Jon Hicks

@RupertLowe10 What gets me is the number of people who think the problem with this Labour government is Starmer. The problem with this Labour government is Labour!

Andy Burnham won an overwhelming victory. It is only fair to recognise that and congratulate him and his team. An impressive campaign, particularly their effort on the ground yesterday in Makerfield which was vast. Fair enough.

@ohhanxiety Lutherans

Can you name one thing Germany gave to the world.

@ItsJamesHall Push through it with pension contribs. Salary sacrifice as much as your employer will match regardless but just max out our pension contribs. Use previous years' unused allowances if available.

Over 2 million Brits are now stuck in the £100k tax trap, keeping just 38p of every extra £1 they earn above £100k (after tax & NI). At this point, does it even make financial sense for anyone on £100k+ to chase a higher salary? Or is building wealth through investing, side hustles, and tax-efficient routes now the smarter play?

@QuietWealth_UK Rent a flat, but a house. Would be my advice.

A 40 year old posted on Reddit. Ten years ago he bought a 2-bed flat in London for £520,000. £100,000 deposit. Every penny he'd saved throughout his 20s, working 50+ hour weeks in a high-pressure career. He thought he was doing everything right, get on the ladder, build equity, move up later. Today the flat is worth around £400,000. Mortgage remaining: £340,000. After ten years of ownership, he's facing the possibility of walking away with far less than he ever expected. He didn't make reckless decisions. He bought a normal London flat. The risk wasn't obvious because housing feels safe. Then came: — Cladding issues — Rising service charges — Higher interest rates The price fell because the market moved against London flats. He can't just cut his losses and leave. Cladding makes it nearly impossible to sell. Service charges are bleeding him monthly. Rates have made the mortgage painful. We talk a lot about returns, not enough about concentration risk. A London flat felt like the safe option. In his case, it wasn't. That's why I'm building my ISA alongside my house deposit.

@TJ69B You'll get economies of scale and standards. However, there'll be a race to the bottom, profits over quality of service. I have heard many stories of useless management companies. It'll be exactly the same. In a world where property isn't scarce, *maybe* competition would emerge.

Who can afford better lawyers to kick out tenants? Who are less likely to care about their property long term?

@MorgothsReview Early filming for S6 has already taken place. So, hopefully he's on the clear.

I'm a bit confused by the Clarkson cancer story because season five would have wrapped up a year ago, where he made the announcement, but we know he's still alive and well in our timeline?!

@VinnieSull1van @JeremyClarkson @Britains___Pubs @PubHistoryTours I strongly believe his latest project (the farm, the beer, the show) are a net benefit to society as a whole.

Current pub topic: Clarkson 🚜 People say @JeremyClarkson bought a farm (on which he works hard) to avoid inheritance tax. But, so what if he did? What possible reason could anyone have to blame him for caring more about his family and legacy than the government? And, even if he did, he's raised more awareness for farming than the government or press ever would. So, unless you're in line with the many forms of governmental unfairness, what possible problem could you have with what he's done?

@ListerLawrence The V90. Had one as a courtesy car recently (not the cc). Biased XC90 owner, admittedly. Modern Volvos are bloody decent vehicles, especially in the premium trims.

You're in the market for a slightly raised 4x4 estate car with plasticy bits bolted on. Not as good as a proper 4x4 and about £10k more than a normal estate car - but quite rightly - Cool AF! 😎 Which one are you having? Volvo V90 CC Audi A6 Allroad Subaru Outback Mercedes E-Class All Terrain

@TriggerLefties @ZackPolanski @TheGreenParty I think he thinks you can just seize private assets.

I don’t believe in privatisation without genuine free market competition (which we don’t have in our water industry). But… We simply cannot afford the cost of nationalising the water industry, or the astronomical cost of upgrading the water network, which the taxpayer will have to fund if we bring it back into state ownership. You cannot promote a policy of nationalisation, without explaining how this will be paid for (which will cost in excess of £100bn, btw!). So which services does Zack Polanski suggest we cut in order to fund this?

Absolute chancers. Nationalise water. Now. And keep it in public hands forever.

@dshensmith @AngelaRayner I see a future where landlords are all large corporations. A good or a bad thing for renters?

@AngelaRayner Many landlords are selling properties because of this. There will be fewer available, at a higher rent. How has that helped renters?

Proud to have introduced our Renters’ Rights Act to improve the lives of millions of renters across the country. 🌹

@PatrickChristys Will you have him on your show?

Leading the show with Rupert Lowe’s Rape Gang Inquiry Report published today. The details are impossible to ignore for anyone with a heart

@ThatJohnJones I grew up watching a fair bit of TV. Mostly Disney classics like The Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood. No Pixar in the 80s. Did no harm. My kids can watch stuff like this - anything with a story they can follow. I love seeing them laughing at Shrek and Woody. On a TV, socially.

When I was a kid, there were a couple of kids at school whose parents banned them from watching TV – any TV. So, while I watched episodes of Horizon, The Computer Programme, Tomorrow’s World, The World at War, countless programmes about art and culture, and Top of the Pops and the Old Grey Whistle Test, … they didn’t. I will always feel sorry for them for missing out. Because, they really missed out.

@hankgreen Can I get reimbursed for capital losses?

Anyway, capital gains should be taxed like ordinary income.

@MarkKeenan5 @mattzarb Yeah, indeed. Or east/west Germany. People need to read some history. And study basic economics.

@JonKula @mattzarb we don’t need to - South Korea / North Korea just look at them at night .

Most people would have a better quality of life under communism and that is no longer even a controversial statement

@TiffanyFong Some people think the economy is a zero-sum system so they see unfairness. It's not their fault they're ignorant. Well, maybe it is their fault.

How does the existence of a trillionaire negatively impact anyone else’s life?

@almu1968 @MrFamilyOffice Oh I've seen siblings fall out because the responsible one has, in the eyes of the selfish ones, blown the inheritance on later-life care for their parents. I guess they'd rather have had a nice holiday, new car, house extension. It's sad.

@JonKula @MrFamilyOffice I have known women who gave all the money they inherited from their husbands to their children, with the implication that those children will care for them. Still ended up in cheap nursing homes while neither kids nor grandkids could be arsed to visit .

“My grandmother recently passed away and left her entire £800,000 estate to my parents. My parents are already comfortable – they own their home and have good pensions. I am currently renting a tiny flat in Bristol and desperately want to buy. I asked my parents if they would pass some of the inheritance straight to me for a deposit, but they said they want to use it to buy a holiday home in France and ‘enjoy their retirement’. Is it unreasonable of me to feel completely betrayed? Surely that money would change my life, whereas for them it’s just a luxury?”

@Heccles94 You're an uneducated buffoon if you think he has that much "money". Work this though...You also think we should give tax rebates to people who lose money on investments or asset depreciation? Maybe we just tax them when they realise their gains? We could call it capital gains.

$119,000,000,000 in one day. This man is sick. This world is sick. Tax. The. Rich.

@RebeccaCNReid I've worked with so many people who insist on using apostrophes when pluralising abbreviations. More who do than don't. I get why; visually it seems clearer. It grates though.