Latest news with #Citizens'Advice
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I refuse to buy my kid new school shoes so colour them in with a Sharpie to last instead – trolls call me a cheapskate
A MOTHER has revealed that she is refusing to buy her child new school shoes for the rest of term as she has come up with a handy hack to keep her current pair looking fresh. Samantha Potts, a savvy woman from the UK, explained that rather than constantly splashing the cash each term on new 2 A savvy mum has shared that rather than buying her daughter new school shoes, she instead colours them in with a Sharpie Credit: Tiktok/@samanthapotts05 2 But Samantha Potts was met with harsh criticism from many, with users even calling her a "cheapskate" for her actions Credit: Tiktok/@samanthapotts05 But Samantha's quick and easy trick has been met with a barrage of nasty abuse, with mean trolls accusing her of being a ' Not only this, but other parents voiced their concern that Samantha's idea could set her young daughter, who is in Posting online, Samantha gave her followers a close-up look at her daughter's But with Samantha 'fed up of buying shoes', she got a permanent marker to give the tired footwear a freshen up for the last term. Read more parenting stories Alongside her short clip, Samantha said: 'When it's the last term of the year at school and your kid has decided to peel off her Samantha then asked: 'The question is, do I pull this bit off so it's the whole front of one Following this, she asked her followers: 'What will look better? I feel like at this stage it can't get any worse.' Showing off her daughter's coloured-in patent Most read in Fabulous The TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @ Not only this, but it's also amassed 3,324 likes, 735 comments and 296 shares. But trolls were stunned by Samantha's purse-friendly idea and many eagerly raced to the comments to voice their opinions. One person said: 'Shoe Zone £10. Go buy some You can't let her walk around like that for six weeks, please buy her some shoes TikTok user Another added: 'Never would I send my kid to school in shoes like that, regardless of it being last term or not.' A third commented: 'Asda do school shoes for £6, that works out at £1 a week!' One mother fumed: 'You can't let her walk around like that for six weeks, please buy her some shoes.' EXTRA HELP WITH SCHOOL UNIFORM COSTS IF you can't get targeted help from your council, you might have some other options available to you. In some areas, you can talk directly to your school, which might be able to offer you clothing. Or, you might be able to get cheap garments from low-budget shops or charity stores. Some charities offer help to families in need too. But bear in mind charities often have a limited amount of money to give and usually have specific criteria which must be met in order to get a grant. Charity Turn2Us has a free grants search tool on its website which you can use to find out what help is available to you. Meanwhile, you can always try approaching your nearest Citizens' Advice branch. If you don't know where your nearest Citizens' Advice branch is, you can find out by visiting If you're not eligible for a school uniform grant you might be able to get help through the Household Support Fund. Whilst another slammed: 'Or just buy your kids new shoes! Would you go out like that? No.. so why make your child?' At the same time, another fuming user wrote: 'I'll buy new shoes. This is not on. I get it times are hard but there has to be a pot for this stuff. 'I wouldn't dream of sending a child to school in those. Knowing how mean children can be, you're opening your child up to ridicule and bullying.' She is only in Year 1, most days her dresses are covered in pen or paint or her lunch from the day and she couldn't care less so I don't think a little permanent marker on her shoes is gonna bother her Samantha Potts But in response to the haters, Samantha later responded: 'Wow, didn't expect this to blow up as much as it did. 'Just to clear a few things up - she's got 31 days left. Nine of those are PE so she will be in trainers. 'Why would I teach my kid that intentionally ruining something gets rewarded? It's wasteful and the structural integrity of the shoes are still there, if they were broken I'd replace them. 'She is only in Year 1, most days her dresses are covered in pen or paint or her lunch from the day and she couldn't care less so I don't think a little permanent marker on her shoes is gonna bother her.' Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club
BBC News
13-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Keir Starmer pledges to tackle 'overcautious' and 'flabby' state
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to tackle the "overcautious" and "flabby" state to make it more in the Daily Telegraph, the prime minister insisted he was not interested in ideological arguments about whether the state should be bigger or smaller, adding: "I simply want it to work."In a speech later, Sir Keir will link the need to reshape government to global instability which has pushed up bills at home, saying the state needs to be operating at "maximum strength". But unions have warned the government will struggle to compete for skilled specialists without offering higher pay. "In such uncertain times, people want a state that will take care of the big questions, not a bigger state that asks more from them," the prime minister wrote. "The Civil Service has grown by 130,000 since the [Brexit] referendum, and yet frontline services have not improved. It's overstretched, unfocussed and unable to deliver the security people need today." In his speech, Sir Keir will promise to cut the costs of regulation for businesses by 25% to boost economic plan also includes greater use of artificial intelligence, underpinned by the mantra that civil servants should not be spending time on tasks where digital or AI can do it better and quicker. The government gave the example of an AI helper for call centre workers, in partnership with Citizens' Advice, which it said could halve the amount of time it takes call handlers to respond to complex AI and tech teams will be sent into public sector departments to improve efficiency, with one in 10 civil servants working in tech or digital roles within the next five years. Meanwhile, the PM will take aim at the "cottage industry of checkers and blockers slowing down delivery". Writing in the Telegraph, he said there had been "a tendency to avoid difficult questions by sweeping them under a carpet of regulation" to "outsource and delay decision-making and avoid accountability"."For any challenge faced, for too long the answer has been more arms-length bodies, quangos and regulators which end up blocking the government as we're trying to build," he added. Earlier this week, the government said it would abolish the Payment Systems Regulator, which looks after Faster Payments and Mastercard, because it had increased costs for small businesses. But the new Labour government has also set up more than 20 new arms-length bodies since winning power. These include Great British Energy, which will invest in renewable energy to help meet the government's clean power goals, and the Border Security Command, which aims to tackle small boat crossings. Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect trade union, which represents civil servants, said they were not "hostile to reforms" but more pay flexibility was needed to recruit and retain specialists in areas like science and data. "Government should also be doing more to utilise the talented specialists it already has at its disposal, many of whom are working in regulators and other agencies that have been starved of funding in recent years," he added. He warned against the "incendiary rhetoric and tactics we are seeing in the United States", where Elon Musk has pledged to take a "chainsaw" to the federal government and drastically cut the workforce. Earlier this year, Sir Keir was criticised for saying "too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline".However, in his Telegraph article the PM was keen to stress his criticism of the state was not aimed at individuals."The problem isn't our fantastic civil servants – it's the system they're stuck in," he Conservatives accused Sir Keir of having "no plan to reform the Civil Service or cut public spending", criticising tax increases for businesses. The Liberal Democrats said the PM was "tinkering around the edges while our economy continues to stutter". Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
