SO how much did you blow on your summer holiday? Wait, let me guess.

Was it so significantly more than you budgeted for that you daren’t open your credit card bill without sitting down with a large measure of Scotch?

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Thought so. That’s the thing about holidays. They cost a bomb.

Unless, of course, you happen to be Angela Rayner, the “by ’eck I’m so bloody normal, me” Deputy Prime Minister.

Down-to-earth Ange doesn’t worry so much about what her ’bobs will cost because, well, someone else is usually chipping in.

You might remember that excruciating video of her dancing behind the DJ booth at the swanky Hi Ibiza club that emerged recently.

It was accompanied by some equally toe-curling outpourings from Never-Kissed-A-Tory types, hyperventilating on Twitter/X about how brilliant it was that we have a senior member of the Government who loves to party.

“Go Ange, throw them shapes babe,” they trilled, patting themselves on the back that they’d voted in someone so with it.

’Avin’ it Ange hit back at any critics of her cheesy moves, declaring: “Yes, I’m working class. I like a dance.” As if dancing was an exclusively working-class activity.

Anyway, her “out out” night was paid for by someone else — her friend the DJ’s agent, to be precise — to the techno tune of £836.

We know this because she has just been forced to tell us by way of the MPs’ register of interests.

This is the same register where she declared another freebie holiday treat over New Year last year, this time a five-night stay at a plush £2million flat in New York, which she reckoned was only worth £1,250.

That apartment, complete with Jacuzzi and “breathtaking” views of the Empire State Building, was owned by . . . you guessed it, Labour’s favourite sugar daddy, Lord Waheed Alli (currently under ­investigation over his interests by the House of Lords sleaze watchdog).

Feisty Ange, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, who earns at least £91,346 a year plus a ministerial bump of £31,600, also used the apartment to entertain her fancy man at the time, then-Labour MP Sam Tarry.

Oh, and before you think it’s a bit off that an elected representative is accepting such lavish gifts from people who might want a favour in return, she insisted that Lord Alli — who has also donated £21,200 to her for “support” in her role as ­Labour’s deputy leader and “undertaking parliamentary duties” — hadn’t asked for anything.

Oh no, it was just a pal helping out a pal.

But it’s not just her “mates” that Spongerla loves blagging things from (and she’s also another one who likes her freebie clothes).

She doesn’t mind ­dipping into our pockets, too.

Remember when she bought herself a load of fancy Apple gear, including an iPad and some £249 AirPods and sent us, the taxpayer, the bill?

She even tried to put another pair of £139 AirPods on expenses until The Sun exposed it and she repaid the cash.

It was around this time she was on her soapbox blasting the Tories — she calls them “scum”, our Ange — for their ­“catalogue of waste”, insisting Labour would bring in “high standards for all public spending”.

Well, now we know about her high standards when it comes to filling her boots.

With the Ibiza freebie now under the microscope, Spongerla’s poncing is finally — and deservedly — centre stage.

In many ways, her gift gluttony is worse than Free Gear Keir’s because of who she has cast herself as in public life.

The damage is done

She would have us believe she is one of us, our representative on Planet Politician — a selfless, working-class woman of the people.

It is this image that she would like her £68,000-a-year taxpayer-funded vanity photographer to capture.

Now there are demands for her to pay back the £836 along with Sir Keir’s nonsensical list of freebies he’s paying back.

Frankly, I don’t care if she does or she doesn’t. The damage is done.

Spongerla has shown us that she, too, can be just as grasping a “public servant” as the rest of them.

Meanwhile, the list of Labour faces blagging football tickets continues.

This week it was the turn of the enigmatic Sue Gray — for it is she — to score another own goal for ­Labour after it emerged she took free tickets to Tottenham Hotspur games.

No wonder we plebs struggle to secure seats for the Prem — the stands are full of freeloading “socialists”.

Stan’s the man – and Donald will hate him

I SAW a fantastic film this week – The Apprentice.

Charting the rise of ol’ big head himself, Donald J Trump, it is a superbly executed study of megalomania.

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Trump will privately hate it, not least because it shows him raping his own wife, Ivana, moments after humiliating her by coldly informing her he is no longer attracted to her.

(Ivana, who died in 2022, did once suggest he raped her, but he has denied it and never been charged with it or any rape.)

