Disability benefit isn't 'disposable income', says reader
Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Claire (MetroTalk, Thu) says the 'problem' working people have is that those on benefits have more disposable income than them.
It's a fact that many disabled people have extra living costs.
Many also have to supplement housing benefit payments out of their own pocket.
Many more disability benefit claimants would rather work but are unable to find jobs that offer the flexibility those with fluctuating conditions require in order to make work a reality.
Many of the myths about disabled benefit claimants are born of falsehoods fuelled by a downgrading of the sick and disabled, which has become prevalent in recent decades. This is hardly surprising when they're often described as a burden to the welfare state. James, Stockport
Claire's view is entirely misguided. People on only universal credit have no disposable income despite (variable) allowances on council tax etc.
The extra money disabled people get is to cover foreseen and unforeseen costs related to their disability and, anyway, it isn't a fortune.
The disabled and unemployed are not your enemy. It's the tax cheats and uber-wealthy millionaires and billionaires funnelling their resources towards themselves who are. Deon, Barnet
Of course Sir Keir Starmer is right to restore winter fuel payments to all but the wealthiest pensioners (MetroTalk, Thu) – but for political reasons.
Reasonably well-off pensioners managed to get through winter without the payment but they made Labour pay at the ballot box.
Pensioners make up around a quarter of the electorate and they always turn out to vote. Taking hundreds of pounds from them was always political suicide.
Mess about with pensioners, find out at the election. It's a shame Sir Keir had to be reminded of this. John, Glasgow
P Wright from Solihull (MetroTalk, Thu) argues that being willing to change your mind is a good thing, asking how many lives could have been saved if the British Army had done so on the first day of The Somme.
His analogy is unconvincing. The fact that this 'progressive' administration did not know or care that large numbers of elderly people do not have access to generously funded workplace pensions shows how politically naive it is.
The economy has barely improved since the payments were axed to all but those on pension credit so there is no financial argument to be made for reversing the cut.
It is an obvious political ploy to slow the rise of Nigel Farage's Reform and has made no difference to political polling. Chris Shepherd, London
Mick (MetroTalk, Thu) suggests Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet should watch a video of 'Israeli atrocities'. He was responding to Greta Thunberg being asked to watch a video of those carried out by Hamas on its October 7 attacks in 2023 that killed 1,200.
The environmental activist and her colleagues had been detained trying to break the aid blockade on Gaza.
The video they reportedly wanted to show Greta was of all the atrocities Hamas intentionally perpetrated against civilians – kidnap, rape and murder.
Israel is fighting a war she did not start or want and all civilian deaths in Gaza are a tragedy.
However they have been caused by Hamas using its civilians as human shields – hiding in schools, mosques and hospitals. Daniel, Milan
It is a pity Greta Thunberg did not watch the video. It may have helped her to see it is Israel that needs aid for its survival. William, Bromley
Further to the government allocating £16.7billon for nuclear power projects. More Trending
Nuclear power won't make us self-sufficient in energy because it relies on uranium, which has to be imported.
Around 50 per cent of the world's uranium comes from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Then there is the problem of radioactive waste. The facility at Sellafield is leaking waste into the ground and is expected to do so until 2050.
