to point out DAVID CAMERON is asking much poorer people than himself to give to CHARITY.its the Big Society back from the dead.

[ScousyFogarty]

The PM will be speaking about this morning. He wants you to round up for charity at supermarkets. And give at cashpoints.

I find it hard to believe. But I trust the PM will have donated at least 2 million from his massive fortune.

Do we really need a top politician telling us to give to charity. I like to choose the charities I give to .How about you?

I give to the homeless, buy a big issue, put my spare change in charity pots and the like whenever I can. I do my best to help others in need when I can, too.

Cameron should stop running his mouth and start running to the charity shop himself to donate.

I think the crucial difference with Cameron's calls to give to charity is that his stated motive is so that we don't need public services. It's not something he has kept secret is it. He thinks that people in need should go to their neighbours for help.

So it's not about giving to those in need, but reducing the need for tax payers (like himself) to contribute.

Yes, inappa, but at a time of rising food prices Calm Down Dave is mentioning rounding up till prices. Now come on. (That idea may have come from an opponent) Daft is the word.

^DC just isn't 'sexy' -
If billionaire Bono asks you for money you don't tell him to fuck off ( although I did ) - you'll find that ten quid for him - all very strange^

Bono would get more of a fuck off from my household!

But i do think DC and a lot of high earners (yeah, yeah, he only gets a pittance as PM ) are unaware of how much of a squeeze is on Madam and Mssrs Public already, it would be fab to be able to give a note away at the cashpoint, but at the end of the month sometimes, it's needed to buy milk.

Giving to charity is good, of course is it, nobody can argue there. But coming from Cameron it just sounds like a voluntary stealth tax. Give to Cancer Research so we can close oncology units! Give to Bliss so we can cut NHS spending on premature babies! Give to Mencap so we can scrap DLA! Give to Age Concern so we can cut state pension! Twat. These organisations pick up enough slack from the government as it is.

He wants people to give more to charity so that he can cut state spending on essential services. This in turn will allow him , come general election time, to cut taxes for the corporations and millionaires that fund the Tory party, and cut taxes paid by the high earners who are likely to vote for him. He has no interest in actually helping society.

[cynical head on]

bloody hel DC is sick.
so he targets the vulnerable, then comes out with this crap, hateful man

Until he has given away his money to the point that he has the same amount left as the average Brit, he should shut the fuck up about giving to charity. Same applies to celebs.

I'm not sure he's saying it's compulsory - last time I looked giving to charity was voluntary - I don't think DC has changed the law.

Poor people have always given to charity.
They know how much it means.
They might not give a lot but they do give.

David Cameron can fuck off.

I thought that it had been shown lots of times that proportionately, poorer people give much much more to charity than richer people.

That has certainly been my experience the few times I have collected for anything.

So I think it would be better if DC leads by example, with some large donations, and asks other MPs to do the same, and for wealthy people to do more and show that they are doing it. That might help.

Will see what the speech says.

I give to charities - which I believe in - as and when I can afford to do so ... just as 100s of 1000s of others do too. I don't however need to be told to do so - and especially not by someone who is a) immensely personally privileged and b) is making all sorts of cuts leaving already hard pressed charities to pick up the slack. It's so patronising - does he honestly think that most people have been oblivious to the idea of giving up until now ? Those who never give - not even 10p in a collector's tin every now and again - almost certainly fall into one of two categories - they are either terribly mean, or, they are terribly poor and literally can't afford to give anything away. DC emotionally blackmailing us each time we make a purchase or go the cashpoint won't alter that but will get people's backs up repeatedly.

We're all funding enforced charitable donations to the third world through the ringfenced Aid budget, much of which goes to the likes of the Afghani ministers who took suitcases full of US dollars to Dubai to hide in banks over there.

But then at least with charity - a) the money goes towards those things which we care about - be it elderly, disabled directly. b) Giving charity - tax benefits for the charity involved ...

