Crude Cuts? Not On My Watch

Andy Burnham rules out “crude cuts” to benefits in any attempts to improve welfare.

Burnham told LBC: “I’m not going to go with the crude cuts to benefit levels that just put people who are struggling in even worse poverty, and that often creates the backlash, and understandably so.

“There’s a different approach, which is looking at two things that can be done differently to get the overall benefits bill down. One of those is how we support young people.”

“I will not defend an education system that is overly focused on the university route, and does not lay out paths to technical qualifications for our young people.” 

One year on from Keir Starmer’s ill-fated plans to cut £5 billion from sickness and disability benefits, Burnham says one of the focuses will be on helping young people into work.

People may critique him, but Andy Burnham will be prime minister, and like all prime ministers, he will be evaluated based on the outcomes he attains, and that’s how it should be. However, will the results be catastrophic? Only time will tell.

Apprenticeships are essential because they encourage individuals to pursue further education to increase their income.

If our youth lack the necessary abilities, they will not be able to earn enough money to support themselves.

But what about low-paid workers? Will they benefit from all of this?

Someone said that if minimum wage is considered good enough to live on, it should be capped for benefits as well, but people on benefits don’t get the same as low-wage workers, and in most cases, they get significantly less, and the system is designed that way.

A full‑time minimum‑wage worker earns roughly £1,600–£1,800 a month after tax (depending on hours). Universal Credit for a single adult over 25 is around £393 a month, plus housing support, which often doesn’t cover full rent. Even with disability benefits added, most disabled claimants still end up hundreds of pounds below low‑wage workers.

So, why do people think they’re the same? Because politicians constantly talk about “fairness” and “incentives to work,” which creates the impression that benefits are comparable to wages. They aren’t. Not even remotely.

Social security was initially conceived as a temporary buffer, not a wage, a safety net to keep people afloat until they worked again. This is historically correct: when the welfare state was created, benefits were meant to prevent poverty, not replace earnings. But the reality today is more complex, and that’s where people get misled.

Low‑wage workers can adjust spending because their income is flexible: overtime, extra shifts, job changes. People on benefits cannot adjust anything. Their income is fixed, sanctioned easily, and often far below basic living costs, and disabled people face inescapable extra costs: heating, transport, equipment, food delivery, medical needs.

Living within your means” hits differently when your “means” are structurally capped.

The welfare system was built on assumptions that no longer match modern life: It assumed jobs were stable. It assumed illness was short‑term. It assumed housing was affordable. It assumed disability costs were minimal, and it assumed people could return to work quickly. None of that is true anymore. So while the principle of a buffer still exists, the conditions people live in have altered dramatically.

Iceland Foods — Home Of Frozen Meals And, apparently, Frozen Morals

Disabled mum Danielle Riley lost her entire £220 Iceland order because a delivery driver allegedly refused to bring her shopping to her flat and just drove away with it.

The 44-year-old from Tuebrook was left in tears and feeling “sick” after the incident, which she claims unfolded after an Iceland home delivery arrived at her home.

Danielle, who has fibromyalgia and nerve damage to her spine, claims she needs home delivery for necessary shopping and is unable to leave her flat without help.

She uses two crutches to get around and said she has been unable to work since being diagnosed with fibromyalgia five years ago.

She says she spent £220.17 on a grocery order from Iceland’s Norris Green store, claiming she had already written on her order that she was disabled and was unable to come downstairs to collect it.

Having received a text to say her order was on its way, the driver then contacted her, saying: “Hi, it’s Iceland”, before the call cut off.

“Then he was ringing the bell, so I got to the door, and he started shouting: ‘Are you coming down here to get this?’ I apologised and said I couldn’t because I’m disabled.

“He brought one tray up, got to the top of the stairs, stared at me and shouted, ‘I’m not here to bring this up, I bring it to the communal door.’ But that’s not my front door.

“I tried to explain to him that none of the other drivers has an issue with it, and he yelled at me: ‘Well, I’m not them, am I!’

“I said I apologise for being disabled. Then he picked the tray up and took it back down to his van and said, ‘Well, you’re not getting your shopping then’. He took it all back with him.”

An Iceland Foods spokesperson explains: “Our customer care team is looking into this alleged incident, and is in regular contact with the customer.”

