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Senior Tory claims MPs need a pay rise because living on just £82,000 a year can be ‘really grim’

His comments came on the same day the Universal Credit £20 uplift was axed

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Chris McAndrew / Wikimedia Commons

A senior Conservative politician has claimed that newer MPs are being left in a ‘desperately difficult’ situation because of their ‘grim’ £81,932 pay packet.

Worthing West MP Sir Peter Bottomley, seventy-seven, said he is not sure how new MPs ‘manage’ on their current salary, which is around £50,000-a-year higher than the UK average wage of £31,000. 

Speaking to the New Statesman yesterday, Bottomley compared the salary of an MP to that of a General Practitioner, saying: “I take the view that being an MP is the greatest honour you could have, but a general practitioner in politics ought to be paid roughly the same as a general practitioner in medicine.

“Doctors are paid far too little nowadays. But if they would get roughly £100,000 a year, the equivalent for an MP to get the same standard of living would be £110-£115,000 a year – it’s never the right time, but if your MP isn’t worth the money, it’s better to change the MP than to change the money.”

Bottomley, known as the Father of the House for being the longest serving MP in Parliament, then added that he believes the situation is ‘desperately difficult’ for newer MPs, adding: “I don’t know how they manage. It’s really grim.”

To put Bottomley’s stance into perspective; An increase of £18,000 a year to MPs’ salaries would represent a pay rise of almost 22%. The government this year offered NHS staff a rise of just 3%.

People weren’t impressed with the politician’s comments, with many taking to social media to express their outrage. One person wrote: “Oh bless. Sir Peter Bottomley MP should try living on Universal Credit. Yet another example of how out of touch the Conservative and Unionist Party government is.”

Another noted sarcastically: “Can we set up a go fund me page for the poor lambs? They must really be struggling on 82 grand a year plus allowances. Sir Peter Bottomley talking out his bottom I think.”

The politician’s comments came on the same day that the temporary £20 uplift for Universal Credit claimants was axed, setting back over 5.8 million people over £1,000 per month.

The government justified its decision by claiming that, as the economy opens back up after the Covid-19 pandemic, the focus needs to shift to getting people back to work.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told BBC Breakfast last month that the government had spent a ‘huge’ amount of money during the pandemic to provide ‘massive support’ to the economy and workers, but that ‘there was a debate about how long we could afford this’.

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Dad accidentally buys 60 pairs of reading glasses

‘He thought the packaging was a little excessive’

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@ChrisArnoldInc / Twitter & Liz West / Flickr

A dad accidentally bought 60 pairs of reading glasses after misreading an order.

The dad has gone viral on Twitter for his massive order of reading spectacles. He was left baffled as to why the parcel was so full when it arrived at his address on Sunday March 26th, leaving his son in stitches.

Tom Arnold, 61, from Perranporth in Cornwall, thought he’d only ordered one pack to share with his wife — not a whole shop’s worth. Radio and podcast host, Chris Arnold could not stop laughing as he witnessed his dad open the parcel with a bewildered look on his face.

The viral tweet read: “My Dad has accidentally bought 60 pairs of reading glasses off the internet after misreading the quantity of his order.”

Speaking about the mishap, Chris said: “I just found it hilarious, he said he thought the packaging was excessive, then he opened it up and the box was full.

“He seemed confused as to what had happened. We looked at the order and he had ordered 12 packs instead of one, as they were for him and my mum, plus spares. The order came to over £100 but he’s managed to get a refund!”

He described the incident as ‘very funny indeed’, saying it ‘cheered up’ him and his family. As the tweet went viral and accumulated thousands of likes, Specsavers jumped in on the banter as they tweeted: “Do we even need to say it?”

@chrisarnoldinc / Instagram

Chris joked in reply: “At this point guys, I don’t think you do. P.S. Are you interested in buying 59 pairs of reading glasses off my dad?”

They hilariously replied: “If you can’t shift them you might want to consider adding an extra 118 eyes to your dad’s face.”

Specsavers tweeted an update on the situation: “The glasses have been safely returned, but Chris’ dad deserves a bit of good luck. How about a free eye test and a brand-new pair of glasses for good measure?

“You really should’ve gone to Specsavers.”

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Aldi is selling wearable sleeping bags for ultimate comfort

Suitable for festival season!

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@parisdejager / TikTok

Aldi is now selling wearable sleeping bags for ultimate comfort — they even have arm and leg sections.

If you love to go to budget supermarket Aldi and have a wander over to the middle aisle, you’ll know you can find all sorts of handy and unusual things to buy.

Aldi shopper and TikTok user Paris de Jager sharedwith her followers how she picked up a wearable sleeping bag ‘onesie’, that even has leg and arm sections.

The social media user upload a video to her TikTok account @parisdejager showing her modelling the bright pink seasonal must have.

She wrote in a caption: “The sleeping bag one-z you never knew you needed until now.”

She ‘catwalked’ in her home as she showed off her incredible new bag suit by Adventuridge, looking ‘snug as a bug’.

Her video has racked up over 137k likes and many people were amazed at her incredible Aldi find.

Her followers flocked to comment and rave about the hot pink cosy number.

One said: “might just have to purchase for DofE.” Another added: “need for weekends.”

And a third joked: “Glastonbudget.” A fourth chimed in : “My reading outfit sorted.”

Aldi launched a similar wearable sleeping bag last year, and it weren’t long before the cosy suit sold out online.

You can purchase a wearable sleeping bag in time for festival season here.

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Grandma, 85, from Greater Manchester chosen as face of new Adidas advert

Well done, Barbara!

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BBC & Adidas

A ‘fit as a fiddle’ charity runner, 85, from Greater Manchester has been chosen to be one of the faces of a new Adidas advert.

Barbara Thackray, a grandmother from Altrincham, runs 10k twice a week to keep fit. She has been chosen — alongside the likes of Liverpool footballer, Mo Salah, Qatari hurdler Mariam Farid and Egyptian runner Khadija Hegazy in the new TV and YouTube advert — as one of the faces of to feature in it.

The retired college lecturer took up running eight years ago, aged 77, to raise funds for St Ann’s Hospice in Heald Green, Stockport.

She has been raising money for the hospice since her sister died there in the 1990s.

She said she watched the new advert ‘on a little screen’ and it was ‘fine’, adding: “So long as they were prepared to make a significant donation to St Ann’s Hospice, I felt ok about it.”

Ms Thackray has raised over £20,000 for St Ann’s Hospice in just a few short years, having been a champion of the organisation for over 10 years — including during her sister’s illness and eventual passing.

She’s not planning on stopping running any time soon.

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