Heat pumps will push up energy bills, Labour report finds

“Homeowners switching to heat pumps under Labour’s net zero drive face higher energy bills, a government report has found.”

Mad Ed Miliband offers giant subsidies to install heat pumps which are powered by government mandated, expensive electricity.

“Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, extended the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which offers £7,500 subsidies to homeowners installing a heat pump, at a cost of £2.4bn earlier this year.” Mr Miliband justified the extra funding by claiming that installing technologies like solar, batteries, insulation and heat pumps “can save families hundreds of pounds a year on their bills”.

Hundreds of pounds a year? Really Lies!?!

“The impact assessment also identified a further £95m hit to homeowners who take up Labour’s heat pump grants, due to higher “long run variable costs of energy supply (LRVC)”.

These costs will be higher because households with a heat pump use more electricity – which is more expensive per unit of energy than gas – to heat their homes, The Telegraph understands.

Experts told The Telegraph that this £95m figure represented the additional cost to energy bills as a result of Labour’s decision to extend heat pump subsidies until 2030. The Government’s own report said: “Changes in household energy costs after installing BUS-supported low-carbon heating systems are captured in the LRVC.”

Lots of abbreviations there – essential for hiding the truth.

“Mike Foster, of lobby group the Energy and Utilities Alliance, said: “The Government is acknowledging that heat pumps put bills up, not down. Yes, they save carbon, but consumers don’t spend carbon credits in the shops.”

The Government has pressed ahead with heat pump subsidies in recent months, despite concern that the units cost more to run than gas boilers.

Prominent opponents of the technology include Labour donor Dale Vince, the founder of supplier Ecotricity, who has previously said that it was “very rare” for a heat pump to save households money because of the high cost of electricity.

Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said: “The Government is spending hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on a handful of people buying heat pumps. We would scrap those subsidies and instead focus on making electricity cheap.”

This will only get worse with increases in the ‘price cap’ easily outstripping the small reduction in taxes on energy bills:

“The UK energy price cap will increase by 13% from 1 July 2026 to 30 September 2026.

• New Annual Cost: The cap rises to £1,862 per year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit.

• Monthly Impact: This represents an increase of approximately £18 per month or £221 per year.

• Unit Rates: Gas unit rates will rise significantly (from 5.74p to 7.33p per kWh), while electricity rates will see a smaller increase (from 24.67p to 26.11p per kWh).

• Cause: The rise is primarily driven by soaring wholesale gas prices linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

• Exemptions: Customers on fixed-rate tariffs are unaffected by this price cap increase.

“The removal and reallocation of UK green levies (specifically the scrapping of the Energy Company Obligation and shifting 75% of the Renewables Obligation costs to general taxation) resulted in a £130 reduction in policy costs for a typical household.

This £130 policy saving was partially offset by a £66 increase in network costs (for grid upgrades) and other changes, leading to a net decrease in the total energy price cap of £117 (or 7%) for the April to June 2026 period.

Down £130, up£68 (savings taken up in general taxation followed by a further £221 increase – net result +£280 . Wh pays? Every single one of the Uks 30 million household and 6 million businesses.

Mad Ed strikes again.

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After winning every council seat in local elections in May 2026, the political disruptor of national government, UK Reform, failed spectacularly to translate local politics into national politics, coming a distant second to ‘King of the North, the ex-mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham. The leader of UK Reform, Nigel Farage, described the result as ‘disappointing’. That would be an understatement and could mark the point in time when Labour recovers the ground lost to UK Reform over the last year.

Burnham’s message was to formulate a message of ‘hope’ to Makerfield residents that could be equally applied across all the electorates of the UK. Burnham dislikes Trump intensely and views the whole of the US as a divided country that is politically polarised.

The incumbent Labour government has vowed to shut down migrant hotels- instead, it has shifted migrants enjoying 3 an4 star hotels and into Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) the length and breadth of the country.

These economic migrants/asylum seekers/refugees live rent free, pay no utility bills or local taxes. From Brave AI:

• ‘Weekly Allowance: Asylum seekers in self-catered accommodation, such as HMOs, receive £49.18 per week per person.

• Payment Method: Funds are loaded onto an ASPEN card (a pre-paid debit card) for use at ATMs or for purchases.

• Additional Payments: Pregnant women and mothers of children under three may receive additional weekly payments ranging from £5.25 to £9.50, along with a one-off maternity grant of £300.

Housing and Essential Needs

• Rent and Bills: Accommodation in HMOs is provided at no cost to the asylum seeker; they do not pay rent or utility bills.

• Covered Expenses: The weekly allowance is intended to cover food, toiletries, clothing, travel, and non-prescription medication.

• Exclusions: Asylum seekers are not eligible for mainstream benefits such as Universal Credit or Housing Benefit while their claim is pending.

Healthcare and Education

• NHS Access: Asylum seekers receive free access to NHS primary and secondary care. Those receiving asylum support are also entitled to free prescriptions, dental treatment, and sight tests via an HC2 certificate.

• Education: Children of asylum seekers have the same entitlement to free state education as other UK children. They may also be eligible for free school meals and 15 hours of free early years childcare (for children aged two to five).

The scale of these benefits lifts asylum seekers ‘earnings’ ABOVE those competing for accommodation on the lowest wages. Electricity bills and local authority taxes alone are worth a LOT OF MONEY.

“The average total monthly cost for UK household utilities is £200 to £250, depending on household size and usage. This total typically includes gas and electricity (~£137–£154/month), water (£30–£53/month), broadband (£25–£36/month), and TV licence (~£13/month).”

The average annual council tax for a Band D household in the UK for the 2026/27 tax year is approximately £2,085, calculated from regional averages of £2,171 in England, £1,418 in Scotland, and £1,879 in Wales. (£181 a month

As of mid-2026, the average private rent for a household in the UK is approximately £1,325 to £1,367 per month, depending on the source and specific month of data (£114 a month)

Rent, council tax plus utilities sum to over £500 a month, tag on the cash payment of £49.18 a week (£213 a month and you come to £over £700 a month - £8,400 a year. FREE, gratis and for nothing.

Total Asylum Accommodation: The total number of people in asylum accommodation stood at 93,653 in March 2026.

That’s almost a billion pounds a year right there.

“In the 2023/24 financial year, the total cost of the asylum system reached an estimated £4.7 billion, with accommodation and support costs soaring to £41,000 per person. This represents a significant increase from £17,000 per person in 2019/20.

Hmm – administration, security, translation, health care free school meals etc must account for the other £3.7 billion!!!

Is Burnham’s aim to shut down all HMO’s as is the case with migrant hotels?

There is a problem that won’t go away and hich NO political party has the brains or stomach to address. All the posturing in by-elections and national elections doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in comparison.

National debt:

United Kingdom Debt Clock - National debt of United Kingdom

3,137,457,230,545 £

The ten year gilt yield sits at 4.84%, implying an annual interest bill of £152 billion each and every year.

Until this debt and its debt servicing comes down by at least a trillion pounds with interest at below £100 billion, the UK is disappearing down the economic drain.

To reduce the debt by a trillion means running fiscal surpluses OF 400 BILLION A YEAR FOR twenty five years compared to the current annual fiscal deficit of over £100 billion.

Someone should declare a national emergency!!! At least ask the stupid politicians what the limit to their stupidity actually is.

Onwards!

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From Brave AI:

“Andy Burnham has won the 2026 Makerfield by-election, securing a decisive victory that paves the way for him to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour Party leadership.

“Key Results:

• Winner: Andy Burnham (Labour) received 24,927 votes, achieving a majority of 9,231.

• Runner-up: Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon received 15,696 votes.

• Turnout: The voter turnout was 58.75%, significantly higher than the 52.5% recorded in the 2024 general election.

• Context: The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Josh Simons, who gave up his seat to allow Burnham to return to Parliament.

