AIBU to think that the torries are going to far

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An article in the Telegraph today has said that the torries are going to stop under 25yr olds from claiming housing benefit and proposed that they should be living with their parents, like other 25yr olds in their first job.

Do the torries think that all unemployed young people leave home to move into a bedsit or a room in a shared house because they want independence and think that life is going to be one big party in there own pad. Have they thought about teenagers that have been in care and dumped out of the system at 18, have they considered people that left home at 16 to get away from abusive parents, have they considered people that have no parents and find themselves unemployed and unable to pay rent, have they considered people that are under care in the community, have they considered any of the people this could affect.

Highest youth unemployment in years and now they want to make people homeless!

AIBU in thinking that the tories have lost the plot?

CaptainKirk, you've just reminded me to be cross with everyone who voted Lib Dem.

"I find it quite funny how many people are moaning about the government when many of them must have voted for it!"

Dont for a minute think that the left wing hand wringing on MN is representative of voters in this country. Most people recognize the need for cuts and are just getting on with it, thankful that we arent Greece/Ireland/Spain. Its a small vocal left wing crowd on here spouting the same anti-torrie line, and I suspect no small number of them are paid up activists. The power of the internet, and all that.

"The Tories have started a class war."

Really think you need to loose the rose tinted glasses.

And by the way, England voted the torries in. It was scotland and wales voters that prevented a landslide majority. When the scots do their own thing in a few years time, Labour will never see power in the UK again.

Something to think about :)

I suspect no small number of them are paid up activists.

[buhmm]

My glasses are SO not rose tinted! It should be very clear to anybody who's really paying attention that the cuts and policies of the Tories are hitting the lower 2/3's of society the hardest. Yes, the deficit needs to be cut but their party line of "We're all in this together" is the biggest pile of bull shit I've ever heard. looktoshinford, you really think Labour would never win if Scotland goes independent? Just wait until the disastrous health bill damages the NHS beyond all repair and the Tories "will never see power in the UK again."

Tories are cunts - they don't care who they hurt. If you're poor it's your fault.

That's their brand of politics in a nutshell. Deficit or no deficit.

They don't care how far they go.

'Poverty is about mind over matter. The rich don't mind and the poor don't matter'

The thing is, if Labour do get in again there won't have been time to refill the coffers for them.

What would they do without a pot of money to waste?

Labour will not get in again with Ed Milliband.

I despair, I really do. Labour are not fantastic but they are definitely the only choice for me when the other two choices are no good at all.

At least things were more civilised under Labour. Now it seems to be 'acceptable' to pick on disabled and ill people and call them benefit scroungers.

Back in the 1950s young men and women leaving home would typically go into 'digs' which was a room in someone elses house. They would pay an all inclusive rent far lower than on a flat.

I have a friend who rents out 2 rooms to students and they live very nicely in a well cared for house but obvioulsy a lot cheaper than renting a flat and my friend gets to use the rent to pay her mortgage. It is a good way of using spare rooms in the housing stock.

I dont think young people should be forced to live with parents but do think that a single person should be prepared to live in 'digs' if not with their parents. Many young people do of course live with parents by choice.

Those saying Labour bankrupted the country;

Up till 2008, the Conservative line, spouted again and again was "WE WILL MATCH LABOUR'S SPENDING, POUND FOR POUND" - and in fact pledged to raise spending.

Once the financial crisis hit, there was a choice - don't spend, cut back, and plunge the country into depression, costing millions of jobs, mass unemployment, and risk a FAR FAR worse crisis, or do what the Labour party did - try to ride out the storm, and then once the global crisis was past, rebuild.

That side of it, they got right. Perhaps they should have been more careful on spending before then, but the Tories have no room whatsoever to criticise, as they were endorsing the spending plans, adopting them themselves, and promising to SPEND MORE.

Back in the 1950s BetA young men would spend 2 years housed in barracks.

Labour will not get in again with Ed Milliband

They wouldn't have got in again no matter who was next in charge, so I suspect the big Labour beasties are waiting for the next election and will then come out.

That side of it, they got right.

I really don't think they didn't get that right. What you're suggesting is exactly what other countries have tried to do instead of implementing structural reforms and they've got into an appalling state - look at Spain now with their 24% unemployment.

We would have gone bust if the government had tried to 'ride out the storm'.

Let me add a disclaimer here that I've never voted for the Conservatives. Then again if there was only a choice on the ballott paper between them and Labour, I know where my X would be going and that's a very bad thing. We need another party with fresh ideas instead of the moronic left-wing money wasting cretins who are Labour, then there might be a good chance of getting Cameron out at the next election. It's certainly not going to happen with Miliband.

What is going to happen to my friend? 17 and in a flat supplied by ss.
She is only there because her 'family' would not care for her.
She has just got into a very good college. When she is 18 she will be put in social housing.
Will she have to leave college so she can try and find a job to pay her rent? After managing to stay sane after all she has been through (and believe - she has been though enough to turn anyone of us insane).

What if she cant find a job? Where will she go? A hostel? The fucking workhouse.

