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Thread 1 Burnham: Esperanza en cada Corazón

1000 replies

DuncinToffee · 20/07/2026 12:45

New PM, new thread

Welcome to our long running thread for political discussion, general chit chat, a friendly hug and taxes in kind

Flowers🍦 for anyone who needs them

Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5552800-thread-54-starmer-grev-soppelbottefjes-sommergalskap?page=38&reply=153652516

OP posts:
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58
5128gap · 21/07/2026 18:22

Worth remembering when looking at benefit fraud figures is that they include large scale fraud by criminal gangs, setting up bogus rent agreements and fake employment. Also where landlords coerce multiple people into signing fake tenancy agreements, and employers provide counterfeit pay slips.
I think Dave with his bad back who does a bit of window cleaning on the side is an even tinier part of the problem than the charts suggest.

BIossomtoes · 21/07/2026 18:23

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 18:21

In what way ? To require less information ? Bigger print ? "Simplify" is a very versatile word.

Oh Jane, what is this? The Spanish Inquisition? Engage with a focus group of prospective claimants and use the findings would be my approach.

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 18:24

5128gap · 21/07/2026 18:22

Worth remembering when looking at benefit fraud figures is that they include large scale fraud by criminal gangs, setting up bogus rent agreements and fake employment. Also where landlords coerce multiple people into signing fake tenancy agreements, and employers provide counterfeit pay slips.
I think Dave with his bad back who does a bit of window cleaning on the side is an even tinier part of the problem than the charts suggest.

E2A: wrong post

PickAChew · 21/07/2026 18:26

placemats · 21/07/2026 18:12

Thomasina ten names?

😂

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 18:32

BIossomtoes · 21/07/2026 18:23

Oh Jane, what is this? The Spanish Inquisition? Engage with a focus group of prospective claimants and use the findings would be my approach.

Fair enough. But that's really just a preprocess to the actual benefits system.

The biggest problem with benefits - certainly the pre-pension flavour - is the refusal of the system to live in 2026. Or indeed 1986. Buried at the heart of the process is an assumption that everyone gets a job after school/university and then works for one employer until death or pension. Ideally with a marriage and children on the way. If that is you, or your family, congratulations !. You have secured a front row in life in the UK.

Since Neil Kinnock has popped up today, let's remind ourselves.

– I warn you not to be ordinary
– I warn you not to be young
– I warn you not to fall ill
– I warn you not to get old.

(Don't get me started on education).

5128gap · 21/07/2026 18:40

BIossomtoes · 21/07/2026 18:23

Oh Jane, what is this? The Spanish Inquisition? Engage with a focus group of prospective claimants and use the findings would be my approach.

There also needs to be a shift in culture so 'relevent officials' support rather than gatekeep. If we start from the premis that we want people to claim their entitlements because its a good thing that people are not thrown into deeper poverty, debt, home loss, worsening health, that is actually cheaper if people are not poor, then publuc facing officers should flag up potential entitlements. Because a lot of failure to claim is lack of awareness of entitlement.
The council I work closely with runs benefit take up campaigns targeted to new tenants. Because they know income maximisation is more cost effective than evicting them for rent arrears.

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 18:43

I wonder what happens to those unclaimed benefits ?

Eventually.

placemats · 21/07/2026 18:47

5128gap · 21/07/2026 18:40

There also needs to be a shift in culture so 'relevent officials' support rather than gatekeep. If we start from the premis that we want people to claim their entitlements because its a good thing that people are not thrown into deeper poverty, debt, home loss, worsening health, that is actually cheaper if people are not poor, then publuc facing officers should flag up potential entitlements. Because a lot of failure to claim is lack of awareness of entitlement.
The council I work closely with runs benefit take up campaigns targeted to new tenants. Because they know income maximisation is more cost effective than evicting them for rent arrears.

Another problem is that some people are afraid of officialdom and so won't engage. Plus the end of working life can lead to despair and eventually mental health deterioration, especially if lack of food and heat is a solution in their mind to the solution.

Target those in the late 50s/early 60s. Prevention is better than the cure.

placemats · 21/07/2026 18:49

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 18:43

I wonder what happens to those unclaimed benefits ?

Eventually.

Didn't Gordon Brown say that there's money in the pot waiting to be claimed?

Also bank accounts.

SerendipityJane · 21/07/2026 18:53

placemats · 21/07/2026 18:49

Didn't Gordon Brown say that there's money in the pot waiting to be claimed?

Also bank accounts.

The fact neither of us knows definitively is it's own answer 😀

BIossomtoes · 21/07/2026 19:03

Thank you. Crace should be a national treasure.

derxa · 21/07/2026 19:19

BIossomtoes · 21/07/2026 19:03

Thank you. Crace should be a national treasure.

He’s terrible live

TemperanceWest · 21/07/2026 19:25

derxa · 21/07/2026 19:19

He’s terrible live

Yes, you have said that before when we were discussing him.

BIossomtoes · 21/07/2026 19:29

derxa · 21/07/2026 19:19

He’s terrible live

Who cares? He’s a journalist and he’s brilliant in print.

derxa · 21/07/2026 19:32

TemperanceWest · 21/07/2026 19:25

Yes, you have said that before when we were discussing him.

Good memory

DuncinToffee · 21/07/2026 19:34

Probably one of your now famous placemarks

OP posts:
Notonthestairs · 21/07/2026 19:40

Ah, it only counts when it’s said on camera. If you are not getting your news from TikTok/Facebook you’re out of time.
Who the heck reads anything?

placemats · 21/07/2026 19:48

Why, when you unwatch a thread, do you always get a quote you made days earlier, approximately 10 minutes after unwatching?

I've never purposely unwatched these threads, but a couple of times it has happened.

Just musing. Carry on.

DuncinToffee · 21/07/2026 19:52

Not that I have noticed.

I have bookmarked by accident and wondered why it kept taking me to the same comment.

OP posts:
placemats · 21/07/2026 19:55

DuncinToffee · 21/07/2026 19:52

Not that I have noticed.

I have bookmarked by accident and wondered why it kept taking me to the same comment.

That's happened to me too.

cardibach · 21/07/2026 20:08

I do t have this thread as watched - it just shows up in ‘I’m on’.

LizzieW1969 · 21/07/2026 20:33

I always have this thread as watched except when I accidentally unwatched it recently and wondered what had happened to it. At a very key time as well!

Badvocthebad · 21/07/2026 22:33

Streeting already making a twat of himself, I see 🙄😡

Llttledrummergirl · 21/07/2026 22:54

I've not been impressed by what I've heard today. Big posts going to people that started the ball rolling against Starmer, unfunded announcements and his cabinet being described as a family.

I'm also concerned about Louise Haighs appointment.

While I really want the government to do well and to see improvement in the country, I can't shake the feeling that Labour have shot themselves in the foot.

I hope I'm wrong.

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