Tramontana
tramontana.bsky.social
Tramontana
@tramontana.bsky.social
Everything happens for a good reason
The OBR has calculated that if net inward migration drops by 100,000 the UK loses about £7 billion in tax revenue. Well, the news is it's fallen by 200,000. So the country is £14 billion worse off.

Removal of the child benefit cap will cost about £3bn/year.

Anyone from Reform UK care to comment?
November 27, 2025 at 2:41 PM
For anyone interested in humanoid robots, here's the best video I've seen on what they are and what they mean for us mere humans. Spoiler: it's not all bad news.
youtu.be/D9Br0hD6jUw?...
These Robots Are Taking Jobs
YouTube video by Interesting Engineering
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 10:32 AM
The UK looks set to introduce a digital ID for all its citizens. A petition against it has already got over 2m 'signatures', but how many of these are bots? It occurs to me that if social media websites were to insist on a valid digital identity to allow posting, the bots would vanish overnight.
September 27, 2025 at 9:24 PM
I was sent this & can't resist sharing it. Such skilled use of language...
September 25, 2025 at 8:38 PM
So no deal on Ukraine. Quel surprise!
In all of this, has nobody thought about the people of Crimea, Donbas etc? When will someone suggest asking them which country they would like to live in once peace is restored? Is it not their democratic right to choose?
August 16, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Here in deepest Yorkshire the unusually long hot summer has produced a bumper crop of figs from trees normally remaining fruitless. So here's an Italian-inspired creation I call "Alien eggs" (from the movie(s)); figs stuffed with Gorgonzola, wrapped in Parma ham then baked.
August 13, 2025 at 7:06 PM
There's a lot of guff spoken about the supposed "flight of the wealthy" in response to increased taxes. So how about some facts?
patrioticmillionaires.org/perspectives...
Millionaires won't leave if you tax them
patrioticmillionaires.org
August 9, 2025 at 8:37 AM
To anyone in the UK who is concerned about wealth inequality:
mailchi.mp/e27e37c9ebb4...
Get Gary's new newsletter
mailchi.mp
August 9, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I joined the Labour Party last year because their local councillors are the only ones around here who care about the town. But if they lose the next election because they a) didn't tax the super-rich and b) ignored the need for electoral reform, I'm out. Those are my red lines.
August 3, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Sunday morning means "eggfirst". Scrambled egg and kibble. Nothing gets left.
July 27, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Must be a rare thing for Scots to pray for torrential rain.
July 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
So Richard Tice thinks politics need to be run in the same way as business. So how many businesses put a 19-year-old in as chairman? And if it's OK for one so young to be leader of Warwickshire County Council one year after coming of voting age, why is it wrong for 16-year-olds to get the vote?
July 22, 2025 at 7:48 PM
So, not content with upsetting Elon Musk (X), Trump is now going for WSG (backed by Rupert Murdoch).

Big mistake. Has he never heard the words of Mark Twain?

"Never pick a fight with people who order ink by the barrel"
July 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
For those who don't know, this guy is a self-made multi-millionaire, possibly even in the super-rich bracket:
youtube.com/shorts/nzz0X...
A message to the super rich
YouTube video by Garys Economics
youtube.com
July 17, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reform UK are getting desperate to find things to hate:
youtube.com/shorts/_o0Qq...
Wimbledon Line Judges
YouTube video by Sam Avery
youtube.com
July 8, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Anyone who still thinks oil is the future should take a look at this:
youtu.be/K6jinZXvS-k?...
EV Battery Shake Up, ChatGPT's & VW’s EV for Everyone?!
YouTube video by Everything Electric Show
youtu.be
June 16, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I found an unlikely link between Brian Wilson and the recent events in LA. On the 1971 album "Surf's Up" there's a great rocking number, "Student Demonstration Time", about the riot on May 4 1970 at Kent State University following excessive police action. Historical but also strangely prophetic.
June 15, 2025 at 1:40 PM
USA is a gun-owning society. When events like LA and Minnesota occur, instead of kneeling before the new wannabe dictator, honest citizens will get first afraid, then angry, and buy guns to defend themselves. And they have the money to buy the best available.
Civil war is only a few steps away.
June 15, 2025 at 12:35 PM
So why did the Israeli regime choose now to start a war with Iran, which has been developing nuclear weapons for years? The cynic in me suggests it's a distraction, to take media attention away from the slaughter going on in Gaza. Netanyahu has no scruples and will do anything to remain in power.
June 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Consequences...
The Israeli strikes on Iran are likely to reduce the supply of drones from Tehran to Moscow, which may take some pressure off Ukraine.
But Russia have improved the design, making them harder to shoot down.
So, will Russian technology be used to attack Israel?
June 13, 2025 at 8:34 AM
I just want to say that for me, Brian Wilson transformed whatever ideas I may have previously had about music. He opened doors into the impossible and left me in awe. God Only Knows was the pinnacle of a legendary mountain of talent.
June 12, 2025 at 6:26 PM
For anyone regretting the reputational damage they may have incurred by buying a Tesla:
www.channelstv.com/2025/06/11/f...
French Tesla Customers Sue Over Brand Becoming 'Extreme Right'
French Tesla Customers Sue Over Brand Becoming 'Extreme Right'
www.channelstv.com
June 11, 2025 at 11:18 AM
If you go down to the beach today ... (by Mark Reeve)
June 9, 2025 at 12:27 PM