@marksandspencer Not your usual fab Cramlington branch this morning. One assistant was a bit strange with me after she asked if my Scan and Shop was working then said it’s getting switched off - other was quite obnoxious about your footy stickers and lack of the books! #rude
Imagine being a family where both parents work full time, pay tax, pay their own full council tax bill, and still can’t afford a trip to the Tower of London or a day at the zoo.
Next door, a family on benefits can take the kids to the same attractions for £1 or a few pounds a ticket – the Easter “treats” that are a major financial stretch for working households become “remarkably affordable” if you happen to be on Universal Credit.
Ticketing platforms now openly advertise “Universal Credit days out” with massive discounts and special offers, while websites compile lists of the “top outings” for benefit recipients – the welfare state has mutated from basic support into a lifestyle loyalty scheme with its own privileges, perks and VIP access.
Politicians claim this is compassion, but there’s nothing compassionate about telling low‑paid workers they must pay full price while funding other people’s beach huts, bargain spa days and cut‑price leisure memberships.
That’s not social justice.
That’s a state‑sanctioned insult to the people who keep the system running.
It genuinely feels like we now live in two different countries.
In one Britain, people drag themselves to work, pay eye‑watering taxes, National Insurance, council tax, energy bills, travel costs – and still stare at their bank balance wondering how they’re going to afford new shoes for the kids.
In the other Britain, a growing army are parked on benefits with rising sickness and disability claims, pulling in combined payments that can beat a full‑time wage and then stacking extra perks, from cut‑price bills to leisure and lifestyle discounts, on top.
The same government that says it is “cash‑strapped” and “tough choices” for services somehow finds endless billions for a welfare system its own Prime Minister now calls “unsustainable, indefensible and unfair” – but the only people expected to swallow it are the workers footing the bill.
We pay. They benefit.
That’s the deal. And it is ripping any sense of basic solidarity to shreds.
@talkSPORT ‘Left out of Squad’ - due to hip injury!! Whether that’s fact or fiction is irrelevant- you need to report facts as they’ve been reported by the club!
@lee_ryder Rocked by injury?! You lot have all slated him saying he’s been 💩 all season! Now it’s a tragedy he isn’t playing today 🤷🏻♀️Make your minds up man! Joke.
@ljacks1118@NUFC It’s embarassing - don’t matter what team he picked he’d get berated regardless. Just get behind them and support, win, lose or draw! Better days will come - Trust Eddie! ⚽️💪🏻
@NUFC Lovely to read all these comments supporting the lads 👀 Get a grip. Get behind them! It 100% doesn’t matter what team EH picked to start, it would get ripped to shreds by the ‘fans’ before a ball was kicked. No 2 fans would pick the same team anyway 😡
@Crawfy1892@NUFCBlogcouk Not saying that. So it’s been a stinker of a season. For lots of different reasons. We suck it up. Regroup, stick together and improve! Prove the media and doubters wrong. Fight for the badge. They get paid plenty!