Winter fuel: Lyons says 86% of NI pensioners to be eligible for payment
Lyons told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme that his officials have assessed that the change in policy will mean 288,000 pensioners are in line for the payment."For comparison, across the UK as a whole about 80% of pensioners will retain [the payment], but it's slightly higher in Northern Ireland because of our lower incomes," he said. "This has been a mess from the start. The government have a lot to answer for on this. This has been handled horrifically by the government and has put a lot of worry and concern into the minds of our older people." Lyons had secured £17m from Stormont to provide a £100 one-off payment for those affected by the cut last winter.He said the Labour government's policy was misguided."I said from the start this would not have saved the government a lot of money," he said. "What we have seen is a number of pensioners reach out for help and realise they are eligible for pension credit, which is a passport for other benefits. So in that regard it'll actually cost the government more."
What are winter fuel payments?
Winter fuel payments were created in 1997 to help everyone above state pension age with their winter heating bills.The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced last year that winter 2024 would be the first time pensioners in England and Wales would not be eligible for the payment.Northern Ireland was forced to follow suit.Payments were then restricted to those on benefits and pension credit.
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Times
12 minutes ago
- Times
Airport staff paid bonuses to catch passengers with oversized cabin bags
Airport staff are earning cash bonuses for catching out easyJet passengers travelling with oversized bags, a leaked email has revealed. An internal email has revealed that staff at Swissport, an aviation company that runs passenger gates at airports, were notified they were 'eligible to receive £1.20 (£1 after tax) for every gate bag taken, effective immediately'. The email, seen by The Sunday Times, was sent to Swissport employees working at seven UK airports in Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Jersey, Liverpool and Newcastle. It introduced them to 'the easyJet gate bag revenue incentive', which is 'intended to reward agents doing the right thing' and would result in 'payments made directly to employees'. The email was sent in November 2023, and the policy is still in force. For staff concerned about meeting targets, 'internal tracking will be used to identify opportunities for further support and training for individual agents, but will not be used negatively'. It was signed — with a 'Thank you for your ongoing contribution to the success of easyJet' — by Dean Martin, a Swissport station manager at Glasgow airport. The email and its contents was first reported by the Jersey Evening Post. Ground handlers employed by another aviation company, DHL Supply Chain, at Gatwick, Bristol and Manchester airports also have a remuneration package for identifying non-compliant easyJet bags. The employees receive 'a nominal amount' per bag. EasyJet, which last year made £9 billion in revenue, allows passengers to take a small bag that fits under their seat for free. Larger bags can be put in the overhead lockers for prices starting at £5.99. For a one-way flight this week from Gatwick to Palma, Mallorca, the cost is £32.99. The financial incentive for boarding-gate staff applies if they catch a passenger whose bag is deemed too big to be taken into the cabin, either because they have not paid to take a larger suitcase on board or because their free hand luggage is too large. Boarding gates at airports usually have a metal box with the dimensions of baggage allowed on the plane. Passengers boarding flights are asked to check their bags in the box. Many travellers complain that they have been forced to pay an additional fee for their bags, and sometimes put their bags in the hold, despite their luggage seeming to meet the correct dimensions. In some cases it has led to furious rows at the boarding gate. EasyJet charges £48 at the gate — £1.20 of which is paid to the ground handler. The airline does not have oversight on the commission paid to DHL Supply Chain or Swissport staff because both companies manage the payments directly with their employees. Emily Thomas Adderson, 44, flew with easyJet from Gatwick to Athens with her husband David, 44, and their three daughters, Lily, 8, Poppy, 10, and Daisy, 12, for a half-term holiday. But the family holiday got off to a bad start after all five of their bags were seized by boarding gate staff for being too big to fit beneath an airplane seat. The family, who live in Guernsey, had to pay £240 to take the bags on board. Thomas Adderson said this was despite their bags being within the free hand baggage size and fitting inside the measurement box by the gate. When on board the plane, Thomas Adderson said she put her bag under her seat anyway. 'There is no rhyme or reason for why you get singled out,' said Thomas Adderson, who works in finance. 'They are so aggressive and then say you can join the back of the queue and not board the plane if you want, so you have to just give in and pay. 'I don't know what the secret is but I am sure there must be an incentive to get people to pay extra. There is never any kindness or human approach to the process, you just get targeted in the queue. 'It is hard enough to travel now and it has just made us really question doing that sort of thing. We haven't been away since.' On the last day of the holiday, the family's hire car was broken into while they were sightseeing at the Acropolis and all their bags were stolen. 'So we didn't have to fight the flight attendants on the way home,' Thomas Adderson said. A spokesman for easyJet said the bags were 'marginally outside the gauge' but apologised to the family and refunded the extra charges. Swissport has passenger services at 17 airports in the UK and its staff are stationed at more than 200 airports worldwide. The aviation company also provides ground handling services for Ryanair, Tui, Lufthansa and Vueling. Ryanair said it did not offer a financial incentive to Swissport staff at its gates, but did not respond to multiple requests for comment on whether it has an agreement with other third parties to which it contracts ground handling services. Lufthansa said it did not offer financial incentives to its boarding gate staff. Tui and Vueling have not yet responded to requests for a comment. Swissport ground handlers earn about £12 per hour. One former Swissport passenger service manager, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he and his colleagues had no choice but to police the line on oversized baggage. 'Confronting people with excess baggage is like taking on fare dodgers,' he said. 'You risk abuse or worse — imagine stopping a group of lads on a stag weekend and telling them, 'I'm going to have to charge you more than you paid for your tickets to check those bags into the hold'.' • Hand luggage: Ryanair, easyJet and British Airways policies explained Luggage has become a lucrative tool for airlines and bags can now cost more than the plane seat. Size allowances differ, depending on the airline, and several have shrunk in recent years. However, last week, Ryanair announced it is increasing its allowance from 40cm x 25cm x 20cm to 40cm x 30cm x 20cm, which equates to 24 litres. Last month, the EU proposed new rules that would allow passengers to bring one personal item, such as a handbag, backpack or laptop, and one item of cabin baggage weighing up to 7kg on board free of charge. The change, which would apply to any flight taking off or landing in the EU, still needs approval from 55 per cent of member nations. 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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
