housing association apologies to 'horrified' residents

NirK said:
On benifits you cannot even afford rent, bills and food... You do not get enough money for these basic things yet alone sky TV, alcohol and fags...
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Depends who you are.
Some folks on benefits have their rent paid, up to more than twenty five grand worth a year.
So they have no rent or council tax issues, which means their fluff goes one hell of a lot further.
With alcohol being reasonably cheap in this country, one can happily mix junk food, and alchol throw in some fags and be laughing all the way to your sky tv.

Its not like the US where benefits equate to food stamps.
So you can buy food, not other stuff.
 
letting people buy council houses below market rate without building enough to replace the social housing stock was thatchers retarded idea.
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The original "Right to buy" was instigated for several reasons.

Of course one was ideological (The idea that the State should NOT be your "Mother and Father")

But it was also pragmatic.

There was the idea that Workers with regular bills to pay (especially mortgages) would be less likely to engage in long strikes (The Curse of the 70's). There was also the fact that the outgoing Labour government had left the country with huge debts and this "Asset Sale" (along with the other privatisations) was seen as a way of generating revenue while also carrying out Tax cuts.

Of course it was a fiscal "Slight of Hand" since we (the country) were paying for things that we already "Owned".

But the real rot for council housing set in well before the "Right to buy" with the shift in emphasis away from providing good quality housing for working families towards meeting "Social Needs" that's really what destroyed the concept.
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
Depends who you are.
Some folks on benefits have their rent paid, up to more than twenty five grand worth a year.
So they have no rent or council tax issues, which means their fluff goes one hell of a lot further.
With alcohol being reasonably cheap in this country, one can happily mix junk food, and alchol throw in some fags and be laughing all the way to your sky tv.

Its not like the US where benefits equate to food stamps.
So you can buy food, not other stuff.
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Do you really think some fags, cheap beer & sky TV is a grand existence?.

Sounds rather drab & depressing to me, hardly a lavish lifestyle I'd envy or complain about.

From the tone of some of these posts you would think these people are driving around in gold plated Porsches, picking up high class prostitutes & dancing the night away drinking £2000 bottles of champaign.

Get a grip.
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
Depends who you are.
Some folks on benefits have their rent paid, up to more than twenty five grand worth a year.
So they have no rent or council tax issues, which means their fluff goes one hell of a lot further.
With alcohol being reasonably cheap in this country, one can happily mix junk food, and alchol throw in some fags and be laughing all the way to your sky tv.

Its not like the US where benefits equate to food stamps.
So you can buy food, not other stuff.
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I am not sure that this is actually true in 2013 at least...

For example I am currently on JSA / housing benifit and I do not even get anywhere near enough money to live... I am getting further and further into debt just on living costs.... My rent is £475... I get £310 housing benefit and £70 JSA a week.... Not even enough to cover the rent yet alone actually eat or pay any bills...
 
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elmarko said:
Do you really think some fags, cheap beer & sky TV is a grand existence?.

Sounds rather drab & depressing to me, hardly a lavish lifestyle I'd envy or complain about.

From the tone of some of these posts you would think these people are driving around in gold plated Porsches, picking up high class prostitutes & dancing the night away drinking £2000 bottles of champaign.

Get a grip.
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Yes and on benifits you cannot even afford fags beer or sky TV or even living costs for that matter... Unless you live on a council estate and have loads of children of course... Its quite scary that the UK is actually supposed to be one of the better countries...
 
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NirK said:
Yes and on benifits you cannot even afford fags beer or sky TV or even living costs for that matter... Unless you live on a council estate and have loads of children of course... Its quite scary that the UK is actually supposed to be one of the better countries...
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Thats what I was aluding to, it depends who you are.
If you worked the last ten years paid your taxes became unemployed and had some savings, you won't even get JSA for longer than six months, its a bloody disgrace.

The people you mention, the breeders, spawning generation after generation of those who do nothing, those will always get the money.
The good things about fags and alcohol is that is it havily taxes, and hopefully after today will be taxed even more so, so its a way to recoup some of the benefits paid to those who fail to work ever.
 
groen said:
What has the salary of potentially hard working individuals in the productive half of the economy have to do with people on welfare who apparently can not find work?

