Dispatches- Britain’s Benefit scandal

[Sunnywalker]

Anybody watched this? It’s made me so angry. Some highlights include a company that can’t recruit an apprentice on 26k because sickness benefits would amount to 24k so it wouldn’t be worth it. 500,000, 25-34 years old on long term sick, a woman who has never had a FT job and claims 35k in benefits, this lady would like to work but says will never achieve the same income if she worked.

This country is bankrupt, public services crumbling! What is going on? Why isn’t there an overhaul!

They are being paid -to do sod all !!!!

It is morality. Because he sees it as taxpayer dependency.

We of course told him given he has worked since leaving school this is just a return on his contributions.

But I think society would be far better off with more people with my brother’s morality than those who want to force others to pay for them to sit at home.

And there will be teachers claiming a universal Credit because they don't get paid enough.

Are marginal rates of income tax at 62% not high enough for you?

Should marginal tax rates go from 62% to 70%?

As a general idea applying punitive taxes to the most globally mobile people in the UK who can easily move abroad and then non pay tax here and who will likely cease their investment and spending in the UK seems a bit of foolish idea.

I’d quite like to stop footing the bill for MPs heating etc. are you saying they’re more deserving than those at the bottom who without benefits wouldn’t be able to afford to eat?
Also, you just need to look during Covid at how much taxpayer money we wasted on bogus PPE contracts where the materials weren’t fit for purpose- that was literally billions.
So yeh, I don’t care about those at the bottom of the pile having a few thousand, whether it’s genuine or not.

We have ZERO obligations to people whose parents live in a foreign country, sorry. If they can't live with their parents, it is not the taxpayer's job to fund accommodation for them, apart from a basic hostel in a dorm-style room.

Things like this and companies who believe people should work for the same as they would get on UC (again the absolute minimum a person needs to survive) while raking in millions in profit and evading tax is the issue. What your hairdresser's dog's second cousin gets in PIP is irrelevant in the grand scheme. The benefits bill makes up a tiny portion of our overall expenses.

The UK is NOT poor. I'm sorry you've been led to believe this. The UK is unequal compared to similar countries.

♉ bullseye!!!!

What does any of this have to do with your claim that rich people need to be taxed as if they aren’t?

I've seen posts on fb groups where people will ask if it's worth taking employment cos then they won't get uc.

On uc if one person in a couple is working and earning the aet,of £1437 per month the other one doesn't need to regardless of if they actually can.

The sheer number claiming lcwra on uc and receive an additional £416 per month and once it's in place, they have it forever and don't ever need to seek employment. All you need are sick notes from your gp! You might not qualify for pip but can still get this!!!! Ludicrous!

People previously on ESA get this automatically!!!

Don't be fooled into thinking now people are on uc there are any real changes. There aren't.

If your brother has children, then no. He would have been depriving them because of his pride. There's a reason why pride is considered a sinful thing. I claimed benefits briefly when my abusive alcoholic husband left us. When my DC grew up and I was no longer entitled, I didn't get them any more. I would have been stupid not to claim - that money was for my children to have the essentials.

No, they're not being paid. They're being given benefits/an allowance to live on. It's not as much as a wage (except in some exceptional cases).

Neither do I. A crackdown on tax evasion amongst UHNW individuals would be far more lucrative, but it’s far easier to kick those that are already down. It’s so tedious.

I suspect that there are posters here who'd be fully in favour of that.

Why do we have zero obligation to people whose parents live in a foreign country?

So those of use who parents chose to migrate overseas should somehow be reduced to second class citizens?

How does this make sense in your head?

They don't have it for ever and it involves a lot more than a fit note.

If you're getting the equivalent of LcFWRA in ESA you keep it on migration.

Is that wrong?

Which working people have to pay out of their wages.

Benefits should be taxed in the same way wages are. How can someone be paid out 35k and be able to keep it all when another person pays tax on a gross income of 35k.

The system needs a huge overhaul to encourage people to work and then receive top ups if necessary. There should be no option to opt out.

I know three young women who have “accidentally “ found themselves pregnant and then been given a brand new starter home ( community housing) and be able to live , on a tight budget, without having to work. Although one of them has decided to return to work because she wants a better future for her DC. As a teenager her ambition was to marry a footballer😂. She actually ended up with a drug dealer who is now doing a long stretch in prison. She has done a lot of growing up. I doubt the other two will ever work. The government have made it too easy for them not to.

The poverty line is an average, it’s curated.

What do you think the difference is on people defined as in poverty in the UK vs China ?

The UK gets poorer every single year. We have zero increase in productivity since 2007 and keep falling down international wage and salary tables. We have gone from one of the wealthiest countries in the world per capital to a mid ranking developed country.

In less than 5 years people in Poland will have a higher standard of living than the UK and in 10 years we are on course to be poorer than Guyana.

Absolutely wouldn't complain about that at all. My point is she is fit to work!! I would much rather my taxes went to those who cannot work due to disability. They would in an ideal world get more money if it weren't for those taking the piss.

He doesn’t have children.

And I reiterate my point - hardworking people with a string sense of being responsible for their own lives are far better citizens than those whose morality leads to them being ok with sitting on their arse with their hands out.

PIP is for the additional costs associated with living with a disability or limiting health condition
Are you a higher rate tax payer?

You can't. People who think you can are people with 0 personal experience of it, who just assume.