The SEIS Secret: Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me About This?
Why isn’t the Government’s seriously sexy Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) better known throughout society, just as ISAs are? I only came across SEIS recently, and none of the professionals...
View ArticleHow to Lose All Your Blog Subscribers (and I Couldn’t Care Less)
I wanted Trump to win the last election. There, I said it. And you know what? I’m thrilled he did. That feels better. Yes, I know: Trump is, to put it mildly, an appalling human. He’s a convicted...
View ArticleSondering
Very few people – perhaps nobody, ever – has experienced what I feel right now. And I’m referring to the totality of human experience. For context, I’m writing on 7 October 2024 – one year on from that...
View ArticleIf I Were Dictator of Planet Earth for One Glorious Hour
If I were dictator of Planet Earth for one glorious hour, I’d make two immediate laws. No dithering, no committees, no focus groups. Banning rugby did cross my mind, but, no – I wouldn’t waste my hour...
View ArticleThe Irony of Hating AI While Using It
I reckon about half my friends and family (many of whom read this blog) detest AI and claim they refuse to use it. Whenever I suggest that an AI doctor is the best doctor I’ve ever seen, I’m often met...
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Marx Was Right?
Communist experiments have largely failed because of Hayek’s Knowledge Problem. Hayek — Thatcher and Reagan’s go-to economist —explained that no state apparatus could ever know what was best for...
View ArticleKnock, Knock, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door Many years ago, I stood for the Labour Party in a council by-election in Bilton, Harrogate. I hated canvassing—the intrusion into someone’s privacy—but I did it...
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Spud-Tastic
Co-owning a jacket potato company in Bolton wasn’t exactly on my agenda for the year—but here we are. Rostron and Gray Limited, trading as John’s Spuds, has officially taken root in Bolton’s Market...
View ArticleWhat Won’t Change
(Happy new year to to all my readers. Circa 250 of you get my blog sent directly to your emails, with hundreds more reading it on my site each month) In an AI-powered world that feels like it’s...
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Arise, Prime Minister Musk
Let me get this out of the way: I’m no longer a practising solicitor and never touched immigration law. But here’s a prediction you won’t see anywhere else: forget Farage—Elon Musk could be UK Prime...
View ArticleMass Delusion
This morning, after feeding our insatiable Labrador—whose pet insurance costs more than many people’s monthly food budget—I wandered to my local coffee shop for my daily caffeine fix. All the while,...
View ArticleIf I Were Dictator of Planet Earth for One Glorious Hour
If I were dictator of Planet Earth for one glorious hour, I’d make two immediate laws. No dithering, no committees, no focus groups. Banning rugby did cross my mind, but, no – I wouldn’t waste my hour...
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My Happy Place
Sitting here in the shade of a palm tree, near the sumptuous church and vicarage of the Anglican parish in Puerto De La Cruz, I can confidently tell you: heaven is a place on earth. Specifically,...
View ArticleDunbar and the Internet
Robin Dunbar—the world-renowned anthropologist—figured out that humans are wired to keep social circles of around 150 people. It’s the upper limit of meaningful connections our brains can handle. Yuval...
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Making Sandwiches and Making the Political Weather
For much of this week, my blood pressure was so low that I couldn’t think. Making a sandwich was a physical challenge, but worse, I couldn’t even work out what I would need once I had a plate in front...
View ArticleLefty Lawyers
Few things irritate me more than the lazy accusation that some legal outcome happened because of “lefty lawyers”—especially when that accusation comes from a politician. For most of my 45 years,...
View ArticleThe Sugababes, a Viking Ship, and Our Digital Footprint
Bang-average British girl band The Sugababes started in 1998 with Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena, and Keisha Buchanan (according to my research!). Over the years, Siobhán left and was replaced by Heidi...
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Reliably Unreliable
Becoming chronically unwell is on nobody’s bucket list. My “thing”, which I’ve endured for a few years, is, like a teenager’s mood, erratic. Despite the mayhem, I have been blessed with two unexpected...
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Up Yours, Labels
I took this photo on my morning walk, just beyond the caravan park I’ve visited since childhood — where Cumbria and Lancashire nudge up against each other, and the park’s boundary marks this grand...
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A Policeman, a (Former) Lawyer, and a Fire (no fireman)….
This week, one of my kids — along with others I’d taken away — built a fire on a beach. All innocent. All safe. All fun. Their North Face jackets (because teenagers all wear identical clothes) now...
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