A Cautionary Tale

£12,500 in your pocket today sounds like relief, but what if the price is your state pension arriving a year later? We get into the Citizens Advance proposal making waves in the UK and ask the real question underneath the headlines: do younger generations still believe retirement is guaranteed, or does it feel like the goalposts keep moving until there is nothing left to reach?

From there, I go deeper into something more personal and more uncomfortable: how faith can support you, and how it can also become a cage when it turns into rigid thinking and public performance. Using the way relationship breakdowns play out online, I talk about boundaries, discernment, and why “God told me” cannot replace self-trust, evidence, and honest reflection. We also touch on the pressure many women carry around marriage timelines, modesty culture, and the difference between wanting partnership and being consumed by it.

We zoom out to the systems shaping all of this: the cost of living crisis, frozen tax thresholds, the daily stress of bills, and the frustration of paying into services that feel hard to access. Along the way, I break down pension basics people often miss, why marketing claims like “100% leak-free” matter in women’s health, and why collective action and unions often achieve what individual complaining cannot. If you care about financial literacy, workplace reality, women’s confidence, and critical thinking, this one will land.

Subscribe, share with your group chat, and leave a review if the conversation hits home. Would you take the £12,500 or protect the pension year?

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Music (Intro and Outro) Written and created by Nomadic Star

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Transcript

Cold Open And Return

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Oh yeah, out of the space, out with space, but genetic space from Goldman's acts to WC. Building legacy for all systems. This leg just couldn't stop this low. Love the creatures, watch me grow. Let's just up the game which joke. Every sister how to own their throat. T Oya, let me show you how to not forget to elevat what we do.

Chickenpox, Burnout, And Melatonin

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Hey everyone, how are we all doing? Welcome back to the Toy Talks podcast. It always feels that there's been like a long time in between, but it's usually just like one or two weeks. Okay, two or three weeks. But um, anyway, let me tell you, my daughter had a very severe case of chicken pox. I've never seen chicken pox like this in my life, and I had chicken pox when I was about seven or eight, so I do caveat this by saying that I'm just glad that my daughter got chickenpox early, but I was still shocked at kind of how chicken pox has evolved over the years because uh it was a lot, um, and I'm definitely still recovering as a mother because whether you have a partner or not, but as a mum, as a primary caregiver, as a lot of us are, it is a lot. Um, the clinginess, you name it. Um, so I haven't had a full eight hours sleep in what feels like weeks, and uh, I've recently discovered melatonin. So I just want to say y'all are out of order because no one told me about melatonin. There's a particular melatonin brand in the US, and I coincidentally was having a conversation with a friend, and she had um some melatonin in her house from America, the one that I was after. I'm so grateful to her. She's given me some, like a bag full. And um when she goes to America, she'll be getting me some more. And I've got another friend in the States coming over soon. She'll be getting me some as well. Because let me tell you, it's not about being codependent on melatonin, it's about being a career woman wearing several hats, mother, mother as one of them, and actually not remembering the last time I had good quality sleep, so it's less about how many hours, it's about the quality of sleep now. Because I realized that I could have four hours of sleep and yet feel like I've not slept at all. And that to me is what I'm I was I'm trying to work on. So, anyone who is having sleep issues or whatever, I would say do your research, yeah, because melatonin is not for everyone. I know someone who had a really bad trip on melatonin and has vowed never to take it. Um, I'm on my third today, will be my third day, and obviously it's not something you should use every day, I get that, but until I can kind of get back to an acceptable quality of sleep, I'm gonna be taking it daily. Okay. Um anyway, listen, there's a few things I want us to cover here on the podcast, and typically when I prepare for the podcast, I do the treatment for it, I make sure that I make my notes, I do my research because you know we back by facts, honey. Um, but um this particular topic, I haven't done a treatment, more so because I just wanna okay.

Religious Psychosis And Public Oversharing

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Do you believe in religious psychosis? You're probably thinking, what are you talking about, Toya? So I have, and I'm I'm gonna speak very freely here because when you put something on YouTube, you clearly want people to watch. So I've spoken about Brini Lee on this podcast before, and Briny Lee is an OG YouTube content creator, she is so insanely stunningly beautiful, very striking beauty. Um, and you you can tell that God took his time when he was creating her, she is beautiful. You know, let me let me just let me okay. I think people should use any outlook that they see fit in dealing with whatever they're going through. Who are we to judge? But I do think that there comes a point where even for yourself, you have to have boundaries where you know within your mind actually this is not for public consumption, and it's it's interesting because millennials we understand, recognize, and lived through a life pre-social media. So I caveat this by saying that there is a privilege I have in saying what I've just said because I didn't grow up with social media. Social media came after my childhood, every everything had been done outside of the gays. I was able to make my mistakes and live a very good childhood. I had fun, you know, and nothing was recorded. There's no, you do understand? Whereas I understand that a few uh generations that have now come after us are living and growing with social media as part of their ecosystem, part of their culture is social media, which is really interesting because I would never say as a millennial, social media is part of our culture, because it's not, it's just something that we've had to acclimatize and get to know as it has evolved. So we have now watched it go from you know what is it, high five. Um, there was another one as well, like um, I can't remember what the other ones are now that's been discontinued, but now we're here. Um, the world of TikTok, Instagram, X, um, Snapchat, and it is just crazy, even like Clubhouse during COVID, that's a form of social media too. But just to see the evolution of social media is if you speak to a millennial, it blows our mind because we're from the era of floppy discs, dial up, you know, you're happy that your your connection has has stayed afloat because when that dial up goes, you know they say lots, innit? You know the megabytes are biting. So I say this to say, I don't know, Briny Lee is not a millennial. I I believe that she I don't think she I don't think she is, so I stand to be corrected. I know someone will correct me in the comments, but I don't actually think she's a millennial because I don't we're all different, but millennials we move slightly differently in that we understand that it doesn't need to be recorded, like do you get what I mean? Like so Bree Lee recently shared and has taken taken us on a voyage through her breakup of her engagement, and it's come with a lot of the the background that it's come from has you know, she she has very heavily centred men as part of her USP, and I think we can't get away from that. It's not being rude, it's not a diss, it's not a I'm not calling her out. I'm telling you that Brini Lee centers men in her rhetoric, in everything, even the modest, um, modest clothing brand that she has centers men. Men are very, very crucial and very, very critical to her brand. And I don't think anyone accepted that as part of a USB. We just knew that she was male adjacent always. And one thing I do respect about Briny Lee, inasmuch as I feel like she's put everything on Front Street, she has tried to be she's been honest in so far as I think she has the capacity to be. Because I think that there is a there is a lot of I have a lot of questions about how have you come to center men so prominently? Like, where does that come from? What is the root of that? And it's actually really been quite sad to watch her crash out over this engagement that she alleges that she called called off. But even before then, you know, she would share certain things about her the relationship she's in, how she's been mistreated. I know that there was this a big falling out between her and Kojo the comedian, and he really dragged her on social media. It's been a lot. So when I say it's been a voyage, I'm talking about, do you know what I mean? I'm talking about, you know, these cruise ships docking. We've we've docked at every port of emotion, of every port of conversation when it has come to men. And one of my really good friends who I just love so much, Bimpei, her and I, we just we literally we talk about like that. Is one she's one of my closest friends, we talk about a lot, and whenever we talk about social media, we talk about the evolution, we have touched on Breenie Liam, and it's funny because I was less empathetic because I'm I'm really exhausted um with how Christian women especially and I I call them the radical Christians, and and and listen, I was raised in the church, I've made no um, I've made no uh bones of that. I I understand, do you understand? I I grew up in a church. When I got to 18, my dad said, Listen, I've I've shown you religion, I've taught you religion. Now you get to go through your own journey of religion, you have to develop your own journey with God, and it's probably one of the best things ever because what it showed me is that religion isn't about control, it's about a relationship choice of understanding and having respect for a higher being and understanding the root of that religion and and actually what values and the the my moral compass came from religion. So when I converted to Islam when I was 18, my dad was not surprised. Do you understand? And even though I converted back to Christianity, I have shared with everybody that I hold um I've I hold very firmly a lot of um um uh Islamic practices, and I would not be surprised as I get older to fully convert to Islam. That wouldn't surprise me whatsoever, and it shouldn't surprise anyone because I align a lot more with Islam than I do with Christianity, but I respect the fact that I was raised in a Christian home, and a lot of the things that you know I learned and grew up with, something that I always hold true to is that I was always given freedom to of freedom of will, um, to never follow anything blindly without question and having conversation and being open to be challenged.

