Chancellor George Osborne has said a Conservative government would cut the maximum level of benefits a household can claim from £26,000 a year to £23,000 to fund an extra three million apprenticeships in the next parliament.

At the same time, unemployed young people aged 18 to 21 would be given six months to find work or training - after which their jobseeker's allowance payments would be withdrawn unless they agreed to take part in "community projects" such as cleaning up local parks.

A further proposal is that most unemployed 18 to 21-year-olds should also be prevented from claiming housing benefit, if the claim is solely being made so that they can leave the parental home.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29402110

ALL election winning policies which will be hugely popular with the hard working public.

For ITK's "..election winning policies which will be hugely popular with the hard working public."

Read: "Tory election winning policies will be hugely unpopular with the hard working public in zero-hours contracts, slave pay, no hope McJobs."

In The Know (as always) wrote:
Chancellor George Osborne has said a Conservative government would cut the maximum level of benefits a household can claim from £26,000 a year to £23,000 to fund an extra three million apprenticeships in the next parliament.

At the same time, unemployed young people aged 18 to 21 would be given six months to find work or training - after which their jobseeker's allowance payments would be withdrawn unless they agreed to take part in "community projects" such as cleaning up local parks.

A further proposal is that most unemployed 18 to 21-year-olds should also be prevented from claiming housing benefit, if the claim is solely being made so that they can leave the parental home.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29402110

ALL election winning policies which will be hugely popular with the hard working public.

What bollocks this is what Labour started it used to be called ASDAN.

What about the over 25's and the over 50's are the forgotten bunch.

Tories have no ideas of their own.

ReformOrBust wrote:
For ITK's "..election winning policies which will be hugely popular with the hard working public."

Read: "Tory election winning policies will be hugely unpopular with the hard working public in zero-hours contracts, slave pay, no hope McJobs."

The same working people who are leaving the tories for UKIP in droves

I expect it may well be popular in the odd mansion in Bakewell though

Pattaya wrote:
ReformOrBust wrote:
For ITK's "..election winning policies which will be hugely popular with the hard working public."

Read: "Tory election winning policies will be hugely unpopular with the hard working public in zero-hours contracts, slave pay, no hope McJobs."

The same working people who are leaving the tories for UKIP in droves

I expect it may well be popular in the odd mansion in Bakewell though

When was the last time ITK did a 40 hour week the bloody hypocrite ?

andrew wrote:
Pattaya wrote:
ReformOrBust wrote:
For ITK's "..election winning policies which will be hugely popular with the hard working public."

Read: "Tory election winning policies will be hugely unpopular with the hard working public in zero-hours contracts, slave pay, no hope McJobs."

The same working people who are leaving the tories for UKIP in droves

I expect it may well be popular in the odd mansion in Bakewell though

When was the last time ITK did a 40 hour week the bloody hypocrite ?

ITK is old,long retired...I assume he used to work hard...long before foreign immigration drove down wages of course.

Pattaya wrote:
andrew wrote:
Pattaya wrote:
ReformOrBust wrote:
For ITK's "..election winning policies which will be hugely popular with the hard working public."

Read: "Tory election winning policies will be hugely unpopular with the hard working public in zero-hours contracts, slave pay, no hope McJobs."

The same working people who are leaving the tories for UKIP in droves

I expect it may well be popular in the odd mansion in Bakewell though

When was the last time ITK did a 40 hour week the bloody hypocrite ?

ITK is old,long retired...I assume he used to work hard...long before foreign immigration drove down wages of course.


He seems unusually hard working for a retired person actually.

jobs are a priority, but I am very uncomfortable with unemployed people being made to do the same as convicts on community service!

Pedantic I know, but the phrase was 'squeeze them till the pips squeak'. Audibly and logically, that makes much more sense.

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
Pattaya wrote:
andrew wrote:
Pattaya wrote:
ReformOrBust wrote:
For ITK's "..election winning policies which will be hugely popular with the hard working public."

Read: "Tory election winning policies will be hugely unpopular with the hard working public in zero-hours contracts, slave pay, no hope McJobs."

The same working people who are leaving the tories for UKIP in droves

I expect it may well be popular in the odd mansion in Bakewell though

When was the last time ITK did a 40 hour week the bloody hypocrite ?

ITK is old,long retired...I assume he used to work hard...long before foreign immigration drove down wages of course.


He seems unusually hard working for a retired person actually.

jobs are a priority, but I am very uncomfortable with unemployed people being made to do the same as convicts on community service!

I bet in his job he was laid off, his job was replaced by a doler.

Pru wrote:
Pedantic I know, but the phrase was 'squeeze them till the pips squeak'. Audibly and logically, that makes much more sense.


....sorry, Pru !

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
but I am very uncomfortable with unemployed people being made to do the same as convicts on community service!


... are you comfortable with them sitting on their backsides doing nothing ?
... are you comfortable with them getting HIGHER increases that the tax payers who pay their benefits ?

In The Know (as always) wrote:
honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
but I am very uncomfortable with unemployed people being made to do the same as convicts on community service!


