In partnership with

Start learning AI in 2025

Everyone talks about AI, but no one has the time to learn it. So, we found the easiest way to learn AI in as little time as possible: The Rundown AI.

It's a free AI newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest AI news, and teaches you how to apply it in just 5 minutes a day.

Plus, complete the quiz after signing up and they’ll recommend the best AI tools, guides, and courses – tailored to your needs.

Sign up to start learning.

Happy Friday to you all,

The Pint team has taken a totally undeserved holiday to Italy this week, where we found that the only thing rarer than an Italian who works past 2pm is a bar with reliable Wi-Fi.

Yet we managed to find one, so here we are - let’s get you your weekly roundup of the business and politics news you need to know from the UK and beyond.

⏰ Today's reading time is 5 minutes

Quote of the Week

Brexit has left a £40 billion hole in the UK’s public finances, according to an audit of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) post-Brexit forecasts — and nine years on from the vote, the predictions are proving accurate.

The OBR estimated that Brexit would knock 4% off the UK’s long-run productivity, and that forecast is now broadly supported by falling trade volumes and a clear stagnation in business investment.

That 4% hit equates to roughly £40 billion in lost tax revenue between 2019 and 2024 — a period in which the government raised taxes by £100 billion.

Analysts argue that much of that hike might not have been needed had the UK stayed in the EU or pursued a softer Brexit.

You can thank PR-Monkey David Cameron for that one.

Some of the hardest-hit sectors include automotive exports, which have declined faster than in France (ouch), Germany or the US and financial services, which have grown more slowly than rival economies since UK firms lost single market access.

Despite a recent UK-EU deal to align food regulations — the economic damage appears largely locked in.

Talk about Regrexit…(sorry).

According to the Centre for European Reform, the full hit will take about 15 years to play out.

Israelis were back on the beach and businesses reopened this week, as a Trump-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran held—for now.

The 12-day conflict killed 28 people in Israel and hundreds in Iran, with Trump personally intervening to push the ceasefire through after it nearly collapsed on Tuesday.

Both countries claimed victory (funnily enough).

Israel says its strikes set Iran’s nuclear program back “many years”; Trump claimed it was “basically decades.” But US intelligence assessments, leaked to CBS, say the damage is far more modest—perhaps only a few months' delay.

Iran, for its part, is spinning a failed retaliatory strike on a US base in Qatar as a win. But behind the bluster, Tehran’s parliament voted to halt cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

The Supreme Leader hasn’t yet signed off (he’s still hiding in a bunker), but it signals Iran’s intent to speed up enrichment with no outside oversight.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military is turning its attention back to Gaza, where humanitarian conditions have worsened dramatically.

Israeli forces are accused of killing dozens near aid sites, with 49 Palestinians reportedly killed in the last 24 hours alone. UNRWA called a US- and Israel-backed aid scheme “a death trap.”

There is cautious hope that diplomacy could now restart—not just with Iran, but in Gaza too.

Ukraine asks allies to allocate 0.25% of GDP to boost its weapon production

Ukrainian modestly successful comedian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked partner countries to dedicate 0.25% of their GDP to Ukraine’s defence industry, no doubt timed percetly with the NATO summit at The Hague in The Netherlands.

The proposal is Kyiv’s latest bid to secure long-term military support as US aid wanes and Russia steps up its aggression.

"Ukraine is part of Europe’s security," Zelensky said, positioning the ask as an investment in the continent’s collective defense. Talks are already underway with Denmark, Norway, Germany and the UK.

The request comes as Ukraine faces a brutal summer: Russian airstrikes are increasing, Putin is now openly claiming “all of Ukraine” and fresh offensives are underway.

Still, Ukraine isn’t just surviving—it’s hitting back. In a recent operation named Spiderweb, Ukraine used domestically made drones to target four Russian airfields, showing off its growing homegrown capabilities.

To keep that momentum going, Zelensky wants other NATO members to copy Denmark’s model: buying weapons from Ukraine rather than just sending their own.

Meanwhile, a separate NATO-wide debate is heating up over whether to raise the bloc’s own defense spending target from 2% to 5% of GDP.

The US is pushing hard for it, so they can stop footing Europe’s security bill.

Spain is the only country to outright say no so far, as the increase would divert vital resources currently dedicated prostitutes. Poland, Sweden, and the Netherlands are open to it in theory—but haven’t committed.

Google may be forced to link to rival search platforms in the UK

Google may be forced to give UK users more choice over how they search the internet, after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) flagged concerns over its dominance in the search market—where it holds over 90% of user share.

Bing shareholders can’t contain their excitement at the news.

This isn’t (yet) an accusation of wrongdoing, but under new UK rules for “strategic market status,” the CMA can demand reforms if a company is too powerful.

