this will help your crusade for better treatment for the disabled
http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/lo ... _1_4148374

he is an example of what they are trying to squeeze out into the open. I feel genuinely sorry for needy people who don't get what they should do, when there's arseholes like him conning their way through life

Thank you Mr Bus.
This thread has just confirmed my opinion of you.
Envy is a terrible thing & the bitterness & spite that it breeds is really destructive,I feel genuinely sorry for you.

merely pointing out that although you champion everything for the disabled unfortunately people like peter owens prove that the system is flawed and abused, and dont feel sorry for me my knowledge that the adults in this house are helping poor unfortunate people like peter survive is enough.

To use someone who has over the years been in the local paper many times for alleged misuse of the system is a bit below the belt. To direct the thread to Groovy in particular is even worse than that. groovy has never (In any posts I've read from him) advocated those who abuse the system. He has argued that many genuine disabled people will suffer as well I've said that somethings need to be done to stop the abuse of the system but your way of doing it in this thread, shows you to be slightly narrow minded.

What about people like these
http://thehardesthit.wordpress.com/case-studies/

...Or are these people irrelevant to you as they don,t back up a narrow minded argument

bit selective in your choice of headliners to back up the argument bob, but as in previous discussions on this subject, i stand by my feelings that a lot of genuine cases are out there but also a hell of a lot of skivers and scroungers so if that makes me narrow minded then yes i am guilty. it was brought to groovy's attention because i feel that he has a opposite view to me and defends anyone who is in receipt of benefits and was interested in a sensible discussion on the featured professional scrounger but it looks like that isnt going to happen.

Were you not doing exactly the same by using Owens. I agree there's a lot of people out there abusing the system, we agree with that. What I disagree with is the fact you directed this thread to Groovy for his beliefs, as opposed to simply pointing out the story. We could all start a thread with the title Oi, You! (add own name) simply because we disagree with a point of view we hold. Or simply a thread with something they keep posting about.

Example Oi, You! Spinbowler then a RIP thread. Your entitled to your opinion and as I agree with those abusing any system, I respect that opinion, just as you should respect Groovy's without appearing to be resorting to being the "playground bully" and saying see I'm right because of one individual. On that I think we'll be agreeing to disagree. Just my opinion.

Theres always some who take advantage of the system but but for every 1 Owens there are 10 Groovys around ..Why should they be punished for shysters like him? Lets get this system sorted out and hang people like Owens out to dry.. and make no bones about it I'd also like to put one or two bankers on the same washing line!

Your opening sentence shows that this thread is nothing more than an attempt to stir up an argument & use that individual as an excuse to spit out yet more of your hatred towards the sick & disabled.


An opposite opinion to you ?
Dam right I have.

I believe the sick & disabled deserve support & respect rather than being treat with suspicion and contempt just because their problems are not clearly visible to narrow minded people like you.

As for faking an illness or disability,I know it happens & I think its despicable pure & simple.

As I said earlier,I genuinely feel sorry for you,envy & hatred can be very consuming & destructive.

There's some queer stories in the Mail about that Peter Owens gadgie, like the time weighing in at 40 stone he doused himself in turps and threatened to set himself on fire "its going to be quick and messy" he said!
....or the fact he's been banned from driving ELEVEN times.
....or the time he was released early from prison as his wife was dying, 10 years later she's still alive, "its a miracle and I'm going to have a giant kebab to celebrate".
....or the time he warned parents of the dangers of quad bikes, after his son fell off one that Owens had bought him with the money he'd been given from the council to re-decorate his house.

Not your typical claimant of disability benefit I would suggest?

i await groovy's response to this narrow minded view

You seem to have an unhealthy obsession with me.
I suggest you go get a life.

I have worked in healthcare for nearly 10 years. During this time I have worked with people mentally and physically disabled. All of whom have genuinely needed and deserved the services and funding provided to ensure their genral wellbeing and health needs are met.
I agree that in all walks of life there are people who fit a stereotype.
However, not all scousers steal, not everybody in Norfolk sleeps with their sister,
not all Taffs shag sheep and not everybody with a beard is odd (unless its a woman).

Therefore, if you are ignorant enough to believe that most people on benefits are only doing so
to cheat the system and taxpayers then you are truly a deluded individual. to this end, you and
your family have my pity.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to any women of a hirsute nature for any
offence I may have caused...

so you agree with mutleys comments

fit for work" tests.

The tests aim to save money by pushing more people off benefits through a tick box exercise that I know ignores the disabilities of all but the most serious cases.

Like many on the lowest incomes disabled people are bearing the brunt of this austerity drive.

"The government attacks against disabled people are happening on an almost daily basis as both living standards, housing benefits, care funding and health services are slashed across the board. Some cuts are likely to be life threatening. This is a fact I see it happening on a daily basis within the job I do.

this callous government continues to try to make even more cuts to disabled people's support by the arbitrary removal of disability living allowance from 20 per cent of disabled people and the loss of the independent living fund all on top of local authority cuts to care and support funding."