Being an Iceland Delivery Driver can be rather challenging work, but it can also be extremely fulfilling, even if you have to carry weighty bags upstairs. Some kind delivery drivers will even take them into the kitchen if they see you’re elderly or disabled. Should they take them into people’s homes? Probably not, but some people need the little extra help, and sometimes the delivery driver is the only person they see, so a cheerful smile and a quick chat make all the difference, and if you don’t have that in you, you’re in the wrong job.

And it’s not just Iceland; it’s other superstores as well because they don’t bag their deliveries anymore; they simply unpack on the doorstep. Now, while I appreciate drivers need not put their back out, just bring the containers in so people can put them on the side in their kitchen, especially the disabled and vulnerable.

Also, if stores are providing a delivery service, they need to consider who they’re delivering to, and have staff that will willingly go above and beyond when necessary in order to help the customer. After all, it is a service. Nowadays, everything is do it yourself and don’t complain, but a little help goes a long way, particularly from those who really do have a need for assistance.

Home deliveries are, in the main, paid for, so any supermarket delivery managers who may find themselves here, please read and feedback. At least take on staff who care and have interpersonal skills, and for those who do and have, thank you; you are valued.

Sheerness Care Home Available For Rent

Rent is being offered for rooms at a previous care facility that abruptly closed, forcing all of its patients to leave.

Blackburn Lodge, which was owned and run by Kent County Council, closed in 2023, and more than a dozen elderly people had to be found new homes elsewhere in the county.

Some residents’ relatives believe that their loved ones passed away too soon as a result of the unforeseen stress and abrupt adjustment.

At the time, KCC closed the building after concerns about iron levels were discovered in the building’s water system in Broadway, Sheerness.

It said it would cost £4 million to resolve the issue and remodel the home and make it up to par.

The closure was criticised by families, Sheppey residents and councillors, with a protest being held outside the facility.

KCC later sold the two-storey building for £696,000 – £196,000 more than the set starting price. During the auction, there were 65 offers between two unknown bidders.

Two years after the sale, it seems to be functioning as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) when SEG Asset Management listed five rooms for rent online.

One has been let, while the other four include three single-bed rooms and one double-bed room.

The smaller bedrooms can be rented for £400 a month, while the double would set you back £500.

You must be over 21 and pay a £350 deposit for the room. The advertisement says employed individuals are preferred.

It continued: “We are pleased to offer a selection of low-cost, unfurnished rooms within the Blackburn Lodge building, located in the Sheerness area.

“This large property provides a variety of room types to suit different needs, including single, double, king and en-suite options.

“Residents will benefit from shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, as well as spacious communal living areas.”

Sharron Granger’s mother Margaret Harcup passed away just six weeks after being moved from Blackburn Lodge to Faversham.

Ms Granger said her 91-year-old mother, who had been at the home for four years, declined physically and mentally after the move.

Speaking after finding out rooms were being rented out at the property, the mum-of-four said: “The closure of Blackburn Lodge was a deeply distressing and devastating time for residents, their families and staff.

“It led to uncertainty at what was already a vulnerable time and, in some cases, the rapid deterioration caused by the move and the inadequate care received at some care homes and led to the subsequent death of some residents.

“Knowing that the building is now being used as an HMO is a devastating blow which brings mixed feelings around reasons given at the time for the care home’s closure.

“We were told that iron levels in the water were too high and that a fix was too expensive.

“I would be interested to see the paperwork surrounding these works, whether KCC or the new owners have footed the bill, although I have always doubted whether we were being told the truth about the water and pipework.

“My main concern is that no thought was given to the wellbeing of residents nor to the local community, which has lost an essential care provision without adequate alternatives.”

No doubt they have been turfed out to make room for the boat boys.

You have to judge a nation by its treatment of its old, and the UK is at its lowest point.

Moving residents out of a house with dangerous water is undoubtedly a good thing, but what kind of water are the residents of the HMO currently using? Hopefully, the water from the pipes has now been fixed by the new owner.

