Cameron claims he cares about the most vulnerable

[cheesyboy]

Victims? If you can't pay for your own extra bedroom the state should pay for you? I don't think so.

Sure, there should be exceptions in certain cases, but for the most part, housing benefit should only cover the rooms you need, not the rooms you want.

This is exactly the problem with the anti-Tory brigade, (and many SNP supporters), you don't really think things through logically enough.

And have you logically thought through why many are housed in accommodation with too many bedrooms?

And have you logically thought through why pensioners were exempted from the bedroom tax?

To be honest, I'm not in particular disagreement with the principle of the "bedroom tax", but for it to be fair there needs to be available housing stock for people to downsize (there isn't), and OAPs should not be exempted.

 

[Armageus]

That is a bit like asking who I want my wife to have sex with.

Some people like that kind of thing though

 

[Schlong&Stable]

What really, really winds me up is how services for the really vulnerable, disabled, vulnerable children and adults, get slashed. How is this fair? Why are they shouldering the burden for the economic crash that was caused by greed?

A common misconception is that the ongoing crisis is caused by bankers; it isn't. The ongoing crisis is caused by a large public spending deficit, huge piles of debt and a trade deficit. The banking crisis was simply the trigger which revealed the structural weakness of Labours massive government spending.

 

[Danthus]

Victims? If you can't pay for your own extra bedroom the state should pay for you? I don't think so.

Sure, there should be exceptions in certain cases, but for the most part, housing benefit should only cover the rooms you need, not the rooms you want.

This is exactly the problem with the anti-Tory brigade, (and many SNP supporters), you don't really think things through logically enough.

The policy was designed in order that people move to more suitable accommodation in terms of size.

Now given that social housing is at a premium and that the Tories have announced a further sell off of social housing stock it makes the policy even more stupid.

Where are these people meant to move to?

 

[LordSplodge]

Neither do I but that really isn't the point.

Exactly, I'm actually better off but the whole point of Government is to look after as many as possible and more people are worse off than are better off outside of the super wealthy.

Shelter reports 93,000 children are homeless (in 2015 FFS!) and women are hit disproportionally by austerity measures

But lets keep blaming these mysterious 'benefit cheats' and 'the global economy' shall we?

 

[Lima]

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the point of the OPs linked article? Or the OPs post moaning about pensioners? Without knowing what the £12b is going to be cut from precisely why are people causing such a fuss. Without knowing the detail, id rather pensioners money was kept secure rather than some dossing low life whose been on job seekers allowance for a billion years.

FYI - I only skimmed over the article so if I missed the detail and the cuts are all allocated to terrible things they shouldn't be cut from, then I'm happy to stand corrected.

 

[wordy]

Except all the main parties are going down the line of cutting public spending so those services that the vulnerable need are going to continue to be cut.

Oh yeah, Tories & Labour are two cheeks on the same arse tbh.

 

[Danthus]

A common misconception is that the ongoing crisis is caused by bankers; it isn't. The ongoing crisis is caused by a large public spending deficit, huge piles of debt and a trade deficit. The banking crisis was simply the trigger which revealed the structural weakness of Labours massive government spending.

And the Tories will tell you Labour caused the financial crisis.

The truth is that Labour did borrow and spend too much but they did not make the likes of Lehmans packaged up bad debt, give it a AAA rating and then sell it on.

What could Brown and Balls done about Freddie Mac and Fanny May?

 

[Danthus]

Exactly, I'm actually better off but the whole point of Government is to look after as many as possible and more people are worse off than are better off outside of the super wealthy.

Shelter reports 93,000 children are homeless (in 2015 FFS!) and women are hit disproportionally by austerity measures

But lets keep blaming these mysterious 'benefit cheats' and 'the global economy' shall we?

Too many people want either the bankers hammered or benefits hammered depending on whether you are Red or Blue.

Myself, I want benefit reform and banking reform, it shouldn't be one or the other.

