Will Ian Duncan Smith show us how to live on ?53 a week ?

[CJGJ]

Mr Duncan Smith, whose ministerial salary is equivalent to around ?1,600 a week after tax,.

But asked whether he could live on ?53 a week, the former army officer, who married into a wealthy family, replied: "If I had to I would."

During the course of the day more than 21,000 people signed a petition on the change.org website, calling for Mr Duncan Smith to "prove" he could survive on ?53 a week.

The text urged him to "live on this budget for at least one year".

 

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said that, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, the poorest 10% of households will lose an average of ?127 under this year's changes, while the richest 10% will gain almost ten times that, or ?1,265.

And families with children would be hit harder, Mr Balls said, with the poorest 10% losing ?236 a year and the richest 10% gaining ?3,654 a year.

[Ulysses]

Mr Duncan Smith, whose ministerial salary is equivalent to around ?1,600 a week after tax,.

But asked whether he could live on ?53 a week, the former army officer, who married into a wealthy family, replied: "If I had to I would."

During the course of the day more than 21,000 people signed a petition on the change.org website, calling for Mr Duncan Smith to "prove" he could survive on ?53 a week.

The text urged him to "live on this budget for at least one year".

 

Playing silly buggers living on tight money for a few days is one thing; doing it for months on end is a lot harder - and it's a lot harder again not knowing if it will ever get better, knowing that it will never get better, or forever fearing that it might get worse.

 

Tory gobshites don't know the first thing about real people.

[Mister Dee]

 

 

 

Playing silly buggers living on tight money for a few days is one thing; doing it for months on end is a lot harder - and it's a lot harder again not knowing if it will ever get better, knowing that it will never get better, or forever fearing that it might get worse.

 

Tory gobshites don't know the first thing about real people.

 

Agreed.

[kingantti1874]

No they don't, and the rich certainly should notbe getting breaks at this time, for the genuinely unemployed, hard working but unfortunate people I have much sympathy, for the endemically lazy who have suckled the social welfare tit their entire lives with 0 intention of ever cotributing... No sympathy.

[Do The Dance]

No they don't, and the rich certainly should notbe getting breaks at this time, for the genuinely unemployed, hard working but unfortunate people I have much sympathy, for the endemically lazy who have suckled the social welfare tit their entire lives with 0 intention of ever cotributing... No sympathy.

 

Not even for their kids?

[Floyd]

 

 

Playing silly buggers living on tight money for a few days is one thing; doing it for months on end is a lot harder - and it's a lot harder again not knowing if it will ever get better, knowing that it will never get better, or forever fearing that it might get worse.

 

Tory gobshites don't know the first thing about real people.

 

No politicians do, that's the problem. They claim to be "men/woman of the people" until they get their snout in the trough and then it's expenses galore and champagne for everyone darling!!!

 

The recent expenses scandal proved that, Jim Devine and his fake invoices? Moats & duck ponds being cleaned? Claiming back the cost of your husbands porno?

 

Sad to say but the vast majority of them are at it and in it for what they can get.

 

IDS is no better or worse than others, sadly.

[kingantti1874]

 

 

Not even for their kids?

 

Of course. For the dregs of society I'd be a big advocate of moving to some sort of voucher system for food, heat and clothing - no cash handouts... No more lottery tickets, fags, buckfast and sky TV at the taxpayers expense ... Instant motivation...

 

How separate wheat from the chaff reliably is the big problem

 

And you should need to get a licence to have kids on the first place..

[Chris Benoit]

 

 

Not even for their kids?

 

 

Good point, that's the problem we have nowadays and funnily enough it was something I was chatting about to the missus earlier. When we were younger our parents encouraged us to do well so we could do better than them and I'm sure it was the same for most on here whereas these days there's a whole underclass who have resigned themselves to having a shite life with no prospects and are passing it on to their kids.

 

As for the ?53 a week I couldn't survive on that. I'm about ?30 a week just on petrol.

[Franklin Delano Bluth]

Playing silly buggers living on tight money for a few days is one thing; doing it for months on end is a lot harder - and it's a lot harder again not knowing if it will ever get better, knowing that it will never get better, or forever fearing that it might get worse.

 

Tory gobshites don't know the first thing about real people.

 

Idea for a TV show:

 

IDS lives in a house with his wife and 4 children. He get's ?53 a week to live on after housing costs. He has to buy food, petrol, etc. Every week, the public vote for something to happen which costs a lot of money (relative to his ?53 allowance). See if he can do it.

[Chris Benoit]

 

 

No politicians do, that's the problem. They claim to be "men/woman of the people" until they get their snout in the trough and then it's expenses galore and champagne for everyone darling!!!

 

The recent expenses scandal proved that, Jim Devine and his fake invoices? Moats & duck ponds being cleaned? Claiming back the cost of your husbands porno?

 

Sad to say but the vast majority of them are at it and in it for what they can get.

 

IDS is no better or worse than others, sadly.

 

 

When did politicians stop representing us? I can't remember the last time any government did anything that directly helped me out. 3 year pay freeze for me and the wife and trust me nothing is cheaper now than it was 3 years ago

[moogsy]

I'm not an expert on benefits as I've never been on them but wouldn't you get more money on top of that basic amount. I.E housing benefit, fuel benefits etc? And for those with kids child benefits as well.

 

Surely no one is expected to live solely on ?53? That wouldn't even cover rent for a bedsit in Niddrie.

[Franklin Delano Bluth]

I'm not an expert on benefits as I've never been on them but wouldn't you get more money on top of that basic amount. I.E housing benefit, fuel benefits etc? And for those with kids child benefits as well.

 

Surely no one is expected to live solely on ?53? That wouldn't even cover rent for a bedsit in Niddrie.

 

Fairly sure the boy who was quoted as saying it was ?53 a week after housing costs. So for food and travel basically.

[Chris Benoit]

I'm not an expert on benefits as I've never been on them but wouldn't you get more money on top of that basic amount. I.E housing benefit, fuel benefits etc? And for those with kids child benefits as well.

 

Surely no one is expected to live solely on ?53? That wouldn't even cover rent for a bedsit in Niddrie.

 

Yeah you'd get your rent paid, as well as child benefit, think you get cheaper council tax too. The ?53 is a living allowance to pay for food etc.

[Floyd]

 

 

 

When did politicians stop representing us? I can't remember the last time any government did anything that directly helped me out. 3 year pay freeze for me and the wife and trust me nothing is cheaper now than it was 3 years ago

 

Here here brother!

 

I'm in the exact same boat as you, 3 year pay freeze and no sign of it changing anytime soon. Eck can bump his gums all he likes, about how after 2014 we will be the land of milk & honey, but somehow I don't buy it.

