Craig Berry
@craigpberry.bsky.social
📤 2429
📥 1260
📝 429
TBC but also
https://www.justgiving.com/page/not-being-funny
For future reference, this is what a Universal Credit review looks like 👇
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16 days ago
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This blog is so good it had an impact before it was even published - if reports are true that the government is postponing Unemployment Insurance
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/government-p...
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Government proposals weaken rather than strengthen contributory unemployment benefits for disabled…
The government’s proposals for a new contributory unemployment benefit — known as Unemployment Insurance — were almost overlooked when the…
https://wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/government-proposals-weaken-rather-than-strengthen-contributory-unemployment-benefits-for-disabled-ca79147ec557?postPublishedType=initial
16 days ago
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This blog is so good it had an impact before it was even published - if reports are true that the government is postponing Unemployment Insurance
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/government-p...
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Government proposals weaken rather than strengthen contributory unemployment benefits for disabled…
The government’s proposals for a new contributory unemployment benefit — known as Unemployment Insurance — were almost overlooked when the…
https://wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/government-proposals-weaken-rather-than-strengthen-contributory-unemployment-benefits-for-disabled-ca79147ec557?postPublishedType=initial
16 days ago
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Big Issue
23 days ago
Long-term claimants of employment and support allowance could be moved over to a new, time-limited disability benefit – equating to cuts.
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Disabled people could face benefit cuts – even if they cannot work
https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/disabled-people-benefit-cuts-citizens-advice/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1769068497
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Unemployment Insurance is a new benefit merging new style JSA and ESA. Much to commend eg higher payments compared to JSA. But for disabled people, this could end long-term support without even offering the same short-term gain. While other disability benefits are cut too. Not a great start!
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22 days ago
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Craig Berry
Disabled people are routinely shut out of employment. My brilliant colleagues
@beccastacey.bsky.social
and
@victoria-anns.bsky.social
draw on the experience of the people we support to chart a way forward 👇
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24 days ago
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Maddy Rose
23 days ago
The government is planning to merge two benefits to create 'unemployment insurance'. But this would end indefinite awards currently paid to many disabled people claiming new style ESA, making them time-limited instead. Great report from Craig breaking down the key issues 👇
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The government wants to enhance contributory unemployment benefits - we’re good with that Contribution-based benefits can help the legitimacy of the welfare state. There is a catch though…
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...
23 days ago
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Disabled people are routinely shut out of employment. My brilliant colleagues
@beccastacey.bsky.social
and
@victoria-anns.bsky.social
draw on the experience of the people we support to chart a way forward 👇
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24 days ago
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Becca Stacey
24 days ago
The Equality Act should protect disabled people at work But
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
supported 5,393 people with health-related job discrimination in 2025 - roughly one every 1.5 hours Mine and
@victoria-anns.bsky.social
's new report digs into the barriers our disabled clients face at work /1
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Marie Le Conte
26 days ago
in this month's Observer column! I went to watch the snooker and I had an absolutely terrific time* *I had absolutely no idea what was happening at any given moment
observer.co.uk/news/columni...
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Craig Berry
New Economics Foundation
2 months ago
There are now 2.5 unemployed people looking for work for every vacancy. The jobs market is oversaturated with too many people looking for work and not enough jobs to fill. 1/3
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Ruth Curtice
2 months ago
@nyecominetti.bsky.social
piece from yesterday important context for today's labour market stats. ALL of the change in the employment rate since the pandemic is due to unemployment - a lack of jobs not a lack of jobseekers.
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Tom MacInnes
2 months ago
Late shout for this. Still time to register!
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Tom MacInnes
2 months ago
Ahead of our end of year Data Insights session (sign up here! Featuring special guest
@anooshc.bsky.social
from the New Statesman
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/turning-th...
