A GRANDMA has been left fuming after she was charged £75 for her oversized suitcase but ‘younger and good looking’ passengers were let off.

Maxine Haughian, 63, was stopped in the queue for her flight to Alicante by Ryanair staff at Leeds Bradford Airport.

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The mum-of-two claims her luggage fit inside the guidance rack but “stuck out very slightly” by 2cm on one side.

She was told that her suitcase was too big and she’d need to pay to place the luggage into the hold.

However, Maxine, a retired prison governor, noticed other passengers in the queue being let off for oversized bags.

She described one woman as “young and gorgeous” and even took a sneaky snap of her being let off.

Taking to Facebook, Maxine said she was “disgusted” with Ryanair.

“I’ve just been held up for 20 minutes because they said my cabin bag was too big and I must pay an EXTRA £75 for it to go in hold,” she wrote.

“It’s funny (not funny) how other bags that are exactly the same were allowed through without comment.

“It’s a good job I took the photo of this (gorgeous) girl pushing her case into the box and being allowed through.

“I’m obviously not young or good looking enough!” she fumed.

Maxine, who was travelling with her husband Jim, continued: “Eventually (using photographic evidence) I was allowed through. I’m stressed to high-hell and hope I can calm down and get into holiday mode before we land.”

Despite being pleased that she was let off, Maxine told Oxford Mail: “It was almost like letting me go justified what I was saying. I think it’s definitely a money-making exercise.

“I’m a bit older, perhaps he thought I would be compliant. A lot of people just paid the money.”

She added: “Several people had suitcases that looked exactly the same as mine and they were putting them in the rack and it was sticking out a bit, but they were allowed to go through. It was the inconsistency of it all.

The Sun has contacted Ryanair for comment.

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Simplified advice can only be achieved if the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) work together, according to an industry expert.

Ian McKenna, founder of Financial Technology Research Centre, made the statement today (8 October) at Money Marketing Interactive in London.

The FCA announced proposals to launch a simplified advice model last December to make it easier for firms to provide affordable personal recommendations to those with simpler needs and smaller sums to invest.

McKenna, who was part of a panel discussing the future of advice, said for simplified advice to work, the Ombudsman needs to be part of the process.

However, he queried whether the regulator would be willing to make that decision.

He said: “The reality for simplified advice is the regulator would never bring the Ombudsman along. The argument was always do less, charge more or charge less, but still have the same responsibility at the end.

“This why I’m saying, and you could argue with my response, we don’t need the movement of the [advice/guidance] boundary.”

McKenna added that attempts were made in the past to address the issue of advice gap without much success.

“There’s no example of that happening in the past 20-30 years. Why would it be different now? What worries me is a huge amount of effort will be expended on something that just isn’t economically viable,” he said.

McKenna said the sector needs to tread with caution on the advice/guidance boundary review to avoid the equivalent of PPI in the long-term savings market.

“I think if we just remove the boundary, that’s what we will end up with and that will be devastating to people for long-term confidence.”

Tom Selby, director of policy at AJ Bell, said the advice/guidance boundary review is a test for the Consumer Duty and an opportunity for the regulator to assess how the financial services sector is abiding by the core terms of it.

He said the regulator now has access to huge amounts of data on firms to hold them accountable on their Consumer Duty commitments.

“It’s on them to make sure that firms do ultimately understand their shareholders.

“When they look at the cost benefit analysis of ‘am I going to throw people into an inappropriate product or am I going to follow the Consumer Duty?’

“Besides, if I don’t follow the Consumer Duty, I’m going to end up with a huge fine and a bad reputation.”

Good morning and welcome to US Election Countdown! Today let’s dig into:

If Kamala Harris wins the White House, she will enter the Oval Office with one of the least articulated foreign policy visions of any incoming president in modern US history.

But a sketch of her philosophy has started to appear [free to read]. The vice-president is a “realist” or “pragmatist”, according to people familiar with her thinking, though she doesn’t like being pigeonholed.

As tensions in the Middle East escalate, Donald Trump has claimed that Harris would be unprepared to lead the country. Her allies, however, are excited about Harris’s potential to bring in the perspective of a younger generation.

“I don’t think there’s any president that implements the prior president’s foreign policy wholesale,” Democratic senator Chris Murphy told the FT’s Alec Russell and Felicia Schwartz. “It’s likely she has departures from [Joe] Biden’s foreign policy in the Middle East.”

