Benefits culture

2

Comments

  • giantorangedale
    giantorangedale Posts: 79
    They had to bring in a dress code at Wallsend jobcentre because a woman turned up to sign on in her pyjamas.
    This is not a joke.
    should of used giantorangecannon
  • IanTrcp
    IanTrcp Posts: 761
    One day last summer I had to wait at home for a delivery (new passport) so set off to ride to work at about 11am. As I cycled through a local social housing area I observed that the residents were basically sitting outside in the sun enjoying a bottle of Diamond White whilst watching the men from the council mow their lawns....

    It didn't feel quite right for some reason.
  • tim_wand
    tim_wand Posts: 2,552
    Vesterberg wrote:
    CambsNewbie wrote:
    Cleat Eastwood wrote:
    team47b wrote:
    The Ors wrote:
    CambsNewbie wrote:
    ...I noticed the cannabis plants growing in the garden! Some of my colleagues nicked him two days later...

    :D Nice one!

    Wouldn't have happened here, they would have just nicked the plants :D


    Back on topic, would you want to live like these people of whom you speak?

    Funnily enough I was thinking that - what I find funny is the holier than thou attitude - what has being overweight or smoking got to do with anything -are peopel really suggesting these are signifiers of a lower moral order- its peoples choice how they live - two comments on here just reinforce the idea of a bigoted police force, and with a bro in law in th epolice i know this isnt true, but as often happens the minority tarnish the good name of the majority.

    Ok I accept that saying the mother was fat was unnecessary for what I was saying.

    On this occasion smoking has everything to do with it. He is signed off long-term sick getting all kinds of benefits for being so, for something purely self inflicted and which is preventable or certainly manageable. then he uses his benefit money to buy more of the one thing making him unwell!

    And in this day and age with all the knowledge there is on passive smoking is it morally acceptable to smoke with two children sat on your lap? If that makes me bigoted then so be it..
    Ah the great british Police Force - giving remedial school bullies, jobsworths, bigots, right wing louts and armed forces rejects a career option since 1829.


    Ah your so right about the Police Vesterburg, Take that Brian Paddick for example , I pray to god that right wing nazi fascist doesnt become mayor of London :lol:
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    tim wand wrote:


    Ah your so right about the Police Vesterburg, Take that Brian Paddick for example , I pray to god that right wing nazi fascist doesnt become mayor of London :lol:

    Paddick campaigned on the idea he was going to stop the met being bigotted and racist....!
    _
  • BillyMansell
    BillyMansell Posts: 817
    IanTrcp wrote:
    One day last summer I had to wait at home for a delivery (new passport) so set off to ride to work at about 11am. As I cycled through a local social housing area I observed that the residents were basically sitting outside in the sun enjoying a bottle of Diamond White whilst watching the men from the council mow their lawns....

    It didn't feel quite right for some reason.
    Was it because they didn't have their cider in a glass with ice? The peasants. :evil:
  • tim_wand
    tim_wand Posts: 2,552
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    tim wand wrote:


    Ah your so right about the Police Vesterburg, Take that Brian Paddick for example , I pray to god that right wing nazi fascist doesnt become mayor of London :lol:

    Paddick campaigned on the idea he was going to stop the met being bigotted and racist....!


    Great Platform, bet Ali Dizaei will be running against Boris next time. Its amazing how many ex high ranking civil servants claim that the organisations they did so well in are institutionally this or that when they dont get their way.
  • Zingzang
    Zingzang Posts: 196
    [quote="Vesterberg: "Ah the great british Police Force - giving remedial school bullies, jobsworths, bigots, right wing louts and armed forces rejects a career option since 1829."

    Funny how failing the interview can make people so bitter.
  • CambsNewbie
    CambsNewbie Posts: 564
    Vesterberg wrote:

    And in this day and age with all the knowledge there is on passive smoking is it morally acceptable to smoke with two children sat on your lap? If that makes me bigoted then so be it..
    Ah the great british Police Force - giving remedial school bullies, jobsworths, bigots, right wing louts and armed forces rejects a career option since 1829.[/quote]

    Sorry couldn't reply to this before as at work taking a statement from a girl with learning difficulties who has been suffering bullying and threats via Facebook..