) I wrote something very short on the 2 child limit, living standards and political ambition
medium.com/p/9e10a39f80cf
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Turning the Tide or Treading Water? Living Standards After the Budget
After the government’s key announcements and the recent Autumn Budget, we’ll explore what those decisions mean for households and families.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/turning-the-tide-or-treading-water-living-standards-after-the-budget-tickets-1960351918359?aff=oddtdtcreator&_gl=1%2A159zrar%2A_up%2AMQ..%2A_ga%2AMTAwODcxNTcxMS4xNzYyODYyNjk1%2A_ga_TQVES5V6SH%2AczE3NjI4NjI2OTQkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjI4NjI2OTQkajYwJGwwJGgw&mc_cid=3195fd11a0&mc_eid=31d98f0326
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I'm seeing 3 of my top 5 Spotify wrapped artists live in 2026, in walking distance of my house Which probably doesn't sound odd unless you know where I live
2 months ago
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Called it - government adopts the pensions triple lock plus
craigberry.substack.com/p/the-pensio...
#budget2025
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The pensions triple lock plus is a no-brainer
Labour will adopt Rishi Sunak’s triple lock plus policy in office. It needs to have a more honest conversation about tax now, or it will not have a mandate for the things it will inevitably need to do
https://craigberry.substack.com/p/the-pensions-triple-lock-plus-is
3 months ago
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Rainer Kattel
3 months ago
Growth won’t save Starmer. It’s a metric, not a mission. What if the real mission was peace — at home (less division, stronger communities) and abroad (diplomacy, democracy, humanitarian leadership)? Peace gives politics direction. Growth doesn’t. Read on:
open.substack.com/pub/rainerka...
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Growth Is Not a Mission — But Peace Could Be
Can Starmer save himself, and his government, by rethinking his mission?
https://open.substack.com/pub/rainerkattel/p/growth-is-not-a-mission-but-peace?r=qigf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
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Jim Waterson
3 months ago
This thread collating the Sheffield Tribune’s brilliant investigation into the spivvy lawyer threatening Yorkshire leaseholders into handing over cash is worth reading before the story goes national.
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Rory Cellan-Jones
3 months ago
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/sometimes-it...
I wrote last week about two villains and one hero in the battle between truth and lies. Well here’s another hero - the Sheffield Tribune, one of the Mill stable of independent news sites, had the courage to publish an important story despite legal threats..
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Sometimes it’s worth the risk
“We will definitely bring proceedings for Defamation and Malicious Falsehood if you publish such complete and malicious lies.”
https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/sometimes-its-worth-the-risk/
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Joshi Herrmann
3 months ago
Extraordinary story from
@sheffieldtribune.bsky.social
: A London lawyer bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds. Then the ‘very aggressive’ letters arrived. One woman: “It broke my heart, that was my savings towards a new car...He has just wiped me out.”
www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-law...
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A London lawyer bought hundreds of Sheffield freeholds. Then the ‘very aggressive’ letters arrived
Exclusive: The Tribune can reveal that Andrew Milne has threatened leaseholders with high court action. It ‘broke my heart’ one woman says
https://www.sheffieldtribune.co.uk/a-london-lawyer-bought-hundreds-of-sheffield-freeholds-then-the-very-aggressive-letters-arrived/?ref=the-tribune-newsletter
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Ed Pemberton
3 months ago
New blog out today, as part of our work with
@healthfoundation.bsky.social
, looking at the unequal health impacts of the current system of housing cost support that fails to cover people's rent.
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Check out Sarah's thread on LHA and the autumn budget 👇
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3 months ago
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Check out Sarah's thread on LHA and the autumn budget 👇
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3 months ago
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More from
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
on Local Housing Allowance today... Here's our pre-budget briefing by the brilliant
@DrSarahHadfield.bsky.social
assets.ctfassets.net/mfz4nbgura3g...
