Peter Henry

Retired Tech Geek. Campaigning to rejoin EU

Website: https://stamp.host
Twitter: pierremonthenry@thanetric
#FBPE: Campaign to rejoin EU
RPi clock automation: https://stamp.host/hardware.html

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npub15zz648c83eerfqyhwqjw5xpk8pyt8rcj5zrqfqndg5grw5y4zrfswj7scn

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Last Notes

2026-05-11 09:22:13 UTC

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Print money and issue debt in the same currency is a privilege
To add exchange rate fluctuation would be a huge risk
EURO - STERLING
Change from 9 May 2016 to 8 May 2026
Min (25 May 2016) 0.75925
Max (19 March 2020) 0.92985

2026-04-14 05:53:01 UTC

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After a brief hold up -
Is this the one that got away? #straitOfHormuz #iran
U.S. navy still has time to start WW3
#TACO #china
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/116/401/486/861/654/309/original/d448119454b18941.png

2026-04-13 21:43:27 UTC

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Chinese Rich Star resumes #straitOfHormuz transit #iran
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/116/399/573/904/286/883/original/c52c4c75cb1d8880.png

2026-04-11 16:57:08 UTC

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The Potomac River should be closed for navigation in honour of his great victory in #Iran

2026-04-11 16:45:36 UTC

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Just putting your feet up for a year Ted would travel 584 million miles around the Sun.
Pedants should qualify Artemis II distance records in DFT units (Distance From Trump) - you're welcome

2026-03-27 17:20:43 UTC

#russian #oil tankers from the Baltic en route to Africa now taking the scenic route north of Scotland rather than risking arrest in UK and EU waters
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/116/302/269/220/097/982/original/0dcdd5c023ded8ea.png

2026-02-07 10:14:34 UTC

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"Rachel
Reeves (and others) are keen to see more UK investors buy UK shares." - You have to ask why. Most Brits that have any money, prefer tangible asset (like a house)
Financial wizards go into a flat spin when you ask them to explain why a share price is so important - the truth goes to the root of the capitalist gamboling system and a labour chancellor should know better. Equity funds are part of this system - you cough up "danger money" to spread your risk and hope the managers are trustworthy
Shocks like Neil Woodford fund collapse (cost investors £200m) left a nasty taste. A push for ethical investing has left Tobacco and Weapons funds hollowed out. Sadly there is not much left in the UK (that is a local asset) to invest in!
Rachel should look to encourage investment in UK infrastructure and a share system that matched personal investment with government protection (like the US 401k system) would help

2026-02-06 06:48:47 UTC

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Conflating #bitcoin speculation (tax avoidance, gambolling and money laundering) and AI technology is confusing.
"fast approaching AI-crash" and other pejorative sideswipes does not make a lot of sense.
AI is a major advance in the application of neural networks that will not go away. A few companies will lose money but the application of natural language understanding, previously impossible image recognition techniques and environment sensing will continue to benefit mankind.
A Large Language Model does not "care" about "sentiment"
#LLM #AI #BITCOIN

2026-02-04 07:07:53 UTC

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"Tectonic plates"? More of an earthquake
As I have said before "It is all about trust"
The USA imposes a 30% "witholding tax" on individuals taking dividend profits on USA stocks. This is reduced to 15% if a simple W-8BEN form is filed certifying foreign status. If the investor is domiciled in a country with a tax treaty with the USA (like the UK and many other countries) - the tax on certain investments (like a UK #SIPP #pension) is reduced to zero.
There is the fear that the W-8BEN acts as a very easy way to engage a punishing tax at "the drop of #trump hat".
Exchange Traded Fund managers would be very embarrassed if this screw was turned - so there is an overall trend to limit this exposure to a future trade war.
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/116/011/071/095/983/131/original/98812ea52c83b700.png

