@lugaricano @mattyglesias In a way SP already has an element of means testing, it's counted as income & affects tax accordingly. Those with the most in retirement will be paying a huge chunk of it, & more, back.
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Jeremy Ball
1.3K posts
Jeremy Ball
@Jerball3
Military Veteran. Proud Dad/Grandad.
Katılım Ocak 2020
221 Takip Edilen24 Takipçiler
The UK triple lock is the singlest stupidest policy in the entire Western world, and the most damaging to the future of a country. Of course, it is also untouchable and almost undiscussed in the UK press. @mattyglesias does a big favour to the UK public here.
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@chrislittlewoo8 Most on adult & children's services, then council pay/pensions. Prob leaves between 5-10% for everything else. Explains why roads are wrecked & towns run down.
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Can someone tell me what I’m actually paying for?
My latest council tax bill has arrived. £330 a month.
For what?
We still have to pay extra just to have the garden waste collected.
The roads are knackered, the drains are blocked, and every time it rains the streets flood.
The local town is now devoid of shops because business rates and parking charges have made it almost impossible to trade and expensive for people to visit.
So where is the money going?
Councils spend tax revenue on vanity projects like cycle lanes that might see a bike once a decade and disability parking bays that sit empty most of the time.
Meanwhile the services we actually rely on continue to decline.
We are expected to pay more and more for less and less.
And at the same time we all see public money being spent on people who entered this country illegally and have never contributed.
So I’ll ask again.
What exactly are we paying for?
The whole system is broken.
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@NavyLookout QEC not fitted with layered defence so prob risky anyway; every other Navies carriers DO have layered defence.
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Sending aircraft carrier to Med probably not necessary but ordering a Type 45 dispatched well before 28th Feb when it was clear US military was preparing for war, is the failure.
The deeper issue for the Army and RAF is why no Ground Based Air Defence in place in Cyprus - vulnerability has been known for years.
(We have GBAD in the Falklands, which faces a much lower threat)
Navy Lookout@NavyLookout
Explosive report in the @spectator On 27 Feb, the eve of the bombing of Iran, the National Security Adviser asked CDS, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, whether Britain should send warships to the eastern Mediterranean. ‘What about the carrier?’ he pressed, referring to HMS Prince of Wales. Knighton replied: ‘We don’t need the carrier. We have an aircraft carrier – it’s called Cyprus.’ But the failure to send a warship proved to be a disastrous political judgment that enraged Cyprus, Jordan and the UAE. ‘ As an RAF man, he is seen as too dismissive of the Royal Navy’s ability to ‘show the flag’ and reassure allies. Knighton’s performance has not been helped by Starmer’s inexperience in military matters.... #selection-1899.0-1899.90" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">archive.is/93NE8#selectio…
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@BenObeseJecty Just as well there are only 6, we couldn't afford to fix 12.
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“The requirement for 12 ships was reduced to eight in 2004…..and finally down to six ships in 2008.”
There’s a lot of talk about the state of the Royal Navy and the number of ships available.
Today Defence Secretary John Healey got very agitated in the chamber regarding defence cuts under the last coalition government. He was a Minister in the previous Labour Government. It was that Government which HALVED the number of Type 45 Daring-class destroyers, and the reason why we only have six today.
HMS Dragon’s late arrival to defend Cyprus is on them.
publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cm…
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@KathrynPorter26 @mwt2008 @ret_ward They are based in Exeter, look at how often their Exeter weather forecast in wrong. It can be chucking it down there yet their forecast is sunny & vice versa. Full of typical overpaid Civil Servants doing jack all.
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It's a literal fact that the Met Office has been forced to delete data after it was shown to have been made up
Essentially members of the public went to inspect the weather station and found no equipment at the site
So they asked the Met Office which said the data were interpolated from other sites
So they went to those sites and found no equipment there either
So they again asked the Met Office which then deleted the data
So yes, the Met Office has been found to be inventing data
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This article by @KathrynPorter26 misrepresents the comments by Chris O’Shea who said explicitly that bills will be kept higher because of the need to make up for many years of under-investment in the grid.