Why couldn’t Kent County Council fix the problem, and then the residents returned, and the facility be maintained for future need? None of this makes any sense. It’s presumably because they are saying they couldn’t afford it, but we can afford to let boat people into our country, give them housing and money, and we should be mindful of the dangers that HMO’s have on our citizens, because these HMO’s are being used to house illegal immigrants in our communities.

Evidently, there was a problem with the water, or was that all lies to get the elderly out?

A Toddler Is Found Alive In A Hospital Morgue

An Arizona toddler was discovered alive inside a hospital morgue almost five hours after a doctor mistakenly declared him dead, a bombshell report has claimed. 

The 18-month-old boy, who has not been identified, was found inside a family’s pool in Gilbert around 5.30 pm on February 8 and rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Centre. 

Shortly after arriving at the hospital, the youngster was declared dead; however, five and a half hours later, medical personnel entered the mortuary and discovered that he was still alive.

Earlier reports suggested the strange event was a miracle, but the critical ‘error’ was allegedly made by a doctor, according to a damning police report obtained by ABC15. 

A string of heavily blurred police bodycam footage also obtained by the outlet showed the emergency unfold as officers and paramedics arrived at the home before speeding him over to the hospital that day.

Once they arrived, a police officer recalled in the report that he heard a nurse state: ‘I have a pulse,’ leading him to alert the doctor handling the case, records stated. 

But when he did so, the male physician, who has not been named, seemed to brush off his concern, the cop wrote in his report. 

‘(The doctor) arrogantly told me he was the doctor, he has the medical degree, he went to medical school for a reason, and to let him do his thing,’ the officer documented, per the report.

The audio, which was heard in some of the footage, caught what seemed to be the moment the officer and doctor interacted just before the child was declared dead by the medical professional. 

‘I went to medical school for a reason,’ the physician stated. 

The officer then seemed to respond, but the doctor cut him off, stating: ‘Ok, let me just clarify. Thank you.’ 

Soon after their conversation, the doctor officially declared the toddler dead, records showed. 

‘No objections, I’d like to call time of death,’ he said.

But officers continued to detail the signs of life they saw in the child in the report. 

‘The release of the air was audible and visible,’ a cop wrote. 

They later added: ‘It also began to sound like (redacted) was gasping for air,’ the report stated.

When medical staff went to move the little boy’s body to the morgue, a female officer recalled that she ‘observed what appeared to be another audible gasp’ coming from the child, the outlet stated.

Then, when she entered the morgue, the cop said: ‘I again observed what appeared to be a gasp or air release, which was now almost an hour later.’ 

But a nurse who was there said the alleged breathing sounds could have been a response to efforts to save the child, the report said. 

The report that was made public had audio about the incident suppressed.

Patient safety and providing exceptional care should be our primary concerns, but it doesn’t appear to be the case. I sincerely hope the doctor is no longer in practice since the litigation will be massive.

He made the incorrect professional choice if his job was to keep people alive and he was unable to tell if someone was still alive.

With elective medical euthanasia on the rise, there is a growing disregard for the value of life. The doctor may have considered potential outcomes and felt it ‘better’ if no care was given. He was so very, very wrong. Loss of his medical license sounds warranted, as this was so heinous.

This doctor needs to have his license withdrawn and be sued by the family. They all have this god complex. What a pretentious douche bag.

Pompous doctors were in abundance 50 years ago. Today, combine that chutzpah with a dumbed-down curriculum so that the dummies that are getting accepted to med school and even nursing schools can get to work earning their big bucks and prancing around their social circles.

Doctors should no longer be revered as gods. It doesn’t make them into creatures to be adored; it’s just their choice of occupation. Most of them go into it for the money and reputation. It’s not to help people or because they are empathic or compassionate people.

Feline Blue

Attending a party without being invited, much less revealing one’s gender, might be seen as a faux pas, but one cat paid the ultimate price after returning home coloured in blue, having gatecrashed a neighbour’s baby bash.

When Wilbur, Sophie Jenkin’s two-year-old tabby cat, showed up earlier this week in a beautiful shade of cyan, she was first surprised.

‘I haven’t stopped laughing since Wilbur came home blue,’ the 32–year–old said.

‘Wilbur is actually a girl, but we thought it was a boy, so we named her Wilbur. But it’s a girl, and it’s now blue.’