    Sorry to to disappoint you but neither a school bully, a jobs worth, right wing lout or an armed forces reject. However as previously stated, when it comes to the welfare of children then I admit I am intolerant of other views when that child is suffering or harm is being caused to them.
  • Nico Adie
    Nico Adie Posts: 7
    Hi, I'm Nico. This is my first post on here, and it's somewhat against the grain. Apologies in advance as it is not my intention to offend unnecessarily.

    Benefit "culture" costs less to the taxpayer than tax evasion by the rich. By some order of magnitude. Sure, I might get frustrated that I'm working hard every day and still only just getting by whilst they get money for nothing, but would anyone here who is in full-time employment (or simply earning enough to live comfortably) willingly swap their lives for someone like the OP described? What would you suggest as an alternative for them? People in this scenario will almost certainly live their entire lives without a real sense of worth. Society has failed them, not the other way round.
  • GeorgeShaw
    GeorgeShaw Posts: 764
    Unemployment rate 2.65 million, vacancies 460,000 - Office of National Statistics
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,163
    Nico Adie wrote:
    .... but would anyone here who is in full-time employment (or simply earning enough to live comfortably) willingly swap their lives for someone like the OP described? What would you suggest as an alternative for them? People in this scenario will almost certainly live their entire lives without a real sense of worth. Society has failed them, not the other way round.

    Did you actually watch the video in the OP? If so, did you think it may have been a spoof? :roll:
  • byke68
    byke68 Posts: 1,070
    Nico Adie wrote:
    Hi, I'm Nico. This is my first post on here, and it's somewhat against the grain. Apologies in advance as it is not my intention to offend unnecessarily.

    Benefit "culture" costs less to the taxpayer than tax evasion by the rich. By some order of magnitude. Sure, I might get frustrated that I'm working hard every day and still only just getting by whilst they get money for nothing, but would anyone here who is in full-time employment (or simply earning enough to live comfortably) willingly swap their lives for someone like the OP described? What would you suggest as an alternative for them? People in this scenario will almost certainly live their entire lives without a real sense of worth. Society has failed them, not the other way round.

    Make the long term unemployed do community work. Keep them busy instead of slumping on the sofa watching Jeremy Kyle et al. There's plenty of places in need of a tidy-up.
    Yes, society may have failed some of them, but there's a lot of them who DO NOT WANT to work.
    Cannondale Trail 6 - crap brakes!
    Cannondale CAAD8
  • Nico Adie
    Nico Adie Posts: 7
    Pross wrote:
    Nico Adie wrote:
    .... but would anyone here who is in full-time employment (or simply earning enough to live comfortably) willingly swap their lives for someone like the OP described? What would you suggest as an alternative for them? People in this scenario will almost certainly live their entire lives without a real sense of worth. Society has failed them, not the other way round.

    Did you actually watch the video in the OP? If so, did you think it may have been a spoof? :roll:

    I haven't as I'm at work and cannot view youtube videos here. I don't think that changes my point with regard to a discussion about benefits culture.
    byke68 wrote:
    Make the long term unemployed do community work. Keep them busy instead of slumping on the sofa watching Jeremy Kyle et al. There's plenty of places in need of a tidy-up.
    Yes, society may have failed some of them, but there's a lot of them who DO NOT WANT to work.

    So you're advocating using them as slaves? I can't support that viewpoint. I have some sympathy towards those who feel that prisoners should be made to do things like that, but citizens, no.

    Would you want to work if the only jobs available to you were ones that paid only slightly above what you'd get for doing nothing? On top of which, you'd lose whatever unemployment benefits you were entitled to. And you'd almost certainly end up in a job with no long term security, sick pay, etc.

