General Chat

A leaked document suggests that the government are set to amnounce radical changes to the benefits system.

Incapacity benefit is to be scrapped in a radical shake up and unemployed people claiming income support will also be made to carry out community service if they fail to find a job after a year.

And drug addicts will have benefits docked unless they can prove they are getting treatment to kick their habit.

Only disabled people "with the greatest needs" and full-time carers will be exempt from being expected to find work in future.

Long-term income support claimants will be given work to do in return for benefits in an attempt to make them find a job, and lone parents will also be expected to seek work when their youngest child reaches seven.

The changes are likely to be opposed by many in the Labour Party, but are likely to be welcomed by the other parties.

What do you think?

Bring it on
Jenxx

I'd like to see their definition of disabled people with the greatest needs! That probably equates to DEAD.

Can you tell I am a cynic?

Sue

great idea
Dave

I'll believe it when I see it !!!! xx

I'm with Jen, bring it on.

My mothers neighbour is on benefit, he and his family have a car, a caravan and two holidays abroad a year because he does work on the side and gets paid for it (the bad back suddenly disapears when he gets offered a few extra quid on the side) .

My husband and I both work and are lucky if we can scrape one holiday a year!

Sounds good to me.
Too many lazy spongers out there,make them do something for their money,and give it to the ones who really need it.

Marion

Must be nice to be so healthy..............


............and expect everyone to be the same.

Gill

Whoooaa hold on!

I am all for catching the benefit frauds BUT I want the truly disabled to be treated with respect and paid appropriately.

If all the fraudulent claimants were weeded out then there would be adequate funds available to support those who really need it.

By all means 'shop' those who you think are claiming without good reason but spare a thought for those who cannot work and are genuine.

Sue

this shake up is late coming, the sooner the the better, as long as it is for the work shy, and not a excuse to hit the the really sick people, cos you here it all the time that they have stopped disabled money, who are genuine in need.

its the first thing they should do is make people work for there money genuine people dont mind at all ,

so what is disabled - I am still fighting to get DLA as I have trouble walking any distant but because mine is called the silent disability people think I am fit and can do most things what they dont see is me walking a small distance but in extreme pain and then coming in and lying down and falling asleep because of the cfs.

Yes get the cheats sorted out but whenever they do these shake ups its always the ones that are true claimants that seem to suffer, If I could work I would but dont think there are many employees who would employ someone that falls asleep a lot and cant walk or stand for long and cant hold or carry things.

About time too,:))
The only gripe i have is, every year they say, "we are going to reform the benefit system," and we have leaked documents to back it up, when are they going to have the guts to follow it all through, we all know it needs to be done, just please hurry up and do it............. i'm a cynic too..xxx

just to add, same here, i hope the disabled dont get a bum deal out of this, dawnie's right, proving you have disability is hard enough, isnt it.... :(

With the current state of the economy the public will not stand for any further tax increases and are indeed clamouring for tax cuts. Given that this government has the highest budget deficit since ww2, then something has to give and that means reducing expenditure in a big way.

There are really only three options, Benefits, Education or the NHS as everything else pales into insignificance by comparison, so it looks like benefits are the get the shake up.

This is always going to be controversial, but there are an increasing number of people who feel that the present system of benefits is over complicated, costly to administer and costly to the tax payer, and does not necessarily benefit those who are in most need.

Unfortunately a lot of this is down to Gordon Brown who has prided himself on tinkering with the benefits system over the past ten years, and must share a lot of responsibility for the situation now facing the government.

It will be interesting to hear what is said on Monday which I gather is when the announcement is due to be made.

I will be waitng to hear the outcome,

I think this was always going to be a difficult problem to address, people like Dawn who have an "invisible " disability, those with ME and anything else that there is not a definitive test for will have a hard time proving their problems.
Those who claim falsely will always find a way to fake it.
Who will pay to police those unemployed doing community work.
Drug addicts will resort even more to crime to fund their habit.
Again who will pay to sort out work for those on income support.
We are already a nation whos own children are being bought up most of the day by some stranger paid to do so, and what are parents supposed to do in half terms and summer holidays.

Let me point out I'm not suggesting we should ignore spongers and idlers, but this sort of problem will only be addressed over the long term with changes of attitudeto being on benefits..

hi peter,
i've got the radio on, the news has just said, alistar darling has said there is no more money for schools, public transport, so dont ask for any!!............. :(((, not looking good alround is it... :((
xxx

Ever wondered where the money is going.........


weapons for the defense force take most of it, wages for the political leaders.....think tanks for the muslims ..............

Good here innit
Gill

As usual it will be the people with the genuine illness's that suffer the most. The people like myself with illness's that cant be seen we have to prove time and time again that we are ill, we are called up for interviews ,for many that is so hard people like myself that have panic attacks are told if we dont go our benefits are stopped, each time having to travel long distances to their offices for medicals with their doctors when they have notes from my doctors and know my illness is incurable,
Yet i know a few people living together but claiming as single parents , they are the people that should be interviewed regularly, the ill people should be left alone

Angie

Doing nothing is the alternative -not palatable to me. Fraudsters , to a greater or lesser degree abound, among the truly disabled.
The system needs a overhaul.
Happy days

Apparently Mr Darling is seriously overdrawn at the bank. It is reported the current account deficit for the first quarter expanded to 20.4 billion pounds -- the largest since 1946.