With the film released on October 18 in the UK – just weeks before the US election – Trump’s haters will hope it damages his bid to become president again. I doubt that.

The Don will brush it off in his trademark style: “A very bad film, maybe the worst film ever made, the guy who plays me is a loser”etc.

But while it may not hurt him, it should do wonders for the career of the brilliant actor who plays him, Sebastian Stan, pictured with Maria Bakalova as Ivana, whose portrayal of Trump’s ascendancy from hapless suburban landlord to maniacal Manhattan magnate is pitch perfect.

He deserves an Oscar nod at least.

And if that happens, I’ll bet a crisp ­ten dollar bill Trump will think it is actually for him.

I SEE crafty Oasis fans are hoping to sneak their drugs into the band’s Manchester Heaton Park summer shows by burying them in advance.

This probably sounded like a great ruse during a night chained to the mirror and the razor blade, but the tactic may not prove that clever on the day.

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All security guards need to do is look out for anyone wandering around staring at Google Maps with a puzzled look on their face . . . while holding a shovel.

Toxic chant shame

I’M glad Spurs are kicking off at their fans for the homophobic chants at the Man United match last weekend.

It wasn’t just on the terraces that these oiks decided to indulge in one of the worst of the low-IQ behaviours – it was in the tram on the way to the ground, too.

I was travelling to the game with my teenage son and we’re used to lairy bantz on the short trip from Piccadilly to Old Trafford – we’ve even been known to join in (don’t tell his mum).

But these chants were another level – targeting mainly Arsenal players and managers from over the decades with taunts about being gay and/or a paedophile.

They were puerile, desperately unfunny and delivered with an excruciating kind of malice.

It’s at moments like these when you realise that, of course, gay football players stay in the closet.

The game is still too pathetically toxic to handle them.

United front

HELPED an old boy with directions to a Japanese restaurant after Sunday’s Man Utd game.

He was born and bred in Manchester, but had moved to Oz and hadn’t been back for 50 years.

We joked there can’t have been many Japanese restaurants when he was last here.

But one thing has stayed the same – United were crap then as well.

The 74/75 season saw them grinding away in the Second Division, having fallen out of the top league for the first time in four decades.

Boris missus point

BORIS JOHNSON finally releases his memoir about, er, how brilliant Boris Johnson is, next week.

Place your order now if you want to hear how he thinks he handled being Mayor of London and running the country during Covid.

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Boris is a funny bloke who, having swallowed both an English and a Latin dictionary, has a wonderful way with words.

So his epic 784-page beast of a book is narrated in his customary Billy Bunter banter.

But it won’t be for everyone, especially if, like me, you have no desire to revisit the misery of lockdown.

Most significantly, it is missing some of the juicier ingredients of BoJo’s life – perhaps because they don’t paint him in such a heroic light.

But this is the book I’d like to read – a warts ’n’ all account of how this legendary swordsman and father-of-eight conducts himself when the eyes of the world are not upon him (Boris Johnson Unsheathed?).

I can’t help but feel the newspaper that has been running extracts from his new tome would rather have had that, too.

On day four of its serialisation, Boris’s image once again adorned the front page.

And just above that was a headline which screamed: Here’s Why I Left My Wife For My Mistress.

Alas, despite the clear symmetry with their thrice-married author, it was for an unconnected story.

Grim up north

FAIR play to Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd tootling about in a battered old Skoda.

He lives in North London, where I also live and drive around in my battered old Nissan.

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The reason my car is covered in dents and scrapes is probably the same reason Richard’s is – thanks to other careless drivers.

Every time I see a brand new car parked on my street, I wonder how long it will be before it gets damaged.

In crowded cities, owning a fancy new car is a mug’s game.

It’s a long time since I’ve read such a depressing piece in the FT as Eric Schmidt’s column “War in the age of AI demands new weaponry” (Opinion, FT Weekend, September 21).

As former chief executive of Google, he has the skills to describe the growth opportunities for the business of war in the age of artificial intelligence in a brisk and business-like manner, including anticipating the arrival of the first trillion-dollar US defence budget, and the need to “weigh total cost and supply chain resilience with other factors like performance”. Surprisingly, he doesn’t mention the huge opportunities presented by expansion of wars into space (presumably for lack of it — space on the page I mean).

Malcolm Campbell
Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

TODAY The Sun launches a ­Winter Fuel SOS campaign to help thousands of pensioners worried about their energy bills.

