AIBU to think THESE PEOPLE are the reason.....

[Hegsy]

for so many people to believe that everyone on benefits is 'scum'? I'm enraged! If he didn't get his benefits he would go robbing?!? WTactualF? I was on JSA earlier this year because of redundancy and all I received was a paltry £72 a week and my DH was expected to support me over and above that. How has this man gotten away with not working? and those poor babies, how is it healthy for the mother to have so many pregnancies so close together?

sorry its daily fail

He has such an entitled attitude! Gah!

[NotYoMomma]

just because you are on benefits why can't you keep the house you have in good order and clean?

cut the grass etc?

he has more time than most too.

why are they having more kids?

[Dobbiesmum]

I would never trust an article from the DM since they trashed a family in one of these 'look at the benefit scum demanding a new house stories'.
Turns out that the new house didn't cost nearly as much as they said the mum was recovering from cancer, totally glossed over the fact that as a first time mum at the age of 14 she was essentially an abused child, she had her grandchild living with her and I'm not even sure that they got the number of bedrooms right...
Whatever people may think of benefits or large families when 'news' papers can't even get facts right it doesn't exactly inspire you to believe what they say.

[Opalite]

''But he said he recently began working as a vehicle recovery driver, investing in a £2,000 van. ''

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

Hands up if you don't want your taxes to go towards protecting vulnerable children and ensuring that they don't have to live in damp, overcrowded, dirty conditions?

Anyone?


Didn't think so. Since we all have hearts and brains.

[BlingBang]

Parents like this are probably damaged (so she was brought up in care) and unable to make sensible decisions. Unfortunately it's the kids (and often society) that end up paying the price. I doubt there are loads of families with this many kids though.

[GobbolinoCat]

The mould pictured really bothers me, and I think more attention needs to be paid to anyone living in rented property with mould.

Its not acceptable and it can be gotten rid of if you stop the source of water.

[MinesAPintOfTea]

They emphasise the "posh" electricals without mentioning that Brighthouse don't tend to have the low-end stuff and being able to pay weekly is very useful to those without the means to save or get conventional credit.

They obviously don't have everything, look at the state of the house and the children. Sleeping in a travel cot, mould on the walls and what really got me is the pink PJs. I had that exact pair of pyjamas as a little girl (loved them and refused to give them up when I was clearly too tall for them). That was 20+ years ago. How many of you have children wearing twenty year old pyjamas?

Maybe they should have stopped having children, but having them hasn't improved their financial position much and how many people on here are told they won't regret the extra child their heart wants but they aren't sure they can afford?

[Hegsy]

zombie thanks......you put what I wanted to say more succinctly in one sentence than I did in a ranty paragraph. It's not that couple per se but all articles about benefits are always at the extreme end of the spectrum. I AM NOT having a go at people on benefits, not at all, I understand it can happen but I hate the fact we live in a society where for some it is more beneficial to stay on benefits than work.

I don't agree anyone should live in a house like that and the HA need to get their finger out and sort it.

[Wannabestepfordwife]

I might not agree with the choices the parents have made but those poor kids do not deserve to be overcrowded and living in conditions like those.

Surely it's going to cost the nhs a fair wack to keep treating the children for respiratory problems

[friday16]

Parents like this are probably damaged (so she was brought up in care) and unable to make sensible decisions. Unfortunately it's the kids (and often society) that end up paying the price.

This.

And even if you decide that they enjoy perfect moral agency and are responsible for every bad decision they made and should be punished for them (arguendo, of course: you'd have to be a Daily Mail journalist to think that) it still isn't the children's fault. Demanding that children be punished in order to get at their parents is just vile, even if (as I don't) you think the parents should be objects of punishment, rather than of something between pity and sympathy.

[SisterMonicaJoan]

All this talk of luxury washing machines and TVs is sickening, like they shouldn't be allowed a washing machine and dryer and when was the last time you saw an old style big TV to buy. Truth be told, these items are probably from Bright House or the like and costing them £2 a week for the next 20 years.

Wow, so they "get" £32K in benefits I wouldn't want to live in that house for that - would you? Imagine how much gets spent on food, clothes, toiletries etc. for a family of that size.

But agreed, the mold does look like condensation mold and can be treated with bleach or a mold killer wash solution but I think the problem is too ingrained for a simple treatment now.

[cantspel]

But the house is not the problem. If you look at the photos it looks like part of a 1980's housing association estate. The windows are modern double glazing and not that old from the look of them.

The mold is mainly in wet areas, bathroom and around windows which could be dealt with very easily by using beach to clean the spores and then keeping the windows dry and ventilating the bathroom. And with 11 people in the house they should be using dehumidifiers to remove the extra moisture from the air. Giving them a new bigger house wont solve the problem as they clearly dont know how to look after the one they have got.

