Analysts Warn That Coutts’ Plans To Move £2 Billion From UK Funds Into Overseas Investments Are Part Of A ‘Vicious Circle’ Causing London-Listed Firms To Lose Value

Royal bank Coutts has been accused of ‘abandoning’ Britain as it plans to shift billions of pounds of clients’ cash out of the UK.

In a blow to the City, the 332-year-old lender, where King Charles is a client, will transfer £2 billion from British funds into overseas investments.

Analysts said Coutts’ decision to join a ‘foreign exodus’ is part of a ‘vicious circle’ causing London-listed firms to lose value, making them vulnerable to takeovers.

City insiders blasted the timing as ‘ironic’ as the Government will encourage people to invest in British stocks when it sells its stake in Coutts’ owner NatWest this summer.

This is the most recent scandal to rock Coutts, which was rocked last year by a dispute over the cancellation of Nigel Farage’s account, partly because of the former leader of UKIP’s political beliefs.

Founded in London in 1692, Coutts is the eighth-oldest bank in the world. It is an exclusive private lender.

The wealthiest people in the UK, including members of the Royal Family and celebrities, entrust their fortunes to it.

Experts today slammed its decision to snub Britain’s listed companies amid concerns over the future of London’s stock market.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said ‘abandoning the UK stock market’ is a ‘highly questionable decision.’

She said: ‘The time is ripe to back British-listed businesses rather than join a foreign exodus, given the value which has the potential to be unlocked.’

Firms are increasingly choosing New York over London because British equities are perceived as cheap when compared to their American counterparts.

Betting giant Flutter, the FTSE 100 owner of Paddy Power, this week became the latest to vote to quit the City in favour of Wall Street.

In search of a deal, overseas purchasers are also eyeing London’s blue-chip businesses.

In recent weeks, footsie companies Anglo-American and Royal Mail have emerged as acquisition prospects.

According to data from Calastone, outflows from UK equity funds hit £8 billion in 2023—making the £2 billion planned withdrawal by Coutts a huge increase in the short term.

‘This will inevitably put further selling pressure on the UK market at a time when valuations are already depressed,’ Charles Hall, head of research at investment bank Peel Hunt, said.

The changeover is scheduled to be finished in July, and Coutts will begin making the necessary adjustments to its investment funds at the end of the following month.

Instead of choosing to make Britain the global hub for investments, they decided to increase taxes.

We’ve become an anti-business economy that over-taxes small and medium-sized businesses and doesn’t encourage people to be entrepreneurial, and it’s made how they treat small businesses in this country—there’s zero incentive to run one anymore.

As bloodsucking vultures, the Chancellor and the HMRC just care about snatching up as much money as they can without considering long-term consequences.

The country’s problems are not well represented by things like sewage levels, food banks, treatment wait times, and public funds going into the pockets of the ultra-wealthy, but it’s all deliberate to bring Great Britain to its knees.

Perhaps our government should try being a bit more likeable because being a Pariah is not going well, but it’s all self-inflicted because our current government take orders from big donors and political globalists with payment in kind.

Britain is a bad place to invest now because taxes are much too high.

In A Shocking Turn Of Events, Boeing Whistleblower Joshua Dean Died Unexpectedly, Almost Two Months After The Airline’s Former Quality Control Manager, John Barnett, Ended His Own Life

A Boeing whistleblower who raised the alarm about defects in 737 Max jets has died suddenly at the age of 45. 

Joshua Dean previously said he was fired from his job as a quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems for questioning standards at the supplier’s plant in Wichita, Kansas, in October 2022.

The Boeing jet’s door plug, which unexpectedly blew out midair during an Alaska Airlines trip in January, was made by Spirit.

Dean’s family posted on social media that he passed away in the hospital on Tuesday following an unexpected illness. April 2023 saw his termination from Spirit AeroSystems.

Earlier this year, Dean spoke with NPR about being fired. ‘I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you,’ he said. 