Burnham’s victory is widely viewed as a major setback for Reform UK and positions him as the frontrunner to succeed Starmer as Labour leader and potentially Prime Minister.

We now await what changes to current Labour government policies on defence, immigration, ‘net zero’ trade, transportation, housing etc etc will be proposed by Burnham or whether, even if he does get the support of MP’s and labour party members it will be different monkey, same hat.

It is beyond doubt that ‘treatment protocols (Remdesvir/Midazolam/respirators DNR etc) killed far more people than they saved – AND that estimates of harms ere flawed, AND that testing for C19 was false- AND lockdowns/ social distancing/ masking /isolation had no basis in science- that massive government handouts of trillions went straight to fraudsters and big pharma.

Let’s start with one of the major ‘cover up’ culprits – the UK.

“The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, was established in 2022 and began hearing witness testimony in 2023. While the witness hearings are expected to conclude in June 2026, final reports are not expected until 2027, at which point the total cost to the taxpayer will exceed £300 million when combining the inquiry’s running costs and government response expenditures.”

A whitewash that concluded that lock downs should have been implemented sooner and harder.

It completely ignored the midazolam+morphine +DNR cull

(100) A deeper dive on the extra 40,000 English and Welsh deaths in April 2020 – probably by Midazolam + morphine – the WHO instructed “authorities” to categorise all deaths with C19 present as C19 deaths

As with all other government enquiries it does not discuss the impact that ivermectin and hydroxy chloroquine treatment protocols would have/could have had on illnesses and deaths ascribed to C19. It did not even acknowledge that the contents of the C19 injections were different from the contents in the clinical trials – or the failings of the clinical trials themselves.

A farce that cost £300 million pounds.

There is another cover up proceeding through the Dutch courts as we speak.

From here:

The Dutch Covid Inquiry Is Not Looking for the Truth

“A civil case is moving through the court in Leeuwarden. Seven citizens — one of whom has died since the case began — are suing seventeen defendants for harm they attribute to the mRNA Covid shots.

The defendants are not minor figures: the former prime minister, Mark Rutte; the former health minister, Hugo de Jonge; Marion Koopmans, the virologist who sat on the team of experts advising the cabinet; Jaap van Dissel, who as head of infectious-disease control at the national health institute chaired that team — the Outbreak Management Team (OMT), which steered the country’s Covid response from January 2020 until 2022 — and was the public face of the lockdown advice; the chief executive of Pfizer, Albert Bourla; and Bill Gates.

Gates argued that a Dutch court had no business judging him. The court disagreed and kept the case.¹ It continues, slowly.

To a foreign reader, that reads as a country with room to ask hard questions.

It is worth pausing on what became of the man who brought the case. Arno van Kessel, one of the two lawyers behind it, spent 260 days in pre-trial detention.

He was arrested in June 2025 — the day after he filed papers in the case — in an investigation into a network of self-described “sovereigns,” people who reject the authority of the state.

To my mind the label sits oddly on him: his whole method was the courtroom.

He is a lawyer who took the government to court, not a man who denies that courts have power over anyone.

No criminal court has convicted him of anything; he remains a suspect, and a suspect only.

In late February 2026 the judges suspended his detention, in part because the prosecution’s case was moving so slowly.²

By then he had been struck from the bar and could no longer stand beside his own clients. And so the lawyer who had brought that suit against Rutte, De Jonge, Koopmans, and Gates had himself been shut out of the courtroom.

Then, on 29 May 2026, the inquiry into the Corona policy opened its public hearings. And a similar picture appears.

A committee with the critics removed.

The Brownstone article goes into great depth on the shenanigans involved.

Background here:

(100) Bill Gates & Pfizer CEO Lawsuit Follow-Up | What Actually Happened in Court on March 9 — Videos, Transcript, and What Comes Next

And more here:

(100) Update on the case in Holland against Bill Gates by the two Dutch lawyers Peter Stassen and Arno which has parallels with the State censorship, persecution and imprisonment of Dr. Reiner Fuellmich

“After the parliamentary elections of October 2025, the turnover was near total.

De Kort is the only remaining original member left.

What remains is a committee of five — VVD, GroenLinks-PvdA, D66, CDA, and the Markuszower group. Not one of them comes from a party that fundamentally opposed the policy under review.

“Khadija Arib was called as a witness on 3 June.

At the end of three hours, against protocol, she asked to add something the questioning had not touched.

She said the inquiry leans on drawing lessons for the future, but that she misses the emphasis on truth-finding, on accountability — the things, she said, a democracy depends on.

The woman who was meant to chair this inquiry, sitting in the witness chair instead, told the committee to its face that she does not yet see it doing the one thing an inquiry is for.

The Australian covid enquiry was similarly fundamentally flawed.

How many died because of Remdesivir/Midazolam treatment protocols? How many died within hours/minutes/days of receiving the C19 ‘vaccine’?

How many hundreds of billions/trillions of dollars were wasted by political measures that were as useless as treatments?

All this was coordinated globally by the UN who operates an “all care and no responsibility” model with no legal liability for its crass stupidity enshrined in socialist political dogma.

The next ‘pandemic is likely to be hantavirus or Ebola. The soccer world cup and the upcoming Olympics provide fertile ground for GLOBAL super spreader events – don’t assume ‘they’ haven’t thought of this.

Onwards!

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“A third of UK adults are currently in debt to their energy supplier or worried about falling behind, according to a poll for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition conducted between May 29 and June 1, 2026.

“ This figure represents approximately 12 million people, with 9% already behind on payments and 22% anxious about an impending 13% price cap increase in July.

There are around 70 million people people in 30 million homes in the UK – 12 million homes out of 30 =40% of UK homes.

“The crisis disproportionately affects vulnerable groups, rising to 45% for parents with children under 18 and 35% for disabled people. Among those in debt, the median amount owed is £750, with total household energy debt having doubled to £5.5 billion in recent years.

Labour claims it has lifted half a million children out of poverty – these numbers suggest that, (given there are on average 1.7 children per household) the Labour government has consigned millions of children Struggling households are resorting to severe cost-cutting measures, with 32% reducing energy use by turning off heating or taking shorter showers, 21% skipping meals, and 18% turning to food banks. Additionally, 13% of those in debt owe money to lenders who make them feel scared, and only 18% of those in arrears feel they have been treated fairly by their suppliers. to ‘energy poverty’.”

The ugly face of ‘net zero’ – hitting those who can least afford the utter lunacy the hardest.

Onwards!

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I first covered the story here:

YCMTSU! UK taxpayers on the hook for£40 billion pounds to repair and refurbish the houses of Parliament over 50 years instead of building a new one in 3 years for “only”a billion pounds.

““The full decant would last 19 to 24 years and cost up to £15.6 billion, while the other option would take 38 to 61 years and cost up to £39.2 billion.”

The costs are going up!

From here:

Delays to UK’s Houses of Parliament renovation could add £420 million to bill

“Delaying restoration of Britain’s crumbling Houses of Parliament could add £420 million (€485 million) a year to the final bill, the country’s National Audit Office (NAO) forecast Monday.”

“In an updated report, the independent spending watchdog noted “that each year of delay corresponds to an additional £320 million (€369 million) to £420 million (€485 million) on top of the overall cost of delivering the programme.”

Of interest a similar sized parliamentary building cost substantially less – for the hopelessly inefficient EU parliamentary building:.

From Brave AI:

• “The European Parliament houses 720 Members (MEPs) following the 2024 elections, with the capacity for up to 785 seats in its Strasbourg hemicycle. Regarding support staff, the institution employs approximately 8,000 officials and administrative staff in its General Secretariat across its three locations.”

• Around 9,000 people in the EU parliamentary set-up. This excludes the EU Commission which employs 32,000 people

“The European Parliament operates across two main locations, Strasbourg and Brussels, with distinct costs for construction, acquisition, and recent renovations.

