Ian Duncan Smith thinks he can live on £53 a week. Lets make him

[Stevie Boy]

How do you manage to afford to watch the Albion? Starve the kids? Genuine question.

got a season ticket, work hard to pay it off and dont buy anything when i go out

 

[oldalbiongirl]

No I wouldn't, the £10 a week would be one of the first things to go, naturally, but that's not my point. I'm making a wider point about equal sporting opportunity for all, regardless of income...remember that Olympic Legacy

How many kids I have is both my business and not relevant to the points I'm making here.

See e77's post above for the point I'm basically trying to make.

If only working people in this country could see who the real enemy is and stop bitching so much about benefit 'scroungers' then perhaps we'd all see a fairer society. (That's not to say there aren't any scroungers at all by the way, I'm not that blinkered).

You are absolutely right on this. As a teacher, I see those haves and have not children and already at such a young age, you see those children who are getting socially isolated because their parents cant afford for them to join clubs such as football. They then get pushed out from their peers and then start getting into trouble as have low self esteem and surprise surprise get into trouble as they get older. People need to stop taking such a narrow view of society. This orchestrated division by the privileged in society is merely setting up a whole host of problems for our future.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Your missing the point if you think its that easy go and have a look in the job centre your what the tories love working class v working class youve been brainwashed sonny.

Sonny........

 

[oldboy]

If you come off your bike you wont get a diasabled badge. A nd that will be your punishment.

 

[Pevenseagull]

I met IDS at a Conservative association dinner in Eastbourne in the late 90's when he was shadow defense minister (work commitment). His dining etiquette was atrocious. His Q&A to a largely sympathetic (myself not included) audience (myself included) revealed him to be, in my honest opinion, a pompous dullard.

I do think he probably believes that what he is doing is for the best. That said, from my time in his company I drew the conclusion that he is a profoundly stupid man and has no place in such high office.

His level in life should be treasurer for the jam stall at a village fete in Godalming.

 

[cloud]

Is there any weighting when it comes to MPs and their benefits? I know one has to declare savings when procuring job seekers allowance. Same for MPs?

There isn't any weighting in terms of their income/assets, though the amount they can claim varies slightly depending on their constituency, how far they are from London, and whether they have any dependents.

They do have to declare all their income: details here

However, when they lose their position as an MP they do get a winding-up allowance of about £56k (to close their office and London residence), plus a one-off 'resettlement' payment of about £33k (of which 30k is tax-free).

This will certainly lessen the blow for them when they lose their job, and I think this is more unfair than being reimbursed for their constituency and travel costs.

 

[toff79]

its a joke, i worked hard at school and done as well as i could iv not been out of work since i was 16 but at the moment im in a job that earns just over 18000 a year, i was told that i earn to much money to get council housing so i am currently renting privetly, my bills alone (gas elec food rent ctax travel) are more a month then i earn how do they execpt people to live on such little amounts,

to the people saying why should we pay taxs for others? i hope you never fall on hard times cause believe me the decision to either eat a dinner or stick your heating on is not one you will enjoy

 

[BigGully]

You are absolutely right on this. As a teacher, I see those haves and have not children and already at such a young age, you see those children who are getting socially isolated because their parents cant afford for them to join clubs such as football. They then get pushed out from their peers and then start getting into trouble as have low self esteem and surprise surprise get into trouble as they get older. People need to stop taking such a narrow view of society. This orchestrated division by the privileged in society is merely setting up a whole host of problems for our future.

Wow, if you really are a teacher as you purport to be then you will be privy to which families are in receipt of benefits or not, through Free School Meals etc. and should have a better interpretation as to the problems your pupils experience.

You are unlikely to have much knowledge what other families financial circumstances might be, unless they have for some reason volunteered this to you.

Statistically those that are in receipt of benefits, unemployed, single parents etc might be more prone to behaviour issues and later criminality, but your analysis is flawed.

As a teacher you must be aware that there remains many that are flagrantly abusing the system with no real intention to work ( how could they, they are generally unqualified and poorly educated and unlikely to find work that might offer the same financial rewards that benefits offer ) and those children you allude to are mostly through the dysfunctionality of their own families, less likely through financial hardship.

You should also be aware of many that are on free school meals, through no fault of there own who turn out their child on time, well fed and cleaned clothed, filling in their reading diaries as they go with a real drive for their children to succeed.

I personally commend those families and have no problem with the help and support they receive, but to a point the feckless are robbing them of greater support and to ignore this undermines the whole system.

By the way I was surprised to hear your pupils on Free School Meals etc. cannot access financial support to freely access after school clubs etc.

 

[00snook]

Maybe, just maybe, people who claim benefits shouldn't have the luxury of having spare rooms, when people who work struggle without spare rooms

Controversial

 

[The Large One]

Controversial

When you say 'Controversial', I assume you mean 'thick'.

 

[soistes]

There will always be some people who play the system, and there is no doubt that efforts should be made to tackle fraud from the welfare system (my understanding, however, is that the amount lost to the exchequer through welfare fraud is peanuts compared to the amount lost through tax evasion and corporate fraud). Equally it is clear that those who are able to work should be expected to seek work and take the jobs that are available. I’m not convinced, however, that the majority of benefit claimants are fraudsters or scroungers. Most are people who for whatever combination of reasons (bad luck, family breakdown, ill health, outdated skills, lack of jobs in the local labour market etc) have found themselves in difficult circumstances. Even if there is a minority of people who play the system, I think that’s a small price to pay for a compassionate welfare state which offers a decent safety net to people who genuinely can’t support themselves (and that includes some people who do have jobs but who are so poorly paid that they can’t afford a decent life for themselves and their families). As someone who’s lucky enough to have a job and a reasonably comfortable lifestyle, I’m very happy to pay my taxes to support such people, as and until their circumstances mean that they can support themselves. I do that in the expectation that should I fall on hard times myself, I will be able draw on the same sources of support, without being demonised as a scrounger by IDS and his Tory chums. If there’s not currently enough money in the system to do this, as IDS and co seem to think, then personally I’d be happy to contribute more in taxation (as long as the rich, tax-dodgers and their ilk were also made to pay their share).