The admin worker in a local GP surgery said at first she was concerned local kids may have been messing about, abusing pets by throwing paint at them, but her worries were put to rest when she shared a concerned, yet tongue–in–cheek, post of her blue cat on Facebook on Wednesday – and the explanation became clear.

‘We thought something nasty had happened at first or kids were abusing cats in the neighbourhood,’ the mum–of–one added.

‘I put a picture of Wilbur on Facebook, and it turned out a lady who lives a few doors down had a gender reveal party. I guess it’s a boy.’

Sophie, who lives in Heamoor, Penzance, added: ‘I haven’t stopped laughing. I woke up in my sleep laughing. The comments on Facebook made me laugh so much too.’

The pet owner, who also has a five–year–old staffie called Woody, said she cleaned Wilbur after reading comments that the blue dye may be hazardous, but she was convinced by Hollie Jenkinson, her neighbour who planned the baby gender reveal, that it was simply corn starch.

Sophie added: ‘It’s hilarious. It’s so funny. Everyone at home and at work is cracked up. But all was well in the end. England won the football, my cat was blue, and everyone found it funny.’

Wilbur has since been washed off her delightful blue–rinse look and is back to her normal self.

Hollie also thought seeing blue Wilbur was amusing.

She explained: ‘We thought that it would be a great idea to do a gender reveal for our children in our garden, which consisted of the children kicking footballs containing blue cornstarch. It all went really well, and my children were really excited.

‘A few hours later I received a message from a family member with a screenshot from a Heamoor community page where a woman, who turned out to be one of my neighbours, was asking why her cat was blue.

‘I immediately burst into laughter when I realised that her cat must have been rolling around in the leftover cornstarch in my garden.

‘I’m so glad that she found the funny side of it, and it made the whole situation so much more hilarious. Luckily, after bathing her cat multiple times, the cat is no longer blue.

‘It seemed to have entertained so many people, and it has certainly made my gender reveal more memorable.’

Perhaps we should expect to see this cat again, standing as the green candidate for Manchester Mayor? Paw thing.

I’m also relieved that the cat is doing OK, and I guess it provided everyone with a brief moment of celebrity on social media.

Priority Seats

When a fellow rider stepped up to give a pregnant woman a seat on the Tube, another passenger forcibly stole it, leaving the lady absolutely stunned.

The event happened on a Jubilee Line train travelling from Stanmore into London during morning rush hour.

An eight-month-pregnant woman who had just boarded the carriage was being entirely ignored by those in the priority seats, but a thoughtful commuter chose to stand up and offer his own seat to the pregnant woman. But as he stood up, a well-built man standing about two metres tall abruptly thrust in front of the pregnant woman to seize the space.

Both the woman and the helpful passenger immediately challenged the guy, telling him the seat was explicitly meant for an expectant mother.

The passenger stared them both in the eye, stayed obstinately seated, and didn’t say anything to defend himself. He then closed his eyes and feigned to fall asleep soon after to evade facing the enraged glares from the rest of the carriage.

Later, after noticing a logo on the man’s branded business shirt, the disgruntled traveller was able to identify the man’s employer.

In an odd turn of events, it turned out that the man really works for a company that specifically produces goods to assist those with health and mobility problems.

The pregnant woman later took to social media to share her disbelief, branding the passenger quite lazy and rude.

Luckily, someone else in the carriage ultimately got up to offer her a separate priority seat, saving her from having to stand the entire way.

The incident has sparked tremendous anger online, with hundreds of Londoners demanding the man be exposed to his employers for his conduct.

Had I been a passenger on the train and pregnant, I would have sat on his lap, and then said, ‘Oh no, my waters have broken.’ He would have been out of the seat in a flash.

Regardless of pregnancy, disability, et cetera, one should offer their seat; it’s just common courtesy, and don’t take a seat that was offered by another person; that’s just plain disgusting.

This doesn’t just happen on trains, though; it happens on buses as well. 1984, my son was about 3 months old. I was boarding a bus and was having a problem folding the pram up to sit down. I had my child under one arm, whilst attempting to fold a pram down. Nobody batted an eyelid. I promptly said, ‘Some help wouldn’t go amiss.’ Everyone on the bus acted like I was invisible.

Manners maketh the man. Well, you would think so, but evidently not.