“Strasbourg (Official Seat)

• The principal building, the Louise Weiss building, was built at a cost of approximately €470 million (3.1 billion French francs) and inaugurated in 1999.

• Other buildings in the Strasbourg complex, such as the Winston Churchill and Salvador de Madariaga buildings, were acquired or built for roughly €81 million (later purchased by the Parliament in 2006).

• The Pierre Pflimlin building was constructed in 1991 at a cost of €38 million.

Brussels (Administrative Base)

• The main complex, known as Espace Léopold, was initially financed with an estimated investment of €1 billion (approx. £755 million) under a long-lease contract signed in 1992.

• The specific building housing the plenary chamber, the Paul-Henri Spaak building, was completed in 1993 at a cost of just over €1 billion (42 billion Belgian francs) and was acquired by the Parliament for €303 million between 1993 and 1995.

• A major renovation of the Paul-Henri Spaak building was approved in late 2023, with an estimated total cost of €455 million (including ~€350 million in construction and overheads), scheduled to last from 2025 to 2030.

Additional Context

• Maintaining two seats is estimated to cost an extra €103 million annually compared to a single location.

• The Parliament also spent €74.9 million to acquire the Scholl building (formerly Wiertz) in Brussels, a figure critics noted was close to double its estimated market value at the time of purchase.

The cost to build, from scratch around a billion pounds – call it 10 billion pounds with 20 years of inflation to house around 9,000 people.

The advantages of a new build are many. Internet hook ups for fact checking the BS and lies spouted by MPs – electronic voting – management of the boos and shouting by the Speaker, air con, comfy seats, security surveillance etc

Where could the new parliament be sited?

I suggest in the west Midlands where life is much cheaper and closer to the UK’s heart (of oak) and soul, rather than crime ridden Lonodonistan!.

• For the UK houses of Parliament:

• House of Commons: There are 650 Members of Parliament (MPs).

• House of Lords: There are 771 sitting members as of June 15, 2026.

Total sitting members across both houses number 1,421.

“The House of Commons Service employs approximately 3,000 to 3,108 staff, as recorded in late 2022. This workforce supports the daily operations of the House, including legislative services, IT, security, and maintenance.

In addition to parliamentary employees, there are roughly 3,500 to 3,672 personal office staff working directly for Members of Parliament (MPs). These staff members are funded through the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) and are employed by individual MPs rather than the Parliament directly.

Total around 8,200! Not that dissimilar from the 9,000 in the EU parliament and EU Commission.

Onwards!

From here (FWIW):

READ: Leaked Alleged Text of Trump-Iran Deal

“Read the alleged agreement below:

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles.

2. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

3. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.

4. Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States Lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement.

5. Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.

6. The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, While ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.

7. The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary.

8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran’s nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement; the final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article.

9. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.

10. The United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like.

11. The United States undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available. These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be fully available for use. The United States undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis.

12. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement.

13. Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, and the continued implementation of these steps, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States will enter into negotiations for a Final Agreement solely with respect to the remaining Articles.

14. The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council.

More commentary here:

Iran’s government thinks it has won the war

“As Iran’s state television blasted out victory anthems after announcing the deal with the US, a new narrative began taking shape in Tehran: the regime believes it has not only survived its greatest crisis in decades, but emerged stronger.”

“The deal announced on Sunday extended an April ceasefire with the US for 60 days, allowing for the gradual reopening of the strait and the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iran’s shipping. The agreement envisages negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for a phased easing of sanctions, dependent on progress and a final deal.”

“

Onwards!

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From here (h/t CITIZEN FREE PRESS)

Largest wind project in the US comes online in New Mexico

“SunZia, developed by California-based Pattern Energy Group, features more than 900 turbines and generates 3,650 megawatts of power, which will supply about 1 million homes.”

“The SunZia Wind Project is more than three times the size of the next two largest wind farms, Alta Wind Energy Center in California and Great Prairie Wind Farm in Texas, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Friday.”

“June marks the beginning of the project’s commercial operations after nearly two decades of permitting and planning. Pattern started constructing the $11 billion project in 2023, and some wind turbines were producing power around April 2026 during a testing phase.”

11 billion bucks! Wow!

From Braved AI:

“Arizona has 3,142,443 housing units, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data cited by Point2Homes. Of these, 2,796,790 households are occupied, with 64.1% being detached single-family homes.”

“New Mexico has approximately 837,414 households, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data (2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates).

Which rather begs the question “why aren’t a million out of 3 million homes getting the benefit of that $11 billion wind farm?

Of course – the electricity is sold out of state!

“In New Mexico, wind makes up 45% of the total power capacity mix with the addition of the project, according to the EIA. The remaining installed generating capacity is primarily split between solar at roughly 19% and natural gas, which also accounts for about 19%.”

“The power generated by the SunZia project spans three counties, including San Miguel County with nearly 250 turbines and Lincoln and Torrance counties with almost 700. The power generated by those turbines will reach central Arizona and Southern California through a 550-mile transmission line, about 350 miles of which crosses through central and western New Mexico.”

““Our renewable wind resource is getting exported to the West and helping western states reach their renewable portfolio goals,” Mostoller said.”

From Brave AI:

“Arizona household electricity prices have increased by approximately 4.3% over the last three years, rising from an average retail residential price of 15.49 cents per kWh in May 2024 to 15.76 cents per kWh in May 2025. While national rates jumped by 6.5% during this same period, Arizona’s rate increase of 1.7% was significantly lower.

“Despite this modest per-kilowatt-hour increase, many residents have experienced higher total bills due to:

• Increased Consumption: Hotter summers and record temperatures have driven up air conditioning usage.

• Time-of-Use Pricing: Higher rates during peak evening hours for cooling.

• Provider Hikes: Specific utilities like APS and SRP have implemented rate adjustments and surcharges, with some customers reporting monthly bill increases of $20–$90 compared to previous years.

“Household electricity prices in New Mexico have increased by approximately 8.1% from 2024 to 2025, adding about $90 to the average annual bill.

“The $11 billion SunZia Wind and Transmission project was financed through a record-setting $11 billion non-recourse package closed in December 2023. This financing was structured into two primary components: an $8.8 billion construction and term facilities loan and a $2.25 billion tax equity term loan facility.

“The funding was provided by a syndicate of major global financial institutions, including BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, ING, Natixis, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Wells Fargo, with Deutsche Bank serving as the collateral and deposit agent. The construction loan was structured as a green loan facility in alignment with the Green Loan Principles, while the tax equity facility was led by Banco Santander to monetize the project’s tax credit attributes.”

“Key lenders and their roles include:

• BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Desjardins Group, ING Capital LLC, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., National Bank of Canada, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Wells Fargo Securities served as Co-Green Loan Structuring Agents.

• MUFG Bank, Ltd. acted as the Co-Syndication Agent for the senior facilities.

• Banco Santander, S.A. and Santander Bank N.A. provided the $2.25 billion tax equity term loan facility as Joint Coordinating Lead Arrangers.

• Bank of America, GE Vernova’s Financial Services business, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, and Royal Bank of Canada acted as Joint Lead Arrangers for the tax equity facility.

Pattern Energy Group LP is the borrower responsible for repaying these loans, which are non-recourse, meaning the lenders’ claims are limited to the project’s assets and cash flows.

11 billion of debt will cost around 550 million a year to service @5%.

“The SunZia Wind and Transmission project is expected to generate approximately $20.5 billion in total economic benefit over its lifetime. This figure includes $16.2 billion in direct economic impact, $1.9 billion in indirect benefits, $1.1 billion in induced benefits, and $1.3 billion in fiscal impacts for governments, communities, schools, and landowners in New Mexico and Arizona.

“The project involves a total direct economic investment of approximately $16 billion (with the combined wind and transmission projects costing around $11 billion). It is projected to create over 2,000 jobs during the construction phase and more than 100 permanent jobs once operational.”

