Lived 🇵🇬, Travelled 🌏 and Love 👩👧👦🏳️🌈
Joined October 2021
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Clare retweeted
Sarina Wiegman has today received her honorary Damehood in recognition of her outstanding contribution to football.
Congratulations, Sarina we’re all very proud! 👏
Read more 👉 england.onelink.me/rgxW/melr…
ALT Sarina Wiegman, holding her Honorary medal, with His Royal Highness Prince William.
Clare retweeted
SIR PATRICK STEWART (1940-2026)
Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions. My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in 'Star Trek'. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”. Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes ('X-Men' of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.
His farewell performance in 'Avengers: Doomsday' is yet to be seen.
Ian McKellen 29 October 2026
Photo: University of Huddersfield
Clare retweeted
I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning. What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day - even on civilian railways. So far Putin has been responsible for the deaths of 1700 staff of Ukrzaliznytsia - Ukrainian Railways. They and their daily passengers are absolutely heroic.
When are we going to give them the air defences they need? Why won’t we unfreeze Putin’s cash and give it to Ukraine? There is more than €140 billion in a Belgian bank account - and about £10 billion in London. Britain could show a lead.
The Ukrainians are going to win - that much was clear from the last three days in their wonderful country. But we will get this dreadful war over much faster if we all get serious and give them what they need and deserve.
Clare retweeted
Not quite. It was an experiment showing that young children played for just as long with a wrapped up big empty box as they did with a present (we told them they were empty before they opened them). Not to say buy empty boxes, but that don't feel kids judge gifts by the amount you spend.
Clare retweeted
(BAD) NEWS: The @Ofgem Price Cap for Eng, Scot & Wales for the three months starting 1 October is to RISE 3.6%, even when you include the Government's six-month cut to electricity VAT that starts the same day.
When the July Cap rose by 12.6% the mitigating fact was that it was only for the low-use summer quarter. Now it will rise 3.6% ON TOP of that, so rates will be nearly 17% higher than they were in April, over the high-use winter period. Prices are the highest they've been since Winter 2023.
Here are the new 1 October Price Cap Direct Debit average UK rates (they do vary by region) including VAT when it's charged...
• Elec unit rate 26.32p/kWh (was 26.11p) UP 0.8%
• Elec standing charge 54.83p/day (was 57.19p) DOWN 4.1%
• Gas unit rate 7.97p/kWh (was 7.33p) UP 8.7%
• Gas standing charge 29.68p/day (was 29.04p) UP 2.2%
It would've been even worse without the electricity VAT cut, as otherwise on 'typical use' it would've been a rise of roughly 6.2%.
It also means those who with electricity-only use rather than gas too will see a much lower rise, and some on very low electricity-only usage may see a slight fall, as the electricity Standing Charge has been cut (mainly due to the scrapping of VAT).
Ofgem says someone on what it calculates to be 'typical use' would see their equivalent annual cost rise by £60. Yet that’s a bit misleading the Cap only lasts three months and changes again on 1 January and sadly it's currently predicted to rise substantially again then, though that's a bit of crystal-ball gazing.
IMPORTANT: The Price Cap only applies to Standard Tariffs… It dictates the maximum Unit Rate and Standing Charges firms can levy on their Standard Variable Tariffs (which around 60% of homes are).
Standard tariffs are the default you’re on if you've never switched or your fix deal ended and you did nothing. If you're fixed, or on most special tariffs, you are not on the Price Cap so its change doesn't usually impact what you pay.
Q. Why is this happening? The vast majority of the rise is the spike in wholesale rates caused by the Middle East conflict. The October Cap is set on an average of wholesale prices from 19 May to 18 August, and they were high throughout the entire period. Worse, they've kept climbing since, which is why the prediction for January is for it to get even worse.
Q. Wasn't scrapping VAT meant to stop this? It was designed to shift some costs off bills and into general taxation, and it does - but it's a drop in the ocean compared to the rise in wholesale rates.