Faith, Freedom, And Being Challenged

SPEAKER_01 10:49

I definitely think that radical Christians don't like to be challenged. Everything, if it's not in the Bible, it doesn't exist, and that to me is not real life because um the scripture needs to be applied to real life, especially if you're going to read it word for word, word for word. But then I take it even further and I say if you want to talk about the root of Christianity, especially in Africa, it was that was a religion that was brought to Africa. Um, Nigeria, Africa as a as a continent, but specifically Nigeria where I'm from, um, we already had religion, and through slavery, through colonization, through violence and through aggression, uh we were told that actually, no, your spirituality, put that in the bin and adopt this new way of of thinking and this new religion. So I'm I'm a I'm a spiritual woman, but I hold firm to a lot of um, I align very if if there is a religion that one aligns more firmly to, I would say it'd be Islam. But I, you know, in informs, in every anytime I'm asked, I say I'm very spiritual. Now I give all this backdrop just to provide context for maybe people who are new listeners, or maybe someone who doesn't know me or know my background, because I don't just assume people just know me, although my regular listeners we go together real bad. Briny Lee is a radical Christian, so for her, and the thing and how I consume her in her her you her content is that she really believes that you know her main purpose in life is to get married and have kids. So the centering of men it kind of flows from religion because she wants to depict this holier than thou Christian, and how she's moving and the things that are happening doesn't reflect the way she's trying to live. Does that make sense? I think the saddest part for me is the things that she like I always say it's really important to have people around you that are not always gonna say yes that will drag you up. For me, that's my friend Bimpay. She will tell me about myself. She she she takes it, she doesn't suffer fools gladly. She'll she'll tell me the straight, you understand? And there's a lot of respect in my friendships, but I want friends who are gonna tell me if I'm going wrong somewhere or if I need to consider another school of thought, or if we're just having an open conversation, we can be on two opposing views and still come together in understanding. Do you understand? But I do wonder with Breeny Lee who she has around her, because I feel like a lot of the things and a lot of the content she shares and a lot of her thought processes are really scary. How are you going to? It's not every day that you're hearing the voice of God. Sometimes it's your own voice. And I think we need to differentiate between the voice of God and our own voice telling us what we want to hear. Because sometimes the reason where we're delusional is because it's our own voice talking. But then we, the radical for Christ, they will come and tell you, oh, God is talking to me. How come when God is talking to you, the one that you're now going to put your leg in a ditch, God didn't talk to you then? But God talks to you every other time. I just don't understand this. This is this theory that doesn't apply across the board. I think um, those of you who have not consumed Bruiny Lee's content, I would encourage you to, because I feel like if there's any young women around you, it's important that Briny Lee becomes a cautionary tale, if anything, because clearly she wants she's sharing with us as like lessons learnt. So it's important in the young women that we maybe have around us, or even if you're uh you're you're raising girls, let it be a cautionary tale of the things we need to teach our girls, because that's how I'm taking it. I I have a daughter, she's three, and I'm I am teaching her like you know how to have you know her voice, where like how to trust her voice, you know. Um in like in you know, I'm sewing in confidence, but there is gonna as she gets older, there are gonna be conversations I'm gonna have with her because I grew up with two brothers. So I didn't really, and in my family, we're mostly boys, we don't have a lot of girls in my family. I think I can count the girls on my dad's side, I can count the girls on one hand, and it's not very many. Um, on my mum's side, it's probably more boys, too, but more girls um than in my father's side of the family. I say this to say, I feel like because of how I was raised and the things I was exposed to, um, and conversations I had with a lot of the male figures in my family, there was never going to be a situation where there was a male focus. It was more, it was more about clocking onto game and understanding like how like men and women and their differences, and equally as well, I think watching my mum as an example of womanhood. Um my mum didn't center uh my dad in that way. You understand? My mum, my mum is a Christian woman, but she definitely embodied independence, independent thinking, confidence. You know, I learned how to negotiate from my mum going to Dorston Market every Saturday or Sunday after church and watching my mum haggle with the greengrocers. You know, I learned about confidence by how my mum would dress and present herself and how she would talk, how my mum would code switch depending on the situations that she was in. And I used to be in absolute awe of my mum because my first example of a woman was not just a strong woman, it was a woman that was convicted in who she was as a person. So there was never going to be an opportunity where I was gonna become a pick me or centre men, or because I've centered men, I've now become a pick me. That was never gonna happen. I'm not sitting here calling Britney Lee a pick me because I don't actually think it's it's interesting because I don't I wouldn't I wouldn't say that Brienie Lee is a pick me, but what I will say is she already believes she's been picked, she's not a pick me, she believes she's been picked because the voice of God has told her that. So anytime these relationships fall through, it doesn't correspond with being picked. I think what becomes really, really like dangerous in kind of like Briny Lee's situation is I know she's going through like is it the the three or four stages of grief when a relationship breaks down, but I think it's I don't think Briny Lee realizes that this is act before it's even about men, it's actually about her and her values, it's about digging deep about the female examples she's had around her, and I genuinely think it's about her understanding that no relationship can grow or be stable, no relationship will make sense until she has a good relationship with herself.