16 billion bucks works out at $5,333 for each of Arizona’s 3 million households. Which works out at 33 years of average household electricity bills!

From Brave AI:

“The average monthly residential electricity bill in Arizona is approximately $154 to $164, depending on the data source and household size.

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Russian warship fires warning shot at boat in English Channel

• “A Russian warship reportedly fired a warning shot near a UK-registered yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday morning.

• The incident involved the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich, which fired shots approximately 500 yards from the yacht, around 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight.

• No injuries or damage were reported, and the shots were fired outside UK territorial waters.

• The Royal Navy’s HMS Mersey was shadowing the Russian frigate, and HMS Tyne sent a seaboat to gather details from the yacht’s crew.

• This event follows a recent operation where Royal Marine commandos boarded a sanctioned Russian tanker in the Channel, highlighting rising tensions between the UK and Russian warship fires warning shot at yacht that came near it in English Channel

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From Brave AI:

“Data from the St. Louis Fed and BEA shows quarterly nominal GDP figures ranging from $7.51 trillion (Q1) to $7.86 trillion (Q4). Summing these quarterly values yields a total annual nominal GDP of approximately $30.76 trillion.

Wow $31 trillion – massive!Far in excess of any oth country! Worthy of celebration in its own right.

Then there’s the ‘Trump effect’ – from policies like tariffs that can be avoided with direct US investment.

“President Trump has claimed that $18 to $22 trillion in new investments have been secured in the United States since taking office in January 2025, a figure fact-checkers and economists deem highly exaggerated and unsubstantiated.

“The White House’s own documented list tallies approximately $9.6 trillion in total pledges, though independent analysis (such as Bloomberg Economics) suggests only about $7 trillion qualifies as “real investment pledges,” with the remainder consisting of aspirational trade goals, future product purchases, or previously announced projects.

“Actual foreign direct investment (FDI) and gross private domestic investment remain roughly in line with previous years, with BEA data showing corporate investment on track for approximately $5 trillion in 2025.

A huge difference in claimed v actual investment.

US GDP is calculated via reference to an accounting identity – C+G+I +(X-M)

The I (investment) component is crucial to GDP in this case. (Perversely, reducing the fiscal deficit will REDUCE GDP as it takes money out of the economy.

Here’s how the impact on GDP from AI is described by Brave AI:

“Massive AI investment has significantly increased the I (Investment) component of the GDP formula (C+G+I+(X-M)), but its contribution to overall economic growth remains minimal due to measurement gaps and lags.

• Surge in Capital Expenditure: Goldman Sachs estimates a ~$7.6 trillion infrastructure build-out for AI, driven by accelerator memory density, interconnects, optics, and data center construction, which directly boosts gross fixed capital formation.

• Measurement Underestimation: Current national accounts often treat AI development (models, datasets, organizational routines) as expensed operating costs rather than intangible capital investment, meaning the true scale of the “I” component is likely understated.

• J-Curve Effect: There is a time lag between initial investment and productivity gains; expenditures and organizational adjustments depress measured productivity initially, with output gains materializing only after workflows are redesigned and AI is fully integrated.

• Limited Growth Impact: Despite trillions in spending, AI contributed basically zero to US economic growth recently, as the value created often takes the form of unmeasured consumer surplus, free services, or cross-firm spillovers that do not immediately register in GDP statistics.

Zero or 8 trillion bucks!

8 trillion bucks would be a 24% growth in GDP – or maybe zero.. haha! Trust AI to hedge its bets!

Maybe the 2 trillion debt servicing costs of US national debt of $40 trillion (120% of GDP) is having a significant impact on GDP (present in the (G) component of GDP. Treasury Department documents and bond market participants estimate the 2026 deficit will persist and reach approximately $2 trillion, which is roughly 5.8% to 6.4% of GDP.

So there is likely to be a 20% growth impulse to US GDP over the coming year or two.

Trump and the gang!

C’mon America!

Kool & The Gang - Celebration

“

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(100) The false equivalence of (UK/US/EU?) Defence spending

Top Executives Sound Alarm Over AI-Developed Biological Weapons - Slay News

“AI systems are improving rapidly, and alongside incredible benefits to science and medicine, there is a real possibility that the knowledge barriers which have historically prevented bad actors from obtaining biological weapons will meaningfully erode,” the letter warns.

The concern is straightforward: systems capable of processing vast amounts of scientific data may soon enable individuals with little expertise to design pathogens, toxins, or other biological threats that previously required highly specialized knowledge.

“Researchers have already reported that advanced AI chatbots are capable of providing guidance on constructing deadly pathogens and releasing them in public spaces.

Other scientific studies have concluded that AI systems can assist in designing viruses, toxins, and other biological agents.”

“AI Systems Found Teaching Each Other Dangerous Behaviors

The biological threat concerns arrive just as researchers revealed another deeply unsettling discovery.

Scientists recently found that AI systems can secretly pass dangerous traits and behaviors to one another through a process known as “subliminal learning.”

The phenomenon occurs when one AI model generates training data for another.

Researchers discovered that hidden behaviors can be transferred even after all obvious references to those behaviors have been removed from the training material.

The findings suggest that AI systems may be communicating information in ways developers do not understand and cannot fully monitor.

Researchers admitted they still do not know exactly how the process works.”

More comments on autonomous threats here:

(100) The false equivalence of (UK/US/EU?) Defence spending

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Howls of protest and resignations of ministers have erupted over the planned increase in defence spending from 2.6% to 2.68% of UK GDP

Firstly, UK GDP and national debt are both at £3 trillion.

Monthly UK GDP wobbles around plus or minus 0.1% which equates to plus or minus 3 billion pounds. This is a rounding error that cn be explained by measurement error.

The increase in defence spending from 2.6% to 2.68% of UK GDP represents an increase of 0.08% or 2.4 billion pounds from 78 billion pounds to 80.4 billion pounds.

This increase is apparently all that is need to meet the requirements of a detailed dfence spending plan and promises mad to NATO.

From Brave AI:

“Percentage of GDP Targets The UK aims to meet expanding NATO spending goals through the following timeline:

• 2027: Increase to 2.5% of GDP (or 2.6% including broader security/intelligence elements).

• 2035: Reach 3.5% of GDP for core armed forces, with a total “whole of society” security target of 5% (combining 3.5% defence and 1.5% resilience).

“At the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, all member states except Spain committed to raising defense and security spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, a historic increase from the previous 2% benchmark.”

5% = 150 billion pounds a year - every year. It will require around a trillion pounds over ten years to scale up to that level of spending.

The chattering classes are bickering about whether defence spending is being ‘properly spent. Well, step forward ten years what kind of attacks is the UK likely to need protection from?

I suggest that a kinetic war is likely to be fought autonomously and will depend on who can mak the cheapest robots, drones and missiles!

It is a short route to economic collapse to rely on missiles costing millions to shoot down drones costing thousands.

Israel has its ‘iron dome that protects it (largely from missiles and some drones.

The UK has vast numbers of ‘sitting duck targets – its cities, solar farms, wind turbines and other infrastructure.

These sitting dukc each require their on ‘iron dome to thwart a drone/missile attack before air raids and land based invasions are defended against.

tHen there are robot armies – autonomous or otherwise. How can these be defended against?

Ukraine and Russia use a few hundred thousand drones EVERY MONTH!

“Ukraine deploys approximately 270,000 drones per month (9,000 daily), a rate that exceeds its domestic production capacity of 200,000 units per month.

Millions of drones being used each month in a modern war.

Russia launches roughly 130,000 to 150,000 long-range drones per month.”

Ukraine to receive huge influx of British Martlet anti-drone missiles

“It is an ideal solution for the medium zone. Using expensive Patriot missiles to shoot down Shahed drones is wasteful, while anti‑aircraft guns do not always have sufficient range. The Martlet fills this gap.”