More than 800,000 older ­people risk missing out on the £300 Winter Fuel Payment — and other ­benefits they may be ­entitled to — because they have not first registered for Pension Credit, which unlocks access to the payment.

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And the extra money will be even more welcome after this month’s ten per cent rise in the Energy Price Cap to £1,717.

But good news is at hand, with our Winter Fuel SOS crew ready to offer advice on getting all the money that is yours by right.

In her July statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that this winter, only households in England and Wales that receive Pension Credit or certain means-tested ­benefits will be entitled to the ­Winter Fuel Payment.

Previously it was available to everyone aged over 66.

The decision will strip ten million pensioners of the tax-free handout.

There are just weeks left to claim, so it is essential that those who are eligible apply now.

An estimated 880,000 UK retirees could be entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment yet will miss out because they did not register for Pension Credit.

We have heard from readers who cannot work out if they are able to claim the ­benefit.

Others have said how worried they are that they won’t get the Winter Fuel Payment this year — raising fears they won’t be able to ­afford to heat their homes.

We want to change that.

That’s why we have gathered together a top line-up of experts — and our Winter Fuel SOS crew will be taking your calls this Wednesday.

We want to hear from you by phone or email — and it’s fine if you are calling or messaging on behalf of a friend or relative.

Our panel includes former ­pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, pensions expert Baroness Ros ­Altmann and consumer champion Martyn James.

They will be joined by The Sun’s Head of Consumer Tara Evans and Sun Savers Editor Lana ­Clements.

And even if you aren’t eligible for the payment, our team will be ­sharing tips on how to switch energy providers and save money, get help if you’re in debt or simply need to save this winter.

Your cases will be considered by our panel, who will aim to give you advice within one week of your call or email.

Caroline Abrahams, of the charity Age UK, said: “People often think if you have some savings or a small ­pension there’s no point applying for Pension Credit, but that’s often not the case.

“Don’t be put off by the forms — Age UK can help.”

How do I claim pension credit

PENSION Credit is a weekly payment from the Government to those over the state pension age who have an income which is below a ­certain level.

If your claim is successful then the benefit will top up your income to £218 a week if you are single, or £11,343.80 a year.

Meanwhile, if you live as a couple, your ­combined income will be boosted to £332.95 a week, or £17,313.40 annually.

The money you receive in Pension Credit can be spent as you want, but it could be used to pay for food, fuel, energy or housing costs.

Retirees who receive Pension Credit are also entitled to the Winter Fuel Payment, which is worth up to £300 and is designed to help you pay your heating bill over the chillier months ahead.

To qualify, you must have been eligible for Pension Credit during the “qualifying week”, which was September 16-22.

But Pension Credit can be backdated by up to three months, which means the last date you can make a claim and still get the Winter Fuel Payment is December 21.

There are several ways to apply for Pension Credit, including making your claim online or by telephone.

To register for the payments you will need to be receiving the state pension. See gov.uk for more information.

You can also call the Pension Credit claim line on 0800 99 1234 and they can help you to fill in an application form over the phone.

The lines are open from Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm.

Before you call, it would be helpful to have your ­National Insurance number and bank account details, plus information about your pension, income and savings to hand.

To contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre call 0800 731 0160. Phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

You can also send a letter by post to: Winter Fuel Payment Centre, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1LR.

When you contact the centre you will need to tell them personal information including your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number.

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What other help is there?

IF you are not eligible for Pension Credit but need help to make ends meet this winter, then there are still things you can do to save money.

You could save £162 a year by switching your gas and electricity ­supplier.

Around 28million homes have seen energy costs rise due to the new price cap.

On Tuesday it rose from £1,568 to £1,717 a year, which means bills are up ten per cent, or £149 a year.

This cap sets a maximum rate per unit that ­customers can be charged for their energy use and changes every three months.

The price cap only affects customers who are on a standard variable energy tariff, which rises or falls depending on the cost of raw energy.

Meanwhile, those who are on a fixed tariff agree in advance how much they will pay for their energy use for a whole year at a time.

A handful of suppliers are currently offering deals that are cheaper than the price cap. The current cheapest is from Outfox The Market and costs £162 less than this month’s cap.