It's estimates disabled people will lose a total of £9.2 billion in benefits by 2015 and that cuts will affect 3.6 million disabled people and carers. yet this goverment give the go ahead for a 32 billion pound rail track to save people 20 mins on their travel time.



Far too many disabled people are now living in fear of what the future holds for them. People with a learing difficultiy or mental illness will be most hit.

"It is clear that there is absolutely no commitment on the part of this government to maintain disabled people's human rights.

I would suggest that people who make most of these comments started to do their homework and find out the true facts that these cuts are having on genuine people. And yes I am aware that they is people playing the system, there probably your work friends and family.

I'll finish off by saying you never know whats around the corner, may be one day you will require this support.

I find it very hard to stomach that someone that cares, Groovy, is getting that much stick, for basically that....caring.

Two words - Can Worms!

Absolutely correct Colonel sir.

I don't understand why No6 Bus felt he needed to do that. Pretty crass and unjust.

I wish this government were as keen to attack tax dodgers as they are to attack the most vulnerable in our society.

Concurring fully.

Totally agree.

When this resession really starts to bite we will have to make life changing decisions that is when you will see how much people care.

forcing disabled people from a life of independence back into the care of their friends/ family has knock-on effects in many ways, not least of which is their loss of self esteem. This is to me, a way of kicking the working classes and blaming them for the mess the country is in. Derwent is spot on, nobody dares go after the people who are causing the REAL shortfall in cash - the tax dodging mega rich and powerful.There is nobody to touch those not nice people
It's almost like there's folks on here that get this pointed out to them, but they are just seemingly advocates of it and pretend it doesn't exist (in an Emperor's new clothes style).Yes of course there are folks who need reeling in, but surely it is wrong to carry out a blanket cull of peoples' benefits who most need them?
As has also been said on here, I hope the same people never have to do anything such as put their loved ones into care and risk losing their home over it. That would be terrible.



I'm not sure which they would see as the most terrible of the two, mind you

I had occasion to pm Groovy and he was frank when telling me about his disability.The scams that ATOS are trying to pull in terms of trying to get peopl eoff DLA is despicable.
They are choonts of the highest order

Focusing upon those who are regarded as 'cheating the system' merely helps to create and sustain an 'Othering' of those who rely upon welfare. It highlights a perceived 'lack of responsibility' and 'fecklessness'. In short, it's part of a discourse that blames the disadvantaged for their own position, at the expense of more nuanced structural, economic and cultural explanations. It's a discourse of the right, for the right and benefits the right: i.e., a discourse for simpletons.

What he said!

you have to stand if you are fare dodging? That seems fair enough, don't mind standing up if I'm drinking

Surely only an Oxford comma, the use of which is controversial in any event?

I can't get excited about fare-dodging. I can tell you the specifics of the offence under the Fraud Act if you like, but I doubt anyone would be interested.

Really what you've here done is use an extreme anecdotal example to create a stereotype to support an argument, which is a bit unfair. It's a bit like someone using the examples of Peter Sutcliffe, Robert Black, Derrick Bird, Stephen Wright and Michael Atherton to suggest that people who drive for a living are likely to be psychopathic murderers. For instance.

But Mr Bus drives for a living.....................oh, I see what you mean

yes not many bus drivers on that list

Except the goat.

the goat is no more
left on health grounds

rip the goats ticket checking career

I am under no illusion that there are professional benefit cheats out there & it annoys me as much as anyone.

I have lived with a disability myself & have spent a lot of time with disabled people working voluntarily at the college teaching basic literacy & numeracy to handicapped adults as well as doing several festivals working in the disabled access teams & have met a lot of wonderful people through it.

Ive encountered many spiteful jealous people over the years,had people give me abuse at festivals because I wont let them use a disabled toilet or viewing platform,Ive lost count of the amount of time Ive heard "Well he doesn't look disabled" & its just pathetic.

Like many disabled people I spend a lot of time in pain,but refuse to let it stop me having a life,I use a crutch occasionally & a stick most of the time because it makes walking easier & less tiring but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to walk without it when I want to,I know people that spend their whole life in a wheelchair,I know others that only need to spend half their time in one.I could go on but wont

Bus driver you can point the finger all you want,Ive seen & heard it all before,as have most disabled people & it really does say more about you than it does me.

And finally - some music

please show where i have pointed the finger at you i must have missed that

well the thread was titled Oi, You! groovy crimes...

yes but it was for the attention of. not. this is what groovy is getting up to at no point was there any accusation that groovy was a malingerer as i previously explained it was brought to his attention to illustrate that not all claimants were genuine but seems to have wound people up.if people think that they know me enough to consider me narrow minded or envious of them well good luck to them. we all have opinions and they dont always concur but i stick to my feelings about benefit scroungers and on this subject i have wasted too much time i will never get back.

What the hell is this all about. Some pieces of work out there. Thread getting locked before it really really pisses some peopele off.