Feel this country has become rotten - benefits

Nothing else was mentioned.

Do you actually know that this person is morbidly obese due to overeating?

What job do you do where you're financing people whose lives you disapprove of?

@Secretmeetingswell said

socio economic factors do impact health though

System is broken. I had a look on another forum. Shocked to read that someone was quoted as 'lucky' and 'happy' because they qualified for PIP. They were morbidly obese and needed a mobility scooter. that is not a genuine disability it is self inflicted. Less money and they would eat less food.

Another was awarded a £20K PIP back payment and the person wanted to also claim interest. Unbelievable.

Society is levelling down. A disgrace.

House prices are crazy and the social contract has gone for the youth. You are not wrong in that respect.

Agree also wage stagnation

@ilovesootyi don't worry about been miss informed I can see it with my owns eyes,begging people for money when we probably have less money than they do,anyone who turns to drugs and alcohol it is all self inflicted by themselves or someone they got close to encouraging them to do it,bad experiences in life I get that but turning to drugs and alcohol isn't they way forward is it then expect other people to pay for there addictions while people thay are trying to earn a proper living can't coz we miss out coz of these scum bags

I think you're so ill informed it's not worth my while engaging in debate with you.

I think you’re doing a Trump on this - taking a hugely complex issue and making it seem very simple.

Housing being too expensive is a problem, but for those who have already joined the system of home ownership - either occupiers or landlords - can’t afford for house prices/rents to drop dramatically overnight. You could say so what - it needs to happen. But these people vote and it would take a very brave political party to attempt to get elected while alienating homeowners. So it needs to be a long term solution - saying slash rents is too simplistic and can’t happen overnight.

Benefits wise are there people who abuse the system? Who could work and choose not to? Yes. But stopping that is hugely complex. Lots of people who haven’t worked (in some cases their entire lives) wouldn’t be ready to start full time work overnight. Also once you have given benefits out taking them back or reducing them is cruel - people become reliant on that money. And again the politics of that is extremely problematic. It seems nice to give money to people who are struggling and that’s what voters like to hear. And successive governments have created a poverty trap - if you start working your benefits get cut so you’re not really any better off - so why bother. Also can’t take the money away and force people to work because again, that can’t happen overnight it needs long term thinking.

Unfortunately the nature of all governments is they’re only thinking at most 5 years ahead to the next election. So long term strategy is never achievable.

@ilovesootyyh your right i don't,all I know is it's self inflicted where as a disability is not self inflicted,am I wrong? I'm guessing you know alot about it to get so defensive about,why should anyone with an addiction to drugs or alcohol be given extra money? so they have extra drugs and alcohol that's all they see it as

This is so true. Let’s be clear, benefits for low waged working people aren’t really a subsidy for them, they are a subsidy for employers enabling them to pay low wages. We need the work done by people on minimum wage, and not everyone will be able to do other jobs, nor would we want them to or the things they do won’t get done. So squeezing this group still harder is incredibly disrespectful and cruel. We shouldn’t need to subsidise people in a full time job, but we do, and then forget it’s not their fault the system works in this way.

Single people on minimum wage cant really expect to have their own single accommodation really though. Shared housing is usually the way with this and then if you imprive your earnings or live with a parter it becomes affordable. Two people on min wage is 3000 then which obviously goes further.

I'll begin by saying you know absolutely nothing about addiction.

@ilovesootyat the beginning is always a good starting point

Good grief. I don't think I even know where to start...

The ferry contract was awarded to a Polish firm because Ferguson completely ballsed up the last contract they were given. Ferries over budget, late delivery, not fit for purpose. The most recent ferry they just built is now back in for repairs because they found a cracked hull (it has only just been delivered). It's cost Scottish taxpayers (& UK) extra millions.

And the SNP are the governing party in Scotland, not Labour. It was the SNP that agreed on the contract.

The Polish firm have built ferries in use by CalMac before.

Well billions do. And good chance people in the UK will be in 50 odd years if they don't turn things around. Just like they did over 100 years ago.

Wages have stagnated in this country for middle earners. Look at how salaries for entry level nurses, teachers, social workers, etc compare to the full time minimum wage. There's not that much difference and we certainly wouldn't consider these professions as low skilled.

In the meantime, housing costs are astronomical, bills are going up, food prices are going up.

So the posters who are saying that young people just need to work harder to get a better paid job are being naive to the current challenges that young people face in the working world.

Minimum wage workers not having much money is hardly a shocking concept is it? Surely the clue is in the title.

This is a sound take on the situation.

We also have an aging population. We live in a place where half of the population are over 55. 30 years ago, many older benefit claimants would have been classed as pensioners rather than working age adults.

The rising pension age doesn’t reflect the biological realities of aging and disability, especially whilst NHS services are leaving people waiting for surgeries and other treatments that will make them more able to work again.

No I agree. I was out of work for a while when I was younger due to bed mental health and it was rubbish. I just felt like I was a waste of space. I'd never give up work these days. It gives me a purpose, a social life etc. I would like to see people with depression, anxiety etc helped into work. Although I feel they will just have their benefits cut, without the support they need.

Yes, frustrating, but that’s not a reason to just not work and live off others.

free trade uses resources to produce goods in the cheapest most efficient way. Economists are pretty universal in approval of free trade. we’ve had low inflation for the decades before the cost of living crisis hit largely because of the economic rise of China (which has lifted billions out of poverty).

the ferries contract is an excellent example of how protectionism doesn’t work. The Scottish government gave the previous contract to a bankrupt shipyard because it was local instead of picking the best supplier. The ferries they produced were of a low quality millions over budget and years late. And are now broken.

It was calculated that they could have given each worker in Ferguson shipyard a million pounds and paid to get the previous ships made elsewhere and it would still have been cheaper.

We need ships for our island communities. We can’t afford to subsidize a few jobs to that extent.

France is part of the EU and abides by its rules. That means they have free trade with other member states and that they decide together with the other member states re third country trade agreements.

it's a start isn't it,how about they stop paying there own so much money and that would be a big start,stop sending OUR money to other countries unless it's a natural disaster,our country is failing so much and starmer is making it a whole lot worse,who ever voted for this conman need there head checking,I myself thought at first this guy knows what he's on about but never voted,so glad I never or I'd feel guilty he's in power,I know 4 people so far that have had their pip stopped since he's been in,see borris and sunak want that bad was they,il never get the chance to buy my own house especially now but strange thing is my rent is about 3 times more than paying a mortgage off would be for the home I'm in now,it's not fair,there stopping pip for certain. people to get them working,how about leave the disabled people alone and concentrate on the lazy ass druggys that don't wanna work or just pure lazy people,don't pick on disabled people makes him sound like a school bully picking on the vulnerable,piss eds and smack beds ain't disabled it's a lifestyle they chose so focus on these people so all other people that live a decent life can make something of there life's,but yh this country sucks right now and will only get worse,we need labour out and fast