Austerity

Exactly Miss A, they are constantly telling you what you can't have, which drags people down.

Job coach is a bit misleading, really.
When I was told I needed to construct a cv, and told them it would have to be very basic, and wouldn't reflect my skills, they couldn't help.
When I asked about childcare options, as I have no family whatsoever to help out, they didn't know anything at all, and were unable to find out, or even to produce any info on finding a childminder.
All they are employed to do is to keep a watch on you. (By being given your email, so that they can log into your job seekers account)
Its demoralising, to say the least, and all for 73 pounds a week.

it must be practically impossible to hang onto your humanity if you work as a jobs coach or in similar role.

Totally demoralising to be passed around and told to fill in forms all day long.

No wonder people feel low and they are not getting in a nice warm car and driving home for tea.

Back to the 'end of austerity' - how on earth can Mrs May make such promises- when she is in the middle of the biggest mess and gamble - with no solutions in sight?

It is uttely dishonest to do so. If we end up with no deal- austerity will be the least of your worries.

The problems of inefficient administration of a the benefits system have been rife since it all first began. During my SW career I spent a great deal of time explaining to benefits staff what the rules were as they so often got it wrong.

Universal Credit is not a bad benefit in principle, but it did not take a genius to work out that if benefits staff specialising in the administration of one aspect of the system suddenly found themselves having to get their heads round other scenarios (e.g. disability as opposed to unemployment) they were going to struggle. It is yet another example of "back-of-the-envelope" thinking.

Underneath all this we still have the concept of the deserving or the undeserving poor teetering about.

On a programme yesterday private landlords were saying that the rate of arrears has shot up since the introduction of UC and many are now refusing to take on UC claimants. So - add homelessness into the equation.

It truly has been a mess, and those in poverty and in need of benefits must be tearing their hair out trying to simply live.

Paddyann, what rubbish. I have lived with poverty for years, only once did suicide come to my thoughts and it certainly wasn’t because of being poor.

The loss of communites is to blame for many suicides

Unfeeling bureaucracy is a problem as you say MissA sometimes there is no tickbox or easy answer so a person falls through the cracks, then you get a problem with accessing money or something like the Windrush scandal.
Policies are only as good as the workers who are implementing them.

Good post Day6 and appointing a minister for this is at least a start.As you rightly say, there are myriad reasons for suicide.

Modern society, pressures, the way we interact, life, inability to cope, trauma, illness, relationship woes, lack of support, money, drug, alcohol problems, and a brain with a chemical imbalance causing suicidal thoughts are a few of the myriad of reasons why people take their own lives

Yes exactly Day6 the pressures of the way we are forced to live our lives these days is just too much for some people to take.

I have to say that dealing with the dwp drove me almost to the brink.
It wasn't the lack of money, as I've always had a limited income, it was the total and absolute lack of humanity - which incidentally, my 'job coach' at the job centre agreed with.
There was absolutely no help for me whatsoever, nobody to give a shit about the state of my mind..
I can well understand now (although I wouldn't have done before) how people find that they just can't go on being treated as almost subhuman.

seems thy know the numbers are up and rising shame they wont try to alleviate the problem

This thread is entering the realms of the surrealPaddyann

I find your comment regarding suicide crass.

Mental health problems as I am sure you know are varied and complex and those who commit suicide rarely have families who blame those who inhabit number 10 Downing Street, or the chancellor next door for the loss of a loved one.

Modern society, pressures, the way we interact, life, inability to cope, trauma, illness, relationship woes, lack of support, money, drug, alcohol problems, and a brain with a chemical imbalance causing suicidal thoughts are a few of the myriad of reasons why people take their own lives....

Families ask 'why?' when it happens and there is rarely one clear cut reason.

Of course then there are the thousands of deaths that can be laid at the door of the DWP

Really? Really? Your research? I am shocked that you have such a simplistic reason to the tragedy that is suicide.

Many people have or have had money worries. Will families of those who took their own lives now demand compensation from the DWP?

Hardship of ANY sort isn't nice, it's difficult, but it is a sad fact of life. Generations before survived on fresh air and crusts of bread and there weren't mass suicides.

Do you really think we can eradicate all hardship and so alleviate mental health problems? The DWP could do what psychiatrists, antidepressants and trained mental health workers fail to achieve?

This is another "Throw money at the problem and it will go away, shame on you for not giving out free money, it solves all ills" liberal left solution.

It is crass, unfeeling and beyond belief.

