simon haslam

@KeruboSk Once again something that never happened

My husband and I booked a flight months in advance for our honeymoon. We booked 4A and 4C in First Class so we could talk, relax, and celebrate. We board the plane, get to row 4, and there is already a woman sitting in my seat, 4C. My husband politely looks at her and says, "Oh, hi, sorry, I think you might be in my wife's seat." The woman looks up, sighs dramatically, and says, "The gate agent moved her. I need this seat because of my medical condition. She's in 12D." 12D is Comfort Plus. Not First Class. I immediately look at my phone—sure enough, the airline app had refreshed while we were walking down the jet bridge and changed my seat without a single notification or warning. My husband instantly flagged down the lead flight attendant. He explained that we paid thousands for these specific seats for our honeymoon, and I was absolutely not moving to a lower class because someone else made a last-minute demand at the gate. The flight attendant went to speak to the woman, who instantly started crying, claiming we were "harassing" her. The flight attendant then turned to my husband and whispered, "Can't you just be a gentleman so we can take off on time?" The sheer audacity. My husband stood his ground. "If she has a medical need for First Class, she can buy a First Class ticket. Give my wife her seat back, or get the supervisor down here right now." They eventually moved the woman back to her original seat in coach, but for the rest of the flight, the flight attendant completely penalized us. She ignored our drink orders and literally slammed our snack baskets onto our trays. Sorry for wanting the seat we actually paid for, I guess?

@VisionaryProp Can I recommend you delete this post - this refers to a case from June 2019 which was lost and also lost at appeal

I really hope this is true……..

@GuyEmma68700 @paullewismoney And when Nat Insurance was put up, Govt funded that for schools but didn’t fund it for nurseries

@paullewismoney Because state funding doesn't cover the running costs. FFS the level of journalism is slipping significantly. This is the problem with "free" stuff, it is only ever funded on bare bones.

Govt suspects nurseries are overcharging parents when they should be free bit.ly/4tVtMqD govt funded free childcare still costs parents money and now private equity is involved…

@JohnCleese Both

Is Johnson appallingly ignorant, or just a liar ?

@gregbagwell Whether the information came from a hack or not is irrelevant; he did receive £5m from a dodgy offshore guy - and we are entitled to know about it

A whole month to think up a story and this was what they came up with? Is this the political equivalent of the dog eat my homework. Firstly, it doesn’t change the facts of the matter as Farage still hasn’t explained what the money is for and what he did with it. 🧵1/5

@worstall @DanNeidle And farmland is supposed to pay this very increased tax how?

@DanNeidle Erm, sorta. We undertax land itself - the whole LVT/Georgist thing - overtax what is built upon it. A proper LVT would reduce central city business rates and very much increase the taxation of farmland. Leunig is referring to taxes on "property" which isn't quite the same thing.

There’s a great case for an LVT, but I agree with Tim Leunig. Land isn’t under-taxed - we tax land more than any other OECD country. It’s badly taxed.

@ebullienteddie @DanNeidle You are being too generous!

@DanNeidle I would guess the public are assuming gross profit when the provided figures look like net profit

Have to say, at the point they got the “people think the NHS has a 34% profit margin” result, I would have stopped and asked what was going on with my methodology. Surely people don’t really think that Do they?

@Algarve321 @SarahWoods66 The pavilion is much better these days - many fewer stands and more room for people; show gardens have always been a scrum

@SarahWoods66 I went once and would never go again. My little mum was shoved about and like you even in the Pavillion we couldn’t see a thing. We went to listen to the band in the bandstand in the end. It’s run by snobs for snobs.

Not my usual tweet but I want a little rant. I got gifted 2 tickets to the Chelsea Flower Show so went with a friend yesterday. We paid for an overnight stay in a hotel, train fares and food. I can honestly say it was AWFUL. It was unbelievably busy with huge numbers of people making it impossible to walk - we were just shoved along by the crowd. I couldn’t see any of the show gardens because the fight to see them was 5 people deep. Even if you did get to the front you were being pressured to move on. We gave up after 3 hours and went to the Chelsea Physic Garden along the road which was a much welcome oasis of calm. The organisers of the show should be ashamed of themselves. Visitor numbers need limiting and I feel so sorry for anyone for whom this was a first time long awaited visit #RHSChelsea #RHSChelseaFlowerShow @GWandShows @GWandShows @The_RHS

@HelenWebberley They never were and never will be - the whole point is that they are ‘men’

Trans women have always been women, and always will be.

