[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by NewMan

You know where there are lots of free books? The library!

How many of these are being closed down due to council cuts

Our local library is now a mobile van which comes twice a week

[sidicks]

Originally Posted by la gran siete

nothing but kindles are a good alternative option .Lots of free books on there

Is that part of Red Ed's new manifesto?

Top rate of tax to be increased to 60% to fund Kindles for the unemployed??!


Sidicks

[kav]

Originally Posted by Desmo

I'd be happy to seem them raised IF the money could only be spent on certain items like food, electricity, gas, etc. rather than TV, Sky, Cigarettes, Alcohol, etc.

Originally Posted by macleod.mac

Job Seekers Allowance should be around the level where you can comfortably survive, without any luxuries. Otherwise there is no motivation to improve your standard of living and therefore no motivation to get a job/improve your education in order to get a job.

Well said.

[Desmo]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

You can buy a lot of this stuff second hand cheap on places like ebay

In which case you don't need more money?

[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by Desmo

In which case you don't need more money?

No it's case for some that they should not be spending the existing money they are getting on these type of items

[NewMan]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

How many of these are being closed down due to council cuts

Our local library is now a mobile van which comes twice a week

So that's a good enough reason to give every unemployed person a free Kindle then? Come on, don't drag yourself down with him...

[GAZBEROTTEN]

Originally Posted by la gran siete

how is anyone supposed to live on £67.50 pw?

one way round it would be to set up charities specifically for donating food .We already have one here where i live but it only collects once a month , which isnt enough IMO.If sufficient food can be donated then recipients only need worry about paying their energy water bills and at least live some kind of life

Couldnt agree more on this. Rising heating and electric bills not to mention other additional costs such as bus fares which all increase will get to the point where no Job Seeker will be able to even afford Bus fare.

£67.50 at the most will only let you eat and keep warm for 3 days. And thats being generous dont belive me go try and live on it. Some public figures tried to and they quickly changed there minds about JSA being to high. Better yet have David Cameron live on £67.50 per week for at least two weeks and lets see if he wants to still make JSA cuts. He wont i can bet on that.

[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by NewMan

So that's a good enough reason to give every unemployed person a free Kindle then? Come on, don't drag yourself down with him...

No

But a mobile phone can be useful and a new PAYG one can be bought for under £20 so I don't begrudge the unemployed for having one

[gibbsy]

Originally Posted by GAZBEROTTEN

Better yet have David Cameron live on £67.50 per week.

He probably spends more than that on lunch each day. No sorry, sorry, I forgot, we, the tax payer, subsidise lavish meals for the right honorable members.

[sidicks]

Originally Posted by GAZBEROTTEN

Couldnt agree more on this. Rising heating and electric bills not to mention other additional costs such as bus fares which all increase will get to the point where no Job Seeker will be able to even afford Bus fare.

£67.50 at the most will only let you eat and keep warm for 3 days. And thats being generous dont belive me go try and live on it. Some public figures tried to and they quickly changed there minds about JSA being to high. Better yet have David Cameron live on £67.50 per week for at least two weeks and lets see if he wants to still make JSA cuts. He wont i can bet on that.

How much do you think it should cost a week to live?

Break it down between food / drink, transport and heating costs...

[la gran siete]

Originally Posted by sidicks

Is that part of Red Ed's new manifesto?

Top rate of tax to be increased to 60% to fund Kindles for the unemployed??!


Sidicks

i am trying to think of ways of improving the quality of their lives.Kindles sound good to me , provided they are readers of course

[sidicks]

Originally Posted by la gran siete

i am trying to think of ways of improving the quality of their lives.Kindles sound good to me , provided they are readers of course

What about the impact on the poorest working families???

[gazbarber]

Originally Posted by la gran siete

i am trying to think of ways of improving the quality of their lives.Kindles sound good to me , provided they are readers of course

Why should we be looking to improve their quality of life? Are these people suffering absolute poverty?

The state should step in to stop real absolute poverty, after that the long term unemployed should focus on getting a job. A comfortable life on benefits is a negative incentive to get a job, why bother.

[la gran siete]

Originally Posted by gibbsy

He probably spends more than that on lunch each day. No sorry, sorry, I forgot, we, the tax payer, subsidise lavish meals for the right honorable members.

i am reminded of that channel four fly on the wall documentary where a group of MPs were seconded to take part in attempting to live the life of those on benefits.Of course they all failed, most notably the Labour fella Austin Mitchell , but i kind of thought -"would it not be a good idea to force bankers, executives and those that sit here pontificating about benefit claimants , to live on JSA for a year?" I am quite sure their tune would change.They might even learn the meaning of compassion and put away their vile rhetoric

[la gran siete]

Originally Posted by gazbarber

Why should we be looking to improve their quality of life? Are these people suffering absolute poverty?

