Diane

Scouse Manchester United supporter - 'fraid so! Living, breathing customer service excellence to support the odd travel & gastronomical indulgences here & there

[Diane @didimac66]

@arealmofwonder D ❤️

[Diane @didimac66]

@Grant_Colgate Is that a euphemism by any chance?

[Chris Phillips @CJPhillips1982]

A real long shot but can people retweet this please.

Yesterday all my items were stolen in Eastbourne including my stats book which has 20 years worth of details in. Laptops, phones, clothes, shavers etc can all be replaced but this can’t and is useless to anyone else. It’s in a plastic folder you can see in the left hand side of this photo. Can anyone in that neck of the woods please keep an eye out. I’m gutted about this.

[lincs 1966 @lincslincs]

The full UK State Pension is now worth around £12,548 a year. That's less than half the earnings of someone working full-time on the National Minimum Wage, despite many pensioners paying taxes and National Insurance for 40, 50 or even 60 years.

Yet every time the Treasury needs money, the same voices appear demanding the Triple Lock be scrapped.

Why?

State pension spending is forecast at around £154 billion this year, but that supports over 13 million pensioners, many of whom rely on it as their primary income. Meanwhile, billions continue to disappear into failed projects, government waste, bureaucracy, consultants, quangos and policies that deliver little value to ordinary taxpayers.

The Triple Lock isn't some gold-plated luxury. It exists because politicians allowed the State Pension to fall behind for decades. Even today, a full State Pension is barely above the poverty line and is nowhere near a typical working wage.

If politicians want to save money, start with waste, inefficiency and failed spending programmes.

Leave pensioners alone.

They worked, they paid in, they built this country and they deserve dignity in retirement, not another raid on their income.

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

Roald Dahl on Measles: Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it. Then one morning, when she was well on the road to recovery, I was sitting on her bed showing her how to fashion little animals out of coloured pipe-cleaners, and when it came to her turn to make one herself, I noticed that her fingers and her mind were not working together and she couldn’t do anything.

'Are you feeling all right?' I asked her.

'I feel all sleepy,' she said.

In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.

The measles had turned into a terrible thing called measles encephalitis and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her. That was...in 1962, but even now, if a child with measles happens to develop the same deadly reaction from measles as Olivia did, there would still be nothing the doctors could do to help her. On the other hand, there is today something that parents can do to make sure that this sort of tragedy does not happen to a child of theirs. They can insist that their child is immunised against measles.

...I dedicated two of my books to Olivia, the first was ‘James and the Giant Peach’. That was when she was still alive. The second was ‘The BFG’, dedicated to her memory after she had died from measles. You will see her name at the beginning of each of these books. And I know how happy she would be if only she could know that her death had helped to save a good deal of illness and death among other children.

[Denby Pottery @denbypottery]

Thank you to everyone who has signed the "Support the Ceramics Industry" petition❤️

We're up to 62,000 signatures so far. We need 100,000 for the matter to be considered for debate in Parliament.

Help to reach this target and make a difference here: https://t.co/GAcP3tuh5e

[Artur Nadolny @ArturNadol7566]

BBC BROKE EQUALITY LAW AND GOT CAUGHT

Carrie Gracie spent 30 years at the @BBC. She spoke fluent Mandarin. She ran the Beijing bureau. She was one of four international editors, two men and two women.

Then in 2017 the BBC was forced to publish salary data. Gracie looked at what her male equivalent, the North America editor, was earning. He was on nearly double her salary. She had explicitly said equal pay was a condition of taking the China role. The BBC agreed. Then quietly paid her far less anyway.

She asked for equal pay. The BBC offered her a raise that still left her below the men. She turned it down. She resigned from the China post in January 2018 and published an open letter telling the licence fee public exactly what their broadcaster was doing.

The BBC then put her through nearly a year of an internal grievance process that went nowhere. It took three meetings with the Director-General and the threat of an employment tribunal before she got a public apology and the backdated pay owed to her. The total came to £361,000.

She donated every penny to the Fawcett Society (@fawcettsociety), the gender equality charity. She said the fight was about principle, not the payout.

A publicly funded institution, legally obligated to follow equality law, paid women less than men in identical roles, got caught, dragged it out for a year, and only coughed up under threat of a tribunal. That is not a pay oversight. That is a policy.

Gracie did not ask for a favour. She asked for what she was owed. The BBC made her fight for it like it was a privilege.

Sources: @BBCNews, @guardian, @thetimes, @Independent.

[Diana Alastair💚🤍💜 ⚢ ❌❌✡️ @sappholives83]

When Sarah Barratt was threatened with rape by 3 men while poolside at the @MarriottIntl in Qatar, her husband Craig complained to the front desk, and they were told the men hd been kicked out.

It was a lie. Days later, coming off the elevator, the Barratts encountered the men again. Craig was furious, and posted a negative review on TripAdvisor.

