To ask you to object to this? Pre-paid benefits cards

[LuisSuarezTeeth]

a step too far

We're talking about human beings.

Thanks Arsenic and those that have already signed.

Can someone link me some facts about when or rather, if, this is going to happen please.

Maryz you say it so well.

Fixer if you look upthread to the links...?

And here's a link for Fixer

Maryz The voice of wisdom yet again. You've been holding my hand since the early days, and still are. I will let go one day, promise!

Cheers Luis Im on my very slow phone and havent RTWT.
I'm sick of being watched/monitored and not being able to truly trust the governement as it is.
Fuccckking hell.

Fixer read the links too if you can.

Signed. I haven't read all the posts but have been heartened to see so many MNs rightly horrified about this latest idea from IDS. It makes me so angry that this govt are doing everything they can to "pull the rug" from under anyone who is unfortunate enough to have to claim benefits.

Many people don't realise (Daily Fail/Sun readers) that the majority of benefit is claimed by people in work, who simply don't earn enough or are unable to get enough hours to be able to make ends meet. And then we hear Osborne telling us with a fucking smirk on his nasty face at the Tory party conference that he is freezing benefits for 2 years..........and this includes child tax credits and housing benefit....him and his ilk are the scrapings of humanity as far as I'm concerned.

As for IDS - how dare he - his ridiculous Universal Credit is a joke. Already 140 million has been wasted on IT systems that aren't fit for purpose.

Sorry I'll have to stop or I'll just rant on ..... and on........they must NOT get in again at the general election next year. I'm no great fan of Milliband but nothing could be as bad as this shower of shite.

Just under five thousand signatures now.

Rant away NanaNina

I have signed. Nina has said exactly how I feel.

Thanks bear

Just came across this www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2014-10-08/trial-stufdy-of-pre-payment-benefit-cards-cancelled-by-north-tyneside-council/

So, does anyone want to re-think their responses based on the tiny bit of extra info in that link??

Nananina said it. I don't see how this can continue.

Oh wait, they want to throw the Human Rights Act out now as well? Voila.

Which particular bit of info, *Nomama"?

The bits about the cards themselves, the bit that points out the earlier mis-reporting, the bits that suggest my earlier posts were not evil, child murdering fuckwittery and that we do indeed all need more information on what the cards really are before we start leaping around like fools.

All of which I tried to say earlier, way upthread, but gave up when I was asked if I thought exposing disabled kids on a mountainside was the way to go!

Those bits, the details, the reality... Not that the last link has enough info, but it is quite different from the earlier links/reports.

Nomama you mean;

Deputy Mayor, Councillor Bruce Pickard, has announced that the authority has no option but to withdraw from the pilot due to "negative and inaccurate messages in the media, which suggested the pilot was part of national policy proposals targeted at individuals with drug and alcohol problems."

The North Tyneside study would have given claimants the option to volunteer to receive their benefits on a card that would enable them to access online payments of household bills and more competitive pricing when shopping.

???

"Online payments of h/hold bills" is available to anyone with a debit card, even on a basic bank account, so that's hardly thrilling.

"More competitive pricing when shopping" could mean anything. 2% off but you have to use our supermarket of choice and you can't carry a balance forward? Booklets of vouchers? What? Could be literally anything at all. No guarantee of any saving. All the points previously made still stand.

And if the trial wasn't "part of national policy proposals" (i.e. those anounced by IDS at conference) then WHAT ON EARTH was the legal basis for it?

I've still no idea what you're talking about.

My objections aren't based on specific reporting of specific schemes, but the well-known problems benefit vouchers have every time they are introduced for any sort of control reasons.

You haven't addressed those objections. Would you like me to list you for them again?

Turning specifically to this scheme, what Councillor Pickard says doesn't quite add up. He claims the cards are to help people who don't have a full bank account. Which must refer to the Basic Bank Account, introduced some years back and offered by a variety of banks & building societies.

Here's HSBS Basic Bank Account:
"Pay bills the simple way
Set up payments by Direct Debit and standing order, making it easier to plan and keep track of your money
Plus this account comes with all the essential features you'd expect:
VISA debit card (contactless feature, subject to status)
Telephone, mobile and Internet Banking
Monthly statements with the option to receive PDF online statements

All the things -and more - that Councillor Pickard claims his benefit cards are needed for.

No, I wouldn't like to revise my views. Voluntary, often in the cases where people have limited choices, becomes compulsary.

list them for you

I have to agree with Arsenic on this. The tiny amount of info on the link is from the councils point of view, not DWP. No doubt the cards WILL be used as a punitive measure and rolled out across the board. Put it this way, how much do you trust IDS? as far as you could spit? No probably not even that far.

How is it misreporting when anyone can listen to IDS actually saying it at the Tory conference?

Here's another story on the pull out. It totally flies in the face of what IDS said. The council concerned appear to be doing some major back-peddling here. Either they were in cahoots with IDS or they wern't. It stinks to me. www.housingexcellence.co.uk/news/north-tyneside-council-drops-prepaid-benefit-cards-blaming-media-%E2%80%9Cmisrepresentations%E2%80%9D