Benefit hatred is out of control.

[carernotasaint]

www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/owen-jones-hatred-of-those-on-benefits-is-dangerously-out-of-control-7763793.html

"Six children have died, very probably because people on benefits are demonised by the media, encouraged by government."

Bollocks.

There is absolutely fuck all evidence of that.

Poulay - rubbish. The family were the subject of cruel comments and abuse because they'd been held up as the epitome of benefit scroungers after the father went public with his call for a bigger council house. He was daft to go on Jeremy Kyle but being daft doesn't mean your children deserve to die. Until some other reason emerges for hatred of the family, hatred of those on benefits is a reasonable working assumption.

Of which Poulay? them dying because of it or it existing in the first place?

People on benefits are without doubt demonised by 95% of the media and of course the government encourage it.

Yes, but once again aren't we making a HUGE assumption that the Philpotts home was attacked and their children murdered by someone who was angry that they were on benefits? We have absolutely no evidence to believe that this is the case so I think it's very far fetched to make that connection at this stage.

edam you have no idea about this family's circumstances, and I think the media speculation is very irresponsible, people should not be exploiting this horrible crime for political ends.

There's nothing political about saying hatred of people on benefits is wrong. Unless you are mad enough to think it's OK. It becomes political when you look at which politicians stoke the flames - and which ones are doing it right now.

Eh, you are really twisting this.

This is a 4 page thread predicated on the completely unsupported notion that these children were killed because their family was on benefits.

It's just ridiculously stupid.

Jeremy Kyle link:

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He had/has two 'wives', 18 children, a conviction for attempted murder after stabbing his 17-year-old girlfriend 11 times, and people are trying to pin this on benefit bashing? Hello???

He could have pissed off any number of people with aspects of his behaviour, but no it's got to be a benefits hate crime. Because that's so much more logical.

Let's be honest, the man is an absolute horror, and that has got nothing to do with being on benefits.

i would be absolutely staggered if the fire was started by an anti-benefits vigilante.

She saw the MNer being ill, assumed she was receiving benefits and started to abuse her.

Now I think about it, I remember reading about a similar incident on MN. Not sure if it's the same one, but it was in a cafe and resulted in water being spilt on someone's shoes. Then they got abusive.

I wonder if they didn't realise the person was ill. A full on fit would be obvious and I honestly can't believe that anyone would go into abusive mode while someone is thrashing around.

A mild attack, e.g. a short loss of awareness, could look like clumsiness or possibly out of it due to alcohol/substance abuse. But if that's the case it wouldn't have been disability bashing, iyswim.

Labour seem to spend so much time and money on expanding the benefits system and making it seem the norm to be on benefits that it's not a surprise for there to be a backlash once they left power. I doubt it has anything to do with this case though. The man seemed to be the kind of person that would make a lot of enemies.

why would anyone want to harm someone's children regardless of Philpot's financial status, they are innocent.

I am not sure why those on benefits are hated by so many. People not being able to feed or clothe themselves and having to rely on the state for their most basic of needs to be met. People who can't manage to put a roof over their heads. People who bring children into the world without being able to provide for them. That is tragic. Why would you hate and be jealous of such a situation? I would not want to be that helpless. I don't begrudge those who are reduced to living like this. This is an unequal world. We don't all have the same opportunities and for those born into poverty it is extremely hard to become self sufficient. But yet the haters keep on hating.

Poulay - This is a 4 page thread predicated on the completely unsupported notion that these children were killed because their family was on benefits.

I thought the thread was about attitudes towards people on benefits were so bad that someone could stand up on TV and say that it was obvious these children would be murdered because it was well known their family was on benefits.

Which is not the same.

"FrothyOM I don't see anything in that article that suggests 'benefit hatred' has increased disability hate crime.

It says

"According to a ComRes, some 47% of disabled people surveyed said that attitudes towards them have worsened over the past year while 66% claimed that they had experienced "aggression, hostility or name-calling""

but WHY would attitudes worsen?

There have been a lot sensational headlines about the percentage of claimants found fit for work without explaining that a high percentage get this overturned at appeal. Many disability organisations think the test used is not fit for purpose, yet funnily, they rarely get quoted.

Cameron's done what he intended to do, got the good old joe public blaming folk on benefits. He should try living on benefits, minimum wage. Create jobs with a decent salary would be a start! Could be any one of us the way things are going. He is a despot.

FrothyOM's link goes back to well before Cameron, and extends to countries which are beyond UK.

A serious consideration of why some people pick on the disabled needs to go far beyond UK party politics.

bialystockandbloom sorry for the late reply - actually I didn't say either is worth more as a person. But without people making money we can't pay benefits. So there is a relationship there whether you accept it or not. If we can put aside jealousy and backbiting, everyone in society matters, but the balance matters more.

Sorry, Totem, I can't make head nor tail of your post.

You think that this abuser started calling a stranger "scrounger" because she thought they were clumsy?

Does "scrounger" have another meaning I don't know? Because here that would be an attack about financial stuff - ie benefit bashing.

Benefits hatred is alive and well.
Both me and DH are carers to our three disabled children. This only happened when I mentally unravelled under the strain. Until then DH worked.

I can prove the hatred exists, you just have to look at the comments following Polly Toynbee's article on our family in the Guardian last year. They're vile.

Yet next year neither me or DH will have protected carer status. We will need to find work despite our childrens' care needs or go on workfare. Quite who will meet our kids' care needs whilst we're doing that I do not know.

Cameron should try living on benefits, minimum wage.
Why?

Create jobs with a decent salary would be a start!
No, that's what Labour did, and why they were in massive deficit even during the boom period. It is not the job of the government to create jobs for the sake of it, and particularly not to pay government jobs an artificially high salary! It is the government's job to create conditions where the private sector wants to invest here and create jobs.

Glitter, if that were me I would be doing the whole JobCentre crap and turning up each time with all the kids in tow, making the point that nobody was available to look after them while I was at work, due to their disabilities, but that through no choice of my own I was forced to present myself at a workplace despite the impracticality of it all. But that would be a very provocative act, I do appreciate.

Absolutely it would. Slight problem with one in a wheelchair and one in a major buggy (both have high rate mobility dla) I can't go out with all three at a time...