Yesterday, on the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack, Harris reiterated her staunch support for Israel and its right to defend itself, as she did following Iran’s ballistic missile strike on the country last week. But her remarks on the scale of civilian deaths in Gaza have led to speculation that she could be tougher on Israel than Biden.

It’s considered unlikely that Harris would do something such as withhold loan guarantees to Israel, as the then president George HW Bush did in 1991. But one lawmaker said she could turn up the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or consider sanctioning some of his far-right cabinet members.

If there is a ceasefire in Gaza, Harris’s advisers have suggested she might push to restart talks on a two-state solution — something the Biden administration had largely given up on.

There would be one key continuation of Biden’s worldview, though, according to lawmakers who have worked with Harris: she sees the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of a larger regional puzzle that encompasses Arab states — especially Saudi Arabia. “It’s not a two-state solution, it’s a 23-state solution,” said Democratic US senator Chris Coons.

Campaign clips: the latest election headlines

Behind the scenes

As co-chair of Trump’s transition team, billionaire investor and Republican megadonor Howard Lutnick has put potential administration officials on notice, saying appointees must prove their “loyalty”.

Lutnick, who is the chief executive of investment company Cantor Fitzgerald, is one of two people in charge of finding candidates to fill the roles in a second Trump administration, including key posts such as defence and Treasury secretaries. He is also drafting policy.

The investor told the FT’s Alex Rogers of any future hires:

They’re all going to be on the same side, and they’re all going to understand the policies, and we’re going to give people the role based on their capacity — and their fidelity and loyalty to the policy, as well as to the man.

Trump’s first term was plagued by infighting and staff turnover, including senior advisers who quit and in some cases spoke out against their former boss, but Lutnick said “those people were not pure to his vision”.

Lutnick compared his transition job with overseeing Cantor Fitzgerald’s hiring spree in the aftermath of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, which killed 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees.

The billionaire, who has raised $75mn for the campaign, including more than $10mn to elect Trump and $500,000 for the transition effort, also called the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 “radioactive”. Harris has made the radical conservative agenda a central part of her attacks against Trump.

Datapoint

Getting swing state voters to turn out on election day is a top priority for both the Harris and Trump campaigns. The issue has come into sharp focus in North Carolina, as it reels from Hurricane Helene. In 2020, Trump took the state by fewer than 75,000 votes.

Voting patterns and turnout in the western part of the state are in question following the devastation wrought in more than two dozen counties. “Communities were wiped off the map,” North Carolina governor Roy Cooper said last week.

Voter relocation, as well as broader perceptions of recovery efforts, could factor into ballot choices — or whether some North Carolina residents vote at all.

Late last month, Biden declared a federal disaster in 25 North Carolina counties. In 2020, Trump won 23 of these counties, suggesting that Republican turnout could take a hit in November. On the other hand, Harris risks being lumped into anger over the Biden administration’s response, especially as misinformation swirls — at times fanned by Trump himself. 

The state received 43,448 requests for absentee ballots from those 25 counties, and only 2,023 have been returned, according to yesterday’s tally from the state board of elections — with so much destruction, it’s possible many of those ballots won’t get filled out.

Plus, the deadline to register to vote in the state is coming up this Friday, though in-person registration is still possible during the early voting period that runs from October 17 to November 2.

Trump is leading Harris in North Carolina by 1.3 percentage points, according to the FT’s poll tracker.

Viewpoints

A TINY clue on the edge of a £1 coin could make it worth 2500 times its face value.

A coin enthusiast has revealed a crucial detail to watch out for that could earn you some “mega money”.

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Sharing a clip with his 134,600 followers on TikTok, the Coin Collector UK said: “There are a few errors that can be found on your £1 coins.

“The main ones you want to be looking for is the dual dated £1 coin.”

“The main ones you want to be looking for is the dual dated £1 coin.”

The TikToker demonstrated what to look for using a normal £1 coin from 2016.

He continued: “So you can see, when we flip this over on the obverse side this is a 2016 version of the £1 coin.

“However some were made with the micro-lettering on the side with the date 2017.

“It is an extremely rare error.

“We only know of one that’s actually being sold to a buyer in Spain, and this sold for £2,500.”

He advised using a microscope to check for this error as it is “extremely fine”.

He insisted “it’s definitely worth checking” if you have a 2016 dated coin.