Such a caring government ,appointing a minister for Suicide ,seems thy know the numbers are up and rising shame they wont try to alleviate the problem,What CAN a minister for suicide do to stop people jumping in front of trains or hanging themselves or all the other horrible deaths

.Of course then there are the thousands of deaths that can be laid at the door of the DWP ..MAYBE they could start there

I don't think anyone could ever describe Sir John Major as a lefty or a socialist, and he has criticised UC.

POGS,

If you or Day6 can find any post where any poster of a supposed 'far left' inclination says that they think that everyone should (could say they) have exactly the same as their neighbour and no one exist(ed) with more wealth than they have? I will retract the 'vivid imagination' remark.

As it stands I doubt if any of 'us' would find such a state desirable. So it's completely irrelevant to discussions on this forum. And my 'point' still stands.

I do see it as an uncaring Government because they know very well that there are still a lot of problems that need sorting out and yet they are still pushing on with the roll out before the problems are solved.

Maizie d

Thank you for correcting my mistake but your point to Day 6 was :-

" No-one has advocated such a system on this thread, nor on any other threads on this forum. If you think that they have you have a very vivid imagination, Day6."

Did my post answer your question because raising my spelling mistake seems to me to be another ploy to ignore the fact it was not Day 6 who was the one with a vivid imagination and Day 6 was correct .

Huh?
Think you are on the wrong thread jura

So, is it platts, or plaits- pray tell? Sounds like platts for sure
Go check. .

ah well, lemongrove- you may well have a very good point here, thank you for your support.

So, is it platts, or plaits- pray tell? Sounds like platts for sure.
Juvenile sniping and certainly no answers.

Unless you have one, for the DUP and Irish border, please.

When all a poster does is criticise another poster’s spelling or grammar or typos etc it shows they have no real answer so resort to this juvenile sniping.

'alluding', POGS

'Eluding' is something completely different.

You have a vivid imagination, too.

Maize d

Perhaps Day 6 was eluding to the question that was asked on another thread when posters said Brown and Blair were not 'True Socialists '

That was before Tories were likened to VERMIN and Centrists ROAD KILL.

POGS Fri 05-Oct-18 01:28:47
It is repeatedly said by many posters Blair and Brown were not true socialists.

Therefore , presumably Corbyn/McDonnell and their inner circle are thought to be 'True Socialists' . Mind you I get confused what a ' True Socialist ' is/means if that excludes believing in ' overthrowing Capitalism' as some would have us believe is not where Corbyn/MsDonnell et al are coming from by their own volition.

Can anybody name a ' True Socialist ' country that has 'overthrown Capitalism' and has been successful with it's economy and it's people? I struggle to think of one.

I think the only reply was CUBA.

As we have mentioned on other threads, name one successful socialist system where everyone could say they have exactly the same as their neighbour and no one existed with more wealth than they have?

No-one has advocated such a system on this thread, nor on any other threads on this forum. If you think that they have you have a very vivid imagination, Day6.

Thank you Lemongrove.

Excellent post Stree I think you are absolutely right on all counts.

Being severely disabled myself I am registered in various forums where of course the welfare/benefits system is a major topic.
There are many who have problems with universal credit but also many who have no problem with it and are better off on it than their previous benefit(s), of course the latter tend to be less vocal and those with problems are highlighted.
That is not to say it is the people who claim it and have problems are the cause of the problem, the system has many flaws and is cruelly indifferent to those unable to understand it. Even the DWP staff often misinterpret it which should not happen but with such a complex system that is being live trialled and constantly revised it is not suprising.
Adding to the complexity, it is an online benefit and this itself is nigh on an impossiblity for some claimants, illiteracy is still rife, poor grasp of language and limited understanding of what is expected of them all cause the system to fail and the ones that suffer are the ones that need help the most.
Imagine all the above and then on top of it being physically or mentally disadvantaged, or both, with the obstacles that can bring. Mobility, comprehension, decision making to mention just three.
Compound it still further because the people trying to claim sustenance are worried, fearful, do not understand the situation, are probably at their lowest ebb with least resources and resilience and have in turn others depending on them.
For some it is their reality, a Kafkaesque nightmare.

I do not for a second consider this to be brought about by a cruel and callous Government, I see it as an inevitable consequence of a mis-guided one fits all self serve benefits system, "Here is the Claims system, sit down at the keyboard, fill in what applies to you,and sit and wait for the money in the bank"
Problems begin, everyone is in a different situation, with different needs, abilities and circumstances and urgencies.

But I do not see it as a result of a cruel or indifferent government, just a flawed and all too human system that needs more guidance and help from the other side of the desk for those that cannot get what is rightfully theirs.