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https://assets.ctfassets.net/mfz4nbgura3g/7bnNibVzBNwBIaj6lW9hLp/fea4071ef75c46ffde797f70b137e500/Falling_Behind__The_government_is_failing_private_renters_by_freezing_LHA.pdf
3 months ago
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Maddy Rose
3 months ago
📢Young disabled people could face benefit cuts of more than £420 a month if government plans go ahead. Young people deserve real support - not cuts that could push them into poverty. New blog from me &
@victoria-anns.bsky.social
:
medium.com/p/62015a6f0b12
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The government must cancel plans to cut disability benefits for young people
This blog has been co-written by Maddy Rose, Senior Policy Researcher, and Victoria Anns, Policy Researcher.
https://medium.com/p/62015a6f0b12
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Spot on from Hannah Aldridge on Local Housing Allowance
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
LHA *desperately* needs to be uprated this year. But we also need to change how this decision is made
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The Resolution Foundation Housing Outlook Q4 2025 • Resolution Foundation
In 2012, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels were linked to the 30th percentile of local rents and automatically revised to reflect market changes. However, since the systematic link with market rent...
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/housing-outlook-q4-2025/
4 months ago
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Sarah O'Connor
4 months ago
This is such a good corrective by
@chrisgiles.ft.com
to the "working-age welfare spending is exploding/out-of-control" narrative that more & more people seem to see as an incontrovertible fact
www.ft.com/content/ee67...
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It's important to get the new support conversation for disabled people right...
@kslharrison.bsky.social
shows the way, in a new paper for
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
👇
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4 months ago
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Work Capability Assessment delays are leaving disabled people in limbo Excellent piece by
@scollerton.bsky.social
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/work-capabil...
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Work Capability Assessment delays are leaving disabled people in limbo
Disabled people can get extra support under Universal Credit (UC) if they’re found eligible after a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). But…
https://wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/work-capability-assessment-delays-are-leaving-disabled-people-in-limbo-a1deb1e457cb
4 months ago
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Craig Berry
📢No more waiting on the 5 week wait, says my
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
colleague
@julia-rt.bsky.social
The 5 week wait for a first UC payment means families end up in debt to DWP -leading to deductions from future payments that cause real hardship This needs to change
medium.com/citizens-adv...
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No more waiting on the 5 week wait
This autumn, the government has the chance to take action on one of Universal Credit’s longest-standing problems: “the 5 week wait”.
https://medium.com/citizens-advice/no-more-waiting-on-the-5-week-wait-fd7d8ce2087a
4 months ago
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⚠️ Mandatory reconsideration needs reconsidering ⚠️ Waiting times for benefits appeals have increased significantly - the system isn't fit for purpose Excellent analysis by my
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
colleague Buki Akinosho
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/reconsiderin...
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Reconsidering Mandatory Reconsideration: Is the system fit for purpose?
Mandatory reconsideration (MR) is a process that allows benefit claimants to request a review of a decision about their benefits claim. MR…
https://wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/reconsidering-mandatory-reconsideration-is-the-system-fit-for-purpose-726c0c841245
4 months ago
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📢No more waiting on the 5 week wait, says my
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
colleague
@julia-rt.bsky.social
The 5 week wait for a first UC payment means families end up in debt to DWP -leading to deductions from future payments that cause real hardship This needs to change
medium.com/citizens-adv...
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No more waiting on the 5 week wait
This autumn, the government has the chance to take action on one of Universal Credit’s longest-standing problems: “the 5 week wait”.
https://medium.com/citizens-advice/no-more-waiting-on-the-5-week-wait-fd7d8ce2087a
4 months ago
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⚠️ Mandatory reconsideration needs reconsidering ⚠️ Waiting times for benefits appeals have increased significantly - the system isn't fit for purpose Excellent analysis by my
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
colleague Buki Akinosho
wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/reconsiderin...
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Reconsidering Mandatory Reconsideration: Is the system fit for purpose?