The vast sums that building nuclear reactors will cost would be far better spent on wave power. Roger Smith, Witham
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Spectator
10 minutes ago
- Spectator
The delusion of western Palestine activists in Egypt
As the news cycle shifts its gaze to Iran and the escalating war to prevent the psychotic Islamic theocracy from going nuclear, spare a thought for the few hundred virtue-signalling westerners who thought it would be clever to traipse through Egypt and attempt to approach the Gaza border, armed not with aid or expertise, but with slogans, smartphones, and a boundless belief in their own moral radiance. They came, allegedly, to show solidarity with Gaza. What they revealed, instead, was the sheer delusion of performative activism gone rogue. Egypt, they quickly discovered, is not Glastonbury These self-styled heroes of humanity had absorbed the wildest claims from Hamas propagandists: tales of genocide, disproportionality, and babies being starved by 'Zionists' for sport. That this information may have come from a terrorist organisation that systematically lies, stages suffering for cameras, and steals aid from its own people did not seem to give them pause. Nor did the macabre irony that Hamas triggered this war by butchering Israeli civilians on 7 October, in an Iranian-backed rampage. For the marchers, it seems context and truth are distractions. Israel is evil, Gaza is pure, and anything that complicates this infantile morality play must be ignored. And so they flew to Cairo, preening like missionaries, oblivious to the region they were entering. Egypt, they quickly discovered, is not Glastonbury. Its security services do not offer vegan meal options or safe spaces. Within days, hundreds were detained, deported, or dumped back in the capital. One might almost feel sorry for them, if it weren't all so laughable. Their misfortune wasn't just predictable, it was the logical outcome of their fantasy-driven politics colliding with a brutal, indifferent reality. One particular scene went viral, mostly because of its tragicomic absurdity. A heavily tattooed man from Wales, claiming to be a nurse and pacifist, stood theatrically in front of Egyptian officers, pleading for passage. His Welsh lilt only sharpened the absurdity: 'You do have a choice. You're humans. We're here for humanity… You are my brother. In Islam, you are my brother!' A woman beside him asked, 'Are you a Muslim?' He ignored her. The performance rolled on. 'Please, I saw them shooting pregnant women, Muslim women.' Behind him, the crowd chanted 'Free, free Palestine,' and our Florence Nightingale of farce continued: 'These people aren't Muslims doing this, they're Zionists. They're not Jewish… I stand for Islam, I stand for the people of Falesteen.' It would have been risible if it weren't so revealing. Far from being political or humanitarian action, this was mere street theatre, but it soon wore thin: even the over-enthusiastic Arabic interpreter who had manically waved his arms and relayed this poor chap's desperate message eventually wandered off, apparently bored. The Welshman carried on alone, invoking starving babies, empty breasts, and the 'white hearts' of the Arab world. This, presumably, was meant to dignify his sobbing saviour complex, but it came across as patronising. The whole thing felt like a pitiful, live-streamed hallucination or a previously unseen moment from Little Britain. But it's not just idiocy on display. There is a deeper, darker pattern at work. Though they're encouraged by the activist news angles which seek to paint the conflict in simplistic, black and white terms, like a Ladybird book version of reality, these activists do not simply fall into their beliefs. They seek them out. They aren't 'radicalised' like someone catches a cold. Instead, they walk themselves into it, one credulous, self-congratulatory step at a time. As philosopher Quassim Cassam argues, extremism isn't just about ideology or tactics, it's a mindset: rigid, conspiratorial, and self-righteous. It thrives on grievance, absolutism and moral vanity. And crucially, it is chosen. People adopt it to interpret the world in a way that flatters their self-image and justifies their hostility. In this sense, the activists' worldview isn't imposed upon them, it is cultivated, reinforced, and rehearsed, with each act of public 'solidarity' functioning as both ritual and performance. They don't appear to ask why Hamas steals aid, embeds rockets in hospitals, or uses civilians as shields. They ignore why Gaza remains under blockade: because demilitarisation and deradicalisation were never accepted. Instead, they fixate on Israel, the Jewish state, as a unique and monstrous evil. This obscene inversion is not empathy. It is hatred, moralised. And the media helps. The BBC and other outlets regurgitate Hamas casualty claims as gospel, air scripted stories by Hamas leaders' children, broadcast false claims of 'flattened' hospitals, and treat every activist as a prophet or a saint. The BBC Arabic service even insisted that Jews spit on Christians as part of a holy festival ritual (we don't). The result is a feedback loop of propaganda and performance. The media amplifies the activists. The activists believe the media. And all of them seem to reinforce each other's prejudices under the performative illusion of humanitarianism. If they cared for Palestinians, they would campaign for Hamas to disarm, for children to be educated in peace, and for aid to be routed through secure, accountable channels. They would support Israel's right to exist and defend itself, and they would call out the Islamic fanatics who hold Gaza hostage and murder and rape Jews. But that would require moral clarity, political knowledge, and a spine. Far easier to film yourself sobbing outside Rafah and post it on Instagram for instant likes and shares. In the modern world, victimhood is currency. And being manhandled by Egyptian police, or weeping theatrically for the cameras, only boosts your activist credentials. They aren't real martyrs, but they certainly play them online. This is a grotesque masquerade. It feeds anti-Semitism, empowers terrorists, and distracts from real solutions. And all for what? So a few westerners can feel righteous for an afternoon. Spare a thought indeed, but not a tear.
Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
Russia is ready to mediate on Iran, and to accept Tehran's uranium, Kremlin says
MOSCOW, June 16 (Reuters) - Russia remains ready to act as a mediator in the conflict between Israel and Iran, and Moscow's previous proposal to store Iranian uranium in Russia remains on the table, the Kremlin said on Monday. Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear power, but its swiftly-advancing uranium enrichment programme has raised fears in the wider West and across the Gulf that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon. Before Israel launched strikes on the Islamic Republic, Russia said last week that it stood ready to remove highly enriched uranium from Iran and convert it into civilian reactor fuel as a potential way to calm the crisis. "This proposal remains on the table, it remains relevant. But, of course, with the outbreak of hostilities, the situation has become seriously complicated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could help. Russia, Peskov said, remained ready to mediate if needed, but he noted the root causes of the conflict needed to be addressed and eliminated - and that the military strikes were escalating the entire crisis to beyond serious levels. "Russia remains ready to do everything necessary to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," Peskov said. "But the situation is escalating more than seriously, and, of course, this is not affecting the situation for the better." Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks to Fox News on Sunday that regime change in Iran could be a result of Israel's military attacks, Peskov said that the Kremlin had seen the remarks. "You know that we condemn those actions that have led to such a dangerous escalation of tension in the region," Peskov said. "And secondly, we also note a significant consolidation of society in Iran against the background of the bombing that is currently being carried out by the Israeli side."
South Wales Argus
35 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Israel's military claims ‘aerial superiority' over Iran's capital
The military says it has degraded Iranian air defences and missile systems to the point that its planes can now operate over Tehran without facing major threats. It says Israel now controls the skies from western Iran to Tehran. It came after Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early on Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least five killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of open warfare between the regional foes. One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, and its fallout caused minor damage, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. There were no injuries to American personnel. The site where an Iranian missile struck in Haifa, Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP) Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for Israel's sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday. Israel said so far 24 people have been killed and more than 500 injured as Iran launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones. In response the Israeli military said fighter jets had struck 10 command centres in Tehran belonging to Iran's Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran. Powerful explosions, likely from Israel's defence systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn on Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city. Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said that Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments. The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service reported that two women and two men — all in their 70s — and one other person were killed in the wave of missile attacks that struck four sites in central Israel. 'We clearly see that our civilians are being targeted,' said Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne outside the bombed-out building in Petah Tikva. 'And this is just one scene. We have other sites like this near the coast, in the south.' Petah Tikva resident Yoram Suki rushed with his family to a shelter after hearing an air raid alert, and emerged after it was over to find his apartment destroyed. 'Thank God we were OK,' the 60-year-old said. Despite losing his home, he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep up the attacks on Iran. 'It's totally worth it,' he said. 'This is for the sake of our children and grandchildren.' In addition to those killed, the MDA said paramedics had evacuated another 87 wounded people to hospitals, including a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped beneath the rubble of their homes. 'When we arrived at the scene of the rocket strike, we saw massive destruction,' said Dr Gal Rosen, a paramedic with MDA who said he had rescued a four-day-old baby as fires blazed from the building. During an earlier barrage of Iranian missiles on central Israel on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran will stop its strikes if Israel does the same. People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv on Monday (Baz Ratner/AP) But after a day of intensive Israeli aerial attacks that extended targets beyond military installations to hit oil refineries and government buildings, the Revolutionary Guard struck a hard line on Monday, vowing that further rounds of strikes would be 'more forceful, severe, precise and destructive than previous ones'. Health authorities also reported that 1,277 were wounded in Iran, without distinguishing between military officials and civilians. Rights groups, such as the Washington-based Iranian advocacy group called Human Rights Activists, have suggested that the Iranian government's death toll is a significant undercount. Human Rights Activists says it has documented more than 400 people killed, among them 197 civilians. Israel argues that its assault on Iran's top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists was necessary to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran has always insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful, and the US and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003. But Iran has enriched ever-larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have the capacity to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so.
