Associate Editor at the @independent, formerly Economics Editor. Views my own. Fox. Also at @seanogrady@mtsdn.social 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇬🇱
Joined July 2009
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Budget 2026: Breathing space…and then another few years of austerity?
independent.co.uk/voices/edi…
Sean O'Grady retweeted
Our security guarantees are our security guarantees. They cannot be dictated by the Russian side. Restrictions on our army and Ukraine’s neutrality are not up for discussion. The territorial issue is a red line that can only be discussed at the level of leaders. The Americans have long been raising the issue of exchanging territories – they call it “land swaps.” There are also other formats and proposals for discussion.
Everyone must understand. First, we are not exchanging anything for anything. We are ready for discussions. If it is the territorial issue, then it must be discussed at the level of leaders. Other issues – at the level of technical groups. So all of this can be discussed in November.
From an interview with Alla Mazur for TSN Week on 1+1, as part of the United News telethon. (2/5)
Sean O'Grady retweeted
NEW
There is some confusion over Andy Burnham's position on Brexit
Earlier this morning:
Reporter asks: "Will you allow the UK to join the EU freedom of movement without a referendum?"
Andy Burnham says: "No. And I wasn't saying that", adding that he would "never move ahead of the British public when it comes to Brexit".
11.30am Lobby briefing:
Number 10 will now not say whether the British public will get a referendum on rejoining EU freedom of movement.
A spokesman says: "The process will be set out in due course ... He wants to have an open debate about this.... there are no options on the table."
What do you think? More now on @GBNEWS.
Sean O'Grady retweeted
Reform plan to bring back imperial measurements to help boost US trade, not realising that US imperial measurements are different from UK ones.
So dense a black hole is empty space by comparison.
Constructive, as ever.
.@POTUS on the election in Brazil: "It looked like another rigged election, frankly. I didn't take sides, but it was a terrible look for the world. Elections have to be indisputable — and it looked very bad to me."
Dense, paranoid and peevish. Liz Truss makes for a tedious read.
independent.co.uk/voices/liz…
Sean O'Grady retweeted
We are ready for trilateral talks between technical groups, which must yield a concrete result. The Americans asked me, “What specifics do you want?” I said, “Look, can the war end in November during a meeting of the technical group?” Without the leaders, it cannot be fully ended. Okay, if that is not possible, then give us an energy ceasefire, the sea, grain, an all-for-all exchange, or a meeting of leaders. Of course, that is a result. A result is an opportunity.
Energy, grain, people – these are concrete things, while a meeting at the level of leaders is an opportunity to have something concrete after our trilateral. This is what we are asking for and proposing. We are not demanding it, but proposing it to the American side. Then that would show seriousness. But if this is just a political trick and Putin is simply saying, “Yes, I’m ready,” because he does not want escalation with America before the elections, then we will see very quickly in November whether it was a trick or not.
From an interview with Alla Mazur for TSN Week on 1+1, as part of the United News telethon. (4/5)
Trump just gave Ukraine’s cards away.
I would not want us to approach a meeting of the three leaders – Ukraine, the United States, and Russia – having lifted all sanctions on the Russian Federation. This is an important point. Sanctions were imposed for aggression, not for an opportunity to have a chat. So if we say that this is the end of the war, there is a certain order for lifting sanctions. I told the American delegation this because I have had this feeling for quite a long time: when we talk about Russia’s loyalty, we should not buy it at such a price. Because without sanctions, we could find ourselves in a trilateral dialogue where we still do not know what will happen next, but the sanctions have already been lifted. And who will have the strength we had at the beginning of the war to impose all those sanctions again? To bring people together in such a way that we could secure more than 20 sanctions packages around the world. That is why I am very cautious about this.
I do not want us to find ourselves at a meeting with Putin without tools – without sanctions, without money, or without frozen assets. Because then, as Mr. Trump said, we really would not have too many cards in our deck.
From an interview with Alla Mazur for TSN Week on 1+1, as part of the United News telethon. (3/5)
Sean O'Grady retweeted
I would not want us to approach a meeting of the three leaders – Ukraine, the United States, and Russia – having lifted all sanctions on the Russian Federation. This is an important point. Sanctions were imposed for aggression, not for an opportunity to have a chat. So if we say that this is the end of the war, there is a certain order for lifting sanctions. I told the American delegation this because I have had this feeling for quite a long time: when we talk about Russia’s loyalty, we should not buy it at such a price. Because without sanctions, we could find ourselves in a trilateral dialogue where we still do not know what will happen next, but the sanctions have already been lifted. And who will have the strength we had at the beginning of the war to impose all those sanctions again? To bring people together in such a way that we could secure more than 20 sanctions packages around the world. That is why I am very cautious about this.
I do not want us to find ourselves at a meeting with Putin without tools – without sanctions, without money, or without frozen assets. Because then, as Mr. Trump said, we really would not have too many cards in our deck.
From an interview with Alla Mazur for TSN Week on 1+1, as part of the United News telethon. (3/5)
Sean O'Grady retweeted
Arday cleared - again - of plagiarism, but 'mainstream' media ignore...
skwawkbox.org/2026/10/24/ard…
Sean O'Grady retweeted
US energy company execs have resigned in disgust as the Trump family is caught secretly expediting the funneling of $25 billion from a sanctioned Russian energy giant in exchange for allowing Russians to obtain a natural gas project in Alaska.
According to investigations by The New York Times and Financial Times, Russia's Novatek allegedly concealed its financial involvement in the American project through a UAE-linked intermediary.
Gentry Beach, a longtime Trump ally and close friend of Donald Trump Jr., signed an agreement with Novatek to pursue natural gas development in Alaska. Reuters documented the arrangement in February.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin discussed this cooperation on the Alaska energy project with Trump's representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, during negotiations involving Russia and Ukraine.
The controversy deepened when Polar Train LNG's CEO, Joel Riddle, raised concerns about concealed Russian financing and possible sanctions violations. He departed in September, followed by other senior executives.
The Financial Times also described discussions about a potential arrangement under which Novatek would provide technology for the Alaska project in exchange for sanctions relief benefiting its Arctic LNG 2 development in Siberia.
According to The New York Times, Riddle and two other departing executives warned the Trump administration about the Russian financing and urged officials to investigate.
The White House maintains that the project was mentioned only briefly and that no detailed discussions took place. There is no established evidence that Kushner or Witkoff knew about the allegedly concealed financing. Polar Train LNG denies wrongdoing.
The central question is how a sanctioned Russian energy company became involved in a major American energy venture while Putin was discussing potential economic cooperation with Trump's representatives and a longtime Trump family associate was pursuing a separate agreement with the same Russian company.
Selling Alaska to the Russians or selling Ukraine to the Russians - to the Trump family it's all the same.
ft.com/content/e9cfbfbb-e65a…
Sean O'Grady retweeted
This is somewhere between deeply irresponsible and a lie.
HMRC will be able to "seize money" from people who owe tax, aren't disputing it, but just fail to pay. That's people who cause the rest of us to pay more tax.
Sean O'Grady retweeted
First hand-dyers. Then speakerphones. AND auto-renew subscriptions. Will Adele be next? Read all about my most victorious week on Earth since Clacton! It's up now at BetterThanX.co.uk
Just so we’re clear where he’s coming from