 

It's all good though if you don't need to pay for the gaff you live in or can claim anything you do pay back in expenses though.

 

 

 

[jambo89]

I'm not an expert on benefits as I've never been on them but wouldn't you get more money on top of that basic amount. I.E housing benefit, fuel benefits etc? And for those with kids child benefits as well.

 

Surely no one is expected to live solely on ?53? That wouldn't even cover rent for a bedsit in Niddrie.

 

Really depends on your circumstance.

 

You do get housing benefit but it's not garunteed to be for the full value of your rent.

 

Like you I'm no expert so couldn't tell you what circumstances allow for which benefits.

 

Having worked for a finance credit company who target the lower paid members of society I can say that the picture that the press have painted that these 'scroungers' live the life of Riley is wrong

 

It's a horrific existence to spend your entire life on the welfare system.

[Gizmo]

Fairly sure the boy who was quoted as saying it was ?53 a week after housing costs. So for food and travel basically.

 

And clothes/toiletries/electricity/gas/heating etc. You'd probably have to live on 10p noodles for most of your meals, buy clothes out a charity shop and walk/cycle most places.

 

Duncan "?35 breakfasts" Smith wouldn't have a ******* clue, would he even deign to shop in lidl and oxfam, and treat himself to a bus fare to the shops if he's had a good week. Would he fix his own washing machine, scour tesco at night for the bargain near out of code food? It's not just folk on ?53 that do this considering the miserly minimum wage a lot of workers are stuck with.

 

The answer of course from someone who gets both subsidised drink and food AND ?400 a month food allowance, claimed his wife as secretary to rake in more dosh? Would he ****! He wouldn't take his nose out the trough for longer than it takes to sneer at the common man, before going back in for seconds.

[PsychocAndy]

I wish there was not a rude word censor on here because I have tried and tried and tried again but the only thing other than IDS is a *****, is IDS is a Blue Waffle *****.

 

And that is not big or clever of me but I still can't think of a better word.

[Franklin Delano Bluth]

And clothes/toiletries/electricity/gas/heating etc. You'd probably have to live on 10p noodles for most of your meals, buy clothes out a charity shop and walk/cycle most places.

 

Duncan "?35 breakfasts" Smith wouldn't have a ******* clue, would he even deign to shop in lidl and oxfam, and treat himself to a bus fare to the shops if he's had a good week. Would he fix his own washing machine, scour tesco at night for the bargain near out of code food? It's not just folk on ?53 that do this considering the miserly minimum wage a lot of workers are stuck with.

 

The answer of course from someone who gets both subsidised drink and food AND ?400 a month food allowance, claimed his wife as secretary to rake in more dosh? Would he ****! He wouldn't take his nose out the trough for longer than it takes to sneer at the common man, before going back in for seconds.

 

Don't disagree with any of your sentiment RE IDS.

 

?53 is disgraceful for anybody to be expected to live on.

[Sidsnot]

Now hit the 100 k mark,incredible response.

[Felix Lighter]

Of course. For the dregs of society I'd be a big advocate of moving to some sort of voucher system for food, heat and clothing - no cash handouts... No more lottery tickets, fags, buckfast and sky TV at the taxpayers expense ... Instant motivation...

 

How separate wheat from the chaff reliably is the big problem

 

And you should need to get a licence to have kids on the first place..

 

Quite the little fascist aren't we kingantti.

 

I'd argue the real dregs of society are those who mis-sold PPI, fixed the Libor rates,laundered Mexican drug dollars to the tune of hundreds of billions (thats not to mention the circa 40,000 dead Mexicans btw) and yet with all that free money sloshing around, they still had to rely on Joe tax payer to bail them out when it all went pear shaped.

So with that in mind,for the real dregs of society I'd advocate criminal investigation followed by prosecution and lengthy jail time for the guilty-no more enormous bonuses,yachts,luxury cars,Cayman Island bank accounts at the tax payers expense...just the instant motivation of prosecution not to steal.

 

As for the food stamps idea, you'll probably get your wish at some point,after all with approx 45 million Americans receiving them it's a nice little earner...

 

http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/food-stamps-jpmorgan-banking-industry-profit-misery

 

What's the RBS share price at these days kingantti?

[Floyd]

Now hit the 100 k mark,incredible response.

 

It is, but it could hit 1 million and still make no difference.

[shaun.lawson]

Quite the little fascist aren't we kingantti.

 

I'd argue the real dregs of society are those who mis-sold PPI, fixed the Libor rates,laundered Mexican drug dollars to the tune of hundreds of billions (thats not to mention the circa 40,000 dead Mexicans btw) and yet with all that free money sloshing around, they still had to rely on Joe tax payer to bail them out when it all went pear shaped.

So with that in mind,for the real dregs of society I'd advocate criminal investigation followed by prosecution and lengthy jail time for the guilty-no more enormous bonuses,yachts,luxury cars,Cayman Island bank accounts at the tax payers expense...just the instant motivation of prosecution not to steal.

 

As for the food stamps idea, you'll probably get your wish at some point,after all with approx 45 million Americans receiving them it's a nice little earner...

 

http://www.roosevelt...y-profit-misery

 

What's the RBS share price at these days kingantti?

 

:clap:

 

Hear ******* hear.

[shaun.lawson]

Part I

 

The Good Ship Britannic sailed the high seas. The Captain of the Ship was seated at the top table of the sumptuous dining room, with the Captains of Industry. Gentle orchestral music played over the tables, while waiting staff glided past, hither and thither, laying down silver plates of delicacies almost beyond imagining.

 

A nervous Clerk appeared at the side of the Captain.

 

?Captain, we are headed toward the ice fields, might we slow the ship to navigate the ice more carefully?

 

The Captain reddened in the cheeks.

 

The clerk had been overheard by several of the bloated Captains of Industry who sneered in his direction.

 

?Slow down? Slow down?!? boomed the Captain. The Captains of Industry grinned. ?Full speed ahead! We will make the fastest Atlantic crossing in history!?

 

The nervous clerk wrestled white knuckled hands and gulped as if swallowing a porcupine, a tortured look on his face.

 

?But, Captain, if I may. The ice fields do present quite some considerable danger??

 

The Captain threw down his cotton napkin and stood, clearing his throat and tapping his knife against his champagne flute.

 

?Does any man in this room believe the Good Ship Britannic to be incapable of beating off some glorified ice cubes? If any man be of this opinion let him stand now!?

 

The room fell to utter stillness and silence, but for the music. All eyes were on the Clerk, the only person standing in the room who was not waiting a table. The Clerk grew red from the neck up.

