A Major Change in My Life

In the last few days I have given up driving after over 60 years due to medical incapacity. I sold my last car (a Jaguar XE -photo below) to We Buy Any Car who offered a fair price although they were a bit slow in paying up – managing their cash flow over Xmas I suspect, but otherwise very efficient.

My wife has already committed some of the cash generated on a new, larger TV.

The first car I owned was a Rover 10 built in 1947 which I painted white by hand. It cost me £25. Rather a slow vehicle with useless brakes. Since then I have owned multiple Jaguars – XJs and an XJS, and a Lexus LS400 – all good vehicles in their way.

I have stopped further kidney dialysis as planned but am not declining as rapidly as expected. Have to wait and see how this pans out. Doctors are generally not good at forecasting life expectancy even at my age of nearly 80.

My stock market portfolio is in a healthy condition and Alex, my son, is taking it over. It’s useful having two sons who are competent in many respects.

In summary I think it’s an opportune moment to depart this world.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

A Scam to Watch Out For

I am currently trying to sell a car I own as I am giving up driving (a Jaguar XE). So I listed it on Auto Trader.

I got a call from someone allegedly named Brian. He arranged to view the vehicle and I took him and a friend for a test drive (me driving). On the way back smoke appeared from under the bonnet.

I said I would need to get a second opinion on the vehicle condition and they then left but tried to call me again the next day. They clearly expected me to accept a low offer for the vehicle on the basis it was not fit for use.

This was almost certainly an attempt to scam me by damaging the vehicle and then making a low-ball offer. See the internet for details of the “dirty oil trick” which is apparently quite common where dirty oil is poured into the radiator water reservoir. See https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/oil-trick-scam-drivers/  

I am pretty sure there was no fault on the vehicle before the incident. But it will cost me as much as £1000 to have the vehicle checked and drained/flushed. I have reported this crime to the police.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/Drivers_London )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/Drivers_London where new posts are usually mentioned.

Thanks to Everyone

Thanks to everyone who responded to my last (and probably final) blog post. I don’t have the energy to respond to you all individually but thanks for all the positive comments.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

It’s Hard Work Dying

This blog is being closed down soon. I don’t have the energy to maintain it. I have had a major kidney disease for about 50 years and after a transplant from my brother 30 years ago it’s now fading away so I have been on dialysis for 2 years. That is proving very tedious and tiresome so in the new year I will probably volunteer to stop it.

One advantage of kidney dialysis is that it gives you the ability to choose when to die. If I stop dialysis I may die within a couple of weeks. But it’s not quite as simple as that! There are lots of people who want to give me advice and forms to fill out re “End of Life Care”.

In addition I need to tidy up my financial affairs and ensure my executors know where to find things.

I am beginning to envy those people who drop dead from a stroke or heart attack.

Anyway as I shall reach the age of 80 in January and have achieved most things I wanted to in life, commiserations are unnecessary.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Unilever Demerger Voting

One of the bigger holdings in my share portfolios is Unilever; it probably is for many UK stock market investors. It is proposing to demerge its ice cream businesses containing the Magnum and Ben & Jerrys products, followed by a share consolidation. The board has recommended the proposal to shareholders.

This should be a fairly simple business decision. What benefits might transpire from the demerger? Will the ice cream businesses benefit from a clearer focus? They are certainly large enough to stand on their own and existing Unilever shareholders will get shares in the new Magnum company. Are there any synergistic production or marketing costs that will be lost? It is not clear.

Flogging ice cream might be a more seasonal business than selling toothpaste or soap but less so than in the past.

The document Unilever has issued does not provide much information justifying the demerger but I do not feel capable of arguing with the wisdom of the directors in such circumstances.

I have therefore voted in favour of the demerger.

Note that there is some highly amusing bullshit on the Unilever web site about their new marketing model. It reads:

  • In-house graphic design studios called Sketch Pro are unlocking new levels of innovation, agility and impact.
  • The new approach will support our global portfolio by seamlessly integrating brand strategy, cultural insights, creative excellence and AI innovation.
  • For Home Care – a category traditionally focused on functional benefits – this is helping shift the perception of our brands from purely rational to deeply emotive.
  • By creating emotionally resonant content and design that further accentuate features like fragrance and aesthetics, we’re shifting consumer perception from purely rational to deeply emotive.