Over the last six months, Boeing’s share price has dropped by nearly 10% to $173.86 as further safety concerns have surfaced.

Dean’s aunt, Carol Parsons, confirmed his death in a series of Facebook posts, as did other family members in messages seen by MailOnline. 

She also gave the Seattle Times a statement confirming his passing.

Parsons informed the newspaper that Dean had respiratory problems and had visited a hospital in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas.

Dean needed to be intubated after contracting MRSA and pneumonia during his hospitalisation.

‘I am grateful for the prayers of my family and friends for this young man,’ she wrote on Facebook. 

‘He passed away yesterday morning, and his absence will be deeply felt. We will always love you, Josh.’

His former employer, Spirit AeroSystems, shared a statement expressing condolences to Dean’s family. 

‘Our thoughts are with Josh Dean’s family, spokesperson Joe Buccino said. ‘This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.’

Boeing has consistently refuted allegations made by whistleblowers like Dean that the business purposefully disregarded safety alerts.

According to a Facebook post made by his mother, Dean was cognizant and interacting with medical professionals as recently as Monday.

‘At the time, a doctor told him that he had a ’50/50 chance of living,’ she wrote. 

‘Josh is very depressed, frightened, and doing a lot of sleeping and not responding as much as he was a few days ago, and has not been on any sedation or pain meds.’

Dean was breathing with an ECMO machine in his last days.

People have been advised for a long time to speak out and inform senior management if anything doesn’t seem right or feels right at work, and they shouldn’t be scared to express their worries and anxieties.

That appears to be no longer the case for Boeing or any of its vendors.

Running a group of companies where people are too scared to speak out when something is wrong is criminal. People need to be able to speak out safely and without persecution, otherwise, mistakes will be made and continue to be made and that will cost lives. But this is because we worship money and material stuff, and then people are willing to compromise everything for a buck.

However, persecution is the wrong word; execution is what happened. Boeing is a huge industry with many government ties, and it would be very difficult for anyone of integrity to take their concerns to the government without Boeing getting word of it.

Nothing seems off about this, does it? Whistleblowers who are in perfect health frequently pass away unexpectedly, don’t they?

Before Watching The Clippers And Mavericks In The NBA Playoffs, Floyd Mayweather Gives $30,000 To Homeless Men

Floyd Mayweather has reportedly gifted $30,000 to a group of homeless men before being spotted courtside at a Clippers playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks in L.A. amid rumours that he’s ‘stuck in Dubai’ due to a lack of paying back his debts.

According to TMZ Sports, the 47-year-old retired boxing champion ran into many individuals on the street on Wednesday as he was walking from the downtown L.A. Ritz-Carlton Hotel to Cypto.com Arena for game 5.

That’s when Mayweather began interacting with the guys as he wanted to help them out, so he took out his backpack and ‘blessed each guy with 10 racks.’ 

‘I don’t want to show my face, but [Floyd] just gave us $30,000,’ Reynolds—one of the homeless men—said after his share of the five-figure sum.

According to TMZ, the guys didn’t want their snaps to go public, as they feared they’d become targets of local crime for carrying the cash. 

‘We do not want to get robbed. We will go find a motel,’ one of the men said. 

According to figures from the U.S. government, there are over 180,000 homeless persons in California as of 2023, making the state the home of the nation’s biggest homeless population.

There are about 650,000 homeless persons in the United States of America as a whole.

Mayweather, who saw Luca Doncic drop a double-double (35 points and 10 assists) against the Clips in the Mavs’ 123-93 blowout win to take Dallas up 3-2 in the series on Wed. night, has been rumoured to being ‘stranded’ in Dubai due to some alleged debts. 

That’s according to Gervonta Davis, a former student of Mayweather’s who appears to be fighting with the 15-time world champion boxer once more. In the previous year, Davis claimed that Mayweather had barred him from using his gym and stopped him from preparing for his matchup with Ryan Garcia.

