Simon Nixon (@Simon_Nixon) on X (original) (raw)

Wealth of Nations newsletter on Substack. European political economy and geoeconomics. Previously chief Europe commentator

@WSJ

, chief leader writer

@thetimes

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  This was a remarkable parliamentary moment.
  
  How can you debate with a man not remotely on top of his brief? ‘He didn't read the protocol, he hasn't read the bill, he doesn't know his stance.’
  
• 
  Fantastic graphic from the WSJ. Trump just increased the price of a iPhone by nearly 60 percent. Obviously completely unsustainable so won’t be sustained. An American Liz Truss moment
  
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  Extraordinary stats. Britain rapidly becoming not just the sick man of Europe but the poor man too... ft.com/content/ef2654…
  
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  Extraordinary stat via #WATO: in 2008, when oil prices peaked at 144/barrel,nooneinBritainpaidmorethan120pperlitreofpetrol.Today,oilpriceis144/barrel, no one in Britain paid more than 120p per litre of petrol. Today, oil price is 144/barrel,nooneinBritainpaidmorethan120pperlitreofpetrol.Today,oilpriceis113 but pump prices 186p litre. Difference is collapse in sterling from 2to2 to 2to1.20. Welcome to the Brexit.
• 
  Arch Remainers parking their lorries on the M20 to make Brexit look bad
  
  Traffic on major routes in Kent has been brought to a standstill again due to delays in Channel crossings A 23-mile stretch of the M20 was closed to store thousands of lorries heading for the Port of Dover or Eurotunnel trib.al/1PKM4Xt
  
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  Even 8 years later, it’s still extraordinary to think that Britain deliberately chose to shrink its domestic market from 450m people to 65m on the recommendation of a bunch of liars, charlatans and fools
  
  "The difference in the UK, on your own now, separate from Europe, it's a relatively small market." David Ricks, CEO of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, tells #R4Today 'something needs to be quite different' to make the UK interesting in the global markets after leaving the EU.
  
• 
• 
  Extraordinary intervention: US officials express their "dismay and frustration" at the continued refusal of a Conservative government awash with Russian cash to shut down the London laudromat, undermining the effectiveness of sanctions.thetimes.co.uk/article/f55d4b…
• 
  What a disaster Brexit is turning out to be. Even the fishing industry in whose name Johnson is holding the country to ransom are terrified of no deal. Great piece via
  @FT
  ft.com/content/4f2244…
  
• 
  There’s something deeply unattractive about all these powerful people queuing up say how Priti Patel has never bullied them. It’s really another form of bullying of all those much less powerful people who clearly were abused by Ms Patel.
  
  I have known
  @pritipatel
  for many years as a friend and colleague. Yes, she’s strong and forthright in her views which is one of her great assets. I have never seen her bully anyone. She is also empathetic and incredibly kind.
• 
  Grant Shapps on #BBCR4today eloquently explaining what Brexit control means in practice: it enables you to screw British workers by barring them from opportunities to work abroad while exposing them to greater foreign competition. More fool you who thought anything different.
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  This is the real scandal: it’s not just that Johnson blocked the report for nine months but that the Tories blocked any investigation of Russian interference for four years.
  
• 
  The full-scale of the Brexit horror show is starting to become clear. The economically rational response would be to try to reverse some of the damage. Instead the government seems set on making it worse. My latest. lnkd.in/eGqKrHEv
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  Extraordinary: Boris Johnson scrapped the cabinet pandemic team six months before coronavirus hit UK to focus on Brexit.