If a seat is designated for a wheelchair or for someone disabled, even a pram, and it states that it is designated, then that is what it means. If you are fit and healthy, then you don’t need the seat; you can stand on your own two feet; it’s called courtesy.

A designated seat isn’t a suggestion, a polite hint, or something people can ignore because they’re tired or don’t feel like standing. It’s a requirement, rooted in accessibility law, safety, and basic human decency, and the fact that people still fight over them, or worse, decline to move, shows how badly courtesy has collapsed on public transport.

Undercover Underground

Mimi Yates tested the safety of women by going incognito on the Tube. Men followed her, groped her, and disregarded her cries to stop within hours. It was bone-chilling, according to her.

At around 2 am on the Piccadilly Line, the tube carriage was empty, apart from her and a man twice her age. She said his eyes never left me during the whole 40-minute journey.

She said he was potbellied with a menacing grin, and then he moved suddenly from the seat opposite, plonking himself down next to her, talking to her over the deafening noise of the train.

She got off before her stop because she was uncomfortable, but he followed her to another almost empty train that was travelling towards Stratford on the Jubilee Line. He kept trying to talk to her while licking his lips and looking at her.

She eventually managed to lose him somewhere between the platform and the escalators at North Greenwich station.

She’s on the platform at Green Park thirty minutes later when a different man calls out to her in an attempt to get her attention. Wearing stylish spectacles and a Barbour-style jacket, he invites her to take a seat next to him as they wait for the train.

‘Beauty needs a seat, now. Come sit down,’ he says. Mimi tentatively takes up a place with two seats between them. He tells her he has a daughter who is her age.

He keeps asking Mimi where she lives and, after failing to get an answer, starts threatening her. ‘I will find the pub or restaurant next door to you. I’m going to come to look for you, and I will find you.’

He doesn’t give up, repeatedly demanding her phone number. She tells him politely ‘no’ 20 times – she counted.

She boards the train she’s been waiting for. Laughing, he follows her into the same carriage, sitting down opposite me as he continues to ask for her number. It’s about 3 am now, and the carriage is busy, but that doesn’t deter him.

‘You have to give me your number, you have to. I am asking for yours. You have to meet up with me.’

Then he reaches over and strokes my thigh. ‘Please don’t touch me,’ She hears herself say.

A girl and her partner see what’s happening but say and do nothing.

By the time Mimi gets home, it’s almost 5 am. She is badly shaken and films her reaction on her phone. ‘My heart is still beating quite fast. I just don’t think I expected it to be that bad.’

This wasn’t a normal night out. She had been working undercover for the Daily Mail’s investigative series, Underground UK.

Over two months this year, she trekked across London’s transport network at all hours of the day and night, secretly filming what happened to her and documenting how it felt to move around the capital as a young woman on her own.

What she experienced has changed the way she views the city she loves.

In March this year, a London Assembly report described ‘unacceptable’ levels of violence against women and girls across the capital’s public transport network.

In 2025, 4,593 sex-based offences against women and girls were recorded, yet only a small proportion, about 3 per cent, led to a charge or summons.

Some 58 per cent of cases identified no suspect at all, despite an expansive network of CCTV and ticketing data that can help trace journeys. 

Recent cases show why. In May, Salman Yousaf, 46, was imprisoned for eight sexual assaults and one count of outraging public decency on the Night Tube.

He preyed on lone ladies who had fallen asleep on the Central and Jubilee Lines, but it wasn’t until he was incarcerated for another crime that authorities linked him to the attacks.

In March, Craig Anderson, 38, was imprisoned after sexually assaulting four women and stalking another across the railway network. Prosecutors portrayed him as a man who ‘did not take no for an answer’.

If someone is staring at you, tell them to stop; if they don’t stop, yell at them. If they touch you, hit them. I know that won’t work in every case, but it will work, especially if there is a crowd. Everyone – we need to intervene and help others, and since the police are ineffective in these situations, some women have even begun carrying telescopic batons.

But this is nothing new; even 40-odd years ago it was like this, and it was depressingly normal to be sexually assaulted on crowded tube trains. I myself have had someone’s hand up my skirt on a crowded train, and there was nothing I could do about it, apart from scream out, ‘What pervert has got their hand up my skirt?’ Everybody on the train looked the other way, and quite frankly, tasers need to be legalised for women and girls to carry.