Davis posted a video of Mayweather on social media last week, which he claims was a jab at him.

In the clip, Mayweather said: ‘A lot of times what these fighters are looking at—they’re looking Floyd with the cars, they’re looking at Floyd being flashy. Man listen, I made so many sacrifices. Y’all are looking at the end results. And [when I was] champion having hundreds of millions in the bank, I still was on my grind in that gym.

Following the Clippers vs. Mavs game on Wednesday, Mayweather posted several photos to his Instagram Story on Thursday, showing himself and his surroundings back in Dubai. It’s unknown exactly where he is.

What does he think a homeless person would do if you gave him that kind of money? Would he find a place to live, buy some new clothes, scrub up and go look for a job and sort their life out, or get off their head with drugs and booze every day until it’s all been frittered away?

It won’t solve homelessness for any of them, but I do hope that it changes at least one of their lives, and it just doesn’t dissolve into more crack.

Mayweather does this and it’s all over social media. However, a guy like Keanu Reeves does stuff like this and you never hear of it, no publicity, I know who I would respect more.

It would have been better to donate to the local ‘Soup Kitchen’ to help the homeless or even use the money to build a proper shelter with people there to help them reinvent into society.

A Seaside Town’s Cash-Strapped Council Spends £5.3 Million Upgrading Cycle Lanes On One Of The ‘Widest And Safest’ Roads

Residents of a seaside town have vented their fury over their hard-up council’s decision to spend £5.3 million of taxpayer cash upgrading cycle lanes on a road described as one of the ‘widest and safest’ in the area.

In Bournemouth, Dorset, Glenferness Avenue already has bike lanes installed on both sides.

However, resurfacing, expanding, and adding a step to serve as a barrier between cyclists and vehicles are now costing millions of pounds.

The cycle lane splurge comes after two new bridges solely for pedestrians and cyclists were installed further along the leafy avenue.

Drivers and locals have criticised the improvements as a waste of money, pointing out that the local council is already £251 million in debt.

Some people suggested that the money would be better used to patch potholes and make the roads safer for cars.

John James said, ‘Glenferness is one of the widest, safest roads in Bournemouth. It has an existing bike lane, which is hardly used. 

‘It seems this is just a rush to spend government money without proper thought or consultation.

Lorraine Mirams said: ‘The money would be better spent on repairing potholes and improving the roads in general for motorists.’

Ian Large said: ‘Glenferness Road already had two substantial cycle lanes, one on each side. This is definitely a waste of money.’

An unnamed resident of Glenferness Avenue claimed hardly any cyclists use the road.

He said: ‘It’s a complete waste of money and it’s been hugely disruptive to us.

‘The road is wide enough anyway and we don’t really see cyclists going up and down here. And there are existing cycle lanes already.

‘They have only spent the money because they have got a grant. The whole road needs resurfacing, but they are not going to do that—it’s ridiculous.’

Another local said: ‘We only have three or four cyclists a day going down this road; it’s a complete waste of money. The problem is the government has given them the money so it’s earmarked.

‘The cycle lanes are going to be two metres wide on each side, so there is now only just enough room for two cars to pass. When the dustbin men or delivery drivers come round and need to stop, it just brings everything to a stop.’

Another homeowner said: ‘The bridge work had to be done because it wasn’t very safe, that’s fair enough but the lanes didn’t need improving.

The government’s contentious Transforming Cities Fund is providing funding for the project, which will also see the installation of more crossings.

This isn’t the only council wasting money on road works that aren’t necessary; there’s a concerted effort to add humps, traffic islands and one-way systems to prevent cars and buses from travelling while potholes are left getting bigger. If car owners and bus companies claim against councils because of pothole damage, they’ll be mended in no time at all.

The percentage of bike trips hasn’t improved at all despite all this spending, but bikers still insist on utilising road space because they can, which is a complete waste of money on a vociferous minority.