We are likely to be in a “ar of the drones” in th event ofa hot war.

Then theres robots. Lets check out china – from Brave AI:

• “Military Applications: The People’s Liberation Army is testing “robotic wolves” (networked quadruped and humanoid units) for reconnaissance, supply, and combat support, particularly in scenarios involving amphibious invasions.

• Specific Deployments: While exact military numbers are classified, China has demonstrated production-ready combat platforms like the PF-070 four-legged robot armed with anti-tank missiles and is deploying thousands of AI robots for civilian infrastructure, such as the 8,500 units planned for power grid maintenance by 2026.

• Autonomy Status: Most current systems require human operators for weapon release, with fully autonomous lethal capabilities still under development and subject to significant technical and ethical challenges.

Lessons from China? Check this out

China’s humanoid robots take center stage at Lunar New Year show

Dancing with robots?

Here’s another source Dancing humanoid robots take centre stage at China’s Lunar New Year Gala

Then there hypersonic missiles that make ‘iron dome’ defences redundant.

“he Oreshnik (Russian for “Hazel Tree”) is a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) derived from the RS-26 Rubezh program, characterized by its hypersonic speed and Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) capability.

Key Specifications and Capabilities

• Speed: It travels at Mach 10 (approx. 12,300 km/h or 7,610 mph), a velocity that significantly reduces the reaction time for defensive systems.

• Payload: The missile can carry six to eight warheads, each equipped with submunitions, allowing it to strike multiple targets simultaneously.

• Range: Estimated between 3,500 and 5,500 kilometers, enabling it to reach targets across Europe and potentially the western United States.

• Warheads: It is nuclear-capable but has been deployed with conventional (including inert/dummy) warheads in combat.

Yikes!

The point is that conventional weapons system are no defence and in ten years the systems required to defend the UK bear no relationship to GDP or the IQs of the moronic Marxists designing our defence spending plans.

Fats and lethal fast patrol boats that can go underwater or on top of it, Phalanx like systms to counter robot armies and drone air forces are required.

Th entire ‘fleet’ of wind turbines and solar panels needs to be shlved as being unable o defend.

Upgrade this for drone defence:

“The Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), designated MK 15, is an automated, radar-guided 20mm Gatling gun system designed as a last-line defense for naval vessels against anti-ship missiles, aircraft, and small surface craft. Developed by General Dynamics (later Raytheon) and deployed starting in 1980, it operates independently to search, detect, track, and engage threats within a range of approximately 1 to 5 nautical miles.”

I suggest that Rolls Royce MMR’s be used for submarines and ship AND as a dual purpose ALSO be used to power local communities in ports where they are built and docked. Minimum two ships foor 150 ports – one ship docked one on patrol!

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“U.S. Orders AI Blackout — Why? | US News Break

“Story Snapshot

• The U.S. government issued an export-control order on June 12, 2026, forcing Anthropic to disable its newest AI models, Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5, for all users globally.

• Anthropic says it complied with the legal directive but publicly stated it disagrees that a total shutdown was necessary.

• All other Claude models, including Opus 4.8, remained available — only the two newest, most capable models were pulled.

• The government cited national security concerns, but the specific threat has not been made public, leaving customers and the tech world in the dark.

“Anthropic launched Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 as its most capable AI models ever. The company described them as able to work on their own for longer than any previous Claude model, with major new skills in software and complex tasks. Within days of launch, the U.S. government issued an export-control directive citing national security. Anthropic pulled both models for every customer worldwide on June 12, 2026.

Who owns Anthropic?

“Anthropic is a privately held company owned by its co-founders, employees, and a diverse group of strategic and institutional investors. No single entity holds a majority stake, and the company is not publicly traded.

The ownership structure is defined by several key groups:

• Founders and Leadership: Co-founders Dario Amodei (CEO) and Daniela Amodei (President), along with other early employees, retain significant collective equity and operational control, protected by a Long-Term Benefit Trust that ensures alignment with the company’s AI safety mission.

• Strategic Corporate Investors: Major technology firms hold minority stakes with limited governance rights. Amazon is estimated to own roughly 15–19% after investing ~$8 billion, while Alphabet (Google) holds approximately 14% after investing ~$3 billion. Microsoft and NVIDIA also hold stakes following a late-2025 partnership, though exact percentages are undisclosed.

• Institutional Investors: Significant equity is held by venture capital and financial firms including ICONIQ Capital, Fidelity Management, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, and sovereign wealth funds like ATIC (aligned with UAE’s Mubadala).

This structure is legally reinforced by Anthropic’s status as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), which requires the board to balance shareholder interests with its public mission of safe AI development.

What is Anthropic?

“Anthropic is an artificial intelligence research and development company founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives Dario and Daniela Amodei. Its primary mission is to responsibly advance generative AI by building systems that are reliable, interpretable, and steerable, with a strong emphasis on AI safety and ethical alignment.

The company is best known for developing Claude, a family of large language models and AI assistants that utilize a technique called Constitutional AI. This approach trains models to be helpful, harmless, and honest by evaluating their own outputs against a set of predefined ethical principles. Anthropic offers Claude through various platforms, including a web interface, API for developers, and enterprise solutions, positioning itself as a leader in safe and transparent AI deployment.”

“The United States relies heavily on Anthropic for advanced AI capabilities, particularly within national security and defense. The Pentagon had integrated Anthropic’s models into classified networks and military operations, with the Department of Defense relying extensively on Claude for ongoing conflicts. However, this reliance was abruptly severed when the Trump administration ordered all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology and designated the company as a supply chain risk following a dispute over usage restrictions.

The United Kingdom relies significantly on Anthropic for enterprise and research purposes, generating approximately 80% of Anthropic’s revenue from non-American entities, with London serving as its largest hub outside the US. The UK government has actively courted Anthropic to expand its presence, offering partnerships and state-backed research funding to leverage its technology. Despite this strong commercial and research tie, the UK faces potential operational challenges in defense interoperability due to the US designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk, which may complicate shared platforms with US allies.

More specifically in the UK – from Brave AI:

“both the NHS and London have active engagements with Anthropic, though the nature of these relationships differs significantly.

London Operations: Anthropic has established a major hub in London’s Knowledge Quarter, described as its most important hub outside the US. The office employs more than 200 people, including 60 AI safety researchers. This presence supports Anthropic’s broader UK strategy, which includes a partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to build an AI-powered assistant for GOV.UK that helps citizens navigate public services.

NHS Engagement: The relationship is complex and cautious. While the UK government maintains a partnership with Anthropic, NHS England recently withdrew public software access due to cybersecurity fears linked to Anthropic’s Mythos model, which can identify software vulnerabilities at scale. NHS guidance warns that public code repositories could be exploited by such AI, leading to a temporary restriction on source code access. Furthermore, the NHS faces procurement risks because the US government designated Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” in early 2026, creating tension between UK innovation goals and supply chain stability.”

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British forces boarded the Russian shadow fleet tanker SMYRTOS in the English Channel, specifically within UK territorial waters.

“The six-hour operation, directed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, involved Royal Marine Commandos and specially trained officers from the National Crime Agency boarding the vessel, which was sailing under a Cameroonian flag. The interception was supported by Royal Navy ships (HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury), RAF aircraft, and military helicopters from the Maritime Air Group.

The tanker has been moved to an anchorage off the south coast of England for monitoring and investigation. Officials stated the action was taken in accordance with domestic and international law to disrupt revenue streams funding Russia’s war in Ukraine

The SMYRTOS (IMO: 9389100) was sailing under the flag of Cameroon when it was intercepted by British forces in the English Channel on June 14, 2026.

However, reports indicate that the vessel has since been expelled from the Cameroon ship registry, leaving it effectively unflagged or stateless at the time of its seizure by Royal Marines and National Crime Agency officers. This lack of flag status allowed the UK to exercise the “right of visit” under international law to board and detain the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet tanker.