Plus it's only VAT on electricity that's gone, which cuts electricity costs by 4.8%, all else being equal, yet all else isn’t equal, hence the overall rise. The VAT scrapping is worth about 2.5% off the Cap, without it, prices would've risen more.
Q. What happens to those on fixes? The electricity VAT cut for six months from 1 October applies to all tariffs, so those on fixes will see what they pay for electricity drop too. Otherwise fixes are unaffected by the Price Cap move (until the fix ends, when you're moved by default onto a price-capped standard tariff unless you choose to fix again).
Q. Is it time to fix if I'm on the Price Cap? The cheapest fixes are currently 7% less than the current Cap, so roughly 10% less than October's. With the Cap predicted to rise again in January, they look a decent bet. Your cheapest depends on usage and location, so use my whole-of-market by default comparison site CheapEnergyClub.com which also has a ‘Pick Me A Tariff Tool’ if you’re not good at deciding.
Though it's worth noting fixes were quite a bit cheaper about six weeks ago. If, and its a big if, things in the Middle East settle down you may be able to fix at far lower prices in future (equally things could get even worse).
So if you're someone who has been on the standard tariff for ages then the safest thing is just to get a cheap fix now (not just any fix, ensure it's as cheap as possible, don't just stick with your own firm). Though if you're a regular fixer who'll monitor the market, there's a chance waiting may turn out to be better.
There are other options than fixing too. For lower users, British Gas has a Cap Tracker that matches the Cap rates but knocks £60 off standing charges for a year (plus £20 dual-fuel cashback via MSE). And there are EV tariffs and time-of-use tariffs worth a look.
Clare retweeted
“There really won't be anything that AI can’t do better than humans, apart from being human, perhaps,” says @elonmusk.
He tells @zannymb that artificial intelligence may exceed the sum of human intelligence in about five years.
Tune in to The Insider from 6pm London time: bit.ly/4vQxWB7
Clare retweeted
I am officially nominating Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) for the Nobel Peace Prize.
No President in History has ended the same war so many times.
Our Dear Leader has ended the war with Iran at least 38 times by CNN’s count.
No President has ever done this before.
And he is nowhere near finished ending it.
It’s a record worthy of the Nobel committee’s recognition. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Clare retweeted
A ten-year-old boy walked into a computer store in Recife, Brazil, and politely asked to use one of the display tablets.
The salesperson handed it over. Instead of playing games, the boy sat down with quiet focus. He pulled out a worn notebook and pen, carefully copying notes from the screen.
Intrigued, the employees asked what he was doing.
He replied softly: “I have a geography assignment due tomorrow. We don’t have a computer at home… and we can’t afford one. This is my only chance to study.”
The security camera caught the entire moment. The video went viral.
When the store owner saw it, he didn’t hesitate. He gifted the boy a tablet and full internet access so he could study without limits.
The world isn’t fair. Some are born with every advantage, others with constant barriers not from lack of effort or talent, but from circumstances.
Yet sometimes, one act of kindness cuts through the inequality and changes everything.
Clare retweeted
An update and a message from Jeremy.
“Thank you so much for all the kind messages I've had but now, an announcement.”
Clare retweeted
"An hour with the wrong person can drain you for the next twenty-three. And an hour with the right person can make you feel like you’re floating. That’s how powerful your environment is. It either expands you or shrinks you. And you have to start choosing accordingly." @najwazebian
Clare retweeted
Out now! Part 1 of a 2-part series : how busy parents make it work - Level 1 #ESOL students @leedscitycoll share honest, real-life insights into balancing study with busy lives and family commitments and the simple ways they unwind and recharge. anchor.fm/radioesol
Clare retweeted
From the very start, to our 500th match 🏴 🦁
Our #Lionesses! ❤️
ALT A split image showing our very first England squad and a picture of tonight's team playing our 500th fixture against Iceland.
Clare retweeted
Many mix these up
A WILL only takes effect when you die. It decides who inherits your money, property & possessions
A LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY is for while you’re alive. It lets someone you trust make decisions if you lose mental capacity (earlier if you choose)
Both crucial.
ALT A post it note image with the post text on. So post text contains all you need.