The majority of people I see on bikes are Deliveroo riders who were born outside of the UK, after sailing across the channel—well, they certainly didn’t peddle over.

Although they now do as they like rather than what is necessary, councils need to be held accountable because, of course, it’s easy to spend other people’s money.

Maddy Baloy Dies After Documenting Her Heartbreaking Cancer Battle For Millions On Tiktok

At the age of 26, Maddy Baloy, a TikToker who won over millions of fans by sharing online updates about her life with terminal disease, passed away.

According to her fiancé, the Florida kindergarten teacher passed away on Wednesday night. She had shared personal videos of herself checking off items on her bucket list, such as eating with Gordon Ramsay at his Miami restaurant.

‘Madison passed away peacefully last night,’ her partner Louis Risher told PEOPLE in a statement on Thursday, adding that she was ‘surrounded with love.’

‘She is so special,’ Risher said. ‘I turned 27 yesterday, actually. I was holding her hand all day and that’s all I needed.’

After experiencing stomach problems in the summer of 2022 and vomiting blood, Tampa resident Baloy was eventually diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.

Nevertheless, the 26-year-old maintained her optimism throughout the gruelling ordeal by posting about her inspiring journey on social media, which attracted hundreds of thousands of followers.

In her final TikTok posted in March from Japan, she showed viewers internal photographs of tumours in various parts of her body.

She went on to explain that she was on her dream vacation in Kyoto but the weather was so cold she had been ‘shivering’, so she wanted to face the challenge of taking a bath with her colostomy bag. 

‘Hi, my name is Madison and I have stage four terminal cancer, and I haven’t taken a bath in a year,’ she said. 

‘My cancer is in my large intestine, my small intestine, my uterus, my ovaries—basically, the entire lower half of my body is filled up with cancer. Because of that, I had to have emergency surgery to receive a colostomy [bag].’ 

As tears filled her eyes, she added: ‘The only thing that I can think of is how amazing a bath would feel. This house happens to have the most beautiful bath that I’ve ever seen. But because I have a colostomy, I haven’t taken a bath in a year.’ 

Baloy noted that after she had her colostomy, she never imagined she would take a bath again because it would be too ‘messy.’

‘But I’m in Japan for a very limited amount of time. I’m here on Earth for a very limited amount of time, and I don’t want to be afraid to take a bath. So, come take a bath with me,’ she said as tears fell down her face.

Following her diagnosis, Baloy made her first cancer TikTok to share the bucket list, which she was in ‘a hurry to finish’. 

Coming in at number one, Madison said she wanted to ‘see everything.’

She also revealed that she wanted to party in a DJ booth, learn how to roll a joint, have a wedding, get a tattoo with her grandma, sleep under a willow tree, be a podcast guest, and meet Gordon Ramsay.

In response to her clip, the 57-year-old British chef said he would love to meet Madison—and not just as a regular meet-and-greet. 

This is such a sad story, but why are so many young people getting this so early? Probably because the majority of people eat processed foods that are eaten daily from a box, packet or tin. Not fresh, wholesome foods that we are used to, and the worst thing about it is our government allows these companies to sell people this garbage.

Cancer screenings should be done free of charge from the age of 30 years old, if not before, and for all cancers—earlier if there’s a family history of cancer.

Let’s thank Gordon Ramsey for giving this lady her wish to dine at your restaurant, and even cook for her. In this age of celebrity culture, some celebrities would have ignored her request, but Gordon is awesome for doing this.

This woman was very young to have stage 4 colon cancer. What the hell is going on, and what’s going into our food and water? And it puts life into perspective when something like this happens. Heaven just got an angel with a beautiful smile and a sweet soul.

Taylor Swift Is A Descendant Of French King Louis XIV, Joining Danny Dyer, Meghan Markle, And Queen Camilla On Having An Unlikely Celebrity Relative

You won’t have to go far to hear Taylor Swift referred to as the Queen of Pop, given her unprecedented fan following and record-breaking success. However, her royal ancestry was laid bare for the first time, as it was revealed the global superstar is a descendant of French King Louis XIV.

