Alex Collinson
@alexcollinson.bsky.social
Research and analysis officer at the TUC.
A bit of delusional confidence that I have is that every time I receive a verification code I think to myself “could’ve guessed that”.
November 16, 2025 at 7:30 PM
A bit of delusional confidence that I have is that every time I receive a verification code I think to myself “could’ve guessed that”.
Today is disability pay gap day - the day that the average disabled employee stops getting paid for the year compared to non-disabled employees.
Disabled employees earn, on average, £2.24 per hour less than non-disabled employees.
Disabled employees earn, on average, £2.24 per hour less than non-disabled employees.
November 12, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Today is disability pay gap day - the day that the average disabled employee stops getting paid for the year compared to non-disabled employees.
Disabled employees earn, on average, £2.24 per hour less than non-disabled employees.
Disabled employees earn, on average, £2.24 per hour less than non-disabled employees.
I was once accused of performatively reading a thesaurus on the train, but I was actually ostentatiously perusing it.
November 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
I was once accused of performatively reading a thesaurus on the train, but I was actually ostentatiously perusing it.
Often get annoyed by other walkers blocking the path etc., but think it’s silly to believe that someone breaking your idea of what good walking etiquette is justifies filming them without their consent and putting them online. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
The ‘pavement vigilante’: why Cameron Roh is naming and shaming bad walking etiquette
He films people breaking his self-created ‘laws’ of street decorum and posts the videos online – with many viewers expressing their gratitude. So watch out if you’re rushing along on your phone or whe...
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Often get annoyed by other walkers blocking the path etc., but think it’s silly to believe that someone breaking your idea of what good walking etiquette is justifies filming them without their consent and putting them online. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
New Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) out this morning.
Pay growth over the past year highest among lowest earners (likely due to min wage rises) and highest earners (some big pay growth in finance industry this year). Median real pay growth at 1.3%.
Pay growth over the past year highest among lowest earners (likely due to min wage rises) and highest earners (some big pay growth in finance industry this year). Median real pay growth at 1.3%.
October 23, 2025 at 9:07 AM
New Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) out this morning.
Pay growth over the past year highest among lowest earners (likely due to min wage rises) and highest earners (some big pay growth in finance industry this year). Median real pay growth at 1.3%.
Pay growth over the past year highest among lowest earners (likely due to min wage rises) and highest earners (some big pay growth in finance industry this year). Median real pay growth at 1.3%.
Reposted by Alex Collinson
2/2
Charlie Nunn's argument just doesn't hold water.
Lloyds will announce their billions of pounds of Q3 profits tomorrow, not from 'investing in the real economy', but inflated by high interest rates.
Windfall profits need a windfall tax. Email your MP 👇bit.ly/TaxTheBanksMPEmail
Charlie Nunn's argument just doesn't hold water.
Lloyds will announce their billions of pounds of Q3 profits tomorrow, not from 'investing in the real economy', but inflated by high interest rates.
Windfall profits need a windfall tax. Email your MP 👇bit.ly/TaxTheBanksMPEmail
Contact your MP to #TaxTheBanks
Ask your MP to write to Rachel Reeves to #TaxTheBanks in her Autumn Budget! Big banks have raked in billions thanks to higher interest rates without having to lift a finger - it’s time for them to pay...
bit.ly
October 22, 2025 at 9:54 AM
2/2
Charlie Nunn's argument just doesn't hold water.
Lloyds will announce their billions of pounds of Q3 profits tomorrow, not from 'investing in the real economy', but inflated by high interest rates.
Windfall profits need a windfall tax. Email your MP 👇bit.ly/TaxTheBanksMPEmail
Charlie Nunn's argument just doesn't hold water.
Lloyds will announce their billions of pounds of Q3 profits tomorrow, not from 'investing in the real economy', but inflated by high interest rates.
Windfall profits need a windfall tax. Email your MP 👇bit.ly/TaxTheBanksMPEmail
Very surprising that the guy who is being paid £5.6 million a year is against his employer's massive profits being taxed.
Lloyds Banking Group CEO Charlie Nunn has urged the chancellor to ignore calls for a windfall tax on commercial banks, even though the sector is enjoying record profits.
Sky's Gurpreet Narwan looks at whether it's time to increase taxes on banks.
🔗https://trib.al/IQr3kF0
Sky's Gurpreet Narwan looks at whether it's time to increase taxes on banks.
🔗https://trib.al/IQr3kF0
October 22, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Very surprising that the guy who is being paid £5.6 million a year is against his employer's massive profits being taxed.