Kathryn Porter@KathrynPorter26
My latest article for the @Telegraph looks at the comments made by Chris O'Shea, CEO of @centricaplc (parent company of British Gas) He said bills in 2030 might be back at the levels seen in the gas crisis because of high network costs He and others implied this is about upgrading an aging network but the latest price control by @ofgem is clear that most of the capital spend relates to connecting renewables On top of this adding intermittent renewables makes operating the grid more expensive, massively increasing balancing and constraint costs Renewables are definitely making network costs higher and this effect could be as big as the effect of the 2022 gas crisis by the end of the decade Unlike the global gas crisis, this will be fully self-inflicted. @Ed_Miliband and @UKLabour are doing this to us. Not "dictators" or "petrostates" @ClaireCoutinho @AndrewBowie_MP @griffitha @NJ_Timothy @DavidGHFrost @mattwridley @cmackinlay @afneil @Iromg @AllisonPearson @MerrynSW @EdConwaySky @mattotele @jonathan_leake telegraph.co.uk/gift/4bfe1fbcc…
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@Gunbust09696378 @mercoglianos Reg Office though so it was very funny!
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Where the hull meets the deck is one of the strongest points on a ship. Needs to be for hull flexing
That damage is going to restrict the sea state she can be out in.
Had similar but far smaller damage on an RN frigate I was on in 97. 2 weeks in Singers getting it cut out and new steel inserted.
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Visible damage to USNS Supply from the collision with USS Truxtun on Feb 11, 2026. The ship is pierside in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️@mercoglianos
COLLISION: USS Truxtun & USNS Supply Collide in the Caribbean, Feb 12, 2026 | Two Videos Second Video of Higher Quality shows the collision from the Signal Bridge of USNS Supply Video: youtu.be/XMy6fANc7W8
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@zarahsultana He still contributes more to the UK economy than at least 99% of people who live here, including you.
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A billionaire worth £17,000,000,000 who moved to Monaco to dodge £4,000,000,000 in tax is now blaming immigrants for Britain’s problems.
If parasitic billionaires like Jim Ratcliffe paid what they owe — and politicians weren’t in their pockets — our NHS, schools and public services wouldn’t be on their knees.
It is textbook divide and rule. The real enemy of the working class travels by private jet, not migrant dinghy.
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The problem with this worthy, if very misguided, new booze policy is that it uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut, treats sailors as children, and takes NHS 'guidelines' and makes them mandatory for matelots.
A healthy dollop of moralising and puritanism, fuelled by fanatical NGO prohibitionists h/t @cjsnowdon
Navy restricts booze to make ships 'dry' for two days a week mol.im/a/15506547 via @DailyMail
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@Gunbust09696378 @John_ForemanCBE Agreed, it's a non story. The younger generations don't partake as much anyway. Typical sensationalism.
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It's a solution looking for a problem.
I was in Jan 81-Nov14. After the late 80s drinking at sea wasn't really a massive issue... It got less and less after that.
Lean crews meant you couldn't do it.
Fire party, Watchkeeper, containment, Flight all on immediate call.
Alongside... 100% Different 2 cans isn't going to change that.
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@Gunbust09696378 @DefenceOps @hms_tamar @DefenceHQ @ukinaustralia @RoyalNavy Didn't you volunteer to be boarding party? 😅
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@DefenceOps @hms_tamar @DefenceHQ @ukinaustralia @RoyalNavy And get whole body vibration injuries and a fucked up back from the boat slamming...
But hey... Life in a blue suit.
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When training attracts the fastest spectators in the ocean 🐬🚤
Off Queensland’s coast, @hms_tamar warfare ratings push her sea boats to the limit 🚤
Training for disaster relief, boarding ops & man overboard response 🤿
Train hard. Stay ready.
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This morning I cancelled our family holiday to America. I cannot in good conscience take my wife and children there and tell them they will be safe. The United States is no longer a place for decent people.
thetimes.com/article/78f404…
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Reminds me of when the appointer offered me SWO of ARK…😳
instagram.com/reel/DTnoU1PjQ…
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@MarkOrmrod The media is pushing half a story. BFBS has a better take:
forcesnews.com/services/tri-s…
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Just catching up on all of the latest news and I’m seeing some real interesting things about the UK Armed Forces.
What are your thoughts on plans to raise the age of the strategic reserve to 65?
Do you think eligible Veterans would answer the call?
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@TrisOsborneMP @Conservatives Bills are still going up faster than inflation though?
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Becoming a clean energy superpower ⚡️
Prices come in 19% below the ceiling price shooting the @Conservatives argument out the water.
Britain can build big 🇬🇧
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@Microinteracti1 That and the US is now as expensive to visit as Norway.
