To see benefits as a safety net, not handouts?

As I said, I’ve no idea.
But she did get a fence installed for free.

Want to reduce welfare and reduce people misusing government money? Introduce mandatory monthly drugs tests verified with DNA matching to prevent fraud. Do this for all claimants of government money including pensions, unemployment, disability,child support,MP expenses and all jobs paid by the state like the NHS and councils etc. Any illegal drugs found immediately stops entitlement and comes with a ten year ban from claiming any support or working for the government.

These drugs test can be done via post or in person to tailor it to those who have disabilities. This is not cruel or intrusive it's morally correct as if you are taking any government money you should be willing to be scrutinized.

Then sit back and watch the claims halve overnight and also watch 100s of MPs and government workers lose access to the gravy train.

It's not a perfect solution but it would be effective as too many government employees, MPs and benefits claimants take drugs and that's a fact whether you like it or not.

They dont normally unless there is a need for it and you would need proof such as an OT assessment
I would think a councillor would have even less infuence than an MP

Want to reduce welfare and reduce people misusing government money? Introduce mandatory monthly drugs tests verified with DNA matching to prevent fraud. Do this for all claimants of government money including pensions, unemployment, disability,child support,MP expenses and all jobs paid by the state like the NHS and councils etc. Any illegal drugs found immediately stops entitlement and comes with a ten year ban from claiming any support or working for the government.

These drugs test can be done via post or in person to tailor it to those who have disabilities. This is not cruel or intrusive it's morally correct as if you are taking any government money you should be willing to be scrutinized.

Then sit back and watch the claims halve overnight and also watch 100s of MPs and government workers lose access to the gravy train.

It's not a perfect solution but it would be effective as too many government employees, MPs and benefits claimants take drugs and that's a fact whether you like it or not.

True.

But it still happens and happened with more frequency a few years ago so they're still people benefitting from the system now.

I mentioned a family I know where the Mother was born in 1971 and had four sons.

3 of her sons are in social housing by having a partner who had kids with them and was claiming as a single parent and they just live there. To be fair, some of those women work part-time but the men don't . Unless you count drug dealing as work. They don't officially live there but do.

One of her sons got a 2 bed council flat due to his' mental health' needs and social care supporting him to have a 2 bed so he could have his daughter overnight as her Mother was an addict who just fucked off and left the child to a Grandmother. He was an addict with a personality disorder too but let's not judge..

He tried to set fire to the entire block of flats while high on crack cocaine and is now in prison.

I'm sure when he comes out we'll fund another flat for him. And PIP and every other benefit that his family have relied on for years.

Yes, same here. I became disabled almost overnight at the age of 46. Single parent with two DC aged 14 and 10 at the time. A very frightening experience.

You may have made subsequent posts, but I did quote your actual post, so I did read your 'actual reply'.

I have absolutely no idea tbh as it would never occur to me to expect the council to install a fence for me.
Actually, it was a councillor, not an MP.
My mistake.

Seems a strange way to go about things
Im really not sure how an MP can help get fencing
An OT asaessment would seem far more appropriate ...

It was a very flawed study.

And excluded any 'work' at all.

So if a Mother worked for a fortnight in a cafe aged 16 and was sacked before she went on to have multiple children starting as a teenager, that couldn't be counted.

She'd 'worked'.

Take £500 from a hard working contributing, self sufficient person. Give £100 to 5 lazy people.

You lost one voter and gained five.

Thats how benefits work.

You’r have to incredibly naive to think that most people on benefits really need them and aren’t taking advantage of people whose generosity has supposed to help the people in real needs

Doo you wish your children where disabled?

I don’t know but she absolutely did. Every year. It was paid for but not by her.
She told me and she also showed me the emails.

I do NOT grudge people being giving benefits but that, and the smugness, annoyed me.

Im not sure how much you think people get in benefits ?
But i certsinly cant afford a two week all inclusive holiday and my child gets the highest rates of DLA
The last holiday we had was a week in a caravan two years ago
Im also wandering why she wrote to her MP for Fencing 🤔
I got ours through the occupational therapist.

@inmyhair thats actually not the basic principle of the introduction of welfare state and should not be what benefits are for

they should be below minimum wage and short term. So working should always pay more. None of this choosing 16 hours and expecting state to top you up. None of the keep having children you can’t afford and expect more child benefits, housing eyc

total overhaul needed and back to basic principle of if you want something go work for it

It pisses me off when people who are on benefits and don’t work at all, talk about “getting paid.”
You’re NOT getting paid because you didn’t do any work to earn it.
I don’t say anything to them but I think it!

I pay an absolute fuckton in tax and I work extremely hard. To the detriment of my health, at times.
I’ve worked three jobs before because we needed the money.

I knew someone who got a two week all-inclusive 4star hotel holiday abroad every year and would smugly tell me that she was always organised a week in advance, when I said I’d probably be up all night to get ready for our week in s/c.

She genuinely couldn’t understand why I wasn’t also similarly organised!

I knew her very well and she’d show me emails she’d sent to local MP’s, so that she could get free fencing installed.
Because her DD had high functioning autism and could “bolt at any moment.”

(my fence cost me 2k)

Funny how she never supervised any of her DC out in the street, particularly when this girl had a go-kart that she’d race around on the ROAD with.

Happy for the benefits system to support those who need it. Just not chancers/lazy fuckers.

This isnt a dig at you solely but I do think some people are totally misinformed how UC works and council housing works. This is not the 90s anymore. UC do have rules about looking for work and there is no way you can get away with not working for decades like you could in the 90s.

I live in a council house. I do not have money to buy a house and on my street where I live private rents cost £1500 per month. You are very delusional people simply cannot afford that!

Yes, they are,

It pisses me off when people who are on benefits and don’t work at all, talk about “getting paid.”
You’re NOT getting paid because you didn’t do any work to earn it.
I don’t say anything to them but I think it!

I pay an absolute fuckton in tax and I work extremely hard. To the detriment of my health, at times.
I’ve worked three jobs before because we needed the money.

I knew someone who got a two week all-inclusive 4star hotel holiday abroad every year and would smugly tell me that she was always organised a week in advance, when I said I’d probably be up all night to get ready for our week in s/c.

She genuinely couldn’t understand why I wasn’t also similarly organised!

I knew her very well and she’d show me emails she’d sent to local MP’s, so that she could get free fencing installed.
Because her DD had high functioning autism and could “bolt at any moment.”

(my fence cost me 2k)

Funny how she never supervised any of her DC out in the street, particularly when this girl had a go-kart that she’d race around on the ROAD with.

Happy for the benefits system to support those who need it. Just not chancers/lazy fuckers.

It has changed significantly.

But social housing doesn't mean council housing, there are lots of housing associations providing housing still paid by the taxpayer to allegedly single Mums (and in some cases Dads) and it depends where you live. And if you can claim a disability which bumps you up the list. And includes non-physical disabilities.