    I'm not saying I agree with people falsely claiming benefits, but the degree to which they're demonised whilst the wealthy are rewarded because they know how to play the system really offends me.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,163
    Nico Adie wrote:
    Pross wrote:
    Nico Adie wrote:
    .... but would anyone here who is in full-time employment (or simply earning enough to live comfortably) willingly swap their lives for someone like the OP described? What would you suggest as an alternative for them? People in this scenario will almost certainly live their entire lives without a real sense of worth. Society has failed them, not the other way round.

    Did you actually watch the video in the OP? If so, did you think it may have been a spoof? :roll:

    I haven't as I'm at work and cannot view youtube videos here. I don't think that changes my point with regard to a discussion about benefits culture.


    I think it does as you implied that the OP was commenting on a real-life situation which he wasn't. Fair enough if you'd been commenting on most of the subsequent comments but that's not what you said.
  • CambsNewbie
    CambsNewbie Posts: 564
    Nico Adie wrote:

    So you're advocating using them as slaves? I can't support that viewpoint. I have some sympathy towards those who feel that prisoners should be made to do things like that, but citizens, no.

    Would you want to work if the only jobs available to you were ones that paid only slightly above what you'd get for doing nothing? On top of which, you'd lose whatever unemployment benefits you were entitled to. And you'd almost certainly end up in a job with no long term security, sick pay, etc.

    I'm not saying I agree with people falsely claiming benefits, but the degree to which they're demonised whilst the wealthy are rewarded because they know how to play the system really offends me.

    I don't think anyone is advocating slavery! But I don't see what is wrong when someone is fit and healthy why they can't contribute to community projects. Why should you just be handed money for nothing? Surely having to be somewhere at a particular time, maybe do something you find hard to start with, work as a team with people you may have nothing in common with but have to work with to achieve a common goal can only be good things with helping you get a job (and I mean long term unemployed here or people who have NEVER worked)? And if you dont turn up or are late or make an effort then your benefits are cut, just like in a job. And who knows, you may find you enjoy doing something you may never have even thought of.

    And yes, I have worked crap jobs that didn't pay well. After I graduated I worked in Burger King because at that time that was all I could get. I could have sat on my backside and done nothing but to me that wasn't an option. and this was before minimum pay and the pay really was crap. And although it was a crap job I learnt loads about myself and how to work with other people, got promoted and ended up earning decent money none of which would have happened if I hadn't started at the bottom for a wage that was little or no more than what I could have got for doing nothing.
  • pliptrot
    pliptrot Posts: 582
    Good on you Nico, for daring to be decent. By the way, the only way you can tip the tax<benefits argument is if you include all future civil service pension liabilities - which is a crazy way to do it. Done properly, the sums don't look so bad, and the benefits bill is not unmanageable.

    The problem, I think, with posters who demonise one sector of society, is that they don't -can't- identify with the group they are raging against. It's not so far from there to Germany in the 1930s. It really isn't. Some are already for rounding "them" up for community work, it seems.

    One poster above made a point about the alleged comments of the parents of the foreign student caught up in the riots last year. It's a dubious thing to claim, what the poster claimed, and -in keeping with his grasp of the facts- he was wrong about that family's nationality, too, so we can guess how carefully his research was done.
  • Nico Adie
    Nico Adie Posts: 7
    Pross wrote:
    Nico Adie wrote:
    Pross wrote:
    Nico Adie wrote:
    .... but would anyone here who is in full-time employment (or simply earning enough to live comfortably) willingly swap their lives for someone like the OP described? What would you suggest as an alternative for them? People in this scenario will almost certainly live their entire lives without a real sense of worth. Society has failed them, not the other way round.

    Did you actually watch the video in the OP? If so, did you think it may have been a spoof? :roll:

    I haven't as I'm at work and cannot view youtube videos here. I don't think that changes my point with regard to a discussion about benefits culture.


    I think it does as you implied that the OP was commenting on a real-life situation which he wasn't. Fair enough if you'd been commenting on most of the subsequent comments but that's not what you said.