 

?Clerk, you have had the judgement of your Captain, this was not enough. You have now had the judgement of the most learned, wealth creators of our land. Are you suggesting that you, the humble Clerk are in possession of some greater knowledge than them??

 

The Clerk looked to the scattered, contorted faces of the Captains of Industry and back to the Captain.

 

?Of course not, Sir. I hope you understand I was merely seeking clarity of your instructions. I will dispatch your orders to the engine room immediately.?

 

The Clerk, satisfied with the confidence of the entire Dining Room set off below decks with his orders.

 

The engine room was full of blackened workers shovelling piles of coal into gaping mouths of fire. With each shovel, many floors above, a hand flicked slightly further round a dial and the Chief Officer smiled.

 

Part II

 

In the dark of the night and at enormous speed, the Good Ship Britannic met a titanic iceberg. The force of the impact sent a great shudder from bow to stern.

 

The Dining Room fell silent at the entry of the Clerk, who made his gentle way past their ashen faces toward the Captain.

 

?Clerk! What news?!?

 

?Captain we have struck an iceberg and are taking on water.? Muttered the Clerk with his eyes fixed on his shoes.

 

?You are saying we have a hole, Clerk??

 

The Clerk nodded in reply.

 

?Well then, we simply need some metal to cover the hole do we not Clerk??

 

?Yes sir.?

 

?Any ideas where one might find some suitable metal??

 

?Perhaps we could take the silver platters and use those to seal the hole??

 

The Captains of Industry broke into mumbles of protest, some rising to their feet to glare at the Captain who once again flushed at the cheeks.

 

?Clerk, are not the shovels in the engine room metal? Use those!?

 

?Yes sir, but if we take the shovels from the engine room we will not be able to fill the stoves with coal and propel the ship?

 

The Captain looked out to the Captains of Industry and invited a response to the Clerk?s comment with a wave of his napkin. One of the Captains of Industry took to his feet and cleared his throat.

 

?Utter nonsense Clerk! Do not the workers have hands with which to shovel coal? Is not the shovel merely a luxury which this sinking ship cannot afford in this moment of crisis??

 

Applause broke out across the dining room and the Clerk disappeared below the decks to transfer shovels from engine room to hull.

 

The Clerk witnessed such horrors below decks. The lowest steerage deck was flooded entirely. Many lives had been lost and frantic passengers ran about the place seeking shelter from the rising waters. Nevertheless he melted down the shovels and the workers in the engine room threw handfuls of coal into the ovens.

 

Part III

 

The Dining Room peeled with bells of laughter as the Captain spoke to the assembled Captains of Industry and hailed the sacrifices they had made to ensure the ships survival. The laughter stopped abruptly at the entrance of the Clerk. The Captain rolled his eyes and ushered the Clerk to his side.

 

?Captain, I am afraid the metal from the shovels was not ample to fit the size of the hole. Furthermore, the lack of shovels has significantly slowed the ship and we are now taking on water at a higher rate than before. An entire deck of steerage has been lost to flood and we risk losing more. Can I ask that we please use all metal from the dining room to plug the hole??

 

Discontented muttering once again broke out across the Dining Room and a new Captain of Industry took to his feet and cleared his throat.

 

?Utter nonsense, Clerk! The ship has slowed because these steerage passengers are lazy! Why are they not in the engine room helping the workers to shovel coal?! Any steerage passenger not in the engine room should be thrown overboard for treason!?

 

Applause filled the Dining Room and the Captain smiled broadly.

 

?Tough times call for tough measures. Clerk, please make such an order of the steerage passengers.?

 

The Clerk shifted his weight uneasily between his feet.

 

?Yes Sir, but what of the hole?? The Captain and all assembled in the Dining Room looked back to the Captain of Industry who?d recently spoken. He smiled.

 

?It is quite simple. If the lowest steerage deck is already lost, what are we wasting the metal in its hull for? We must eliminate the waste. Use the metal from the hull on the flooded deck to patch up the hole on the deck above.?

 

The captain took a large mouthful of red wine as he settled back into his seat and applause once again filled the air of the Dining Room. The Captain nodded his affirmation to the Clerk, who disappeared below decks with his order.

 

The Clerk witnessed yet further degrees of horrors below decks. He stood atop a suitcase to deliver his order to the steerage passengers. While some objected and called upon their fellow passengers to mutiny and regain control of the ship from the Captain, the vast majority formed a line and marched to the engine room. A smaller group set off to dismantle the hull of the sunken deck.

 

Part IV

 

The Dining Room had begun to list a little to the right. The diamond chandeliers tinkled as the swang with the ship. The waiters were under orders to push napkins under table legs to ensure the diners could continue to east and drink unimpeded. The sudden appearance of the Clerk caused eager conversations to drop off. This time, not only the Captain but many other diners rolled their eyes. The Clerk was soaking wet from head to toe and his shoes squelched as he made his way to the Captain.

 

?Captain, I am afraid that there has been a disaster. When we removed the metal from the hull of the sunken deck, we saw a massive increase in the water intake. We have now flooded all lower decks of the ship. The engine room was also flooded, so the ship is slowing to a full stop. We have no engineers, steerage passengers or anyone else below decks to support any further plans. Captain, the ship is lost.?

 

The Captains of Industry looked solemn and bowed their heads. The Captain joined in the slow, sincere action. After a few moments came the sound of a knife against a glass at the floor of the dining room. One of the Captains of Industry stood.

 

?This really is a tragedy. Might I suggest we now abandon ship? Captain, I understand there are life boats which we might tender and wait until rescue??

 

Slowly but surely all those in the Dining Room made their way out to the lifeboats. They would have moved more urgently, but they were full from several courses of rich and delicious food, and wobbly from the wine. They assembled in the lifeboats while the waiting staff worked the pulleys to lower them to the sea. The Clerk noticed that the lifeboats were filling rapidly and as the Captain was about to take the last seat, the Clerk called to him.

 

?But Captain, what of myself and the waiting staff? How are we to get safely from the ship??

 

The Captain looked most forlornly into the eyes of the Clerk. His lifeboat now settled in the water. One of the Captains of Industry called up from the boat.

 

?Your sacrifice will not be forgotten Clerk!?

 

Applause floated up from the lifeboats to the waiting staff and the Clerk stranded on their sinking ship. The Captains of Industry and the captain shed tears as they watched the ship?s stern rise and then sink beneath the sea. The Captain rose to his feet in his lifeboat, took hold of a megaphone and spoke to the assembled floating lifeboats.