[DesperatelySeekingSedatives]

those poor kids none of them look happy or particularly clean and well looked after. Maybe its the surroundings though? Yes the house is mould ridden and it needs a longterm solution to deal with it but in the meantime why the fuck haven't the parents actually thought to clean the worst of it off the walls? It looks like the travel cot in one of the pictures needs chucking out because that appears to have mould on it too. And 1 of those children apparently sleeps in that

I know the DM want people to be frothing at the mouth at the "lazy benefit scroungers, how dare they live on taxpayer money" but I'm frothing more at the lazy sods that wont help themselves make their home more habitable and instead seem intent on making it as disgusting and crammed with children as possible with the mindset that local council will somehow magic up a bigger house for them to probably never clean out of thin air. That isn't how it works, never has been. If there are no suitable houses it really is tough shit, at least that's what I and everyone else I know whos been on the neverending social housing list.

[BlingBang]

The damp and mould is unacceptable and should be sorted out. Rental properties should be up to scratch. And bitching about the grass, does't look that bad for this time of year - just shows the mails complete bias.

[Opalite]

Eleven people in a 3-bed home

[Heartbrokenmum73]

If he wants to have 10 children and a bigger house he should he should get off his arse and support them. This is clearly not a case of a hard working family that have fallen on harder times due to redundancy or illness but a life style choice that someone elses taxes are expected to pay for.

Cantspel - nice attitude you have there.

[AmberLeaf]

Why should he get a bigger house? Genuine question. If he was working and looking after his family financially himself, he wouldn't get a bigger house

He is a council tenant so he would be entitled to request it.

You do know that it isn't only the unemployed who live in council houses don't you?

Lots of social housing[council and housing association] tenants DO work.

[kawliga]

The children are beautiful. Sorry the parents can't keep a clean house but I don't think the children look unhappy at all. You mean because they're not all grinning widely for the Daily Fail photographer? I'm sure they love their parents and are happy. Shame about the filthy house, but there are many children round the world living in squalid conditions. It's not right, everyone should have a clean home, but I wouldn't say the children must be unhappy.

I feel sorry for people who are manipulated by the Daily Fail into allegedly saying all these daft things which will then be published to nicely wind up Daily Fail readers. I bet it went something like this:

Daily Fail: it looks like your garden could do with some sprucing up
Poor Fellow: yes, as soon as I have some spare money I'll reseed the lawn
DF: oh, but that will cost money
PF: yes
DF: maybe if you had an increase in your weekly benefits
PF: yes
DF: because it's not like you could go robbing
PF: no
DF: although I can understand some people might decide to go robbing
PF: yes

News Flash in the Daily Fail: Man demands more state benefits and says if he doesn't get it he will go robbing!

[BlueSkySunnyDay]

I always think there is a bit of "artistic licence" taken in these articles.

But if this situation is real I always think the people in articles must have some kind of mental issues to not understand how publicity like this will affect their children. I cant believe any parent would knowingly expose their children to the kind of reaction this will provoke.

With regard to living with mold (sigh) she should stop making babies and start using some of this

www.amazon.co.uk/ASTONISH-MOULD-MILDEW-REMOVER-750ML/dp/B000TRIY16/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1382622110&sr=1-2&keywords=mould%20remover&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

I live in a nice house in a nice area I have to use it in our unheated bathroom and around the windows....I guess if I didnt my children would be living with mold too

I know its getting into dodgy state controlling your life territory but I really do think there should be a 3 children rule....if people choose to have more than this then they should also be responsible for supporting them.

[Opalite]

Oh god a 3 child rule? What would happen when people have more than 3 children and can't support them? They starve/get taken into care?

[ZombieMonkeyButler]

I suppose what angelos means is that if you own your own property/pay a mortgage and decide to have nine (soon to be 10) children then no-one gifts you the extra income to buy a much bigger house.

[MinesAPintOfTea]

DesperatelySeekingSedatives in our previous (rented) house the bathroom had poor heating and ventilation and despite regular bleaching we had a mould problem around the windows. And that was with only two people using the house (so at most 2 showers a day, often 1 as DH showered at work) and metered power which we could afford to keep on all the time.

With 11 people in the house the ventilation and heating would have to be very good to keep mould at bay.

I do wonder what the DM did to the photos as well. I mean they clearly didn't neaten them up with photoshop.

[Heartbrokenmum73]

3 child rule.

HOUSE! Anyone else playing 'benefits bashing bingo'?

[cantspel]

I cant see how anyone would think those kids look happy and well cared for. If you look at the photo of the boys in their bedroom there is not one toy in sight, none in the longe and just a couple of teddies sitting on a window sill in another. Plus a clapped out push along in the garden.

How do you have 9 children and no toys?

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

This isn't a 'bit of mold' (which we keep getting around our windows and I bleach it until it's dead like a fucking dead thing all.the.damn.time) it's everywhere. And maybe they don't know how to get rid of it? If it was a private let the landlord would be telling them what to do and what not to do and if it was persistent they would be treating it. I imagine keeping a house dry and free of mould and damp is pretty hard when there are 11 of you living there and you perhaps struggle to afford to have the heating on as much as you would like.