If we removed minimum wage it would open up the opportunities for low paying jobs that currently are in china or some other low currency country where they can produce that good at a cheaper rate than they can in the uk. So it might appear to start with that people are being underpaid for their work, be it at a factory. It is all about entering the productive half of the economy. Before you know the guy on the factory line has enough experience to start his own business or move up within the factory to higher paid jobs. Instead we have a minimum wage cap which means those jobs never exist.

People need to live with family or seek third party assistance, live in a shelter or shared accommodation. That is their problem to solve, not the governments and not the tax payers. What about before the welfare state which is only about 80 years old at most. Those 1000s of years before the government redistributed wealth to other people? did they moan about not having enough work or did they go out and make work for themselves and innovate etc? maybe if they were in such a position, they wouldn't have 3 kids and thus be in a better position to look after themselves.


The problem of government bailing out banks is a different topic entirely and has nothing to do with government welfare. The problematic people on welfare who i am moaning about have probably never paid tax anyway. The people that were working but lost their job and are temporary on welfare or the disabled people who get government assistance is not the problematic people on welfare.

I am against the bailout and i think the banks should have failed and been sold off as a normal bankrupt businesses. I still fail to see how the corrupt government and bailouts etc has anything to do with a discussion on the economic problems of the welfare state.
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maybe some companies need to look at the CEO of costco in the USA? pays well above min wage and doesnt need millions a year to live on? why do some execs need millions a year to live on while paying their staff min wage? simple greed.

in the older days werent the rich killed and their money taken? do we really want to go back to that? remember that 1% holds 99% of the wealth. do the rich really think they can defend themselves if the plebs rebel?

well, the gov and the banks caused the recession, which has had massive economic knock on effect for most ordinary people. so, they have lots to do with it IMO
 
Dolph said:
I am thoroughly confused as to why the suggestion to control your spending when your income or fixed outgoings change is so offensive to those who rely on others (via the state) for some or all of their lifestyle when it is business as usual for those who earn their own money. The very idea smacks of an outrageous sense of entitlement with no basis in reality from some sections of society and their apologists.
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I don't get why people think the newsletter wasn't offensive.

Imagine if you'd just been made redundant, or you're on some other benefit (disability?) and you got this through your door.

The advert in the newsletter read: "Can you really afford Sky, cigarettes, bingo, drinks and other non essentials?

"If your benefit is being cut and you want to keep your home you have to make up the difference.

"Non-essential items won't matter if you lose your home. Start budgeting now - we can help you do this, call us!"
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I'd be like: 'Yeah no **** I can't afford those things.'

If that's the best advice they can give me on how to keep my home, I don't think I'd be calling them. But the fact that they imply that I'm some cigarette smoking, Sky watching, bingo playing layabout would really annoy me.

Of course it's going to offend people with the way it's worded.
 
cm1179 said:
but they wont be using it to look for jobs the majority of the time, will they?

besides, there are libraries, job centres, colleges, places like pertemps etc where they are encouraged to job search ..... but they wont.

broadband is a luxury. i need it in my current position. would i need it if i wasn't working? it would be nice but certainly not essential.

people seem to be putting JSA claimants under this umbrella and that wasn't the reason i started this thread. £60 p/w isn't going to lead to an easy life. getting £200 p/w and your housing paid for is.

i've just finished working. the fact a portion of my tax may go to help pay for a claimants tattoo, does not make me feel great but i'd rather be doing that than not tbh.
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if i lost my job and car it would cost me about £25 a month to even go to the local job centre by bus from my village. and they are closing down our library soon too. so, the money i might spend on BB will just be eaten up by bus fares anyway.

anyway, you can get cheap BB deals with low speeds these days, which would be sufficient. or just get a mobile BB dongle for a few quid a month.
 
NirK said:
I am not sure that this is actually true in 2013 at least...

For example I am currently on JSA / housing benifit and I do not even get anywhere near enough money to live... I am getting further and further into debt just on living costs.... My rent is £475... I get £310 housing benefit and £70 JSA a week.... Not even enough to cover the rent yet alone actually eat or pay any bills...
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you may not have enough money to 'live' but you're getting a fair wack tbh. i'm assuming you get council tax paid too?

i don't want to judge as i don't know your personal circumstances but you're not a million miles off what some people in work would be on once tax and travel expenses come out of the salary.
 
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