This is a hugely complex and difficult issue for individuals, society and the government in both practical and emotional terms.
However as the world has changed and what constitutes "work" has changed. It is no longer 8 hours a day 5 1/2 days a week hitting rivets into ships it is now all different.

If you spend more than 3 hours a day on social media should you not be expected to work on a "work at home" type call centre job?.

Change was needed, Starmer dropped a bollock by backing down….now it’ll come back to bite him on the arse.

As you say, a very complex situation that Labour are trying to approach with a huge sledge-hammer type approach. There's no doubt welfare needs an overhaul but to force thousands into poverty as a result is not the answer. It seems that whenever they want to save money they hit the most vulnerable, why are they not going after large businesses which pay next to no tax and the super rich as traditional Labour used to?
They kept telling us after 14 years they were ready to rock and roll in government as they were turning the country around towards the land of milk and honey. Picking the flavour of the day think tank ideas and announcing them as policy is madness, how about setting up a few "think it through tanks" to understand the repercussions of these ideas?

I know 2 people who claim benefits they are not entitled to, both claimed for them online no face to face interview. One is claiming Pension Credit and another Attendance Allowance, the DWP dont have enough staff to verify the eligibility claims face to face. There must be thousands out there doing the same, I have pulled them about it and they say plenty of others are doing it.

I heard on the news this morning that one in five new vehicles coming onto the road are ‘Moatsbility’ vehicles.

Lump benefit fraud, tax evasion and avoidance together and you've got a massive loss of income for any government. Strange how none of them seem to recognise or act on them.

you need a hell of a lot of people benefit frauding to come close to big business tax evasion and avoidance with all the loopholes and laws in there favour. we all know stories and the odd truths about so and so never doing a job in there lives and are better off than us but very few tell the tales of big businesses and small ones whose reason to exist is paying the minimum amout of tax when the easily could pay more. shaft the likes of amazon first and then go after the little guy.

If they reverted back to the little 3 wheeler blue Invicar there wouldn’t be many applying for a mobility car.

the biggest shock i had was the range of vehicles you can get. would not put a disabled club owner in an invicar but surely there should be a limit on the models that are available on the scheme you could count on one hand.

Agree, should be no frills models with seats for 2, 4, or 6 people. Government could surely do a deal with a single car manufacturer for supply. No cash alternatives allowed, take it or leave it.

Accy that,s what people can,t see. Its diversion tactics.
It keeps people looking around their own level, And not looking above, Very old school tactic.
The debt our country finds it self in could be wiped out over night.

We all know through recent accounts, That many football clubs are up to their necks in debt to the taxman.

There are many thousands of people who could not leave their homes without a mobility car.
Falling into the trap there Jamie.

Fucking Classic

Yes but the system gets abused, too be brutally frank many people don’t have cars and have to rely on taxis and public transport and manage to get from A to B.

If he manages to see out his five years in government he's going to end up with one well chewed arse

some prefer it that way to keep there full mobility benefit. on top of that i think those mobility scooters should only be available to the registered disabled and not just lazy fat fookers.

Agreed, but there’s an awful lot taking the piss too who work the system…I know plenty of them …it’s what fucks up having a welfare state..which we need, when the money could be spent better.
By all means get more out of the big money people but don’t turn a blind eye to con artists at the bottom.

nobody would disagree if they went for everybody but surely starting at the top would get more money in and make the government who did that more popular. however what would the government do with all this extra revenue even if all the dinghy divers went back as well.

Your right Jamie the system does get abused, But i don,t think its the fault of the disabled, Far from it.
The BLAME lies squarely on the shoulders of ministers NOT providing the funds to allow correct filtering of claims.


"have to rely on taxis and public transport and manage to get from A to B"

Correct but most are not disabled, And not every disabled person in the country uses a disability car, Many i would imaging use taxis, And public transport.
Again Jamie people at the top want NORMAL decent folk to be at each others throats while they do their sneaky deals, They rely on the green eyed monster coming to the fore.
I,ve NEVER heard anyone being jealous of someones disabilities, ONLY what they recieve. Which some not nice people call FREE MONEY.
And also i wonder how much disability cars help the car industry.

Snowy i know exactly where you are coming from.
No disrespect, But you and me both know where the real con artists work. P********t.

During WW2 we stopped the might of the german military getting to our shores, Now we can,t even stop a dinghy.

Because deals have been struck.

"How did him or her manage to get that flash 4x4 car"..You must have heard it.

"How did him or her manage to get that flash 4x4 car"..You must have heard it.

Don't see what's wrong with suitable but basic transport provision for the disabled myself, not why they should be getting a new model every couple of years when there's working families using buses and food banks.

Public transport….the buses….back in the 80’s when it was opened up to competition we end up here with basically a monopoly, you can go nowhere of consequence out of town apart from Durham and the Boro ….we had more choice when buses were regulated, now everything is owned by the big groups..bus service to bus business..check the plates on our local buses…someone else’s cast off, no spring chickens.

Because it would cost more, Do you not think that lot in parliament would have looked at every angle and come up with the best for them.

No I don't think that lot in parliament look very deeply at much, all driven by self promotion and led / steered by idealists.
How much deep consideration do you think went into stuff like Poll Tax, WFA, Welfare reforms, NHS reforms, it's all about talking the talk.

