Val

@AnneLindsay7 @David__Osland Anne seems to not have looked at the stats!

@AnneLindsay7 @David__Osland Every English student pays the same price for degrees - how they fund it is a different matter. Rich parents also pay for their children’s cars, houses. The majority of students won’t actually pay for all of their loans and will have them written off

If VAT on public school fees is 'class war', what's the right name for the 9% extra tax band on working-class kids who take a university degree?

@MichaelSabres14 @jjtbuildersco @TNHomeBuyer @ldatko @JeffcoSchoolsCo @Riley_Gaines_ The answer i got was close to 50/50?

@ValMThatcher @jjtbuildersco @TNHomeBuyer @ldatko @JeffcoSchoolsCo @Riley_Gaines_ I did a google AI search and it gave a pretty good answer. Grok probably would to.

‼️Bombshell!!! Just received 31 page report sent by US Dept of Ed to @JeffcoSchoolsCo . In case anyone thought there weren’t really 61 males playing on girls’ teams, here you go! I’ll share more from the report soon! They have until March 23rd to comply! @Riley_Gaines_ @JenniferSey

@MichaelSabres14 @jjtbuildersco @TNHomeBuyer @ldatko @JeffcoSchoolsCo @Riley_Gaines_ What do you mean/want by proportionality?

@ValMThatcher @jjtbuildersco @TNHomeBuyer @ldatko @JeffcoSchoolsCo @Riley_Gaines_ No my argument is that the now 50 year fight for proportionality has been forgotten- those of us who actually follow women's sport (in the US and elsewhere) have been 'sold a pup.'

@AnneLindsay7 @David__Osland Why would the parent of a child who went to private school want to waste money paying university fees when they might not need to pay them or they might be written off in the future? I certainly won’t be paying my children’s university fees!

@ValMThatcher @David__Osland Really? I can find more who don’t. You are fighting a lost battle because this, as usual, is really about your aversion to VAT on school fees. Accept and move on.

@AnneLindsay7 @David__Osland The payment are only huge if you earn a lot - they penalise the successful graduate, who will already be paying lots of tax, far too much

@ValMThatcher @David__Osland Whether they pay it off by the time they are 60 is not the point, invite huge monthly payments that are crippling them. Deliberately missing the point.

@MichaelSabres14 @jjtbuildersco @TNHomeBuyer @ldatko @JeffcoSchoolsCo @Riley_Gaines_ So your argument has nothing to do with boys or girls, but one sport getting too much attention?

@jjtbuildersco @TNHomeBuyer @ldatko @JeffcoSchoolsCo @Riley_Gaines_ My argument is you don't reach proportionality without looking at football. Does it need to have so many players, so many on scholarships? But to do this, you are challenging the unchallengeable. And don't tell me that football pays for everything else- no research suggests this.

@JanetEmmett7 @ScottishBevan @David__Osland Simply saving child benefit should,do

@ScottishBevan @ValMThatcher @David__Osland Sensible parents start saving early for their childrens' degrees.

@roulerdelaroute @David__Osland Alll degrees should be free

@ValMThatcher @David__Osland My friends degree cost him £0 because he never paid for any of it

@roulerdelaroute @David__Osland Your friends degree cost exactly the same as every else’s! He did get it for free

@chloembroidery @ScottishBevan @David__Osland Rich people will always be be better of than poor. Degrees should be free for everyone

@ValMThatcher @ScottishBevan @David__Osland You’re not grasping it ! They all pay the same but poorer children are saddled with huge debt for longer ! Which limits their choices and possibilities of buying homes earlier etc.

@bangkokfrog @implausibleblog I understand - I don’t agree! :)

@ValMThatcher @implausibleblog As I said, we are going in circles. If you don't understand, you don't understand.

Zack Polanski, "A wealth tax won't fix everything but it would be a very good place to start" "1% on £10 million, and 2% on £1 billion, would raise around £15 billion a year" "A clear message that those who have accumulated the most money will pay a little bit more" "For a truly progressive government a wealth tax needs to be a day one priority" "And to get our economy moving we much look at all the levers we can pull" "That must include equalising capital gains tax with income tax" "Close down tax avoidance loopholes" "And to expand National Insurance to cover income from investment as well as earned income"

@roulerdelaroute @David__Osland Your degrees both cost the same - your friend was fortunate that some else paid for it. There’s a chance you will actually end up paying less depending on how much you earn and when/if your loan is eventually written off.

@ValMThatcher @David__Osland My friend in uni had his parents pay his tuition every year so he left with £0 to pay. I did the same degree and left with £65k, now getting on for £80k which i will never be able to pay. Its a 9% tax on lower and middle class graduates in all but name.

@bangkokfrog @implausibleblog how does does that have anything to do with bankruptcy?

@ValMThatcher @implausibleblog Yes, and making CGT and income tax the same affects that choice. We are going in circles now.

@chloembroidery @paul_d_stevens @David__Osland If mum and dad don’t pay for university, they can afford to pay their deposits - some probably get both paid for them.

@ValMThatcher @paul_d_stevens @David__Osland No it means their children don’t get saddled with huge interest payments, can save to buy homes earlier etc ! Unlike poorer kids saddled with huge debt payments for years !

@AnneLindsay7 @David__Osland Every person I know who went to private school has a student loan.

@ValMThatcher @David__Osland Do I have to spell it out? Poor students are having to pay extortionate loans. Rich ones, like the ones who go to private schools don’t need loans. Mummy and daddy pay.

@AnneLindsay7 @David__Osland In what way?

@ValMThatcher @David__Osland Deliberately missing the point. Pathetic.

@ScottishBevan @David__Osland Rich parents pay for their children’s homes? They still have to pay the same for the degree

@ValMThatcher @David__Osland Rich students get their parents' money rather than loans they have to repay.

@cleans_letsrun The way I understand that’s not down to the sport.

@ValMThatcher You are probably right, but what I don't understand is why testing has been halved. It's a sport in which the temptations to dope are very high because of the direct difference it can make to results.

British weightlifting. UKAD stats show that testing was reduced by 50% between 2024 and 2025. (data: 120 tests in total for 2024, 29 for first 6 months of 2025) And just one in-competition test for the whole of 2025. Maybe UKAD see it now as a low-risk sport for doping? 🤷‍♂️

@paul_d_stevens @David__Osland So they pay for all of their degree, rather than just some of it!

@ValMThatcher @David__Osland Not if the Bank of Mum and Dad is funding it.