Doge’s 48 Hours Bullet
Things appear to be getting somewhat painful in terms of the push that Doge is delivering in the US. The latest shock/horror is that Elon Musk’s money-saving organization has written to thousands of federal employees asking them what they have done over the past 48 hours. This appears to be a very cruel question, as we already know that as far as the bureaucracy here is concerned, the answer would be “very little indeed.”
What has been interesting over the past couple of decades is that while technology has been used against the citizen to monitor, fine, and tax with greater gusto than ever, very few of these efficiencies have translated into speed of service, cost-cutting, or quality of life improvements for the ordinary individual. All of this means that if Elon Musk and friends are serious about Doge, there could be a bloodbath in terms of pen pushers, mouse clickers, and general dogsbodies.
Of course, the start of the triumph for common sense that the Trump administration has delivered originated in a tsunami of executive orders from day one, meaning that the usual delays when a new government takes office have not happened. The icing on the cake, of course, is the executive order—something that we don’t quite seem to have in the same way on this side of the Atlantic.
Executive Orders
However, not everyone has bowed to the power of the executive order, as was shown this week when President Trump addressed an audience including the governor of Maine. Apparently, the governor is not happy with the idea of males being banned from female sports and intends to resist the executive order in this respect via the courts. Indeed, Janet Mills plans to see President Trump in court. The counter-threat from the president is that Ms. Mills should not expect an extended period in elected office. Let the battle begin.
Dictators
Speaking of battles, President Trump siding with the Russian view of the Ukraine invasion has not gone down well with many of his European allies, including our very own Keir Starmer. While, by any account, the battle in southern Ukraine has been in a state of deadlock for over a year, with thousands killed in the meat grinder, there seems to be enthusiasm for keeping this latter-day Battle of the Somme going. Clearly, for Zelensky and the Ukrainian side, the prospect of being starved of funds and weapons after all the effort made is not a good one. In addition, being described as a dictator can only be taken as a personal insult after all the sacrifices. Perhaps it would have been fairer to suggest that both Putin and Zelensky are both dictators.
However, there may be a couple of points in mitigation for President Trump. The first is that, whether due to a lack of funds or manpower, there is a chance that rather than only being in control of 20% of Ukraine, Russia could take the lot—something that would be disastrous. The second point is that perhaps it was only by insulting Zelensky and his efforts that Trump was able to bring the Russians to the table and potentially deliver a ceasefire or an end to the war.
Winter Flu
In this country, it may be the case that those who are not enamored with the Labour government are slightly disappointed that things economically have not deteriorated further. We did have data regarding government receipts in the week of the January self-assessment. Obviously, plenty of money came in, but alas, it would appear it will not be enough for all the commitments that need to be made. This is despite the number of elderly in hospitals with flu-like ailments allegedly increasing due to the number of people who did not receive their fuel allowance this winter. Of course, earlier this month, Health Minister Andrew Gwynne made disparaging comments regarding freezing pensioners and life expectancy.
Apple
If we were not already entrenched enough in the Big Brother vibe here in the UK, a final nail in the coffin was delivered by Apple removing its highest data encryption tool in the UK at the behest of the government. Of course, people with nothing to hide in terms of their messages and photos have nothing to worry about, but it would appear that we all now have nothing to hide in the wake of the latest kowtowing by the US tech giant. Presumably, those who do not want to be read like an open book will switch to other cloud storage platforms.
The concept of turkeys voting for Christmas is one that could potentially have been leveled at the British electorate last summer, but to be fair, the government hid its intentions very well. No one could have guessed that by saying there would be no new taxes on working people or by calling itself “Labour” rather than “New Labour,” we would be treated to a 1974–1979-style horror movie.
PISCES
Of course, the London stock market seems to be permanently living through Friday the 13th, with people who either have no clue about delivering a solution, are not bothered, or would like to see it disappear altogether being asked for a solution. That said, you might think the London Stock Exchange would know what it is doing.
On the face of it, the latest PISCES proposal—which would let private companies sell shares during defined windows without the formality of having to list them on the London Stock Exchange—raises several concerns. First, dozens of companies have left the stock market of late due to their inability to raise money and the ongoing cost of being listed, which is horrific. When combined with overregulation, the whole experience is unsatisfactory unless you are at least a mid-cap or a blue-chip. Unfortunately, if you are a blue-chip, there is a much higher rating on the US stock market, so basically, the LSE falls between various stools.
The other point regarding PISCES is that if it makes it too easy for private companies to have a market in their stock, it really could be the death knell for the public/listed market—so not a good idea. In the meantime, delisting and heading off to JP Jenkins or Asset Match appears to be the way forward in 2025 unless you are big enough to head for the NASDAQ or the NYSE.
Rishi Sunak
Finally, at a time when this government and successive governments continue to deliver mass immigration on an industrial scale, as well as allowing people that are either balding children or those with an aversion to non-British chicken nuggets to remain in the country, the concept of what Englishness or Britishness is continues to be somewhat problematic.
According to an article in The Observer today, the concept of race and religion being combined with Englishness is still up for debate. Ironically, the poster child of this debate currently appears to be former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. In fact, it is difficult to think of someone who, although somewhat nerdy, does give off the vibes of being a proper English bloke. That said, Joanna Lumley, who was mentioned in the article and born in Kashmir, has not had to spend too much time justifying her Britishness, nor has anyone questioned her place in the national identity.