You can reduce the amount of energy you use by lowering your ­thermostat, draught-proofing doors and windows and taking shorter ­showers to bring down your monthly costs.

Meanwhile, energy firms including EDF, ­British Gas and Ovo are offering customers up to £150 free to help with their bills this winter.

The help is provided through the ­Government’s Warm Home Discount Scheme.

To be eligible, you need to be claiming certain benefits which include Universal Credit, ­Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits.

You do not need to apply for the cash and should receive it automatically.

Our panel of experts will be on hand to ­suggest other ways to save money, depending on your ­circumstances.

Call our expert team on 0800 028 1978

Sir STEVE WEBB: PENSIONS ­Minister 2010- 2015. Joined consultancy Lane Clark & Peacock in 2020 and campaigned to secure around £2billion for women underpaid the state pension.

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Baroness ROS ALTMANN: EXPERT on later-life issues. Government’s Business Champion for Older Workers 2014-15. Awarded a CBE in 2014 for her work on pensions and retirement planning.

MARTYN JAMES: AN award-winning consumer rights expert, journalist and broadcaster with two decades of experience working for the UK’s leading newspapers.

JONATHAN CHESTERMAN: DEBT advice policy manager at StepChange debt charity – the largest provider of free and impartial debt guidance in UK. He will help with readers’ debt queries.

ELISE MELVILLE: ENERGY expert at comparison website uswitch.com, she cares about demystifying bill myths. Elise will be on hand to help with energy-saving tips.

BEN GALLIZZI: THE uswitch.com energy specialist is focused on helping customers to manage their home energy usage. He can suggest practical tips to help you cut your bills.

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ADAM STACHURA: THE associate director for policy at the charity Age Scotland, Adam is part of a team that offers advice and tips to older people on their winter fuel issues.

FRAN McSWEENEY: HEAD of services at Independent Age, a charity supporting older people facing financial hardship. Fran and her team run a national helpline on cash issues.

EMILY SEYMOUR: AS Energy Editor for consumer group Which? since 2020, Emily has been at the forefront of its campaigns to help people manage their energy bills.

JOE RICHARDSON: DIRECTOR of operations at Octopus Energy UK. His team are responsible for looking after all aspects of the business’s award-winning customer ­service.

TARA EVANS: HEAD of Consumer at The Sun. She will be joined by Sun Savers Editor Lana ­Clements and our very own Consumer Champion Laura Purkess.

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One of the best-known military jet demonstrations currently active, the Turkish Air Force’s ‘Solo Turk’ F-16 team, appears to have had an extremely close call at a recent airshow. Footage of the incident has appeared widely on social media, as well as unconfirmed reports of an investigation into what happened. Based on what we can see from the available videos, the pilot seems to have had a very lucky escape with the jet intact.

The videos show the specially painted Block 30 F-16C performing in the hands of the Solo Turk demo pilot at the Teknofest aerospace and technology festival in Adana in southern Turkey. The incident appears to have taken place yesterday, with the festival running from October 2-6.

At the end of the airshow display, the pilot waggles the wings and then performs a roll above the runway, but the nose of the F-16 drops alarmingly, leaving the jet inverted and pointing toward the ground — and seemingly also near the crowd line. Based on where the available videos are shot from, it’s not easy to tell exactly how close to the ground the aircraft got, but it certainly appears alarming, especially considering the fighter jet speeds involved.

TWZ spoke to one former fast jet pilot who gave their opinion on the footage, observing that the distance between the F-16 and the ground at the lowest point appears to be “a small number of wingspans.”

“It might have been that the pilot wanted to do some form of hesitation roll and actually paused at 180 degrees — but even so that requires you to really hawk your velocity vector,” the same pilot added.

A previous display routine seen from the cockpit of the Solo Turk F-16:

Whatever the case, it seems almost certain that the airshow organizers would have called for the display sequence to be terminated, were it not that the pilot was already on their final pass.

The fighter pilot we spoke to also considered it “highly likely that the display director would have red-carded the pilot.”

Rolling maneuvers of any kind in close proximity to the ground require great skill and precision on the part of the pilot, and the jet’s nose placement has to be very closely monitored at all times.

It may be the case that the pilot was not at fault here, though.

There are unconfirmed reports that the F-16 may have had some kind of flight-control system malfunction, leading to an uncontrolled dive, which the pilot then reacted to, climbing out.