Of course, it’s not every man, but there are an unfortunate number of men who seem to believe they have the right to molest anyone who fits into their sexual imaginings, but really, they are sad, inadequate men, and nothing more.

This has nothing to do with politics. This is just an unacceptable age-old practice where men prey on women, but people still victim-blame, saying that women shouldn’t be out so late, but what actually needs to happen is that predatory men need to be held to account.

Helping Hands

It was all hands on deck for Prince William as he helped to furnish the last of 32 homes in Aberdeen as part of his flagship homeless initiative.

The heir to the throne was in the Granite City to mark three years of his Homewards campaign, which is working to end homelessness in the UK.

And William, known as the Duke of Rothesay when he is in Scotland, got straight to work by helping staff at Langstane Housing Association put together welcome packs with household goods for new tenants.

At one point he thought the CEO, Helen Gauld, said the items included ‘hairdryers’, to which he quipped ‘some of us don’t need hairdryers’, as he rubbed his bald patch. But Ms Gauld corrected him, saying: ‘I meant air fryers.’

The completion of houses supplied under Homeward’s flagship Aberdeen Innovative Housing Project (IHP), which focuses on aiding single individuals and young people facing relationship breakdown, was celebrated by his visit to Langstane, a Homeward delivery partner and registered social landlord.

He rolled up his sleeves to assist in moving furniture from the back of a delivery vehicle to an apartment after spending some time chatting with employees and one renter, Erin.

Before the new renter arrived, he was shown around the top-floor house after carrying the wooden IKEA chair up three flights of stairs.

Before he left, he joked: ‘The chair will hopefully stay in one piece.’

Aberdeen is the only Scottish location of six across the UK that has benefited from funding from The Royal Foundation as part of William’s ambitious scheme.

Other areas include Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Lambeth, Newport, Northern Ireland, and Sheffield.

After speaking to the Royal, Erin, who told him she was ‘delighted’ with her new home, said: ‘I just assumed I’d be getting a blank flat with nothing, but then it was offered and shown to me about homewards and was all put into place.

‘I feel safe and secure and like I know I have somewhere to go that’s my own, and it’s the way I want it. Having somewhere to call my own makes such a difference to how I see everything.’

Ms Gauld said the prince was ‘very interested in the tenant and how she was doing’, which she said was ‘really nice to hear’.

She admitted it was ‘a bit surreal’ seeing the Royal lend a practical hand but added: ‘It was very gratifying for all the staff for him to come and recognise the work that they put in on a daily basis.’

William spent some time talking to a few other Langstane tenants who had come to visit him before departing.

I think Prince William is doing great. He listened to the people and tried to help as much as he could, which is a lot more than the politicians by giving homes to non-British citizens, but saying that, how many homeless people has he actually homed? Good PR op though.

My goodness! What’s next? Opening a car door by himself?

An actual royal carrying a chair, it should be breaking news, around the world. Whatever next?

Unfortunately, the continued attention they receive from the media and the way pieces about various family members are written may often work against them and make their situation worse. It then risks becoming an oversaturation and self-promotion, even if what they do is for a good cause, and for these homeless people, it’s going to transform their whole universe and future, and that can only be a good thing.

Taxpayer Money Bought Burnham’s London Flat

According to reports, Andy Burnham is so devoted to the north that he will stay there even once he is appointed prime minister, declining the Downing Street grace-and-favour apartment that comes with the position.

However, he has not always been so opposed to making his home in the capital at the public’s expense.

In his first stint as a Labour MP, he claimed on his Parliamentary expenses to rent a flat in a notorious luxury apartment complex close to Westminster.

When Dolphin Square – home to spies and prostitutes as well as politicians – was sold in 2005, its residents received tens of thousands of pounds each to give up their tenancy agreements and move out.

But while numerous MPs gave theirs to the Parliamentary authorities, Mr Burnham negotiated a unique deal that meant he was able to add almost all of his windfall of £18,200 to the already generous second home allowance. 

The arrangement allowed him and his wife Marie-France Van Heel to purchase and remodel a £215,000 flat in south London, which they still own using taxpayers’ money.

