Here's one way to pay off our £2 trillion Covid debt | Rick Jackson

The furlough scheme has gone a long way in retaining jobs and livelihoods, keeping a roof over people’s heads, but that scheme will not last forever and I doubt could be repeated in the event of a second major wave of Covid-19.

We are in difficult times and I think we all understand that. Many people say to me they feel lucky they simply have a job.

I too have that feeling, especially as my industry, like many, is all about consolidation and centralisation.

Many businesses and their employees simply do things because ‘we need the money’ as many companies struggle to survive.

So now should be the time that everyone pays their fair share to keep Britain afloat and into our new brave world fully outside the EU in 2021.

The government now needs to get tough to start paying back this £2 trillion and although we still want to be open for business, we should not be taken advantage of by business.

I’m talking about the huge corporates, the ones that pay little or no tax in the UK.

Amazon, which turns over about £2 billion in the UK are only paying £5m in corporation tax.

Facebook paid £28m in tax last year after turning over £1.6 billion. Boy, their operational costs must be sky high if they paid just £28m tax on their profits. Google is another, £44m in tax on a turnover of £1.6 billion in the UK.

We need to wake up to these companies and tax them accordingly.

And this one makes my blood boil. Struggling high street chain, the much-loved Marks & Spencer, paid

more than £65m in tax last year. That is more than Amazon has paid in the UK over the past 20 years.

The government needs to tighten the tax laws on these multi-national companies.

What on earth is the government afraid of?

Surely these companies need our business more than we do?

Why I am falling out of love with the beautiful game

Football has was well and truly lost its gloss for me. Some Premier League clubs put low-earning staff on furlough while one chairman of a club with furloughed staff was paid £4m and received a £3m bonus.

Now we hear of more than £200m being spent by one club on transfers and another club interested in one player valued at £100m.

Many of us worry about our futures as we hear of one English player being arrested in Greece and another going to a party where the host has tested positive for Covid-19. Fourteen Premier League footballers have since tested positive.

Dear footballers, remember what you said: ‘We are all in this together.’

So act like it.

Our kids are turning feral so they MUST go back to school

You must think I’m in a right old grump this week? It’s not surprising though as we’ve had to cancel holiday plans thanks to the growing Covid situation in Europe, meaning we’ve lost the holiday with no refund.

On top of that, the kids desperately need to go back to school as they’re turning feral! We are out most days with them, but still they drive us mad with the mess and havoc they create.

I’m sure people walking past our house at bath time think there is a massacre going on inside! It would top it all off now if the schools weren’t to reopen in September. I don’t think we can cope much longer.

We love our children with all our hearts, but sometimes we don’t like them much!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​