A loophole or valid grounds for seizure? Maybe they should have charge a million BTC to let it go!

“The SMYRTOS is a Crude Oil Tanker (specifically classified as an Aframax or LR2 tanker) with a deadweight capacity of approximately 106,969 tonnes. – which is equivalent to around 800,000 barrels.

“The Smyrtos sailed from Ust-Luga port, an oil terminal near St. Petersburg in Russia. The vessel began its journey on 5 June 2026 before crossing west into the English Channel,

“The crude oil tanker SMYRTOS (IMO: 9389100) is (was) heading to Port Said, Egypt.

As of mid-June 2026, the vessel has been reported in the English Channel and the North East Atlantic Ocean, with an estimated time of arrival at Port Said calculated around June 24–28, 2026. Prior to this voyage, the ship visited the Suez Canal and Ust-Luga, Russia.

Operating under a now invalid’flag of convenience.

Ownership/management details here:

“The Smyrtos (IMO 9389100) is owned and commercially managed by Zhao Yao Shipping Ltd, a company registered in Hong Kong.

Key details regarding the vessel’s ownership and status include:

• Registered Owner: Zhao Yao Shipping Ltd.

• Commercial Manager: Zhao Yao Shipping Ltd.

• Previous Management: Since February 2025, the vessel was associated with Daira Shipping Ltd (Seychelles) as owner and Crest Maritime Pte Ltd (Singapore) as ISM manager.

• Sanctions Status: The tanker is subject to sanctions imposed by the EU (July 2025), UK (October 2025), Switzerland (August 2025), Ukraine (December 2025), and Canada (February 2026) for its involvement in exporting Russian crude oil.

Could the Ukrsinians/Swissor Canadians have borded the vessel (with permission of the UK of couse)!

The Russins are not on the ownership/management record but the Chinese/Sinaporean are!

A real tangle.

Let’s complicate things even more. The UK currently IMPORTS Russian oil directly!

“The UK currently imports oil products refined from Russian crude in third countries, such as jet fuel and diesel processed in India and Turkey. While direct imports of Russian crude oil, refined petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) are banned, a significant loophole allows these processed fuels to enter the UK market.

“In May 2026, the UK government further eased these restrictions by issuing an indefinite trade license permitting the import of Russian crude oil refined in third countries. This decision was made in response to soaring global fuel prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Consequently, the UK has resumed importing Russian-derived jet fuel and diesel, despite previous plans to phase out these specific imports.”

Hmmm! Maybe the UK could buy the cargo take it to a British or Dutch refineryand release the ship!!!???

“

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From here:

Sweden Abolishes Permanent Residence Permits for Asylum Seekers After Migration Experiment Turns Into National Crisis * The Gateway Pundit * by Robert Semonsen

Sweden attempts to tackle its immigration problems by abolishing the pathway to permanent residence for asylum seekers:

“The new law, set to take effect on July 12, will restrict those covered by the reform to temporary residence permits only. Those who already hold valid permanent residence statuses will not be affected.”

“The vote is part of a wider conservative-led crackdown on mass immigration after years of gang violence, failed integration, welfare strain and collapsing public confidence. Sweden is now trying to regain control of a system that its globalist political class spent decades loosening.

Sweden, for years, was sold as the great European success story: open borders, exceedingly generous benefits, multicultural harmony and endless social trust. That story has collapsed amid vast upticks in shootings, bombings, gang recruitment and neighborhoods where ordinary citizens increasingly feel like strangers in their own country.”

From Brave AI:

“Sweden faces significant challenges with socially segregated neighborhoods, often referred to in media and political discourse as "ghettos" or "vulnerable areas," which are characterized by high concentrations of immigrants, elevated unemployment, and increased crime rates.

Key districts identified in reports include Rinkeby, Tensta, and Husby in Stockholm, Rosengård in Malmö, and Angered in Gothenburg, where foreign-born residents or those with immigrant backgrounds often constitute a majority of the population.

“Since taking office in 2022, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has implemented stricter immigration policies, including a controversial plan to offer $34,000 per family to encourage voluntary return to their home countries, marking a shift from Sweden's previous "humanitarian superpower" stance.

Check this out:

“Austrian MEP Harald Vilimsky cited an analysis from the White Papers Policy Institute claiming that Sweden will spend around €117.3 billion over the next 50 years on the roughly 102,000 Somalis living in the country.”

“Sweden’s asylum demographic is defined by a significant proportion of non-ethnic Swedish origins, with the population of non-ethnic Swedish origin reaching 35.4% as of 2024, primarily comprising immigrants and their descendants from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Sweden’s population is approximately 10.7 million, making it the most populous Nordic country and ranking 91st globally.

That would make the population of ‘non-ethnic Swedish origin around 3.5 million.

The other significant minorities, other than Somali, are Iraqi, Eritrean, Syrian and Afghan.

All sounds familiar – no doubt all these minorities were trafficked by the UN IOM.

https://www.iom.int/who-we-are

““The financial consequences of mass immigration,” Vilimsky wrote on X, pointing to the study’s conclusions. His warning reflects a broader European backlash against a migration model that has imposed enormous long-term costs on taxpayers.”

“Sweden’s U-turn can be seen as damage control after a decades-long experiment went wrong. The country that once embodied open-borders idealism is now trying to claw back sovereignty before the consequences become irreversible.”

“The reform will not solve everything. Temporary permits alone will not dismantle gang networks, recover lost neighborhoods, reverse welfare dependency, or rebuild the social trust that reckless migration policy helped destroy.

That is why many anti-immigration critics say the government still has not gone far enough. They argue that Sweden needs not just tighter permits, but real deportations, tougher citizenship rules, aggressive gang enforcement and a complete break with the ideology that created the crisis.”

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The UK Ministry of Defence needs 5% of UK GDP in order to meet NATO defence commitments by 2035.

From Brave AI:

“At the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, member states agreed to raise the defense spending target from 2% to 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2035. This historic commitment, known as the Hague Investment Plan, requires allies to submit annual plans demonstrating a credible, incremental path to meet the goal, with progress to be reviewed in 2029. “

5% of UK annual GDP of £3 trillion works out at £150 billion a year – every year from 2035. The cumulative defence spending BEFORE 2035 IS AROUND £1 TRILLION POUNDS WITH £150 BILLION POUNDS A YEAR THERAFTER.

The Labour government KNEW about this promise BEFORE the 2024 and 2025 budgets.

The Labour government RAISED MORE THAN ENOUGH TAXES TO FUND THIS COMMITMENT.

From Brave AI:

“Chancellor Rachel Reeves has raised taxes by a total of £66 billion since taking office, combining a £40 billion increase in her first budget (October 2024) with an additional £26 billion in her second budget (November 2025).

The £26 billion haul from the 2025 Autumn Budget was achieved through several key measures:

• Fiscal Drag: Extending the freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds until April 2031, which pulls more earners into higher tax bands.

• Wealth and Savings Taxes: Introducing new separate income tax rates for property income, increasing taxes on dividends and savings, and implementing a “mansion tax” on homes valued over £2 million.

• Pension and Welfare Adjustments: Scaling back pension incentives through social security charges on salary-sacrifice contributions and scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

These cumulative hikes have pushed the UK’s tax-to-GDP ratio to a post-war high, with the Office for Budget Responsibility projecting the burden will reach 38.3% by 2030. Critics, including the IMF and opposition parties, warn that this rapid increase risks slowing economic growth and reaching “peak taxation,” while the government argues the revenue is essential for reducing borrowing and funding public services without returning to austerity.

Current defence spending is 2.4% of GDP. From Brave AI:

“2024 Estimates: NATO data indicates the UK spent 2.3% of GDP on defence in 2024, with total expenditure reaching approximately £64bn to £66bn.

