Pat Evemy

Labour activist and City Councillor recently retired from working with historic churches in West Midlands to create sustainable church & community projects

[The Labour Party @UKLabour]

NEW: Half a million more children will benefit from Labour's free breakfast clubs from April next year.

[The Left Bible @theleftbible]

This is the NHS that Nigel Farage wants to sell to his rich pals 👇

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

I'm getting quite a few people getting in touch concerned "The State Pension will start to be taxed" on the back of newspaper articles. I thought it worth making a few simple points to clear up possible confusions...

1. The State Pension is already taxable and always has been in my memory, in other words it counts towards your taxable income. Many State Pensioners who have other income too already pay income tax.

2. The stories are based on the fact the annual personal allowance - the amount you can earn before any tax is taken - is frozen at £12,570 (this is effectively a way of stealthily raising the tax people pay each year)

3. The State Pension annual rise is currently based on a 'triple lock' (ie it rises with the highest of avg earnings, inflation or 2.5%).

4. The stories are about the fact the triple lock means the current headline £11,973/yr State Pension may rise above the £12,570/yr personal allowance in a few years time. So some who's only income is the State Pension would then pay tax on the portion above the personal allowance.

5. The £11,973/yr quoted is somewhat misleading. It's the amount someone on the... FULL, NEW State Pension would get. Yet most pensioners (all who hit State Pension age before April 2016) are on the OLD pensione, which has a lower basic amount. And many don't get the full pension as they don't have enough National Insurance years.

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So overall the fact 'the State Pension alone may be taxable for some', is primarily a function of the fact that personal allowance is frozen, and the State Pension rises significantly each year.

One way politicians could avoid it would be to increase the personal allowance (for everyone or just for state pensioners) yet it's worth being aware another way to do it would be to end the triple lock, so the State Pension doesn't rise as high!

I'm not aiming making any political point here. Just trying to explain how it works as I've had quite a lot of questions.

[Robert Peston @Peston]

You have to be a certain age, possibly, for this to resonate

[Edwin Hayward @edwinhayward]

The Tories are running a fake fact check scam against the BBC debate.

See how they've renamed and rebranded their website to make it look like something it's not.

Spread the word. Don't let them get away with it.

#bbcdebate

[Jon Sopel @jonsopel]

Two quotes:
Rishi Sunak: "Independent Treasury officials have costed Labour's policies and they amount to a £2,000 tax rise for every working family"
Treasury Permanent Secretary: “civil servants were not involved in the production or presentation of the Conservative Party’s document”

[Will Hutton @williamnhutton]

A story that will not make the front page of the Times, Telegraph or Mail ..

[Pat Evemy @Parishoner]

@RevRichardColes Sold many a schooner of sherry when working in a pub as a student in 1980’s. Are schooner glasses still available?

[John Inge @BishopJohnInge]

Great letter in today’s Times:

[Darren Paffey MP @darrenpaffey]

Thousands came together for a brilliant #SouthamptonPride! Great celebration of our more inclusive society, but also a protest as there’s needless discrimination we still need to fight.

🏳️‍🌈Southampton - you did everyone proud at Pride, and showed what a great city this is!🏳️‍⚧️

[Armando Iannucci @Aiannucci]

From @FT on the huge voter suppression implications of the rushed and expensive voter-ID requirement.

[Marion Langford 🌠💙🇺🇦 @LallyLangford]

This is dynamite from Kaveh Solhekol on Sky Sports News. Absolutely nails it. He has the Tories and BBC on toast. Well done!! 👏 Take 2 mins and watch👇#garylineker #ImWithGary #MOTD #ToryFascists

[Andy Burnham @andyburnham]

Absolutely not under any circumstances.

[Gordon Brown @GordonBrown]

https://t.co/AWKYkaVWK8

[Andrew Marr @AndrewMarr9]

Remember this so well

[Gordon Brown @GordonBrown]

1/
There's no longer such a thing as the international community.

So said a prominent African leader aware that, along with the UN, the IMF and COP27, the G20 will fail to address the world’s multiple crises.

So what’s the solution?

[Thread]
https://t.co/U9MEff8gTr

[Keir Starmer @Keir_Starmer]

They broke the economy, the NHS and the immigration system.

Mortgages are £500 a month more expensive and you can’t see your GP.

Their answer? “We can’t fix it”

It’s time for a Labour government.

[Larry the Cat @Number10cat]

Public service announcement for whoever needs to hear it: The United Kingdom isn’t being invaded. Anyone saying it is owes the people of Ukraine an apology and should be ignored.