...this moving 15 minute BBC documentary, recently unearthed from the 1960s, of life in the Glasgow slums. Perhaps ITK will find it...informative, if not beneficial . I sympathize with its central character, one Francis Hilley, and wonder just how much things have really changed.

www.euscreen.eu/play.jsp?id=EUS_64815ED9...453AABDE9507E44AD592

Jim wrote:
...this moving 15 minute BBC documentary, recently unearthed from the 1960s, of life in the Glasgow slums. Perhaps ITK will find it...informative, if not beneficial . I sympathize with its central character, one Francis Hilley, and wonder just how much things have really changed.

www.euscreen.eu/play.jsp?id=EUS_64815ED9...453AABDE9507E44AD592

Thanks for this, Jim - I found it quite interesting.

Some things never change, do they?

The "neighbour" who had 8 children (all under 10?) round the kitchen table.
The 20 year old - totally unqualified - who said he was too "old" to train.

What did they expect?

I did find Mr Hiller quite genuine ... and found ALL the people interviewed quite presentable (shaven, clean clothes etc) - quite unlike the youth of today who often look as if they have slept in the same "rags" for the last six months !)

I also note that the "dole" back in the 1960's also allowed for the purchase of cigarettes !

Jim

I've been having a further think about this ....

What is DOES show - more than ever - is that after 50 years nothing has really changed.

Simply paying people money because they don't have a job, is a complete waste of time (we are not curing the "problem") ... what they need is training (and if they won't do that - no dole !)

We need a cure - not a temporary stopgap.

Has it really come to this?: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/28/...ct-food-skip-iceland

Our Dickensian society prefers throwing food away to letting people eat it.

Jim wrote:
Our Dickensian society prefers throwing food away to letting people eat it.

... and they wouldn't take advantage of it ?

People 'claim' (*) they have no food so a food bank gives it to them FREE.

If businesses gave away their product there would be no profit (and no tax - to pay dolers either !)

(*) money pre-spent on scratchcards

In The Know wrote:
Jim wrote:
Our Dickensian society prefers throwing food away to letting people eat it.

... and they wouldn't take advantage of it ?

People 'claim' (*) they have no food so a food bank gives it to them FREE.

If businesses gave away their product there would be no profit (and no tax - to pay dolers either !)

(*) money pre-spent on scratchcards

It isn't really a question of people being short of food though, is it?
If the food is going to be destroyed why not use it?

It makes no difference to the supermarkets because they cant sell it at full price anyway if it is on the use by date. (and only sell very small amounts at a nominal price in store as a loss leader, otherwise nobody would be daft enough to pay their inflated prices)

We used to feed the "shelter" dogs with skipped fresh meat from Tesco until the swines locked it up.

disgusts me that supermarket throw food away just barbecue label is fucked up or ripped packaging. ITK is lucky he get's expensive food etc not many poor fuckers can.

Tesco locking food away that can be use to feed dogs in shelters is barbaric just like the IDS.

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
It isn't really a question of people being short of food though, is it?
If the food is going to be destroyed why not use it?

Because - as I've already said - if you give something away people will stop buying it !
They will simply wait till it's "free".

No one "needed" food banks until a couple of years ago - then (after their benefit changed by about 50p a week !) - they all claimed they were starving (knowing that someone would be daft enough to give it to them).

That frees-up what should be the the food money ... for alcohol, drugs etc.

ANYTHING that is FREE will find a queue !

We used to feed the "shelter" dogs with skipped fresh meat from Tesco until the swines locked it up.

Have you asked them?
They may be glad to give it to you (as long as it is definately NOT going to what should be paying customers)!

Do you think every doler spends money on booze and drugs ITK ?

In The Know wrote:
honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
It isn't really a question of people being short of food though, is it?
If the food is going to be destroyed why not use it?

Because - as I've already said - if you give something away people will stop buying it !
They will simply wait till it's "free".

No one "needed" food banks until a couple of years ago - then (after their benefit changed by about 50p a week !) - they all claimed they were starving (knowing that someone would be daft enough to give it to them).

That frees-up what should be the the food money ... for alcohol, drugs etc.

ANYTHING that is FREE will find a queue !

We used to feed the "shelter" dogs with skipped fresh meat from Tesco until the swines locked it up.

Have you asked them?
They may be glad to give it to you (as long as it is definately NOT going to what should be paying customers)!

Yes we asked and they refused.
They muttered something about insurance and liability. (and they might well be justified..I don't know)

I don't think people going hungry is so much because of the benefit changes as the food prices going sky high lately, and administration delays when they are left with no money at all.

I think you can only use a food bank three times, and the food you are given lasts for three days at a time,(according to someone on the radio who runs one) so they cant be misused for long.

There will always be people with undernourished children, but I'm not sure if it is because of the money.

Food banks usually give you pasta and sauce. Amazing how people are using them it was rare under old government, it's very common now.

