Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Gordon Brown is right about UC

159 replies

Orangeblossom1976 · 10/10/2018 15:24

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/universal-credit-gordon-brown-poll-tax-riots-benefits-dwp-roll-out-nationwide-a8576751.html

Remember what happened when they tried the tax credits cuts? I think thus might be worse. And with Brexit too...but oh I forgot it is the end of Austerity. Right.

OP posts:
HelenaDove · 10/10/2018 16:45

trojan thats crap there has always been a supplementary benefit for working families as far back as the 1970s.

Randomusername01 · 10/10/2018 16:47

Didn't half of labour vote these changes in whilst the other half abstained from voting, allowing it to pass? Seems mighty fucking hypocritical to start complaining about it now.

Elementtree · 10/10/2018 16:49

'I'm getting free money but it's not enough'?

How about 'Structural inequality is the basis of the capitalist system and mitigating the extreme effects of that, in the form of benefits, is necessary to keep the poor compliant' ?

It's not as short and catchy as yours though.

Neshoma · 10/10/2018 16:52

@Helena. It's sad for the little boy - but they both gave up work? Rather rash to plummet the family into starvation.

SweetSummerchild · 10/10/2018 16:54

I don't remember food bank usage or child poverty being anywhere near as bad when Brown was PM. Actually, I remember that KS1 had free school meals.

Universal free school meals for KS1 was introduced by the coalition government.

It was a Lib Dem policy.

HelenaDove · 10/10/2018 16:58

Gordon Brown is comparing any possible civil unrest to the poll tax riots of 1990.

But there is a risk (God forbid) that IF it did happen it could be more likely to resemble the 2011 riots

Believeitornot · 10/10/2018 17:01

I used to work in a local authority which piloted UC. I used to sit next to the customer services team who took calls from
people trying to desperately understand wtf was going on and also dealing with cuts to their payments. Also the balance between working on a low wage which doesn’t cover childcare and losing out on UC.

It’s an awful way to live. People should actually stop reading their usual sources and seriously educate themselves about what is actually happening. It’s easy to believe the bullshit of the daily mail, the sun etc etc - yet instead find out more.

People wouldn’t be making noises about this if it wasn’t a serious problem. Even Tory MPs are worried.

LakieLady · 10/10/2018 17:02

Supplementary benefit that takes me back.

For working families it was replaced by Family Income Supplement, around the time that familly allowance became child benefit. The two benefits were known as FIS & CHIBS at the then DSS (also known as the Dept of Stealth and Total Obscurity).

UC is an absolute shambles. They forgot to tell DSS's ex to take in her tenancy agreement, and she didn't get any housing costs for the first 4 months. Luckily, she was able to borrow from family, so didn't lose her home. They post messages in claimants' journals that are in pisspoor English and full of jargon, so that they're incomprehensible, and then wonder why the claimant hasn't complied with the request.

I've had clients post me screenshots and ask me what it means, and I can't usually work it out either.

longwayoff · 10/10/2018 17:03

Cant believe the level of ignorance on here. And you're allowed to vote.Confused

longwayoff · 10/10/2018 17:05

This is going to be a massive fuck up. Smug people, enjoy yourselves. You'll find out.

BlueBug45 · 10/10/2018 17:09

@longwayoff if you don't educate people properly and feed them newspapers like the DM then you can convince them to vote to make themselves worse off.

longwayoff · 10/10/2018 17:17

Yes bluebug. I've noticed. Its terminally depressing. Was having similar conversation with grandson about levels of education in USA yesterday. I feel extremely fed up.

HelenaDove · 10/10/2018 17:22

longwayoff the amount of people who are incapable of critical thinking is astounding.

Original poster
Orangeblossom1976 · 10/10/2018 17:39

I've been looking into it and it seems that whereas with tax credits there is more of a boost in terms of as you earn more, you get more income, but with UC it actually seems to penalise people earning more as the cut offs are so steep. Which would be rubbish for families on low incomes. They used to have higher 'work allowances' planned, so you could earn more before it started getting taken away, but that has all been cut. Seeing as people being transferred are mainly people on ESA / PIP so with disabilities or low income and lone parent families, doubt they will be able to protest much.

OP posts:
Original poster
Orangeblossom1976 · 10/10/2018 17:40

But I suppose they aim to combat that by giving people sanctions if they don't accept work. Not sure.

OP posts:
Gilead · 10/10/2018 18:05

'I'm getting free money but it's not enough'?
How about 'I'm going to lose my severe disability allowance and am not sure how I'll pay the heating bill this winter?'
UC will have a huge impact on disability benefits.

belfastbosoms · 10/10/2018 18:14

How the fuck are labour still being blamed for the global financial crisis?! And whoever said Labour we're responsible for tax credits, that's also utter tosh. In 1992 my mum became a single parent, and as I was 17, she got a very generous family credit payment (she was working full time but in a job that paid a pittance).
Educate yourselves, please, people.

longwayoff · 10/10/2018 18:17

Agree with you about 2011 helena and more widespread. I recall 2011 kicked off originally due to a police stop and shooting. It was pretty local at beginning. This will affect far larger numbers of people directly together with bloody brexit and the expected financial fallout, could be perfect storm. Can't bear to think about it. It wont affect me directly. God help those it does.

SilverDragonfly1 · 10/10/2018 18:23

I am massively anti UC, but I'm not sure how they could stop it now- what would happen with the people already on it? Presumably lots of staff who dealt with other benefits have been redeployed or made redundant, so it wouldn't be simple to move the claimants back to whatever they were on before and start processing new claims for those who have only been on UC.

Ditto HMRC where there have been staff cuts and lack of training reaching back years.

Genuine question, it may well be that it would be pretty easy, I don't know.

SillySallySingsSongs · 10/10/2018 18:27

Actually, I remember that KS1 had free school meals.

Not under Brown though you didn't. I believe it was the coalition.

movingallthetime · 10/10/2018 18:33

But what sort of riots would happen? As people have said, Universla credit is being rolled out gradually so when would be the point that people would riot?

It's inhumane and awful but I don't think any riots will happen. I do think various kinds of crime and the black market will rise significantly, though.

More scams, more fraud, more people trying to swipe your purse, more people trying to sell a few pills or weed everywhere, more women dabbling in sex work, more people not able to pay rent and sitting tight for months as landlords go nuts trying to get them kicked out, and also more basic shoplifting of food by the very desperate who need to feed hungry children.

Fantastic for everyone in the community Hmm

YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan · 10/10/2018 18:37

Free school meals for all primary school children was a Labour idea and they had trialled it in a couple of locations before they lost the election.

The coalition brought it in for the whole country but only for KS1, not all primary school children.

Bluelonerose · 10/10/2018 18:38

I think the biggest problem with it is your never sure what your going to get paid or when.
It's supposed to be a similar set up to work.
Funny coz if work fuck my pay up it doesn't take months to sort out. It's a shit system designed by someone who has never had to count pennies.

NotMyCircusMonkeys · 10/10/2018 18:39

I have no idea why, but I read the title and my brain thought Gordon Ramsay rather than Gordon Brown Grin I was really confused as to why Gordon Ramsay would be commenting on universal credit Confused