Poll: General election voting round 5 (final one)

[D.P.]

Irrelevant? You're talking about JSA, but the fact is there's less people claiming it. Seems pretty relevant to me.

That is just one of the many reasons, Universal Credit can be firmly blamed for man of the instances.

The rise of zero-hour contracts, is another strong contributor, as is the fact that minimum wage is a long way belwo a minimum living wage and does not keep up with inflation.

 

[Lord-Jaffa]

Yes.

Now what are we going to do about it?

Finger pointing is possibly the worst thing about Politics. Blame doesn't help anyone. Solutions do. If the parties put as much energy in to finding solutions as they do in coming up with elaborate ways to blame each other for the issues, we'd be in a much better place. TBH the Tory Party are the worst for this, though the rest aren't much better.

Where housing is concerned, and in my view it is the root cause of the problem with our economy (rents more than full time working income, housing benefit propping up the buy to let market etc). No party has even addressed this at all, they are all failing spectacularly. Housing needs to be addressed and built upon, We need houses built in the millions each year, not the tens of thousands. Good quality houses as well, more garden city's would be a good start.

 

[thep02]

It is nothing to do with which government is in power. The dole office has always been slow.

Nah it's the way it is being administrated with bonuses for sanctions and low staffing levels it's basically because IFS is an ineffectual weirdo.

 

[thep02]

Where housing is concerned, and in my view it is the root cause of the problem with our economy (rents more than full time working income, housing benefit propping up the buy to let market etc). No party has even addressed this at all, they are all failing spectacularly. Housing needs to be addressed and built upon, We need houses built in the millions each year, not the tens of thousands. Good quality houses as well, more garden city's would be a good start.

Agreed.

 

[MrMoonX]

The ridiculous rental increases and house prices happened under labour's watch (late 90s and the 00's).

The lack of housing is the fault of everyone who has been in power since the 70s.

I wasn't making it a party thing, it's just a shambles In general, however the Tories new right to buy housing association property is a total ****

We need to build and build a lot

 

[D.P.]

It is nothing to do with which government is in power. The dole office has always been slow.

But the Torie's introduced Universal credit making the entire system a chaotic mess to be ashamed of
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/aug/02/universal-credit-staff-flagship-reform

EDIT: And I am not putting the blame solely on the Tories, Labour can get their fair share of blame as well.\

 

[elmarko]

Hence why we need a citizens income instead. But citizens income policies aren't popular with people who think they are entitled to other peoples money.

It is very popular with those who think they are entitled to a disproportionate share of the fruits of others peoples labour.

The entitlement culture is strong is this one.

 

[Lord-Jaffa]

I wasn't making it a party thing, it's just a shambles In general, however the Tories new right to buy housing association property is a total ****

We need to build and build a lot

There is nothing really wrong with the policy itself, housing associations are hardly losing out since they acquired the bulk of the stock on the 90s for a fraction of the cost (even more laughable when compared to todays prices).

The problem is not building enough to replace these, or really building enough at all.

 

[McPhee]

Where housing is concerned, and in my view it is the root cause of the problem with our economy (rents more than full time working income, housing benefit propping up the buy to let market etc). No party has even addressed this at all, they are all failing spectacularly. Housing needs to be addressed and built upon, We need houses built in the millions each year, not the tens of thousands. Good quality houses as well, more garden city's would be a good start.

Indeed.

I remember watching one of the TV debates and the issue of housing came up. Each party said what they were going to do about it. They then argued about who's ideas were best, and all I found myself thinking was "surely the best solution would be all of these ideas?". Of course, none of them would suggest this. I swear the world would implode if one leader said to another "Hey, that's a great idea. We should totally do that, and what we have planned. It'll work even better than either plan alone!".

 

[D.P.]

Evidence for that? Especially the Universal Credit bit, given it's being rolled out rather than applied universally (guffaw) at once.



http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/31/universal

Are you making stuff up, again?

That is 25,000 people that could be affected and have to rely on on food banks. Now add in all thos eon zero hour contracts, those on minium wage jobs, the unemployed nad it is not hard to see the mess Britain has slipped into.


Or are you going to continue selectively quote, ignore anything else people say, and quote out of context to pretend you are right?

 

[PlacidCasual]

One way to ameliorate a housing shortage is have net immigration of 200,000 a year for a decade. Oh wait that doesn't sound right. Thank you Maastricht thank you Nice, thank you Lisbon.

