Benefit street parasites

[Liz]

. This is the problem though, people are only too happy to tar everyone with the same brush,when there are genuine people on job seekers who want to find work! Making people work for their benefits worn work,all it will do us get these who do want to work have to do these menial jobs whilst the dole bludgers will come up with yet more creative ways to ensure they don't have to work,some people have never and never gave any intention of doing anything but claim,it's sad as it names the genuine ones suffer badly while the work shy walk away Scott free yet again x

Exactly! These type of programmes deliberately portray benefit claimants in the worst possible light to get the kind of reaction shown on this thread.

[billmoseley]

How about giving claimants a credit card which is topped up with credits each week by the government. Theses credits can be used for food and house hold utilities and clothing not cigs or drink.

[lybster111]

don't you get the drift mrs bradey....its the government who orchestrated this scenario

[Big Gaz]

How about giving claimants a credit card which is topped up with credits each week by the government. Theses credits can be used for food and house hold utilities and clothing not cigs or drink.

That would involve shops having to change their tills etc., to ensure the punters buy only what is allowed. No doubt there would be a surcharge slapped on usage of the card for by that particular shop . i think this idea was looked at a while ago and not many shops were keen. Some even quoted that they didn't want to get aggro when refusing to sell a product that wasn't allowed.

Tell me why a person on benefits who gets the minimum amount required by law to live on (£72 and change) yet can afford a mobile phone contract, telephone & broadband contract and most (not all) have a Sky contract. I reckon if you are on benefits, you should not be entering into any sort of contract or agreement to pay out money on a monthly basis. The money is given to live on, not support a techno lifestyle

[Mrs Bradey]

don't you get the drift mrs bradey....its the government who orchestrated this scenario

I get the drift - always did - you seem to doubt my intelligence. I was as much interested in the reaction of the orgers, as the programme makers were in the viewers reaction! just as it makes good provocative telly, it makes for good provocative debate on here!....... now why do YOU think the government would be behind a programme of this nature? ............. to start civil unrest? ........... why would they show their own system failing?

[Thumper]

That would involve shops having to change their tills etc., to ensure the punters buy only what is allowed. No doubt there would be a surcharge slapped on usage of the card for by that particular shop . i think this idea was looked at a while ago and not many shops were keen. Some even quoted that they didn't want to get aggro when refusing to sell a product that wasn't allowed.Tell me why a person on benefits who gets the minimum amount required by law to live on (£72 and change) yet can afford a mobile phone contract, telephone & broadband contract and most (not all) have a Sky contract. I reckon if you are on benefits, you should not be entering into any sort of contract or agreement to pay out money on a monthly basis. The money is given to live on, not support a techno lifestyle

Ah BUT the dwp now expect you ti have internet access! Or travel to libraries to access it,and if you don't live near one then you have to pay the cost to get there,so really they gave you by the bahoolies no matter what! X

[billmoseley]

There has to be some fair way of sorting it out so the ones who deserve it get what they need and the scroungers get to realise that the world doesn,t owe them anything.

[Mrs Bradey]

How about giving claimants a credit card which is topped up with credits each week by the government. Theses credits can be used for food and house hold utilities and clothing not cigs or drink.

I think this is a good idea, if it was made that the card holder had to present id at the check out this would restrict fraudulent use of cards. obviously not eliminate it though.

[orkneycadian]

That would involve shops having to change their tills etc., to ensure the punters buy only what is allowed. No doubt there would be a surcharge slapped on usage of the card for by that particular shop . i think this idea was looked at a while ago and not many shops were keen. Some even quoted that they didn't want to get aggro when refusing to sell a product that wasn't allowed.

Its a lot simpler than that. It just needs to be a card that says its a benefits card, but is still a Mastercard, Visa Card, etc. So the tills would still accept it, it would just be the shop staff that filter out what it can and cannot be used for. And they don't seem to have any problem with potential aggro from under 25's who are challenged for proof of age ID. Given that much of the benefit abuse goes on luxuries such as tobacco and alcohol, then the shop staff should be pretty well used to being selective about who they sell to.

[Alrock]

...the world doesn,t owe them anything.

On that basis the world doesn't owe anybody anything, let's just have a state of complete anarchy & live by the rule of survival of the fittest, everything goes, with no recourse to the law (as there will be no laws).

[Alrock]

Its a lot simpler than that. It just needs to be a card that says its a benefits card, but is still a Mastercard, Visa Card, etc. So the tills would still accept it, it would just be the shop staff that filter out what it can and cannot be used for. And they don't seem to have any problem with potential aggro from under 25's who are challenged for proof of age ID. Given that much of the benefit abuse goes on luxuries such as tobacco and alcohol, then the shop staff should be pretty well used to being selective about who they sell to.

Or to make it even easier for the scum to be identified, then why not just sew yellow stars on their jackets to make it obvious to everyone that they are second class citizens, the dregs of society & should be shunned.

[billmoseley]

On that basis the world doesn't owe anybody anything, let's just have a state of complete anarchy & live by the rule of survival of the fittest, everything goes, with no recourse to the law (as there will be no laws).