    My apologies, I misunderstood your intention.
    CambsNewbie wrote:
    I don't think anyone is advocating slavery! But I don't see what is wrong when someone is fit and healthy why they can't contribute to community projects. Why should you just be handed money for nothing? Surely having to be somewhere at a particular time, maybe do something you find hard to start with, work as a team with people you may have nothing in common with but have to work with to achieve a common goal can only be good things with helping you get a job (and I mean long term unemployed here or people who have NEVER worked)? And if you dont turn up or are late or make an effort then your benefits are cut, just like in a job. And who knows, you may find you enjoy doing something you may never have even thought of.

    And yes, I have worked crap jobs that didn't pay well. After I graduated I worked in Burger King because at that time that was all I could get. I could have sat on my backside and done nothing but to me that wasn't an option. and this was before minimum pay and the pay really was crap. And although it was a crap job I learnt loads about myself and how to work with other people, got promoted and ended up earning decent money none of which would have happened if I hadn't started at the bottom for a wage that was little or no more than what I could have got for doing nothing.

    Forcing someone to work against their will is slavery. Your suggestions could be recommended/suggested as an "initiative" for long term unemployed, but to force them would be morally wrong. Essentially I believe it comes down to education, and showing in school what can be gained through education. I don't know where to start in terms of reducing the number of long-term unemployment, but I know what measures I don't agree with. I fully appreciate my contrary nature in this regard.

    You're lucky in that you must've come from a reasonable upbringing in order to go to university in the first place. Ergo, you probably had a bit of a safety net (family wealth) to fall back on if it all went wrong. This would've enabled you to take risks that those coming from families who may be into their third or fourth generation of unemployment wouldn't even consider, because they genuinely don't know any better. What I'm trying to say is that when it becomes a generational thing (unemployment) then it becomes ingrained on the psyche of those living in those circumstances.

    Of course sitting on your backside and doing nothing wasn't an option, your upbringing and the wisdom passed down from you parent(s) would have cemented this into your very being. That's how it should be. We need to get to the position where long-term unemployed are made to feel that they can make a contribution to society too.

    Never thought my first posts on here would be so political :lol: I get a new bike on monday (Giant Defy 3). I can't wait!
  • byke68
    byke68 Posts: 1,070
    Nico Adie wrote:
    Pross wrote:
    Nico Adie wrote:
    .... but would anyone here who is in full-time employment (or simply earning enough to live comfortably) willingly swap their lives for someone like the OP described? What would you suggest as an alternative for them? People in this scenario will almost certainly live their entire lives without a real sense of worth. Society has failed them, not the other way round.

    Did you actually watch the video in the OP? If so, did you think it may have been a spoof? :roll:

    I haven't as I'm at work and cannot view youtube videos here. I don't think that changes my point with regard to a discussion about benefits culture.
    byke68 wrote:
    Make the long term unemployed do community work. Keep them busy instead of slumping on the sofa watching Jeremy Kyle et al. There's plenty of places in need of a tidy-up.
    Yes, society may have failed some of them, but there's a lot of them who DO NOT WANT to work.

    So you're advocating using them as slaves? I can't support that viewpoint. I have some sympathy towards those who feel that prisoners should be made to do things like that, but citizens, no.

    Would you want to work if the only jobs available to you were ones that paid only slightly above what you'd get for doing nothing? On top of which, you'd lose whatever unemployment benefits you were entitled to. And you'd almost certainly end up in a job with no long term security, sick pay, etc.

    I'm not saying I agree with people falsely claiming benefits, but the degree to which they're demonised whilst the wealthy are rewarded because they know how to play the system really offends me.


    Slaves? That's a bit strong. No, if the long term shirkers won't work, it would be a way of getting them into a working routine instead of straight into proper work. Think what a shock to the system it would be if someone went straight into a 12 hour shift pattern, days and nights after years of doing bugger all.
    It's not just the rich who play the system, there's plenty of shirkers who know how to play the benifits system.
    I know of a bloke on benefits with upteen kids, who has moved his scrubber in, living in a big house on a nice street and drives a newer, bigger car than me. Me and the missus work yet we struggle to keep the car running. Maybe I should give up work and live on benefits
    Cannondale Trail 6 - crap brakes!
    Cannondale CAAD8
  • CambsNewbie
    CambsNewbie Posts: 564
    Nico Adie wrote:

    Forcing someone to work against their will is slavery. Your suggestions could be recommended/suggested as an "initiative" for long term unemployed, but to force them would be morally wrong. Essentially I believe it comes down to education, and showing in school what can be gained through education. I don't know where to start in terms of reducing the number of long-term unemployment, but I know what measures I don't agree with. I fully appreciate my contrary nature in this regard.

