Sam

There’s a common perception that Britain is somehow an exceptionally high-tax country. And, judging by some of the comments here, apparently £126,000 is a relatively modest income compared with what Americans earn. But let’s get into the real world. £126,000 is approximately $168,000. That would put you in roughly the top 10% of full-time, year-round earners in America. And remember, America has some exceptionally high earners bringing up the average. You’re earning more than around 90% of the country’s full-time workforce. And the taxation. Take that same £126,000 salary and compare what you’d take home after tax in three locations: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: £6,966 per month. 🇺🇸 California: £7,038 per month. 🇺🇸 New York City: £6,953 per month. Once you account for all the layers of taxation, federal, state, local and payroll taxes in America, the take-home income is virtually identical. The US has a much higher GDP per capita than the UK, but that’s because it has a number of enormous global companies and some exceptionally wealthy individuals. The US has extreme wealth inequality, far more so than the UK.

The gaslighting from Tommy Robinson’s supporters is extraordinary. They are trying to construct a narrative that journalists somehow endangered his children by photographing him at a well-known five-star luxury resort. How do you think those journalists knew where he was? Robinson had already been publicly documenting his luxury holiday, posting photographs from the resort on his own social media. In typical Tommy Robinson fashion, he is now using emotive language to weaponise his large and fanatical following to spread misinformation about what actually happened. The journalists simply published photographs similar to those Robinson had already published himself. They didn’t reveal his location or name the resort. They highlighted the extraordinary hypocrisy of a man safely enjoying a luxury five-star holiday in Cyprus while simultaneously using social media to encourage his followers in Britain to take to the streets and participate in protests that ultimately turned violent, resulting in numerous arrests. This is journalism. This is precisely why we need journalists: to expose the hypocrisy of these grifters who enjoy the luxury while encouraging ordinary working people to put themselves and their families at risk. And how did Robinson respond to journalists simply doing their jobs? He hired private investigators, photographed their homes and families, published identifying information to his millions of followers and threatened them. The consequences were journalists requiring security protection and, in one case, having to evacuate their family from their own home. This is why Tommy Robinson was convicted. Nothing more, nothing less.

Do you know what the rest of us are tired of? Grifters like Alex and their faux outrage about absolutely everything. This poster was designed to protect elderly and vulnerable people from having their doors knocked on by marauding teens wanting free stuff.

Sweet Mother of Mary and Joseph! 😭

Anyone defending Tommy Robinson needs to explain exactly what they think he should be allowed to get away with. A man who claims to be a great British patriot, lives in Spain and spends the majority of the year on holiday at the expense of his “donors” was sitting in a holiday resort in Cyprus while stirring up civil unrest in Britain. Journalists reported on it. That is their job. It was a legitimate national story. And because Robinson didn’t like the scrutiny, he sent private investigators after the journalists, had them tracked and photographed, exposed their home addresses and their families, and threatened to turn up at their homes, saying “I’m coming to get you”. One journalist needed personal security. Another had to remove his family from their home. If you believe that is acceptable behaviour, that a man can threaten journalists and expose their families to intimidation simply because he dislikes their reporting, then you aren’t defending free speech. You’re defending intimidation. A jury heard the evidence and convicted him. Stop pretending this was a conspiracy because you don’t like the verdict.

Did anyone doubt for a second that if career criminal, violent thug and drug addict Tommy Robinson, whose convictions go back 20 years, were found guilty by a jury of 12, the usual suspects would immediately claim it was all part of some conspiracy?

Rupert Lowe was all for juries right up to the point one of his buddies was found guilty by one.

On what basis, precisely, did you find him “not guilty”, @RupertLowe10?

Or in other words… an effective criminal justice system.

Harry at training tomorrow

Starting to occur to me the bullets Harry Kane dodged by signing for Bayern instead of Man Utd or Man City.

I suspect it’s that time of year again when Tim Sherwood takes full credit for Harry Kane’s entire career 😁