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Europe is watching the United States under Trump with a kind of stunned disbelief. People keep saying the same thing, quietly at first, then out loud: there is no way back after this.
For years, Europeans joked that much of Latin America was a museum of failed strongmen, fragile institutions, and permanent drama. Now the joke has turned colder. Today, they say, Latin America is welcoming a new member: the United States under Donald Trump.
Travel tells the mood better than any speech. Flights from Europe to the US are half empty. People cancel long planned trips. Some even scrap World Cup tickets, as if they cannot bring themselves to celebrate in a country that feels unrecognizable. “We are disappointed,” one Parisian says. “I always loved America, honestly. But it is over now. If I were American, I would be embarrassed. And I have to add, we know ordinary Americans are good people. They do not want this. This is a cultish faction, obsessed with Trump, repeating lines instead of thinking.”
Then they start naming names. Someone brings up the Texas senator who let Trump humiliate his wife and still kept smiling, still kept crawling back. Ted Cruz. The Parisian laughs, sharp and cruel: “She definitely has a lover now. No man survives that.”
In London, the sympathy shifts north. “Poor Canada,” a man says, almost gently. “They are stuck as the only sensible country on the continent now. With that idiot neighbor to the south, of course they are desperate.”
Stay connected,
Follow Gandalv @Microinteracti1
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@southevropa The US wouldn't have landed on the moon without the German attention to detail mindset.
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Working at a company where half the people are based in Germany 🇩🇪 and the other half are based in the US 🇺🇸 really gives you a perspective on how both of these people think and work.
Germans are super high maintenance to work with, every new idea needs to come w a set of predefined rules and structure before action is taken meanwhile with Americans you give them some crumbs and as long as the idea feels and seems good they will jump into it and solve problems as they go.
Germans think the “American way” is inefficient or careless but the reality is that life is rarely predictable and often rewards action and speed over cautiousness or fear of failure.
I think Americans are right about this, risk is something to be managed in motion. Action creates information. Yes, the cost might be rework and sometimes chaos but the upside is momentum and learning.
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@virginmedia @MelinaKakoulid7 @virginmedia seem to be physically incapable of changing. The response to any criticism is always the same, a wall of AI generated waffle. @ofcom they should have their operating licence revoked.
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@MelinaKakoulid7 Hi, we're sorry you've had a poor experience with our customer services. This is disappointing to hear & we assure you this isn't the level of service we aim to provide. What were you calling to discuss please? Has this now been resolved?
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Goodafternoon @virginmedia I am wondering on why you do everything possible to stop us customers in speaking to staff? You tell us to press 1 for this and press 2 for that. It's took me 4 minutes and 29 seconds just to join the queue for staff.
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@nickkingtwo @virginmedia Turn tv or VM box off & on again. Mine does it on my LG all the time, read somewhere it's VMs syncing with HDMI. Not ideal but works for me.
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Doing my head in the audio on the Sky Sports Darts UHD channel on @virginmedia. Keeps dropping, was doing it last week as well on the TV upstairs and now downstairs. Using V6 boxes on LG OLED TV’s. Every-time Dolby Atmos appears the audio has just cut out.
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@John_ForemanCBE @AmbWilczek Absolutely 👍
Even given the doom & gloom we still managed to build 2 carriers, have dreadnought in build, crossrail (most complex engineering feat in Europe), most of Eurofighter, GCAP, T26/31 both being exported, AI centre et al. Go UK 👊
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A broken Britain? Hardly by @AmbWilczek
'From Warsaw, where I now live, I can say without irony that Britain remains one of the most civilised, innovative and determined nations in the world. It doesn’t need to be ‘great again’ – it simply needs to recognise that it already is. The patient isn’t dying; it just needs a strong cup of tea, a brisk walk in the rain, and a little less self-pity'. Quite.
spectator.com/article/britai…
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@virginmedia @RitaJoh00648785 @SkyMediaUK @virginmedia always give the same PR type response on here, they have to suppose. They miss the point tho, their customer service & price hikes are woeful and foreign call centres unintelligible.
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@RitaJoh00648785 @SkyMediaUK Hi Rita, we truly hate to see you go and we want to best help. Is there anything we can do to help from here. You can find some great deals here virginmedia.com/myvmo2/your-of…
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Hey @virginmedia you’ve just lost a very loyal customer of some 40 years to @SkyMediaUK for lack of your customer care & spiral costs 🤷♀️
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