Evil Knievil: God help us

Newspapers arrive at our block’s front door at 5.30 a.m. Unfortunately, I have still not got back the use of my legs such that I can be confident that I will not fall over. I therefore await my neighbour’s carer who kindly scoops up the necessary at 7.30 a.m. and brings it to our front door. This means that I go channel-hopping. And this morning I got ITV’s Judge Rinder. I strongly recommend this programme.

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I am depressed by Sir Kim Darroch packing it in in Washington. The acid test here is could he have continued with HMG’s business. Because of Trump’s being infantile, he could not. Darroch’s behaviour is therefore entirely beyond reproach. However, Johnson behaved in an utterly deplorable manner and we are clearly going to get a lot more trouble from him.

Johnson presumably thinks he is frightfully clever whereas he is simply a treacherous oaf. God help us.

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Hammond has still not announced that the complexity attaching to the increase of the marginal rate of income taxation to 45% has failed and will be corrected. This proves that he is pig-headed.

As noted here before, 40% as a marginal rate raises tax. Any more does not. It is true that Osborne introduced this garbage as a method of blocking Corbyn. The result has been a spectacular mess. Of course, doctors are not the only sufferers. The suffering extends to all the potential patients.

I remember the seventies when the Labour government was surprised to learn that 98% taxation rates did not raise tax. Hammond is too young to recall this inescapable fact of life.

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Something is going on at Location Sciences (LON:LSAI). For the price keeps creeping up and is no longer engaged on an accidental random walk. Time to fill your boots at 4p.

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Finally, and unsurprisingly, Boeing (NYSE:BA) are not selling their 737 Max planes right now. This is causing Boeing to haemorrhage. It is not clear to what extent these losses are insured. So it is not clear that Boeing is a short. But it might well be.