It emerged during the MPs’ expenses scandal of 2009 that Mr Burnham submitted a single expenses claim for £16,644 to cover the acquisition of the property, covering their stamp duty and legal fees as well as a new kitchen.

By claiming the windfall as a parliamentary expense, Mr Burnham dodged having to pay thousands of pounds in capital gains tax – a levy that his allies want him to increase when he becomes Prime Minister.

He insisted at the time: ‘It is complete nonsense to suggest that I set out to avoid capital gains tax. My file shows I made arrangements to pay over this money in full to the fees office, and all arrangements were signed off by them. At no stage did I make any personal profit on this transaction.’

His relationship with the Commons Fees Office, which authorised MPs’ expenses for their second residences, was tense; however, several applications were either denied or postponed.

In one plaintive letter, dated December 2005, he wrote: ‘I would be very grateful if (the expenses) could be paid in the last round of the year on Friday. Otherwise, I might be in line for divorce!’

In a highly unusual development, his wife even joined in the correspondence with the authorities about their renovations, writing on one occasion: ‘I have endeavoured to include the bulk of the invoices, but invariably there are a few missing.’

When Mr Burnham filed a claim for the mortgage interest on both his north-west constituency house and the Lambeth apartment, which was permitted at the time, he was rejected.

He once submitted an ineligible claim for mortgage capital instead of interest.

He even had a £119 receipt from Ikea reduced after his claim for a £19.99 bath robe was rejected.

When the story broke, Mr Burnham, who was then Culture Secretary, insisted that he had actually claimed less than he could have done on his expenses.

‘I wish to make it clear in the strongest possible terms that I resent any suggestion that I have knowingly misused public funds as the public record shows that, in the last five years, I have under-claimed on my ACA (Additional Costs Allowance) by around £40,000,’ he said in a statement.

‘I believe this demonstrates quite clearly that I have always sought to work within the rules and the spirit of the parliamentary Green Book, and, during my time in Parliament, have not made claims for expenditure that is either extravagant or luxurious.’

After the Commons corruption investigator discovered that other MPs who resided in the building had violated the rules by pocketing their windfalls, he was under further pressure a year later to return his Dolphin Square windfall.

Four Lib Dems were told they had made ‘serious misjudgements’ and were ordered to pay back some of the money.

But a spokesman for Mr Burnham, who was not investigated by the Commissioner for Standards, claimed his use of the payout ‘enabled him to avoid making claims on expenses and saved thousands of pounds for the taxpayer’.

‘He believes any other course of action would have wasted public money … there was no personal gain to Mr Burnham,’ the spokesman said.

Figures published by the MPs’ pay body show that Mr Burnham claimed £10,700 in 2010-11 for accommodation, including £6,802 for mortgage interest before the rules were changed.

Under the revised scheme, he was reimbursed £14,499 for rent by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) the following year, along with £1,100 for council tax.

By 2017, when he stepped down, his rent had risen to £18,214.

Simon Danczuk, a former Labour MP who wrote a book about the notorious history of Dolphin Square, told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s surprising Burnham now wants to spend time in Manchester; for years he enjoyed living at the infamous Dolphin Square in SW1, home to a variety of politicians, spies, and prostitutes.

‘Indeed, when the apartment block was sold in 2005, Burnham, although his rent had been paid by the taxpayer, received a personal jackpot of £18,200 from the new landlord on agreeing to depart the complex. This only came to light when exposed in the 2009 expenses scandal.’

He went on: ‘By all accounts Burnham’s windfall became a bone of contention with the House of Parliament’s fees office, though after having had his claim rejected three times, over several months, they eventually relented.

‘The money went towards purchase and renovation of another London flat for Burnham. For all his recent reluctance to spend time in London, it’s not that long ago Burnham was living it up here and enjoying playing its property market.’

All of this makes Burnham quite the hypocrite. Look at his fellow northerners Rayner, Powell and Nandy; they all prattle on about helping the working people while robbing the public purse for their own gain.

In ten seconds, Trump resolved the majority of our problems. Ninety percent of the populace will support you if you control immigration and drill in the North Sea, but what do they do? They construct beautiful new homes for migrants and charge us exorbitant prices for “green energy,” which could or might not have any impact on the global population.