 

?Captains of Industry, this has been a most unfortunate and tragic night. We have lost so very much. What lessons can we learn, such that this loss is never suffered again? Perhaps if those workers in the engine room had abandoned their shovels sooner, they would have been sufficient to plug the hole? Maybe if those members of steerage who had to be ordered to support their brothers in the engine room had acted sooner, the ship could have been saved? But of one thing I am certain. These assembled here did our utmost to prevent the tragedy that befell the Good Ship Britannic. Now let us pray for our swift recovery from the high seas on this dark night.?

 

http://scriptonitedaily.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/the-parable-of-the-sinking-ship-or-britains-ruin-for-dummies/

[moogsy]

Part I

 

The Good Ship Britannic sailed the high seas. The Captain of the Ship was seated at the top table of the sumptuous dining room, with the Captains of Industry. Gentle orchestral music played over the tables, while waiting staff glided past, hither and thither, laying down silver plates of delicacies almost beyond imagining.

 

A nervous Clerk appeared at the side of the Captain.

 

?Captain, we are headed toward the ice fields, might we slow the ship to navigate the ice more carefully?

 

The Captain reddened in the cheeks.

 

The clerk had been overheard by several of the bloated Captains of Industry who sneered in his direction.

 

?Slow down? Slow down?!? boomed the Captain. The Captains of Industry grinned. ?Full speed ahead! We will make the fastest Atlantic crossing in history!?

 

The nervous clerk wrestled white knuckled hands and gulped as if swallowing a porcupine, a tortured look on his face.

 

?But, Captain, if I may. The ice fields do present quite some considerable danger??

 

The Captain threw down his cotton napkin and stood, clearing his throat and tapping his knife against his champagne flute.

 

?Does any man in this room believe the Good Ship Britannic to be incapable of beating off some glorified ice cubes? If any man be of this opinion let him stand now!?

 

The room fell to utter stillness and silence, but for the music. All eyes were on the Clerk, the only person standing in the room who was not waiting a table. The Clerk grew red from the neck up.

 

?Clerk, you have had the judgement of your Captain, this was not enough. You have now had the judgement of the most learned, wealth creators of our land. Are you suggesting that you, the humble Clerk are in possession of some greater knowledge than them??

 

The Clerk looked to the scattered, contorted faces of the Captains of Industry and back to the Captain.

 

?Of course not, Sir. I hope you understand I was merely seeking clarity of your instructions. I will dispatch your orders to the engine room immediately.?

 

The Clerk, satisfied with the confidence of the entire Dining Room set off below decks with his orders.

 

The engine room was full of blackened workers shovelling piles of coal into gaping mouths of fire. With each shovel, many floors above, a hand flicked slightly further round a dial and the Chief Officer smiled.

 

Part II

 

In the dark of the night and at enormous speed, the Good Ship Britannic met a titanic iceberg. The force of the impact sent a great shudder from bow to stern.

 

The Dining Room fell silent at the entry of the Clerk, who made his gentle way past their ashen faces toward the Captain.

 

?Clerk! What news?!?

 

?Captain we have struck an iceberg and are taking on water.? Muttered the Clerk with his eyes fixed on his shoes.

 

?You are saying we have a hole, Clerk??

 

The Clerk nodded in reply.

 

?Well then, we simply need some metal to cover the hole do we not Clerk??

 

?Yes sir.?

 

?Any ideas where one might find some suitable metal??

 

?Perhaps we could take the silver platters and use those to seal the hole??

 

The Captains of Industry broke into mumbles of protest, some rising to their feet to glare at the Captain who once again flushed at the cheeks.

 

?Clerk, are not the shovels in the engine room metal? Use those!?

 

?Yes sir, but if we take the shovels from the engine room we will not be able to fill the stoves with coal and propel the ship?

 

The Captain looked out to the Captains of Industry and invited a response to the Clerk?s comment with a wave of his napkin. One of the Captains of Industry took to his feet and cleared his throat.

 

?Utter nonsense Clerk! Do not the workers have hands with which to shovel coal? Is not the shovel merely a luxury which this sinking ship cannot afford in this moment of crisis??

 

Applause broke out across the dining room and the Clerk disappeared below the decks to transfer shovels from engine room to hull.

 

The Clerk witnessed such horrors below decks. The lowest steerage deck was flooded entirely. Many lives had been lost and frantic passengers ran about the place seeking shelter from the rising waters. Nevertheless he melted down the shovels and the workers in the engine room threw handfuls of coal into the ovens.

 

Part III

 

The Dining Room peeled with bells of laughter as the Captain spoke to the assembled Captains of Industry and hailed the sacrifices they had made to ensure the ships survival. The laughter stopped abruptly at the entrance of the Clerk. The Captain rolled his eyes and ushered the Clerk to his side.

 

?Captain, I am afraid the metal from the shovels was not ample to fit the size of the hole. Furthermore, the lack of shovels has significantly slowed the ship and we are now taking on water at a higher rate than before. An entire deck of steerage has been lost to flood and we risk losing more. Can I ask that we please use all metal from the dining room to plug the hole??

 

Discontented muttering once again broke out across the Dining Room and a new Captain of Industry took to his feet and cleared his throat.

 

?Utter nonsense, Clerk! The ship has slowed because these steerage passengers are lazy! Why are they not in the engine room helping the workers to shovel coal?! Any steerage passenger not in the engine room should be thrown overboard for treason!?

 

Applause filled the Dining Room and the Captain smiled broadly.

 

?Tough times call for tough measures. Clerk, please make such an order of the steerage passengers.?

 

The Clerk shifted his weight uneasily between his feet.

 

?Yes Sir, but what of the hole?? The Captain and all assembled in the Dining Room looked back to the Captain of Industry who?d recently spoken. He smiled.

 

?It is quite simple. If the lowest steerage deck is already lost, what are we wasting the metal in its hull for? We must eliminate the waste. Use the metal from the hull on the flooded deck to patch up the hole on the deck above.?

 

The captain took a large mouthful of red wine as he settled back into his seat and applause once again filled the air of the Dining Room. The Captain nodded his affirmation to the Clerk, who disappeared below decks with his order.

 

The Clerk witnessed yet further degrees of horrors below decks. He stood atop a suitcase to deliver his order to the steerage passengers. While some objected and called upon their fellow passengers to mutiny and regain control of the ship from the Captain, the vast majority formed a line and marched to the engine room. A smaller group set off to dismantle the hull of the sunken deck.

 

Part IV

 

The Dining Room had begun to list a little to the right. The diamond chandeliers tinkled as the swang with the ship. The waiters were under orders to push napkins under table legs to ensure the diners could continue to east and drink unimpeded. The sudden appearance of the Clerk caused eager conversations to drop off. This time, not only the Captain but many other diners rolled their eyes. The Clerk was soaking wet from head to toe and his shoes squelched as he made his way to the Captain.