Self-Respect Before Any Relationship

SPEAKER_01 18:08

We speak on this podcast podcast, we speak on this podcast a lot about confidence, advocating for yourself. The reason I talk about this a lot is because do you know when you love yourself and you have a lot of self-respect, it will be very hard for you to accept disrespect from anybody when you value yourself enough, when you love yourself, like genuinely love yourself, before you could get to that point, you have to know who you are first. And this is what I've always said. If you see um follow me on my early years in like Snapchat, uh Instagram, I've always said this your 20s is is for you to get to know yourself, make all them motherfucking mistakes, make them all. My friends will tell you, I've always said to them, live authentically who you are in your 20s, get to know who you are, and the only way you're gonna get to know who you are are by the measured mistakes you make, not the mistakes that are gonna change the course of your life and trajectory. It's you know, maybe you know, getting to know yourself could be anything. I don't want to center it on anything, it's just a journey of discovery. That's what your 20s are. My dad always used to say your 20s is like you're being drunk, you're drunk, you're drunk. Hormones, maybe even alcohol, but you know what I mean? Like you're drunk, you're trying to figure out the world. Everything is hazy, everything is cloudy, you're figuring it, figuring it out. Your early 30s, you start sobering up. So late 20s, early 30s, you start sobering up by your mid-30s, the dots start connecting. I'm not gonna sit here and say by your mid-30s, you should know who you are, but what I am gonna say is you have a greater understanding of who you are because of the discovery you went through in your 20s. So you start shaping this adult, not the adult people tell you to be, the adult that you have or been ordained to be. You understand, you start to understand your value system, you start to question your discernment, is developed, if not developing, and you're uh learning to trust yourself because you know yourself, then your mid to late 30s, and I'm saying this quite loosely, by the way, because I'm not saying it's defined, I'm just I'm saying it loosely. Your mid to late 30s, you know who you are. You know, your mid to late 30s, you know who you are. You've given yourself enough grace to grow to know you know who you are, and let me tell you, all those lessons, all those mistakes, all those um questions, you you have the answers now. Now it's about building on self-confidence, it's about you know not making decisions that are gonna change the trajectory of your life. It is I know who I am, I trust my decision making, I love myself, and I'm never gonna allow anyone to come in my proximity to throw me off course. Your 40s is being radical for yourself. Ah, the fourth floor for me so far has been the best floor floor. I'm 41, I'm gonna be 42 in October, and I love of all the years. I've really enjoyed, I'm really enjoying my 40s. Discernment is razor sharp, know myself very well, radical for myself. I chose motherhood later on in life, best decision I've ever made. I chose to get married in my late 30s, best decision I've ever made because I was on a journey and I wasn't going to be rushed by the stereotype of where society thinks I should be in my late 30s, i.e., oh, you should be married in your if I was married in my 20s, it'd be a fucking disaster. I'd be, if I was married in my 20s, I'd be on my third husband. It'd be, it would be a joke. Just because of how mentally I was set up, it was never gonna work. I had to enjoy my life. That's why when I look back on my pictures of my 20s, I really enjoyed my 20s. My early 30s, I enjoyed, yes, there was heartbreak, there was pain, there was grief, and there was upset in my late 20s. It fundamentally shaped the course of my life. Losing my father was fundamentally the changing dial in my life. I'm going through all of this and using myself as an example because I don't think Briny Lee has given herself the grace to go through life without the pressure of whatever she thinks she should be or where she should be. And we're centering, like where I I can understand when you're in your mid to late 30s, you're thinking this is not how I imagined I would be. I thought I'd be married and that married with children, and there's nothing wrong with think like wanting that, but not when it consumes you to the point where your your decision making is fueled by marriage. I need I'm I'm going on my first date. If he if I can't see myself marrying him, I'm dumping him. That's mad to me. When you're dating, you're literally like it. I dated multiple men at the same time. I'm not gonna be exclusive when me too. I'm going on a journey of discovery and I'm trying to discover, you know. I encourage all the women around me who are single, enjoy your life and get to know. As you as you've gotten to know yourself, you don't know who you are in a relationship, or you don't know what you may have an image of the man you want, but you don't know until you start dating and start to build that in your mind. But these things should be like subsections, they shouldn't be the main attraction. And I think that whatever is whatever that fundamental focus is, where it wherever that fundamental focus has come from from Brini Lee, the way she centers men is really scary. You have a modesty brand, and this is what pisses me off because a lot of these brands that say modesty dressing, it's like telling us the rest of us that we dress naked. That's how it is, because y'all be going on like because you're dressing modestly, like, or at least Brini Lee that the way she used to go on is like because she's dressing modestly, then her husband will find her. Like, if you want to be married, you need to be modest. And that's not how that's not how it works, babes. She has been honest in that she has, I can't remember what video it is, where she has spoken about she hasn't said oh I've centered men, but she has alluded to the fact that you know she has placed a lot of pressure on her and on herself and wanting to get married. There there has been like I would say there has been lights of honesty in that, but then I think there's so much work she needs to do because with every disappointment has comes pain and it's pushed her further away from what what she's trying to get to, and whilst now she says her last video, she says that she's a poor, she she she needs a she's a Porsche and she's not dating Peugeot's or whatever the hell she said, and I thought, babe, this is the problem, this is the problem. I

Marriage Reality And Timeline Pressure

SPEAKER_01 26:08

feel like religious psychosis places a lot of especially in Christianity and growing up in the church as I have done, I've watched a lot of women want to be that quintessential pastor's wife or Christian wife, yeah. Pastor's wife is like the utopia for some some Christian women. It is, don't lie, it is for some women, it's just being a good Christian wife, but people are not telling you. Do you know how hard marriage is? Do you know how hard it is? You are taking up union with somebody who grew up in a completely different household who may be aligned with values, but you're not gonna know until you're married a lot of things. Because being someone's girlfriend or being someone's boyfriend is very different to being someone's husband or being someone's wife, and then if you throw kids in the mix, it's a lot because now a child will test that unity, how you're raising the child, decision making, then you have the pressures of life, job, bills, uh, each other's families, society, how you move forward. You know, where we we talk about, you know, social media talks about you know, men, you know, in social media, men are looking for that 90s, 50 wife. They don't really exist anymore, darling. Well, they shouldn't be because life has evolved so much. Women are earning more, we are in more senior roles, women have more stronger voices. Um, the society we live in provides equality or at least claims. But I guess the point I'm making is we're not living in a world now where men are the breadwinners and they go out. That that doesn't happen. Women have the opportunity to too as well. Do you know what I mean? Women have a voice at the table now. Women often own that table. So a lot of these men that are looking for 1952 wives, they're not 1952 men. You understand? So, again, when you center men, you're not considering considering other factors that affect relationships, your ability to sustain a relationship. But before we get to all of that, you have to get to a point where you know who you are, you love yourself implicitly, and because you love yourself, you will never allow yourself to take less than what you deserve. Sometimes when you center men so bad, you become desperate because you've got a timeline, it's fixed, and you must achieve it. So now you become blind to the red flags, you become blind to how you have molded and changed yourself to get what you want without considering the fact that in order to sustain or in order in order to pursue what this thing that you want, you have to show up as yourself. Because if you don't, one day you will. Do you hear what I'm I'm trying to say here? So with Breenie Lee, I'm not you know, I'm not being too I'm not trying to do too much on the Brini Lee, but the content over the last few weeks gives me goosebumps because I think as women grow and evolve, there needs to be an uvi evolution of thinking, and I think what she triggers in me is the lack of evolution. I understand in your mid to late 30s, and you had thought, oh my life would be one way and it's not that way, and you desire something a lot, and then there's that internal disappointment. You are allowed to sit in that disappointment, you know. You are. It was literal weeks. I didn't sit in it at all. And I think maybe eventually I probably would have frozen my eggs. I think it if it got to that point, I think you know, it's it would have come up somewhere, if if not through my doctor, through people around me, definitely. Um, women are getting married later and therefore having kids later. Like, we're living in a society where unfortunately it doesn't support women being mothers, talk about wives. Hmm, no, that the the society we live in doesn't support that, hence why you're not given the opportunity to really mother your children before you have to come back from maternity and then try and figure out childcare and try and figure out holding a nine to five while your child is in nursery and then goes to school from 8:30 till 3 or 3:30, and you're working a nine to five, and then it's just the current model of life is not fit for purpose. Do you know what I mean? I really hope that this segment touches someone because the catalyst for the conversation is obviously Brini Lee.

