News for those concerned about poverty in the U.K.

Very interesting.

here's the direct link

I am currently reading Robert Peston's book WTF? Which tries to address why we are in such a mess. He articulates the current situation very well.

Indeed he does Telly and I have made reference to him in the Brexit thread - so we are on the same page .

He is willing to give his mind to the negative effects of government policies and the fate of the have-nots in our society who have been targeted rather than the rich bankers. No wonder these people sought to kick back at their oppressors with their referendum vote.

TM's promise of looking after those only just managing is a joke.

I was watching a police documentary the other night and the police themselves recognised the role that poverty plays in the crimes that they are having to deal with and were sympathetic to the "criminals." They are being left to pick up some of the pieces on a tightened budget.

Aren't we ALL concerned about people worse off than ourselves? Isn't that human nature?

This sounds like a political stunt. As in all discussions about socialism, it has been noted that poverty never has been eradicated. I dare say the present government will be to blame for all ills though.

He tries to address why we are in this current mess? Anyone able to predict already his findings? What about the poverty I and many others were raised in, back in the 50s and 60s when there was far less social compassion. Who was to blame for that?

We have a welfare state, benefits, aids, advocates, low unemployment, charities and a concerned and more compassionate public. But there will always be a sector of society who can claim they are impoverished. Many of us have worn that T shirt. Some of us still do. Circumstances can be to blame rather than a political party - surprise, surprise.

I am another one who doesn't need to wait until November to predict how the report will go.

It's going to all doom and gloom isn't it? It will ignore the facts, as stated by Day6 that we have a generous welfare state, high employment, free healthcare, free education - I could go on and on.

I seem to remember reading recently that the number of children in so called child poverty has gone down under the Conservatives.

As for poverty playing a part in crime, that is nonsense.
Most crime these days is drug related.

But no, lets ignore all of that and blame the wicked Tories and their savage cuts, shall we?

This is the first article I found on the subject. I'm sure there arw better.
. www.centerhotels.com/2018/02/22/safest-country-in-the-world/

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Relative poverty, or absolute poverty?

Absolute poverty is defined as: a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services.

that we have a generous welfare state except that it is so badly organised and the new system is so complex, that individuals and families can find themselves without food to eat because payments have been delayed for weeks at a time or vary by large amounts from month to month making budgeting impossible, where most people who are refused disability payments get them on appeal, but that often leaves them six months or more without the needed money, back dating is no consolation because until the appeal is heard they do not know what the result will be

when high employment many of those on benefits are actually in work, but do not earn enough to take them above the poverty line and a national unemployment rate hides the variation between areas with almost full employment and areas where unemployment is still very high
free healthcare tell that to those people refused cataract and hip replacement surgery among many conditions, who are refused the operation because they are not considered ill enough or in enough pain or sufficiently disabled to be considered for the operation.Or the parents of that little boy who died because an overworked doctor in a hospital whose computer system had broken down failed to diagnose sepsis.

free education schools strapped for cash, sacking teachers and support staff, with leaking roofs they cannot repair because they do not have the funding and with class size growing

I could go on and on , so could I, private affluence and public squalor

Robert Peston wasn’t he to blame for the way Northern Rock went down the way it did ? He caused a run on the bank .

It would have happened anyway, Northern Rock was thoroughly on the rocks as the result of a CEO who was as financial reckless as Fred the Shred at RBS.

Peston was the messenger and cannot be blamed for warning people that the avalanche was coming down the hill

He just helped it on its way by standing reporting outside the big branch in Newcastle urging people to pull their money out . Horrible man . I wonder if he would have done the same if it were Southern Rock ? I have read so much about this and NR could have been saved but he made sure it collapsed as quick as it did . Plenty banks were in similar or worse positions at the time but he chose NR !

amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/feb/27/banking-credit-crunch

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/10-years-northern-rock-crisis-13595896.amp

Northern Rock was in deep doo-doo. There had been concern about it for sometime before Peston did his interview. He wouldn't have been in Newcastle covering the story if it wasn't already happening. I do not think its location in the UK had anything to do with it. Northern Rock savers were rescued by the government.

Lehmann Bros was in Canary Wharf in the middle of the London financial area and that went spectacularly bust and collapsed.

Not entirely true M0nica . I have read a lot about this and the public were unaware that the NR has been helped to deal with some toxic lending /mortgages . It was in the slow path of recovery until HE caused a panic and a run on the bank bringing it down . Horrible smug little man .

Anyway apologies for hijacking the thread.

I'm pretty poor, despite all the help that is available.
I am waiting for a claim for child tax credits, which may or may not be given to me, since universal credit is being rolled out into my area.
I have just started a new job, which entails bus and train fares (not taken into account)
Am I poor because I'm lazy?
No! I'm working harder than I ever have, with more challenging circumstances than I have ever had.

Of course you’re not lazy ! Being lazy has nothing at all to do with how rich or poor you are MissA . Some people could work all the hours god sends, very hard and never get anywhere at all . It’s like running faster and faster to stand still .

Hard work and riches don’t necessarily go together !

I think you have to experience 'the system' to understand how many faults and failures it has.
It has almost driven me to want to go to bed and never wake up again!
Bed is the only place I can afford to go!

I have family members who have really struggled. All of them working. Our 'Generous Welfare' is an absolute shambles. It has caused poverty, stress, homelessness and broken up families. How dare anyone say that it is not happening in this country. It is! And to be quite honest, to harp on about how bad it was before the welfare state is blinkered. Yes it was bad - but we don't want to go back to that, and some people are already there. I have known people who have rummaged through furniture and coat pockets to try and fine enough money to buy milk or top up their electricity. People who have had to use rolled up toilet paper for sanitary wear. I have gone out and bought basic shopping so that people can eat. I have sat in despair whilst someone has completely broken down at an eviction letter because they couldn't afford their rent and the benefits agency had stopped benefits due to a mistake they had made. I have seen someone with terminal illness have to fight to prove he, at the age of 64, was no longer able to work and needed help. How dare ANYONE say this is not happening in this country!

I am thankful I had widowed mothers allowance, i was poor but didn’t have the worry of tax credits etc. Perhaps I was fortunate living in this small town, the Nuns gave me a job to fit in with my two daughters schooling, when I was carer for my parents the Cathedral dean gave me a job there. I so wanted a scooter this year so cashed my funeral plan and bought the scooter. Seems more difficult for people now , i was able to take on temp work too, like de licing fur in a fishing tackle business to pay for elder daughters flute and younger daughters cello. Suppose I just got by.

I couldn't even get advice on any help I may get whilst I waited for my official start date for my job.
Not job seekers, since I wasn't seeking a job, not income support, since I dont have a child under 5.
Five hours spent on the phone to be told that it would be best if I went to the doctor and got a certificate to say I was unable to work!
When I had been to the doctor and got a certificate, when I genuinely was unable, I was sent for a medical, which I failed, and my certificate was overruled.
They wrote to my doctor and asked them to 'support me' by not giving me any more certificates, and to suggest I may be able to work in a different role.

I may or may not be able to claim 'up to 70 percent' of the cost of childcare, but of course, not yet.
Its school holidays, and I have been working for the whole of it with barely enough to fund the travel, let alone anything else.
I also have no family available.
So yes, people struggling is very, very real.