Perhaps the doctor recognised acute stress that you were in denial of?
Hence why they should be in charge and not some government lackey, employed to keep costs down.
Because doctors know about medical things.
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[Politics] Sunak's benefits shake up
- Thread starter Harry Wilson's tackle
- Start date
Hence why they should be in charge and not some government lackey, employed to keep costs down.
Because doctors know about medical things.
ROSM
Well-known member
Any chance of naming the source of this? Surely you remember this from when you did your degree?
If it's based anywhere near 55 Tufton street then you lose 5 marks for a poor quality source reference
Is it a particularly left wing trait to want people who are ill to receive the right treatment?
Pretty a-political viewpoint, Shirley?
Colonel Mustard
Well-known member
- Jun 18, 2023
- 2,054
Nothing wrong with tax avoidance. We're right in the middle of ISA season. ISAs (introduced by Labour under Blair) allow people to save up to £20K a year without being taxed on interest, dividends, capital growth etc. All perfectly legal. Same with pension funds which allow tax-efficient savings. If you mean tax evasion which is unlawfully hiding money from the Revenue to avoid declaring it and paying tax, then sure, we agree totally.
- Thread starter
- #65
If you imagine you have made your point that benefit claimants are benefit fraudsters, and that Dawyne also has a point and is not a troll, OK mate.
You seem to have a very low threshold for self-congratulation
- Jul 10, 2003
- 25,905
Just a quick question
Have the Woke/lefties taken the same place as the EU in the immigrants/benefit scroungers/single parents/minorities/teachers,doctors,nurses blame circle or have they changed the order as well.
Or is it just the ever increasing speed as this cabal heads into oblivion. I am impressed that they still manage to land a few though
Look over there, they're the problem
Have the Woke/lefties taken the same place as the EU in the immigrants/benefit scroungers/single parents/minorities/teachers,doctors,nurses blame circle or have they changed the order as well.
Or is it just the ever increasing speed as this cabal heads into oblivion. I am impressed that they still manage to land a few though
Look over there, they're the problem
Those same doctors, presumably, who face being struck-off if they are arrested on a Climate Change protest.
Our wonderful free-speech loving, anti-Cancel Culture, Tory government.
- Thread starter
- #68
Indeed.
But I think you realise he meant tax fraud, not legal avoidance. I thought I was pedantic
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ROSM
Well-known member
I wonder if Infosys will be bidding for the contract to supply the fit for work assessment.
As in all walks of life we should follow the money here.
As in all walks of life we should follow the money here.
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
ATOS were ridiculous. I had a physical condition where I was signed off work by my doctor and with a consultant's recommendation. As I was working for the Civil Service, there are procedures to go through. Incidentally, I was covered by sick pay from work rather than benefits.
Part of the procedure was that I had to have an interview with ATOS.
When I got there, it was a nurse who interviewed me, putting details into a computer. The nurse wasn't qualified to overrule my GP and especially not the consultant, so it was a box ticking exercise.
Now, that was a waste of money.
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- Apr 5, 2014
- 23,633
Here's an irony. I've have had mental health issues for 16 years but have been determined to work. I work from home and am very well respected in my job not least because of a 'can do' attitude (this really is ironic as I write it when the events of this policy are discussed). I have reasonable adjustments due to not being able travel sometimes etc. All good.
So I'm in work and paying me taxes. Recently I spoke to the doctor about an issue that I was determined wouldn't keep me off work and felt could be resolved in part through a specific counseling service the NHS provides and has done before.
No can do, says the doctor. The government have taken away the funding.
So I'm in work and paying me taxes. Recently I spoke to the doctor about an issue that I was determined wouldn't keep me off work and felt could be resolved in part through a specific counseling service the NHS provides and has done before.
No can do, says the doctor. The government have taken away the funding.
They are advertising on indeed for “fit to work” assessors.
So far, the only qualification you seem to require is to live near Worthing.
Bodes well for the mental health assessors, doesn’t it.
So far, the only qualification you seem to require is to live near Worthing.
Bodes well for the mental health assessors, doesn’t it.
ROSM
Well-known member
The ISA which followed the TESSA (tax exempt special savings account) and launched by John Major in his only budget as Chancellor. There is nothing wrong in offering tax breaks to stimulate saving/investment. There are however issues with schemes that allow taxable income or indeed tax due to be hidden. Some call it avoidance and some call it evasion.
The ONS !
This is a huge opportunity for radical change. As usual you can't make an omelette without breaking an egg and there will always be winners and losers. You do realise that you can be both in full time employment and receiving benefits?
Here's one way this could be addressed.
1 Significantly raise the minimum wage, reducing the benefits claimed.
2 As this will push the costs onto businesses significantly reduce business rates on properties (helping the High Street)
3 This will hit local government finances hard, which are already under severe stress, so increase central government funding, based on savings in the welfare budget.
4 If a government has a big enough majority it could also tackle the huge inequity in Council Tax raising. The current banding system is massively outdated. A rebanding exercise would largely place the burden on those best able to pay more. (Note I would expect to do very badly personally out of this one).
If you’re a billionaire, it’s avoidance.
If you’re on £25k a year, it’s evasion.
Pretty sure that how it works.
Would we good to also see the stats without universal credit as well. You can’t point your finger at those who actually work but have such low income it needs topping up.
Colonel Mustard
Well-known member
- Jun 18, 2023
- 2,054
Yes, fine.
So you agree with Sunk that someone in a new quango should have overridden the GP who signed you off sick?
Yes, people with genuine problems need support. But who decides if they have genuine problems? Sunk is proposing it not be a medic, but some new, as yet undefined body of assessors. Like loss adjusters.
And the reason for all this is exactly what I alluded to - a made-up 'movement' playing 'the mental health card' as you put it.
Playing the mental health card may well be what you did, but the term is pejorative and used by gammon to label anyone with a genuine mental health issue.
I rather shyly admitted to my sister in law about my issues a couple of years ago (I have mentioned then before and won't bore you with the details, sufficed to say I have never been a scrounger and sponged off the tax payer) and she accused me of playing the mental health card. Nice.
No, not nice. f***ing offensive.
And you didn't play the mental health card. You lied and defrauded the system
I played the system, definitely, though I bristle a bit at 'lying and defrauding'. I spoke to my GP truthfully about how pissed off I was at work, hoping he’d sign me off for a while which he did. I couldn’t have complained if instead, he'd advised me to take more exercise and look for another job which was the real solution I arrived at myself within a few months.
I don’t have an opinion on the other stuff, and that’s not what I wanted to comment on. I don’t know what the proposals are and am not interested enough to research them. I also don’t like childish nicknames for politicians. You can be quite abusive, but get defensive when you’re challenged.
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
The Citizens Advice Bureau on benefit fraud v tax fraud. Allowing for mistakes from the DWP in overpayments.
www.cas.org.uk
Myth-busting: the real figures on benefit fraud
Benefit fraud is a problem, however it seems to get more attention than other fraud within our economy. Here are the facts about benefit fraud and their position within the UK’s finances.
