Financial Times: Anthropic presses on with listing. Al giant defies tech rout. IPO planned before Thanksgiving. Valuation hopes scaled back.
Comment: One can almost touch the delight the whole of the Anti-Trump media machine is enjoying at the moment. Not only has the orange one been absolutely humiliated at the polling booths and even been dissed by his VP, the tech sector which has been the flagship of his Presidency has been left in tatters. What would seal the deal is if the Anthropic IPO was pulled, or at least severely downgraded in terms of valuation. The FT and friends can only hope.
Financial Times: West End shoppers step up spending after Oxford Street closes to traffic. Spending across London's West End rose 13 per cent in the first six days after Oxford Street was pedestrianised, in a sign that the controversial scheme could boost under-pressure retailers in the run-up to Christmas.
Comment: Just in case you did not know which side the pink publication’s bread is buttered on, it goes for the probably statistically irrelevant story that in the first 6 days of the draconian pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, spending in London’s West End was up 13%. Presumably, this number did not include contributions from the old, disabled, and lazy, or times when it was raining. Perhaps the story could have been balanced out by mentioning that sales may have risen in the wake of massive publicity to the area in recent weeks?
The Telegraph: Stephen Miller’s promotion shows the White House is ready for war. President appoints his ‘hammer’ to top role as his administration prepares to take on a Democrat-controlled Congress. Mr Miller’s elevation on Friday came days after American voters delivered a stunning rebuke to the US president’s approach to his second term and handed Democrats control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Comment: It would appear that President Trump is ready to step up a gear for a final throw of the MAGA dice. However, it remains to be seen and assessed whether the main factor in the midterms loss was Iran, the end of MAGA, or just an ageing President. Of course, it could be a combination of all three, something even having a hardliner cracking the whip will only offset to a limited degree.
The Independent: Jimmy Kimmel skewers Trump with two-word zinger after latest Oval Office proclamation. ‘That’s right. His historic Diet Coke button will be preserved for many generations to come,’ Kimmel quipped.
Comment: Obviously most of the entertainment world is going to be as inclusive and liberal as possible, as fake niceness is even more powerful than fake news. Alas, if the likes of Kimmel were that persuasive, or even that funny (with or without a team of script writers), their arch-enemy Donald Trump would never have become President for not one, but two terms. Kicking him when he is down is all very well, especially now that he is in the lame duck zone anyway. With nothing now to lose this may be the most dangerous period for the Democrat friendly brigade.
The Telegraph: Trump ‘planning double deal with Putin to end two wars’. US president aims to use talks with Moscow to end conflicts in Ukraine and Iran and reopen Strait of Hormuz. Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Mr Trump said he was discussing a deal with Putin to end the war in Ukraine and redraw the security architecture of Europe. His comments raised fresh fears that he would attempt to squeeze Kyiv and other European capitals into a deal favourable to Moscow. Two top officials told The Telegraph that Continental leaders would push back against any such arrangement.
Comment: Something that would be really irksome to Trump’s enemies would be a legacy of sorting out one war that he created which should not have happened, and ending one war that both his predecessors Obama and Biden allowed to happen. The tone of the article is that Continental leaders would prefer the wars to continue than see Trump gain any glory from ending them.
BBC: The naming of smoky bacon-flavoured crisps has become the latest political headache to emerge from the government's bid for closer ties with the EU. The government is negotiating a deal on food standards in a bid to cut costs for British companies trading with Europe. On Thursday, Environment Secretary Angela Eagle told a radio presenter he should "get a life" when he asked about the potential impact of the new rules on snacks, such as smoky bacon crisps.
Comment: We are reminded of what is and was the unacceptable face of bureaucracy, combined with the overdose of red tape and lawfare, which being in the EU was. And given that apparently the best way of getting a life after 10 years in the Blob’s punishment beating wilderness is to ban smoky bacon crisps, even if they have no bacon in them, smoky or otherwise.
The Telegraph: Britain’s richest have no incentive to stay, says rugby team owner. Andrew Thirkill, who co-owns rugby league team Hull FC, accused the Government of “attacking” entrepreneurs and called Labour’s tax rises “a vicious downward death spiral”. Mr Thirkill – who has a reported net worth of £175m – added: “If we go down this route of taxing business owners and flattening aspiration, like we are doing, and destroying people who are working hard – people who want to work hard – and they disappear, the country will be left in an economic mess.
Comment: Rich people leaving the company comes down mostly to the fact that rich people do not normally vote Labour, whereas poor people coming to the country normally will. This is at the heart of what we have seen over the past couple of years, and what this country last saw in the 1970s when Labour was taxing the rich until the pips squeak. The problem then was that it did not have anyone to replace those votes, but the money was replaced by the IMF. The relief for the country then was that the 1974-1979 government was not re-elected, whereas a December 10 election (rumoured currently) could see bouncing Burnham receive a mandate.
FT Advisor: Wealth may be on the move, but UK remains firmly on the map For internationally mobile families, stability remains a significant asset. Robust property rights, a reliable rule of law and the UK’s strong financial standing underpin sound long-term decisions in a way that few other jurisdictions can match.
Comment: Just as a counter to the negative outlook (last one to leave, turn the lights out if they are still working) article in The Telegraph, we have a Ministry of information supplied / FT Advisor article, extolling the virtues of paying people to do nothing, two tier justice, record high taxes, the Renters Rights Act, zero growth, otherwise known as “Robust property rights, a reliable rule of law and the UK’s strong financial standing” (being £3tln in debt).
The Telegraph: Judges ‘setting rents’ as rush of tenants take landlords to court. More tenants are using the courts to challenge rent rises – and judges are siding with them. In one particularly striking decision a landlord was forced to cut the rent by £210 a month after a court rebuffed their request to raise it by £17.
Comment: As we have known for some years, judges are now merely the instruments of the Blob, and the enemies of private enterprise, or indeed anyone whom they feel has ideas or assets above their station. Kangaroo courts may be appropriate in instances where people have done 24mph in a 20mph zone, but really there should be an AI bot to resolve matters such as rent control, which should not be in the realm of the courts, any budding Rachmans notwithstanding.
The Guardian: The Home Office is being sued for alleged breach of the Brexit withdrawal agreement after stripping almost 1,500 EU citizens of their full rights to live in the UK. Campaign group the3million lodged papers at the high court on Friday after several cases emerged of EU citizens who were granted pre-settled status to remain in the country after Brexit but were told recently those decisions were an “error”. According to the statement of claim, the Home Office decision to remove all or some rights from citizens granted pre-settled status was made without “procedural protections” required under the Brexit withdrawal agreement (WA).
Comment: Presumably, all the ads on the Underground in the wake of the Brexit vote urging EU citizens to apply for the right to remain – after the majority of the country had decided they did not like the idea – were paid for by the Home Office / Remainers. Therefore, it is all the more embarrassing that the pro-immigration body has been hauled over the coals for not doing what it is supposed to do, which is to keep our borders as open as possible. Hopefully, the matter can be resolved with minimal expense to the taxpayer, who will no doubt be paying to accommodate the 1,500 new arrivals soon.