fatbrit

No problem with vets, big problem with you.

HarryTheSpider

Bollox.

Or should I say typical vet bias on liberals?

dogloverus

sad truth is that if the benefits system wasnt so lucrative in the UK why are people so desperate to stay on them???

they call it the benefit trap precisely because you are financially better off on benefits than having a job. How can such a society progress and its no wonder Britain is fast verging on a 'Greek' style default.

The benefit cap is too little too late I think.

crg

20 years ago, I worked at a grocery store. Some people would use food stamps and WIC to buy their groceries The groceries would include steaks and shrimp. Then they would pull out a wad of large bills to buy cigarettes, booze and lottery tickets. Many were very well dressed and drove a nice car.

These days, even the "poor" often have flat screen TVs, video game systems, and smart phones.

America has the wealthiest poor people in the world. USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

Bob

Folks aren't much better off being on benefits, but if you're going to be penalised heavily to get a job there does seem little point.

You get part time job that puts you over the threshold which loses you a bunch of benefits, why would you bother when you will then end up significantly worse off having to pay for childcare and then not see your kids either?

That's the trap.

SultanOfSwing

Yeah, I'm sure a few people on the dole are the tipping point for the British finiancial situation and not the wilful loss of industry and throwing money away chasing after the US as they fight yet more of their pointless oil excursions; I mean wars on terror ...

Naïve.

scrubbedexpat099

There is not much left of the military and it is going downhill fast. Seems like their will not be Aircraft for the Aircraft Carriers and they intend using the TA... And the current jaunt was down to New Labour.

And now their are complaints about putting a $40k cap on benes.

The scandal of legal aid, raining the tax rate to 50% actually decreased income, goes on and on.

dogloverus

The welfare budget for the UK is £140bn more than health, education and defence combined so I fail to see how the 'welfare state' is anything other than one of the biggest drains on the UK public purse hence that is why Cameron is trying to reign it in - bit late may I add though!

SultanOfSwing

At least the UK has a safety net. That some people abuse it shouldn't be a reason to deny it to those who really do need it.

I don't disagree that there shouldn't be tighter regulations but I worked in benefits and it's not like we hand them out willy nilly either (well not Income Support anyway, JSA probably is where more of the abuse comes in and to a lesser extent Incapacity Benefit and the disability ones), but on the other hand there has to be some kind of meaningful, sustainable and productive employment offered at the other end to entice people away from the benefits as well.

Giantaxe

According to this link, that's incorrect: welfare £111b, health £124b, education £93b, defence £47b.

Perhaps you are attempting to throw pensions into the "welfare" hopper (£129b), but even then your figures don't add up. And it's hard to classify pensions as welfare anyway given that people contribute specifically for them over their working life.

http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/ye...c1n_40#ukgs302

SultanOfSwing

Am I wrong here, but I find it quite encouraging that the education budget is roughly twice the defence budget; benefits notwithstanding ... ?

dogloverus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departm...k_and_Pensions

The total annual budget of the DWP in 2011-12 is £151.6 billion, representing approximately 28% of total UK Government spending.[13] Of this sum, £12.5 billion is spent on Incapacity Benefit.[14] There are 2.6m individuals in the UK claiming Incapacity Benefit, approximately 8.5% of the total adult workforce in the United Kingdom of around 30.1m individuals.[15]

Pensions not part these figures and pensions involve significant government contributions also.

Giantaxe

Wtf? How does quoting the budget of the DWP back up your assertion that "The welfare budget for the UK is £140bn more than health, education and defence combined"?

fatbrit

We're debating with a 17 y.o. whose uncle whores for Heritage. Why are we expecting any sense from him/her.

HarryTheSpider

Cool - have you seen the levels of destruction that little kiddlingtons can do??!!

I'm pretty sure you have - and some of the real life poop they generate surely must fall under the provisions of chemical warfare regulations?!