Reader supports Farage on two-child benefit cap<\/h2>\n\nI\u2019m behind Nigel Farage\u2019s plan to bring back the two-child benefit cap (in order to fund a cut in VAT for the hospitality industry) (Metro, Wed).<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t believe it when it was brought in \u2013 it felt like slap in the face for workers.<\/p>\n
Under Reform\u2019s proposals, only households with two British parents who work full-time would be able to claim welfare for more than two children.<\/p>\n
Most workers can\u2019t afford to have more than two children \u2013 one reason I only have two is the cost.<\/p>\n
Has there been a comparison done on the number of children whose parents work and those who don\u2019t?<\/p>\n
Poverty\u00a0charities<\/a>\u00a0say it will push more children into poverty \u2013 do they know for a fact that the benefit money is actually spent on children?<\/p>\nI\u2019ve watched some non-working parents have more gadgets, designer gear and surgical procedures than those who work!<\/p>\n
I feel it has become easier and the choice is to not work. Is that not more harmful for children as it sets a bad example? If my wages were cut, I\u2019d find ways to make the money stretch \u2013 it\u2019s what workers do. Non-workers just complain.\u00a0Esther, Uxbridge<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u2018Farage has lost his mind over hatred for immigrants\u2019<\/h2>\n
Mr Farage appears to have lost his mind to hatred for immigrants.<\/p>\n
His plan to pay for reduced VAT by bringing back the two-child benefit cap doesn\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>\n
He wants to win the election by conning people into believing his sweet dreams.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If he is a real saviour for British people, his plans must be applicable. He must provide figures (from authentic sources) on how blocking single-parent families and families with non-Brit parents will pay for reduced VAT on hospitality.<\/p>\n
Had he enjoyed a pint too many of his favourite ale when drawing up this proposal? Pubs\u2019 owners must be more vigilant which old men they\u2019re serving pints to\u2026\u00a0Raheel,\u00a0London<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nReader weighs in on Mandelson<\/h2>\n\nGot a question about UK politics?<\/h2>\n\nSend in yours and Metro’s Senior Politics Reporter Craig Munro will answer it in an upcoming edition of our\u00a0weekly politics newsletter<\/a>. Email\u00a0alrightgov@metro.co.uk<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0submit your question here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"Sunday](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_280382068_e8dbe6.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646\")
<\/div>Reader says Mandelson was favoured by the government (Picture: Jeff Overs\/BBC\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nJust how the serially disgraced Peter Mandelson (aka Teflon Pete\/The Prince of Darkness) has been able to avoid retribution for his questionable (and that\u2019s putting it mildly) activities for so long can probably be explained by the fact that it\u2019s not so much who or what you know but what you know about who you know!<\/p>\n
Despite being a close ally, he was twice forced to resign from\u00a0Tony Blair<\/a>\u2019s cabinet.<\/p>\nFor anyone other than someone with friends in very high places, that would have been the end of Teflon Pete\u2019s career.<\/p>\n
But in 2004, Blair nominated him as the UK\u2019s EU Commissioner for Trade, where he remained in post until 2008 when he was elevated to the Lords by Blair\u2019s successor, Gordon Brown. Not bad, eh?<\/p>\n
Then, in 2025, in an act of stupendous folly, our current prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, appointed Mandelson as the UK\u2019s Ambassador to Washington as part of his grovelling approach to the Trump regime. And that went well, didn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
After just seven months, Starmer was forced to sack him from that post over his links to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Further revelations about this relationship have seen Mandelson resign from the Labour Party and face a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n
Having watched this Machiavellian manipulator get away with so much over the years, I confess to enjoying a degree of schadenfreude over the downfall of a scoundrel.\u00a0Bob Readman, Sevenoaks<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat causes pot holes?<\/h2>\n
I\u2019d say as many as 90 per cent of pot holes in the UK are caused by a crowd of cowboys who work for water, gas and electricity firms and the like.<\/p>\n
They dig their holes to repair faults or replace pipes, wires etc and when they are done they fill in the hole. They are supposed to revisit their work days later to make sure the hole has not sunk or distorted and is safe for cars.<\/p>\n
Obviously this is not happening. So why do councils not have the work checked themselves? If it is not up to scratch, they can fine the company and make them repair their faulty work.\u00a0Andy, Edinburgh<\/strong><\/p>\nIs the US\u2019s \u2018attack\u2019 on Iran about oil?<\/h2>\n\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_280420438-feed.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646\")
<\/div>This reader says US-Iran conflict is due to oil (Picture: AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nJ Smyth (MetroTalk, Tue) implies that a possible US attack on\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0is to do with the fate of Iranian protesters.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Oil, is all it\u2019s about. Oil, oil, oil. When the attack happens, innocent civilians will die in their thousands as usually happens when the US and it\u2019s allies indulge in illegal wars.\u00a0B Butterfield,\u00a0Leeds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nIs February a \u2018Happy New Year\u2019?<\/h2>\n
