To be really Fucked Off with Edwina Currie

[TheTruffleHunter]

She's on BBC news 24 right now saying she doesn't agree with Food Banks - having just visited one and met the people collecting what will (hopefully) keep them going for the next week or two!

She thinks that won't encourage them to 'save for a rainy day'

I'm so cross I don't know what to do with myself!!

This is the same woman who says "food banks put shops out of business"
someones still buying the food from a shop they just aren't the consumer
DICK

I think there is a lot of truth in what she says, unpalatable though it might be. There are too many people in this country that do not have any kind of long term thinking, spend their money on frivolities when they have it and then moan about not having any savings when things turn bad. It''s learned helplessness IMO, and those on the left encourage it.

DonnaDishwater have you ever been on benefits? I'm lucky not to have, both dp and I work ft but know plenty who have. The system is appalling. You can end up without any cash because of their cock ups.

Hungermonkey please read these:

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/david-cameron-dodges-war-welfare-3208015#.Uxb8XQSDaSA.twitter

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/blind-man-repeatedly-benefits-stopped-3208001

These may just open your eyes to the problems people have.

You don't just get to go to a food bank every week. When you get referred to a food bank you are generally also referred for all kinds of other support - benefits check, debt advice and support, support with housing and health and wellbeing. So along with being given food you might also be given help and support with smoking cessation. Because while you are in the thick of a shit, desolate situation, it's not just as simple as 'oh, I'll give up smoking'.

And you can't just go back to a food bank week after week. In my LA you can access it twice in a row, and three times over a year. You might be able to access a private food bank, but you can only access that three times in a year as well, and you need to be referred. So six times in a year. Once every two months, at most.

It is not an easy option. People who are accessing food banks are not doing it for shits and giggles.

Absolutely, donna.

Many peopel - rich and poor- have no idea how to save, prioritise or make sacrifices. If they did the likes of Brighthouse ( spit) would be out og business.

There does seem to be a mentality that everyone should enjoy the same lifestyle and luxuries in life regardless of how much they do or don't earn.

Oh and Edwina Currie? Anyone who voluntarily lets John Major's penis anywhere near their body, does not have the critical thinking to develop an opinion worth listening to.

dialmchlo I'll refrain from reading the mirror links for a non sensational,non biased account, if it's all the same to you.

Hungermonkey

TBH no it is not all the same to me at all.

Being someone who likes to see both sides of an argument I tend to read all articles that are relevant whether it is the Mirror or the dreaded Daily Mail.

Nope...addiction is horrible, smokers smoke all the while they can but don't if there is no money. Or is that too difficult to understand?

No contradiction there at all....most will go without cigarettes (and probably be cranky) to feed their children. They are still addicted or they wouldn't smoke at all.

Grated that the neglectful won't give a stuff and leave their children hungry but most will not do that.

Love how Tories see life as so black and white. Poor? Must be your own fault then.

Bet Shiny Dave (face of the caring Tory) just LOVES it when Edwina is on TV. She does so much damage to him.

In that case Hungermonkey:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/apr/01/jobcentres-tricking-people-benefit-sanctions
www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/28/man-starved-to-death-after-benefits-cut

Thank you Minesapintoftea you have saved me a job was going to search for other links but you have kindly saved me the job.

Have a pint of

Oh thanks, minesapint - The Guardian. Another non partisan rag .

jake when you start being rude to me I will disengage from debating with you, It is YOU who is contradictory, not I. If they are poor and needing food banks and cannot afford a coat and yet smoke, even some of the time , at £7 a packet then they need to be looking at making some changes.

I find it mind bogggling that you are talking about the NEED for foodbanks whilst simultaneaously condoning spending upwards of £7 a day on something that slowly kills you and your children.

I can't afford to smoke and maintain my current lifestyle. Most people can't.

Brighthouse? On that point you and I agree Hungermonkey.

But please note they sell beds etc as well as the flat screen TVs and gaming devices .

If I get to people before they go to Brighthouse I can usually point them successfully in the direction of the local furniture recycling charity. They sell all the basics at a reduced rate to people.....all secondhand but all in good condition. There is an upfront cost (which Brighthouse don't have) but most families can find the help somewhere for this.

Likewise most families will support each other with food. The people I see in food banks tend to be very isolated. The learning disabled, elderly, families who are too embarrassed to ask for family help etc.

That sounds good jake.

Also Freecycle, ebay, charity shops et etc.

hungerPerhaps not always thick in terms of education but definitely lacking in terms of empathy and compassion, its not called the greedy party for nothing.Twit's post says it all very succinctly.

Okay....I was not necessarily thinking about use of food banks with regard to cigarette addiction. Just pointing out that most families will sacrifice cigarettes to feed their children. Or to buy a coat.

I don't smoke and don't know how anyone affords it, least of all the poorest in society. But then again the poorest in society tend to have many other issues to cope with as well so tend to be the people who DO smoke. The mental health unit I worked in was full of smokers who used cigarettes as a form of relaxation ...many saying it helped them to feel calmer.

But that is off topic except that these same people tend to be higher on the list of good bank users. They usually don't have dependent families though.

Gosh yes, all Tories are horribly thick. That's why so many of them end up in really well paid jobs.

If you seriously believe that being in a well paid job is an automatic indicator of brainpower, you have an awful lot to learn.

Right...housework to be done.

Holy shit she actually said that?

Typical Tory.

I watched the panarama one.. I wanted to crawl into my telly and slap the twat.

what I find scary is the obvious utter contempt the tories have for the poor and struggling.. if they have so much contempt in front of voters.. what on earth are they like behind closed doors? :(

I ( kind of ) agree with her. Over the years there have been times when I've had a very limited budget for food, but I always managed to buy fairly good food quite cheaply, because I budgeted. I'm not sure how food banks work, do you have to prove you're on income support or something? - personally I'd find visiting a food bank really degrading.

and hungermonkey.. I really hope an upturned plug finds you clean on. Your fixating on smoking is making you look slightly daft.. do you believe every bit of propaganda that's been vomited out over the past few years?

My best friend is a Tory.....we have some right wine soaked debates .
He is also the nicest, kindest most supportive person I have ever met. He donates regularly to the food bank and asks them what they need before doing so. Last month they needed things like toiletries to add to boxes. He went off to CostCo and bought a whole load of soap, body sprays and deodorants as well as toothpaste and toothbrushes.

Edwina could learn a thing or too from my friend.