 

?Captain, I am afraid that there has been a disaster. When we removed the metal from the hull of the sunken deck, we saw a massive increase in the water intake. We have now flooded all lower decks of the ship. The engine room was also flooded, so the ship is slowing to a full stop. We have no engineers, steerage passengers or anyone else below decks to support any further plans. Captain, the ship is lost.?

 

The Captains of Industry looked solemn and bowed their heads. The Captain joined in the slow, sincere action. After a few moments came the sound of a knife against a glass at the floor of the dining room. One of the Captains of Industry stood.

 

?This really is a tragedy. Might I suggest we now abandon ship? Captain, I understand there are life boats which we might tender and wait until rescue??

 

Slowly but surely all those in the Dining Room made their way out to the lifeboats. They would have moved more urgently, but they were full from several courses of rich and delicious food, and wobbly from the wine. They assembled in the lifeboats while the waiting staff worked the pulleys to lower them to the sea. The Clerk noticed that the lifeboats were filling rapidly and as the Captain was about to take the last seat, the Clerk called to him.

 

?But Captain, what of myself and the waiting staff? How are we to get safely from the ship??

 

The Captain looked most forlornly into the eyes of the Clerk. His lifeboat now settled in the water. One of the Captains of Industry called up from the boat.

 

?Your sacrifice will not be forgotten Clerk!?

 

Applause floated up from the lifeboats to the waiting staff and the Clerk stranded on their sinking ship. The Captains of Industry and the captain shed tears as they watched the ship?s stern rise and then sink beneath the sea. The Captain rose to his feet in his lifeboat, took hold of a megaphone and spoke to the assembled floating lifeboats.

 

?Captains of Industry, this has been a most unfortunate and tragic night. We have lost so very much. What lessons can we learn, such that this loss is never suffered again? Perhaps if those workers in the engine room had abandoned their shovels sooner, they would have been sufficient to plug the hole? Maybe if those members of steerage who had to be ordered to support their brothers in the engine room had acted sooner, the ship could have been saved? But of one thing I am certain. These assembled here did our utmost to prevent the tragedy that befell the Good Ship Britannic. Now let us pray for our swift recovery from the high seas on this dark night.?

 

http://scriptoniteda...in-for-dummies/

 

[shaun.lawson]

Well that was an unexpected response.

[shaun.lawson]

From the Guardian blogs:

 

Iain Duncan Smith is a man who has spent most of his adult life sucking on the public teat and sponging off his wife's family. He has a dim view of spongers and has promised to cut another ?10billion off the state?s handout bill. Obviously, the people who take handouts they don?t deserve should be the first to take a cut.

 

So let?s start by talking about someone who lives off the state and has little experience of the world of work you and I know. He is 58 years old and has suckled upon the publicly-funded teat for most of his life. He?s signed on the dole. He?s had four children and received child benefit for all of them. He has put them each through private school, too.

 

His wife hasn?t worked since they married, except for 15 months in which he got her a job paid by the taxpayer. He and his colleagues eat and drink food subsidised by the tax payer in a palace we pay for. He is driven around in a car he does not own and has not paid for - we did. And when he is too old to ?work? any more he will receive a better pension than most of the rest of us - which again we paid for.

 

He started out at the age of 21 with six years of taxpayer-funded military service, during which he acted as bag-carrier to a Major-General. Then in 1981, aged 27, he left the Army and signed on the dole for several months. He then began a period of ordinary work based upon the skills he had gained at the taxpayer?s expense, and worked in sales for arms dealer GEC-Marconi. He then moved on to a property firm, where he was made redundant after six months, and then sold gun-related magazines for Jane?s Information Group.

 

After 11 years of this not too glittering a career he succeeded in once again boarding the publicly-funded gravy train in 1992. In the intervening 20 years he has been paid by the taxpayer every year more money than most of the rest of us manage to earn. He has managed to boost it up to more than six figures for a few years here and there by being more pompous than the others in his position.

 

In 2001 he helped his unemployed wife to have a suckle, arranging for her to be paid ?15,000 a year to be his diary secretary. (The Newsnight TV programme pulled a story that seemingly alleged she didnt actually do anything).

 

These days he is given the grand total of near ?150,000 a year from the taxpayer. He lives for free in a ?2million Tudor farmhouse on his father-in-law?s ancestral estate in Buckinghamshire. He has three acres of land, a tennis court, swimming pool and some orchards, which is not bad for a life paid for by the state.

 

?Who is this parasite?? you might cry. ?Tell us his name, let the authorities know his address. Let?s get this guzzler out of the cushy life and show him what life is like for the rest of us,earning ?7 an hour with a rise once every eight years and a miserly pension if we're lucky.?

 

His name is Iain Duncan Smith, and his address is: Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA. He is disgusting and a far far bigger leech on your money than the worst dole scrounger you can think of and twice as pointless.

[rossthejambo]

 

 

Of course. For the dregs of society I'd be a big advocate of moving to some sort of voucher system for food, heat and clothing - no cash handouts... No more lottery tickets, fags, buckfast and sky TV at the taxpayers expense ... Instant motivation...

 

How separate wheat from the chaff reliably is the big problem

 

And you should need to get a licence to have kids on the first place..

 

A licence to have children?

 

The worst of that is, its not even the worst part of your post

[Tommy Wiseau]

Oh, Shaun

 

Incidentally though, I had quite a heated debate with one of my best mates the other day about public sector cuts etc. He is a working class boy who got a high paying job (worked his arse off for it, in fairness to the guy) and is politically unrecognisable from the guy I first met about 8 years ago - his disdain for people doing my job is pretty thinly veiled. A guy who - as well as getting paid a shitload more than me for a job requiring similar qualification levels - has been given free foreign holidays by his work more than once in the last year and gets an annual bonus which would comfortably make up a double-digit percentage of my annual wage, yet is disgusted that I get more holidays than him and thinks one of the priorities for this country is for teachers to be put on performance related pay and have their pensions hammered. Not slagging the guy off at all, he was just giving his opinion, but I thought it really illustrated the problems in this country - a guy earning a big, big wage who compared my job to the admin support staff in his work and said we were overpaid for what we do. A race to the bottom, as long as he continues to get paid his wedge. Eye opening.