So now you know.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Verici DX Webinar

I watched a webinar presented by Verici DX (VRCI) this morning on the Investor Meet Company platform. This is an early-stage biotech company who specialise in transplant rejection diagnosis. They do have some revenue but are still loss making. They have done a recent fund raising which at least means they won’t run out of cash in the near future.

As a kidney transplant patient of over 20 years standing I do well understand the importance of picking up rejection episodes quickly so that treatment can be executed promptly. I only acquired a few shares in the company as a free spin-off from another holding. But will the company really generate profits in the long-term? I think it’s too early to tell so I am unlikely to invest more in the business until that becomes clearer.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Competing for Asylum Expulsions and Book Review on American Revolution

The political news is positive for a change. Settlement of the war in Gaza does seem possible, although there is a lot of work yet to be done on that. Meanwhile the Conservative and Reform Parties are competing on who can be toughest in halting excessive immigration. The Tories will definitely withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if elected to govern which I consider a good thing – for too long judges have presumed to settle English law instead of Parliament deciding. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp gave a good interview for the BBC on this subject yesterday. I always thought he could go far and might make a better leader than other candidates.

A book I have been reading lately is “The Fate of the Day” by Rick Atkinson – all 850 pages of it. It’s a history of the American war of independence and covers the years 1770-1780. It’s too long but is revealing on the wonders of how the Americans managed to win the war when Great Britain had the largest navy in the world and a large land army also. British politicians thought it would be easy to bring the Americans to heel but found otherwise in reality. Political will is what made the difference.

It’s a shame that Americans did not learn from their own history when deciding to go deeper into the war in Vietnam.

One interesting section covers the activities of US Naval Captain John Paul Jones who attacked Whitehaven and stole the local gentry’s silver plate. He died at quite a young age and was buried in Paris. But many years later his body was disinterred for reburial in the USA when a medical examination showed he was suffering from a kidney disease – probably IgA nephropathy which I also suffer from. He remains a hero of the American Revolution despite a chequered career.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

The Impact of Reform and Kent County Council

The Reform Party are certainly having a big impact on both national and local politics. The Labour Party annual conference was dominated by attempts to smear Nigel Farage and those who vote for Reform (like me).

Another example are the events at Kent County Council (KCC) – Bromley where I live used to be part of Kent although technically it’s now part of a London borough and hence part of the Greater London Authority. Many local residents would like to depart from London and the dictatorship of Sadiq Khan.

Recently KCC have voted to rescind a climate change declaration and now have plans to cancel Net Zero targets. With KCC now dominated by Reform Councillors they won the vote by 50 to 21. More details here: https://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/environment/766-environmental-news/62285-county-council-rescinds-climate-change-declaration-and-lays-out-plans-to-cancel-net-zero-targets

Why are people voting for Reform? In essence because they would like to see new ideas and policies implemented while feeling that the Labour and Conservative parties are stuck in the past. They also feel that both Conservative and Labour parties have broken promises to tackle excessive immigration and the latest proposals are still too weak, while leaders of both parties are seen as ineffective.

It’s certainly time for some changes!

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Government Commits to Digital IDs

Keir Starmer has announced that the Government will push ahead with a digital identity scheme. He says everyone will need a digital id if they wish to be employed.

It does not worry me as I have multiple forms of digital identity already including some held by government bodies.

The oddity is that everyone who is employed already needs a National Insurance number so that tax can be collected so in theory you can’t get a job without one. But in practice this is not enforced or it is trivial to obtain an NI number if you don’t already have one. So what will change in future?

Without enforcement no system will stop illegal immigration.

As someone who is long retired I presumably won’t legally be required to obtain a digital ID. But this is a very academic issue because I already have an HMRC identity for tax purposes. Hopefully I will just be able to convert this to the new system.   

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )