To feel the Disenfranchised have been Scapegoated.

[Gilead]

Just fed up with a society that has become so incredibly selfish. The vilification of disabled people and the drubbing of benefit claimants whilst managing to forget that most of the people on universal credit are working families. Forgetting that most pensioners have worked and saved all their lives, some still paying tax. And let’s not forget those lazy bastards who are putting on an act in order to get a ‘free’ car.
I predicted this was the way we were headed on mumsnet in 2010. Got called all sorts of names, but, at that point in time people were a lot more understanding of the issues encountered by the disenfranchised.
If you want to come on here and tell me you don’t want to pay extra for someone else to have kids you can’t afford, research it first, look at the (myriad) reasons for this, the figures, the number of women who had extra children during the period. Then think how it would be if you suddenly became disabled, or more severely disabled.
Im off with my carer in a bit. In my Citroen C3 that actually cost me a wee bit more because I had to pay for the wheelchair hoist as well as the (approx) 350 quid every four weeks to cover the lease, and the insurance.

I don’t think people have become more selfish. It’s not selfish to want a decent standard of living for your own family before paying for others to have more. People can’t afford to be generous, unless they’re doing it with other people’s money. It’s very easy to claim that you are a selfless and generous person who would never begrudge others taking what you have earned when you are in the position of receiving free money from the state.

I have never seen anyone vilifying people with disabilities or that claim benefits fairly. I have seen people vilifying those who are claiming benefits fraudulently and those who are using the system to maximise their benefits or avoiding tax. Surely you don't disagree with that? If we didn't have people committing fraud or rich people squirrelling away their money into pensions and trusts or offshore so they avoid tax, we would be much better positioned to properly provide for those who genuinely need it.

Plenty of people here and elsewhere vilify those with disabilities claiming benefits because they:

Don't agree the person is disabled
Don't believe the person is disabled enough
The person is disabled but seemingly all the time
They've decided their neighbour/acquaintance/friend/family member /friend of a friend must be fraudulently claiming with no evidence to back it up, just prejudice
They believe the daily mail/telegraph/reform misinformation that people claim benefits for acne

I've seen it daily for weeks

Yanbu @Gilead I also predicted the shit show we've had back in 2010. You get many agreeing with you here because too many of swallowed the Reform propaganda

You’re absolutely right. I feel that at the moment unless you’re a white working class man you’re pretty much fair game. The exact white working class men that were on the marches. Women are targeted for being single mothers, women that aren’t married and are childless are mocked, ethnic minority women that have higher risks of death during pregnancy and childbirth and that’s now acceptable to laugh about. Disabled people. Any ethnic minority isn’t apparently British enough anymore, and now children who have absolutely no control on their lives. Any man who stands up for those people are also mocked. It’s absolutely disgusting what’s going on. I’m so angry that i realise this is a rant that makes probably very little sense.

The ‘disenfranchised’ are the best looked after in society. No one is being scapegoated. Questioning the balance between the paying public and the receiving public is not scapegoating. And the emotive language to suppress perfectly reasonable questions about the colossal waste and entitlement of people won’t work anymore.

Everyone knows people who are abusing the system. It’s certainly not a rarity.

It’s not selfish to want a decent standard living.

God forbid people put money into pensions to take care of themselves in old age.

None of that is true

bullshit.
People don’t begrudge support going to those in need. What people are sick to the back teeth of is working hard and paying shed loads of tax (and this includes plenty of people who have anxiety, depression and other mental health issues) to support other people who feel that their mental health entitled them to do sod all.

@KilkennyCats I’ve been around these parts since 2006. Every word is true.

@crossedlines how do you decide who has a mental illness and who doesn’t? How do you know whether or not someone is capable of work or not?

You teach kids that anxiety is normal, everyone feels it at some point and it’s not something that means you can opt out of work or society because of it.

There's a difference between putting money into pensions at the normal rate and deliberately ploughing thousands into a pension purely to avoid paying higher rate tax. (Although it looks like that loophole is being closed thankfully!).

15 years of below inflation pay rises.
15 years of deteriorating public services.
15 years of being squeezed in every direction

Yeah. I don't think anyone can be surprised that working people who sit outside the benefits system are absolutely demoralised and done in

We can't afford multiple children
We are disabled enough to struggle and have lots of extra costs but not "disabled enough" so we have to pay benefits to someone who can buy a BMW.

Yeah. People are done in and fed up

I think we hoped Labour would sort it but they've kicked a bit harder and dished out more handouts.

Absolutely. People have very valid feelings of being exploited while certain people are parasites on society, but those parasites are billionares, not disabled people like me who get a measly 1200 to live on a month...

Then it's not you people are fed up about

It's Bill who gets motability but could buy a Beemer out right.

And Jenny who works 16 hours a week and refuses to take a promotion or do more hours because she's living the high life on universal credit.

And Mary who gets Winter Fuel Allowance even though shes got millions in the bank

Yeah, deliberately saving for your retirement. With your own money at that. What a liberty.

My son is in receipt of DLA, he has an EHCP. DH and I are teachers and we live in a deprived area - we do see see people abusing the system and it 1. angers us as we work full time and can’t devote the time to DS that he needs and 2. We are worried because he will need a welfare state in the future that I don’t think will be there.

You're right about the other two, but I promise you someone who works 16h isn't living the high life on universal credit, UC tops up your earnings up to minimum wage and that's about it.

No , it really doesn't. I make £57k a year and my friend doing 16 hours on UC has the same income coming in as I do after tax . And she has cheaper (social) housing whereas I private rent

That’s absolutely scandalous. The lie that benefits are somehow frugal gets exposed over and over again.

I think you are angry at the wrong people.

I dont think i know anyone who would begrudge someone in your position financial assistance in the form of motorbility -
I certainly don't.

But the reality is there are bad actors due to the poorly designed system and i am sure you would agree not every pip claimant is legit.

Additionally, we have now got more net recipients than contributors in the uk and right now 1 in 5 working age people are unemployed or not looking for work.

It's scandalous and not sustainable...
And the people who are working are (rightly) fucked off because they are being asked to do more and give morr against the backdrop of a government who cannot control their finances despite annual taxation increasing from 830/840b to 1 trillion. They are, in their daily lives, watching these "bad actors" do fuck all while they head off to their 50 hr week job (yet the delta in household income is marginal) and it feels unfair and they feel angry.

Personally i am fucked off on behalf of people like you and who are in similar situations as i feel you are essentially victims / collateral damage due to other people in society taking the absolute piss. And the reality is there are people who do this and their number isn't insignificant.

I also predicted it would go this way ( and it will get worse)... the system is open to abuse and widely abused and the people who actually need it will be most heavily impacted as we head into darker economic times.

This. I earn loads - pay a staggering amount of tax - but housing costs and childcare are massive. I’d like to eat out, get a coffee out, get a takeaway, go to the cinema, get my nails done, get my hair done (by someone other than my husband!) go on holiday to somewhere other than my aunts house but I cannot afford to any of these things. And yet you see threads on here about it being fine to spend PIP money on getting nails done because it helps relive stress etc. The theatre tickets for £150! Who on earth can afford to do that?

Its really basic living on ‘good’ wages for some young professionals these days and its depressing, so go stuff your triple lock pension and 2 child cap. I’ve worked for my money - I’d like to be allowed to enjoy some of it.

Swallowed Labour propaganda more like. With their lies and fake promises of no extra taxes. Robbers.

Indeed. Labour don’t seem to give a shit about the workers. They just want to take money off you to give to those who don’t want to work. I voted for them expecting so much more.