A country where people don't ask what am I entitled to but rather.....

[RustyBucket]

What are my responsibilities....

Cracking line, hope they are going to crack down on the "entitled" culture, it is all over this board like a rash at the best of times.

tocatta - raising the tax free allowance will go a long way to making work worthwhile for people who are on benefits.

I accept that not all would be better off but if someone is 'reluctant' to go back to work because it is not worth working then we do need to address that and raising the tax free allowance is start down that road.

when I was earning 8k a year really the tax I paid was negligble........I still couldn't have lived on it even if I didn't pay any tax - especially not with 3 children

and don't forget that lots of "any old jobs" are under 16hrs a week......so even if they didn't touch WTC/CTC you wouldn't get those to top up with.

Look, I live in a country where your duty is as important as what you are entitled to. It is Germany.

It is completely different from the UK. It is organised for teh community, from top to bottom.

If Cameron et al want us to start getting involved in community, they should also respect our wishes on issues like fox hunting, and not bring this minority activity back, when the majority clearly dont want it. Not go to war when people dont want to.

You cant have it both ways! They want more work out of us for free, and to carry on imposing what they want on us from above.

nigh, my ex h is German, and he had a strong sense of social responsibility, as you post points out.

i think 'i'm alright, jack' has a lot to answer for in this country, sadly.

All this talk about people who cannot be bothered to work....For a start, he could focus on the thousands and thousands of people who do want to work and are currently looking for jobs. Its not like they are growing on trees these days......I know lots of people desperate for jobs these days who cannot even get interviews.......Sadly I fear he will just make more people unemployment from the public sector - add to the unemployment rate - and still harp on about the work-shy.

very good point FM - I would be very cross if he started putting pressure on people like myself to find work while not doing anything to help those desperately looking for work.

I'd rather see a "freeze" on my benefits and money directed towards those who have lost their jobs in recent months/years especially those who for whatever reason don't qualify for benefits/waiting for their 29 weeks on benefits to be up before they get help with the interest on their mortgage/whatever to help them back into work than see money directed towards people like me who while not "well off" are currently settled into this shite life and for who staying on benefits just that little bit longer isn't going to have a potentially massive impact on their lives (I'm unlikely to lose my home, have debt collectors knocking on my door etc etc)

oh that didn't make much sense did it several trains of thought going at once

I was talking to a colleague who worked in Social Security under the Tories in the 80s and he said that when unemployment was going sky high they were encouraged to move people onto incapacity benefit for minor ailments, ultimately to mask unemployment figures. They weren't complaining then about entitlement. And it was Margaret 'there's no such thing as society' Thatcher who presided over the 'i'm alright jack' egocentric 80's.

According to new figures released today, unemployment, the number of people 'economically inactive' and the number of people working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment have all risen.

Is there going to be new legislation targetting age discrimination as well, given that unemployment is rising and the retirement age are going up?

Where are all these jobs going to come from, considering that more are going to lose their jobs in the public sector?

Or is it just easier to beat everyone with a big stick?

We are working poor. We do not resent paying taxes or people on benefits.

There but for the grace of God.

Or, as it goes in a song I know:
'Today you may earn a living wage.
Tomorrow you may be on the dole.
Though there's millions going hungry you needn't disengage
For it's them, not you, that's fallen in the hole.'

'Age discrimination is already illegal expat.'

Yes, in law, it is. Beyond difficult to prove and needs to tackled much, much more than it is.

It's a significant factor for many who are made redundant in their 40s and 50s.

So there's a hole, so unemployment is high.

WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO ABOUT IT BEFORE TARGETTING PEOPLE WHO CLAIM BENEFITS?

This whole 'Oh, well, Labour did that' 'Tories did that' has to stop because neither one is in power anymore. It's a coalition government in power now.

IMO it's a fair question to that government in response to DC's speech last night.

Bumper - I suspect you are right about incapacity benefit.

Where I live there are a lot of people who have been on incapacity benefit for 25 years. It is one of the places that lost its industry in the 1980s. I always wondered why there were clusters of high incapacity benefit and why those people all seem to have got it around the same time when they got made redundant.

Good grief NuLiebour have done their job well, making so many dependent on a rainbow of benefits.
So many entitled here. Of course they bought your votes.
Around 8 years back friends of mine told me it was a fcking mugs game working. He had Bipolar, she was his carer. They had a nice house in a nice area. They had a car, satellite TV and 3 dogs (pets are expensive)at the time.
At the time I was sleeping in a single second hand bed, a donated really old TV, only had floor boards. But hey I just bought my first house so I was rolling in it

Socialism NEVER to me meant, sponging off the workers but instead as working together for the common good. IE taking responsibility!

I am quite pissed off that people I know who have paid taxes for 10/20years are not getting help under this shite system when they lose their jobs.

Cant help but think Brown should still be here to face the music, Cwunt

well yes - doesn't matter how good you are, if you are made redundant over 45, your chances of getting another job are slim, and decrease rapidly with every week you are out of work (some exceptions to this rule, but generally..).

Mind you, no-one is talking about withdrawal of benefits from people who are seeking work/ on pension credit.

i note there was something about a better deal for Equitable Life pensioners in there too...

when I read the threads here on MN of MNers and their DP/DH's who have lost their jobs and are desperately looking for work while trying to keep their head above water I hate the thought of a "push back to work" being aimed at the likes of myself. While I would love to be able to start working again once DS3 starts school next year finding a job isn't going to be the difference between finanicial disaster and keeping afloat.

I could (reluctantly) keep afloat as things stand - it's a bit shite, but I can survive as I am with my current out goings. (and no it's NOT a "lifestyle" before anyone says it, yes I'm comfortable..........but I have very low standards having lived in Zim for 2 1/2yrs and been unemployed there for some time)

Reading threads on here it's blatantly obvious that unless those that have lost jobs find work again they're going to sink

actually ER = my twat of an ex made me dependant on my benefits not NuLabour

toccatanfudge
Sorry have no knowledge of your circumstance. DP and are VERY stressed because we are moving house ATM. So we cannot respond in full atm.

My sister told me her SIL just banks her £500 a month child tax credits (3 children) because with her salary plus child maintenance from her ex she can just bank £500 a month

That's not fair surely.

hang on are we talking about benefits or tax credits here?

If she's working then she's claiming the tax credits that other working couples can claim.

"Nuliebour" - can I just say how witty and hilarious this is? I have never seen anyone make such a clever play on words before!

Utterly brilliant, I must say.

Please oh please can someone mention Tony B-liar? Cause that would just make my day

ELeanorRigby by your name it is obvious you cannot be saved.

I'm not saying anything about Mr Blair but it REALLY annoys me when people mis-spell words and pretend its a pun.

I guess I spend so much of my time correcting spellings that it has had an effect on me. If it is a pun, all well and good but if you have to add characters that is just so LAME.