Patrick Smith

Patrick Smith

@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

Digital News editor for @bloomberg.com in London. Former NBC News, BuzzFeed News and was psmith on Twitter. SWFC and St Albans City fan. Mancunian. Likes memes.

3.1K followers1.7K following2K posts

Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

New @bloomberg.com Budget Day scoop on bank taxes

bloomberg.comHealey’s Bank Tax Hike Set to Be Less Severe Than Lenders FearedThe UK is set to hike bank taxes less steeply than feared, as Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey seeks to balance the competitiveness of the City with the need to raise funds for voter giveaways ...
Patrick Smith@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

Will the speaker say anything about all the Budget stuff previewed / announced / hinted at before it's said in the house, or do we all accept this custom is gone now.

Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

As Rowena succinctly puts it: "Despite the heightened “security” around Wednesday’s budget, many of its announcements have been leaked already from a clear mixture of authorised and unauthorised sources."

Patrick Smith reposted

NBC News
@nbcnews.com

Rock star Neil Young files a $10 million lawsuit over President Trump’s use of his song “Rockin’ in the Free World” at campaign events — the second time he has sued over Trump’s use of his music.

nbcnews.toNeil Young sues for the second time over Trump’s use of ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’The lawsuit seeks $10 million for what it calls damage to the rock star’s “reputation and brand as a result of the implication that he supports Donald J. Trump in any way.”

Patrick Smith reposted

Sam Freedman
@samfr.bsky.social

Amazing how many Labour MPs do not understand this quite basic point.

Christabel Cooper@christabelcoops.bsky.social

Really worth noting that even in Red Wall constituencies which backed Leave, most *Labour* voters back rejoining the EU. Over 90% of Labour considerers back rejoin - opposition to EU membership is mainly coming from non-Labour voters in these seats. Was on Times Radio yesterday making this point.

Patrick Smith reposted

Zahra Hirji
@zhirji.bsky.social

Scoop from last night w/@jendlouhy.bsky.social: President Trump is expected to announce a proposal to dial back federal requirements design to slash methane emissions from oil and gas operations during a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.comTrump to Ease Oil Well Methane Curbs in Bid to Lower CostsPresident Donald Trump is set to unveil a plan to dial back federal requirements designed to slash methane emissions from oil and gas operations, casting the proposal as a way to encourage more domest...

Patrick Smith reposted

Rob Ford
@robfordmancs.bsky.social

I have not bult the houses that were in the manifesto and which you were probably saving to move into Forgive me there were NIMBIES so many and so organised

Jim Pickard@pickardje.bsky.social

Andy Burnham’s government has privately given up on reaching Labour’s target of building 1.5mn new homes by 2029, and ministers will refer to the goal less and less, according to government figures www.ft.com/content/285a...

ft.comLabour’s housebuilding target ‘effectively dead’Manifesto pledge to build 1.5mn homes by 2029 has looked increasingly unrealistic
Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

Interesting follow-up to the Netherlands laying off civil servants in favor of AI "efficiency." The equivalent figure in the UK would be 75k jobs.

bloomberg.comCan AI Replace Government Jobs? The World Is Watching the DutchThe Dutch government’s AI-led efficiency drive to cut 25,000 civil servant jobs is perhaps the most ambitious government plan yet to use tech to reduce the state’s payroll. Making it work — and rollin...
Patrick Smith@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

The Dutch government wants to cut *25,000* civil service jobs in an AI-led efficiency drive. Public bodies and big companies are announcing, or publicly considering, similar moves every week now.

bloomberg.comDutch Government Plans to Cut 25,000 Jobs in AI-Led OverhaulThe Dutch government aims to cut 25,000 civil servant jobs in an AI-led efficiency drive targeting annual savings of €3.5 billion ($3.9 billion).
Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

It's very well done. Great data-as-storytelling

Charlie Beckett@charliebeckett.bsky.social

Fantastic detailed interactive graphic from the @financialtimes.com on the UK economy by postcode - lost myself in this - so much interesting detail Eg On household income, how come west London is falling? How come Cornwall is up? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

giftarticle.ft.comGrowth in every postcode? What the UK economy really looks likeInteractive maps give a picture of how economic fortunes in Britain have varied wildly over a stagnant decade
Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

The UK voted to leave without a plan and then spent all its time afterwards figuring what that meant. I still don't think there's a consensus on what the Brexit vote actually mandated Parliament to do -- even now there's a lot of "people know what they voted for."

Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social

This is just the maddest argument. These people would trap us in poverty to keep a decade old commitment, which no one ever actually made, to an electorate which no longer exists.

Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

Well argued by James; there's been a really lively and effective debate for decades about the future of shared public spaces and the role of commerce and hospitality in it.... but many ppl just want what they had 30/40 years ago.

James Ball@jamesrball.com

The British syndrome, summarised: 78% of us say our high streets are important to us. But only 28% of us actually use their local high street even once a week – and only 53% of people said they used theirs *once a month*. We won't use it, and we won't lose it.

inews.co.ukThe Queen of shops who accidentally helped wreck the great British high streetJames Ball: Mary Portas tried valiantly and smartly to revive our high streets, but that was the wrong approach
Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

Remember the anxiety over "15-minute cities" ? Closely related to the anxiety over cashless society, congestion charging / pollution tolls, digital ID etc etc ? It's all about the change from physical to digital activity and a perceived loss of autonomy and control

nbcnews.comHow 'climate lockdowns' became the new battleground for conspiracy-driven protest movementProtesters radicalized by their opposition to Covid-19 lockdowns have a new target: anti-traffic measures.

Patrick Smith reposted

Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com

Exclusive Senior Adviser to First Lady Melania Trump Marc Beckman claims Melania has "a direct line" to Russian leadership

Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

The Burnham Bounce continues Britain’s private sector grew at the fastest pace in eight months and a two-year jobs downturn ended, according to a closely watched survey that suggests the economy continued to defy the Iran war energy shock.

bloomberg.comUK Growth Hits Eight-Month High and Jobs Slump Ends, PMI ShowsBritain’s private sector grew at the fastest pace in eight months and a two-year jobs downturn ended, according to a closely watched survey that suggests the economy continued to defy the Iran war ene...
Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

From our Budget preview "The chancellor ... will use higher taxes on banks to fund a populist short-term spending package to help voters and businesses squeezed by rising energy costs driven by the US-Iran war."

bloomberg.comHealey’s First Budget to Push UK’s Hard Choices to Another DayBritons looking for a flavor of the upcoming first budget of Andy Burnham’s UK government need look no further than the descriptors emanating from Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey and his offic...

Patrick Smith reposted

The Daily Dalek
@thedailydalek.bsky.social

Gabriel Dayan . . . Fantastic work . . . Painted around 1665 by Dutch Golden Age master Dalek Johannes Vermeer, Dalek with a Pearl Earring Attachment is an iconic oil painting celebrated for its luminous light and the enigmatic gaze of its subject.

Patrick Smith
@psmithjournalist.bsky.social

The annual cost of a US family’s employer-provided healthcare plan reached an average $28,303 this year, 5% more than 2025, according to an annual survey conducted by health policy nonprofit KFF.

bloomberg.comA Family’s Annual Healthcare Plan Now Costs More Than $28,000The annual cost of a US family’s employer-provided healthcare plan reached an average $28,303 this year, 5% more than 2025, according to an annual survey conducted by health policy nonprofit KFF.