Morning Brief – UK Infrastructure

UK Infrastructure

British electricity demand is expected to rise by 64% in the next 10 years and could double by 2050. This increase is in large part down to ambitious decarbonisation targets which result in a shift towards transport and heating for example being almost completely powered by electricity. The deadline for decarbonisation is 2035 and expanding the electricity grid while creating 20,000 new jobs will require GBP 58 billion to be spent on the grid on items such as new power cables to bring electricity on-shore from wind farms plus new solar farms.
GBP/EUR 1.1715.

EU Expansion

The long running logjam in granting accession to what is known as the Western Balkans may see some movement later this week at the EU Summit. Although progress has been made with Albania and North Macedonia, both of those countries will be held up until the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue is resolved and also what is described rather vaguely as structural reforms have taken place. While Montenegro is tipped as being the next likely new member of the EU, the subject will be on the agenda at the Summit when the EU Commission will recommend that EU accession talks commence with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
EUR/USD 1.0865.

Top Fiat Currencies used to buy Bitcoin

No surprise that USD accounts for 71% of all purchases of Bitcoin, but the interesting fact is what makes up the 29% balance and is by inference a key to who and where is buying BTC. In second place is Korean Won with just under 15% followed by Japanese Yen with 7% while Euro can only muster 3.5%. The rest is made up by a plethora of other currencies but not Chinese Yuan which due to state imposed regulations and a crackdown on illegal BTC trading is now statistically irrelevant. Obviously, BTC is only one of the digital currencies and equally obviously funding the purchase of BTC through USD is not constrained to the USA since USD is the chosen settlement currency for digital currency trades.
GBP/USD 1.2725.

HMRC

The UK’s tax gathering and customs body HMRC has come up with a bumper wheeze to condition its customers’(every UK person potentially) and force them to raise queries on line. The plan is to shut off all telephone lines for a summer break that will start on April 8 and last until September 30 this year and indeed….every year.

Metal Gurue

This day in 1977 British glam rock band T Rex played their farewell concert at the Locarno, Portsmouth England. There’s more of this song but this is probably enough from the band, but just think of the audience:  27 inch flared trousers and beaded T shirts plus the strong smell of patchouli oil. Groovy.

Whoa-oh, yeah
Metal guru, is it you?
Metal guru, is it you?
Sitting there in your armour plated chair oh yeah
Metal guru, is it true?
Metal guru, is it true?
All alone without a telephone oh yeah

Metal guru could it be you’re gonna bring my baby to me?
She’ll be wild you know, a rock ‘n’ roll child, oh yeah

Metal guru has it been
Just like a silver-studded saber-toothed dream
I’ll be clean you know, pollution machine

Metal guru, is it you?
Metal guru, is it you? Oh, yeah
Whoa-oh, yeah whoa, whoa
Metal guru could it be you’re gonna bring my baby to me?
She’ll be wild you know, a rock ‘n’ roll child oh yeah

Metal guru, is it you?
Metal guru, is it you?
All alone without a telephone

Metal guru could it be you’re gonna bring my baby to me?
She’ll be wild you know, a rock’n’roll child oh yeah…

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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