It should be noted that the Starmer government is a significant supporter of Ukraine.

From Brave AI:

“The UK has pledged approximately £21.8 billion in total support to Ukraine since February 2022, making it one of the largest individual donors alongside the US and Germany.

• Military Aid: £13.06 billion of the total pledge is for military assistance, including lethal equipment like Challenger tanks, artillery, and air defense systems, as well as extensive training for Ukrainian personnel.

• Non-Military Aid: The remaining £8.74 billion covers humanitarian aid, fiscal support (including World Bank loan guarantees), and reconstruction efforts.

• Recent Commitments: Prime Minister Keir Starmer has committed to providing at least £3 billion per year in military aid until at least 2030/31.

• Recent Loans: In 2024/2025, the UK contributed £2.26 billion to the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loan scheme, with tranches disbursed in early 2025

£22 billion in aid – munitions are an EXTRA spending that must be replenished and deplete money available for UK defence spending.

Had the money been spent on defence instead of other priorities, the UK would be close to that 5% promise TODAY!

Instead, the government had no problem spending £35 billion on paying Mauritius to take the Chagos Islands (1% of GDP) and allowed ‘Mad Ed’ Miliband to increase the price of energy bills for the 30 million UK homes

From Brave AI:

“The energy price cap has increased from £1,568 (July–September 2024) to £1,641 (April–June 2026), a rise of £73 or approximately 4.7%.

However, the cap is scheduled to rise significantly to £1,862 from 1 July 2026 to 30 September 2026, which represents an increase of £294 (or 18.9%) from the July 2024 level.

An increase from £1,568 to £1,862 is an increase of £294 – for an effective TAX increase of a further £8.8 billion. Axes in the UK have been increased by at least 70 billion in just two years.

For every child the Labour government claims to have lifted out of poverty, 3 have been consigned to it.

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From here:

New homes discounted by £100k as builder scrambles to sell properties

““Whilst current market conditions are challenging for all companies in our sector, the group has a robust forward order book of £4.5bn, and we continue to build at scale and pace, delivering the homes this country so desperately needs.”

“Shares have tumbled by close to 65pc during the past year.

Yikes!

From Brave AI:

“Vistry has received over £252 million in grant funding under the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 to deliver 3,578 homes, including a recent £50 million award from Homes England. Additionally, Homes England holds equity investments in Vistry-related joint ventures, including £60 million in the Joint Venture PlacePoint LLP.

• Affordable Homes Programme (2021-26): Over £252 million allocated for 3,578 homes.

• Recent Grant Award: £50 million secured in September 2025 as part of a £2 billion government top-up.

• Equity Investments: £60 million from Homes England in the Joint Venture PlacePoint LLP (contracted September 2025).

• Loans to Joint Ventures: Homes England provided loans to Vistry-partnered entities, including £32 million to The Sherford Consortium and £35 million to Stanton Cross Developments LLP.”

“Troubled housebuilder Vistry has knocked more than £100,000 off the price of its homes in an effort to spur sales and raise cash.

The London-listed developer has reduced the prices of its new builds by as much as 17pc, according to the investment bank Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Analysts found one example of a four-bed home in West Sussex that was reduced from £680,000 to £565,000.

“Steep discounts come as Vistry, which has been called Labour’s favourite housebuilder, scrambles to raise cash.

The company has been left reeling after cost overruns on projects and delays to Labour’s £39bn social housing programme, on which Vistry is a crucial housebuilding partner.

No homes have been completed as part of that £39 billion program:

Per Brave AI:

“As of mid-2026, no homes have been fully delivered under the specific £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, as the initiative is still in its early implementation phase.

• Programme Scope: The £39 billion investment, announced in the 2025 Spending Review, targets the construction of 300,000 affordable and social homes over a decade, with 180,000 designated for social rent.

• Current Delivery: While the broader UK housing sector has seen activity, the specific output from this dedicated fund is not yet reflected in completion statistics. Initial funding tranches (such as a £2 billion allocation) were expected to deliver approximately 18,000 homes before 2029.

• Broader Context: In the first year of Labour’s term (July 2024–June 2025), England saw 186,600 new homes completed overall, but these figures include all housing types and were not primarily driven by the £39 billion programme, which had not yet fully commenced delivery.

Construction of homes funded specifically by the £39 billion pledge is expected to accelerate after 2027, with the government aiming to deliver as many of the total 1.5 million new homes pledge as possible by 2029.”

Maybe the Marxist Labour government will announce favoured lending to legal and illegal immigrants, after all, why not?

Suffice to say, the Labour government has been in power for 2 years. Its promise to build 1.5 million ‘affordable’ new homes implies an annual rate of 300,000 a year – or 600,000 in two years. It has built none and those tht it has built are unsold and need to be scounted.

An abject policy FAIL – taxes have been raised to fund this housebuilding. Just how much corruption is involved here? It stinks.

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DNI Gabbard Reveals Evidence of U.S. Taxpayer-Funded Global Biolab Program | Office of the Director of National Intelligence

“Until now, evidence regarding the full existence and funding of these laboratories had been knowingly withheld from the American people. The information surrounding the existence, history, locations and funding of these US funded biolabs has been intentionally covered up by powerful people falsely, claiming that they do not exist and accusing anyone who says otherwise to be foreign assets and traitors to America.”

“”Despite the obvious potential for catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have, politicians, so-called health professionals like Dr. Fauci, and entities within the Biden administration’s national security team lied to the American people about the existence of U.S.-funded and supported biolabs, and threatened those who attempted to expose the truth. ODNI will continue to work closely with partners across the government to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain to end dangerous Gain-of-Function research that threatens the health and wellbeing of the American people and people around the world,” said DNI Gabbard.”

Onwards!

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“Recent Ipsos polling indicates that 43% of Britons now believe the UK’s interests are completely or mostly the same as the EU’s, a significant increase from 29% in 2022, while only 16% see interests as at odds.

“ The EU is increasingly viewed as the most important trade partner (43%), surpassing both the US and China, a shift observed across all major voting groups including Reform UK supporters.”

A decade post-referendum, 48% believe Brexit is going worse than expected, and only 27% would vote for Labour if the status quo were maintained, suggesting significant pressure for policy change.

These percentages fail to provide the full context.

The EU is a bureaucratic monolith that is funded from taxes levied on the 27 member countries.

“The EU’s 2028–2034 long-term budget proposal of approximately €1.8 trillion (€1.76 trillion in 2025 prices, or roughly €1.82 trillion excluding €165 billion in NextGenerationEU debt repayments) is funded through a combination of traditional Own Resources and new proposed revenue streams.

The primary financing sources include:

• Gross National Income (GNI) Contributions: Over half of the budget is derived from direct contributions from EU member states, calculated as a percentage (around 1.26% of total EU GNI) of their national economies.

• New Proposed Revenue Sources: To maintain contribution levels while covering increased spending and debt repayments, the European Commission has proposed new income streams, including:

  • Revenue from the Emissions Trading System (carbon trading).

  • A Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) levy on imported goods.

  • Contributions based on reallocated corporate profits of very large multinational companies.

  • Additional proposals include duties on e-waste, e-commerce, tobacco, and a levy on crypto asset capital gains.

• Traditional Own Resources: Existing sources such as customs duties on imports from outside the EU and a small percentage of Value Added Tax (VAT) collected by member states continue to contribute to the budget.

• Non-Recycled Plastic Waste Contribution: A fee based on the amount of non-recycled plastic packaging waste generated by each member state.

The budget also accounts for the repayment of debt incurred by the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument (€806.9 billion borrowed on capital markets), with member states guaranteeing the loan component and contributing to grant repayments via the new own resources.” (€25.8bn),

Here are the 2023 budget contributions:

“In 2023, the largest contributors to the EU budget were Germany (€33.8bn), France (€25.8bn), Italy (€18.8bn), and Spain (€13.6bn). Germany remains the top contributor by share, accounting for 23.60% of member state contributions, followed by France (18.55%) and Italy (12.77%).”

