VAT rates on different products and where to draw the line between higher and lower rates: a problem in UK eg Jaffa cakes case and now in Belgium.
Breakfast products are excluded from higher rates. Prepared dishes that with a shelf life of a few days attract the higher rate.
Breakfast products are excluded from higher rates. Prepared dishes that with a shelf life of a few days attract the higher rate.
February 7, 2026 at 1:53 PM
VAT rates on different products and where to draw the line between higher and lower rates: a problem in UK eg Jaffa cakes case and now in Belgium.
Breakfast products are excluded from higher rates. Prepared dishes that with a shelf life of a few days attract the higher rate.
Breakfast products are excluded from higher rates. Prepared dishes that with a shelf life of a few days attract the higher rate.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Hear hear!
Excellent post pushing back against the timid mercantilism dominating European industrial policy.
Excellent post pushing back against the timid mercantilism dominating European industrial policy.
Too many articles about why Europe needs protecting, too many leaders seeking marginal gains in delivery in place of real vision.
I snapped and wrote something quickly about why we need instead the politics of optimism, adaptation, and creativity. www.linkedin.com/pulse/europe...
I snapped and wrote something quickly about why we need instead the politics of optimism, adaptation, and creativity. www.linkedin.com/pulse/europe...
European politics needs the dreamers of dreams
One story from two angles. From China the visionary, the man wanting to build a big company and after several false starts doing so in bringing low-cost electric vehicles to the world.
www.linkedin.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:03 AM
Hear hear!
Excellent post pushing back against the timid mercantilism dominating European industrial policy.
Excellent post pushing back against the timid mercantilism dominating European industrial policy.
So much this!
Leadership contests as a substitute for more difficult changes.
Juncker as a minister : ‘We know what the problems are but not how to get re-elected afterwards
Leadership contests as a substitute for more difficult changes.
Juncker as a minister : ‘We know what the problems are but not how to get re-elected afterwards
It's why all the leadership speculation - and whether Al Carns(??) can rescue the Labour party - is slightly besides the point. It's not a Starmer problem, it's a UK governance problem.
February 6, 2026 at 11:41 AM
So much this!
Leadership contests as a substitute for more difficult changes.
Juncker as a minister : ‘We know what the problems are but not how to get re-elected afterwards
Leadership contests as a substitute for more difficult changes.
Juncker as a minister : ‘We know what the problems are but not how to get re-elected afterwards
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
🚨🚨" Some leaders have chosen to hunt them down and deport them through operations that are both unlawful and cruel. My government has chosen a different way: a fast and simple path to regularize their immigration status." Spanish PM Pedro #Sanchez on why #migrants are essential for Western society:
February 6, 2026 at 7:50 AM
A Brexiteer in a Brussels Park querying the art, from X.
@goodclimate.bsky.social Do you know anything about these statues? I’ve not consciously seen them.
@goodclimate.bsky.social Do you know anything about these statues? I’ve not consciously seen them.
January 29, 2026 at 12:45 PM
A Brexiteer in a Brussels Park querying the art, from X.
@goodclimate.bsky.social Do you know anything about these statues? I’ve not consciously seen them.
@goodclimate.bsky.social Do you know anything about these statues? I’ve not consciously seen them.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
If Trump and his henchmen's disparaging comments about Europe have done something useful, it is to focus European minds on the need to speed up EU decision-making. This is an old debate. It cannot be a simple 2-speed Europe, with two separate country blocks.
1/2
1/2
A real change in how Germany approaches the EU is happening. Berlin used to prioritise the unity of the 27 and now seems much more open towards coalitions of the willing.
Next step is initiative by Finance minister Klingenbeil to build an avant-garde with 🇫🇷🇵🇱🇮🇹🇳🇱🇪🇸:
Next step is initiative by Finance minister Klingenbeil to build an avant-garde with 🇫🇷🇵🇱🇮🇹🇳🇱🇪🇸:
Six EU countries hold call in push for 'two‑speed' Europe
Ministers from six leading European economies, including Germany and France, will discuss on Wednesday plans to push ahead with joint projects without the rest of the EU, to facilitate agile decision-...
www.reuters.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:39 PM
If Trump and his henchmen's disparaging comments about Europe have done something useful, it is to focus European minds on the need to speed up EU decision-making. This is an old debate. It cannot be a simple 2-speed Europe, with two separate country blocks.
1/2
1/2
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
I see we are already at the "I was only following orders" stage of fascism.
Kristi Noem: "Everything I've done, I've done at the direction of the president and Stephen"
January 28, 2026 at 1:58 PM
I see we are already at the "I was only following orders" stage of fascism.