Some of these people have never worked a day in there lives and have no intention too. So why should they be entitled to anything. Most of us work hard and pay our taxes but i'm sorry when i see people and hear people gloating about what they have got for nothing it angers me.

[Thumper]

Some of these people have never worked a day in there lives and have no intention too. So why should they be entitled to anything. Most of us work hard and pay our taxes but i'm sorry when i see people and hear people gloating about what they have got for nothing it angers me.

I can see why it would anger you,but you are classing all unemployed together,the ones who abuse the system will still find wats of doing so,and rest assured they won't go without luxuries! Spend a few hours in the local offices and you can see those who get away with everything and those who don't! Sine people get everything they want handed to them,others struggle to get what they are entitled to! X

[billmoseley]

No i'm not classing them all the same. some people can't not avoid having to claim and should be entitled to benefits. But a lot just take what they can get.

[Mrs Bradey]

I reckon the easiest option is to engage brain before watching this utter claptrap and understand that it is manipulated for the viewing pleasure of the lowest common denominator. Car crash telly! Understand this and you might go half way to realising this is not a typical picture.

episode 2 is on tonight channel 4 9pm hope you are going to watch the "car crash" I certainly will be, popcorn at the ready. I will engage my brain and see if I can convince myself this is not typical!! although this will be difficult as the street is sort of reminiscent of some streets in wick, thurso and even castletown!!!...................Lybster111 hope you are going to watch too, perhaps afterwards you can demonstrate how the government orchestrated it!!!

[Kevin Milkins]

I watched it and had to wonder how is it possible to be a good shoplifter? it must be impossible to keep a low profile with a film crew following you around. It cant be for real, surely not.

[Mrs Bradey]

I watched it and had to wonder how is it possible to be a good shoplifter? it must be impossible to keep a low profile with a film crew following you around. It cant be for real, surely not.

you have to wonder!? never actually saw any shoplifting being carried out though! however film crew in your shop would be a good distraction:

[Anfield]

50+ posts and not one mention of the UK's biggest "Benefit Scroungers", step forward Mr. & Mrs Windsor, and their ever expanding dynasty of parasites
We should also mention the "Cheats" in the House of Lords, who attend for 30 minutes a day in order to claimed their £250 daily allowance.
And of course you may have forgotten the scores of "(dis)honourable MP's who made "mistakes" when submitting their expenses claim forms.

[squidge]

Honestly - I despair sometimes!!!!

Those of you who want to give cards to people who get benefits .....

1. Do you think those on benefits are second class citizens - not equal to you or I or deserving of the same respect or rights?

2. Do you think therefore that those people on JSA, ESA, Carers Allowance, DLA, Tax Credits, Income support and any other benefit do not deserve a packet of cigarettes or a bottle of wine? Do you think they should be denied mobile phone top ups, a sky dish either with or without a subscription, or a computer or internet access? Even if they manage their benefits to budget for all or any of those things?

3. Do you think being on benefits automatically makes a person incapable or unable to manage their benefit money and if so is that the fault of the people on benefits? OR do you think that people on benefits should be punished by not being allowed to manage their money?

4. Are you suggesting that there are deserving and undeserving poor? That there should be some point at which people should be punished simply for being on benefit regardless of whether they meet the eligibility criteria and the entitlement conditions? If so, who would you like to decide that point?

Lets put some facts into this ridiculous conversation - how much of the welfare budget is spent on unemployment benefit? Its around 3%.

What is the rate of fraud? 0.8% of total benefit expenditure.

How many families on out of work benefits have more than three children? Only 8% of "benefit claimants" ( of any benefit) have more than three children and only 130 families who are reliant on benefits in the whole country have 10 children or more. There is no evidence to suggest that families reliant on benefits have more children than those who are not reliant on benefits.

How many households are there where three generations of the same family have never worked? the answer is miniscule. In fact despite research and determined effort the Joseph Rowntree Foundation couldnt find any.The number of families where two generations havent worked was less than 1 percent - they found no evidence of "a culture of worklessness".

How many families are getting over £100 000 in benefits as George Osborne suggested? The answer is less than five families in the whole country are getting that amount in housing benefit.

The much trumpeted benefit cap reduced benefits of just 58 000 families.

The biggest bit of any benefit is likely to be housing benefit and that is outwith the control of the people receiving it. Landlords set rents - people have to live somewhere - so lets punish those in reciepts of benefits for the level of rent their landlord chooses.

I wouldnt suggest that the government engineered this ridiculously skewed programme but it plays right into the hands of their policies of punishing the poorest and least empowered people in societly for the mistakes of often the richest and most influential. Ian Duncan Smith must get a real kick out of seeing Channel four pander to the hysterical and completely misled bunch of numpties that watch these programmes and think they are true examples of real life told as it is.

All the figures I have quoted are verifiable and you can google them if you are even remotely interested in being INFORMED about welfare and the benefits system in the UK today. On the other hand - where's the remote...... turn up the nonsense who cares about the facts......

You choose!!!!

[rich62_uk]

I would be more interested in seeing a programme letting us know who and how the Gov employees are conning this Country out of money ! Bet that programme wont see the light of day .....