2026-01-28 07:21:22 UTC

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Weimar republic mark 2.
It looks like #Labour inaction has opened the door for the #ReformUK agenda.
Perhaps it is too late to reverse the decline caused by #Brexit but the blame cannot be entirely placed on the vestigial #Tory party forever.
Sadly, our exit from the #EU was caused, in part, by the tacit approval of Labour in collusion with the unions. A rapid adoption of plan of support for indigenous industry and subtle trade barriers (that Brussels would deem illegal) may have slowed the decline but #covid provided the perfect excuse to do nothing
Today pro EU Andy Burnham is blocked by the NEC and Labour still does not understand it won the last election and can actually do more than support Indian profits in UK car and steel industries.
All working people in Britain should be terrified by the wrath of #Trump when Starmer announces the fruits of his China tour this week! Ho Hum

2026-01-15 09:44:03 UTC

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Previous UK Gov bounced ALL workers into a private pension (to top up state pension). It amounts to 8% of an employee's qualifying earnings - 5% employee 3% employer. There is a 1% tax incentive.
The so called 'workplace pension' is a legal requirement!
If the triple lock stays, then this will help in 20-30 years time. Currently, the middle classes have relied on home ownership as a last resort to fund a comfy retirement - this is the tax break that can't be sustained.

2026-01-03 09:32:20 UTC

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https://mastodonapp.uk/@thanetric/115830467051644353

2026-01-03 08:49:11 UTC

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"home of the Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez was struck"
Observers note this is much less serious than "targeting residence" which might ruin ongoing peace prize negotiations!
#Venezuela

2025-12-28 12:31:51 UTC

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Given his reasons - this is more an illustration of the limits of democracy.
I do take your collective points - what should the UK do? Give up?

2025-12-28 10:54:20 UTC

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Hardly "A clamour" to rejoin the EU? - more a dawning realisation that the damage is not just a single event but a recurring nightmare leaving the UK with a World junior client status.
You do, in fact, just "sign-up & get the benefits" BUT at huge expense and with no "opt outs". The UK very nearly meet the accession State criteria - the Labour party having failed to implement any EU member competition busting policies. UK "standards" divergence has not happened (stupid UKCA product compliance permanently subordinated to CE etc.)
Compared to the policy problems in many EU member states - there is no anti-uk sentiment in Brussels - it's a myth
Defence issues will force Brussels to adopt a more political role (that needs the UK) and impoverishment (getting kicked out of the G7) will drive the momentum here

2025-12-16 16:08:02 UTC

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If we have to pay Trump - about an extra £125 each

2025-11-02 08:23:24 UTC

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The Chinese "long term game" has been in place for a few years now. It is called the "Belt and Road" initiative - it works well.
Trump hasn't got a clue
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative

2025-10-03 06:29:45 UTC

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AZN is not delisting from the London Stock Exchange. The board is trying to avoid the need for depositary receipts in US trades. i.e. more to do with Trump threats. London and Stockholm listings are unaffected. It will, however, reduce HM income in the long term.
Tragically your other point about taxing share dealing looks very likely. The treatment of deferred capital gains (re-reinvesting dividends in shares) and loan notes will also not be widely understood and harvested as low hanging fruit by Rachell from accounts

2025-10-02 17:24:40 UTC

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"Of course many of you will be beyond caring" - it sounds like this includes you!
I am sure I cannot be alone in hoping our political leaders would do a bit of educating the electorate - explain what is wise and possible - even admitting mistakes.
The "don't mention the war" attitude that the Labour party has to #brexit has to stop. It doesn't take much - two "crumbs" were offered in the #starmer party conference speech 1) lies on the side of the bus 2) Brexit and then walked away
I often get shouted down - don't rock the boat - would you prefer the Waffen SS etc. It's time Rachel from accounts attached part of the inevitable tax hike to the real culprits - not just the Tories and the future PM (Nigel Farage) but the Unions and Jeremy Corbyn mealy mouthed non-existent opposition.
#Labour is squandering a huge majority !