I hate this governement and every selfish twat who voted for them.

I work for a Council in the housing department, specifically with those who present as homeless to us. We are all absolutely terrified about what's happening. It is horrific. We honestly think that they might start building some poor house equivalent soon, because the problem has got insanely out of control in the past few months.

Unfortunately, there are substantial misconceptions about who is entitled to Council support if they present as homeless. We turn 99% of people away. For those who are owed an initial duty, shoved in a hovel of a B&B, and pass the rigorous tests under the homelessness legislation, we only put them in the private rented sector anyway! There are no fucking Council houses for them.

Anybody under 35 can only claim a housing benefit entitlement for 'a room in a shared house'. If you could find a 1 bed place for that price, then fine, but you won't. You'd barely be able to find a room in a shared house for the amount they give out. At the moment in my borough (I'm in the south-east) they'll pay £67 a week to anybody under 35 in housing benefit if they're unemployed. £67.

Try telling the hundreds of people we get through the door where to find a fucking room for that price, because it's certainly not from the landlords desperately trying to pay their mortgages and terrified about letting those on benefits into their properties due to horrid misconceptions.

Every single day, I see under 25s who CANNOT go back to their parents. This might be because of abuse, or because their parents are disabled, or because their parents have some sort of addiction, or it might be because their parents live in a tiny 1 bedroom flat with no fucking room for them.

And what of those under 25s who I also regularly see, working 40+ hours a week for a wage that amounts to less than £630 a month? Will we take their already minimal housing benefit (you only get the full amount if you're unemployed or earning pennies a week) away too simply because of their age?

I can only pray this new proposal is bollocks. Because I'm telling you, if it's not, people will fucking die. In fact, the number of people we're getting through the door following suicide attempts and a subsequent hospital discharge is through the sodding roof. Last Friday, 15 out of the 22 people I interviewed had had recent suicide attempts. This is now not unusual.

The saddest thing about my job is that nearly everybody I see are good people, who have been dealt shit cards. They don't willingly put themselves in this position, and they certainly don't want to remain trapped in a life on benefits. Many have been abused, and most suffer from mental health problems. Do most people care about this though? Do they fuck.

What can they do? There is no work. There are no affordable properties. It is monstrous.

What about young people leaving care? How are they supposed to manage without housing benefit? They haven't got anywhere to go back to. The housing benefit was low enough for under 25s anyway, not enough to rent a budgie's cage on the council tip.
Who's next, I wonder.

*I really don't think they didn't get that right. What you're suggesting is exactly what other countries have tried to do instead of implementing structural reforms and they've got into an appalling state - look at Spain now with their 24% unemployment.

We would have gone bust if the government had tried to 'ride out the storm'.*

You haven't read my post. The riding out the storm was 2008-2010. When the election happened, the economy was growing at a reasonable rate and unemployment was falling, so shallower and more targeted cuts would have enabled this recovery to continue.

The Tories' slashing has wrecked the recovery, cut off all growth, and increased unemployment massively, making it harder to eliminate the deficit.

Read what I wrote - in the good times, the Tories APPROVED the Labour spending plans, which they now criticise. Even though they promised to do the same themselves.

I really don't think they didn't get that right. What you're suggesting is exactly what other countries have tried to do instead of implementing structural reforms and they've got into an appalling state - look at Spain now with their 24% unemployment. We would have gone bust if the government had tried to 'ride out the storm'.

You haven't read my post. The riding out the storm was 2008-2010. When the election happened, the economy was growing at a reasonable rate and unemployment was falling, so shallower and more targeted cuts would have enabled this recovery to continue.

The Tories' slashing has wrecked the recovery, cut off all growth, and increased unemployment massively, making it harder to eliminate the deficit.

Read what I wrote - in the good times, the Tories APPROVED the Labour spending plans, which they now criticise. Even though they promised to do the same themselves.

Is this a Tory policy or a government policy? Because I thought we had a coalition government....

'They wouldn't have got in again no matter who was next in charge'

I think this is debatable. The fact Gordon Brown was so unpopular, the Sun was backing the tories and everyone was sick of Labour should have given them a clear run to victory. But the fact they did not manage to get a majority even in those circumstances speak volumes. People old enough to remember have not forgotten the damage Thatcher did.

cushionyet, your post is really chilling. Made my blood run cold. They are such selfish heartless bastards. I feel for you having to deal with such heartbreakingly sad stories every day. My only hope is that the Tories will screw the country so badly this time that they will never ever get a whiff of government again. How many casualties along the way though? It's dark days indeed

cushionyet :( chilling indeed

cushion that's what I assumed was happening. Especially the bit about people being dealt a shit card, being abused or having mental health problems.

I don't think the Tories can comprehend what it's like to be vulnerable and not having the energy (health), support, resources, money to battle your way up again.

I was a young parent during the Thatcher government. It really was awful if you were poor then but I do think things are going to get worse. At least Mrs T was bright enough to keep the better off working class and people like the police on side. This lot are pissing everyone off and they don't seem to see that.