Critical Thinking And Misused Scripture

SPEAKER_01 32:05

There is a lot to be had for religious psychosis where you're going through this thing and you're not allowing yourself to think independently because you think a religion should like you're interpreting um and I guess in Bruiny's case, Christianity to the point where it becomes so rigid that you just cannot live freely. And I feel I don't think that that's what religion should do. There should be a freedom of choice, there should be a freeness, there should be a peace. But some people, the way they do religion, it's not peaceful, you know, because they're always lamenting. It's very scary. So let this be a cautionary tale for the young women around us, our daughters, the conversations we need to be having with them, the confidence we need to be instilling in them, being in a be being an example of womanhood without centering men. Gen Z, they're not they're not centering men, they're centering their fun and their life. And I love that for them. But I I just think in a world that continues to give us its unsolicited opinion, in a world that depicts what a utopia should look like, in a world that makes us feel as though we're old when we turn 40, rather than the truth of the matter is that you start living unapologetically in your 40s. The fact that we're living in a society that places undue pressure and stress on us to uphold a system that is no longer fit for purpose is a a lot of the reason why there are women like Brini Lee who center men so bad, and then when it falls apart, she falls apart. Why can't we work on being happy? What is it about our 20s where we don't tell each other or it's not taught that true happiness comes from inside? Happiness is adjacent to peace. Knowing who you are will give you peace because you won't you you're not gonna be competing to be somebody you are not. True happiness comes from the love that you have, it starts with you. How is somebody gonna know how to love you unless you love yourself? And then this misinterpreting of scriptures. I feel like religion has a lot to answer for. What is it, Karl Marx that says religion is the opium of the people? I feel like religion especially Chris like I have to speak about what I know and what I was raised in. And I definitely think early Christianity, and maybe even now, it's a bit about control. And when you center control in religion, you don't give people the opportunity to have free will or to think or to have critical thinking. I feel like critical thinking should be part of the syllabus of education. I do. I think critical thinking should be um on the s our are in our household syllabuses. Yeah, because in our house we have syllabus of life, and one of them is gonna be critical thinking. I don't even want to talk about spac nation, but when we talk about critical thinking and how religion has been weaponized, and we talk about people like Brini Lee who centre men and yada yada yada, we also have to think about how society uses religion to coerce. We do. I definitely think there is a lot to be said about critical thinking and asking questions. Who says that you're not allowed to ask questions about religion? Why must you just take the Bible for what it is without questioning things? That Bible was written a very, very long time ago. How are we applying it to real life now? Are we saying that that that the Bible accounted for the life we're living now? Is the religion is the Bible not more of a guide rather than a how you should live your life without question? But this is why I say if you if you love get to know yourself and you love yourself, critical thinking will be adjacent to that because you're not just gonna take what people tell you as gospel, you're gonna have the ability to develop thinking to allow yourself to come to your own conclusion and understanding that you're not always gonna be right. There are other schools of thought to consider, but that's where the critical thinking comes in. Anyway, I'm gonna leave that one there. But I thought I'd just give you some food for thought because it's something that sat with me last week. The topic of conversation in my group, I say my group chat. The only person in my group chat is me and my phone Bimpei. Any more than two, and I can't keep up. Um, I do have a couple of group chats, but these are not typically the conversations we have, they're more career focused than business related. But hey ho.