2025-09-30 07:44:53 UTC

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"It look a lot like asset stripping!"
I suppose there is a tidy up role for "scavengers vultures" in the retail eco-system. Part of the play book is the threat of creating a "gap site" eyesore unless the shopping mall agrees to a massive rent reduction.
Amazon (et al) is an extinction level event for the traditional shop. Survivors (like the friendly but expensive corner shops) have adapted to add commissary services for post and internet deliveries. Petrol stations with their stacks of dubious impulse buys will be next to go when EV cars become the norm and the closing "sticky table" pubs will remain empty until the pension fund owners take the hit and then the new owners can wait for the local planners to face the "change of use" decision.
Indoor "mixed use" venues look like the winners - somewhere to park, walk the baby, meet friends and get out of the cold

2025-09-21 09:05:28 UTC

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I think it is more "chaos" than an Gramscian interregnum i.e. run out of sick bags.
As the article implies - it is important to retain a sense of humour. Just the struggle of our deep thinkers to define political concepts using a 200 year old vocabulary is a wonder to behold. Sticking "neo" in front of the words doesn't really hack it.

2025-09-07 08:35:38 UTC

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Yes - It was an honest mistake with more money than most people would expect to see in their lifetime.

2025-09-05 06:48:17 UTC

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I was in Norway last week and I asked the same question - why not join the EU? Mostly spoke to just a few oldies but they say they no longer feel so wealthy and already have too many "rules" without Brussels joining in. I suspect the young would join - they see the end of the oil wealth in their lifetime but as long as they have freedom of movement to go study somewhere warmer - the status quo is fine.
The Brits are having a good look at the Norwegian Wealth Tax model. Rud Pedersen analysis is interesting.
#brexit #tax #eu
https://www.rudpedersen.com/en-UK/news/can-a-wealth-tax-work-a-view-from-norway
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/115/150/214/821/769/342/original/49177fb94b4908c1.png

2025-08-28 06:45:53 UTC

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It's not just #farage that has been let off the hook by #starner et al not explaining the damage #brexit has done to the country.
The unions were complicit too. How has it worked out for them?
https://stamp.host/rmt/

2025-08-24 07:58:33 UTC

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Active fund managers have the advantage that they are fast enough to avoid disasters e.g. The "market manipulation" when Aviva pulled the plug on a share class using the small print. Co-op boss stated taking drugs etc.
My advice is to choose funds that are managed by teams. If there is a single "celebrity" fund manager like Neil Woodford who got lucky and now believes he can "walk on water" - avoid.
If you are prepared to check your portfolio twice a day, you might as well hold the top ten stocks a fund invests in and hold them yourself, avoiding management charges.
Doing your own research is hard - if you don't want to be an expert - choose "boring" over "frothy"

2025-08-09 08:05:21 UTC

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"three in four EU citizens would prefer to take a high-speed train instead of a plane"
Of course they would - who wants the airport ship dip approach to security.
Little understood - When doing infrastructure planning you have to insist the best laid plans of mice and men are made to work - - forever!
Commuter transport is no longer a priority. Getting cars off the roads has more to do with reliability than speed but letting operators abandon unprofitable routes has to be controlled.
I pass a few fake so called "international" stations (e.g. Ashford International) as I journey 70 miles back to London to get a train to the France that I can see from my bedroom window. It's impossible to reach Dover for a ferry (25 minutes away by car) - far too busy.
Folkestone ferries unprofitable
The sad empty harbour in Ramsgate is served by a lovely empty waste of space tunnel - sad
https://vvb-eng.com/project/ramsgate-harbour-approach/

2025-08-02 07:31:33 UTC

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There is a suspicion that the "deep state" is conspiring to undermine the NHS so as to dish out lucrative private contracts to their mates. Unlikely - you have to be well organised to run a conspiracy!
"Interim care" is not just medical - the care component is entirely missing. If waiting list patients just knew they hadn't been forgotten, satisfaction levels would significantly improve - this takes a level of organisation well beyond the British character.
For the most part a "patient" is deemed to have brought it on themselves by being too stupid, fat, aggressive etc. etc. Staffing telephones should not be required if proper (cheap) systems were in place.
e.g. How many times do you have to be told "we don't have access to your records" before we implement a patient records that are (just that) the property of the patient

2025-08-01 16:45:21 UTC

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What will become of the ambulance chasers??