@Dixie202021 @mindys4Biden To decide the official candidate of the party

@simonhaslam8 @mindys4Biden Then why have a primary?

KY has a "sore loser law" that prevents Massie from running in the general as an Independent. But 1 thing he could do is run as an official write-in candidate. Lisa Murkowski successfully did it in Alaska. And Massie is a whole lot easier to spell than Murkowski. Just a thought.

@neco_arctic You don’t deserve equality with women - since you aren’t women

It should be a form of illegal discrimination to treat trans women differently to cis women in literally any way I don't care about the equivocation, we deserve equality

@BenGrahamUK He wasn’t being attacked by most people for tax; he was and is being attacked for taking a dodgy gift from a dodgy billionaire and not declaring it - as the rules of Parliament clearly required

All the rumours. All the slurs. All the hysterical accusations aimed at Nigel Farage. And now it turns out he likely doesn’t owe any tax at all. Another failed attempt at character assassination from people desperate to destroy him politically. This has backfired spectacularly.

@paullewismoney This is the most corrupt US President ever - how even the most cultist Republicans can support this I do not know

Not just secrecy from the public, secrecy from the tax collectors too!

@davidmbarnett Some are both!

I was almost persuading myself to start using Twitter again, and even concede it’s called X now, but so many people think that huge crowd photo of nowhere-near-London was actually from the march yesterday I can only conclude 90% of users here are either liars or thick as mince.

@GBNews23653867 @t1meforchange23 Even if there is a massive split in Labour that still doesn’t mean an early Gen Election

@simonhaslam8 @t1meforchange23 It shows how little she knows, Burnham wins, triggers a leadership challenge. Starmer then has to fight off Burnham and potentially Rayner, Streeting and Cairns. Only then could it trigger a split within Labour that could lead to a GE. Starmer stays, it's roll on 2029.

Reform UK winning in Makerfield will trigger a General Election. The demand for one will be too great. Vote Reform. Let’s get Labour out.

@JimTheGlawsFan Never any recognition for Zoe H at fly half

Can the world agree that Ellie Kildunne was nowhere near the best player today and Amy Cokayne and Meg Jones were both truly outstanding? For Jess Breach to be on the shortlist was ridiculous, she's amazing going forward but missed how many tackles? #FRAvENG #SixNations

@nw_nicholas He didn’t - he analysed (with other experts) all the facts that were in the public domain or could reasonably be obtained. That’s exactly what you want journalists to do. And he is not arrogant - at least no more than most of us here on social media

@simonhaslam8 He dived in against Rayner & Polanski without knowing the full facts. He's very arrogant. I don't doubt his knowledge.

I wish people wouldn't forward my posts to Dan Nerdle. He hates me & thinks I'm a conspiracy theorist. The man that screwed up his attempted burn of Angela Rayner & Zack Polanski. He's a very knowledgeable tax expert who made millions advising people how to avoid tax & is a very toxic person.

@EtnzIndio @hasan28d It works the other way too - companies should never counter bid someone who resigns for more money

@hasan28d Never ever accept a counter offer from your employer once you've handed in your notice. If you weren't worth the new offer before, you're not worth it now. Their counter-offer just buy themself time to hire your replacement.

Employee: Here is my two weeks’ resignation notice. HR Manager: You didn’t tell me you were planning to leave. Employee: Yes, I wanted to wait until the right time. HR Manager: The right time? Employee: I’m joining a new company with a better offer. HR Manager: How much are they offering you? Employee: It’s 170,000—a solid jump from my current 100,000. HR Manager: We can give you a no-brainer offer—190,000. Employee: In that case, I’ll stay and accept your offer. HR Manager: Thank you. You’re one of our top performers, and we can’t afford to lose you. Employee: I knew I could count on you. Four months later…↓