We look at some of the articles provoking reader conversation today, including Donald Trump’s comments on the NHS, the global stock market and wind power

'UK rations healthcare on who needs it, the US does not': your best comments today

Donald Trump’s comments on the state of the UK’s health service, and the UK’s involvement in Europe’s offshore wind power, the global stock market plunge, and whether restaurant tips should go to the owners or workers have got readers talking today.

To join in the conversation you can click on the links in the comments below to expand and add your thoughts. We’ll continue to highlight more comments worth reading as the day goes on.

‘Tips for good service should be a bonus, not a way to allow owners to starve workers’

As a former waitress, I’m outraged by this--and by the comments that show restaurant owners and managers are already stealing tips. As a former restaurant owner, I believe all the employees ought to be paid a living wage. I never paid wait staff less than the dishwashers. Tips for good service should be a bonus, not a way to allow owners to starve workers. I can also see the point that many workers contribute to the service provided, and so deserve a portion of the tip. But that policy has to be stated before hiring, the distribution has to be based on the actual tips earned, and it has to be done transparently.

chrisfi

In some state’s, like Texas, the employer is allowed to redistribute your tips based on how they classify your tips as when you first start working there.

I work in a fine dining restaurant and I tip out 23.25% of my tips every day to busboys, food runners, bartenders, amd the hostess. As well as the 2.2% fee charged for using a credit card, comes out of my tips.

On parties, an automatic 22% gratuity is added to the bill. Of that 22, I get 15. The other 7% goes to my manager and the party coordinator as part of his/her “commission”. So yes, this has been happening for a long time.

collinmcc

‘Screw which one is cheaper’

In the UK, we ration healthcare based on who needs it the most. In the US, healthcare is rationed based on who can afford it. Screw which one is cheaper. The question is, which is more moral? The answer should be obvious.

Anthony Cooper

‘The UK threw a billion pounds at the DUP’

Americans also need to know that while the NHS is struggling, the UK has a “Conservative” government that threw a billion pounds at the DUP in a desperate attempt to cling to power.

Andystar

‘It’s got nothing to do with healthcare and everything to do with race’

One American friend said something rather profound to me. He said (and I’m paraphrasing) - “stop thinking of this as a healthcare issue and start thinking of it as a race issue - white people just don’t want to pay for black people’s healthcare” boom, all of the sudden the missing piece of the puzzle dropped into place and it made sense why Americans fight so hard against it.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rampion wind farm, eight miles off the Sussex coast. Photograph: Darren Cool/E.On/PA

‘It’s just playing catch up’

Not more misleading hype. It’s just playing catch up. Germany, with more than 7 times as much wind power as the UK, is not currently installing anymore because they have more than their grid can handle. France has twice as much, and so on. The only reason the UK installed more than half of Europe’s total is because the other countries have so much already, they are close to capacity.

derekcolman

‘It makes way more sense to produce energy locally’

Er yeah. Blighty as usual is allowing multinational companies to build this needed infrastructure. Meaning we, as we do now, pay much of our energy bills to other countries. I’m no flag waving idiot, but it makes way more sense to produce energy locally - allow and incentivise local council to get involved, not EDF and the big companies who have pushed the cost of the trnasition onto the poorest. Also onshore wind is cheaper.

lee towers

‘Privatisation does not benefit us’

Rampant capitalism! What do we expect. Time for a socialist agenda. Setting priorities that benefit the people not corporate capital. Privatisation does not benefit us, only gamblers in profit. Nationalize utilities. Introduce a Robin Hood tax. Invest in health, schools, environmental projects....we don’t have to be hostages to their (mis)fortune, but act to protect our own future! Solidarity!

avidreader49

‘What we are witnessing now is the beginning of the end’

Interest rates have been at historic lows for almost 10 years now. There is no way this can go on indefinitely. What we are witnessing now is the beginning of the end - of low interest rates and bloated stock values.

Humhaha

Comments have been edited for length. This article will be updated throughout the day with some of the most interesting ways readers have been participating across the site.