    I agree 100% that schools and education play an important role in showing what can be achieved by working hard in life.

    You're lucky in that you must've come from a reasonable upbringing in order to go to university in the first place. Ergo, you probably had a bit of a safety net (family wealth) to fall back on if it all went wrong. This would've enabled you to take risks that those coming from families who may be into their third or fourth generation of unemployment wouldn't even consider, because they genuinely don't know any better. What I'm trying to say is that when it becomes a generational thing (unemployment) then it becomes ingrained on the psyche of those living in those circumstances.

    Of course sitting on your backside and doing nothing wasn't an option, your upbringing and the wisdom passed down from you parent(s) would have cemented this into your very being. That's how it should be. We need to get to the position where long-term unemployed are made to feel that they can make a contribution to society too.

    I like to think I come from a reasonable family in turns of the values in-breed in me. My dad left school at 14, and when I was growing up he was a fireman so we certainly weren't well off. until I started earning my own money I can't remember ever having new clothes, always hand-me-downs from my older brother and cousins. My clothes came from the Market and the embarrassment I felt at that is what drove me to better myself.

    I was the first member of my family to stay at school beyond 16 let alone go to university. I worked weekends and holidays from the age of 15 and worked throughout university. What was taught clearly from an early age was if you want something you work for it. Whether the was jobs around the house for my pocket money or coming home stinking of burgers to pay my way through university.

    I love your optimism but there really are people who just don't want to work!

    Oh.. And I did get a full grant at uni until they were replaced by student loans but like to think I have more than paid that back in tax now!
  • whitebait01
    whitebait01 Posts: 610
    I moved to London after uni and one of the guys from my course ended up moving in with us, as we were one short. I luckily got a temp job the day before I moved to London and since then have worked 9-5 at various jobs without once claiming benefits (worked at Game and Sainsbury's night shifts whilst at uni).

    Meanwhile, he got straight onto housing benefits and JSA. He managed to get them to agree that remixing dubstep tunes counted as actively seeking work so all he had to do was sign on once a week.

    Needless to say it used to boil my piss to get home from work and see him slumped in front of my TV in a dressing gown, stoned, having done nothing with his day. What pushed me over the edge though, was finding out that they'd recently brought in an initiative to pay housing benefits to the claimant rather than directly to the landlord. We found this out when it turned out he was three months behind on rent, but had been to several festivals over the summer and had spent the remainder of the housing benefits on drugs at said festivals.

    His girlfriend's dad sorted him out some easy cash in hand work, which he could do from home on his computer. Seriously, the most basic of tasks. He failed to meet the deadlines several times and eventually the dad stopped trying to help him.

    Some people are just lazy, good for nothing pricks who are always the victim, massively self righteous and truly useless. Needless to say, I didn't live with him a moment longer than I had to. Also, as far as I'm aware he's still not made any money from any dubstep remixes. He is currently living in a significantly nicer house than mine though, and he's not paying a penny towards it. Oh, and he has a dog and a car. The number of parking tickets he received due to getting baked, sleeping through his alarm and failing to move his car was astounding. Hundreds of pounds.
    Ribble Audax - FCN 5
    Dedacciai Pista - FCN 3
  • pliptrot
    pliptrot Posts: 582
    byke68 wrote:
    Maybe I should give up work and live on benefits

    But you won't, will you? Everyone who is suspicious of those out of work "..bigger car than ME, bigger house than ME, more kids than ME, blahblahblah.." and makes these claims falls down at this point, as they know very well how tight benefits can be.

