You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming.

London
Joined July 2010
A thread on how easy it is to get seriously ill in 5 days like Dorries did.
The point is why is she being tested without volunteering she met x people who were abroad given as we know she herself wasn't abroad?
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Can you post something like "Andy Burnham's grand Howard Kendall Gwladys Street End vision is the radical devolution change for growth that Britain needs. Now we must help him deliver it. Join the Labour Party today." cheers
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it's because if you criticise it, you sound like a sourpuss. they are trying to shield themselves from challenge.
Genuinely struggling to understand the optics and political strategy of announcing policies that will save households £1-£2 per week. You might as well not bother. It’s not even a small win. In fact it probably angers people more than it appeases them. #Budget2026
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Andy Hicks retweeted
Labour in the 70s: We will bring about a fundamental & irreversible shift in the balance of power & wealth in favour of working people & their families. Labour in 2026: We will give you some breathing space.
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Andy Hicks retweeted
Interesting how much the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street has highlighted how much selfish bike behaviour annoys people. These issues, like blatant fare dodging, cut much deeper I think than most political debates realise.
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Andy Hicks retweeted
You are talking to a group of people who ignore red traffic lights, so your sign is beyond them, even noticing. Cyclists are the biggest danger to Londoners walking the streets of London.
Planning to cycle through the West End? 🚲 Cycling is no longer permitted on the traffic-free section of Oxford Street between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street. We will maintain an active presence of enforcement officers. You can continue your journey using the surrounding highway network and choose an alternative route from the nearby streets that remain open. Plan your journey using our London cycling map to find accessible cycle routes, as well as Santander Cycles docking stations: tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/
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Andy Hicks retweeted
If this is accurate this is a terrible budget. Terrible. The only substantial increase is on defence spending, paid for with borrowing. Bakes in the approval of Rosebank drilling, which is genuine madness as climate change is not just a human catastrophe but also our biggest national security threat. The tax rise on banks is tiny and takes us back to the levels under the Tories. The most pifling cost of living support that will be totally erased by inflation & 25% increase in energy costs, with much of it short-term. Structural energy price reform - the only thing that will drop prices in the absence of nationalisation - delayed for the long-term. If this is accurate, this is a budget that guarantees ordinary people will get poorer, oil companies richer, and all of us less safe as Labour doubles down on the sort of militarism that is causing our cost of living crisis and new oil& gas that will drive us towards catastrophic climate tipping points.
🚨 NEW: John Healey is set to announce the following in his Budget later - The gas standing charge will be scrapped to save £27 a year on a typical bill - Green levies on energy bills will be scraped "for good" - NHS prescription charges will be frozen at £9.90 for another year - Poorer households on benefits will receive extra help with energy bills before January's sharp rises - The VAT cut on electricity bills, which was due to expire in April, will be extended (though it's not clear if this will be announced in the Budget or separately) - The Government will remove the link between gas and electricity prices, which currently inflates household bills, "in the long term" - Banks will face higher taxes, with the surcharge on their profits potentially rising from 3% to 8%, making it the Budget’s biggest revenue raiser - HMRC will be given powers to seize money from the bank accounts of people who fail to pay their tax - The freeze on rail fares will reportedly not be extended beyond April - Online retailers like Amazon, eBay and Temu will be made responsible for collecting unpaid VAT from sellers to fund a cut in business rates for high street shops - The thresholds for income tax will be frozen again so another half a million people may be dragged into the higher rate - January's planned increase in fuel duty will be cancelled - Pensioners relying solely on the state pension will see their tax-free allowance rise to £13,036, in line with the pension increase, so they don't pay income tax - Billions in long-term borrowing to invest in defence firms and raise the share of GDP spent on defence (without breaking fiscal rules, as the investments are expected to generate returns) - The upcoming "Your First Home" scheme will be made more generous to provide greater support for middle-income earners - The Budget will also assume the Rosebank oil field is approved, which will generate "significant tax revenues"
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Andy Hicks retweeted
Well done @JohnHealey_MP Hidden in the detail of today’s budget is this gem! This will build on your predecessors success in scrapping PH operators using TOMs to avoid paying their dues. We look forward to seeing the detail and responding to the consultation. Well done “Private hire vehicle operators – The government will deem the larger operators with annual fare turnover above a certain threshold liable for 20% VAT on the full value of their fares from 2 January 2028. The government will shortly publish a consultation to confirm the level of this threshold, with £50 million annual fare turnover as the lead option, and to support final policy design and implementation.”
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John Healey promised it would be a "continuity Labour government with a change of leader". His Budget has delivered exactly that.
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No increase in the personal allowance after being frozen for over 5 years. Utterly ridiculous. #Budget2026
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Andy Hicks retweeted
Different Chancellor. Same old Labour.
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Age based tax allowances that will improve the more you age The overcomplication is mind numbing
Pensioners with income up to the value of the full new state pension (to be £13,040 from April 2027) will not pay tax. Mechanism not stated, I suspect there will be an effective increased pensioner allowance with a clawback for income above that. More when I know more. #Budget2026
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Andy Hicks retweeted
One of the worst policy decisions I've seen. Ill-thought-out, overcomplicated, bound to cost more than expected, reinforces the myth that state pension is tax-free when it's always been taxable income. Reversing this decision will be a nightmare - as with the triple lock.
Pensioners with income up to the value of the full new state pension (to be £13,040 from April 2027) will not pay tax. Mechanism not stated, I suspect there will be an effective increased pensioner allowance with a clawback for income above that. More when I know more. #Budget2026
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Just refused on bus to athlone as they don't take card, only cash, and yet refused cash as they've no change! Daughter will now miss long awaited specialist eye appointment, thanks @Buseireann. Public transport in this country is not fit for purpose 😔
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A random 30-year-old called Ackermann coming out of SA domestic cricket and being the best player in the world is how I like to imagine my world cricket
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Little did we know in 1986, that Neighbours would become a ratings phenomenon. All because BBC1 Controller Michael Grade had a chat with his daughter & introduced a teatime repeat. Which ITV copied for Home & Away and Channel 5 continued when they bought both.
BBC Daytime give us the first glimpse of Neighbours in 1986 for the first ever episode.
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Impossible.
Explain Arsenal losing to Fleetwood in American Football terms
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Andy Hicks retweeted
Man City finding out tonight that League Two is actually quite tough.
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Andy Hicks retweeted
Translation: Their attempt at blackmailing Birmingham City Council into collapse failed, so they've gone running to the BBC to do their dirty work for them.
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Andy Hicks retweeted
34 - Fleetwood Town eliminating Arsenal is the first time a fourth-tier side has knocked out the reigning English champions in a domestic cup since Wrexham beat ... Arsenal 34 years ago in the FA Cup (1992). Shell-shocked.
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