Universal Credit

Yes. Uneconomical and unsafe ones.

Most or indeed all of the miners were offered redeployment. Labour closed a hell of a lot of pits - more than the tories, but to reform the industry, make it safe, sustainable and profitable.

Thatcher killed off the industry; took away livelihoods, not just of miners but many linked industry jobs and indirectly loads more job losses through the communities being decimated and having nothing to spend. Unemployment reached record post war highs. She might have closed less pits but she cost hundreds of thousands more jobs. Thirty five years later places like Barnsley, Donny, Rotherham still haven’t really recovered.

Chalk and cheese trying to compare the two - but it’s yet more right wing rhetoric to add to the opening theme of this thread.

You appear to speak fondly of ‘Mrs Thatcher’ and indeed ‘Mrs T’. I’ll say one thing for you, you certainly don’t post for popularity as being a fan of hers goes down like a sh.it sandwich on here - and quite rightly.

 

I’ve posted about this before but my friend had to quickly get away from her husband. She had to find a month’s deposit, a month rent in advance and signing on fees to get her own place (house was owned by his parents who they paid rent to). She is a teacher and gets a decent wage but had no real savings as he controlled the money. We helped her move all her stuff whilst he was at work one day during the school hols. Unbeknownst to us she had to visit an emergency food bank for a few months and had taken a pay day loan. She said she had never felt more embarrassed in her life.

 

Yep, none of us can be smug or complacent about our situations. Life can change in an instant, and most people are only 3 missed mortgage payments away from being homeless. The reasons are many and varied and a lot have been decades in the making, it's a societal problem, but we all want quick easy answers and one person/party/policy to blame.

 

I don’t buy the ‘shrinking market’ line, especially not in software, which is what I’m in.

I get multiple job offers a day as it is, I could have a job by the end of the week, I’m pretty sure. I have enough in savings to last me 6 months or so.

Look, I’m not saying there’s not a need for benefits. I just personally think that money is better spent helping people become self sufficient than keeping them chugging along.

 

******

 

Unfortunately, those on the right side of the political spectrum tend to see things in black and white, quick profits and short-term gains. While these are useful, you also have to consider the long term ramifications of their policies. One prime example (in a thread that is touching homelessness) is Right-to-Buy. On paper, a fantastic idea to help people get on the housing ladder. Unfortunately, selling off properties and not letting councils replace them has led to the situation we find the country in now. Inflation housing costs, high rents, high homelessness.

The money made from selling social housing should have been used to build new social housing. This would have been cheaper to maintain (than older properties) and given people the opportunity for affordable housing when they need it.

 

If you are in software and not threatened by the movement of jobs to India you are not seeing the full market. Yes, there are lots of jobs at the moment - I'm in infrastructure/cloud so am in the same position. But when companies can pay you £100k or a team in India for the same money...

 

My Dad used to say to us when we were little "never feel ashamed to ask for help, those who refuse to help should be ashamed"

 

Those going on about 'freeloaders' have a read of this.

For comparison the NHS budget last year was circa £120bn.

 

And that's great for you , but what you also have to understand is that economically not everyone can go out and earn a 6 figure wage . You would merely create hyper inflation . But I guess that's what our economy has become , big money to the people at the top , little money to the binmen and supermarket worker at the bottom even though both are just as important to our economy.

 

Of course you’ve been lucky sick of hearing how people who’ve had the breaks saying they’ve worked hard as if no feker else has.
Nobodies saying you haven’t worked hard but how dare you say someone who hadn’t had the breaks/luck/ contacts etc haven’t worked as hard as you so not got the rewards you have .
There’s plenty of people who could do your job but havn’t had the luck,so you can say all you want about how hard you have worked but don’t tell us no one else has and that they havnt worked as hard because they are not where you are because that’s ******

 

Bit of a sweeping generalisation about folk who don't share your political beliefs. As I said, it's always easier if there's just one entity to blame.

 

Ok, so in general I believe that those policies enacted by the party on the right side of the political spectrum in the UK only tends to think of the short-term profit and rarely considers anything beyond the immediate cost/benefits. Can you counter my thesis by suggesting any policies by this (or the previous Tory) government that haven't left more long term problems that they have solved in the short-term?

 

'counter my thesis' - pmsl,

Easy tiger, getting a bit carried away with yourself, you seem to think I'm a tory spokesperson or something. My point was that successive policies and social shifts have contributed to a homelessness and general housing crisis.

But again, just 1 entity to blame, keeps it tidy eh ?

 

Didn't realize you were the missus

 

Many would if they were american's living in america. There are whole middle-income neighbourhoods in detroit that are now empty. This is because america has no safety net for people who lose their jobs. If one loses one's job through no fault of one's own then they will be offered welfare for 3 months: then that's it, eff all else. Our welfare system is without doubt one of the most generous in the world. The problem here though is the most vulnerable people in our society are facing the biggest challenge and this should not be happening.
Can't imagine it getting any easier with the impending brexit either.

 

Ignore him he’s a pillock, I ‘ve answered him on more than 1 occasion about exactly same he just sticks it in coz as I’ve said he’s a pillock. Thank **** our forefathers/ mother’s stood up and fought and weren’t owt like him.

 

Child benefit is a ....errr...benefit

 

https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/child-poverty-uk-rising-joseph-rowntree-report/

 

The same also said anyone below 27k was in poverty.

So that includes me.

The definitions are becoming that stretched and blurred its almost laughable.