maggie burns

@Elle_Bee__ I don’t mind flights as such. But the irony of the handwringing over aviation fuel concerns followed immediately by excitement over the moon flight was frankly staggering.

@maggiejet Why does the awful skydive plane fly too. It’s purely thrill seeking and causes noise and air pollution too.

So we have news report 1 - airlines being warned to carry additional fuel in case of being unable to fill up at their destination. 2 - flying 5 people to circle the moon. Why? Why right now? In the middle of a potential worldwide fuel shortage lets use a mass of it, for what?!

@NoisyStandard @Woldslinx @sophielouisecc Apparently the basic policy is that income replacement benefits are taxable while other benefits are not taxable. Not being the Chancellor or in HMRC myself, I don’t know why.

@maggiejet @Woldslinx @sophielouisecc They should all be taxable, or all untaxed. Choose.

Some families on universal credit are getting the equivalent take home pay of a £71k salary for doing the square root of fuck all Do you really think I’m going to be angry at pensioners getting a pension that’s less than most of Europe - that they have earned No - no im not They aren’t the problem

@WareCanary @toryboypierce @Keir_Starmer @TheBMA It’s not basic training. It’s additional specialism training. So more on top of current numbers for existing trainee drs. Anyway, the BMA rejected the deal and decided to strike (without balloting members). Streeting then withdrew the offer. Which was pretty irrelevant.

@maggiejet @toryboypierce @Keir_Starmer @TheBMA To deny training places is an own goal for the Gov, don't you see? Doctors who have trained here, many from abroad, will not tolerate the bottleneck for very long - they'll move to another country. It'll affect us all eventually. It's just a spiteful move that'll backfire.

@Keir_Starmer has cancelled 1,000 junior Dr training places because @TheBMA wont call off strike. An act of petty spite by Starmer which will hurt the public

@writethewrongs2 @theipaper @NorfolkHeritage And Victoria Park I think.

@maggiejet @theipaper @NorfolkHeritage Yes at the river park. But absolutely stupid.

One in five trees planted using taxpayer funding died due to drought last year, leaving the UK even further away from meeting its legally-binding tree cover targets trib.al/msWDjfl

@writethewrongs2 @theipaper @NorfolkHeritage Happened in our town. The v hot summer meant they weren’t watered anywhere near enough. Bet it was cheaper to let them die and replace than to water them sufficiently.

@theipaper @NorfolkHeritage Was no one caring for them? Utterly ridiculous

@andythegymrat @DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant She does indeed and sadly she isn’t alone. Just trying to bait people into hating those who need help the most! And it’s working! Everyone hates those who take the P, or commit fraud, but jealousy of ppl on benefits is a weird stance to take.

@maggiejet @DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant Sadly, Sophie has form doing this. Thanks for adding some balance.

@writethewrongs2 Fury about lies about Easter Eggs at that.

I know there are things that wind us up and sometimes, for good reason but all this fury about Easter eggs, King Charles not giving an Easter speech and now, orange marmalade. All the while this is taken out of context, nature and the very planet on which you stand is under huge pressure as is our way of life. You know, climate change, and food security etc. i would be worrying more about that!

@andythegymrat @DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant I did an extremely rough calculation. Still more than many would actually really get but less than she’s implied.

@maggiejet @DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant Fair enough, but even so, still a fairly unusual set of circumstances by the sound of it, likely including disabilities. None of which is referenced on the OP, just a suggestion they’re all doing sod all.

@JaysterW @sophielouisecc @ejames500 Do taxpayers pay the balance? Or are all non claimants just being fleeced. Zero reason for entry to cost £25 pp.

@sophielouisecc @ejames500 Go to Alton Towers or the Eden Project. A family or 4 pay £100+ for the privilege. A family on benefits pay upto £20, the rest paid for by the taxpayer Why are taxes used to fund luxuries?

@thewealthster @sophielouisecc Not most. But of course yes, some.

@sophielouisecc We need to cut state pensions. Means test them. Most pensioners are loaded either through property or other pensions.

@Woldslinx @sophielouisecc There’s numerous benefits that are taxable, and many that are not. It’s not just the two.

@sophielouisecc Universal credit is untaxable too. Pensioners pay tax on every £ they receive over £12,570 per annum. It’s all called Benefits and is all classed as income. Why is there one rule for one group of recipients and a different rule for the other?

@dave_catleugh @sophielouisecc They will only get high amounts if they have disabilities that qualify them for other benefits including PIP. UC is capped, including any number of children. So most with more than 2 children are unlikely to be vastly better off.

Found that hard to believe, so I checked: Yes, it's true according to Centre for Social Justice research post-2025 Budget. For a three-child family on out-of-work benefits (Universal Credit + housing/child elements), the total support can equal the net income from a ~£71k pre-tax salary. It rises to ~£90k for five kids

@sophielouisecc Why are you using a gross salary for your example? £71k would be £51,737 net. (£4,311 per month). £2,000 pm could be rent assistance. The remaining £2,300 or so would have to include PIP of £300-450. So net UC around £1800-2000 a month in real terms. Not the same picture.

@andythegymrat @DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant Yes she’s intentionally being misleading to cause division. Ultimately, from what I understand, UC is capped unless some of the quoted circumstances apply. Then it’s down to each element the claimant qualifies for with no upper cap. The huge claims will however be rare.

@andythegymrat @DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant I didn’t post it. But did note that she said the benefits compare to the TAKEHOME pay of a £71k family. Not £71k benefits.

@maggiejet @DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant So this family getting £71k a yer will likely have some pretty unique circumstances all in all. Thanks.

@writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant Unfortunately there’s a load of exceptions to the cap (ridiculously so).

@sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant This is utter bullshit. It is capped at £22,000.

@andythegymrat @DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant There’s a number of exceptions - *Over state pension age *you get UC because disability means you can’t work *care for someone with such disability *earn £881+ pm after tax/NI or get any of the attached benefits

@DeniseC99766052 @writethewrongs2 @sophielouisecc @rolandbullivant Who isn’t it capped for?

@WareCanary @toryboypierce @Keir_Starmer @TheBMA Well the BMA rejecting the offer that was going to open new specialism training spaces & refunding annual fees will have not helped him. He’s chosen his career (which is great!) difficult training is part of it. He’ll be extremely well remunerated when he goes up to over £100k.

@maggiejet @toryboypierce @Keir_Starmer @TheBMA My son the resident doctor who's passed some unbelievably difficult (& expensive) exams to get on the "consultant pathway" would disagree; there's not a position available for his next step. Money is not the issue in his case.

@RhoKinaseMD @ItsnotrightUK I am perfectly within my rights to object to and disapprove of striking. Just as you are to approve of it. But I am not qualified to determine what action they could take to negotiate and wouldn’t pretend to be. I don’t have to be qualified to object to their labour withdrawal

@maggiejet @ItsnotrightUK Not for you to decide?? If you have already “decided” that striking is wrong, but can’t “decide” what the better course of action should be, then you’re not making a constructive criticism and that helps no one

This is what doctors a paid. They have over £100k in student debt.

@RhoKinaseMD @ItsnotrightUK Not for me to decide, but that doesn’t make striking right. Ultimately they had an excellent package just last year. The terms offered most recently were pretty good. The BMA chose to reject them. Nobody can expect reparations of years of lower than inflation rises.

@maggiejet @ItsnotrightUK Interesting If striking is blackmail and completely wrong, what’s the right course of action in the current day?