Having seen what has happened today to restrict the changes to new claimants seems about right imo as it seems morally wrong to take from those existing claimants who have geared there life on the current level of income. I am pleased that the out of touch liberal metropolitan elite have been given another good kicking by others that have some connection with reality.
Prepare though for tax increases and increased government borrowing but in the words of Bobby Thompson "i am up to my neck in debt i just wish i was an inch taller"

more like one persons idea they all rubber stamp to get a position on the cabinet in the next re shuffle. it cannot be a coincidence that the best local MP,s who work for the community all seem to be on the back benches of both parties and stay there until they pack the job in.

They are dancing to someone else,s Tune, Surely everyone knows that.
The best interests of British Citizens is way way down the pecking order.

I think everybody who sees a disability as a blessing(new car WOW) needs to give their head a shake, And fuck off.

PS: Yes i do mean genuine people with disability.s, The cheats need jailing or deporting.

i,d go a step further and say anybody who pretends to be ill need some form of treatment. hate having a bloody headache never mind anything serious but some seem to love it with pretend ailments just to get sympathy.

Bus passes.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/uk ... 1750706763

The 30p i have to pay is stopping me put the heating on.

Any change may make things easier administratively and the lost revenue can be clawed back when fares/subsidies are reviewed.

Don't think anyone's suggesting a disability is a blessing, don't see why they should get a new car every couple of years though. What's the average for company cars now 4 or 5 years? What's the average age for a middle income family car now?
Anyway I see the government is now promising consultation with various welfare support agencies - does anyone believe this will be genuine consultation or just another tick box exercise? My money's on the latter.

Yes its a cultural thing. You hear them speaking about it in groups trying to outdo each other with what is wrong with them and the toxic cocktail of drugs they take for dubious illnesses.
Why would you do it???????????

Yes its a cultural thing. You hear them speaking about it in groups trying to outdo each other with what is wrong with them and the toxic cocktail of drugs they take for dubious illnesses.
[/quote]

Now that's the group they need to be aiming at ..There's also out there a new group out called 'i know someone who can help you fill the forms out and worsen the condition.

Now that's the group they need to be aiming at ..There's also out there a new group out called 'i know someone who can help you fill the forms out and worsen the condition.[/quote]
as anybody knows who bother to read my shite on here knows i,m a member of a local over 50,s group. every week its like a doctors surgery discussing a new ailment or other. apart from myself the only other who does not is a woman well into her 90,s. like me she is very rarely ill and feel its just an attitude of mind. no wonder the NHS cannot cope with a nation of hypocondriacts who seem to prefer illness over being well.

Seems when you finally retire you get rid of your boss and the NHS steps into take over and piss you off.

Last Sept i had a heart attack, which took 5 grafts to fix. Ppl said try for AA which i thought i had no chance.
Comes January i tried and got it, which i was surprised, but hey ho I filled in my forms and lo and behold £441 went in my bank 5 weeks later.

good for you. there are still far too many who do not know if forms are actually available for anything and feel its a case of if you do not know nobody will tell you.

Benefits are never advertised, unfortunately you have to do your research.

Yes agree well done Dykey you deserve it.

but they should be and then checked as much as possible to weed the wrong uns out. back in the early days of pit closures in the barnsley area a bloke set himself up to advise people of there rights which they were missing out on. that should never be the case.

I know a guy called Kevin Turner here if you mentioned work he would need smelling salts. Spends most of his life in the pub.

careful. hope you can prove that as he might sue you with help from the state to do it.

Oh ive seen it, wife has known him for 30 years and can testify to his sloth.

Steady now you will have us thinking certain players work more than others on the pitch, Surely not.

The biggest problem seems to be mental health. The rise in the welfare budget is predominately down to young people claiming mental health issues: depressions, anxiety coupled with ADHD etc. Is the problem social media, covid, entitlement, wokery or what? The system really needs to find a way to get these kids into employment. They can't spend their lives on benefits. Its the same with the NHS, ambulances spend so much of their time dealing with mental health cases they can't get to heart attack or stroke victims in time. The withdrawal of funding for mental health services is possibly the biggest own goal in recent times. In addition I would support the appointment of more assessment of welfare claimants and stiffer penalties for those who defraud the system.

And pay for it by clamping down on rich individuals and corporations who don't pay their fair share of taxes. Absolutely criminal that a Labour government is going after the old and most vulnerable people in society rather than taxing wealth more and ensuring taxes are paid. They'll chase down those defrauding the state of a couple of thousand quid but not going after the millions defrauded by their mates of all political persuasions during COVID.

My feeling is that there are at least two strands of MH issues, firstly you have the real serious stuff like bipolar,schizo-phrenia etc which are called severe mental health illnesses and the others of medium to low depression and anxiety etc.
I worked with a guy who was very experienced in MH and he once said that most of the lesser MH issues come about simply because of certain basic things are not there in a persons life like a role,job,family,hobbies,money,housing etc etc and that once these things are put back into that person life they get better.Therapies like counselling mindfullness etc help but are not a silver bullet.
Maybe it goes back to a good happy childhood, education,travel,sport, friends and mentors and a guaranteed job at 16 where father and grandfather keep you in check?