Out of touch

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Out of touch

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Senior Labour figures accepted valuable gifts from Google

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  Senior Labour figures accepted valuable gifts from Google in the days before abandoning a plan to tax digital giants more, openDemocracy can reveal. Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, his senior parliamentary assistant (who is his wife), and Keir Starmer’s political director all attended Glastonbury festival in June as guests of YouTube, which is owned by Google. Including accommodation and ‘hospitality’, Reynolds estimates his Glastonbury package for two was worth £3,377 – significantly more than the cost of two regular tickets, which were £335 each. The next day, reports emerged that Labour had ditched its proposal to hike tax on digital businesses like Google. The Digital Services Tax, introduced in 2020, is a 2% levy on the UK income of online companies like search engines and social media platforms. In August last year, Reynolds and his shadow chancellor colleague Rachel Reeves had called for an increase in the tax to 10%, saying the income would be used t...
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Tipping getting out of hand

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 Tipping getting out of hand In the 18th century, a tip was a gratuity given to a servant. The OED's earliest usage of tip involving waiters comes from 1825: "Sir Harry was liberal in his ‘tips’, and consequently a great favorite of Phillips (the waiter)." In this period, however, the word could also denote a bribe, as in this usage from 1819: "To take the tip is to receive a bribe in any shape."  People complaining about needless ‘back & forth credit card game’ at restaurants. Or pretend ignorance by coffee shop staff when the iPad spins around. Or the prevalence of POS software in new types of shops that  never requested tips before . “Okay, the screen is just gonna ask you a few questions.” ​ Uh-huh, right,, like we both don’t know what this is all about. That last point is the most salient. See, it used to be just a few types of businesses that expected tips. Restaurants, cab drivers, valet parking, housekeeping, etc. But now Americans are seeing prompts...
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UK Excess Deaths

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In January 2023, there were 63,177 deaths registered in England, 6,632 deaths (11.7%) above the January five-year average (2017 to 2019, 2021 and 2022). In January 2023, there were 4,230 deaths registered in Wales, 506 deaths (13.6%) above the January average. In January 2023, the leading cause of death in both England and Wales was dementia and Alzheimer's disease (13.0% and 11.3% of all deaths, in England and Wales respectively). In January 2023, the leading cause of excess death in England was influenza or pneumonia, at 1,802 excess deaths (59.2% above average). In January 2023, the leading cause of excess death in Wales was chronic lower respiratory diseases, at 95 excess deaths (40.8% above average).  
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