Telegraph
If you are a grown man and you play video games then you are throwing your life away. This is at least what The Telegraph suggests in an article that in the last few hours has been causing a lot of discussion.It is not the first time that The Telegraph has lashed out with some insistence against the videogame world. For example, last month the well-known British newspaper described video games as the next global pandemic.
Considering the tone of the previous article, this time the Telegraph lowers the bar, limiting itself to a simple bar cliché , titling the article "Grown men shouldn't waste their lives playing video games." A title that also cuts female players out of the discussion, what an injustice.
As expected, the article generated an uproar on social media, including Twitter, sparking the ire of the players. Among these there is also Ryan Brown, one of the many adults who threw his life away by playing video games and who works for the Daily Mirror and the BBC, who comments as follows:
"Video games are the greatest entertainment medium in the world. People of all ages and genders are playing video games now. Literally, how should we waste our lives if not on entertainment or art? there is a cosmic meaning in this world. Enjoy your Van Gogh, your Mario and your EastEnders. Let people enjoy things ", and we can only agree.
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Pensioners denied record rise in state pension – here's how much you will lose
The Government has broken its “triple lock” promise, denying millions of pensioners a record £822 increase in the state pension.
Thérèse Coffey, secretary of state for work and pensions, has announced a temporary suspension of the long-held Conservative manifesto pledge in a scramble to avoid a £5.4bn increase in the annual pensions bill.
The mechanism, which ensures the state pension rises by the highest of inflation, wage growth or 2.5pc, will no longer be linked to earnings for the 2022 uprating.
The state pension will rise by 2.5pc or inflation next April rather than the 8.8pc increase that was due under the triple lock. A freak jump in wage growth caused by furlough and redundancies during the pandemic made the promise unaffordable at a difficult time for public finances.
However, the Prime Minister has delivered a harsh blow to pensioners, ignoring earnings data published by the Office for National Statistics which suggested the Government use a watered down, more realistic earnings figure of 3.5pc.
If the change stays in place indefinitely, Britons will be more than £14,000 worse off by the time they reach age 85 as a result assuming the state pension rise by 2.5pc a year instead of earnings. They would get an extra £233 increase per year instead of £822. Pensioners have lost out an additional £100 in the Government's decision to opt for the lower rise of 2.5pc over the ONS's 3.5pc.
Earnings data published by the ONS last month, showed growth was at 8.8pc due to a bounce back since mass redundancies, wage cuts and furlough caused a steep fall in average earnings 12 months ago.
It is estimated the Treasury will save £5.4bn by dismantling the triple lock and blocking the historic increase.
However, 12.4 million state pensioners will be tens of thousands of pounds worse off. Someone turning 66 this year would be £14,105 out of pocket by age 85.
This is the most conservative calculation as it assumes the state pension only increases 2.5pc beyond 2022. The real loss could be far higher. The £589 difference between the two payments would compound over time, costing pensioners thousands of pounds in retirement benefits.
Any tampering of the earnings link would require a vote in Parliament as the law would need to be changed, the Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed.
But Conservative MPs have turned their backs on pensioners to lend their support to the Government. A number of backbenchers who represent constituencies with the oldest populations in Britain said they would not stand in the way when Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak tamper with the way the lock is calculated to save billions of pounds in payments.
Nigel Mills, Conservative MP for Amber Valley, said it would be hard to defend an 8pc rise when workers’ wages haven’t truly increased by that amount. However, he said he worried the Treasury would try to scrap the triple lock entirely. “They [Treasury officials] have never liked it so it is an excuse to do that. I’m all for keeping the spirit of the triple lock.”
Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and now partner at consultancy LCP, said tampering with the triple lock could “break the spell” and set a precedent for more tinkering in future.
“The great advantage of being a pensions minister with the triple lock is we didn’t have to go to the Treasury with a begging bowl to win an increase each year. The increase shouldn’t be based on what we can afford this year but it could go that way. The first time you tweak it it’s shocking and then it becomes more normal,” Sir Steve said.