Swift, 34, is the eighth cousin—11 times removed—of Louis, the monarch behind the iconic Palace of Versailles, according to the global family history platform MyHeritage.

While they may seem the most unlikely of relatives at first glance, the heritage site notes that Swift is no stranger to her ancestor’s life of luxury, having filmed the music video for her hit Blank Space in an opulent building bearing similarities to that of Versailles.

The startling revelation comes as France prepares to welcome the singer for a series of six concerts as part of her record-breaking Eras tour, scheduled to take place in Paris (May 9–12) and Lyon (June 2–3).

Their mutual ancestors, Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, and his wife Katherine Stafford, established the groundwork for a regal dynasty in aristocratic England during the 14th century, which is where their relationship originated.

Swift’s paternal English ancestors emigrated to the American colonies in the 17th century, first settling in Massachusetts and then, a few generations later, in Pennsylvania.

Louis XIV’s lineage may be traced back to an English woman who married a count of Béarn in southwest France during the 15th century.

Their great-granddaughter became Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, and her granddaughter Marie de’ Medici was the paternal grandmother of King Louis XIV of France.

Director of Research at MyHeritage, Roi Mandel, told MailOnline: ‘On the occasion of Taylor Swift’s concert tour in Paris, our team at MyHeritage decided to dive into [Taylor’s] family history to check if she has French roots hidden somewhere in the family past.

‘We were amazed to find out that not only are there roots, they are royal roots, and she is nothing less than a distant cousin of King Louis XIV!

‘The Queen of Pop is a relative of the Sun King. It’s a really poetic revelation.’ 

Perhaps the most famous creation of Louis XIV is the Palace of Versailles.

He also founded the French Royal Academy of Dance, the predecessor of the Academy of the National Opera of Paris, which today trains the dancers of the Paris Opera.

She isn’t directly derived from Louis XIV, of course. She is only linked through marriage and other means. Still, the connection exists, and she ought to be pleased that it does. I’m sure I would be.

There are many famous or successful actors in my family tree, including Peter Sellers; however, they are not linked by blood; rather, they are related by marriage. It’s fantastic that I have a large tree and that I’m proud of the information I’ve learned, but it’s useless if you can’t pass it on to others if they have no interest in it.

But if you look back far enough, you will find that everyone is connected to everyone else in some way.

Four UFOs Are Captured On High-Speed Camera As Scientists Investigate Utah’s Skinwalker Portal

A high-speed camera has captured the chilling moment when four UFOs were spotted above the ‘cursed’ Skinwalker Ranch in northeastern Utah.

Never-before-seen footage has exposed a possible ‘portal’ on the haunted ranch, where the team has witnessed a mutilated cow who died under mysterious circumstances.

The video, released by The History Channel in a new episode of ‘The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch,’ features a team of scientists investigating the 512-acre ranch, long known for its paranormal and UFO-related activities. 

Among the eerie sightings, the team observed what appeared to be a possible portal on the ranch.

During the investigation, Erik and Travis, two scientists on the team, were amazed as they observed four UFOs on the high-speed camera.

‘Now, one of the things that stands out … Look, there’s something,’ Erik, a scientist on the team, said. ‘It looks like there’s something under it. Moving with it.’

Travis, another scientist, chimed in: ‘And then what’s this thing at the bottom coming up?’ 

‘You see what’s happening here? Yeah, you got three things on the camera … Four things! There’s one over here,’ Erik added. 

The four unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) were described as rectangular with dark tops and light bottoms, moving swiftly and independently of each other—defying typical aircraft movements.

‘There’s something here. And as you let it move forward, you can see they’re moving. And they’re not necessarily moving together,’ Travis said.

‘Right—but they’re moving at about., said Erik. ‘So we’ve got four things. It never changes its appearance. It always seems to be this rectangular, dark-on-top, light-on-bottom.’ 

