The attacks in Edinburgh, in which an armed bare-chested white man terrorised Muslims, leaving five people injured, don't feature on a single newspaper front page this morning. Two tier journalism

Oil and gas profits are booming, and there is unprecedented attention to taxation on fossil fuel companies seen at the Santa Marta Conference on phasing out fossil fuels. There is a political path for new permanent higher taxes on fossil fuel companies.

NEW: Tax is a powerful tool for improving our lives – a social superpower, even. But the world loses around half a trillion dollars every year through crossborder tax abuse. @alexcobham.bsky.social @taxjustice.net argues for stronger international tax frameworks ahead of his #LSEFestival event.

No naivety, though: powerful lobbies are mobilising against sustainability and economic justice, with serious resources. David is facing an intelligent Goliath, so we need more than a slingshot. Let's talk about the strategies needed: www.lse.ac.uk/events/lse-f... @gsos-lse.bsky.social

In despair about 'strongmen' rolling back environmental rules and economic justice? Don't be. Join me Wed 17 June, 1 pm BST online/in-person with people making law work: @tessakhan.bsky.social on oil & gas limits sivathambisetty.bsky.social on protecting nature @alexcobham.bsky.social on global tax

Wow. Even after we'd exposed the 'data' behind the ridiculous media coverage of a millionaire exodus, we didn't think the golden visa people would give up on it. But they have!

HUGE U-TURN: The report behind global news stories on a millionaire exodus has confirmed millionaire migration is “modest” & announced it will no longer be publishing migrations estimates that "data does not yet support”, after tax campaigners debunked its methodology. taxjustice.net/press/millio...

Even the *Trump administration* understands that beneficial ownership transparency is key to effective policies in a swathe of areas. (They will keep dismantling their own defences all the same. But still)

Just a couple of hundred million in tax that was riding on whether Bolt could pay VAT on its profit rather than its sales (?!). The precedent for Uber could involve real money though...

"We must sync our tax code with our trade policy, putting an end to provisions that not only fail to deter offshoring, but actively incentivize it." ✊ @aflcio.org aflcio.org/resolutions/...

"The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation."

Today's offering, in "which stage of capitalism is this?" www.theguardian.com/business/202...

⚡What if poverty isn’t an accident, but a result of how our economies are designed? 400+ experts, governments & UN agencies co-created a roadmap showing that ending poverty needs more than just economic growth. 👉 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... @doughnuteconomics.bsky.social

At 4am, Senate Republicans gave the greenlight for the IRS to drop ALL investigations into Trump and his family. That means if Trump is evading taxes, we’ll never know. I have a bill to make this illegal. And I won’t stop fighting to get it done.

Failing democracy

🚨 The European People’s Party (EPP) has once again joined forces with far right MEPs, voting through proposals to weaken #tobacco taxation measures 🚨 "The only winners today are the tobacco barons, and now we know who works for them in this House" A shocking assault on public health and democracy!

Brazilian BlueSky up in arms: "Trump will impose a 25% tax on Brazil if the country doesn't end PIX." PIX is a very widely used instant money transfer and payment system organised by the Central Bank, without fees, thereby cutting out the banks. US banking interests are appalled. Here we go again.

‼️ Amnesty's new research exposes the anti-trans movement. They have a plan - first they're coming for trans rights and then for women's rights. We'll only defeat them by coming together.

Wonderfully meta. Anti-immigration economist and ideologue George Borjas wrote a paper claiming immigration policy researchers (vast majority of whom, unlike him, are broadly positive about immigration) allowed their results to be driven by "ideology". Turns out it was a coding "error"...

Remember that recent paper claiming to show that "ideological bias" determined the results obtained by immigration policy research teams? A careful, open-code reanalysis by @kauspurg.bsky.social & Josef Brüderl finds that the result arises from a coding error. —> doi.org/10.31222/osf...

How long would you need to work to earn as much as Elon Musk owns? Not your whole life. Not hundreds of lifetimes. More than 12 million years. @aoc.bsky.social's right. It's impossible to earn a billion. Our CEO @alexcobham.bsky.social explains in @commondreams.org : bit.ly/4u2x77j

Brilliant analysis of how private equity turned capitalism on its head - and ripped off the taxpayer! @hettieobrien.bsky.social @naomifowler.bsky.social @alexcobham.bsky.social @goldbergradio.bsky.social @bylinetimes.bsky.social 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4SiO... 📺 youtu.be/RPiwx58XZaI?...

So use the state to provide insurance, by way of (progressive inheritance) tax on everyone: this means everyone covers the risk.