The regulator has laid out potential changes ahead of a final decision in October, including “choice screens” (similar to what Google’s had to implement in the EU), more control for publishers, and greater transparency around how content is ranked and displayed.

Google fired back, calling the CMA’s proposals “broad and unfocused,” warning they could hurt UK businesses and limit access to future Google innovations.

The CMA, however, argues that loosening Google’s grip could reduce costs for the 200,000 UK businesses relying on search ads—currently spending an average of £33,000 a year.

Not everyone's convinced.

Airlines and hospitality groups warned that similar EU changes actually pushed customers toward travel aggregators with misleading listings, whilst sex toy and lingerie businesses LoveHoney and Ann Summers claim Google’s SafeSearch feature is harming their visibility.

Damn, however will people deal with finding a G-spot rabbit vibrator in 3 seconds as opposed to 0.5 seconds?

A final call is expected in October. If implemented, these changes could reshape how UK users find stuff online—and how Google does business in Britain.

Zohran Mamdani scores surprise win in NYC mayoral primary after Andrew Cuomo concedes

In one of the most dramatic political upsets in recent New York history, 33-year-old democratic socialist the Zohan Zohran Mamdani has claimed victory in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary, prompting former Governor Andrew Cuomo to concede.

Mamdani, a state representative and relative unknown just months ago, is now in prime position to become NYC’s first Muslim and Indian American mayor.

With 93% of first-round votes counted, Mamdani led with 43.5% to Cuomo’s 36.4%—at which point the former governor and disgraced sex-pest conceded to his younger rival.

“Tonight, we made history,” Mamdani told supporters. His campaign, built on bold leftist (by American standards anyway) policies—free buses, universal childcare, rent freezes, and public grocery stores—was powered by grassroots energy, viral social media, and endorsements from AOC and Bernie Sanders.

Cuomo, despite big-name backing and a war chest backed by billionaires like Michael Bloomberg and Bill Ackman, couldn't get it done. His 2021 resignation over sexual harassment allegations continued to loom large. The fact that he doesn’t actually live in New York probably didn’t help either.

Cuomo left the door open to an independent run in November, saying he’ll “look at the numbers.” Whatever happens, he will always be appreciated for leaving us with one of the best headlines of all time:

It’s worth pointing out that Mamdani hasn’t won just yet. The establishment have another disgraced boomer up their sleeve in current Mayor Eric Adams, who will be running on an indepedent ticket now that the multiple fraud and corruption allegations against him were dropped.

UK millionaire “exodus” claim backtracked but media re-run story anyway

Headlines have popped up in the last few months around the UK that the country is set to lose 16,500 millionaires in 2025—more than any other country—due to tax hikes, the end of the non-dom regime and a sluggish economy, not to mention just so they can stop listening to Gary Stevenson waffle on about wealth inequality on shitty podcasts.

The narrative behind a number of articles from City AM and The Telegraph suggest a dramatic outflow of wealth, potentially undermining the UK’s economic appeal and status as a tax haven for the wealthy.

However, analysis by the Tax Justice Network, backed by Patriotic Millionaires UK, casts significant doubt on the narrative of the rich leaving in droves.

They point out that the figures quoted in the reports (from tax advisory firm Henley & Partners) represents just 0.63% of the UK’s millionaire population—a proportionally smaller outflow than those reported for countries like India (0.77%) and South Africa (0.66%) in previous years.

Global millionaire migration remains at just 0.2%, a consistent and historically low rate.

Further scrutiny reveals Henley’s methodology relies on social media job data rather than confirmed relocations, and includes only individuals with $1 million in liquid assets—excluding many millionaires and exaggerating the mobility of the wealthiest.

Even Henley’s own Group Tax Director has acknowledged the misuse of the word “exodus,” admitting it was more a media construct than a statistical reality.

Critics argue that the report’s findings are being used to push narratives favorable to wealth lobbyists and golden visa providers. Meanwhile, polling shows that the vast majority of UK millionaires are not leaving.

Besides, look at what they’d be leaving behind.

🍻Half Pints

Quick-fire news you might have missed

Memes of the Week

Daddy of the Week

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had what some may call a bit of a Freudian slip in his conversation with Donald Trump, referring to him as “Daddy.”

To be fair, he is Dutch was making an analogy for Trump having a strong hand in his dealings with Israel and Iran, who he compared to toddlers squabbling.

The NATO summit was a great week for daddy issues in general, as the meeting of some of the worlds most influential leaders generated an escort shortage in Rotterdam. 

To be fair, the report is slightly misleading, as most of the escorts were booked up by the Spanish delegation.

That’s all for today.

We’ll be back, bigger and better, next week.

Our mission is to carefully curate and craft the best memes to help you get up to speed with what’s happening in the world and have a few laughs whilst doing so.

We’re always open to feedback on improving the email, so let us know what you think in the poll below.

Thanks to Jesus and Mark