2025-07-07 17:38:02 UTC

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"the rich are often happy to contribute to the UK "
They already cough up - The 10% of income taxpayers with the largest incomes contribute over 60% of income tax receipts.
However - Borrowing for the UK £131 billion deficit is equivalent to around £1,920 p.a.. per man women and child. Probably 4k per tax payer of dead money. Happy to help BUT, you might get a little bitter when you are funding £9Bn of F-35B Lightning II etc.
Save up to fund useless toys - borrow (if you must) to fund vital services and investing in future prosperity

2025-06-24 17:31:14 UTC

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"AI and fraud"
It is likely that more and more original work will be timestamped and digitally signed using trusted certification services- face to face encounters to verify sources is expensive (and unhygienic).
There is a whole industry (that could be deployed) currently looking for "prior art" in patent applications that has been largely undermined by the U.S. "money talks" attitude.
Now - AI "hunter turns game keeper" finds copyright infringement, locates original work and protects intellectual property - it's going to be a lawyer feeding frenzy

2025-06-19 06:46:23 UTC

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Hybrid working has already ruined the city lunchtime venues and the boozy lunch went a long time ago. The commute is on Facetime but nobody told the incompetent HS2 planners.
Touching on your other post, if Rachael wants investment in UK shares she could extend Private Funding Initiative to UK pension investment if the capital spending plans weren't quite so daft

2025-06-12 18:12:11 UTC

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So - Thinktank predicts NHS is a bottomless pit @npub13yx…487u adds a little bit of sanity i.e. healthier population is good for GDP.
There is another syndrome at play here. The "experience curve" is based on the premise that the more you do something, the easier and better you do it. Sadly, getting better at fixing people hasn't got cheaper. In part, because of expensive drugs but other factors like the misuse of computer technology and incompetent governance e.g. it doesn't look as we will get any of PPE fraud monies back.
Maybe the argument should be presented as - Would you rather have an NHS (warts and all) - or a couple more Nuke Subs.
I know what I choose

2025-06-08 08:06:05 UTC

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The very nature of evasion makes it difficult to prove.
Incentives for the rich to spend their money, might be a good start. I was amazed by my Scandinavian friend adding her second home log cabin by the lake and her Volvo to the tax allowance column.

2025-06-08 07:46:02 UTC

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HM special office has always gone after high profile #tax avoiders -"crowd pleasing moves" with mixed results - North Sea oil dive contractors, Hatton Garden 'cash in hand' diamond market, Apple records etc. They even parked an agent at St Helier Jersey airport to log the buckets of dosh.
However, you can't beat the maths; the tax system is so complex the fat tail of the avoidance bell curve far outweigh the middle. Individuals failing to admit to capital gains etc. - too expensive to recover but sufficiently numerous to make a huge impact.
It's time to simplify and remove the frankly stupid. TBF they have started -Inheritance Tax, R&D allowance but squeezing pensions and trying to hide tax hikes (like employer NI) just stores up problems.
The resources need to go into planning - how do replace car fuel revenue etc. rather than funding compliance tax inspectors. It doesn't take a genius to track the likes of Ecclestone but the "evaders" are the dishonest UK lumpen mass!
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/114/646/621/964/977/229/original/5a1cf926769539c4.png

2025-05-16 07:24:33 UTC

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It would be simple to issue Treasury Gilts where the yield would be entirely tax protected in an ISA or NS&I. A change in the rules for a SIPP to also protect some or all of the drawdown of the capital (of a Gilt) would also be popular.
It is time the Financial Conduct Authority was removed. They have failed to protect the public from insider trading or market manipulation (e.g. Aviva). As you point out financial services companies are just in it for themselves.
Companies are now obliged to provide payments into "approved" schemes so the next generation will be forced to look after increasingly larger sums. In the current regime it's easier to cash in and let the state be the safety net. A time bomb!

