MP for Swansea West @torstenbell.bsky.social

Based in United Kingdom
Like many people across Swansea Bay, I’m deeply disappointed to learn that Admiral Insurance are to cut 500 jobs from its UK business. I’ve asked for an urgent meeting with the company to talk about what happens next - particularly in Swansea.
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Admiral is an important Swansea employer that I want to support. Their site in SA1 provides around 2k jobs for our community. Employees and their families want clarity and reassurance that everyone will be treated fairly: I will be doing everything I can to help them to get both.
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Fantastic to get out with @mike_reader and a crack team of @UKLabour volunteers in Holborn and St Pancras. @Sagal_AW would make a brilliant MP, and a powerful voice for the local area. Great to speak to lots of supporters on the doors.
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Liberal Democrat join the Reform/Tory circus in promising tax cuts they have no idea how to pay for - the coalition govt showed us how this ends: trashing both public services and the public finances theguardian.com/politics/202…
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Retirement - a proper rest after a lifetime of work - was one of the 20th century’s great wins. The latest edition of my weekly newsletter Charting the Course gives you two big facts about the pensions system in the UK today: torstenbell.substack.com/p/t…
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TLDR: we’re not saving enough > but it pays to save > and it’s about looking at the system not blaming individuals, something being done by the independent Pensions Commission now. But I’d always recommend reading - and subscribing for next time: torstenbell.substack.com/sub…
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Learning about pensions is a bit like going to the gym: you know you should do it, you feel guilty for not doing it, but you're just not sure where to begin. Here are two big facts about the UK system that everyone needs to know. torstenbell.substack.com/p/t…
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This is about the system, not just individuals. The ind. Pensions Commission is looking at the undersaving problem and will report early next year. Retirement was one of the 20th century's great wins. Keeping that promise for today's workers is the goal - one we can meet.
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Thanks for reading, and don't forget to subscribe for next time. torstenbell.substack.com/sub…
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Fact 2: it really pays to save. For every £1 an average earner puts into a pension, you get back £4 in retirement (£8 before inflation). £1 saved + 25p tax relief + 75p+ employer contribution = £2 in the pot. Investment growth is the magic sauce that does the rest.
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Thanks for reading, and don't forget to subscribe for next time. torstenbell.substack.com/sub…
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So much of the right these days just have a massive patriotism problem. This guy: - is a tax exile (left long before this govt) - hates his own country while complaining he doesn’t get big enough subsidies from it - laments the hit to manufacturing driven by a Brexit he supported
Billionaire Man United owner says he has lost confidence in the UK bbc.in/3Vo0FAF
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There are lots of real economic headwinds, not least from the Iran war (which is part of why we opposed it). But there are also lots of brilliant business owners who live in Britain and are investing in it (even if the BBC don’t cover their comments, or investments, as news)
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That’s why business investment has grown since 2024 and we’ve seen the fastest growth in the G7 this year (oddly missing from the article). There is lots more to do, but we should focus on the brilliant businesses building modern Britain, not just those who sadly seem to hate it
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My report from St Helen's stadium today, and what comes next in the fight for the Ospreys. #ourbloodisblack #ospreys
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Two Conservative Chancellors appointed Frances O'Grady - then TUC general secretary - to two terms on the Court of the Bank in the recent past. As @rbrharrison the welcome appointment of @nowak_paul today has a LOT of precedents
Replying to @rcolvile
Got no take on this particular candidate but worth noting that it's been a tradition to have a trade union representative on the Court of the Bank for decades. Since the War I think.
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Whose GDP is it anyway? This week’s substack is out torstenbell.substack.com/p/l…
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