[Das Root]

Oh, Shaun

 

Incidentally though, I had quite a heated debate with one of my best mates the other day about public sector cuts etc. He is a working class boy who got a high paying job (worked his arse off for it, in fairness to the guy) and is politically unrecognisable from the guy I first met about 8 years ago - his disdain for people doing my job is pretty thinly veiled. A guy who - as well as getting paid a shitload more than me for a job requiring similar qualification levels - has been given free foreign holidays by his work more than once in the last year and gets an annual bonus which would comfortably make up a double-digit percentage of my annual wage, yet is disgusted that I get more holidays than him and thinks one of the priorities for this country is for teachers to be put on performance related pay and have their pensions hammered. Not slagging the guy off at all, he was just giving his opinion, but I thought it really illustrated the problems in this country - a guy earning a big, big wage who compared my job to the admin support staff in his work and said we were overpaid for what we do. A race to the bottom, as long as he continues to get paid his wedge. Eye opening.

 

You should try doing your job in Switzerland. Starting salary for my mate was equivalent to ?60k and he only pays 10% tax.

[Tommy Wiseau]

You should try doing your job in Switzerland. Starting salary for my mate was equivalent to ?60k and he only pays 10% tax.

 

 

 

Would be interesting to see, actually, how our wage compares to others on the continent. I have to say, I have been shocked at how little respect we get from the general public since I have been in the job and how easy a target we seem to be for people.

[mutley]

 

 

You should try doing your job in Switzerland. Starting salary for my mate was equivalent to ?60k and he only pays 10% tax.

 

It was 7 quid for a jd and coke when we played Basel. Think they pay a lot of tax on all luxury items

[shaun.lawson]

Oh, Shaun

 

Incidentally though, I had quite a heated debate with one of my best mates the other day about public sector cuts etc. He is a working class boy who got a high paying job (worked his arse off for it, in fairness to the guy) and is politically unrecognisable from the guy I first met about 8 years ago - his disdain for people doing my job is pretty thinly veiled. A guy who - as well as getting paid a shitload more than me for a job requiring similar qualification levels - has been given free foreign holidays by his work more than once in the last year and gets an annual bonus which would comfortably make up a double-digit percentage of my annual wage, yet is disgusted that I get more holidays than him and thinks one of the priorities for this country is for teachers to be put on performance related pay and have their pensions hammered. Not slagging the guy off at all, he was just giving his opinion, but I thought it really illustrated the problems in this country - a guy earning a big, big wage who compared my job to the admin support staff in his work and said we were overpaid for what we do. A race to the bottom, as long as he continues to get paid his wedge. Eye opening.

 

I think his attitude is very, very symptomatic. Selfishness rules OK amongst those who 'make it' like he has: indeed, by the sounds of him, he'll be flying Cathay Pacific business class and railing against the easily offended bus before we know it.

 

Say this though: however many problems there are in the UK - and there are tons - it's still a far better place to be economically than most of the rest of the world. In Britain, a single, middle class professional like me, even doing relatively low valued teaching and editing work full time, would be saving at least 5K a year, and probably considerably more: up to 8K, even. Here, in the Third World, middle class (and by Uruguayan standards, I'm upper middle class in terms of my salary and neighbourhood) means you get by. You don't save a thing; you just get by within a decent standard of living.

 

Of course, it's different for middle class people in Britain when they try to buy a house, or when they have kids: that's when things get horribly tight. And it's different if your job isn't recession proof. And Christ knows how hard it must be now for just about anyone in their 20s. In that sense, I was very lucky: I got the qualifications I needed before all this mess, and while I was looking for work, the welfare state protected me. Which is one of the many reasons why its current dismantling makes me so sick.

[Sten Guns]

What's the fuss about?

 

A guy getting ?53 a week JSA

 

Will be getting full HB and CTB.

 

Let's say ?650pcm rent and ?120pcm c/tax.

 

Add everything up that's ?11,756 a year in benefits.

 

Plus you'll get free prescriptions, free NHS dental treatment, vouchers for glasses, help with fares to hospital & grants and loans from the Social Fund.

 

How much is that be worth?

 

There's some people surving on a salary less than the above FFS.

 

This "living off only ?53" is complete nonsense.

[kingantti1874]

 

 

Quite the little fascist aren't we kingantti.

 

I'd argue the real dregs of society are those who mis-sold PPI, fixed the Libor rates,laundered Mexican drug dollars to the tune of hundreds of billions (thats not to mention the circa 40,000 dead Mexicans btw) and yet with all that free money sloshing around, they still had to rely on Joe tax payer to bail them out when it all went pear shaped.

So with that in mind,for the real dregs of society I'd advocate criminal investigation followed by prosecution and lengthy jail time for the guilty-no more enormous bonuses,yachts,luxury cars,Cayman Island bank accounts at the tax payers expense...just the instant motivation of prosecution not to steal.

 

As for the food stamps idea, you'll probably get your wish at some point,after all with approx 45 million Americans receiving them it's a nice little earner...

 

http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/food-stamps-jpmorgan-banking-industry-profit-misery

 

What's the RBS share price at these days kingantti?

 

I think that's a grossly unfair accusation, I don't disagree with the majority of your post at all, and those responsible should defiantly be punished and punished heavily.

 

But Your post is one sided in that it makes no allowance for the billions pumped into the UK economy annually by the finance sector in taxes... By far the biggest contributor we have, and lets face it the only major employer we have left... Painful as it may be to admit - saving them was a necessity as is the programme of work getting them back to a standard fit to serve the needs of the UK.

 

And if X demographic did something wrong we should not criticise people who believe the are entitled to hand outs at the expense of everyone else... The banking crisis did not drag the UK to the state of bankruptcy, we were on this path before 2007, since the early 1920's in fact

 

Despite efforts to drag the debate in a different direction can you honestly say a system along the lines of which I suggested would not be more beneficial than cash handouts, is it not fairer to people who do go to work and contribute? And would it not motivate the lazy to try harder?

[SUTOL]

 

Would be interesting to see, actually, how our wage compares to others on the continent. I have to say, I have been shocked at how little respect we get from the general public since I have been in the job and how easy a target we seem to be for people.

 

Aye but all the holidays make up for it.

[Jambof3tornado]

What's the fuss about?

 

A guy getting ?53 a week JSA

 

Will be getting full HB and CTB.

 

Let's say ?650pcm rent and ?120pcm c/tax.

 

Add everything up that's ?11,756 a year in benefits.

 

Plus you'll get free prescriptions, free NHS dental treatment, vouchers for glasses, help with fares to hospital & grants and loans from the Social Fund.

 

How much is that be worth?

 

There's some people surving on a salary less than the above FFS.

 

This "living off only ?53" is complete nonsense.

Totally this.

 

As for the guardian blogs comment regarding tax payers funding his military career I seem to remember paying income tax during my time in the RAF.

