james 🌳

A minimum wage of £15 would end my coffee shop, it would have to close, as would many other businesses. I’ll explain for the economically illiterate. Staff costs are currently half our costs, a £15 minimum wage is actually more than £15 an hour for the company, because you have to add: - 12.07% holiday - Sick pay - Maternity pay if and when required - National insurance - Pension contributions These costs would mean the shop loses money because remember, energy costs are up, rates are up, regulations are up. Now you can pass these costs onto the consumer - that would mean charging a lot more for coffee, people won’t pay it. The likes of Starbucks and Costa can, because they have economies of scale. The independent doesn’t. Now the little socialist will say well this is your fault, if you can’t run a business that can afford to pay its staff properly, but the little socialist has never run a business and does not understand the dynamics. Now I could pay some staff off and fill those hours myself or reduce us to one staff member during certain periods - but this proves the point that a minimum wage costs jobs. There was a time when these jobs were done by kids, perhaps on the weekend, paid a lower wage, no holiday and no silly employment rights. Perhaps they were even paid cash. The dynamic worked and small businesses like this could operate. It was also a great first job. Sadly now it isn’t worth employing entitlement youngsters at this level of pay. So alas, I don’t need the stress, the business would close, a number of jobs would be lost. Economics is about understanding these dynamics, no vibes. The cost of living is not solved through passing on inflation to the business, it is solved by ending high inflation and creating prosperity. This is what socialists don’t understand, they can’t create prosperity, they can only destroy it.

Watch this great video: Rayo Vallecano celebrated their victory in the Europa Conference League semi-final with the Palestinian flag. Great team, great supporters.

🚨 BREAKING: British oil and gas giant BP has more than doubled profits due to the Iran war - from $1.38bn to $3.2bn

The Avalanches are up to something. The group has a new logo and website, and they have cleared their socials.

Drone warfare has reached such a level that many fighters have lost hope of escaping or resisting. For example, the final strike on the barracks is terrifying.

Farmers struggle to find workers as immigration enforcement tightens 👀

The breakfasts are not free. They are paid for by taxes - mostly on parents who feed their own kids. Most of these 10,000 children would have had a perfectly healthy breakfast at home without these clubs. This isn't about helping the poorest kids, it's the state taking over the basic job of parenting.

The Abraham Global Peace Initiative (AGPI) condemns the actions of Pedro Sánchez, who has crossed every diplomatic line by withdrawing Spain’s ambassador from Israel while reopening its embassy in Tehran. His call on the European Union to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel further underscores a deeply troubling and one-sided agenda. Such moves reflect a profound moral inversion at a time requiring clarity and leadership. His harsh anti-Israel rhetoric says far more about his political posture than it does about Israel. AGPI urges Spain to reconsider this dangerous course.