 

[MrMoonX]

How about we address the cause of poor personal choices and not the outcomes?

Seriously? Disadvantaged people are disadvantaged by society not poor choices, that is such a Tory attitude, it's disgraceful but not surprised by you! Why not sell the NHS and say the sick made a poor choice, oh wait

 

[Sliver]

Seriously? Disadvantaged people are disadvantaged by society not poor choices, that is such a Tory attitude, it's disgraceful but not surprised by you! Why not sell the NHS and say the sick made a poor choice, oh wait

Agreed. One of the most despicable I've ever read on a forum. Disgusting.

 

[SpeedFreak]

Agreed on the many points about housing. Mass land banking, constrained new build supply to manage prices and rampant nimbyism all contribute to inflated house prices.

New builds smaller than my house with shoe box gardens ridiculous pricing is normalising those prices in the market and in reality planning policy should be allowed to control limiting developer profits or at least increase the quality of the housing being supplied.

These are just some contributing factors and every one needs to be addressed, not just a selection.

 

[Mr Jack]

While I think Nigel Farage is an odious bigot who has a profoundly malign influence on British politics, I will say this for him: at least he has the cahones to campaign face-to-face with the public and even talk with people protesting him.

It's a shame that the big party leaders have shied so far away from being challenged by public or press in this campaign.

 

[D.P.]

I was wondering in what World 0.2% = many.

So how many of those 25 000 people had to use a food bank? Just being on Universal Credit doesn't necessarily mean they had to use one... unless you can evidence that...

And when it comes to food bank visits, the number has obviously gone up, but how much of that is down to an increased awareness, a decrease in the stigma, an increase in provision, etc? Evidence for that? How much of the increase is down to need?

Since the food banks are means tests we know that it is down to need.


The increased awareness is irrelevant, even if there was always this need for food banks it doesn't take away one iota from the actual problem.

 

[estebanrey]

Seriously? Disadvantaged people are disadvantaged by society not poor choices

I disagree with you both, I think it's more of a grey area than people on the left and right make out.

Do you seriously believe that everyone who is poor is only so due to "society" and have no responsibility themselves? I don't, but likewise not everyone is rich because of their 'hard work' either.

Some people are rich because they were aspirational, entrepreneurial or just came up with a great idea, others are rich because they were born into wealth and had the right connections.

Some people are poor because they are lazy, celebrate their 'working class' status or don't want to put any extra effort in, others are poor because they don't have the finance or connections that recognise their endeavour.

People who think it's all or nothing are asinine whatever their political persuasion.

 

[Dolph]

Seriously? Disadvantaged people are disadvantaged by society not poor choices, that is such a Tory attitude, it's disgraceful but not surprised by you! Why not sell the NHS and say the sick made a poor choice, oh wait

Some are disadvantaged by circumstance, some by choices. Society doesn't disadvantage people.

What does society do to cause someone to be a drug addict? Spend their money gambling, smoking or drinking? fail to gain any qualifications or provide skills worth purchasing? Have kids they cant afford or at too young an age? These are failings of society, they are failings of individuals.

We should help those disadvantaged by circumstance and support those disadvantaged by choice to start making better ones. Neither of those problems is best solved by getting people dependent on state handouts as the solution.

 

[D.P.]

If by means tested you mean they have to get a voucher from a care professional/other similar person. But that's not means testing as we know it. It's based on someone claiming they need food bank access... someone claiming they need free food doesn't mean they do need free food.

Are you going to evidence what proportion of the 0.2% of benefits claimants accessed food banks? Or anything else I asked for?

Are you going to answer any of the the other contributing factors I pointed out or are you going to repeatedly ask the same irrelevant question?

Care to provide evidence that someone on minimum wages who was made redundant might not possibly have a need for a foodbank?

 

[SpeedFreak]

Seriously? Disadvantaged people are disadvantaged by society not poor choices, that is such a Tory attitude, it's disgraceful but not surprised by you! Why not sell the NHS and say the sick made a poor choice, oh wait

It is not this black and white. Some people are disadvantaged by society and some put themselves at a disadvantage through poor decisions in life. That is not really a point for debate, just a reflection of reality.

The point for discussion is therefore around how to support disadvantaged people and present them with realistic opportunities to improve their situation. Those demonstrating a will and effort to improve their situation should be encouraged to do so and employment should always be more attractive than any choice to do nothing.