Craig is a businessman who operates in the Middle East, and when he next returned to Qatar, he was arrested, detained, fined, and deported, having been convicted in absentia of damaging the Marriott’s reputation.

Worse, his inability to work in Qatar has destroyed his financial security. He and his wife are selling possessions online, and are considering selling their home.

Marriott International, a Western company, used the draconian laws restricting speech in Qatar in order to have Craig Barratt punished for leaving a negative review on TripAdvisor - a review that was fully justified and supported by the facts. This is appalling behavior on their part, and I sincerely hope that this story will be circulated as widely as possible. All Marriott had to do was apologize. Instead, they destroyed a guest’s life for daring to complain about having been lied to, and about having been made unsafe on Marriott property by the actions of Marriott staff.

https://t.co/bdwoTVlrID

[Dominic Cummings @Dominic2306]

Hey @Morrisons I will never buy ONE thing from you ever again unless this guy, trying to stop shoplifting, is reinstated.
RETWEET IF YOU AGREE

[dominic dyer @domdyer70]

The RSPCA is looking for a man after a ginger cat was found taped inside a pet carrier, wrapped in a bin bag, and thrown over a fence into a garden in Basildon, Essex. The three-year-old cat was taken to a vet, where it was found to have no injuries but was clearly stressed. A CCTV image of the man, described as white and wearing glasses, a dark jacket, and a light blue T-shirt, has been released as investigators appeal for witnesses.

[Diane @didimac66]

@arealmofwonder A 💗

[Diane @didimac66]

Please share 💗

[Denby Pottery @denbypottery]

Here are some of the handcrafting skills that we're trying to preserve with our #SaveDenby campaign.
✋Hand-Casting
🎨Glaze Application
🍽️Pattern Transferring
☕️Sticking-Up
Help us to try to #SaveDenby and preserve these special skills here: https://t.co/6W1D10P655

[Denby Pottery @denbypottery]

Our Easter Sale is now here with up to 50% off selected ranges.

Help us #SaveDenby by placing your order now and continue to spread the #SaveDenby message.

Shop the sale here: https://t.co/VZBgOu4rNf
Support #SaveDenby here: https://t.co/6W1D10P655

[Tal✨they/them @talyaTheeEnby]

please get a library card even if you won’t use it because cities will look at library statistics and use that to decide to keep libraries open and properly funded

[Denby Pottery @denbypottery]

We're finding comfort in your kind words shared as part of the #SaveDenby campaign.
After tough market conditions, we may be forced to close.
Help us:
- Share #SaveDenby
- Sign-up https://t.co/qoyniagzzF
- Buy Denby
- Visit Denby Pottery Village
Read more: https://t.co/6W1D10P655

[Denby Pottery @denbypottery]

We need your help to #SaveDenby!
We are sad to share that we may be forced to close and a British institution could be lost.

We need your help:
1. Share this post
2. Sign the government petition
3. Buy Denby
4. Visit us at the Pottery Village

Read more: https://t.co/g17lHz2ETx

[Missing Persons Support @MisPersSupport]

It is 39 years since Mark went missing, please keep his family in your thoughts 🙏🏻

ANNIVERSARY APPEAL – MARK GARVEY

Mark Garvey was 15 years old when he went missing on 2 March 1987 from Walton, Merseyside. He left home to visit his girlfriend in West Derby. With only the money for his bus fare in his pocket, Mark’s parting words to his mother, Dot Hughes were “mum, I’m going now” as he walked out the door.

Described as 5ft 3in in height and of slim build, pale complexion, freckles with brown hair and brown eyes. The last confirmed sighting of Mark was at a bus stop near the Jolly Miller pub on Queen’s Drive, West Derby. It later emerged the teenager found his girlfriend with his best friend, they argued and he left her house in tears.

It is not believed the 15-year-old was planning to disappear as he left behind a substantial amount of cash he had saved for a school trip.

If you have any information phone Merseyside Police on 101, direct message on social media or report via the website portal. If you would prefer to remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or use their online reporting service (link below).

Alternatively, phone/text Missing People on 116 000 or email [email protected] quoting reference 93-000064. Sightings and information about any missing person can also be given anonymously through the Missing People website (link below). All information is passed to the police. Your identity will remain confidential unless you indicate that it is ok for the charity to pass your details on to the police.

Missing People:
https://t.co/fdXhV3UbtY

Crimestoppers:
https://t.co/dApb7itpQI

Report a Sighting:
https://t.co/UefZxrfcTs

Facebook:
https://t.co/Im6VQXfRVQ
https://t.co/tlJW78cCuF

#FindMarkGarvey #MissingPersonsSupport #Everton @kiltimaghlad

[Diane @didimac66]

@CarlBovisNature 1

[Diane @didimac66]

@arealmofwonder D

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

“I was a champion surfer – then I nearly died: why I believe sewage was to blame.”

Everything you need to know about the Dirty Business that is the water industry, Channel 4, 9:00pm.

https://t.co/JAzcrpm4Ki