 

[The Large One]

[tweet]319091050172002305[/tweet]

 

[South Stand Rebel]

Excellent post. Someone at last sees the common sense approach.

 

[South Stand Rebel]

That was in response to Soistes comment

 

[South Stand Rebel]

The "feckless" as you call them are a very small minority - the cuts will affect all claimants whether they work or not. I see the latest assaults on the poor of this country are to eradicate the minimum wage and enforce those in part time work to work longer hours to come off state support. That would be ideal, if employers paid a living wage.

 

[South Stand Rebel]

Isnt that the whole point? Everyone agrees that there are people out there who don't want to work, and these should be targeted. Why punish the majority of claimants who having paid in all their working lives, now find themselves without work through no fault of their own. They will not have the support you received to enable them to move forward.

 

[beorhthelm]

... If there’s not currently enough money in the system to do this, as IDS and co seem to think, then personally I’d be happy to contribute more in taxation (as long as the rich, tax-dodgers and their ilk were also made to pay their share).

no you wouldn't really, or you are in a tiny minority. if the government announced tomorrow a 1% rise in income tax to pay for more welfare spending, there would be uproar. firstly people would demand overseas aid cut, then demand welfare cheating be cleaned up to pay for the deserving. and thats not guessing, thats the outcome of surveys.

 

[soistes]

no you wouldn't really, or you are in a tiny minority. if the government announced tomorrow a 1% rise in income tax to pay for more welfare spending, there would be uproar. firstly people would demand overseas aid cut, then demand welfare cheating be cleaned up to pay for the deserving. and thats not guessing, thats the outcome of surveys.

Yes, I would, really.
I may be in a minority, but I'm not so sure it's a tiny one. We have relatively low levels of income tax in this country. I would be happy to pay Scandinavian levels of taxation, and accept a much lower level of (post-tax) income inequality in society, in return for a Scandinavian style welfare system. However, I agree that welfare cheating should be dealt with, I just don't think there's as much of it around as some of the post on here imply.

 

[oldalbiongirl]

Wow, if you really are a teacher as you purport to be then you will be privy to which families are in receipt of benefits or not, through Free School Meals etc. and should have a better interpretation as to the problems your pupils experience.

You are unlikely to have much knowledge what other families financial circumstances might be, unless they have for some reason volunteered this to you.

Statistically those that are in receipt of benefits, unemployed, single parents etc might be more prone to behaviour issues and later criminality, but your analysis is flawed.

As a teacher you must be aware that there remains many that are flagrantly abusing the system with no real intention to work ( how could they, they are generally unqualified and poorly educated and unlikely to find work that might offer the same financial rewards that benefits offer ) and those children you allude to are mostly through the dysfunctionality of their own families, less likely through financial hardship.

You should also be aware of many that are on free school meals, through no fault of there own who turn out their child on time, well fed and cleaned clothed, filling in their reading diaries as they go with a real drive for their children to succeed.

I personally commend those families and have no problem with the help and support they receive, but to a point the feckless are robbing them of greater support and to ignore this undermines the whole system.

By the way I was surprised to hear your pupils on Free School Meals etc. cannot access financial support to freely access after school clubs etc.

I am completely aware that many in receipt of benefits turn out their children well fed etc etc etc. My own mother was exactly one of these people whose children have both turned out (reasonably!) well. However I still think that this constant division of society at the moment, is not going to help any of us for the future. As for after school clubs, it very much depends on the school. Some schools offer a good selection of after school clubs, others have clubs that require payment before children can attend. At the school where my own children attend for example, there is a drawing club that must be paid for, there is street dancing that must be paid for and there is the albion in the community football or multi sports course that must be paid for all after school. The only club that is open to all is a singing group, which is not necessarily appealing to all! So again there are those that have the option to join in with their peers as their parents have the money, or those who do not and feel isolated. Rather than look at increasing money for people, perhaps the government should be looking at ways to help these families join in with society. I know all about the statistics, but surely we need to try.

 

[BigGully]

I am completely aware that many in receipt of benefits turn out their children well fed etc etc etc. My own mother was exactly one of these people whose children have both turned out (reasonably!) well. However I still think that this constant division of society at the moment, is not going to help any of us for the future. As for after school clubs, it very much depends on the school. Some schools offer a good selection of after school clubs, others have clubs that require payment before children can attend. At the school where my own children attend for example, there is a drawing club that must be paid for, there is street dancing that must be paid for and there is the albion in the community football or multi sports course that must be paid for all after school. The only club that is open to all is a singing group, which is not necessarily appealing to all! So again there are those that have the option to join in with their peers as their parents have the money, or those who do not and feel isolated. Rather than look at increasing money for people, perhaps the government should be looking at ways to help these families join in with society. I know all about the statistics, but surely we need to try.

It wasnt a comment on those clubs per school, but the access to them by those on benefits.

All schools have funds for qualifying children to ensure they can attend and the qualification is those that access free school meals.

Currently the Pupil Premium attracts £600.00 per pupil currently in receipt of free school meals, so how can you as a teacher not be aware of this in your own school.

It can be spent on those to enhance attainment including after school activities that need to be paid for, this covers any fee's and offers full access for all children irrespective of the financial status of that child.