[The Real Maroonblood]

Perhaps if this millionaires club government cut these figures they wouldn't have to rob the poor of this country.

 

INDIA plans to send a spacecraft to Mars next year on a ?52m scientific mission, despite the UK giving the country more than a billion pounds in aid.Figures show that the UK spending on foreign aid will rise by 50 per cent, increasing from ?8.4billion this year to ?12.6billion in 2014 ? equal to ?479 for every household in Britain.David Cameron recently hit back at foreign aid critics, arguing that even in tough economical times it is Britain's duty to help the world's poor and malnourished.

 

Defending the decision to spend taxpayers' money on overseas aid, despite overseeing a double-dip recession in the UK, Cameron said: "We are right to meet our aid commitments."

[jambos are go!]

From the Guardian blogs:

 

Iain Duncan Smith is a man who has spent most of his adult life sucking on the public teat and sponging off his wife's family. He has a dim view of spongers and has promised to cut another ?10billion off the state?s handout bill. Obviously, the people who take handouts they don?t deserve should be the first to take a cut.

 

So let?s start by talking about someone who lives off the state and has little experience of the world of work you and I know. He is 58 years old and has suckled upon the publicly-funded teat for most of his life. He?s signed on the dole. He?s had four children and received child benefit for all of them. He has put them each through private school, too.

 

His wife hasn?t worked since they married, except for 15 months in which he got her a job paid by the taxpayer. He and his colleagues eat and drink food subsidised by the tax payer in a palace we pay for. He is driven around in a car he does not own and has not paid for - we did. And when he is too old to ?work? any more he will receive a better pension than most of the rest of us - which again we paid for.

 

He started out at the age of 21 with six years of taxpayer-funded military service, during which he acted as bag-carrier to a Major-General. Then in 1981, aged 27, he left the Army and signed on the dole for several months. He then began a period of ordinary work based upon the skills he had gained at the taxpayer?s expense, and worked in sales for arms dealer GEC-Marconi. He then moved on to a property firm, where he was made redundant after six months, and then sold gun-related magazines for Jane?s Information Group.

 

After 11 years of this not too glittering a career he succeeded in once again boarding the publicly-funded gravy train in 1992. In the intervening 20 years he has been paid by the taxpayer every year more money than most of the rest of us manage to earn. He has managed to boost it up to more than six figures for a few years here and there by being more pompous than the others in his position.

 

In 2001 he helped his unemployed wife to have a suckle, arranging for her to be paid ?15,000 a year to be his diary secretary. (The Newsnight TV programme pulled a story that seemingly alleged she didnt actually do anything).

 

These days he is given the grand total of near ?150,000 a year from the taxpayer. He lives for free in a ?2million Tudor farmhouse on his father-in-law?s ancestral estate in Buckinghamshire. He has three acres of land, a tennis court, swimming pool and some orchards, which is not bad for a life paid for by the state.

 

?Who is this parasite?? you might cry. ?Tell us his name, let the authorities know his address. Let?s get this guzzler out of the cushy life and show him what life is like for the rest of us,earning ?7 an hour with a rise once every eight years and a miserly pension if we're lucky.?

 

His name is Iain Duncan Smith, and his address is: Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA. He is disgusting and a far far bigger leech on your money than the worst dole scrounger you can think of and twice as pointless.

 

His name is Is George Ian Duncan Smith and was known as George Smith till he decided to enter Tory politics. In the great tradition of Gideon and LAmont. I think he was a Labour member at one time. Born in Edinburgh he is apparently a proud Scot so nobody is all bad, BTW Michael Gove is an Edinburgh orphan adopted and raised in Aberdeen. Where did they all go wrong!

 

Turning to the main point the vast majority of the welfare budget goes on families and pensioners. Approaching 70% I think. Only 5% goes to the unemployed IIRC. So austerity needs bigger prey. I'm a fairly well of retired person who is doing pretty well and much better than my previous colleagues. They are and have been getting virtually no pay rises whilst I have seen regular inflation increases about 3% on average. Why I wonder till I realise the baby boomers are the the biggest electoral interest group who tend to always vote. Political cowardice on all fronts and from all parties despite there claims that we are all in it together.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

If ?53 per week is too little, does the petitioner have a more appropriate figure in mind?

[Boris]

While it is correct for Govt to look at the welfare bill and see what can (or cannot) be done, this Govt's latest tact suggest to me a smoke and mirrors approach. Use an highly emotive subject, spread dissent and dischord amongst the people, therefore making an issue out of it to a higher proportion than it really is.

 

If the Govt openly went after tax avoiders and tax evaders the benefit to the Treasury would be so much more than the savings that these highly damaging policies. What is the point if all it achieves is the creation of yet another underclass of people that ultimately the State will have to support?

 

This Govt is essentially, imo, focussing on the wrong things but in doing so it sets the (for want of a phrase) working class against each other. Meanwhile, the real charlatans who are to blame for all of this appear to be getting off Scott free and all those in the middle who, whether they realise it or not, are footing the bill.

 

It sucks, big time.

[jambovambo]

Quote : Remember what David Cameron said live on television during the Final Electoral Debate 2010 : "A country is judged upon how it cares for its most vulnerable in society in bad times as well as in good times". He then promised : If you are sick, disabled, frail, vulnerable, or the poorest in society you have nothing to fear if he (David Cameron) became prime-minister because he would protect that group of vulnerable people in British society"

[Tommy Wiseau]

Aye but all the holidays make up for it.

 

 

Don't get me started again

 

The holidays make up for the fact that I - and every other secondary teacher worth a damn - work at least double the contractual maximum of 35 hours a week, meaning I get paid up until around lunchtime on a Wednesday each week I am in work. Not to mention that a decent proportion of the holidays will be spent working on planning, development of these new national qualification courses that we are expected to introduce while our working conditions, pay and benefits are all simultaneously reduced.

 

At least my boss isn't Michael Gove, who can't even veil his contempt for the profession

 

Anyway, I think this is off topic and as I say, don't get me started

[His name is]

What's the fuss about?

 

A guy getting ?53 a week JSA

 

Will be getting full HB and CTB.

 

Let's say ?650pcm rent and ?120pcm c/tax.

 

Add everything up that's ?11,756 a year in benefits.

 

Plus you'll get free prescriptions, free NHS dental treatment, vouchers for glasses, help with fares to hospital & grants and loans from the Social Fund.

 

How much is that be worth?

 

There's some people surving on a salary less than the above FFS.

 

This "living off only ?53" is complete nonsense.

 

Correct

 

[Paolo]

What's the fuss about?

 

A guy getting ?53 a week JSA

 

Will be getting full HB and CTB.