GNI’s for leading countries ar :

Based on the 2024 Gross National Income (GNI) per capita data from the German Federal Statistical Office (Atlas method, US dollars):

• Germany: $54,960

• United Kingdom: $48,610

• France: $45,180

• Italy: $38,290

It is likely that the UK contribution were it to rejoin the EU would be the same as that od France – that is (€25.8bn) or around £22 billion pounds A YEAR,

This coincidentally is a large part of the shortfall in the defence budget over the next few years of 1% of GNI.

Even the Geramns are baulking at the EU budget.

Germany rejects ‘unaffordable’ EU long-term budget plan

That is not the only issue. The EU has just changed its border policies which the UK would have to comply with.

From here:

What to know about the EU’s new migration and asylum reforms as they come into effect

“A major reform of European migration rules aimed at hardening border procedures and overhauling the asylum process comes into force on Friday.

“For the first time we have a comprehensive European system,” said Magnus Brunner, the European Union’s migration chief, adding that the reform would hand EU nations more control over their borders.”

“Migrants irregularly entering the European Union will undergo identity and security checks in a process lasting up to seven days.

Identity documents and biometric readings of their faces and fingerprints will be recorded in a database.”

Sounds good – will it impact the UK’s £15 billion annual immigrant cost?

Here’s the rub:

“Under EU rules, the country in which an irregular migrant first sets foot is responsible for handling their case.

That places stress on Italy, Greece and Malta, which have received the bulk of land and sea arrivals in recent years.

To ease that burden, the reform introduces a solidarity mechanism compelling member states to take in a certain number of asylum-seekers arriving in other countries.

“Alternatively, they can pay €20,000 euros per asylum-seeker to the countries under pressure.

At least 30,000 asylum-seekers a year will come under this relocation system.”

“Asylum-seekers considered a security risk or with lower chances of receiving refugee status - those coming from countries such as Morocco and Bangladesh whose nationals are declined protection in at least 80% of cases - will be processed faster.

Their applications would be processed in centres close to the EU’s “external borders” - meaning land frontiers, ports and airports - in a process taking up to 12 weeks.”

“The package establishes an emergency response in the event of unexpected migration surges, the same sort of crisis the EU faced in 2015-2016 when more than two million asylum-seekers entered the bloc, many from war-torn Syria and Afghanistan.”

Companies like IPSOS are asking political questions without providing the full context of the issue being addressed.

How about framing the question as “would you be happy rejoining the EU – or moving closer to it if the UK had to pay £20 billion EVERY YEAR and take in a ‘yet to be determined quota of asylum seekers/refugees:

“The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum establishes a flexible solidarity system rather than a single fixed quota, requiring each member state to assume responsibility for a designated proportion of asylum seekers based on population, GDP, and historical numbers.

Key components of the current framework include:

• Annual Resettlement Target: The regulation stipulates that at least 30,000 people should be resettled every year, typically from frontline states (like Greece, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus) to other member states.

• Solidarity Pool: For 2026, EU member states agreed to a “Solidarity Pool” consisting of 21,000 relocations and €420 million in financial contributions, which is below the Commission’s initial proposal of 30,000 relocations and €600 million.

• Financial Compensation: If a member state refuses to accept refugees, it must pay approximately €20,000 to €250,000 per non-admitted asylum seeker (sources vary on the exact figure, with one citing €20,000 and another ~€250,000) to support frontline states or fund integration projects.

• Exemptions: Certain countries, such as Czechia, Estonia, Croatia, Austria, and Poland, may be granted total or partial exemptions from their quotas if they face significant migratory pressures or specific national circumstances.

This system replaces the failed compulsory sharing proposals of the 2015–2016 crisis, allowing states to choose between physical relocation, financial contributions, or other supportive measures like providing personnel or building reception centers.

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https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2025/02/brake-pad-emissions.page

“Exposure to pollution generated by cars, vans and lorries has long been linked to an increased risk of lung and heart disease. However, while past attention has mainly concentrated on exhaust emissions, particles are also released into the air from tyre, road and brake pad wear – emissions which are largely unregulated by legislation.”

“Lead author of the study, Dr James Parkin , explains that a move to electric cars is bringing the problem into sharper focus: “People generally associate pollution from cars as being from exhaust pipes and think of electric vehicles as having zero emissions. However, EVs still produce particulate matter due to friction and wear of the road, tyres, and brakes.

“Results showed that of the four types of brake pads, non-asbestos organic pads were the most potent in terms of inducing inflammation and other markers of toxicity, and more toxic to human lung cells than diesel exhaust particles. Ceramic pads were the second most toxic. Importantly, both non-asbestos organic and ceramic pads contain high concentrations of copper, and later experiments to remove this copper found the PM became less toxic.” Over a year ago

The research was published here:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12989-024-00617-2

Analysis focuses on harmful PM *Particulate Matter).

From Brave AI:

“Particulate matter (PM) is a complex mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in the air, with a chemical composition that varies significantly based on source, location, and time. It is broadly categorized into primary particles (directly emitted) and secondary particles (formed in the atmosphere).

Primary PM Components

• Elemental Carbon (Black Carbon): Soot from fossil fuel and biomass combustion.

• Organic Carbon: Hydrocarbons and other organic compounds from traffic, industry, and vegetation.

• Trace Metals: Lead, cadmium, copper, nickel, chromium, zinc, manganese, and vanadium from metallurgical processes and abrasion.

• Minerals: Aluminum, silicon, iron, and calcium from construction, dust, and soil.

• Biological Material: Pollen, spores, and bacterial endotoxins.

• Sea Salt: Sodium chloride from oceanic sources.

Secondary PM Components

• Sulfates: Formed from sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$) reacting with ammonia ($NH_3$) to create ammonium sulfate.

• Nitrates: Formed from nitrogen oxides ($NO_x$) reacting with ammonia to create ammonium nitrate.

• Organic Compounds: Secondary organic carbon derived from the oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

• Water: Absorbed by hygroscopic particles like ammonium sulfate and nitrate.

· Health and Size Context The composition varies by size class; PM10 (coarse particles) often contains crustal materials and pollen, while PM2.5 (fine particles) is richer in combustion-derived nanoparticles, metals, and secondary ions like sulfates and nitrates. Finer particles are generally more hazardous as they penetrate deeper into the lungs and circulatory system.

More on the research findings of EV pollution:

“The findings, published in the journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology , suggest that a reduction of copper content in brake pads could help mitigate some of the harmful effects of vehicle particulate matter. Air pollution, including from cars, has been linked to a range of conditions, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular diseases, dementia and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (scarring of the lung).”

“The researchers highlight that while electric vehicles emit no exhaust emissions they aren’t emission-free and that health effects from vehicle emissions won’t necessarily be completely removed once the fleet is fully electrified. They suggest that current legislation, which focuses on PM exhaust emissions, may be inadequate to fully mitigate the health effects of vehicles in the future.

Presumably, the brake pads/tyres etc used in EVs are more harmful than the brake pads/tyres etc used in ICE vehicles!

“We identified brake-wear PM from copper-enriched non-asbestos organic, and ceramic brake pads as inducing the greatest oxidative stress, inflammation, and pseudohypoxic HIF activation (a pathway implicated in diseases associated with air pollution exposure, including cancer, and pulmonary fibrosis), as well as perturbation of metabolism, and metal homeostasis compared with brake wear PM from low- or semi-metallic pads, and also, importantly, diesel exhaust PM. Compositional and metal chelator analyses identified that differential effects were driven by copper.”

MSN covered the issue in a 5-minute video here:

Why EVs pollute more than diesels | Watch

Onwards!

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