£12,500 Pension Advance Proposal Explained

SPEAKER_01 37:23

So moving on, I would like to talk about um a proposal that has caused quite a debate in the UK. So let me set the scene for you. So imagine the government offered you around £12,500 today. No loan, no credit check, no interest. You're probably thinking, what's the catch? You would have to delay receiving your state pension by one year when you retire. Would you take it? Well, that's exactly what a new proposal is is being presented as, and it's called the Citizens Advanced Proposal. And this is exactly what this proposal is suggesting. And while it sounds like you know, a conversation about pensions, I actually think it's a conversation about something much bigger. It's about wealth, housing, opportunity, um, and whether younger generations still believe that retirement is actually achievable. And I say younger generations, I mean us two because we ain't retired yet. But do we actually believe, are we a generation that believes that retirement is achievable? And I and I ask that because they keep um raising the retirement age. So this Citizens Advance um proposal is a is it's a policy proposal that's being developed by the Social Market Foundation, and it was originally proposed by a Labour MP called Andrew Lewin. Now, Andrew Lewin is a member of parliament for Well in Hatfield, and as he came up with this idea and has been one of the leading voices for this um Citizens Advance, and the proposal is relatively simple. If you've built up at least 10 years of national insurance contributions, you could choose to access one year's worth of your future state pension early in one lump sum. So if you base it on today's rates, that would be approximately about 12,540 something pounds. So in exchange, you would receive your state pension one year later. So instead of claiming your state pension at 68, you would claim it at 69. So I want to make it really, really clear, and it's really important. This is not government policy, it's literally a proposal that's being presented. So nobody's receiving this payment today, but like by the way, it's it's literally just a proposal because I don't want anyone now going to HMRC to say, Where is my money? Because it isn't that yet. It's a proposal that's been presented, and you know, there's a lot of thought that needs to go into this now. So the idea is currently being debated by policy experts, economists, and politicians. So the people behind the proposal argue that Britain has become increasingly dependent on what many call the bank of mum and dad. So just think about it. Some people receive um like a house deposit from their parents. I I I didn't. I not all of us, honey. Um, help with university costs. Ah. I didn't. I I I yeah, I got a loan from my dad for my master's that I had to pay back. But my university, absolutely not. I I had a um a loan. What do you call that? Student loan. Um, help paying rent, support while starting a business, or financial support when they have children. Um, others don't receive any of that, right? But the Citizens Advance is being presented as a way of giving everyone access to some capital, regardless of whether they come from a wealthy family. So the argument is that $12,500 in your 20s or your 30s would potentially change your life. It could help you pay off your debts, start a business, fund retraining, support within childcare, because we know childcare, the cost of childcare is astra fucking nomical, or contribute towards um a home deposit because deposits now are wild. We talk about stamp duty, lawyers' fees, hmm. Are we? Anyway, so supporters of this citizens advance um argue that money is often most useful when you're building your life rather than when you're approaching retirement. So there has been obviously some criticisms because firstly, the state pension um already isn't particularly generous. So you can go into HMLC website um and you can I've I've spoken about this before, where you can go into your own portal and you can see if you're on track and what you're on track um to put away for retirement. And it's not as much as you think it is, that all that heavy tax doesn't go towards your state pension, by the way. You're and I contribute contribution, don't even get me started. So for many people, it forms a critical part of their retirement income, your state pension. So giving up a year of your state pension could create financial difficulty difficulties later in life, um, especially if your workplace pension isn't large or you haven't built significant savings, or your health means you cannot continue working comfortably into your later life. Um, the second concern is housing. So critics argue that if millions of people suddenly have an additional $12,500 to spend on housing deposits, house prices may simply just increase. More people, um, sorry, more money um chasing the same number of homes really sell it doesn't really solve the affordability problems. But then those are two for me two separate conversations, to be honest. So the government need to fund large cash cash payments today and would only recover those costs decades later when people delay retirement. So it's estimated that you know the cost could eventually run into the billions of pounds annually. So, but here's the part that really fascinates me. Yeah, what does it say about our society if large numbers of young people would rather take pension money today rather than wait until retirement? Just think about it. Historically, like the social contract looked something like education, work, retirement, but increasingly. Many people are now feeling that education, debt, work, more debt, career changes, caring responsibilities, housing struggles, working longer, and retirement, maybe. With the increase of the retirement age, retirement seems less and less achievable because it is beginning to feel that they want to work you until you're dead. So that you never actually touch, taste, or feel retirement. Um, I think the popularity of the Citizens Advance um tells us something really profound because once that the proposal has been circulating, like it's gained legs. Like people are really like, I'll take the cash. Many younger people simply don't trust that retirement will look the same as when it did, like in our in previous generations, or you know, our parents or grandparents' generations. And honestly, I actually genuinely don't blame anyone for thinking like that. The state pension age is already rising. So today, the current state state pension age is a is 66 and it's scheduled to rise to 67. And there are ongoing discussions about like future increases beyond that. People are living longer, people not can like that's not being considered, but people are living longer. Um, and the government does face in increasing pension costs. Um, the workforce is shrinking relatively to the number of retirees. So while nobody is saying retirement is disappearing, many people feel it's gradually moving further and further away. So the Citizens Advance almost acknowledges that reality, and it's effectively saying, Would you rather have some of your pension when you can when you actually need it? And that's not to say you wouldn't need it at your pensionable age, but right now, with the life you're trying to build, you would need it, especially with the cost of living crisis, as we see at the moment, continuously getting worse, everything is increasing apart from our wage packets. Um I do think that it is politically sensitive as well because many people may look at the proposal and think, where was this help when I was younger? So if they cap it at a certain age and people like myself who's in our 40s are not part of the generation who could choose to access, you know, the 12,500 and then retire later, we we I would be very angry. I'd be very disgruntled personally. There are other people that argue that previous generations benefited from more affordable housing, which they did, um, like a final salary pension schemes, cheaper education, stronger wage growth. Um, supporters of the citizens advance um argue that they are not creating an advantage, they're trying to rebalance one. Whether you agree with that or not really depends on your perspective. Now, here's something really important that many headlines are not mentioning when they're referencing the um citizens advance policy payment. Would the payment be taxed? Because maybe some of you don't know. Pensions are taxed, whether it's a state pension, whether it's a private pension, they're subject to tax, by the way. So the salary sacrifice you're making today is kicking the tax down the line. When you need that money, that pension the most, they will tax it. But in terms of the citizens' advance, that 12,500, they haven't actually mentioned whether it would be taxed, because if it is taxed, it's going to be less than 12,500. So again, as they're exploring this as a policy proposal, these are the conversations that need to be had. Because if it is taxed, if it is accessing your pension, and we know the pension port is taxed, by virtue of the citizens' advance, it should be taxed, right? However, well, state pension income is taxable income. So many experts believe an advance payment would also potentially be taxable unless Parliament specifically creates an exception. And that's really important because £12,500 sounds very different from receiving a smaller amount after tax. It's one of the biggest unanswered questions in the entire proposal because they don't actually talk about tax whatsoever.

Pension Basics People Miss

SPEAKER_01 48:17

Um, I just want to take a moment also just to zoom out of the whole citizen advance policy and payment and talk about pensions generally, because honestly, many people don't understand how pensions work. So your state pension and your workplace pension are completely different things, by the way. So your state pension comes from the government and is based on your national insurance record. Your workplace pension is money invested on your behalf during your working life and you pay towards it. And typically, organizations that you work for will contribute towards that private pension as well. Um, and then obviously, you have an opportunity to make further payments into your private work pension by making salary sacrifices to reduce your overall tax bill. Many people don't actually realise that private pensions are usually taxable and you don't simply receive the entire amount tax-free. That's not how it works. So currently, most people can take 25% of their pension pot tax-free, and then the remaining withdrawals of your pension are generally treated as taxable income. Many people don't realise that they're probably paying into workplace pension already through automatic enrolment, and and you can, I think you can opt out as well, but you you'd have to look into that if you've been automatically enrolled, and the earliest age that most people can access a private pension is currently 55 years old. However, from April 2028, the minimum age is increasing to 57. So, can you see what we mean when you're moving the goalpost? And many younger workers are completely unaware of that change, like they just don't. Uh, older workers, younger workers, people are not aware of these changes that actually directly affect us. Your pension is not a savings account, it's an investment, which means your money is usually invested in a fund that rises or falls with markets over decades. One of the biggest mistakes people make is ignoring pensions when they're younger. The earlier you start contributing, the more time can compound growth, and the more that that pension then starts to work in your favour. A person who starts investing at 25 often needs to contribute dramatically less than someone who starts a pension at 45 to achieve the same outcome. So I'm gonna tell you guys that you know I had many jobs in my 20s and I opted out of a pension. I only started having a pension, I would say. I only started contributing towards a pension and actually educating myself when I started waking up from my slumber, started sobering up from my ignorance in my I'd say my late 20s. I started building my pension and thank God because I I did start seeing more money, and you know, I don't know, I'm just happy that I did. But there was a point I I remember it where I was like, it was one of those things where they'd automatically enroll me, and I'll be like, No, I don't want to be enrolled, and I'll get the money back, and I'd be feeling like a rich babe, not knowing that I was rich in that moment, but future poor because I wasn't pouring that money into a pension. But thank God for financial literacy, thank god for education and critical thinking, because I'm now 42 with an a couple of healthy pension pots that hopefully continues to grow. So I did see something that said that in order for you to have a comfortable retirement, you need at least £1.2 million. I'm not even gonna get into all of that. For me, um, the Citizens Advance policy payment isn't really about pensions, it's actually about confidence, confidence in home ownership, confidence in retirement, and confidence in economic opportunity. Because if younger generations genuinely believe that £12,500 today is worth more than a year's pension tomorrow, we should probably ask why. And perhaps the answer isn't about pensions at all, perhaps it's about the fact that many people feel they need help right now, not in 40 years' time. So I really want to hear what you guys think about this citizens' advance. Like, would you accept, you know, if you were offered the £12,500 today and it meant that you would delay your state pension by one year, would you take it? Or do you think we're already like undermining the like retirement security enough and that the citizen's advance policy and payment should be scrapped? Um, yeah, so I'm really interested to hear your thoughts about it. As I was researching it, I thought, okay, Toy, what would you do? If they offered me the $12,500, I would take it. I would. Um, but I would also have to consider what the guardrails and policies are that sit around it, because whatever the state pension age is today, if I'd have to wait a year, it would be a year from when the state pension or from what the state pension age would be when it's time for me to retire. So maybe at that point, waiting a year would be too much of a problem because of whatever economically is happening around me that would demand that I need my pension as soon as I hit retirement age. But I think I'm willing to take that risk. I do. Because if I take the 12,500, it just means I have to have enough money in my savings or enough, yeah, enough money in my savings, enough investment that I could look after myself for that delayed year or the deferred year of a pension. But yes, I would take the 12,500. I'd have to read the policy and understand how it would affect me. I'd weigh up the risks, and if the risks are not too much and I can mitigate them, then yeah, I would take it.