DWP have messed up with peoples claims and payment look at what happened at Christmas, someone on the course had to result living with a elderly neighbour so he could eat, wash and stay warm. ITK don't give a toss of course nor do the government.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25504977

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24833627

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
I don't think people going hungry is so much because of the benefit changes as the food prices going sky high lately,

Have they never heard of fruit and veg?
And of course far too idle to actually grow anything (besides the garden will be full of prams, settees and old bikes!)

and administration delays when they are left with no money at all.

You don't actually believe this nonsense do you?
Any "delay" will be self-inflicted !
They won't have turned up at the JobCentre on time / or they won't have done enough to prove they were looking for work - but, of course, it will be "someone else's fault ! It always is !

I think you can only use a food bank three times, and the food you are given lasts for three days at a time,(according to someone on the radio who runs one) so they cant be misused for long.

I know someone (a bit God Squad !) who helps run a Church soup kitchen type thing. He tells me the same people turn up every time - some have been coming for years. He also tells me that there is a "rota" of such places - on different nights - and these people go round them on a weekly basis - getting a FREE meal every day.

Like I said ... if it's FREE - there will be a queue !

andrew wrote:
DWP have messed up with peoples claims and payment look at what happened at Christmas

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25504977

Quote from link above -
The cash was due to go into bank accounts on Christmas Eve

Don't these people EVER plan anything at all ?
What, exactly, did they plan to "buy" on Christmas Eve ?

You don't actually believe this nonsense do you?
Any "delay" will be self-inflicted !
They won't have turned up at the JobCentre on time / or they won't have done enough to prove they were looking for work - but, of course, it will be "someone else's fault ! It always is !

show's you know fuck all after all about the job centre.

Food banks can only be used if you be refereed by the job centre.

In The Know (as always) wrote:


Have they never heard of fruit and veg?
And of course far too idle to actually grow anything (besides the garden will be full of prams, settees and old bikes!)


You don't actually believe this nonsense do you?
Any "delay" will be self-inflicted !
They won't have turned up at the JobCentre on time / or they won't have done enough to prove they were looking for work - but, of course, it will be "someone else's fault ! It always is !



I know someone (a bit God Squad !) who helps run a Church soup kitchen type thing. He tells me the same people turn up every time - some have been coming for years. He also tells me that there is a "rota" of such places - on different nights - and these people go round them on a weekly basis - getting a FREE meal every day.

Like I said ... if it's FREE - there will be a queue ![/quote

Yes. The churches arrange between them which days so that homeless people don't starve to death. That is the whole point.

Through the church I didn't really come across many people swinging the lead.
Apart from the Christmas gift scam. There was a national campaign asking for people to donate toys for children who might not get a present otherwise.
This included a lot of hugely expensive toys costing more than fifty pounds.
In reality the presents are given out directly to attending children BEFORE CHRISTMAS which is pointless, and they are for everyone including (in this case) the children of high earners such as a surgeon, GP, car dealer, top butcher.
You would think that these people would refuse the presents wouldn't you?
Not one did.

I do believe what people tell me about the delays in benefit, and when I sorted out a disability claim for someone They told me there might be a delay. (there wasn't, and the money went up slightly)
Sometimes it is their own stupid fault that they are sanctioned, but do we want the children to suffer too?

Fruit and vegetables have gone up a lot recently and i think processed food has always been cheaper.
The food allowance part of benefits is worked out from the cost of the cheapest food available, not necessarily the most nutritious.
At the lowest price range (value, basics etc) the cost has very often quadrupled in the last couple of years so it is hitting poorest people hardest.

In The Know wrote:
andrew wrote:
DWP have messed up with peoples claims and payment look at what happened at Christmas

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25504977

Quote from link above -
The cash was due to go into bank accounts on Christmas Eve

Don't these people EVER plan anything at all ?
What, exactly, did they plan to "buy" on Christmas Eve ?

You cant plan much if there is no money left over at the end of the week, but it is perfectly possible to buy most things on Christmas eve. I do it every year. (everything is cheaper and I enjoy the challenge )

ITK forgot to mention people top up their pre-paid metres ., pay bill bills and found, peole still do this on Christmas Eve.

Daft man.

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
You cant plan much if there is no money left over at the end of the week

Surely that makes it even more important to "plan ahead" ?

A fiver put away each week would have a £500 bounty by the time Christmas comes.

You really cannot help these people can you? - they are their own worst enemies.

In The Know wrote:
honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
You cant plan much if there is no money left over at the end of the week

Surely that makes it even more important to "plan ahead" ?

A fiver put away each week would have a £500 bounty by the time Christmas comes.

You really cannot help these people can you? - they are their own worst enemies.

It would be £260, but yes you would certainly have to plan ahead and adjust your expectation of Christmas.

Ooops ! Thats a tener a week - one packet of fags ! - (not a fiver) LOL !