A local community group has hit out at plans for a huge 600MW data centre that would be larger than the Scottish village it neighbours 👇 Read more: www.thenational.scot/news/2...

actually i kinda *do* think using genAI should be such a social faux pas that the user is marked as a pariah and no longer feels welcome in the community. "AI is bad" is no longer an abstract (it never was), my city has been under a boil water advisory for a week because of AI data centers

Oops, he just said the quiet part out loud: cutting taxes for fossil fuel giants to l̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶b̶i̶l̶l̶s push their profits higher. We say tax excess profits, cut bills, build renewables, break free from fossil fuel doom-loops. Agree? Act now: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ra...

Nearly 9 in 10 people in the UK want the government to take economic crime more seriously. They’re right to. @thefinancelab.bsky.social's new research shows at least £325 billion in money linked to corruption, tax dodging and organised crime flows through the UK every year. tinyurl.com/5n88krdn

⚡ While the Trump administration fights to defend costly corporate tax abuse, California is leading the fightback. #PayWhereYouPlay worldwide financial reporting would tax where they actually do business, not where profits are shifted. @alexcobham.bsky.social taxjustice.net/2026/05/27/c...

At least £325 billion of dirty money from financial crime, money laundering, corruption, illegal trade and tax dodging flows through the UK every year and causes real harm, read our report here. bit.ly/4u3mBgj

📢Who decides where value is created? Value creation is central to how multinationals are taxed & remains a contested international tax idea, shaping debates on taxing rights. This panel revisits its origins, evolution & why it is re-emerging in #UNTaxConvention negotiations. 🔗 bit.ly/4dzGeWL

📢 Join us this Friday for the second webinar in our 'Four definitions to change the world' series, exploring how “foreseeable relevance” is being shaped & debated in the #UNTaxConvention How should tax information be shared across borders, & under what rules? 👉 Register: bit.ly/4wEtl6D

Part of the Tax Justice Network’s webinar series: Four definitions to change the world. 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, exploring how a more inclusive & effective framework for tackling harmful tax practices might be built. Thurs, 28 May 8:00AM NYC / 13:00 UK / 14:00 CET / 15:00 Nairobi Free, reg. at link

Such a great lineup - join us!

📢 Join us this week for: Four definitions to change the world: Struggles over meaning in #UNTtaxConvention negotiations First webinar: 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, exploring how a more inclusive & effective framework for tackling harmful tax practices might be built. 👉 Register: bit.ly/4dyyWm9

Our new report is (we think) 1st attempt to estimate scale of illicit financial flows thru the UK - £325bn p.a. www.theguardian.com/business/202... @suehawley.bsky.social @alexcobham.bsky.social @kathrynwestmore.bsky.social @faizashaheen.bsky.social @duncanhames.bsky.social @jemm-s.bsky.social

"You could've quadrupled my taxes in the years when I didn't pay anything and it wouldn't have helped the average American one bit!"

Our new research estimates at least £325 billion of dirty money flows through the UK every year. UK - especially City of London - remains a global hub for money laundering, corruption & tax abuse. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Regular reminder that for most 'postcolonials' roughly around my age, our parents were born British, [or other colonial power]. So the designation of having a 'foreign-born' parent makes no sense.

If it was my job to send out nonsensical OECD emails with titles like 'Progress continues in supporting compliance with the Global Minimum Tax', I too would do it last thing on a Friday before heading for the nearest Parisian bar...

Today, the European Court of Justice finally agreed with what we have been saying for years: trusts go beyond just “private family matters”, and can be readily abused for money laundering, sanctions busting and many other illicit financial flows. taxjustice.net/2026/05/21/f...

Oh f*ck. They are literally creating second-class citizens.

We feel like it's worth a shot.

“I think the message of this case is don’t abuse the British justice system to get stories taken down when they are based on valid journalism”. Really well played @joshih.bsky.social 👏- yet another egregious abuse of process to try to silence public interest journalism

Superb piece from Afua Hirsch on the right's quest to cancel Misan Harriman for the crime of speaking whilst Black.

They've proven that a society in which billionaires exist cannot function as a democracy, as billionaires can and do use their wealth to buy the political outcomes they want. You can have billionaires or you can have democracy, but not both.

Yep. They coulda been taxed appropriately for a system that functions disproportionately in their favor in perpetuity & still been the wealthiest people in history but they chose to spend massively on unsustainable suboptimal subjugation just to get rich enough to go ‘why does everybody hate me?’

Taxing <> evil. Paying taxes to have a sound government is good. The richer you are the more you benefit from this!

“Taxing me won’t help teachers,” says a man who has never lifted a finger to help teachers in his life.

My latest for @bylinetimes.bsky.social ... The Finance Curse - How Private Equity Upended Capitalism. Thanks to @hettieobrien.bsky.social - author of 'The Asset Class' PLUS @alexcobham.bsky.social @naomifowler.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/bylineti...

That's quite something. It really feels like it's just a game for some of the players...