... are you comfortable with them sitting on their backsides doing nothing ?
... are you comfortable with them getting HIGHER increases that the tax payers who pay their benefits ?

No,of course not, but humiliating and alienating people wont make them want to change their lifestyle and/or get a job, and nor will it make a job appear for them.
Most unemployed people are there through no fault of their own, and there are just not enough "suitable" jobs to go round.

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
In The Know (as always) wrote:
honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
but I am very uncomfortable with unemployed people being made to do the same as convicts on community service!


... are you comfortable with them sitting on their backsides doing nothing ?
... are you comfortable with them getting HIGHER increases that the tax payers who pay their benefits ?

No,of course not, but humiliating and alienating people wont make them want to change their lifestyle and/or get a job, and nor will it make a job appear for them.
Most unemployed people are there through no fault of their own, and there are just not enough "suitable" jobs to go round.

Looking for work is a job itself. If you want to take part in community projects, then give them jobs working for the council - with a real wages.

In The Know (as always) wrote:
honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
but I am very uncomfortable with unemployed people being made to do the same as convicts on community service!


... are you comfortable with them sitting on their backsides doing nothing ?
... are you comfortable with them getting HIGHER increases that the tax payers who pay their benefits ?

Locals getting penalised,often on silly trumped up charges,while foreigners continue to exploit the system is hardly going to add to the economic twat's popularity.

Reform is urgently needed,but will not be possible until the current EU rules are either changed or removed.

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:

No,of course not, but humiliating and alienating people wont make them want to change their lifestyle and/or get a job.

Won't it?

Are you sure?

With ever dwindling benefits it MAY make them actually TRY and make themselves employable !

Your recipe offers nothing but the same - sit at home watching telly blaming everyone else for "no jobs"

There are plenty of jobs - what is in short supply is employable people !

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
No,of course not, but humiliating and alienating people wont make them want to change their lifestyle and/or get a job.

Something that I've been advocating for some time .....

Smart Cards to pay benefits

No more cash - to spend on ciggies, booze, drugs and scratchcards.

ONLY redeemable in selected shops for genuine goods and services.

In The Know wrote:
honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:

No,of course not, but humiliating and alienating people wont make them want to change their lifestyle and/or get a job.

Won't it?

Are you sure?

With ever dwindling benefits it MAY make them actually TRY and make themselves employable !

Your recipe offers nothing but the same - sit at home watching telly blaming everyone else for "no jobs"

There are plenty of jobs - what is in short supply is employable people !


There are plenty of a certain type of job, maybe, but a lot of people on the dole are not suitable and never will be. Manufacturing needs to be restored so there are plenty of factory jobs etc.

Usually when you alienate people it makes them even more reluctant to join in. We should be building self confidence, not destroying it and creating an "us" and "them" attitude. We are all us and we are all them and it is everybodys problem.
"if" the jobs are there then people should be searching constantly for them and sanctioned (after appeal) if they don't, not humiliated and punished like a prisoner.
"If" there are no jobs it is simply cruel.

In The Know (as always) wrote:
honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
No,of course not, but humiliating and alienating people wont make them want to change their lifestyle and/or get a job.

Something that I've been advocating for some time .....

Smart Cards to pay benefits

No more cash - to spend on ciggies, booze, drugs and scratchcards.

ONLY redeemable in selected shops for genuine goods and services.



How do they think addicts will get the money for drugs, booze and gambling then? Because they will get it somehow.

I think it is only meant for cases where the parents are misusing the money and neglecting the children. (so far) but if it is widespread the shops with the power will raise the prices and sensible people's families will suffer because they wont be able to use markets,boot sales and charity shops which is usually how people on low incomes manage.

I say if children are suffering and the situation is so bad that the parents genuinely cant be trusted with money it is time to remove them.

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
There are plenty of a certain type of job, maybe, but a lot of people on the dole are not suitable and never will be. Manufacturing needs to be restored so there are plenty of factory jobs etc.

Manufacturing? We were the biggest manufacturer in the world, honey! People will NOT pay for overpriced (shoddy?) goods.

Would YOU pay double for a Big Mac? Would YOU pay double for a British manufactured tee shirt (so someone can have a higher wage)? I thought not - and neither will anyone else. They will simply go elsewhere (which is exactly WHY China is now the manufacturing capital of the world - not the UK) !

"if" the jobs are there then people should be searching constantly for them and sanctioned (after appeal) if they don't, not humiliated and punished like a prisoner.
"If" there are no jobs it is simply cruel.

Its time to be "cruel", honey !

There are MORE people in work now that at any other time - ever !

These people are "too comfortable" sitting at home watching the telly and scrounging food from "food banks". Its time to squeeze them out of their complacency. They will NEVER do anything themselves unless forced to do so.

Things are very different in the USA - where 92 million people are currently out of the workforce!

And a sighificant proportion of them are in receipt of weekly/emergency benefit payments of $256, and have been for 5/6 years.

In comparison, the UK is doing well - for the moment.