to think cutting benefits will increase crime

Addiction is very often driven by poverty, of course. Powerlessness and low self worth make people vulnerable to drug taking. I never said otherwise - do you have comprehension problems, or did you intentionally misconstrue my point?

The fact remains that a decline in shoplifting rates during the pandemic was likely due to multiple causes (not least the fact that many shops were closed and the ones that were open intentionally limited footfall). Not because mums had an extra tenner.

It will increase mental health, increase poverty, and probably crime too yes.
a lot of people signed off sick are people who physically just can’t work anymore and the change in benefits won’t change that, they’ll just be off sick and without benefits and living in poverty… getting sick or depressed and ending up in hospital or dead!
I absolutely hate our current priminister who sits in his mansion with his millions of pounds judging the working the class and considering us all lazy

So you don’t agree with my statement that there would be no difference with the Labour Party in charge?
Odd because that’s exactly what you wrote earlier. Interesting

Because if those jobs need doing, pay people a proper wage to do them!

You need internet access to claim benefits and log into UC.

Because its a requirement many providers have a social tariff so it's free or substantially reduced cost.

Only when there is one.

Are you actually being serious? You were telling people earlier to “get off their high horse” and then you come out with accusatory rubbish like that?

Never mind telling other people what to do, wind your own neck in you charmless individual.

And you have countless posts on here saying people can't manage on £100k and that the 'squeezed middle' are really suffering. Many nod along in agreement.

Yet those same people expect people to manage on minimum wage/zero hour type contracts. The disconnect is very real.

Then in some ways you are very lucky as being able to drive is one of the most commonly used reasons for the DWP turning down a PIP application.

A rhetorical question to make statement. That’s the point

Read more like an assumption to me.

And what exactly do you think addiction is driven by, a sense of adventure??

Because, like last time, it would be used to take advantage.
If there are jobs like this that need doing, then make it a proper paid position, with benefits of work and entitlements to sick pay/pension etc. Don’t try to use it as some way to appease people who “need to see them doing something for their benefits” It doesn’t factor in family or childcare, how they would get there etc, etc, which is where it always falls down.

Also, I would not want someone forced to befriend my mum in order to get their benefits. Ditto when “so many care jobs” is thrown into the mix, I don’t think that’s a line of work to force claimants into either

It was rhetorical questioning

Why don’t they just get them helping in the community? Not full time but equivalent to their benefits and their physical abilities. Cleaning grafity, litter picking, befriending the elderly. Then those who can work are gaining skills and credentials too do they actually have something to put on their cv or talk about in interviews.
I know they tried something similar many years ago but they tried to make it too many hours (way more than minimum wage) and it also saw companies like Asda benefiting from free labour rather than community/charity projects.

You’re barking up the wrong tree with that one. Starmer’s Labour are nothing more than the Tory puppet masters’ backup plan.

After forty years of slow-burn Thatcherite failure, expect no valid solutions or excuses from either of those two circus sideshows.

That tories continue to gaslight voters with the same lies and deflections, clearly with considerable prevalent success, only goes to show the patent stupidity of much of the electorate.

Do you mean employed? Yes, they are but some weeks it is very little income so not reliable. Nearly all of the workers are young adults who live at home or have no commitments so they can afford to take this type of zero hours job. I wish that employers would just employ people on proper contracts tbh. Having said that, I am pleased that they managed to find work in the end, we were at the point that they were going to have to apply for Universal credit.
Also my DC does have a disability, so there can’t be many companies that guarantee an interview near me, as they applied for a large amount of jobs and only got 2 interviews.

Anyway, I am not going to convince the people who think it’s easy to get a job that it’s not, I can only give my personal experience. Location may be a large factor as well.

That isn't what you typed. You obviously didn't know that companionate is a word.

Similar to you @caringcarer I also have a ds that I have fought tooth and nail for, my only birth child now 22 has autism. I won't tempt fate by saying here that he's landed a great opportunity, but he has.

Meanwhile, there's me..the supporter, advocate, fighter, mother...now where do I fit into the grand scheme of things? I'm 61 and sacrificed everything to ensure as best I can that my son can live without me.

I work for whoever will employ me and not many will/do - just like Yosser - gissa job.

?

Compassion for other human beings.

Who cares? History has shown that just because a politician comes out with a soundbite to try and rally the troops, it doesn't necessarily mean that there will actually be anything more done about it.

YANBU, but I seriously doubt if things will come to that.

But that is exactly what the Tories will end up doing. Disabled people will get their benefits cut, because a new policy will decide that they're 'not disabled enough'. Just as they have legislated that Rwanda is a safe country because they say it is, they will legislate that whole swathes of people are suddenly and magically fit for work. It's how they operate, instead of addressing the underlying reasons why people are long term sick, because that would require investment and a social conscience.

Anyone who thinks this government will implement this measure in a way that will genuinely help sick and disabled people into supportive work is smoking something that I would quite like a share of.

I've been having a mental health episode since yesterday after seeing all that in the news.

Being trapped in my body with my mind is a prison sentence.

I've been through hell with DWP for 18 months waiting to be reassessed to be awarded PIP again. I got it 3 months ago and felt like I was just beginning to let go of some anxiety over it all then this.

I just think what's the point in carrying on.

That could be said for anyone though. No one is guaranteed to get a job if they get an interview, but I'm saying that scheme helped my son to get his job.

I don't think anyone on here is saying that disabled people deserve to have their benefits cut.

There are jobs out there for those that want them. Neither of my sons went to University yet both found a job and have never not worked for more than about 10 days at a time in-between jobs. My DD left Uni and got a job within a week of completing her degree even before she knew her results. My DH has always worked. None of us have ever found finding a job a problem. That might be because we took what there was and if we didn't like the job we carried on with it until we found something else more to our liking. There are Carer jobs in every town in the UK. The NHS is constantly looking for admin staff. Warehouses are always advertising as our shops like Aldi and Tesco. Some people just look for reasons they can't work and others look for work and make it work for them.