The shame of Austerity Britain

Doesn’t it just show how unfair and stupid some of the regulations are. Having sepsis and the long stay in hospital etc that man needs nutritious food and a warm safe place to live. That is actually disgusting. Would not have happened in the days of the hospital almoner!

News reports of people slipping through our increasingly punitive welfare system are frequently reported. Some people may choose to ignore them, but they are unfortunately not unusual.

A Kilmarnock man who slipped into a six-week coma after surgery has been left to survive on just £70 a month.
Stephen Benzie was left fighting for his life at Crosshouse Hospital after his bowel split and he contracted septicemia.
During his surgery the 54-year-old suffered a heart attack and a stroke, was left temporarily paralysed as a result and lost six stone in weight in the weeks following.
And that meant the father-of-one fell foul of the Universal Credit system with his benefits being stopped when he failed to sign on after the surgery
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/kilmarnock-man-who-slipped-six-12622801

Monica Perhaps these new and very unpleasant right wingers on Gransnet are driving you rightwards but they're certainly not having that effect on me.

I miss the, as you call them, "left wing enthusiasts" who recently left Gransnet. They at least presented a substantive argument, backing up what they said with references to links to research and reports - which were often derided.

grannyactivist Your account of the experiences of people you work with who have fallen on hard times was very moving. Hopefully it will give some Gransnetters pause for thought - but I won't hold my breath. It would be nice if those of of us whose lives are relatively untroubled could be a little more sympathetic and less condemnatory of others who have been less fortunate. I agree with you regarding so-called "community care". The hospitals that provided a place of safety and recuperation for people ungergoing mental health crises and addiction issues have now all gone, replaced by a much more haphazard, and increasingly under-funded, support system.

Of course the rich pay massively more on the items you Davidhs. They pay much less of their overall responsibility nooner on those items than do the poor or even the ‘struggling middle’.
Grannyactivist speaks knowledgable about the homeless. Many of us have direct knowledge of what it’s like to be disadvantaged. One of my relatives is on the verge of eviction from the two bed flat he was allocated almost thirty years ago. He moved from claiming job seekers to being self employed a couple of years ago. He earns less than he got on benefits but no longer has to apply for hundreds of jobs he’s no chance of getting, slo g with all the additional stress of claiming. He can’t afford the bedroom tax. The child who used to live in the spare room is no longer elibigle for housing benefit. Two more homeless and vulnerable individuals soon.
I expect many of us have similar experience. I have in my personal and what was my working life.
I don’t understand how people can be so lacking in compassion, so ill informed or just plain bigoted.

You have also restored my faith grannyactivist that there some GN who have compassion and understanding about some people's lives which may unravel and leave them in such dire circumstances, over which they have little control. They do need people to advocate on their behalf and speak up for them. Any one of us are only one life changing event away from ending in a similar position. Sometimes the postings become so toxic and smug I feel like leaving GN.

NOBODY can say they cannot afford to eat. davidhs
There have been many stories in the press about people who have had benefits stopped for a variety of reasons, often no fault of their own.
Perhaps you should read grannyactivist’s posts from earlier today.
Other people pay high rents, high utility bills, or have outstanding debts leading to little money to spare for food. Most parents prioritise feeding their children and many go hungry themselves.
It’s shaming that food is unaffordable to so many people in modern Britain.

Well VAT hits the poorest hardest because, having a much lower income, they spend a greater proportion of their income on VAT taxable goods.
If you need to raise taxes, tax the wealthy not the poor!

The data, however, tells a different story. The number crunchers at the Office for National Statistics have published a new report showing that the poorest fifth of UK households pay significantly more in VAT as a percentage of their disposable income than the richest fifth. As the graph below shows, the poorest fifth spend nearly 10 per cent of their disposable income in VAT compared with 5 per cent for the richest households.

I'm not having any of it regarding food banks, food has never been cheaper, NOBODY can say they cannot afford to eat
Well now we know don’t we?
Given that food and everyday expenses take up a higher percentage of weekly income for low income families than the rich, , I really don’t see your 25% VAT suggestion as viable , does anybody? .

Food, children's clothes, rent, healthcare, take away food and other basics are VAT free, the rich pay much more on cars, fuel, alcohol, restaurants, clothes, they pay massively more.

Perhaps all the more conservative posters on this thread are closet left-wingers, trying to flush out real right wingers by driving us rightwards.

Some 'interesting' logic there, MOnica. Perhaps you could give us some examples.

Increasing VAT to 25% would hit the very poorest in our society. Is that what you want, Davidhs?

I'm not having any of it regarding food banks, food has never been cheaper, NOBODY can say they cannot afford to eat.
That said there are many areas that are a problem, housing, social care and NHS and others, like it or not we are living too long, taking up housing and causing much more hospital and care cost.
We are not going to solve this by tinkering around the edges as we are now, major changes in taxation are going to be needed. Taxing the wealthy does not work because they always find a way to sidestep it, in any case most MPs are rich they are not going to vote their own prosperity away.
Increasing VAT to 25% would bring in about £30billion that would take a lot of pressure off health services, and because the rich spend more they will pay the most.

Thank you for that long informative post GA -very sobering . It is awful to think that in this day and age we have people in the position of those you described.
You are a very strong as well as sympathetic person to be able to continue to do that work. Do you have access to services which can help these people or are they really just on their own?

Would all those who dismiss experts, prefer to have their heart transplant done by a Personal trainer, or have the MOT on the car they drive their DGC in done by an upholsterer?

This selective dismissing of all experts who do not agree with the non-experts is very juvenile. I most connect those kind of comments with the younger members of Momentum. Do you remember some of our recently lost left wing enthusiasts who used to argue like this?

Perhaps all the more conservative posters on this thread are closet left-wingers, trying to flush out real right wingers by driving us rightwards.

Hear, hear, Iam64 and mcem.
It is reassuring to read grannyactivist’s comments coming as they do from someone who actually has first hand experience of what she is talking about. Sad that there are others who are too ready to point the finger of blame, pull up the drawbridge and in whom the “milk of human kindness” seems to have dried up. What a legacy for our grandchildren

Good morning. It’s a relief to see posts from posters who have a more open, compassionate and positive approach to life than some of the selfish, negative and smug comments from some.

Thank you grannya you've gone a long way to restoring my faith.

I've just read all the posts in this thread and I'm actually feeling tearful at the sheer ignorance and/or indifference some posters have shown. I have spent time every day this week (and almost every week for the past three years) working with homeless people who are living on the streets.
Today I was with a middle-aged veteran with mental health problems who sat and cried across the table from me because he is so embarrassed at being in a situation where he is living on the streets and needs to accept help. I also spent time with another man of a similar age who has worked and paid taxes all his life whilst living with, and caring for, his elderly widowed mother; she died and her tenancy died with her. He refuses to apply for benefits even though he has health problems, instead he scours the town every day for odd jobs; he does not beg and has never smoked, nor does he take drugs and he is teetotal, yet he sleeps each night on a bench. If we didn't have 'care in the community' another of the people I work with would be being looked after in an institution, but instead has lost touch with reality and is left to wander the streets. None of these people have a phone, none of them beg, none of them 'deserve' to be living on the streets and none of them want to be homeless. All of them need someone to not only care, but to take action on their behalf.
Those are just three of this week's examples - the number of clients so far this year is already greater than the total number from last year. They come from all walks of life and backgrounds and listening to their stories is at best upsetting and at worst truly harrowing. I work closely with the local food bank (referral only) and they are seeing a huge increase in working families being unable to afford to feed their children.
I seriously urge anyone who hasn't seen it to watch the film, 'I, Daniel Blake'. It is a heartbreakingly true account of the spiral of despair that leads so many of my homeless clients to consider ending their lives.

Sorry beau's post /rant about everything left-wing!

You're right gill and if I thought the voice of reason would even be listened to, I 'd go on trying. However since I 'm scrounging from NHS Scotland because I was stupid enough to have an accident and clutter up a&e plus operating theatre and 2 different wards, I should just admit my failings and crawl off into a corner. After all I have let the country down in so many ways (See nicenanny 's post about left-wing scourges) Mea culpa!

Good grief. There are some very, very selfish and nasty old women posting on here. I hope that your smug self satisfied little lives implode on you one day. GN used to be a place for healthy debate and even a good heated one sometimes, but recently it has become a harbour for the narrow minded and bigoted and I am not sure I wish to be associated with it. But, if I, and others who think the same, back out, we will have lost to the ignorant and smug, so I shall stay a bit longer,bad luck.

Thank you mostly. Rarely have I been as aware of that thought as I am now.

I hope your hip’s on the mend mcem.
We are so lucky to have the NHS but we have to protect it from underfunding and creeping privatisation.

And how many 'ganged up' to be mean and nasty? I notice you have answered not a single one of my more relevant posts
Get over yourself nice nanny!
I'll just get on with taking advantage of the wonderful staff of NHS Scotland.

So two people agree and it’s “ganging up”?