The state should step in to stop real absolute poverty, after that the long term unemployed should focus on getting a job. A comfortable life on benefits is a negative incentive to get a job, why bother.

i would suggest £67 pw is about as close as one could get in this country to absolute poverty.£100 pw is far from comfortable who the heck would want to live on that?? In any case I dont see why they should be penalised for finding it very hard to get a job As I said 450k vacancies does not fit in to 2.5 million unemployed many of which would have lost their jobs for no fault of their own and as the result of this governments punitive cuts.

[la gran siete]

Originally Posted by sidicks

What about the impact on the poorest working families???

a kindle has an impact on them?????Dont be daft! The poorest working families should be payed more anyway narrowing the gap with the richest

[kav]

Is £67.50 the only support that people on JSA get from the government? If so, I'd be inclined to agree it's not sufficient for one person to live on. However, if it's one of a number of benefits which people out of work are entitled to, then it's a bit disingenuous to suggest that £67.50 is all they have.

[NewMan]

Originally Posted by la gran siete

i am trying to think of ways of improving the quality of their lives.Kindles sound good to me , provided they are readers of course

Two-week luxury cruises would increase their quality of life too, as would spa days, big-screen tvs, all the latest movies, consoles and games... Why should it be the state's role to provide these things to the unemployed? Surely the goal should be to get them into work so they buy these things for themselves, like the rest of us suckers who work have to?

[sidicks]

Originally Posted by la gran siete

i would suggest £67 pw is about as close as one could get in this country.£100 pw is far from comfortable who the heck would want to live on that??

Benefits should be at a subsistence level not one at which people would want to live on!

Originally Posted by la gran siete

In any case I dont see why they should be penalised for finding it very hard to get a job

They are not bring penalised, they are receiving free money!! Money which has to come from someone else's pocket!

Originally Posted by la gran siete

As I said 450k vacancies does not fit in to 2.5 million unemployed many of which would have lost their jobs for no fault of their own and as the result of this governments punitive cuts.

Cuts necessary due to a decade of overspending by the previous Labour government.

63 successive quarters of growth and what did we have to show for it?

- A doubled national debt
- A doubled liability for public sector pensions (and the state pension)
- Hundreds of billlions of debt in the form of PFI on which the interest charges is much higher than on mainstream debt and which will only be paid off over 30-50 years

But lest we forget, it's all Thatcher's fault..

[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by gazbarber

Why should we be looking to improve their quality of life? Are these people suffering absolute poverty?

The state should step in to stop real absolute poverty, after that the long term unemployed should focus on getting a job. A comfortable life on benefits is a negative incentive to get a job, why bother.

Wow and some people say I post stupid comments

[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by sidicks

They are not bring penalised, they are receiving free money!!

It's what they are entitled to

[la gran siete]

please enlist the number of people who wish to live on the sum I suggested, bearing in mind what the minimum wage is

forcing someone into nigh on absolute poverty for no fault of their own is called penalising.

cuts necessary due to wicked greedy and incompetent bankers left of the leash after Big Bang



But lest we forget, it's all Thatcher's fault.

definitely part of her legacy for sure although i dont believe for one moment she intended it

[sidicks]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

It's what they are entitled to

And??

How are they bring 'penalised'?

[sidicks]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

Wow and some people say I post stupid comments

You do!! (see below)

[NewMan]

Originally Posted by sidicks

And??

How are they bring 'penalised'?

Obviously because they're not being provided enough money to get the latest games consoles, and not being given free Kindles. It's an abuse of their human rights, innit?!

[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by sidicks

And??

How are they bring 'penalised'?

By people who seem to think they are getting too much money like you

[sidicks]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

By people who seem to think they are getting too much money like you

1) how am I penalising anyone? (I'm paying for them!)

2)?when have I said they are getting too much? I've simply said they should not necessarily be getting anymore (and laughing at the ridiculous suggestions about them given Kindles etc!)


Sidicks

[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by sidicks

You do!! (see below)

So i am an idiot for pointing out a fact

[Desmo]

Originally Posted by Kebabhead

But a mobile phone can be useful and a new PAYG one can be bought for under £20 so I don't begrudge the unemployed for having one

I don't begrudge it either....as long as they don't then say they don't have enough money top heat a house or feed themselves.

[Kebabhead]

Originally Posted by sidicks

1) how am I penalising anyone? (I'm paying for them!)




Sidicks

So your contribution alone pays for all the 2 million plus unemployed and gives you the right to dictate what should and should not be paid

Clearly you are a Government in your own right like a lot of other individual taxc payers