Politics without the shouting, travel without the queues (mostly), and Hugo & Joe 🐶 Yorkshire born, Lancaster based 🇬🇧 Dad of three.
Yorkshire Dales
Joined January 2020
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Deeply concerned, and rightly so. Though it's a brave politician who asks why Poundland's struggling while voting for the jobs tax that helped get it there. 🤨
I am deeply concerned that Poundland jobs are at risk here in constituency of #PaisleyRenfrewshireNorth in #Braehead with many constituents impacted.
Poundland has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, putting 11,000 jobs at risk across more than 600 stores and distribution centres across the UK.
I welcome PM Andy Burham's support for Poundland workers & like him, I question why the company's owners chose not to accept a viable solvent offer which @UsdawUnion say could have prevented this outcome. This situation was entirely predictable by @Poundland according to the Shop Workers Trade Union who have been monitoring the situation closely for some time.
I have reached out to parliamentary colleagues to explore what options are available to assist and I hope to meet with USDAW trade union who represent Poundland workers to discuss the local issues in more detail.
Fog left Heathrow and Gatwick departures running up to an hour late yesterday, with more forecast this weekend. Nobody wants to be up there when you can't see the end of your nose. Pack a book and be nice to the gate staff ✈️ 😊
Happy Halloween 🎃 Hugo and Joe have declined costumes on the grounds they're already dressed as spaniels. Their plan for tonight is to greet every knock at the door like a long-lost relative 👻
Budget fact worth sitting with, the rising benefits bill is forecast to swallow virtually all the extra cash from frozen tax thresholds. So we pay more to stand still, and we're told welfare reform will take ten years. Patience is a virtue. It isn't a plan. 🤨
Bridget just doesn’t get it and has to lie to try and make her pathetic point 🤨
Labour keep banging on about Truss's 49 days. Meanwhile 10-year borrowing costs hit their highest since 2008 on Burnham's watch. Glass houses, stones, and all that.
Labour's "Breathing Space" Budget: a £100 energy payment today, and the OBR still has debt heading for about 97% of GDP. It's like giving someone a fiver towards their overdraft and calling it financial freedom.
A week to Bonfire Night, which means Hugo and Joe are about to start their annual impression of two Cocker Spaniels who've seen a ghost. Tips welcome. So far we've got Classic FM, closed curtains and an emergency supply of chews 🐶🎆
Once again Ange is full of 💩
"Breathing space" that starts in April 2027, a home scheme that's a loan with interest from year six, and the OBR saying real incomes fall 0.6% this year. Some breathing space. More like holding our breath. 🤨
This is a Budget that gives breathing space to families and businesses, and hope for the future.
🛍️ Taking 70,000 more retail, hospitality and leisure business out of business rates and revitalising our high streets.
🏡 £1.5 billion extra for social and affordable homes, taking spending to £40 billion over the next 10 years.
🚪£4.7bn for Your First Home, which is expected to support around 70,000 first-time buyers who don’t have access to the bank of Mum and Dad.
📍And unlocking the potential of every part of this country with a new wave of devolution.
Labour decisions. Breathing space today, and fresh hope for the future. 🌹
Budget day in our house. Two English Cocker Spaniels who've never paid a penny in tax, with a fiscal rule simpler than anything the OBR has seen - if it's on the floor, it's theirs. Hugo and Joe, balancing the books since day one. 🐶 #Budget2026
Budget news for anyone who flies - Air Passenger Duty goes up with RPI again from April 2028. Long-haul economy is already £105.33 from next April. In the Dales we've a word for something that only ever goes up. We call it a hill. 🙄 #Budget2026
The OBR says that by 2029-30, real household disposable income per person will be just 1% higher than before the pandemic. A whole decade's growth for the price of a pint. And the answer is £100 in January. Breathing space? More like holding your breath. 🤨 #Budget2026
Arsenal had 79% of the ball and 26 shots, and still lost to League Two Fleetwood on penalties. Mind you, they did finally win something at Highbury tonight, the coin toss.⚽ 🤣
A nurse gets a pay rise and ends up in the same tax band as a banker. Freeze the thresholds, let inflation do the work, and call it 'no new taxes.' The Tories started it, Labour kept it, and 7.7 million of us are paying for it. #budget2026
Been to some lovely spots, but nothing beats coming home over the tops into the Dales. Stone walls, sheep that don't move for anyone, and a brew @YorkshireTea that actually tastes of something. 😊
Hugo and Joe have two settings: fast asleep, or fully convinced there's a squirrel in the next county. Nothing in between. Two Cocker Spaniels, one sofa, and I get the corner if I'm lucky. 🐶
Every Budget, the same trick. Leave the tax thresholds frozen, let wages creep up, and watch more working people pay more tax. No vote, no headline, no fuss. Just a bit less in your pocket every year. Not a tax rise, they say. Pull the other one. 🤨