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As if by magic... a perfect example this afternoon of how the UK talks itself down on the international stage with lashings of self-loathing.

The US publishes today its Q3 2022 GDP growth and crows from the rooftops that it is surging +3% YoY. There is a feel-good factor.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/third-quarter-gdp-growth-revised-up-to-3-2-rate-in-sign-of-economic-strength

The UK publishes today its Q3 2022 GDP growth and crows from the rooftops that it is plunging -0.3% QoQ. There is a feel-bad factor.

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-economy-shrinks-by-more-than-first-thought-q3-ons-2022-12-22/

We are one weird country :-(

Yet another example of Britain's weird desire to talk itself down on the international stage. Very bizarre behaviour by the Britain-hating, bitter-Remainer blob.

The ONS prioritizes inflation stats by YoY.
The ONS prioritizes GDP stats by QoQ.

In other words, we are desperate to maximize harmful inflation, and desperate to minimize helpful growth. We talk up the bad stuff. We talk down the good stuff. It is very weird behaviour.

For the record, UK GDP grew a decent +2% YoY in Q3 2022.
The UK is growing (not shrinking).

* "Latest polling data suggests 57% of voters would opt to rejoin the EU if another referendum were held today"...

Brits always say one thing, and do another ;-) They polled Remain -- but voted massively for Brexit in the booth... They polled Scot-indy -- but voted massively for Scot-UK in the booth.... They polled Corbyn -- but voted massively for Boris in the booth... There will be no return to the EU. It's over. The longer Brexit beds in, the more entrenched it has become.

* These polls reflect the undeniable reality, that Brexit has been an unmitigated political and economic catastrophe for the UK"...

UK-EU exports sit at a record high. The UK is the fastest-growing economy in the G7 -- for the second year in a row. The UK-Commonwealth is back on the global stage. UK cricket is winning everything. I was in Italy last week -- the Italians had even opened a special UK passport lane, which enabled us to jump a ~50m EU passport queue, like a VIP. The benefits of Brexit are starting to shine thru in the economy, on the wicket, and in the airport ;-)

These types of UK "recession warnings" in 2022 have become like the "Brexit warnings" of 2015. Remainers competing to predict ever more apocalyptic economic forecasts. Project Fear is back.

Yeah, you can see how badly Jeremy Clarkson has aged since he did a bit more farming (even if just for his TV show). He looks well into his 70s already (real age 62yo).

Farming is a tough life in the UK, for sure. Outdoor farming is freezing cold and miserable for 98% of the year, while indoor farming (as you say) is boiling hot and miserable.

Thanks. Guess that's why it's so hard nowadays to find / keep staff for greenhouses, polytunnels, etc.

Epro

Curious... what was so bad about "greenhouse work"? The heat, the chemicals, or something else?

Genuine question (not a trick one).

The France miss at 124mins was the biggest howler the global game has ever seen.

France's record at penalty shootouts is now as bad as England's. France have lost 60% of all pen shootouts since 1930. Quite incredible.

France had it in the bag. They blew it.

NHS funding is growing 10 times faster than the UK population. Ten times. The NHS today is fully funded and has more than enough cash to work properly. The NHS has a union, management and structure problem -- not a cash problem.

Sounds like artificial extremist hysteria and propaganda agitated by radical communist unions who want to overthrow capitalism.

The UK NHS budget has rocketed +200% since the 1990s -- while the UK population has risen just +20% in the same timeframe.

The NHSSR today has more than enough cash. It gets more free money than the entire GDP economy of Morocco. It is now one of the top-10 best-funded healthcare services on all of planet Earth.

What the NHS needs in 2023 is a "Thatcher moment". It needs a strong PM to smash the communist unions. They are the problem. Not the cash.

..."I’ve still got 5000 of these at an average of 68p. Will I ever see my money back?"...

Pretty much impossible, imv. The company has spent quarter of a century "looking" for sparklers and diluting shareholders, while the CEO is not far off 100yo.

Given CGNR has spent 27 years and vapourized millions of pounds of shareholders' cash and dug up no physical gold for sale and the CGNR shareprice has collapsed -99.9% this century and recent assay results were disappointing and low-grade, some might say that things cannot get any worse... But perhaps they can! A Greece-Turkey war would send Europe, Ireland and UK into turmoil. It would be like Ukraine-Russia on steroids.

ATOM Is losing millions, the marcap today sits at a lofty £38m, and now management have started diluting shareholders with a heavily discounted fund-raise(s). Will keep this one on the watchlist for now. Suspect this might drift back down toward that old 50p low in 2023, as sentiment is likely to turn sour after the dilution.

UK GDP grew +2.4% YoY in Q3 2022 and well above expectations.

Brexit growth is holding strong, despite relentless Remainer hysteria to talk the country into recession.

There is obvs a technical bounce off the 200p support-line here from Oct 2022. But TSCO is likely to test that 200p level again in the coming months. With Aldi and Lidl continuing to grab big UK market share from Tesco and others, the TSCO share price can really only trend in one direction.

Market share down = share price down.

Yes, the UK pensions industry is a disgrace. Millions of people are sitting in low-growth zombie funds with high-price fees. Trillions are wasted every decade.

..."I remember when SSE and Norwich Union / Aviva closed down the major part of their businesses making thousands of people redundant. Up sprung a whole load of small businesses and that totally changed the sleepy town of Perth into quite a vibrant city. It was almost as if people were unshackled"...

Small businesses tend to pay small wages. They can never replace big businesses that pay big wages.

Perth today is one of the poorest regions in the industrialized world. Its GDP per-head is lower than Russia.

Transferring a UK pension is much easier than people think. Just ask the pension providers (on both sides) for a transfer, and they will send you maybe 1 or 2 pages of forms to fill in and sign, and they will do the rest. There should no fees or charges. Be careful if you ask them to "freeze" (sell) any funds, as they may (or may not) charge a fee for it. Could take a few weeks or months to switch pensions, as the wheels of financial bureaucracy can be slow to grind.

Loads of "best SIPP" articles out there. Shop around, because SIPP fees can vary wildly, from near-free to rip-off. Best to open up a spreadsheet, and then compare the TOTAL costs of 10+ SIPPs, to make a decision. Picking a low-cost one (such as Freetrade) can save you thousands over a decade or two.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/money-mentor/article/best-self-invested-personal-pension-sipp/

PS. This is NOT financial advice. Just a discussion. Do your own research, etc.

Need to update... The Tories have not been on the Right side of politics for a decade or more. The Tories today are just a red fist in a blue glove.