Labour isn't working - Thread 21

[TheNuthatch]

A chat thread for those who don't like this Labour government. 💙

We are bracing for the budget 😬

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.

Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5445644-labour-isnt-working-thread-20?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Can't beat a real tree plus we then cut it up to use as kindling the following year!

I've just bought DH a book about foraging. The fact Christmas is coming has largely escaped me.

Plus it might come in useful.

I keep looking at those Balsam Hill trees and wondering if my increasingly tatty b&q one needs an upgrade. No real tree for me, apparently they are my kryptonite.

Graham actually made herself look unhinged this morning, sat next to Haldane and Hunt. You could feel them rolling their inner eyes.

@MantleStatue I love foraging -
if you look you’ll probably have a local Facebook group and excellent for knowing what grows and where.

I foraged in September and made my sloe gin. It's maturing nicely in the cupboard under the stairs!

Actually, they very politely played a blinder by letting her display her bigotry and ignorance.

It is nice, but not worth the money imo. There are trees in the garden centre that are just as nice and half the price.

Also worth considering is the weight. Ours is kept in the loft, and it took dh and ds much heaving to get it up there. It weighs 20kgs and the bag is huge.

This the first year I haven't made it; it's Plymouth sloe gin for us this Christmas.

Welcome @Woollyguru

@Boohoo76 am I right that you said last night you’ve been out forward for a promotion? Well done.

Exactly 😊

Oh man, these are not the practical considerations you think about when you watch them unfold in ten seconds, complete with lights. Bullet dodged, thanks 😂

We're not the only ones dreading this budget, that's for sure. Although I'm scratching my head about the 8% who think their taxes will be coming down 🤷🏼‍♀️

@MantleStatue i did hear something alluding to that after she held her party.

I know someone who is happily travelling around Thailand and Vietnam with her universal credit and PIP money. She expects to do so for most, or all, of 2026 because doesn’t need to be reassessed until 2027. There is no requirement to attend in person to ‘sign on’ every fortnight, as there was in days gone by.

The state is also paying housing benefit (probably this is included in the UC?) for a one-bed flat which is standing empty because she’s not there.

I can promise I’m not making this up. I wish I was.

Yes! Thank you!

I mentioned it in the context of other family members being jealous of success. I can’t mention it to my dad as it will generate a negative response.

Congrats @Boohoo76!

I'd be amazed if everyone doesn't know a person who is taking more than they should. Mind you, that is pretty bloody flagrant.

Exactly. I’m sick of hearing people saying benefit fraud ‘isnt too bad’ ‘in the scheme of things’.

Anecdotally there’s another person nearby who uses their PIP to get taxis to McDonald’s twice a day. I can’t confirm this, it’s only word of month (but a reliable source - the taxi driver) whereas the backpacker in South-east Asia is someone I personally know.

i used to work in a law firm and did divorce law and also child protection. So I had alot of access to other peoples' financial arrangements via either sorting out settlements or assessing if they were eligible for legal aid. Many of our clients were not working but were getting far more in benefits than I was as a newly qualified solicitor of a few years standing. It really really grated .

Having paid insane nursery bills for years, what boils my bones is that we don’t tie ‘free’ nursery hours to being required to actually be working…

im not saying fraud isn’t an issue, but there are so many legitimate problems with the benefits system even leaving aside dodgy doings.

Yes exactly. If you don't work then you don't need "free" places, you are at home to look after your children. "Free" anything should be linked to work unless you have evidence that you are unable to work for a sustained period of time (not talking about anxiety etc).

Yes there are so many people now claiming for anxiety and Adhd. I know them personally too. It's their right apparently. They paid income tax once in 1984 or some such rubbish.
I genuinely have an Adhd diagnosis. I got it as an adult, having struggled my whole life. I have all 3 combined. I have never claimed pip but I'm now thinking I should try. I've reached that "if you can't beat them join them" point.

some foundations Labour won’t be fixing whilst they clobber private sector pensions:

We need to put a stop to unfair public sector pensions — here’s how

www.thetimes.com/article/77af6f64-e5c9-47dc-81b6-e02b439ebd15?shareToken=1be1afa0949f75b3e11c013daf9571b0

Me too, I have ADHD + associated anxiety etc. I have had severe MH struggles but got through them and never once thought about staying off sick + claiming.

No, it never occurred to me either.