Something positive about this government

Not that anyone on here will listen.

Fortunately there are people on here who think themselves reasonably well off who do care about those poorer than they are and are prepared to try and do something about it.

Nothing like a bit of I'm all right, Jack, to make me feel ill at reading it.

The majority of voters do not like being though of as poor or victims? Fair enough, pity they didn't care about the poor and the victims,

Much of my career was spent trying to help people with acquired disabilities (strokes, head injuries). The hoops that they had to go through to get the help that they needed were many and complicated.

My experience is of benefits for this group being under applied rather than over. It is already very hard to obtain what is needed for a decent life and many are completely confused by the system and frequently do not apply at all when they are definitely entitled.

I think that our society has a duty to protect the most vulnerable or we cannot call ourselves civilized.

The government insists that it is trying to target those most in need and prevent benefits going to those who do not need it. Fair enough. But how do you do this fairly and in a way that is not so complex that people are too afraid to apply?

The nonsense that we see in ITV documentaries of benefits scroungers makes good TV precisely because it is not the norm. The real norm is people struggling against the odds because they either do not know they qualify for help or because they cannot deal with the complex system.

If our tax system is going to help the rich, it cannot justify not also helping the poor and disabled.

How dare you both imply that we don't care. Its people like you who can only view the great British public in extremes who actually miss many key points. Nothing this govt will ever do will ever even be OK with you. Labour had their chance and look what happened. Us people in the middle pay our taxes and in many cases do a great deal more to help those in need.

Oh I think there is jam......just not for us!

Jane10, It seems you're the one making stereotypical judgements.

Anyway, it's good to hear that you're one of the kindly souls who don't mind paying a few pounds extra in taxes to support the most vulnerable.

Threads like this are always strange and you see posters in colours either to your liking or not.

For me? This government is giving the people a referendum on the EU, is letting the electorate decide whether we should stay or go, and for that alone, they deserve great praise. Cameron kept his promise.

Another good thing is that quite simply, as someone who has had no hand-outs in life, as someone who has grafted and taught her children to do their best, I feel Corbyn and company will never represent us, no way. My Dad was a Union man and as a working class family we used to believe Labour represented us.

It doesn't any more and hasn't for a long time.

We aspire to better things, through graft, not inherited wealth and I think the modern Labour party would want to take from us, or make us pay more to support all-comers and those without aspirations who take but have no intentions of ever giving back.

I support a welfare state, the one created for those in need, for the sick, the frail, the weak, the disabled, the elderly and for those who find themselves suffering hard times.

I'll hold my hands up and say our welfare system does need a huge shake up. It's a brave party which will do this and I hope we see more fairness and less waste.

Our NHS and benefits system IS being abused. I am happy to pay my taxes and NI, and have done, all my working life, but I suspect Corbyn's Labour party would allow abuses to continue, no questions asked, and bring on board the hard left who are likely to damn people who do graft, who have aspirations.

This Conservative government has supported working people, those on low incomes and as for the NHS, I was treated wonderfully when seriously ill in 2014, but abominably when similarly ill in 2005 under a Labour government. The NHS delivered under a Conservative government.

I lost my allegiance to the Labour party then, when in a time of great need, physical and financial, I was told I was entitled to nothing, because I'd paid into a private pension over the years. My income fell by three quarters yet Labour left me to rot. I lived on the breadline under Labour, having an income much lower than many who'd never worked.

I and many like me, have become the enemy of Labour today. We are their 'fat cats,' despite having very little, despite a life-time of graft. My family would be penalised under Labour for doing our best. The Conservatives have recognised effort and struggle and given us breaks and in my experience have shown more compassion to the sick, given I have been unwell for more than a decade.

Yup, unashamedly anecdotal and personal, but I fear what would become of our nation under the extremely intolerant left wing and the fervent but politically naive youngsters who are jumping on the Corbyn bandwagon. I can look back now and smile at my idealised view of the world from the perspective of a 6th former or student happy to join in any sit-in, anywhere, for 'justice'.

Labour would be more concerned with propping up those who are able to abuse the system, a system which HAS become unfair and to our cost, supportive of those coming into the country and able to tap into the NHS and the benefits system.

Something has to be done. I believe the Conservative party has taken the poisoned chalice, one no other party has dared to inspect over the years, and is appraising it.

I am aware that is not a popular notion, but I am prepared to stick my head over the parapet and say a shake up is long overdue and those who support a proper functioning welfare state/NHS will get a better, healthier, fairer one.

Day6 says it all!

Day6 you have written exactly what I think, ( but you have done it better than I would have done.)
The Reason Labour lost the CE under Miliband wasn't just that people could not see him as PM material ( though that didn't help) but that he constantly spoke as though only the poor mattered.He and the party miscalculated badly, Joe Soap is not doing badly thanks to high employment, low interest rates etc and is aspiring to do even better.People thought Labour winning would usher in a high benefit bill, plus they would further ruin the economy.
They did not lose because they were not left wing enough..... And now they have Corbyn and McDonnell et al.How the Labour Party has shot itself in the foot.

GE not CE.

Well said Day 6 and roses.

Oops, there I go again - agreeing with someone!

Cameron has said we should visit places like the Lake District during the Easter break, it will help the economy , that's a positive.
Does he mean visit the M6 motorway services just to get away from the traffic jam?

Could be Jamila, could be he is concerned too many from the UK will choose to join him in Lanzarote

Oh well, at least Cornwall can breathe a sigh of relief...

Now if only we could combine the warmth and sunshine of Lanzarote with the scenery of The Lake District, that would make a worthwhile destination.

Could the previous posters clarify something, please?

Are you saying that you've never needed support from outside, because you've never been destitute, ill or disabled? Or are you saying that you have suffered destitution, illness and disability, but somehow found inner resources to cope?

Do you have enough put by, in case you need support in the last years/months of your lives? Or are you reckoning on dropping dead instantly so that you don't need any support?

I once spent an entire week in Keswick wearing a rain poncho, it just never let up!

Well said Day6. I too come from a working class background, my father was a union official and actively campaigned for the Labour party but he would not support the party of today. He also believed that people should work hard and support themselves whilst those who were unable to should be helped, he would not be happy with the benefit culture so common today. The welfare state was set up as a safety net - not a life style choice.

Now you have mentioned Cornwall Ana I feel the urge to eat a pasty ( or should that be a pastie?)

Bonjour rosessontrouges!

I love the historical revisionism ;-)

The benefit system is a life style choice? People tick a box and choose benefits not work?

Anyone who claims a previous generation involved in the Labour Party wouldn't now be involved , will you give the decades of the involvement please?

Not kind to mention pasties on a thread for positive things about this government, Osbourne has a thing against pasties

It is obviously not possible for any Government to fulfil all the promises that won them the election. Years of experience have taught us that. In the same way every new Government has probably unseen problems to cope with when once it takes office. Like most Governments this one has done some good and some bad, and if you are anti-conservative then you will find all the faults. You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. (or if you anti whatever Government is in office, you can change the word "please" to "fool"). To quote.