 

Let's say ?650pcm rent and ?120pcm c/tax.

 

Add everything up that's ?11,756 a year in benefits.

 

Plus you'll get free prescriptions, free NHS dental treatment, vouchers for glasses, help with fares to hospital & grants and loans from the Social Fund.

 

How much is that be worth?

 

There's some people surving on a salary less than the above FFS.

 

This "living off only ?53" is complete nonsense.

 

You are right - this is a figure latched on to, but does not tell the whole story.

 

It is a figure that only tells part of the story, which is typical of the left wing press, who do not want to lose their readers, so 'campaign' for them.

 

Under Labour, I know of someone who was registered blind, severely handicapped, both physically and mentally, and they had their benefit slashed by around ?160.00 a month, because they could just managed to shuffle to the toilet themselves, so they are capable of making shocking decisions too.

 

If someone is genuinely unable to work, they should, and in most cases will get help. There will be the odd shocking decision, like above, but it is not exclusive to a Tory Government.

 

Those who can work, but choose not to (and by that, I mean do not want to look for work and have no intention of looking for work, or constantly turn jobs down), should see benefits slashed. Many are better off than those who are working.

 

The cap is ?26,000. That is more than what I earn, more than what my father ever earned (still working), and more that what any of my mates earn (all are working).

[Boris]

 

Those who can work, but choose not to (and by that, I mean do not want to look for work and have no intention of looking for work, or constantly turn jobs down), should see benefits slashed. Many are better off than those who are working.

 

 

I agree 100% with this. Equal liability of all to work.

[Coco]

From the Guardian blogs:

 

Iain Duncan Smith is a man who has spent most of his adult life sucking on the public teat and sponging off his wife's family. He has a dim view of spongers and has promised to cut another ?10billion off the state?s handout bill. Obviously, the people who take handouts they don?t deserve should be the first to take a cut.

 

So let?s start by talking about someone who lives off the state and has little experience of the world of work you and I know. He is 58 years old and has suckled upon the publicly-funded teat for most of his life. He?s signed on the dole. He?s had four children and received child benefit for all of them. He has put them each through private school, too.

 

His wife hasn?t worked since they married, except for 15 months in which he got her a job paid by the taxpayer. He and his colleagues eat and drink food subsidised by the tax payer in a palace we pay for. He is driven around in a car he does not own and has not paid for - we did. And when he is too old to ?work? any more he will receive a better pension than most of the rest of us - which again we paid for.

 

He started out at the age of 21 with six years of taxpayer-funded military service, during which he acted as bag-carrier to a Major-General. Then in 1981, aged 27, he left the Army and signed on the dole for several months. He then began a period of ordinary work based upon the skills he had gained at the taxpayer?s expense, and worked in sales for arms dealer GEC-Marconi. He then moved on to a property firm, where he was made redundant after six months, and then sold gun-related magazines for Jane?s Information Group.

 

After 11 years of this not too glittering a career he succeeded in once again boarding the publicly-funded gravy train in 1992. In the intervening 20 years he has been paid by the taxpayer every year more money than most of the rest of us manage to earn. He has managed to boost it up to more than six figures for a few years here and there by being more pompous than the others in his position.

 

In 2001 he helped his unemployed wife to have a suckle, arranging for her to be paid ?15,000 a year to be his diary secretary. (The Newsnight TV programme pulled a story that seemingly alleged she didnt actually do anything).

 

These days he is given the grand total of near ?150,000 a year from the taxpayer. He lives for free in a ?2million Tudor farmhouse on his father-in-law?s ancestral estate in Buckinghamshire. He has three acres of land, a tennis court, swimming pool and some orchards, which is not bad for a life paid for by the state.

 

?Who is this parasite?? you might cry. ?Tell us his name, let the authorities know his address. Let?s get this guzzler out of the cushy life and show him what life is like for the rest of us,earning ?7 an hour with a rise once every eight years and a miserly pension if we're lucky.?

 

His name is Iain Duncan Smith, and his address is: Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA. He is disgusting and a far far bigger leech on your money than the worst dole scrounger you can think of and twice as pointless.

 

That really is terrible. Army career, time in the private sector, MP and Opposition leader and now Cabinet Minister. All sneered at by whoever blogged that.

[The People's Chimp]

From the Guardian blogs:

 

.....

 

Except it is from the mirror...

 

A truly awful article though.

[Rudolf's Mate]

If being honest, MPs are a bit meh to me! I can't say that they bother me either way. IDS is one exception and I would love to smack him round the chops!

[The_razors_edge]

What's the fuss about?

 

A guy getting ?53 a week JSA

 

Will be getting full HB and CTB.

 

Let's say ?650pcm rent and ?120pcm c/tax.

 

Add everything up that's ?11,756 a year in benefits.

 

Plus you'll get free prescriptions, free NHS dental treatment, vouchers for glasses, help with fares to hospital & grants and loans from the Social Fund.

 

How much is that be worth?

 

There's some people surving on a salary less than the above FFS.

 

This "living off only ?53" is complete nonsense.

 

Bang on the cash fella. You don't work for a council do you? Over here in Fife council property rental is anywhere between approx ?2800-?3300 per year. Those on JSA, ESA or income support automatically qualify for full HB and CTB (still have to pay water and sewage though). On top of that free school meals, school clothing grants, access to community care grants, decoration grants. Those in private let's are entitled to anywhere between ?235 and ?750 per month local housing allowance. Its strange that the people I deal with on a daily basis living on these benefits still find the money to drink, smoke, take drugs, have huge tv's, buy designer clothes etc. The benefit system was put in place as a safety net to help the unemployed return to work. Now people use it as a way of life and see it as a right and abuse it as much as possible. "Cut our money aye....its ok I'll just have another bairn". JSA should be used to buy food and put gas and electricity in the meters. I've known people to have no gas in the property for over 18 months cos they're too busy spending money on other things. Most of the folk I've dealt with have the potential to work but don't want to. They're happy to pick up their JSA, income support, ESA and live on the bare minimum.

[moogsy]

What's the fuss about?

 

A guy getting ?53 a week JSA

 

Will be getting full HB and CTB.

 

Let's say ?650pcm rent and ?120pcm c/tax.

 

Add everything up that's ?11,756 a year in benefits.

 

Plus you'll get free prescriptions, free NHS dental treatment, vouchers for glasses, help with fares to hospital & grants and loans from the Social Fund.

 

How much is that be worth?

 

There's some people surving on a salary less than the above FFS.

 

This "living off only ?53" is complete nonsense.

 

Kind of what I was getting at earlier. There's absolutely no way anyone is expected to live off only ?53 per week in this country and using that figure is extremely disingenuous.