2025-05-15 06:08:45 UTC

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You sum up some of the challenge the universities will have to face - how to define the (heavily overloaded) words used in the context of the threat of AI. You have used a few "diminish" "marginalise" "craft" "coherent". I do not criticise but I am fascinated - It could become a degree subject itself.
I was once kicked off the "academic" staff because I was deemed too proficient at the technology of computers, being told computer programming was not computer science.
The universities better get a handle of the difference between intellectual pursuits and the "appliance of science" or lose their jobs to machines.

2025-05-06 06:44:21 UTC

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"favourability" or any other approval metric is irrelevant this early in a parliament. Now they have completely lost local government maybe #Labour can get on with a few "no brainer" policies. Send #Starmer on a leadership course and do a few "crowd pleasing moves" without going the full #Trump e.g. solar panels on new builds. Maybe get Timothy Spall to do a stern lecture on how Britain may have to stand tall in the World and "do the right thing" to explain things to the urban bourgeois

2025-04-19 08:46:56 UTC

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I like this illustration
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/114/363/752/573/616/394/original/55af1d22e2dbf95a.png

2025-04-15 15:08:01 UTC

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It has proved impossible to draw any firm geo-political conclusions from the Trump trade war - Vance has little to offer that would be politically acceptable to Starmer.
From chlorinated chicken to forgiveness on luxury cars tariff , you can't avoid the fact that the EU27 is a much larger trading partner (3x) and the UK is concentrated on saving jobs.
Given the "oops moment" trebling the price of an IPhone Trumps next step is to broaden the grief to include things like products associated with services. UK does well with selling services because the USA is not good at speaking anything other that English. California tried this sort of imperialism with unitary taxation and Trump has a taste for extending his reach.
e.g. his strange moral guidance applying Federal law against affirmative action policies in French companies.
Sadly the calm Starmer approach is the best policy - wear a suit and pass on letters of comfort from the King
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/114/342/601/727/206/754/original/262b029d01ff8526.png

2025-04-08 06:47:40 UTC

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Yes - Wes Streeting has ordered a “high-stakes” reorganisation of the NHS that will scrap 10,000 jobs - sounds risky.
But - having no idea what the "criteria for success" is even more dangerous. No one has done any systems analysis! The NHS is spending over £1.3 billion on computing - at this price patient records should be a wonder to behold, but ask anybody with a chronic disease and they will claim they spend their life trying to find out what happens next.
Computers just speed up "screw-ups" - Wes would be better off scrapping "design by committee" streamlining procurement and eliminating technology duplication (not asking the ill to travel 30 miles to a centre of excellence)
The so called "management" do nothing but wishful thinking
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-technology-code-of-practice

2025-03-01 09:03:40 UTC

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"the chance to pop over to their local branch to find out what the problem is" ?
Good luck with that
We all "know" what the bank problem was - it was broken!
Speaking harshly to the management didn't hack it - compulsory customer compensation might.

2025-02-15 11:57:11 UTC

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Key
email.bt.com
https://tools.keycdn.com/ping
to check DNS from other parts of the World
and use the IP address
e.g. 65.20.50.51
in a browser
Ignore warning about HTTPS and you will be bounced into the correct page for your email
- I suspect part of the BT becoming EE screw up

2025-01-28 09:11:22 UTC

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Back in the 70s the transition from Town Gas to Methane (initially from the North Sea) meant a huge cost in upgrading every home appliance and the pipeline infrastructure - It would have been much cheaper to crack the gas at the coast and just use the aging and dangerous infrastructure!
We need not walk away from this massive investment as we move away from fossil fuels. We can enrich our gas supply (up to 20%) with hydrogen from renewable sources using the existing distributed storage
Electric boilers in homes is a wasteful nonsense that just puts more stress on network storage.
#GreenTransition #GreenEnergy #fossilfuels