I know it's a bit much to describe lewisham shopping centre as iconic, but I do think it's fair to be sceptical of the regeneration when the development directly across the road promised a cinema it hasn't delivered and has been uninhabitable for six months.
www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/2501508...
www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/2501508...
Leak leaves 400 tenants unable to live in new-build Lewisham flats for 6 months
More than 400 neighbours will be unable to return to their new-build Lewisham flats for at least another six months after a “catastrophic"…
www.newsshopper.co.uk
October 21, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I know it's a bit much to describe lewisham shopping centre as iconic, but I do think it's fair to be sceptical of the regeneration when the development directly across the road promised a cinema it hasn't delivered and has been uninhabitable for six months.
www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/2501508...
www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/2501508...
So far this year, the big four banks have made just under £1 billion profit every week.
In 2023, the tories cut the bank surcharge (a tax on bank profits) from 8% to 3%.
Returning the surcharge to 8% would raise £8bn over four years. Doubling it to 16%: £20bn. A 35% surcharge could deliver £50bn.
In 2023, the tories cut the bank surcharge (a tax on bank profits) from 8% to 3%.
Returning the surcharge to 8% would raise £8bn over four years. Doubling it to 16%: £20bn. A 35% surcharge could deliver £50bn.
October 21, 2025 at 2:11 PM
So far this year, the big four banks have made just under £1 billion profit every week.
In 2023, the tories cut the bank surcharge (a tax on bank profits) from 8% to 3%.
Returning the surcharge to 8% would raise £8bn over four years. Doubling it to 16%: £20bn. A 35% surcharge could deliver £50bn.
In 2023, the tories cut the bank surcharge (a tax on bank profits) from 8% to 3%.
Returning the surcharge to 8% would raise £8bn over four years. Doubling it to 16%: £20bn. A 35% surcharge could deliver £50bn.
Good news on taxes on the wealthy. TUC polling shows widespread support across the political spectrum for a package of wealth taxes, whether thats equalising capital gains tax with income tax, a windfall tax on the banks and/or gambling companies, or a wealth tax on assets.
Just had a chat with Rachel Reeves in Washington. She:
- says taxes on wealthy will feature in budget
- wants UK bond yields back in line with rest of G7
- says OBR should have revised forecasts earlier
- promises continued investment, no return to austerity
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
- says taxes on wealthy will feature in budget
- wants UK bond yields back in line with rest of G7
- says OBR should have revised forecasts earlier
- promises continued investment, no return to austerity
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Rachel Reeves says higher taxes on wealthy ‘part of the story’ for November budget
Chancellor hints at rises and calls out past ‘scaremongering’ over VAT on private schools and changes to non-doms
www.theguardian.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Good news on taxes on the wealthy. TUC polling shows widespread support across the political spectrum for a package of wealth taxes, whether thats equalising capital gains tax with income tax, a windfall tax on the banks and/or gambling companies, or a wealth tax on assets.
Once you have over a certain amount of characters in the book, you need to put one of those character lists at the start like Ferrante does. At least an index that tells you the first page they were mentioned. Pg. 300 reference to a character you briefly mentioned on pg. 21? You're killing me here.
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
October 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Once you have over a certain amount of characters in the book, you need to put one of those character lists at the start like Ferrante does. At least an index that tells you the first page they were mentioned. Pg. 300 reference to a character you briefly mentioned on pg. 21? You're killing me here.
Cafe near the office has celebrity quotes along the window and I feel like there’s a real vibe shift by the time you get to the third one.
October 14, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Cafe near the office has celebrity quotes along the window and I feel like there’s a real vibe shift by the time you get to the third one.
Double whammy of this is how awful and aggressive council tax debt collection can be. If you miss one payment, you can quickly become liable for the full year's worth of council tax. Councils often use bailiffs to collect this debt, which then adds court costs and bailiff fees to the debt.
Council Tax arrears in England increased during the pandemic.
Arrears continued to rise during the cost of living crisis - with £445 million added to England’s stock of arrears between 2023-24 and 2024-25. This is much greater than the rise seen after the financial crisis.
Arrears continued to rise during the cost of living crisis - with £445 million added to England’s stock of arrears between 2023-24 and 2024-25. This is much greater than the rise seen after the financial crisis.
October 10, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Double whammy of this is how awful and aggressive council tax debt collection can be. If you miss one payment, you can quickly become liable for the full year's worth of council tax. Councils often use bailiffs to collect this debt, which then adds court costs and bailiff fees to the debt.
A reminder that we're only just out of a 16-year real pay crisis.