Just look on the Queen‘s head side for the micro-lettering and on the reverse side for the date 2017, he added.

Lots of fans jumped to the comment section to share their thoughts.

One said: “Will look out for this.”

While a second person said: “I have 4 of them.”

Meanwhile a third asked: “I got this coin and please tell me where can I sell it.”To which the TikToker replied: “Auction.”

How to spot if your coin is rare

The most valuable and rare coins are usually the ones with low mintage numbers or an error.

A mintage number relates to how many of a certain coin were made, so the lower the number, the rarer and, generally, the more valuable a coin is.

Meanwhile, error coins are pieces that were incorrectly struck during the manufacturing process.

The ultra-rare “lines over face” 50p error coin is one such coin, which has been known to sell for £1,500 in the past.

Meanwhile, others with little-known designs have been known to sell for up to £3,000.

How to sell a rare coin

There are three ways you can sell rare coins – on eBay, Facebook, or in an auction.

If you’re selling on Facebook, there are risks attached.

Some sellers have previously been targeted by scammers who say they want to buy a rare note or coin and ask for money up front to pay for a courier to pick it up.

But the courier is never actually sent and you’re left out of pocket.

Rather than doing this, it’s always best to meet a Facebook seller in person when buying or selling a rare note or coin.

Ensure it’s a public meeting spot that’s in a well-lit area and if you can, avoid using payment links.

Next, you can sell at auction, which is generally the safest option.

You can organise this with The Royal Mint’s Collectors Service.

It has a team of experts who can help you authenticate and value your coin.

You can get in touch via email and a member of the valuation team will get back to you.

You will be charged for the service though – the cost varies depending on the size of your collection.

You can also sell rare coins on eBay.

But always bear in mind, you will only make what the buyer is willing to pay at that time.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Former home secretary James Cleverly surged into pole position in the Conservative leadership contest on Tuesday, as ex-security minister Tom Tugendhat was knocked out. 

In the third round ballot of MPs on Tuesday, Cleverly secured 39 votes, up 18 on the previous round, after he picked up momentum at the party’s annual conference last week.

He was followed by former immigration minister Robert Jenrick on 31 votes, a fall of two compared with the previous round. Jenrick won the first two rounds of voting, but saw his support slip after a lacklustre performance at the party’s gathering.

Former business secretary Kemi Badenoch — who until recently was considered the most popular candidate with Tory members — gained 30 votes, an increase of two. 

Tugendhat exited the race after coming last on 20 votes, down one vote, after losing steam at the party conference in Birmingham.

Another contender will be knocked out on Wednesday in the fourth round ballot, with the final two candidates being put to the party membership, with the final results due on November 2.

Cleverly is just two MPs away from reaching the threshold of 41 that is needed to make it into the run-off.

His odds have surged since the conference, with some bookmakers now deeming him the favourite, after he delivered an upbeat message and emphasised his experience in office, having previously filled two of the four so-called great offices of state. 

His allies are hopeful that he will pick up supporters who previously backed Tugendhat, given the two hail from a centrist tradition within the Tory movement. 

While Jenrick’s support went backwards, his campaign insist he is also on track to pick up MPs from Tugendhat’s camp.

Rival campaign figures admit they anticipate Cleverly will make the final two, but argue that Jenrick or Badenoch are still likely to beat him among the membership because they are more staunchly rightwing. “Dogs bark, cats meow, Tory members support the rightwing candidate,” said one.

When speaking to members at the conference, Cleverly played up his rightwing credentials, saying he advocated for Brexit “before it was cool” and had supported both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. While these positions will play well with Tory members, they may prove less popular with voters more broadly were Cleverly to lead the party into a general election.

The final two candidates must donate £150,000 each to Conservative Campaign Headquarters, on top of a £50,000 contribution that each of the final four had to give the central party. 

One campaign insider said the steep cash demand had provoked “annoyance”, while other Tory officials said it revealed the jitters inside the party about its financial situation following its worst-ever election defeat. 

Another Conservative insider said the money was “basically being spent on paying senior staff voluntary redundancy packages”, amid a wave of staff exits. 

CCHQ said the claims were “drivel”, adding: “There are massive staff and ballot costs. It doesn’t just happen by magic for free and has been the same for every previous leadership election.”

In addition to their donations to the party, the candidates may spend up to £400,000 each on their campaigns.