Reports from Turkey state that an investigation has now been launched into exactly what happened.

In the meantime, the Solo Turk F-16 display remains one of the best-regarded on the European airshow circuit and one that has an excellent safety record. The Solo Turk team — which operates out of Konya Air Base — has around a dozen personnel, including two pilots, plus a CN235 support aircraft and has received several awards for its airshow performances.

For now, the dramatic footage is a reminder of the very line between a breathtaking airshow routine and disaster. The fact that such close calls are a relatively rare occurrence speaks to the preparation and close cooperation between air forces and airshow organizers to ensure that these displays remain safe — and spectacular.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Architects — keep the kitchen open plan. That’s my plea after reading Bridget Goldberg’s piece on home design trends (“Closing the door on the open-plan kitchen”, Interiors, House & Home, September 7).

A family I know live in a penthouse suite in Doha, the Qatari capital. It is a huge, two-storey apartment but the windowless kitchen is tucked away at the back on the ground floor. My American friend hates it. This is a place where women — wives and/or housekeepers — are meant to be kept out of sight in a room with no views. Kitchen design in Qatar is gendered; domestic architecture reinforces certain roles, which make it harder for women to join the lively discussions around the dining table.

I prefer my Dutch open-plan kitchen so I can share the cooking, the table talk and the clearing up with my husband.

Siobhan Wall
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

THE exact date a major supermarket with more than 300 UK branches is set to close has been revealed.

Waitrose fans were saddened to hear their beloved store will be pulling down the shutters for good.

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The site, located in Hall Green, Birmingham, announced it will close its doors for the final time after welcoming customers for more than 50 years.

Execs dubbed the move a sad “last resort” after failing to bring in higher profits.

Redundancy consultations have been started with the store’s 123 members of staff.

Hall Green North Councillor, Saima Suleman, shared the sad news on Facebook this week.

It sparked an outcry among shoppers who claimed they “want to move now”.

Someone wrote: “Hall Green isn’t what it was I think it needs to be more suitably placed.”

Another resident said: “This has made me want to move now.”

Others added on social media: “That’s disappointing! It’s one of my favourites since moving back to Birmingham in this area.”

“I’m so gutted,” agreed a fourth.

“Sad – it was always nice to have it at my door step. The staff in there are really friendly and helpful. What a shame!”, penned another.

The exact closure date was confirmed by Waitrose, and is set in January next year.

James Allen, head of retail operations at the supermarket, said: “Our priority now is doing everything we can to support our Partners at Waitrose Hall Green and we will explore opportunities, wherever possible, for those partners who may wish to remain with the Partnership.

“Closing any of our shops is always a last resort and is in no way a reflection on their hard work and dedication.”

A spokesperson for Waitrose added: “Regrettably, we’ve announced our intent to close Waitrose Hall Green in Birmingham at the end of trade on Tuesday, January 14, 2025.

“Despite the best efforts of our partners, we’ve unfortunately not been able to find a way to make the shop commercially sustainable.

“The 123 partners who work in the shop will now enter a period of consultation. If the redundancy proposals go ahead, every effort will be made to find those who wish to remain within the partnership new roles

“Customers will continue to be able to get all their groceries on waitrose.com, our nearby Waitrose Solihull shop, under three miles away, and other on demand locations in the event the closure is confirmed.

“The John Lewis partnership is committed to providing support to those partners who are at risk of redundancy.

“We’ll be exploring opportunities for partners within the partnership first, and our retraining fund will contribute up to £3,000 towards a recognised qualification or course for up to two years for any partner with two years’ service or more who is made redundant.

“They would also be given access to a three month support programme with an outplacement specialist to help with CV writing and interview skills.”

In addition to statutory redundancy payments, staff who have worked with the business for more than 90 days would be entitled to Partnership redundancy pay, which equates to one week’s pay for every year of service.

It comes as the retailer confirmed it will close all stores to give staff a break on Boxing Day.

The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has exclusively told The Sun it will shut all its standalone John Lewis stores on December 25 and 26.

Only its shops within the Trafford and Stratford shopping centres will remain open.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of Waitrose stores, also operated by the JLP, will close on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

That means over 300 Waitrose branches and 33 John Lewis sites will be closed to customers on December 26.

A handful of Waitrose shops attached to petrol stations will remain open on Boxing Day though.