    If you don't like people who are unemployed, so be it. But to suggest that it's an easy option is foolish. And to consider that there is any direct link between income and apparent wealth is also touchingly naive. Some people don't spend it all, some people spend more than they have. Like your irksome neighbour with that scrubber, for example.
  • whitebait01
    whitebait01 Posts: 610
    pliptrot wrote:
    byke68 wrote:
    Maybe I should give up work and live on benefits

    But you won't, will you? Everyone who is suspicious of those out of work "..bigger car than ME, bigger house than ME, more kids than ME, blahblahblah.." and makes these claims falls down at this point, as they know very well how tight benefits can be.

    If you don't like people who are unemployed, so be it. But to suggest that it's an easy option is foolish. And to consider that there is any direct link between income and apparent wealth is also touchingly naive. Some people don't spend it all, some people spend more than they have. Like your irksome neighbour with that scrubber, for example.

    Personally I'd like my life to have some purpose. I'd like to keep my self-respect and dignity. Some who are on benefits are trying hard to find jobs, I know. If I was made redundant I would do my damnedest to find work again as quickly as possible, as I've had to do previously. I didn't sign on then, I used my savings to live on until I found another job. I spent all day every day calling agencies, emailing CVs etc until I found a job. It took me five weeks and I found those five weeks awful. I know some people go much longer and I can imagine how hard it is.

    However, others on benefits, like the guy I mentioned above, just want an easy life. They want to be able to get up early in the afternoon, sit around and get free money and free housing. For him, being able to smoke pot, lie in and make shit dubstep was preferable to earning a greater amount of money but having to get up early and do a day's work. It really was as simple as that. His victim mentality, inability to follow requests/orders from superiors without throwing a bitch fit and regularly calling in sick resulting in him eventually getting fired didn't help.
    Ribble Audax - FCN 5
    Dedacciai Pista - FCN 3
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023
    pliptrot wrote:
    byke68 wrote:
    Maybe I should give up work and live on benefits

    But you won't, will you? Everyone who is suspicious of those out of work "..bigger car than ME, bigger house than ME, more kids than ME, blahblahblah.." and makes these claims falls down at this point, as they know very well how tight benefits can be.

    If you don't like people who are unemployed, so be it. But to suggest that it's an easy option is foolish. And to consider that there is any direct link between income and apparent wealth is also touchingly naive. Some people don't spend it all, some people spend more than they have. Like your irksome neighbour with that scrubber, for example.

    Well if it's not an easy option then that is all the more reason to reform the system sharpish and stop anyone else from suffering so badly.
  • NickintheLakes
    NickintheLakes Posts: 258
    What a load of tosh these slavery remarks are.

    Apart from those who are physically or mentally unable to work (and I have no problem with society providing care for anyone in this situation) why does anyone have the right to be a net drain on the country.

    I have to work to get live and get the things that I want so why shouldn't someone on benefits do the same. Seriously, just why should they get something for nothing?

    I hear the argument that we need to change some sectors of societies ways of thinking to improve their lot. Well how about changing their thinking to 'here you go, do something for the community and the community will give you something back'. Now that's a really good lesson to learn.

    And this is not a downer on anyone who has grafted all their life and is down on their luck about whom we always hear in these threads but it is aimed at the bone idle sods who spend their whole lives doing naff all at the expense of others.
  • Nico Adie
    Nico Adie Posts: 7
    NickintheLakes wrote:
    What a load of tosh these slavery remarks are.

    Apart from those who are physically or mentally unable to work (and I have no problem with society providing care for anyone in this situation) why does anyone have the right to be a net drain on the country.

    I have to work to get live and get the things that I want so why shouldn't someone on benefits do the same. [Seriously, just why should they get something for nothing?

    I hear the argument that we need to change some sectors of societies ways of thinking to improve their lot. Well how about changing their thinking to 'here you go, do something for the community and the community will give you something back'. Now that's a really good lesson to learn.

    And this is not a downer on anyone who has grafted all their life and is down on their luck about whom we always hear in these threads but it is aimed at the bone idle sods who spend their whole lives doing naff all at the expense of others.