Charity isn't about giving money - it is also time and being more community minded. Picking up litter in your street doesn't cost anything

the more he tells me to do things like this the less inclined i am, david cameron is in my opinion a complete prick. sorry but thats just how i see him, everything good he touches starts to stink of his party and just puts me off

Do you honestly think the Tories are making cuts for the sake of it or just to annoy people ? -
Labour would be making cuts too if they were in still power - the cuts were inevitable whoever won the last election. - and it's because Labour spent money like it was going out of fashion that we're in this mess. But let's not let facts get in the way of a good Tory bashing thread..

a bit o/t, but I cannot take bonio seriously after this. Smug twat.

When DC gives enough to charity that he has the same amount of disposable income as me then I will take his advice, until then I will continue in my opinion that he has no idea of real life.

Lolololololollololol Lovecorrie - and so true!

and how can you still call yourself 'the edge' when you're 60 ffs - what a saddo

Primal, he hasn't changed the law to enforce donation to charity, but I'm offended at the very idea that someone like DC thinks it's acceptable to berate others for not giving enough to charity.

He can fuck right off with all that.

I give to charity as and when (and to whichever one) I fancy it.

What I don?t need is to be hassled at supermarket checkouts or when I?m trying to get money from an ATM. It?s far too invasive, and fucking offensive, at a time when so many households (inc ours) are struggling.

Wage freezes, service cutbacks, having to meet existing financial obligations ? the very people DB is saying ?doesn?t donate enough to charity? are the very people feeling the crushing forces of the economy collapsing all around them.

Honestly, if I ever met DC I don?t think I could force myself to exchange pleasantries with the pig ? I just cannot believe one man is so far removed from the life a large percentage of families are experiencing right now.

p.s. I do give to charity. But my disposable income every month is probably as much as David Cameron spends on one pair of socks. Unless that anomoly is lessened, I won't be ashamed to say that I'd rather knaw off my left leg than give a penny under DC's stupid fucking scheme idea.

Is there a MN limit to the amount of "fucking asshole" terms I can label DC on here?

I like the big society idea, and think it would be much better if people became more charitable. All he is doing is trying to get people to give more money to charity and to use charities to act in the public good. The Government has overreached itself and needs to be brought back into line and he is trying to use the third sector to bridge the gap.

This is the current situation:

"In 2008-09, 41 per cent of adults volunteered formally at least once in the 12 months prior to interview, with 26 per cent having volunteered formally at least once a month."

"35 per cent of people in England participated in informal volunteering at least once a month"

Plus most people give to charity, whether regularly or when they feel like it / can afford it.

Taking into account that many people have things in their lives that make it understandable they don't volunteer (work, children, health issues, caring responsibilities and so on), I think that these figures are pretty good.

What more does he want?

Frgaah - tbh, if people are put off giving to charity simply because they don't like the person asking, then I doubt they were very charitable people in the first place - maybe they should admit they secretly think 'fuck off' to all charitable requests. I admit to diving into the bushes at school when ever I see a parent coming towards me with a sponsor form. I don't want the embarrassment of telling her I'll give her 50p for running 200 miles.

I'm not a charitable person.

But ikoto, there's going to be few, if any, people that disagree with the statement:

"it would be much better if people became more charitable"

It's sort of a winner if you're a politician, because no one's going to disagree with you on it.

It's no the idea most people have a problem with.

It's the execution of it. And the target audience it's aimed at. And the person from whose lips it came from.

Don't confuse objections with a disagreement with his idea. It's akin to saying that "less people should be homeless" or "we need more people eating fruit and veg" or "we need to get childhood obesity down".

What is important here isn't the idea, but what he's asking people to do about it.

I think you are out of step with much of the population, primalscream.

I wonder if people who vote conservative are less likely to give to charity. Hmmm. I do suspect that they help out with things that are not actually much use to anyone (church flowers, making sandwiches for village cricket) while steering clear of things that are desperately needed like helping drug addicts, people struggling with mental health problems and so on.