To think the govt are purposefully trying to keep the poor down?

[Alltheseboys]

Seems like with all these cuts the govt are deliberately trying to keep the working class down?

YANBU, the poor don't matter, they are statistically less likely to vote and definitely can't contribute to party funds and are therefore expendable.

Many are being hit so hard that they get to make choices like: Which days will I not eat this week, in winter do I freeze or starve, how do I get my feet warm and dry after being out in my leaky shoes when I can't afford heating, shall I eat or get my prescription filled, how do I look smart at an interview when I've had to walk miles in the pouring rain as I can't afford bus fare.

YANBU seems to me they're out to get everyone except the wealthy, no surprises there then

Hmmm 20 years ago you might have been right Hecubasdaughter but now I refuse to accept anyone goes hungry but for their own mismanagement. We have been on JSA in the past and it's more than enough to live on unless you are paying off debts, in which case stop paying them.

Maybe they are in cahoots with our Irish government. Cuts to special needs,education,health and yet A&E charges going up,household charge introduced and the banks and bondholders pockets lined. There are people literally going without food in order to attend the doctor or pay for school books.

"shall I eat or get my prescription filled"

People on income support and other benefits are exempt from prescription charges.

well ?50 for a doctor and about ?20 for a prescription is a chunk out of my household budget.If we need the doctor then DH and I eat lean that week. Its a choice between that or not paying gas/electric.

Believe what you want Heswall, but what I describe is a reality for many today. It is down to rising costs not mismanagement. The poor generally have poorer housing which is harder to heat and have to pay higher charges on prepay meters.. Besides it is the working poor who are being hardest hit, those who have done what is supposedly the right thing and taken any job which is often only part time who are doing without the most.

Tory Gov keeping 'The Mob' down? Well no shit Sherlock.

People on income support and income based JSA get free scripts those on CBJSA, low wages with only SSP when off sick have to pay.

It is ridiculously short sighted to say that the government are trying to keep the poor down, and it shows an understanding that can't see any further than ones own circumstances.

I don't have a great understanding myself of how the whole economy thing works, and I don't agree with everything that is being done by this government. But it makes sense that a government that has to reduce spending would try to make people more reliant on themselves and less dependant on the state. Of course there are people that can't do that, like the long term sick, carers and disabled, but everyone else has to make a contribution somehow. The country will be on its knees otherwise, and we will all suffer even more.

The poor cannot expect to be immune to cuts, especially as they tend to take the most out of the system. In this country we all get education, we all get healthcare, we all get enough money to survive on if we need it. Everything else is extras that we should appreciate.

Value your NHS. It might not be perfect but at least illness wont send you into a state of panic.

I'm delighted that the 50p tax rate is being scrapped.

Hopefully it will be this government's 'poll tax' issue and they will be forced out sooner rather than later. I am ashamed that I had the wool pulled over my eyes and voted for them. NEVER again.

"The poor cannot expect to be immune to cuts, especially as they tend to take the most out of the system."

Oh yes, rather than think about why the poor take the most out and change things for the better, let's just make them poorer. Because that will help

So what are you going to do about it?

It's not about making them poorer for the sake of it. It's about a country being unable to afford to fund huge numbers of people's entire lives.

What sort of change for the better are you talking about?

I thought the government were trying to improve the economy so more people can eventually get jobs. That's the only sort of change I can see helping.

Can I just point out I don't pay for my scripts but I have witnessed many people asking what they can do without. I've been talking in general terms about decisions people in the UK are having to make.

Taking from the poorest in society has never worked. I have no great solutions but doing the same thing time after time and expecting different results is silly.

'The poor' and the middle are already contributing by paying taxes. Many people have been subject to pay freezes, whilst the cost of living increases. Many people are struggling to afford to get themselves to work due to spiraling fuel costs. Many people are going to be unable to afford to work when the tax credit changes come in (wrt childcare costs) And many people will face a pay cut if this regional pay nonsense goes ahead making the above even more difficult.

I am SICK of reading this argument about how we need to keep 'the rich' here, and thus must pander to them with sweetheart tax deals. How dreadful for the poor darlings to maybe one day face the prospect of paying proportionally the same amount of tax as the rest of us. How miserable and worrying for them to face the prospect one day of paying their employee's salaries that are livable on.

How ridiculous for us to expect the government to help the majority of the population who keep the shops trading, schools open and hospitals working. Forget looking after the police who patrol our streets, the nurses who care for us and the teachers who educate us. Let's pander to the 1% of the population who have got away with tax avoidance, paying crap wages and exploiting the 99%.

I agree with that, but it's not only the poor that are being taken from. We are all feeling the effects of the poor economy we have.

Obviously it's going to affect some people more than others, and while some will struggle with their reduced income/cost of living more than others, I do think everyone is affected somehow.

It's the attitude that the poor should see no difference in their standard of living while the rest of us should just put up with it that bugs me. I'm referring to the majority of us that can afford to live without seriously struggling when I say that btw. The very rich will be affected proportionally less than most, but then they pay a lot into the economy, in more ways than just tax.

" pander to them with sweetheart tax deals"

It probably escaped everyone's notice but from 1997 onwards Gordon Brown taxed middle-income and higher earners more and more. As well as receiving billions in corporation tax from businesses like the financial sector he used stealth taxes to get private individuals to pay more on top. Despite getting all that money, all that contribution, he managed to overspend, achieving nothing except keeping 1.5m people unemployed. Now that the global economy has hit the skids it seems a bit rich to say to the same people.... thanks for all your tax which sadly got wasted... now can we have some more???

The problem is outraged there are people in the UK today who can no longer afford the basics ie adequate nutrition, shelter heat and light. If they are supposed to accept a drop in their standard of living what is supposed to give to achieve this drop?

YABU. While it may be the case that poorer people are being hit by some policy changes under this government, attributing this to deliberate malice on the part of the government is absurd.

Do you seriously think the Cabinet sits around in meetings, trying to identify which services will cause the most misery to poor people if cut and then laughing maniacally as they line them up for the chop?

I think manatee, it's more a case of a suggestion is made then they think oh no that affects our sponsors/donors we can't do that lets do x instead.. Who will that affect? the poor? oh that's OK they don't matter.

Perhaps my problem is that I find it hard to believe that there are people who are going without enough food, shelter, heat and light. I know enough people that live soley on benefits, or who are on NMW, and they manage. They aren't well off obviously, but they can afford to eat and not freeze.

I suspect that if there are people who are in such dire straights that they go to bed as soon as it gets dark feeling cold and hungry, then that's because they have debt, or because they aren't claiming what they could.

outraged there was a thread at the beginning of winter about how to keep heating off/low and be as comfortable as possible. It was a eye opener to how people do struggle to heat their homes and the decisions they have to make (which were not due to irresponsible debt).