    Presumably you insist on paying for treatment you receive on the NHS then? After all you get it for nothing, just like they get their benefits for nothing. They pay taxes too, VAT remember?

    From what you've described, you think benefits should be treated as a reward. That's missing the point entirely. Benefits are there, for everyone who needs them. Fair play to anyone who's happy to sit around all day with virtually no money or tangible possessions, I personally couldn't imagine a worse way to live my life in this country.

    The crux of my argument is that benefit claimants cost the country much, much, much less than tax evasion/avoidance by multinationals and the super rich. I can't understand why more people don't direct their ire at them instead of benefit cheats. I suppose some people just like to pick on the easy target, which is understandable. Maybe they feel better about themselves for doing it.
  • EKIMIKE
    EKIMIKE Posts: 2,232
    *Anecdote* >> Scumbags
    Canyon Endurace CF 2014 | Canyon Ultimate CF 2010
  • EKIMIKE
    EKIMIKE Posts: 2,232
    *Anecdote* >> Society has failed them

    The only useful statement in this thread has been:
    George Shaw wrote:
    Unemployment rate 2.65 million, vacancies 460,000 - Office of National Statistics
    Canyon Endurace CF 2014 | Canyon Ultimate CF 2010
  • Nico Adie
    Nico Adie Posts: 7
    EKIMIKE wrote:
    *Anecdote* >> Society has failed them

    The only useful statement in this thread has been:
    George Shaw wrote:
    Unemployment rate 2.65 million, vacancies 460,000 - Office of National Statistics

    Interesting viewpoint, but you'll have to back that up with facts for it to become an acceptable statement in your own eyes.

    I certainly wasn't trying to offer a definitive viewpoint, just a contrast to previous posts that I disagreed with. It's a discussion, we're all adults. No need to try and impose rules which neccessitate something to be tangible before it can be deemed useful.
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    whitebait01 wrote:
    I moved to London after uni and one of the guys from my course ended up moving in with us, as we were one short. I luckily got a temp job the day before I moved to London and since then have worked 9-5 at various jobs without once claiming benefits (worked at Game and Sainsbury's night shifts whilst at uni).

    Meanwhile, he got straight onto housing benefits and JSA. He managed to get them to agree that remixing dubstep tunes counted as actively seeking work so all he had to do was sign on once a week.

    Needless to say it used to boil my wee-wee to get home from work and see him slumped in front of my TV in a dressing gown, stoned, having done nothing with his day. What pushed me over the edge though, was finding out that they'd recently brought in an initiative to pay housing benefits to the claimant rather than directly to the landlord. We found this out when it turned out he was three months behind on rent, but had been to several festivals over the summer and had spent the remainder of the housing benefits on drugs at said festivals.

    His girlfriend's dad sorted him out some easy cash in hand work, which he could do from home on his computer. Seriously, the most basic of tasks. He failed to meet the deadlines several times and eventually the dad stopped trying to help him.

    Some people are just lazy, good for nothing pricks who are always the victim, massively self righteous and truly useless. Needless to say, I didn't live with him a moment longer than I had to. Also, as far as I'm aware he's still not made any money from any dubstep remixes. He is currently living in a significantly nicer house than mine though, and he's not paying a penny towards it. Oh, and he has a dog and a car. The number of parking tickets he received due to getting baked, sleeping through his alarm and failing to move his car was astounding. Hundreds of pounds.

    You and your ex-flatmate are Mark and Jeremy from the Peep Show and I claim my five pounds.
  • whitebait01
    whitebait01 Posts: 610
    johnfinch wrote:
    You and your ex-flatmate are Mark and Jeremy from the Peep Show and I claim my five pounds.

    Not quite. What you have to imagine is a significantly less loveable Jeremy, a significantly more attractive and suave Mark and two other people in the house who also went to the same uni (we all studied music) and they both had jobs as well. This guy was a waster and a moron. Also, as far as I'm aware he never took a strap-on up the bum and I'm pretty sure we never dressed up as nazis.
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