What do you think of this, Chris? @chrisgrey.bsky.social
Theres’s a shorter version on Byrne’s Linked in.
open.substack.com/pub/liambyrn...
Theres’s a shorter version on Byrne’s Linked in.
open.substack.com/pub/liambyrn...
Why Brexit’s Failure Hasn’t Changed Minds
Brexit Britain is poorer and weaker. Yet Brexit's authors are riding high. That tells us something about how to argue for a deeper relationship with the neighbours.
open.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:28 PM
What do you think of this, Chris? @chrisgrey.bsky.social
Theres’s a shorter version on Byrne’s Linked in.
open.substack.com/pub/liambyrn...
Theres’s a shorter version on Byrne’s Linked in.
open.substack.com/pub/liambyrn...
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
This is not a sign of Labour being pro-Reform, it’s how bloc politics in FPTP works. The other bloc winning is bad. A different party in your bloc winning is worse. Don’t like that dynamic? Implement proportional representation so in-bloc have parties have less incentive to attack each other.
What's the outcome that terrifies Labour most in the Gorton by-election?
Reform winning?
Nope. It's the Greens they're most worried about.
They'd prefer Reform to win, rather than the Greens.
Reform winning?
Nope. It's the Greens they're most worried about.
They'd prefer Reform to win, rather than the Greens.
January 28, 2026 at 9:43 AM
This is not a sign of Labour being pro-Reform, it’s how bloc politics in FPTP works. The other bloc winning is bad. A different party in your bloc winning is worse. Don’t like that dynamic? Implement proportional representation so in-bloc have parties have less incentive to attack each other.
Nailed by Chris!
This. I'm not a BBC-basher but IMO Mason is a poor political journalist. It's not that he's 'biased' per se, it's that he reports politics as a kind of giggly spectator sport and as such is preoccupied with spectacle, talking up 'exciting' events rather than analysing them. 1/2
~ Chris Mason, the BBC's Farage fanboy - The New World ~
https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/rats-in-a-sack-chris-mason-the-bbcs-farage-fanboy/
https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/rats-in-a-sack-chris-mason-the-bbcs-farage-fanboy/
January 28, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Nailed by Chris!
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
This random online comment from 2018 remains one of the last half-century's most important works of political commentary. crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
January 24, 2026 at 5:42 PM
This random online comment from 2018 remains one of the last half-century's most important works of political commentary. crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/l...
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
The very same people ordering untrained federal agents to shoot at protesters have very strong thoughts about how Europe should be run.
Maybe they should think less about Europe and more about Minnesota.
Maybe they should think less about Europe and more about Minnesota.
January 24, 2026 at 8:09 PM
The very same people ordering untrained federal agents to shoot at protesters have very strong thoughts about how Europe should be run.
Maybe they should think less about Europe and more about Minnesota.
Maybe they should think less about Europe and more about Minnesota.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
When the monopoly right granted by copyright is compounded by the speed and scale of media company mergers, we end up with a crisis in creativity. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Copyright Should Not Enable Monopoly
There’s a crisis of creativity in mainstream American culture. We have fewer and fewer studios and record labels and fewer and fewer platforms online that serve independent artists and creators.
www.eff.org
January 22, 2026 at 8:31 PM
When the monopoly right granted by copyright is compounded by the speed and scale of media company mergers, we end up with a crisis in creativity. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Trade and economic conflicts are only partly about escalation dominance. It's just as much if not more about who has the higher politcal pain threshold and it was clear that it was Europe this time, hence the logic to retaliate if need be. Threat was sufficient.
This time, Europe’s leaders played the EU-US trade game well.
From the Franco-German tough line to Meloni’s off-ramps, backed by a credible €93bn retaliation threat, they made escalation for Trump costly, and de-escalation easy.
Markets and US politics did the rest — Rutte scoring on the assist.
From the Franco-German tough line to Meloni’s off-ramps, backed by a credible €93bn retaliation threat, they made escalation for Trump costly, and de-escalation easy.
Markets and US politics did the rest — Rutte scoring on the assist.
January 21, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Trade and economic conflicts are only partly about escalation dominance. It's just as much if not more about who has the higher politcal pain threshold and it was clear that it was Europe this time, hence the logic to retaliate if need be. Threat was sufficient.
Concise and damning.
What's striking about Trump in terms of forpol is how little actually happens, and how much of what does happen then unhappens. The only things that last are the boat murders, kidnappings and bombings.
The energy expended, first on shock and then on processing it all, is still just as exhausting.
The energy expended, first on shock and then on processing it all, is still just as exhausting.