Mandatory reconsideration (MR) is a process that allows benefit claimants to request a review of a decision about their benefits claim. MR…
https://wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/reconsidering-mandatory-reconsideration-is-the-system-fit-for-purpose-726c0c841245
4 months ago
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UK poverty crisis as 500,000 children in homes trapped in benefit debt cycle -
@julia-rt.bsky.social
's research on Universal Credit deductions covered in the Independent
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
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UK poverty crisis as 500,000 children in homes trapped in benefit debt cycle
Exclusive: Tens of thousands of families are forced to take out loans to cover the five-week wait until their first Universal Credit payment – but many struggle to pay it back
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dwp-universal-credit-debt-families-child-poverty-b2834196.html
4 months ago
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Craig Berry
ICYMI - the public don't support cutting Universal Credit or freezing Local Housing Allowance 🧵
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5 months ago
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Becca Stacey
5 months ago
The govt wants to get more disabled people into work, but isn't making full use of the tools at its disposal In my new report for
@citizensadvice.bsky.social
I've looked at how our social security system could do more to make sure that when disabled people want to work, work really does pay /1
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ICYMI - the public don't support cutting Universal Credit or freezing Local Housing Allowance 🧵
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5 months ago
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Craig Berry
Some fantastic insights and policy ideas in
@beccastacey.bsky.social
's new report. We can't simply will more disabled people into work, there needs to be greater support - and the benefits system might be going in the wrong direction 👇
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5 months ago
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📢 Benefit cuts don’t have widespread support
5 months ago
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📢 Benefit cuts don’t have widespread support
5 months ago
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Craig Berry
Great to see
@beccastacey.bsky.social
's research covered here by
@cjayanetti.bsky.social
in the
@bigissue.com
www.bigissue.com/news/employm...
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DWP plans will see more than 50,000 disabled people lose job support
DWP plans mean large numbers of disabled people will no longer qualify for a work allowance to support people looking for employment.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/employment/dwp-disabled-people-benefits-employment-support/
5 months ago
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Chaminda Jayanetti
5 months ago
At least 50,000 disabled people could lose access to financial employment support if the government goes ahead with plans to scrap the WCA benefit assessment, according to a new report from Citizens Advice The true figure is likely to be higher By me, for Big Issue
www.bigissue.com/news/employm...
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DWP plans will see more than 50,000 disabled people lose job support
DWP plans mean large numbers of disabled people will no longer qualify for a work allowance to support people looking for employment.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/employment/dwp-disabled-people-benefits-employment-support/
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Some fantastic insights and policy ideas in
@beccastacey.bsky.social
's new report. We can't simply will more disabled people into work, there needs to be greater support - and the benefits system might be going in the wrong direction 👇
add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
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Great to see
@beccastacey.bsky.social
's research covered here by
@cjayanetti.bsky.social
in the
@bigissue.com
www.bigissue.com/news/employm...
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DWP plans will see more than 50,000 disabled people lose job support
DWP plans mean large numbers of disabled people will no longer qualify for a work allowance to support people looking for employment.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/employment/dwp-disabled-people-benefits-employment-support/
5 months ago
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Citizens Advice
5 months ago
Our latest data shows that people’s problems are becoming more urgent and more complex. And the systems designed to support them are harder to navigate than ever. Join us on 25 September to hear from a panel of experts and explore our data ⤵️ https://bit.ly/41XFPsn
#CADataInsights
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Craig Berry
Big Issue
5 months ago
A new report by the Work and Pensions Committee is calling on the government to go further with its plans to reform Jobcentres
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Universal credit sanctions 'undermine' Jobcentre work support
https://www.bigissue.com/news/employment/universal-credit-sanctions-jobcentre-support-dwp/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1757404774
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As Victoria says "the UC bill will have far reaching consequences, many of which haven’t been properly debated or understood". There is no upside here. It's simply an attack on disabled people, making work less not more likely 👇
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5 months ago
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Victoria Anns
6 months ago
Cuts to disability benefits weren’t totally averted! 🚨New report out today explaining why the Universal Credit Bill will harm disabled people and exploring who will be impacted by the cuts.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...
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Not so Universal: the two-tiered health element. How the Universal Credit Bill will create a two-tiered system for disabled people.
Briefing by Victoria Anns on how the Universal Credit Bill will create a two-tiered system for disabled people.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/not-so-universal-the-two-tiered-health-element-how-the-universal-credit-bill/
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This is fascinating stuff from Tom and colleagues at
@neweconomics.bsky.social
and Camden Council 👇
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6 months ago
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