Chorley is maybe a bad example as we do have an M&S now! We also got electrified railway lines 7-8 years ago so watch your back....i'm not seeing 'third world' out me office window in Mcr fella...Chorley though?...well i'll give you that...
when the big picture becomes visible - at the moment (predictably) the Right is trying to hold everyone's face so close to the screen people are judging individual pixels not whats is on the whole screen
It keeps us on our toes, all six of them.could be...although he does mention 'lowly folk in Chorley'...not sure what they've got to whinge about...they are over blessed with roundabouts ....
Starmer is safer than the Rags in a premier league hearing.Honestly, thinking about this, I think Starmer will be gone by end of 2025 if not sooner. The Labour zealots will doubtless laugh at that, and yes Labour do not have a history of ousting their leaders.
But I cannot see him lasting. He's demonstrating every week that he is politically incompetent. He's almost systematically pissing off every demographic, every section of society, other than the most devout and blinkered Labour supporters.
I don't know which exact (metaphorical!) bullet will get him but I think something will. Whether it be dead pensioners, or released criminals, or some international gaff, or caught lying to the house, or whatever. He will be forced to resign I think. I am *certain* he is going to increase taxes on "working people" in a few weeks time as well. I can only imagine how that will be received.
I am not suggesting his demise will result in a general election - we are stuck with Labour for 5 more years I am pretty sure. But I cannot see Starmer lasting the full term at all. His popularity ratings are going to continue to plummet and then something will get him.
I dunno whether this will get him in the end. Maybe it will, maybe not.
But the lies become more and more apparent, day by day. Now we are told, and I quote " 'The Government will be ensuring that those who are most vulnerable and should be receiving support are receiving it, and that's why there is a huge effort to try and convert people onto pension credit."
There are two possibilities. Either the above is a lie. Or alternatively the "We had to make the changes to WFA in order to balance the books and reassure the markets"* is a lie.
It's either lie A or lie B. No money at all will be saved if significant numbers claim pension credit. So logically, either the government does not want or expect them to claim it, or it is not expecting to save any money. There's no escaping their dishonesty here.
* Not an actual quote, but I will dig one out should any pedants demand it. That is - in terms - what has been said.
Strong rumours that the single occupier council tax allowance is going to be scrapped. Oldham council for one are deep in the mire financially , 33,000 single occupiers will pay circa and extra 50 to 60 quid a month, do the numbers yourselves what that generates per annum for these poor poor councils that have mis spent our money for decades. How on earth is it right that a single occupier who produces far less waste than a household with 4 plus people in them has to pay the same ? Oldham council are deep in the mire because in their own words they're spending obscene amounts of money on temporary housing and for children's and adults social care. Couple that with the winter fuel allowance being scrapped and the inevitable climate levy for Greater Manchester drivers coming in, its fair to say that tough times are ahead for hard working people of Greater Manchester. This country is fucked, worse than it ever has been.
Wtf , he has been in two months and it is a fact that the tories have broken the countryI get that there are problems to fix, but I wonder how long we are going to hear the excuse that it is down to the last Government.
Apparently they can't pay postmasters and the delay is down to the last government?
Its getting a bit tedious already. The buck now stops with you Starmer, you need to own it.
Off topic but make sure you're savvy about how you draw down to minimise tax implications, how you combine any ISAs you may have and tax free part of the draw down can make you thousand better off in the long run particularly at the point when state pension kicks in.Draw down for me, just in the process of finalising it on Monday, if I left as an annuity it halves the yearly benefit to Mrs H if I died so she would need to live until age 91 before she starts making a profit. Draw down even with the tax implications is the most sensible option, the annuity option doesn't have built in inflationary increases, only a portion of it rises by 3% pa, it's not a great scheme (run by Aviva now).
Pips is paid so people can pay for things like carers and allows the disabled person to get out and live , it is much more expensive to be disabled than able bodied . There is different rates of pips based on what you can and cant do so it is targetted , the re-assessments are often and much harderAccept that is a big difference but the big similarity is that it is paid regardless of financial need