The idea that Labour represents the working class is only held by fools.

Ebola Patient In Scottish Hospital Tests Negative

A suspected Ebola patient who put a hospital in Scotland under lockdown has tested negative for the deadly illness.

Part of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow was closed off after the person presented at the Acute Receiving Unit at about 6 am on Tuesday.

After returning to the city from a country ravaged by Ebola, the patient allegedly sought medical assistance after experiencing concerning symptoms.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The QEUH unit was immediately closed to the public in order to reduce any possible harm to others. The patient was immediately confined for treatment and additional examination.

The alarm eventually subsided when tests for the extremely contagious illness came back negative.

A source told The National: ‘The person came to the Acute Receiving Unit, where people are sent by their GP or the health board’s 101 number to avoid having to present at accident and emergency. This was quickly shut down and sealed off from the rest of the hospital. 

‘The person was assessed there and then taken elsewhere in the hospital. I believe they were put into confinement while the tests to establish if they have Ebola or something else are carried out.’

Another hospital worker told the Glasgow Times: ‘The mere mention of the word Ebola strikes panic into people. You think of it as a disease that happens elsewhere.

‘The hospital has strict protocols and procedures to deal with these types of rare occurrences, and everything seemed to be followed to a tee, but it is still a worry for those who were on duty at the time.’

Central Africa is presently wrestling with an Ebola outbreak, with about 1,300 confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a handful in Uganda.

There has also been one confirmed case in France.

About 360 people are confirmed to have perished from the current outbreak, which is the third-largest in history.

If verified, this would have been the first Ebola case in the UK in almost ten years.

Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with blood or bodily fluids of symptomatic individuals or contaminated objects.

A spokesperson for Public Health Scotland said: ‘Public Health Scotland (PHS) is aware that an individual in Scotland was tested for Ebola as a precautionary measure. The test result has now been received and is negative.

‘PHS and NHS boards across Scotland have well-established protocols for assessing and testing travellers arriving in the UK from areas affected by Ebola where necessary. 

‘Where required, contact tracing will occur, and contacts may undergo clinical assessment and precautionary testing.

‘It is rare for Ebola cases to occur in returning travellers, but NHS Scotland has safe procedures in place for detecting and managing any such cases. 

‘As such, the risk to the general public remains low.

‘The UKHSA Returning Workers Scheme (RWS), which aims to protect and monitor the health of those who may travel from the UK to affected areas for their work, has been activated. 

‘Organisations deploying workers to affected areas where they may be exposed to Ebola through their work should register those workers with the scheme.

‘There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in Scotland.’

France confirmed its first case of Ebola last week after a doctor tested positive.

Health officials said the medic had returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The patient in mainland France was said to be in a stable condition but has been isolated to prevent the disease from spreading.

According to officials, there is little danger to the whole European population. In an attempt to find everybody who could have been exposed through contact with the doctor, contact tracing investigations are still in progress.

What they should be doing is preventing people from travelling from countries that have an epidemic.

This is madness; you can’t bring a plant into the UK from certain places because it could spread disease, but we let in people who have been to these places that have Ebola outbreaks without any checks.

If you attempt to bring a Rabbit into the UK, it has to be quarantined for 4 months, but humans are good to go and spread their diseases.

A month-long quarantine is required for anyone entering our nation from an Ebola-affected location, and this has just topped my day off nicely because it’s only a matter of time before every disease that has been eradicated, or was never in the UK, will soon become rampant.

And what about the others they were travelling with, in addition to the one who contracts the illness? Although it’s not the most contagious virus, there is still a chance of it spreading, and since viruses are frequently fatal, we shouldn’t be too complacent about them.

Malaria, TB, dengue, typhoid, and other infectious illnesses are brought back to the UK by people from high-risk nations, and they frequently enter packed waiting rooms while exhibiting symptoms. But the reason this happens isn’t “because the UK is too soft” or “because human rights stop us from screening people.” It’s because the system is designed in a way that makes this inevitable, and A&E ends up carrying the whole burden.

Our government is not blocking the channel hoppers, and not checking lorries that got them here, and it seems we are the only people in the world who have no human rights.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started