To feel the Disenfranchised have been Scapegoated.

I also begrudge giving my money to those in need when their “need” arises from their poor life choices.

Basic uc is £400.14 power month and you lose 55p for every £ you earn until you earn the full allowance.
And before you mention housing benefit that doesn't even cover your rent in most areas if you privately rent so that extra comes out of your standard uc payment, does that really sound like living the high life or raking it in?

I pay a lot of money into my pension, part of that is to take advantage of the legitimate tax benefits yes. I’m also handing over about £70k a year in tax plus a new £10k a year in VAT on my kids school fees. I’m more than paying my fair share.

There was a woman in the question time audience recently who claimed that she gets PIP for anxiety bad enough to prevent her from working but had no problem going on tv and asking questions of politicians and robustly defending herself. I and many others who've struggled with anxiety all our lives see people like her as piss takers, if she can go on tv and debate politicians she can get a job, which btw would help her anxiety.
I know that this is just 1 example but its 1 of many and it's examples like this thats used to disparage everyone on disability benefits.
Yes certain MH conditions and severe asd mean some people cant work but far too many who could work wont even try because it would mean doing a low skilled job or 1 that they deem beneath them. I worked for decades in the hospitality industry and I've seen the entitlement and lack of work ethic grow amongst our younger generations exponentially since the Blair/Brown government's push for university education for all. We no longer teach real life skills or anything of any use anymore other than how to pass tests.
People throw about self diagnosis and shop for a dr who will agree with them instead of listening to the multiple professionals who tell them that they're normal and just going through normal life struggles (yes i know quite a few young people like this) and then theres the parents who decide that their perfectly normal child is asd because they've hit the terrible twos or tiresome 3s, there's posts on here all the time by these parents. Something needs to change in society to fix this and if that means stricter rules around what classes as a disability or how severely someone needs to be impacted to get benefits then so be it. I also believe that we need to split asd diagnoses again to differentiate between my asbergers friends, myself moderate to high functioning asd and my ds whos low functioning (yes I know outdated terminology but its more accurate than a one size fits all label)

I don't mind too much paying more tax if it was spent in a sensible way. But I object to supporting large families and people who would do anything to get out of actually working for a living. Anc swanning around in luxury vehicles. Not on.

I don't know a single Labour voter who didn't expect taxes to rise.

The conservatives robbed as blind btw, and pocketed the money themselves.

Fwiw I didn't vote Labour

Exactly this. I genuinely believe in the need for a safety net. I genuinely want to help those genuinely unable to work.

But the system is being grossly distorted and exploited.

And public sector workers and others who have barely seen their salaries rise for 15 years while all other costs go up are just utterly demotivated.

Yes. And because she gets the benefits it opens all sorts of other discounts /support.

I work long bloody hours in a public sector job (with commuting and parking costs on top)! and she basically breezes along buying things I couldnt imagine affording

It does seem like there are two systems operating in the UK. There are those who are working with a ‘good’ salary but being taxed heavily so living quite a Spartan life, and those on benefits who expect cash handouts for every little thing. The workers are living in today’s Britain, those on benefits living in Britain of the past which was much wealthier.

Indeed. Labour don’t seem to give a shit about the workers. They just want to take money off you to give to those who don’t want to work. I voted for them expecting so much more.

Swallowed Labour propaganda more like. With their lies and fake promises of no extra taxes. Robbers.

This. I earn loads - pay a staggering amount of tax - but housing costs and childcare are massive. I’d like to eat out, get a coffee out, get a takeaway, go to the cinema, get my nails done, get my hair done (by someone other than my husband!) go on holiday to somewhere other than my aunts house but I cannot afford to any of these things. And yet you see threads on here about it being fine to spend PIP money on getting nails done because it helps relive stress etc. The theatre tickets for £150! Who on earth can afford to do that?

Its really basic living on ‘good’ wages for some young professionals these days and its depressing, so go stuff your triple lock pension and 2 child cap. I’ve worked for my money - I’d like to be allowed to enjoy some of it.

I think you are angry at the wrong people.

I dont think i know anyone who would begrudge someone in your position financial assistance in the form of motorbility -
I certainly don't.

But the reality is there are bad actors due to the poorly designed system and i am sure you would agree not every pip claimant is legit.

Additionally, we have now got more net recipients than contributors in the uk and right now 1 in 5 working age people are unemployed or not looking for work.

It's scandalous and not sustainable...
And the people who are working are (rightly) fucked off because they are being asked to do more and give morr against the backdrop of a government who cannot control their finances despite annual taxation increasing from 830/840b to 1 trillion. They are, in their daily lives, watching these "bad actors" do fuck all while they head off to their 50 hr week job (yet the delta in household income is marginal) and it feels unfair and they feel angry.

Personally i am fucked off on behalf of people like you and who are in similar situations as i feel you are essentially victims / collateral damage due to other people in society taking the absolute piss. And the reality is there are people who do this and their number isn't insignificant.

I also predicted it would go this way ( and it will get worse)... the system is open to abuse and widely abused and the people who actually need it will be most heavily impacted as we head into darker economic times.

That’s absolutely scandalous. The lie that benefits are somehow frugal gets exposed over and over again.

No , it really doesn't. I make £57k a year and my friend doing 16 hours on UC has the same income coming in as I do after tax . And she has cheaper (social) housing whereas I private rent

You're right about the other two, but I promise you someone who works 16h isn't living the high life on universal credit, UC tops up your earnings up to minimum wage and that's about it.

My son is in receipt of DLA, he has an EHCP. DH and I are teachers and we live in a deprived area - we do see see people abusing the system and it 1. angers us as we work full time and can’t devote the time to DS that he needs and 2. We are worried because he will need a welfare state in the future that I don’t think will be there.

Yeah, deliberately saving for your retirement. With your own money at that. What a liberty.

Then it's not you people are fed up about

It's Bill who gets motability but could buy a Beemer out right.

And Jenny who works 16 hours a week and refuses to take a promotion or do more hours because she's living the high life on universal credit.

And Mary who gets Winter Fuel Allowance even though shes got millions in the bank

Absolutely. People have very valid feelings of being exploited while certain people are parasites on society, but those parasites are billionares, not disabled people like me who get a measly 1200 to live on a month...

15 years of below inflation pay rises.
15 years of deteriorating public services.
15 years of being squeezed in every direction

Yeah. I don't think anyone can be surprised that working people who sit outside the benefits system are absolutely demoralised and done in

We can't afford multiple children
We are disabled enough to struggle and have lots of extra costs but not "disabled enough" so we have to pay benefits to someone who can buy a BMW.

Yeah. People are done in and fed up

I think we hoped Labour would sort it but they've kicked a bit harder and dished out more handouts.

There's a difference between putting money into pensions at the normal rate and deliberately ploughing thousands into a pension purely to avoid paying higher rate tax. (Although it looks like that loophole is being closed thankfully!).

You teach kids that anxiety is normal, everyone feels it at some point and it’s not something that means you can opt out of work or society because of it.