ObMo

Do not buy Apple.

We are deeply concerned by the announcement in the King’s Speech that the UK Government is to draft a bill to ban what it calls “abusive conversion practices.” We oppose coercive and abusive practices. But there is already a robust legal framework in place to deal with assault, coercion, harassment, abuse and safeguarding failures. The question Parliament must answer is why new legislation is needed when existing laws already protect people from abusive conduct. Our concern is that this legislation is increasingly being used to pursue a more nefarious objective - creating an affirmation-only framework regarding “gender identity” in which lawful therapeutic exploration is effectively shut down. That would leave same-sex attracted people, vulnerable young people and those struggling with trauma, identity or mental health issues with fewer options for support. Same-sex attracted people should not lose access to lawful counselling because therapeutic neutrality has become politically unacceptable. Poorly drafted legislation could also create wider consequences for families, clinicians, employers and safeguarding professionals. We do not believe new legislation is necessary and we will continue to make the case that existing laws already protect people from genuine abuse — without creating further risks for vulnerable individuals, families and professionals. Please make these points - with personal examples if possible - to your MP, MSP or MA.

BREAKING: A court will seek to sentence four Palestine Action activists found guilty of criminal damage as terrorists even though they were not convicted of terror charges, in a move kept secret from the jury.

Zack Polanski has just retweeted this. I don’t understand how, if you truly believe in Green values, you are in any way content with Reform winning. Many more votes to be counted, but Greens have, in some areas, split the vote

Zack Polanski has just retweeted this. I don’t understand how, if you truly believe in Green values, you are in any way content with Reform winning. Many more votes to be counted, but Greens have, in some areas, split the vote

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.