2024-12-13 09:27:20 UTC

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Thirty years ago I was amazed about how much help I got from the French State (fighting le chômage) helping with staff relocation. Strict redundancy regulations but superb health care, stupid accountancy rules and a a silly retirement age has made it a rocky road for any business. Now the young are very angry about the "middle aged" retiring young and well off. The attempts of the State to reform social security feed the far right wing who view the post war baby boomers as bandits

2024-11-01 08:22:21 UTC

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Treasury 4.5% 07/12/2042 (T42) Gilt barely moved with a running yield of 4.7% = barely moved since Truss.
The budget is a raid on the children of 1947 baby boomers (dying now) with inheritance for farmers and parents money purchase SIPP to be taxed twice.
The "swipe" on NI while supporting the "living wage" is very clever. Boost NHS and highlight cladding, PO, blood, pot hole costs is nothing short of genius.
Classic "making the best of a bad job" and the "markets" know it!

2024-10-12 07:33:35 UTC

EU has quietly scrapped requirement for finger print checks on entry to avoid grid lock.
Dover has already spent the money in the ongoing #brexit chaos - About £100m flushed down Farage/Gove/Boris vanity project
We are still going to get an unhappy gendarme thrusting his tablet through the car windows in a delightful tent on Dover seafront sometime in 2025. Gammon will be required to write a two page summary on what they voted for in referendum and why and then take happy snaps of each other
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/113/293/239/264/678/418/original/70d6cdfe54ced073.png

2024-10-11 07:51:57 UTC

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hypocrisy from Mick Lynch on wealth tax
Well, after all, he has already done his bit to make everybody in the poor poorer ..!!! . . .
#brexit catastrophe
Wikipedia
" Lynch voted for Brexit in 2016 because of his belief that the European Union should not function as one sovereign country.[8][9] This stance was in line with that of his RMT union which encouraged its membership to vote for Brexit, providing several reasons including protection of workers rights . .
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/113/287/682/173/504/653/original/db953c59d7c4be29.png

2024-09-22 17:15:48 UTC

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It's the lingua franca innit'?

2024-09-19 09:02:25 UTC

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Yup - there are about 24 mobile phone shops in downtown Beirut - make then an offer they can't refuse then monitor heartbeat traffic on the network

2024-09-19 08:42:21 UTC

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Targeted advertising

2024-09-12 07:50:39 UTC

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I've got a Fitbit watch that does it for cheap - sadly it's no good for telling the time

2024-09-11 15:28:44 UTC

#trump screws the pooch
#Starmer claims he will be able to "work with" whomever wins the US election??
and we all admired BBC "balanced reporting" over the Cats & Dogs tasting menu accusation - didn't we?
In fact, if #Trump wins, the rest of the country will be trying not to titter during any UK visit - bit like the centurions in the Monty Python Biggus Dickus sketch.
Pontius Pilate: "He has a wife you know....."
Remaining Centurions: we're all gonna die
(sadly the Plebs might die too!)
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/113/119/562/583/495/647/original/79f3d1459cf3b8a1.png

2024-08-30 16:47:00 UTC

It's a slow uphill struggle to G&T time

2024-08-10 09:40:05 UTC

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The berthing fees have increased and bunkerage is impossibly expensive BUT Venice does not put this money into the local population or even replacing the ageing vaporetto fleet - it goes into impossible capital projects fighting the ravages of global warming like inflating the timbers under Doge Place i.e. preserving the place for an exclusive few. If the fresh water from the annual snow melt keeps declining it will be a moot point anyway.

2024-08-10 09:22:12 UTC

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hmm - Venice built several large cruise liner terminals and is now complaining!
The 'real' issue is the number of tourists that don't spend in the city e.g. clutter up St. Marks Square and then rush back to s.s. Blot on the Ocean for an 'all you can eat' buffet supper.

2024-08-01 17:20:52 UTC

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Sadly latest sinking not iceberg fault.
Breaking - A fast ferry service to the Isles of Scilly has been axed before carrying a single fare-paying passenger
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/112/887/907/977/733/650/original/b5f6828f5586a96c.png