To think benefits need to be cut to fund increased spending on defence

[Viviennemary]

This is absolutely necessary. Keir Starmer shouldnt have backed down the last time. But now with the current situation with Russia drastic steps need to be taken. We simply can't afford to sustain the current benefits bill with the armed forces so depleted. The money is needed to increase defence.

And people get top ups because of zero hour contracts where they get little actual work yet are expected to be available at all times just in case.. and you only actually get top ups if you have a disability or kids. A single able bodied adult is just expected to starve if they don't have enough hours. Or live in an HMO in their 50s.
But they are ok, because your take away coffees and meals out stay cheap as a result.

Anyone? What about those who have disabled children?

I have been re-assessed several times, but I do know Covid messed things up and there is a huge back log now... and you are right... new claims and people opting for re-assessments (to go from LCW to LCWRA, and that is over a year long) are priority.
Oddly enough, ESA claimants were re-assessed as normal.

That is of no concern for some people, it would seem. Hearts of stone, imo.

The billionaires? They’re putting into the economy not taking out.

🤣🤣🤣

So they never need health care, fire brigade, the police? Bins emptying etc
Everyone takes out.

I don’t think anyone has a problem with those in genuine need. It’s the number of people who just don’t fancy working that are causing resentment because it’s having a direct effect on public services.

@XenoBitch I suppose 30 years working & the daily grind is exhausting. The job I do is physically & mentally demanding. So I am comparing many years of working long hours in a tiring job vs someone getting not much less for only attending an occasional meeting (yes that meeting might be intense & you likely need to prepare for it). I think all the new claims for invisible illnesses are muddying the waters. It’s harder for people to work out who is genuinely in need & who is avoiding work. Clearly anyone who is genuinely in need should be supported. But surely you can see that it does need to be assessed otherwise even more people would claim they needed PIP/DLA/UC/FSM etc

Who are these people and how can you tell who they are?
Because being fit for work and on benefits is not a life of luxury at all. Look up how much you actually get.

The fact you had to mention 'invisible illnesses' says it all.

They don’t need public healthcare or education, yes they may need the fire brigade once in a blue moon but let’s be honest here- of course they put in a hell of a lot more than they take out! And the irony is the resentment that’s levelled at them!

@Kirbert2 clearly I am not referring to people with disabled children, or who are disabled themselves. Although my grandfather came home from WW2 with terrible injuries & had to go back to a manual labour job otherwise he would not have been able to feed his family. I think he had PTSD from the war but had to just get on and work.

Not a life of luxury on benefits? Diddums. It shouldn’t be a thing at all!!

Try working in a school on pretty low pay.
Watch Mums turn up in their brand new 4x4s, go to Benidorm several times a year, eat at The Toby Carvery several times a week, whilst depending on benefits…. Imagine not doing any work, having a lie in most mornings and expecting everyone else to fund it for you…..
These are those people. Teenagers tell you everything.

25000 coffee shops.

Do they make any money?

11000 charity shops and lots of those shutting.

There will always be people on benefits because we live in a place where there is a safety net.
Unless you want ill people out on the streets?

My local small high street used to have 7 charity shops. It was a good place to go if thrifting is your thing. There is now just 1, with 3 having shut in the last 2 months.
I read BHF is shutting down 150 stores.

Exactly this.
If only genuine cases were in receipt of benefits, they could access more support and help.
There would be more for the truly vulnerable.

What benefits are they on then?

do you believe in what you're saying?

Takeaway coffees and meals out aren't cheap by any stretch.

Able bodied adult is expected to provide for themselves and for their dependents. And if they don't provide sufficiently then tough, they have to leave in HMO or move to cheaper area. Why do you think someone in their 50s should be funded by unrelated people unless severe disability?

Do you even realise that a lot of us who work (or worked) on FT contracts had to be unofficially available at all times as well? to respond to chat, email, answer the call out of hours, on leave, from hospital? join a meeting on Christmas day because some sh.t hit the fan and you have to sort this out? you know, those pesky higher earners who fund benefits lifestyle?

I don't think less people claiming would mean more help for those who still do.

Triple lock needs scrapped

If people are in work but are getting paid so poorly that they need UC top ups the government needs to look at the employers profits. Over half of Amazon warehouse workers get UC top ups, yet their profits continue to soar, it shouldn’t be allowed, they can either pay their taxes properly or pay their workers fairly. I’d have much more sympathy for people working for small businesses/ third sector needing UC top ups.

We need to have some serious conversations about PIP etc and what conditions are eligible for payments. I stumbled across an Instagram account the other day which basically coached parents how to word things in applications so they could get payments.

We also need to have a serious conversation about what our MoD spending goes on. Recruitment is a farce and has been since it started being outsourced, it needs to be brought in house. It would be much more cost effective to get people at the end of the 22 years to stay on for 2 more years to do a stint in recruitment.

@countrylife00 yes I have organised school trips where students are on PP & FSM & the parents rock up in an expensive SUV & some are off to Disney. Kids have latest iPhone. Meanwhile I am faffing around making sure we get the lunches collected to take with us & getting accounts to transfer the trip cost from the PP budget to cover the cost. The ones who are worst off are those with parents working on an income where they just miss out on any help & can’t really afford anything.

and that was a good thing? Lets also not forget the men who came home from WW2 with PTSD etc and didn't just 'get on' and work because it wasn't possible for them.