LGBT artists decry Supreme Court ruling as tens of thousands turn out for rainy London Pride parade
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American pop singer Chaka Khan is headlining the event that saw around 500 organisations file from Hyde Park Corner, through Piccadilly Circus, and on to Whitehall Place. Former Years And Years singer Alexander said: 'Trans people right now, they need our support and love more than ever, they're being villainised, demonised in the press, by a lot of the media, and trans people they're just like us… they're you, they're me. 'They deserve the same respect, the same rights, the same privileges, same opportunities, and that's why pride is so important this year.' The solo artist and Eurovision 2024 contestant added: 'There's been a real backlash against DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies and that's been going on for years, and I think we're in a bit of a swing, that's going against where we were maybe five years ago. 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Simon Blake, chief executive of Stonewall, which commissioned the survey, said despite the findings 'we know many LGBTQ+ people do not feel this in their neighbourhoods and workplaces'. He added: 'In policy terms, the reality is different too. The UK has dropped sharply down the global leaderboard for LGBTQ+ rights.' This year, the UK fell to its lowest-ever ranking for LGBTI human rights, an annual report found. This was because of the Supreme Court ruling and subsequent UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance, said the ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Map, which has run since 2009.
Rhyl Journal
27 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
LGBT artists decry Supreme Court ruling at rainy London Pride parade
Writer Shon Faye and the lead actor in the BBC drama What It Feels Like For A Girl, Ellis Howard, also criticised the judgment. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan shouted 'happy pride' and thousands people started to walk through central London, led by a more than a dozen motorcyclists from LGBT groups. There were shouts for 'trans rights now' as the engines roared and rain started to fall on Saturday afternoon. American pop singer Chaka Khan is headlining the event that saw around 500 organisations file from Hyde Park Corner, through Piccadilly Circus, and on to Whitehall Place. Former Years And Years singer Alexander told the PA news agency: 'Trans people right now, they need our support and love more than ever, they're being villainised, demonised in the press, by a lot of the media, and trans people they're just like us… they're you, they're me. 'They deserve the same respect, the same rights, the same privileges, same opportunities, and that's why pride is so important this year.' The solo artist and Eurovision 2024 contestant added: 'There's been a real backlash against DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies and that's been going on for years, and I think we're in a bit of a swing, that's going against where we were maybe five years ago. 'We've had the Supreme Court ruling and I feel like a lot of trans people are scared, rightfully scared, they don't understand… what their lives are going to look like.' In April the Supreme Court ruled the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex. Before the march began Shon Faye, author of Love in Exile and The Transgender Issue, said 'we've just seen an unprecedented attack on queer rights and trans rights across the world'. She told PA: 'For the trans community in particular here in the UK, we've seen an onslaught of misinformation, attacks in the media, and unfortunately the roll back of human rights in the courts. 'I think (pride) is more important than ever – I think a lot of trans people have been made to feel afraid in public space and pride this year is about taking back public space, and showing what we're not going to be silenced, and we're not going to be intimidated.' Asked what she hoped would change, Faye said: 'I feel like it's not a one year change deal… movements move in generations, I think what we have to do now is accept the reality of the situation we're in and we have to work together with other groups, within the LGBT community and outside it, to really start forming strong coalitions in order to fight this stuff. 'I think where we're going in the UK, unfortunately this rightward turn is going to continue for some time. The people together are powerful.' She added: 'I think the reality is what some of these attacks are designed to do is exhaust us… we become very focused and frightened and then sometimes it's easier to retreat in and the reality is we need to do the opposite of that – we need to be willing to work with people who aren't necessarily like us'. Howard played Paris Lees in the BBC dramatisation of her memoir and, like Alexander and Faye, was supporting trans rights charity Not A Phase at the parade. He told PA that 'we're in an incredibly precarious political time' and said pride this year is 'more important than ever'. The actor added: 'I think it's so, so important that we show up as queers, as allies, and we celebrate. Joy is an act of resistance. 'I hope it shows queers of all ages that we stand with you, we are for you, and we love you'. He added: 'The recent Supreme Court ruling concerns me, the lack of proper tangible support from our Government concerns me, the lack of funding to amazing organisations like Not A Phase really, really concerns me. 'But honestly, I look around, I see stuff like this, I see what grassroots activism can do, and the power that that can have'. A YouGov poll released ahead of the event found 67% of people in the UK believe the country is inclusive to LGBTQ+ people, and 60% would not welcome a shift towards more negative attitudes. Simon Blake, chief executive of Stonewall, which commissioned the survey, said despite the findings 'we know many LGBTQ+ people do not feel this in their neighbourhoods and workplaces'. He added: 'In policy terms, the reality is different too. 'The UK has dropped sharply down the global leaderboard for LGBTQ+ rights.' This year the UK fell to its lowest-ever ranking for LGBTI human rights, an annual report found. This was because of the Supreme Court ruling and subsequent UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance, said the ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Map, which has run since 2009.
