Ben
@benbl.bsky.social
#Translator 🇩🇪👉🇬🇧 based in #Frankfurt. Banking, finance, marketing, climate, sustainability. Striving to stay one step ahead of #MTPE.
Amateurish 🌱-grower, 🚂-taker and 🌳-hugger.
Amateurish 🌱-grower, 🚂-taker and 🌳-hugger.
It's pathetic how easily MPs, especially Labour ones, are just caving in to this whole racist narrative. Your job as an MP is to represent and stand up for all your constituents, not just the tiny minority of outright bigots
December 5, 2025 at 8:25 AM
It's pathetic how easily MPs, especially Labour ones, are just caving in to this whole racist narrative. Your job as an MP is to represent and stand up for all your constituents, not just the tiny minority of outright bigots
Speaking purely tactically: even if I were a knuckle-dragging racist who believed this nonsense, I wouldn't vote for Labour - I'd go for the real deal: Reform.
December 5, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Speaking purely tactically: even if I were a knuckle-dragging racist who believed this nonsense, I wouldn't vote for Labour - I'd go for the real deal: Reform.
Super, danke - notiert 👍
December 4, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Super, danke - notiert 👍
Wo gibt's denn in FFM solche britische Pints?
December 4, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Wo gibt's denn in FFM solche britische Pints?
A risky age to be if you're a rock star!
December 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM
A risky age to be if you're a rock star!
Will this affect Ireland's current status as the best (i.e. most tax efficient) domicile for ETFs, from the perspective of non Irish investors?
December 4, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Will this affect Ireland's current status as the best (i.e. most tax efficient) domicile for ETFs, from the perspective of non Irish investors?
There's the scapegoat right there: it's not precarious living conditions, unaffordable housing and wealth inequality that's the problem, it's "people playing around on their phones too much instead of working".
December 4, 2025 at 9:41 AM
There's the scapegoat right there: it's not precarious living conditions, unaffordable housing and wealth inequality that's the problem, it's "people playing around on their phones too much instead of working".
Love those rickety old trams with wooden interiors and hard plastic seats, not to mention zero suspension, so it's a proper bone rattling experience
December 4, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Love those rickety old trams with wooden interiors and hard plastic seats, not to mention zero suspension, so it's a proper bone rattling experience
Hat man zu den Inhalten nichts zu sagen, ...
November 30, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Hat man zu den Inhalten nichts zu sagen, ...
Yes, that's the point I was making (sorry if my sarcasm concealed that!)
November 29, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Yes, that's the point I was making (sorry if my sarcasm concealed that!)
Great analysis, but I think the Telegraph's point is right there in the headline - he's already paid millions in tax (so shouldn't be forced to pay any more)
November 29, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Great analysis, but I think the Telegraph's point is right there in the headline - he's already paid millions in tax (so shouldn't be forced to pay any more)
👆 That's it.
There's more media traction to be gained from singling out the crass outliers than from providing sensible rock-solid investment advice.
There's more media traction to be gained from singling out the crass outliers than from providing sensible rock-solid investment advice.
November 29, 2025 at 10:26 AM
👆 That's it.
There's more media traction to be gained from singling out the crass outliers than from providing sensible rock-solid investment advice.
There's more media traction to be gained from singling out the crass outliers than from providing sensible rock-solid investment advice.
Same here, and it's so depressing how normal it has become for that to be an actual policy proposal and also how robust the AfD's polling numbers are (>20%)
November 29, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Same here, and it's so depressing how normal it has become for that to be an actual policy proposal and also how robust the AfD's polling numbers are (>20%)
Agree. Europe shouldn't get all self-righteous or complacent about this because some people want to see the same cultural breakdown over here.
November 29, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Agree. Europe shouldn't get all self-righteous or complacent about this because some people want to see the same cultural breakdown over here.
(I agree that it's a trillion-dollar, money-making industry, though. My point is that you can do a lot to reduce what they earn from you.)
November 29, 2025 at 8:39 AM
(I agree that it's a trillion-dollar, money-making industry, though. My point is that you can do a lot to reduce what they earn from you.)
Disagree. Shop around for a free investment account, free trades and the very cheapest index funds covering as many markets as possible. That way, banks, brokers, fund managers and advisers get a minimal to zero slice of your money and there's more left to grow for you.
November 29, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Disagree. Shop around for a free investment account, free trades and the very cheapest index funds covering as many markets as possible. That way, banks, brokers, fund managers and advisers get a minimal to zero slice of your money and there's more left to grow for you.
By all means hold a portion in low-risk near-cash as a tax-efficient reserve. That lowers the overall risk. But cash ISAs often have longer fixed terms, so you can't always liquidate them in a personal emergency or, more importantly, if your bank starts wobbling.
November 29, 2025 at 7:36 AM
By all means hold a portion in low-risk near-cash as a tax-efficient reserve. That lowers the overall risk. But cash ISAs often have longer fixed terms, so you can't always liquidate them in a personal emergency or, more importantly, if your bank starts wobbling.
Absolutely. Berlin seems to combine a) Prussian grandeur b) the Nazi years and c) the post war communist experiment including the whole cold war/wall era, all in one place - just perfect for tourists
November 28, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Absolutely. Berlin seems to combine a) Prussian grandeur b) the Nazi years and c) the post war communist experiment including the whole cold war/wall era, all in one place - just perfect for tourists
Only done it once so far, sadly, but the journey from Whitchurch to Llangollen and back (over THAT bridge) really was a delight!
November 23, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Only done it once so far, sadly, but the journey from Whitchurch to Llangollen and back (over THAT bridge) really was a delight!
An incredibly German scene ❤️
November 21, 2025 at 8:11 PM
An incredibly German scene ❤️