January 21, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Concise and damning.
Lest we forget.
Today, the United States welcomed the historic agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Mauritius on the future of the British Indian Ocean Territory—specifically, the Chagos Archipelago. m Rubio may 2025
January 21, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Lest we forget.
Netflix’s Seven Dials: lower quality Christie having an unworthy amount of money and talent devoted to it.
Great dialogue, with one or two anachronisms: use of ‘invites’ and ´Pardon’ was niet-niet among 20s upper classes.
H. Bonham-Carter, too, too divine, darling. And, my god the Lagonda at speed!
Great dialogue, with one or two anachronisms: use of ‘invites’ and ´Pardon’ was niet-niet among 20s upper classes.
H. Bonham-Carter, too, too divine, darling. And, my god the Lagonda at speed!
January 20, 2026 at 9:51 PM
Netflix’s Seven Dials: lower quality Christie having an unworthy amount of money and talent devoted to it.
Great dialogue, with one or two anachronisms: use of ‘invites’ and ´Pardon’ was niet-niet among 20s upper classes.
H. Bonham-Carter, too, too divine, darling. And, my god the Lagonda at speed!
Great dialogue, with one or two anachronisms: use of ‘invites’ and ´Pardon’ was niet-niet among 20s upper classes.
H. Bonham-Carter, too, too divine, darling. And, my god the Lagonda at speed!
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
The BS whisperers
January 20, 2026 at 1:55 PM
The BS whisperers
Hell , yes!
Apple could allow users to choose their own button size, but I guess that function is too deep in the OS.
Apple could allow users to choose their own button size, but I guess that function is too deep in the OS.
My fault for not disabling updates, but I forgot that every iPhone OS is like “hey, we made the buttons smaller and harder do see. Welcome to the future!”
January 20, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Hell , yes!
Apple could allow users to choose their own button size, but I guess that function is too deep in the OS.
Apple could allow users to choose their own button size, but I guess that function is too deep in the OS.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Bart De Wever is becoming a *very interesting* politician
Not always, but at least sometimes, in a good way
Not always, but at least sometimes, in a good way
January 20, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Bart De Wever is becoming a *very interesting* politician
Not always, but at least sometimes, in a good way
Not always, but at least sometimes, in a good way
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
Seems that Trump's forgotto clear his threat to invade Greenland with his own Republican lawmakers, or maybe they sense an opportunity to go for Trump to be impeached to save their own skins...?
GOP Senators are starting to join Democrats in pushing back against Trump’s threatened takeover of Greenland.
Bacon called it “the dumbest thing I ever heard”.
There has been talk of impeachment by Republicans if Trump follows through.
#ProudBlue#Voices4Victory
#OneV1
apple.news/Agq6uDN4FT9S...
Bacon called it “the dumbest thing I ever heard”.
There has been talk of impeachment by Republicans if Trump follows through.
#ProudBlue#Voices4Victory
#OneV1
apple.news/Agq6uDN4FT9S...
‘Dumbest thing I’ve ever heard’: Republicans amp up their resistance to Trump’s Greenland push — POLITICO
GOP lawmakers are stepping up their warnings and engaging in diplomacy as the president's threats escalate.
apple.news
January 16, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Seems that Trump's forgotto clear his threat to invade Greenland with his own Republican lawmakers, or maybe they sense an opportunity to go for Trump to be impeached to save their own skins...?
An alpha point.
There's a bit of a tendency for people who overdose on politics/nuance to overlook the fact that Authoritarian politics dominated across the West in the 1930s ... and then became *so unpopular the party family basically died out for the next half century*, so unpopular it became a curse word.
This lady is everywhere. Every day I show up for school patrol there are three more versions of her looking to put in work.
January 16, 2026 at 7:45 PM
An alpha point.
Reposted by Adam Watson Brown
"If everyone would just stay out of the Gestapo's way and let them do their job, no one would get hurt."
- Someone in Germany, 1930s
- Someone in Germany, 1930s
January 16, 2026 at 4:56 PM
"If everyone would just stay out of the Gestapo's way and let them do their job, no one would get hurt."
- Someone in Germany, 1930s
- Someone in Germany, 1930s
Good news that there is enforcement. Will the Italian courts at promptly? Or will this be a forever case?
All 4 board members of Italian Data Protection Authority under investigation for corruption & embezzlement, allegedly spending public money to upgrade flights, pay hairdressers, gyms & butchers. Official cars used for private journeys & a rented flat used as B&B. Costs increased from €20k to €400k.
roma.corriere.it
January 16, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Good news that there is enforcement. Will the Italian courts at promptly? Or will this be a forever case?