Always Pads Lawsuit And Marketing Claims

SPEAKER_01 54:11

So I saw a post by Black Millionaires underscore on um Instagram, and it's about always, you know, the sanitary towel brand, so always is being sued over claims that some of its pads and feminine care products are falsely advertised as providing up to 100% leak-free protection, leak-free comfort, zero leaks, and similarly, um, other guarantees. According to the lawsuit shown in the filing in America, the plaintiffs argue that those phrases give shoppers the impression that always protects uh always products can fully prevent leaks. And the complaint says the branding is misleading because leakage can still happen during routine use, despite the product being promoted with strong leak-free language. Always owned by Proctor and Gamble markets a wide range of menstrual pads and related feminine care products. On its own website, always describes some maxi products as offering up to 100% leak-free comfort, while product listings from major retailers also advertise Always pads as up to 100% leak-free protection. The lawsuit appears to focus on whether the wording crosses the line from marketing into deception. The complaint argues that phrases like 100% leak-free, zero leak, and locks-in leaks create an absolute promise, even when the wording includes up to. The filing also claims the brand name always reinforces the message that the product will work consistently. False advertising cases usually come down to what a reasonable consumer would understand from a label or an ad. The Federal Trade Commission says advertising must be truthful, not misleading, and backed by evidence, especially when the claims affect consumers' health or finances. Still, the case highlights a bigger issue in consumer products. Brands often use strong performance language to stand out on shelves, but shoppers may read these claims literally. For period products where leaks can cause embarrassment, discomfort, and extra cost. The difference between help prevent leaks and 100% leak-free could matter. And I agree. You see, one thing I'll say about America, they're so forward-thinking, and I love the fact they will sue and sue and sue, and the majority will benefit from any payout here in the UK. Not so much. Always the things that they promote 100% leak-free, this, this, this, this, and being called always perpetuates that. I can understand why this filing is being made because always is not 100% leak-free, by the way. I don't use always at all. I use toy, what do you use? Oh, I can't remember the brand. There's another brand I use, but I have Fibroids and PCOS, so I suffer from heavy periods, and I'm telling you, always brands are rubbish because they're not leak-free, they don't provide um the ability to feel secure. So what they market versus what they provide in their brand doesn't add up. Um, and as somebody who suffers from heavy periods, always would be the last brand I would ever buy. In fact, I haven't brought always in years because they're just not good. Some of the other brands are probably a lot better, like the ones that do the full like pants for heavy periods. I can't remember what brand they are, but even always offers that, and their ones are not great at all. I think always as a brand, in terms of like sanitary wear and menstrual cycle products, are not very good because they don't stand by what they market, and I think they don't consider why women need to have leap-free. It's not just about oh, you know, mitigating embarrassment. Some women have underlying health issues, which means that their periods are heavier, so the need to have something that is secure is so important. And we accept that it it I accept reasonably that a brand cannot be 100% leap-free without requiring you to do something like change your pads. So when you say 100% leap-free, what you're basically saying is if I keep that on all day, it won't leak. And that's not the truth. And this is why marketing is so important because while you're trying to draw in and market your brand, consumers are falling for what you're saying, it's inducing them to buy. But when the reality doesn't match what's being marketed, you have brands like always being taken to court where the complainants are probably gonna win. So in the UK, they should pay attention before class action is is is mounted on always here as well, because the same advertising in America is is it is a global advertising that always does that, is their brand, but actually it's false advertising because it's not 100% leak-free, it's not 100% this, it's not 100% that, and it still requires you to do something. And as somebody who is who has heavy periods, if I could find a brand that was 100% leak-free, that would be great, but it doesn't exist, so I think we just need to be practical and reasonable. Um, so I I will be keeping abreast of kind of what happens in that case because I find stuff like that really, really interesting, especially when it comes to feminine care and how brands advertise to women specifically, especially things like sanitary tales where we don't have a choice. So, yeah, I will keep tuned and keep you guys updated with how that that case develops.

