Ilona Pinter

📣📰Today we're launching the final report and policy briefing from the Family Finance project - a comparative mixed-methods study examining the difference that Scottish Child Payment makes to families receiving Universal Credit 🧵

CEO of scandal-ridden Deloitte gets 45% pay rise to £7.1m, 1,360 jobs cut. CEO pay = 93 times median employee pay. Firm doesn't pay employer NIC on profits shared by partners, worth £150,000 for £1m profit shared. £899m shared. 108 govt contracts in 2026, worth £650m. Friends in high places.

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Desperate stuff Home Secretary originally argued (very misleadingly) care workers shouldn't be allowed to settle because their wages were so low that they'd be a fiscal cost. Now she's arguing they shouldn't be allowed to settle because they'd get better paid jobs www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

This is fucked. Really bleak how entrenched this is becoming.

People with UK visas pay about 60% more into the NHS budget than it costs to treat them, because they pay for it through both their taxes and the immigration health surcharge, according to Nuffield Trust estimates www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/the...

What harms can extreme concentrations of wealth cause to democracy, society, the economy & the environment? Join us to hear from Tania Burchardt, @catherinewestmp.bsky.social, and Sunil Kapur at our public event. 📅3 Nov 2026 buff.ly/GdXRGi0

I spoke with @nature.com on the US Administration's new $100,000 tax on international students who stay to work. I estimate that the tax will sharply reduce the use of Optional Practical Training & thus talent inflows to the US economy. My estimates in this new paper —> www.iza.org/publications...

Very excited to see our article on the Scottish Child Payment now up! 🚨📢 #familyfinances #mixedmethods #childpoverty

The RNLI has said the abuse of volunteers in Portsmouth has forced it to close the lifeboat station there and stop operating since September 10. Nearby stations have been providing cover to the area instead. One of the UK's largest coastal cities without a lifeboat because of the far-right.

The lazy stereotype misses the point: in many places, young people face a real shortage of suitable opportunities. If we want to tackle the NEET crisis, we need to create opportunities where they are missing. Read the full report: buff.ly/FVOOmyR

The fact the rise is sharpest among EU citizens is consistent with that - such citizens will have assumed their status was secure given the Brexit treaties, but with Reform now arguing they want to restrict or revoke the rights of settled EU citizens, that no longer looks so certain

Excellent analysis as ever from @migobs.bsky.social - the big uptick in citizenship applications seems to me a logical consequence of recent political debates calling into Q the rights of those with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/press/citize...

What happens if a UK government removes benefits from EU citizens in breach of the withdrawal agreement? My analysis of the likely EU response to Reform Party policy, if ever enacted - eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2026/08/what...

The government's immigration changes are making social care's staffing crisis worse and should be scrapped. UNISON analysis shows international recruitment has fallen from 105,000 to 30,000 in two years, while the British workers in care have dropped by 70,000. unison.org.uk/press/2026/0...

BBC News - Children's stunted lungs show recovery in ultra low emission zone - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Muslim woman threatened on bus says abuse is daily She added: "This happens to me really often. If I reported every single incident, I think I would probably just live at the police station." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Nrpf guidance for English local authorities now published: www.gov.uk/government/p...

Tackling racism will benefit us all, from fairer institutions, to more equitable wealth distribution, creating healthy communities where everyone has the ability to prosper. Read the full open letter on our website 🔗

From widespread racist violence, to attacks on places of worship and burning down homes and businesses of people of colour, our new Prime Minister is inheriting a country which is ripping at the seams.

Good news. But Rayner's point that it is un-British and unfair, as well as economically and politically counterproductive, to change the rules retrospectively applies to other workers on medium- skilled work visas (technicians/chefs/etc) www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

Very cool job helping us learn as we use a systems change lens to address stigma through our programmes, policy and advocacy work. A chance to innovate and think deeply, alongside some brilliant colleagues!

Study: Women boosted more by early-career funding than men. Results could inform how UKRI designs future grant schemes to retain talent. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...

A social security take-up strategy would be a game changer for preventing financial insecurity in the UK. Huge potential to reduce the system-wide costs of poverty by ensuring everyone has enough money to live with dignity and begin to save for the future.

The problem with this is also that it hurts children disproportionately because unlike adults children will miss out on child benefit which has widest coverage & children more likely to be in poverty than working age adults and pensioners.

I hadn't noticed until I read @sonial77.bsky.social's substack that the immigration rules changes laid yesterday contain a significant change to the asylum process (despite the explanatory note saying it's "minor"). From 3 August, people can be refused asylum without a substantive interview.

Visualised: how conflict, aid cuts and health-worker attacks are helping Ebola spread in DRC

Anyone making count binface badges? Feels like there's a market.

This is just amazing.

APPGs report on incoming asylum & immigration reforms & effects on poverty published today by APPG on Poverty & @appgmigration.bsky.social - appgmigration.org.uk/appgs-publis...

Last summer we experienced a sustained and terrifying misinformation campaign. @tbij.bsky.social has just laid bare the ecosystem which generated, amplified and profited from it. www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...

DfE: Families in England will see the cost of going to school slashed from Sept, as guidance capping costs on branded uniforms is issued & more free breakfast clubs confirmed Parents at 1,400 more schools will save up to £450 through free breakfast clubs from Sept, when more than 2,700 will be live

Not really sure this is a 'surprise comeback' is it?

To handicap them and any family they have here with crippling debts, artificially prolong their temporary status and prevent them becoming citizens, as this Labour government is doing, is morally unforgivable and, ultimately, absolutely terrible social and economic policy as well.

A few token places on safe and legal routes for refugees cannot in any way mitigate or atone for what this government has done and is doing on asylum or immigration policy. A thread trying to be clear-eyed about this.

Tune in now for our take over of the @houseofcommons.parliament.uk Work & Pensions & Education Select Committee. Seven parents sharing experiences & expertise about what needs to change if we are to make a real dent in child poverty [ w/ @cpaguk.bsky.social ] www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

Of course the Home Office hasn’t produced any impact assessments of these policies as they’re “still in development”. Even though people are already getting 2.5yrs leave and the legislation for bits of it is now going to be scrutinised.

It’s hard enough to run a functioning asylum system, but the package of polices the Government is enacting on the refugee tax, temporary leave and longer settlement means the Home Office will need a whole new system for refugees as well, up to and beyond 20 years after they have been granted.

At the moment, a family of four receiving asylum support is getting about 60% of UC + CB and about 20% of median income, which according to HO protects them from destitution. Will this mean benefit recipients will have some benefits taken away through UC deductions? Suggests they might in EN

Sounds like asylum destitution test could be used to determine who has to repay in some way; this would be a very low threshold. Might be the first time that the asylum destitution definition and benefits means testing fully collide? (See screenshot below)