Real average weekly pay (pay once you take inflation into account) only returned to it's 2008 level last year. Even now, we're only £9p/w above it.
Real weekly pay would be £298 higher if it had grown at pre-crisis rates since 2008.
Real average weekly pay (pay once you take inflation into account) only returned to it's 2008 level last year. Even now, we're only £9p/w above it.
Real weekly pay would be £298 higher if it had grown at pre-crisis rates since 2008.
October 9, 2025 at 11:05 AM
A reminder that we're only just out of a 16-year real pay crisis.
Real average weekly pay (pay once you take inflation into account) only returned to it's 2008 level last year. Even now, we're only £9p/w above it.
Real weekly pay would be £298 higher if it had grown at pre-crisis rates since 2008.
Real average weekly pay (pay once you take inflation into account) only returned to it's 2008 level last year. Even now, we're only £9p/w above it.
Real weekly pay would be £298 higher if it had grown at pre-crisis rates since 2008.
Reposted by Alex Collinson
Asking people to pay for goods would kill the shoplifting industry ...
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
October 9, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Asking people to pay for goods would kill the shoplifting industry ...
Seen this report referenced as evidence of a wealth exodus again this morning, this time in The Independent. Shocking that journalists continue to use them given that they're widely discredited.
Good to see more scrutiny of these numbers, but why weren't the journalists & newspapers using them for sensationalist headlines asking these questions before publishing?
Also odd to pretend these are new doubts - The Londoner published the same concerns in early May. www.ft.com/content/28eb...
Also odd to pretend these are new doubts - The Londoner published the same concerns in early May. www.ft.com/content/28eb...
Doubt cast on widely quoted millionaire migration numbers
Report published in association with Henley & Partners criticised for use of LinkedIn data and definition of ‘private wealth’
www.ft.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Seen this report referenced as evidence of a wealth exodus again this morning, this time in The Independent. Shocking that journalists continue to use them given that they're widely discredited.
Reading Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin
October 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reading Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin
Guy in the pub watching, full volume, the Gary Neville hosted episode of Have I Got News For You from 2022.
October 6, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Guy in the pub watching, full volume, the Gary Neville hosted episode of Have I Got News For You from 2022.
Reposted by Alex Collinson
… TUC commissioned polling found huge support for a package of taxes on wealth to invest in our local services, our NHS and more.
Also huge support for a gambling levy, a windfall tax on banks, a 2% annual wealth tax, and for modernising our tax system to be more progressive.
Also huge support for a gambling levy, a windfall tax on banks, a 2% annual wealth tax, and for modernising our tax system to be more progressive.
September 28, 2025 at 3:57 PM
… TUC commissioned polling found huge support for a package of taxes on wealth to invest in our local services, our NHS and more.
Also huge support for a gambling levy, a windfall tax on banks, a 2% annual wealth tax, and for modernising our tax system to be more progressive.
Also huge support for a gambling levy, a windfall tax on banks, a 2% annual wealth tax, and for modernising our tax system to be more progressive.
A bit intense for the side of a takeaway coffee cup.
September 23, 2025 at 12:23 PM
A bit intense for the side of a takeaway coffee cup.
This article a good summary of the rental market: it's all about a landlord being so scared of the changes they've sold 1 of their 9 flats, then about two-thirds in you finally hear from a renter who hopes the changes will stop her & her child being made homeless again. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Renters' Right Bill: 'I've sold my flat before new bill becomes law'
Patricia sells one of her properties in London, saying landlords are
www.bbc.co.uk
September 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This article a good summary of the rental market: it's all about a landlord being so scared of the changes they've sold 1 of their 9 flats, then about two-thirds in you finally hear from a renter who hopes the changes will stop her & her child being made homeless again. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Visited a place called Par last week and the local hairdressers was called Parsnip.
September 15, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Visited a place called Par last week and the local hairdressers was called Parsnip.
Reposted by Alex Collinson
Wealth tax needed to help working people and avoid threat from Reform, says union chief
Wealth tax needed to help working people and avoid threat from Reform, says union chief
Exclusive: Paul Novak says Rachel Reeves should ‘stay the course’ on plans for investment
Rachel Reeves should bring in wealth taxes at the autumn budget to deliver the change promised by Labour at the election and battle the rising threat from Reform, the UK’s most senior union chief has said.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), urged the chancellor to “stay the course” on her plans to invest in the country, adding that the government should not be afraid of adopting “a little bit” of economic leftwing populism. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
September 3, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Wealth tax needed to help working people and avoid threat from Reform, says union chief