Ben Tilston

(Account Dormant: Awaiting Change in Global Political Leadership, and other good news). Views and opinions are of course my own...

[Ben Tilston @TilstonBen]

A powerful, heart-breaking, comprehensive summary of the #Grenfell fire, enquiry and fallout. Those responsible for misrepresenting product testing and not changing the flawed regulations that made such loopholes possible should be utterly ashamed. Bring on the criminal charges.

[Martina Lees @Lees_Martina]

The hardest and most important article I have written in 20 years of journalism: Five years ago on Tuesday, 72 people died at #Grenfell. Over 10 pages, this is the definitive account of the disaster - and the lies, cover-ups and mistakes that led to it https://t.co/YKykM14mec

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

Merry Christmas and happy 40th anniversary to back when America still thought it was good to defeat a murderous Russian! 😂🥊

[Alex Lieberman @businessbarista]

whoever decided to make .heic the default image file on macs is a reallll asshole.

[Colin the Dachshund @DachshundColin]

Me liking all the A from Balmoral tweets.

[Emma Simpson @BBCEmmaSimpson]

New tonight, the Post Office and Fujitsu had a contract 19 years ago to fix errors in sub-postmasters accounts caused by bugs in the Horizon IT system. The document has just been published by the Post Office Inquiry and seen by BBC.

https://t.co/KOly3pFWqo

[Colin Brazier @ColinBrazierTV]

The owner of my local pub tells me his business rates are going up by £40,000 next year. He has no idea where that kind of money is coming from. I can’t recall a government more proficient at killing off institutions (sometimes decades, even centuries in the making) on a whim.

[Feargal Sharkey @Feargal_Sharkey]

Oh look, it rained.

Areas of the country where water companies are currently dumped sh*t into rivers and on to beaches.

Brown, currently dumping sewage.
Red, has been dumping sewage within the last 24 hours.

[Brad @BraddrofliT]

"EVERY RECORD HAS BEEN FALSIFIED, EVERY BOOK REWRITTEN, EVERY PICTURE REPAINTED, EVERY STATUE AND STREET BUILDING RENAMED, EVERY DATE ALTERED..." - GEORGE ORWELL, "1984"

[Ben Tilston @TilstonBen]

@cjhhhh21 To the doubters: On earnings between £100k and ~£125k you pay: 40% income tax and 2% Employee NIC, you also lose £1 of your tax free allowance (~£12.5k) for every additional £2 earned: Effectively a 20% tax rate (1/2 of 40%): 40+2+20 = 62% before Student Loan is factored in.

[Ben Tilston @TilstonBen]

@cjhhhh21 Love how there are loads of doubters in the replies who don’t believe you, accuse you of lying, etc. I know what you say to be true, though fortunately my student loan was not Plan 2 and is now paid off.. (1/2)

[Andrew Leyden @PenguinSix]

The White House has added text to the Wall of Fame next to the Rose Garden.

[Robert Lyman 🇺🇦 @robert_lyman]

In my spare time I run a village pub. It’s the centre of a small Berkshire village, and has been in use as a pub since 1723 (we’ve owned the building - built c. 1400 - since 1608).

We’ve just run the numbers.

It’s not looking good.

Net profit is down a third of pre-covid levels. We had seen some small improvement, but starting from a pretty desperate position. Everything now seems to be against us.

We were recovering after COVID, but the latest government taxes are like a torpedo under the water line. We’re facing impossible rises in staff costs and other taxes.

The latest survey by the British Institute of Innkeeping suggests only 1 in 3 Hospitality business are currently profitable. This will drop to 1 in 10 after the budget rises in April. The result is inevitable.

Thank you @RachelReevesMP and @10DowningStreet. Don’t ever start pretending you know anything about businesses like ours, or even care.

[Robert Richardson FIH MI @RBWR]

In the UK, a pint of beer carries both 20% VAT and around 56p in alcohol duty.

In Switzerland, the same pint carries 8.1% VAT and around 13p in alcohol duty.

Switzerland treats hospitality as a national economic asset, with the profession enjoying formal recognition and policy support from government bodies. In return, Swiss hospitality employs 4% of the national workforce, contributes up to 6% of GDP, creates community hubs, develops its people, and plays a central role in strengthening the economy.

It’s a Wednesday evening in Lucerne, Switzerland, and every restaurant and bar is full, no businesses are closed, the atmosphere is joyous, and the welcome and service are both first-class.

And it's a real-world example of how balanced taxation and government recognition can drive economic growth, skills development, and thriving communities.

#HospitalityFamily #HospitalityMatters #TaxReform #GlobalHospitality #Switzerland #LearningFromOthers #InspireMotivateLearn #imin

[Ben Tilston @TilstonBen]

@WRCPAST Why is it on a ‘91-92 J-plate then? Surely it didn’t sit unregistered in a dealership for a year?

[Andy Lennox @andyjlennox]

THE FACTS

ONLY 1 IN 10 PUBS WILL BE PROFITABLE FOLLOWING LABOUR'S NEW BUDGET. FACT.
A HOSPITALITY BUSINESS NOW CLOSES EVERY DAY. FACT.
===
THE GOVERNMENT NOW MAKES MORE IN A PINT THAT YOUR PUB DOES. FACT.
===
HOSPITALITY HAVE ENGAGED WITH MPS, WRITTEN TO MP'S, LOBBIED GOVERNMENT IN SOME OF THE MOST "SUCCESSFUL" CAMPAIGNS IN OUR HISTORY.
THE RESULT. THE GOVERNMENT TAXED US MORE. FACT.
---
THIS IS NOT POLITICAL. THIS IS SERIOUS. THE LABOUR MP'S DIDN'T LISTEN, THEY DIDN'T ACT AND INSTEAD THEY ACTUALLY TAXED US MORE. SO WERE NOT SERVING THEM UNTIL THEY DO, LISTEN. FACT.
---
WE CAN'T AFFORD TO GO ON STRIKE, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO CLOSE, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO GO TO LONDON. SO, THIS IS OUR INDUSTRIAL ACTION, IN THE ONLY WAY WE CAN. FACT.

#TAXEDOUT #NOLABOURMPS #LASTORDERS #CUTVAT

WE NEED A VAT CUT IN LINE WITH
THE REST OF EUROPE & IRELAND TO
13%

[Ben Tilston @TilstonBen]

@fast_upp I was driving behind this in Banbury on Friday… Didn’t realise they’d still made them!!

[Sacha Lord @Sacha_Lord]

27th Nov 2022, this is what The Chancellor promised.

Another broken promise.

[Kate Nicholls OBE @UKHospKate]

I listened carefully to what Tue Chancellor had to say about business rates policy. It is quite simply wrong to say people don’t understand transition and support and wrong to dismiss the legitimate concerns of hospitality businesses - many of them SMEs - about it. Here’s why

[Kate Nicholls OBE @UKHospKate]

The brilliant @UKHofficial team have been working over the weekend since the govt published its guide to transition late on Friday. It will allow you to check your rateable value, eligibility for transition and bill. Tell your MP what impact is please

https://t.co/XvUS2YTe4p

[ariaclast @ariaclast]

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