‘I don’t see anything like wings flapping around at all. And it’s not moving like an aircraft but something but much faster.’ 

Travis saw that one UFO had suddenly appeared directly over the triangle airspace, which coincided with earlier reports of odd circular patterns picked up by sophisticated technology on the ranch.

‘It’s speeding way up,’ Erik added. ‘And it seems to be diving. But that’s not all it’s gonna do.’ 

‘That thing is basically in the triangle airspace.’

‘So it came from, you know, the middle of nowhere,’ Travis said. ‘swoops in and then turns back.’  

‘Below cloud level and apparently down. Like it’s turning to make a final approach here, like it’s coming in for a landing or something.’ 

‘Seeing this UAP suddenly appear and then manoeuvre directly above the triangle was incredible,’ Travis said. 

The mystery surrounding Skinwalker Ranch, where there have been reports of encounters with maimed livestock and other strange happenings, is increased by this finding.

There is something strange going on at that place. Robert Bigelow ended up buying the property. A guy who became a billionaire selling real estate, and, out of nowhere, created an aerospace company that works directly with NASA—one of the few private companies that has that connection.

He had people doing research at Skinwalker for over a year in secrecy, and he was on the TV show 60 Minutes and he was asked if he thought there was extraterrestrial intelligent life somewhere in outer space. He simply said: “Yes, and they are here”.

However, this man has the wealth he needs to promote any of this alleged ‘weirdness’.

They have been seeing sightings like these for years on the ranch. Nothing ever comes from it, and they just can’t seem to figure it out, but they keep trying. It’s almost as if they were trying to perpetuate a lie to make money. Nah, let’s go with they’re legit snorting scientists!

John Cleese Says ‘Literal-Minded’ People Have Ruined Comedy Because They ‘Don’t Understand Irony’

‘Literal-minded’ people have ruined comedy by failing to understand ‘metaphor, irony and exaggeration’ and missing the punchline, John Cleese has claimed.

Ahead of the premiere of his stage version of the beloved British comedy Fawlty Towers, Cleese talked about the challenges he faced in getting the script off the ground and his concerns about how some of the language would be interpreted by the audience.

Cleese, 84, explained that some of the original dialogue used within the two-hour play, which merges three popular episodes into an overarching storyline, has been edited to remove ‘racial slurs’ due to changing perceptions within society.

‘I think there was a scene where Major (Gowen) used a couple of words you can’t use now—racial slurs they would come under, so we took that out’, he told journalists on Thursday.

‘You see, there is always a problem with comedy that you deal with the literal-minded.’

The play is based on episodes from the sitcom’s two series titled The Hotel Inspector, Communication Problems and The Germans, which originally features a scene in which the Major Gowen character uses offensive language about the West Indies cricket team.

In 2020, the episode was briefly removed from UKTV’s streaming service, which is owned by BBC Studios, due to the ‘racial slurs’ before it was later reinstated with added guidance and warnings highlighting ‘potentially offensive content and language’ featured.

Speaking on the challenges of writing comedy, Cleese said: ‘Whenever you’re doing comedy, you’re up against the literal-minded, and the literal-minded don’t understand irony.

‘And that means if you take them seriously, you get rid of a lot of comedy because literal-minded people don’t understand metaphor, they don’t understand irony, and they don’t understand comic exaggeration.

‘The result is, if you listen to them, these are people who are not, as far as understanding what other human beings are saying and doing, playing with a full deck.’

He also defended the central character within the 1960s comedy Til Death Us Do Part, Alf Garnett, who made offensive remarks, saying that viewers were ‘roaring with laughter at him, not with him’ but also acknowledged that some were saying, ‘Thank God these things are being said at last’.

The cast of the new Fawlty Towers play, in which Adam Jackson-Smith plays the iconic character of Basil, performed two sequences at the play’s premiere. Previews of the production start this Saturday at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.