Politics, Social Media Bans, And Accountability

SPEAKER_01 59:39

So, if I said the name Zorhan Kwame Mamdani, you should recognize that name because he is actually the mayor of New York City. The New York Democratic Socialist Mayor who's currently going viral for wiping out a 12 billion deficit in only 131 days. So when he was running for mayor, they were saying that millionaires and billionaires who are rich um would end up leaving New York. Um, but that's not actually not what's happened. Um, he's currently like in terms of like the government and politicians in America, he's like their greatest, one of their biggest fears because he's showing that what is really possible, and he's also demonstrating how easy it is to achieve very focused manifesto plans. And I follow like I I you guys know I love US politics, I think they're very tenacious, they're politicians, and very like politics is part of their culture in a way that's really interesting. Um, and I think um the mayor of the US, he's also highlighting how broken the system is here, how in in the UK, how politicians will say stuff in the manifesto but never really live up to it at all. And we don't actually hold them accountable. I feel like in the UK we've just come to accept how like we've come to accept how disillusioned we are in British politics. So Kia Starmart has now forged ahead, and I I believe like I need to read it, I need to do some more research, and I'll come back here and kind of like give you guys the facts. But social media ban on under-16s, it's a bit too little too late, and I'll tell you why. Before you start doing these bans on under 16 for under-16s, you have to deal with the big these big social media brands. There needs to be consequences, and I mean financial consequences. These big social media brands are roaming around tax-free, living in tax havens, not having to pay taxes, these rising taxes are hitting us as citizens, working class people. A lot of these billion-dollar social media brands and companies, nah, they can just set up these shell companies or pay the least amount of tax. And then you don't have a consequence for certain things with these big social media brands. You don't. So before you start like trying to enforce these under-16 social media bands, what about the governance that sits around um what we hold social media companies accountable for? The financial consequences that need the real consequences that they need to fail for being in breach. We need to start there first. How are you gonna police social media bands for under-16s? How are you gonna do that? How? I feel like it's gone too far to do that now. You have to take it all the way back. You've got a mayor turning things around in the US in 131 days of being in office, but you've got politicians that have been in their posts for over 10 years, but they don't know how to show up for the citizens. Where here in the UK, your personal tax-free allowance of £12,500 and something pounds has stayed that way for years. For years, inflation continues to rise, every other tax is rising, but the money you're able to take home doesn't rise. The reason I talk about um Mam Dani is because as a politician, I'm sure he's not perfect, but he's very tenacious. These are the things I'm gonna do in the first hundred days. This is what I'm gonna do. This is what I'm gonna change. Put New York first. Everything he said he's gonna do, he's been doing it. So it's actually demonstrating it's not hard to fulfill your manifesto promises and pledges. But some of these politicians in the UK have not actually asked us what we want, they're telling us what we want. And because of a lack of critical thinking, we're not even holding them accountable for the things they refuse to deliver, even the things they say they're going to do that we didn't ask them, we don't hold them accountable. British politics is in the dustbin. It's in it's in the waste refuse is finished, and we've seen the rise in like racial race racial race related issues because reform are heading heading to the seats. I told you guys what was gonna happen if reform comes in. We're getting examples of what could happen here in the UK, and yet the politicians that are supposed to do the job of reinstating confidence are not doing it. Basic policies are not here to serve us. The cost of living continues to rise. Did you know I had a heart attack the other

Bills, Tax, And Daily Financial Stress

SPEAKER_01 1:04:48

day? A mini one. Yeah, I did because I heard my heart beating outside of my chest. I got an email from British Gas. I said, Walla they said uh build you 1500. My hand started quivering, shaking. I said, eh, what is this again? Somebody British Gas needs to be sacked because the way that email came across, but no, it's the amount I've paid so far on my on my uh electricity bill. So um obviously it's generating a new bill, so it will take that away from what the new bill is gonna be. I don't know why they do it that way, because who really gives a fuck? Like I've paid it now, it's not mine anymore. Why are you showing me? I already know that that's the bill. You sent it before. Do you understand? And then I got another I got another email from fucking British Gas. Oh, you're on a variable rate, and your bill now will be going up because the price of gas, and all of us know the raging war in the Middle East is not helping things, right? So then I moved from variable to a fixed rate. Forgas. It still went up anyway. We're going through a lot. We are going through a lot. My daughter said, Mommy, when are we going on holiday? I said, Girl. I thought we're going to go to Middle East on holiday. That ain't happening. I gotta figure it out. My daughter wants to go on holiday. Bills, bills, bills. Every day a motherfucking bill. Every time the postman comes and it's just deer shuffling in front of my door. I'm like, what bill is gonna land? If it's not life insurance, it's gas. If it's not gas, it's electricity. If it's not gas and electricity, it's water bill. If it is not water bill, then the school are doing a fundraiser. Every fucking day they're fun fucking raising. I'm motherfucking tired. They will charge you to wheat in the toilet. They will charge you to flush it. I'm tired. You'll get a bonus now. You'll be shaking and quivering because you know, you know that you're past the threshold, then you know the tax man is coming. That's the motherfucking tax man. Sometimes they don't even knock, they just come unannounced. Pew! A bill that they expect you to pay. It's actually fucking wild. Do you know how wild it is that your personal tax allowance has stayed the same for several years? While the cost of living continues to rise. Inflation is rising. VAT has been up and down and around and going up. But your personal tax allowance that allows you to take more money home has stayed the same. No politician wants to talk about that. What are the politicians doing for us to take more money home? What are they doing? Why are we this is why I'm saying critical thinking? These are basic questions. Nobody's asking these politicians. Instead, we're talking about immigration. Instead, you're talking about removing indefinite leave to remain and having a scoring system. These are the things that they're focusing on. This country was built off the backs of immigrants. If immigrants leave this country, they have no country, they have no economy. Full stop. People are angry because people are poor. People are angry because people are uneducated. People are angry because people can't afford to eat. There is a rise in shoplifting because people are wanting to eat basic things people cannot afford. It doesn't make it right. It does not make it right because at the end of the day, the losses that supermarkets made make, if they make a loss, the domino effect is on the stuff. We know that. But there are fundamental issues in this country that are not being tackled, looked at, answered, and resolved. But you've got the mayor of New York delivering results. So it's not unachievable and it's not out of the realms of possibility that a politician, a government can actually serve the people. It exists. But Reform UK operate on divisiveness. So you're already distracted. You're already distracted by hate and evil. But the fundamental issue is this. Oh yeah, we're increasing minimum wage. Okay, that's great that you've done that. But if people can't get jobs, what does that actually mean? Imagine you're getting a bonus that you've worked hard for, you're shaking. Before you can even enjoy, you're shaking. Because you know at least 50% is going to HMRC. If you go at the end of the financial year and you go inside your HMRC account, um your gov account and see where your taxes go, you will cry. Because where it goes is not where you benefit, by the way. Try walking into a hospital for an emergency. They're happy to have you hanging on the line in the corridor. You'll be receiving corridor care, collecting every COVID bacteria and germs. You're paying for this service. Then you'll be sitting there in reception. Somebody who doesn't pay their taxes will now be saying that they should be seen before you because they've been waiting longer. Whilst you have proof that your taxes are contributing to the NHS, can't get seen, can't see your GP. If you see what you have to go through with to get a FaceTime with my GP, you will cry. They will triage you to the point of a meltdown. You'll be triaged, you'll even forget the reason why you've called a doctor, the GP. Yeah.

