficult that the UK.plc isn’t run utilising the same basics?
Although just suggesting that will be lost on those that think it is personal ideology that is the only direction.
July 14, 2026
2TK got to stop 1 Russian Tanker passing through the Channel.
His ‘besties’ the EU
‘In the first half of 2026, Europe bought nearly 10 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Yamal LNG, the largest project of its kind in Russia. That’s not only a 16pc jump on the same period last year, but a record amount.’
The Putin funding machine is still working well.
UK public sector net debt stands at approximately £2.98 trillion, Russia’s Debt £71 billion – there you go Rachael just in case the ability of the brain still doesn’t compute trillions are greater than billions and in this situation more is bad.
July 14, 2026
And on a purely personal matter. Reeves needs to significantly reduce the business rates on pubs. The cost of a pint in the south of England is over £6. It’s unsustainable. I have a nice local, about a 500 metre walk from home. I rarely enter now. The costs are simply prohibitive. (a pint and a glass of wine for Mrs Albion circa £15)
July 14, 2026
Wise words.
What a joke – is that all she can come up with? The she really has no clue.
Somehow I suspect Burnham will keep the current Chancellor – she makes anyone else look competent, and let’s face it with his tax-robbing initiatives he isn’t looking for anyone that can manage the economy effectively.
July 14, 2026
The socialist mindset is ever present in today’s government policy and statements.
The Labour Party has no understanding of how commercial businesses run. They (Labour) have a fixed interest in public sector activities and see ‘growth’ as an ever expanding state funded group of workers. They never talk about wealth. That failure to differentiate between growth and wealth is very informative. Do not imagine they (Labour) are not aware of the difference. They loathe profit and love borrowing, draw your own conclusions.
July 14, 2026
lots of the loans given to small businesses during covid turned out to be fraudulent, many were never paid back. expect the same again.
July 14, 2026
A big part of the problem must be the complete lack of experience of business, large or small, on the part of Rachel reeve and any of her associates, and that is quite apart from their lack of sympathy or empathy with it. This means they are reliant on the advice of their Civil Servants, to whom as well, the importance of profitability and efficiency are equally foreign. So it looks safe to assume that the mess we are in will just continue and get worse.
July 14, 2026
UK-Gibraltar-EU treaty signed today ….another step towards the EU
July 14, 2026
Labour’s main purpose in switching PM’s is not to make any major changes in policy, other than to spend and tax more to increase impoverishment, possibly introducing a wealth tax now that all other forms of taxation have been maxed out, but to install a PM they believe is sufficiently popular to stop Reform. They are hoping that small and mid sized companies will take the bait of easier loans so that they become as indebted as the country and at the same time destroying the pensions industry through bad debts. For Labour it’s a win-win move.
July 14, 2026
If labour wanted to promote growth and prosperity they would cancel Net Zero
July 14, 2026
Rachel Reeves making that speech today is a joke. First, who believes a word she says, second she will be gone in less than a week, third it is amazing she has not got the humility to cancel the speech.
As Chancellor Reeves has been a complete disaster for the UK. Yet she and Starmer seem think they have improved things!
RIP Ann Widdecombe, and may the deeply unpleasant people celebrating her death be burned by their own words.
July 14, 2026
The rumour is that Burnham will appoint Ed Miliband as Chancellor, who until now has been in charge of our energy policy. Professor Sir Dieter Helm, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford, who wrote in 2017 the government’s “Cost of Energy Review”, ends his 24/02/2026 podcast #83 entitled “The Energy Security Gap” with: “The reason why there are so many opportunities to improve our energy security is because it is very hard to conceive of any energy policy which could be making us LESS energy secure and LESS helpful as a policy towards the defence of the realm, the primary requirement of any government before anything else is considered.” There is no climate crisis and it was invented by the Left because its “solution”, Net Zero, is the perfect vehicle for sabotaging our energy and destroying our economy and national security through de-industrialisation. Appointing the dreadful Ed Miliband Chancellor is going to make everything worse.
https://dieterhelm.co.uk/publications/podcast-83-the-energy-security-gap/
July 14, 2026
The worst PM ever that is so consumed in hate for the UK and its People. He owns the hate that was once just in the shadows.
When you try to face down dissenters with name calling it is inevitable it will go wrong. If you try to paint everyone that disagrees with the ‘same brush’ the name calling the innuendo. you inevitable have those that will see it as a rallying call and respond on your behalf. When you start something, you get to ‘own it’
From the Media
Saturday 22 February 2025 – Starmer to condemn Reform UK’s ‘dangerous right-wing politics’
7 January 2025 – Responding to Sir Keir’s comments, Tory MP James Cleverly added “When will Starmer and Labour learn? Accusing those who disagrees with him, or who seeks legitimate answers about repeated failures of child protection, as ‘far right’ is deeply insulting and counterproductive. “He is the best recruiting sergeant for extremism.”
30 September, 2025 – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will call on his Labour Party to unite on Tuesday, saying it was engaged in a “fight for the soul of our country”
January 2025 – Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under fire after labelling those who demand justice for the victims of grooming gangs as “far right.” Suella Braverman – “For the Prime Minister to label anyone concerned with this scandal as ‘far right’ is a grotesque insult to survivors and to millions of decent people across the country.
28 Aug 2024 – Speaking in Germany. There are fears in Downing Street that Reform UK – or depending on who they select to replace Rishi Sunak as leader, the Conservatives – could grow into a far-right threat on a similar scale to AFD Mr Starmer added:
July 15, 2026
My electric was cut off three times last week, the last time for 2 hours. If it keeps happening, will be force to leave.