I heard someone say \u2018Happy New Year\u2019 on Tuesday. It was February 3. Pedro, London<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reader supports Farage on two-child benefit cap I\u2019m behind Nigel Farage\u2019s plan to bring back the two-child benefit cap (in order to fund a cut in VAT for the hospitality industry) (Metro, Wed). I couldn\u2019t believe it when it was brought in \u2013 it felt like slap in the face for workers. Under Reform\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
I\u2019m behind Nigel Farage\u2019s plan to bring back the two-child benefit cap (in order to fund a cut in VAT for the hospitality industry) (Metro, Wed).<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t believe it when it was brought in \u2013 it felt like slap in the face for workers.<\/p>\n
Under Reform\u2019s proposals, only households with two British parents who work full-time would be able to claim welfare for more than two children.<\/p>\n
Most workers can\u2019t afford to have more than two children \u2013 one reason I only have two is the cost.<\/p>\n
Has there been a comparison done on the number of children whose parents work and those who don\u2019t?<\/p>\n
Poverty\u00a0charities<\/a>\u00a0say it will push more children into poverty \u2013 do they know for a fact that the benefit money is actually spent on children?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve watched some non-working parents have more gadgets, designer gear and surgical procedures than those who work!<\/p>\n I feel it has become easier and the choice is to not work. Is that not more harmful for children as it sets a bad example? If my wages were cut, I\u2019d find ways to make the money stretch \u2013 it\u2019s what workers do. Non-workers just complain.\u00a0Esther, Uxbridge<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr Farage appears to have lost his mind to hatred for immigrants.<\/p>\n His plan to pay for reduced VAT by bringing back the two-child benefit cap doesn\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>\n He wants to win the election by conning people into believing his sweet dreams.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If he is a real saviour for British people, his plans must be applicable. He must provide figures (from authentic sources) on how blocking single-parent families and families with non-Brit parents will pay for reduced VAT on hospitality.<\/p>\n Had he enjoyed a pint too many of his favourite ale when drawing up this proposal? Pubs\u2019 owners must be more vigilant which old men they\u2019re serving pints to\u2026\u00a0Raheel,\u00a0London<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Send in yours and Metro’s Senior Politics Reporter Craig Munro will answer it in an upcoming edition of our\u00a0weekly politics newsletter<\/a>. Email\u00a0alrightgov@metro.co.uk<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0submit your question here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Just how the serially disgraced Peter Mandelson (aka Teflon Pete\/The Prince of Darkness) has been able to avoid retribution for his questionable (and that\u2019s putting it mildly) activities for so long can probably be explained by the fact that it\u2019s not so much who or what you know but what you know about who you know!<\/p>\n Despite being a close ally, he was twice forced to resign from\u00a0Tony Blair<\/a>\u2019s cabinet.<\/p>\n For anyone other than someone with friends in very high places, that would have been the end of Teflon Pete\u2019s career.<\/p>\n But in 2004, Blair nominated him as the UK\u2019s EU Commissioner for Trade, where he remained in post until 2008 when he was elevated to the Lords by Blair\u2019s successor, Gordon Brown. Not bad, eh?<\/p>\n Then, in 2025, in an act of stupendous folly, our current prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, appointed Mandelson as the UK\u2019s Ambassador to Washington as part of his grovelling approach to the Trump regime. And that went well, didn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n After just seven months, Starmer was forced to sack him from that post over his links to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Further revelations about this relationship have seen Mandelson resign from the Labour Party and face a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n Having watched this Machiavellian manipulator get away with so much over the years, I confess to enjoying a degree of schadenfreude over the downfall of a scoundrel.\u00a0Bob Readman, Sevenoaks<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019d say as many as 90 per cent of pot holes in the UK are caused by a crowd of cowboys who work for water, gas and electricity firms and the like.<\/p>\n They dig their holes to repair faults or replace pipes, wires etc and when they are done they fill in the hole. They are supposed to revisit their work days later to make sure the hole has not sunk or distorted and is safe for cars.<\/p>\n Obviously this is not happening. So why do councils not have the work checked themselves? If it is not up to scratch, they can fine the company and make them repair their faulty work.\u00a0Andy, Edinburgh<\/strong><\/p>\n J Smyth (MetroTalk, Tue) implies that a possible US attack on\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0is to do with the fate of Iranian protesters.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oil, is all it\u2019s about. Oil, oil, oil. When the attack happens, innocent civilians will die in their thousands as usually happens when the US and it\u2019s allies indulge in illegal wars.\u00a0B Butterfield,\u00a0Leeds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n I heard someone say \u2018Happy New Year\u2019 on Tuesday. It was February 3. Pedro, London<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reader supports Farage on two-child benefit cap I\u2019m behind Nigel Farage\u2019s plan to bring back the two-child benefit cap (in order to fund a cut in VAT for the hospitality industry) (Metro, Wed). I couldn\u2019t believe it when it was brought in \u2013 it felt like slap in the face for workers. Under Reform\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\u2018Farage has lost his mind over hatred for immigrants\u2019<\/h2>\n
Reader weighs in on Mandelson<\/h2>\n
Got a question about UK politics?<\/h2>\n
<\/div>What causes pot holes?<\/h2>\n
Is the US\u2019s \u2018attack\u2019 on Iran about oil?<\/h2>\n
<\/div>Is February a \u2018Happy New Year\u2019?<\/h2>\n