NHS Access, Pharmacy Limits, And Working Life

SPEAKER_01 1:11:17

Try going to a pharmacy. When my daughter started having the spots on her body, she wasn't itching, so we didn't know it was chicken pox. I I was like, I don't think this is chicken pox because she wasn't itching. So the basic symptoms she wasn't displaying apart from the spots. I thought it was um mullochom because I thought it was one viral infection she had. So when we went through my private health care, they couldn't diagnose it. They were like, she needs to be seen face to face, especially because of her age. So the private my private health care, which I pay for, by the way. Yeah, pay for that out of my after tax money, motherfuckers. Um, yeah. So we went to go and see the pharmacy. Huh. Come and see the line to see the pharmacy. Come to the line to see the pharmacy. Yeah, we have to line up. We was in that line for at least 10 minutes. Only because it's the morning. Wait until midday, go and see the line. It'll be outside to see a pharmacist. I get there now to see the pharmacist. The pharmacist is saying, Oh, she doesn't know. I said, What do you mean you don't know? She goes, I don't know. I'm not sure what it is. She needs to see a GP. I said, So what are you guys doing here? Because isn't there an arrangement whereby you can come and get diagnosed for certain things through a pharmacy? I know that they're kicking the responsibility from the GP to the pharmacist, but still, come on. I think what disappointed me was that she didn't even have confidence in herself. So even if you you don't know what it is, say you don't know what it is with confidence, but say I don't know if it's this or this on this or this or this, you might have to see a GP. I'm like, girl, what the fuck? But then I thought maybe she's eroded in confidence because of the amount of people she has to see every day. She didn't sign up for that when she became a pharmacist, she was there to maybe do some light diagnosis and and and dispense uh uh uh medicine and other things that pharmacists do. Yeah, I've got a friend who's a pharmacist, she does a lot, but still, I then managed by the grace of the ancestors, the pity that a receptionist took on me at my GP, don't ask me how I got through the lines because I do not know. I managed to get an emergency appointment at a GP. That's how my daughter got diagnosed. All this is happening, yeah, during a working day, by the way. Yeah, yes. So while we're lining up, I'm working on my phone. Yeah, because we we are balancing. This is what life looks like. That's madness, but I'm still getting taxed at source for um that goes into things that I cannot access. Do you know how fucking crazy it is? Do you know our tax where it goes? Yeah, we're driving on potholes every day, every day. I am playing dodgums when it comes to fucking potholes. Yeah. Your local authority now will just be talking gibberish while my council tax rises, everything is rising, but my blood clot, peer packet, everything is rising apart from me at home, everything done rise. Everything is rising about our voices. Yeah. In France, when you piss them off, they just decide, okay, we're not collecting your bin. Yeah. The bin will be lining the street for months, the rats will be looking like cats. Yes, they know how to protest. They protest by saying, okay, you do it yourself. They don't even get in a war of words with the politicians. They will just stay in the house.

Protesting Power And Union Lessons

SPEAKER_01 1:14:58

Us in the UK, we do stupidness. Sometimes, you know, that protest doesn't have to be aggressive. Protest can be like, okay, since you don't want to give us pay rise, they do it in Birmingham, right? I don't know if that's still on with the bins. I have to check that out. We need to get to that point where we're like, okay, you don't want to um increase our wage packet. Don't expect us to come and vote. We're not voting. Yes, we need to move like that. Because they affect our ability to protest. Because there's now pretty patel major of that. You can't protest now. Free speech, forget all of that shit. Mm-hmm. So now it's like, okay, what are we gonna do? It has to be. This is why I really respect TFL drivers, you know, train drivers. Some of you there are cussing them out. Just shut your dirty mouth. When they want something and they feel they've been mistreated, uh they will unionize. Yeah, they will say, uh, so you want us to do what? We don't like our working condition. Uh uh. We won't pay rights. You don't want to give it. Uh you talk and talk, they will talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, and they'll be like, okay, five-day strike, Christmas week. I love TFL drivers. I love them. I love them so much. I do. They know to get maximum impact, they need to do maximum disruption. That maximum disruption in the third hour, the government will be shaking. They'll be like, oh, we're talking to RMT, RMT, we're talking, please don't. They say, What? It's the World Cup. Uh, so you don't want to talk to us about giving us more money, okay. That World Cup week, there's a change drink, they don't give a fuck. Don't give a fuck. TFL drivers, yeah. I respect you, toilet. I respect you guys. It's us the citizens, yeah, that are doing. Um, I'm not happy. Scrim, scrim, scream on LBC Radio. That's all we know how to do. Call up and scream. TFL drivers steadily have their wage packet rising and better working conditions by just not showing up to work. They get they unionize. You see, that that union to be part of a union is a great thing. Anyway, listen, let me leave it there.

Wrap Up, What Comes Next

SPEAKER_01 1:17:39

Let me leave it there. Hey god, I've laughed. Um, there's so much stuff I need to talk about, you know. Like work bully. Ah, there's a lot, though. There's a lot, but maybe the next episode we could talk about it. I just felt like my voice had been away for so long. I needed to come back and chat to y'all, you know. I hope you've enjoyed this podcast, by the way. I know like it's not as, you know, you know, sometimes we go real real deep. Yeah, I'm keeping it light, not too deep, you know, because there's a lot going on. Next episode, back to regular programming. So if you're new to the podcast, um, my name is Toy Washington and I am the host, the producer of the Toy Talks podcast, where we teach, guide, and educate how to navigate the world of work and highlight the path of our success. I give you strategy, experience, and we do dilemmas. I share certain things I've been through in the world of work that will give rise to alternative thinking, how we navigate, show up to work, how we strategize, but more importantly, how we are able to show up to work as authentic as we can be, while still understanding the strategy of growing and navigating really difficult situations. Um, I speak as a woman, as a black woman, um, because I am a black woman, and navigating the world of work and the intersectionality between gender and race is very, very important. So whilst as women we can collectively agree and understand and um recognize certain things I'm talking about, the black experience is a very unique one. So I do talk about that too. Um, but I believe this podcast anyone and everyone can learn from, and has been the case. We have been operating here on this podcast. I think it's is it six or seven years now? We go together real beard, and there's been so many success stories, so many people have reached out to me, have listened to the podcast, so many people who have learned so many episodes that people revisit, still listen to, so many examples and things that I've shared, so many dilemmas. So we continue to learn and grow and elevate here. But for me, this podcast is about learning, growing, understanding, and being educated. Critical thinking is very important in this podcast, but more importantly, it's a safe space. In the next episode, we're gonna talk about Emma Greed's book as well. Because I did tell you that we were gonna read that book, or I was gonna read that book and feedback. I've read as much of that book as I can, and I feel able to feed back. Um, I do feel like Emma Greed is rage baiting us at the moment with the whole Patrick Tarr thing because she recently did an interview with him, but I digress anyway. I'm gonna leave that there. I'm definitely gonna see you in about a week or two because we need to get back to regular program. There's so many things I need to tell you, certain things that I have done from a strategy perspective in the world of work, and so many things I've done in the past that you know, there's certain things in the past I was like, I haven't spoken about that, I might need to talk about that. So join me in the next episode of the Toy Talks podcast. If you have a work or life-related dilemma, your anonymity will be protected. Email hello at toytalks.com. Thank you so much for listening. Thanks for your support, thanks for your love. Leave your comments on whatever podcast platform that you listen to the podcast on because I read all of your comments and where I can reply, I always do. Share, have the discussions in your group chat. Let's continue to elevate, learn, and grow. My name is Toy Washington, and you have been listening to the Toy Talks podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:29

Oh, everything that's meeting. Oh, I think every closed door.