 

[cheesyboy]

A common misconception is that the ongoing crisis is caused by bankers; it isn't. The ongoing crisis is caused by a large public spending deficit, huge piles of debt and a trade deficit. The banking crisis was simply the trigger which revealed the structural weakness of Labours massive government spending.

No.

The crisis was triggered by the irresponsible lending of US banks, with the effect coming home to roost. As the defaults started, and the losses mounted banks tightened up credit which exacerbated the situation - more defaults. Governments kept many banks afloat with buy-outs and quantitive easing, but worsened the slump by retracting spending - a ****ing stupid reaction which continues to hold back growth.

We're now caught in a ****-storm of public demand for cuts and balancing of the deficit - all parties have to sign up for it to avoid looking irresponsible inthe eyes of the electorate. It's like turkeys voting for Christmas

 

[LordSplodge]

A common misconception is that the ongoing crisis is caused by bankers; it isn't. The ongoing crisis is caused by a large public spending deficit, huge piles of debt and a trade deficit. The banking crisis was simply the trigger which revealed the structural weakness of Labours massive government spending.

A common misconception is that our deficit is actually an issue, whereas it is perfectly manageable.

 

[doodah]

What grates me is how IDS and the Tories seem to not recognise or completely ignore the increase in the use of food banks, or care to acknowledge any link with that and welfare cuts (studies are now confirming the link). The thought of IDS having anything to do with work and welfare sends shivers down my spine.

 

[mid_gen]

And the Tories will tell you Labour caused the financial crisis.

The truth is that Labour did borrow and spend too much but they did not make the likes of Lehmans packaged up bad debt, give it a AAA rating and then sell it on.

What could Brown and Balls done about Freddie Mac and Fanny May?

Labour sat and rode the faux-prosperity of the debt bubble in the UK, when people were getting 110% mortgages and seeing positive equity in a year because the market was so out of control. People with no right to were being dished out 5 figure credit card balances and running them up.

The crunch in the UK economy was not just about some American banks. It was about banks pulling back from the stupidly cheap and irresponsible lending they had been doing which drove that bubble.

 

[pfaulkner]

Cameron only cares about his friends and the elite in and around London, as muvh as the economy has improved i can't see any benefits for myself or my girlfriend.

 

[mid_gen]

What grates me is how IDS and the Tories seem to not recognise or completely ignore the increase in the use of food banks, or care to acknowledge any link with that and welfare cuts (studies are now confirming the link). The thought of IDS having anything to do with work and welfare sends shivers down my spine.

I don't understand this 'outrage' over food banks. The number of people using food banks is not a measure of poverty.

The number of people using food banks is just as much a measure of the amount of media coverage of food banks.

 

[bloodiedathame]

Cameron only cares about his friends and the elite in and around London, as muvh as the economy has improved i can't see any benefits for myself or my girlfriend.

Have things got worse though?

 

[Danthus]

Labour sat and rode the faux-prosperity of the debt bubble in the UK, when people were getting 110% mortgages and seeing positive equity in a year because the market was so out of control. People with no right to were being dished out 5 figure credit card balances and running them up.

The crunch in the UK economy was not just about some American banks. It was about banks pulling back from the stupidly cheap and irresponsible lending they had been doing which drove that bubble.

I never said it was just about American banks, their is a limit to what you can blame Labour for.

 

[mid_gen]

I never said it was just about American banks, their is a limit to what you can blame Labour for.

Well, you can include that limit a irresponsible period of credit-driven consumer boom which was *always* going to end in a long, unpleasant bust....which is what has lead to the spending cuts of the current government.

 

[Efour]

Have things got worse though?

What a bizarrely subjective question..

Well i guess its got worse for all the thousands that have to use food banks to make ends meet and the thousands that have had their pay frozen for years while inflation marches on...

Doubt it got that much worse for IT contractors or Project managers no...

 

[Schlong&Stable]

A common misconception is that our deficit is actually an issue, whereas it is perfectly manageable.

Yes, it is being managed, by making cuts. Are you under the illusion that a government can run a deficit indefinitely?