Reflecting on the state of comedy in UK theatre, Cleese said he felt there had been ‘too much change’ in British society in recent years.

Humour is supposed to offend on occasion. John is right and being funny is no longer acceptable in some quarters. What a sad reflection on life! But there have always been and will always be people who have no or little sense of humour.

Comedians should be able to push boundaries and offend without fear, but unfortunately, society has become closed-minded, and now people simply don’t understand irony. Education standards have fallen dramatically and social media has taken its toll and has manipulated the thoughts of the weaker mind which are now being told how to think.

Much has been imported and distorted British values. British humour is cynicism and sarcasm and if you don’t appreciate either, then you’re no fun.

With everyone becoming too literal in their thinking and people not understanding irony, comedy appears to have taken a decade off. It’s also hard to satirise anything these days.

Restaurants Now Charge You For Paying Your Bill! Shoreditch Eatery Slammed For £2.99 ‘Checkout Fee’ On Top Of 13.5% Service Fee

Diners at a Shoreditch restaurant have been left with a bitter aftertaste after seemingly being charged for the ‘privilege of paying their bill’.

A patron sent a photo of a digital receipt from their March 28 visit to the Italian Trattoria Gloria, where they discovered an odd additional fee.

The consumer was charged a “checkout fee” of £2.99 in addition to a 13.5% service charge, for a total of £26.15 when they received their bill.

As a result, the meal’s total cost increased from £193.50 to £222.64, or an additional £29.14.

The ‘checkout fee’ is a charge added to every bill for those using the mobile phone app Sunday.

French entrepreneurs Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux, who also co-founded The Big Mamma company, which owns Gloria, came up with the idea for the Sunday app.

However, other diners said they were only able to avoid the charge if they went out of their way to ask to pay via contactless card on a card machine. 

The cafe questioned people on social media if it was usual to be charged for paying their bill after posting a photograph of it.

Social media was left outraged by the ‘checkout fee’ and several users took it upon themselves to leave one-star reviews of the restaurant in revenge.

An image of the bill was shared to social media by the dissatisfied diner yesterday with the caption: ‘Is Gloria in Shoreditch the only restaurant that charges you for the privilege of paying your bill?’

The social media post received over 1,600 likes and more than 440 comments from users who were quick to vent their fury at the cheeky ‘checkout fee’.

One user commented: ‘It actually borders tacky. Would put it on their Google reviews; they might not be aware that it shows up like that or that it just ruins the whole experience.

‘They might see it and reconsider. People are sick to the back teeth of booking places, bonkers service charges, still expecting tips, and now stupid things like this.

‘It’s for their own good they know about this!’

Another added: ‘This needs stamping out fast before it spreads. I hope the restaurant gets boycotted until they see sense.’

A third wrote: ‘I’ve done my bit and left a one-star review.’

The hospitality app was launched by the team behind Gloria and was created to save people time at the end of their meals.

Why are eateries permitted to arbitrarily tinker with pricing and tack on extra fees? In any other place, these charges would not be accepted by anyone.

You’ve heard of creative accounting; now this is creative billing. It’s not illegal but it’s not ethical either. The thing is, restaurants don’t expect the majority to make a fuss over their sneaky charges, but if you do, make sure that you know your rights and stand your ground. Prepare to be either shamed or emotionally blackmailed in front of other customers.

Just pay in cash! ‘I promise to pay the bearer’ et cetera. If the service is good, then add 10 percent service.

Refuse to return to the restaurant and boycott it if you’re not satisfied! We must discipline these thieving egits.

The consumer should have complete control over any service fee, and any other money that’s added to the bill is just a sneaky way of trying to rinse their customers of their money.

If restaurants want to add on extra costs, they should notify their customers before they order, or it should be stated clearly on the menu in bold print. Then, if you choose to order your meal, you have to enter into a contract. If they don’t inform you of this, you have only entered into the contract to eat there and pay for what you have eaten, nothing more.

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