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Monday 8 October 2012

Let's party like it's 1899............

......after all the Victorian era is apparently back in vogue.

Oooooft.
Here we are again.
It's Tory party conference time and as usual the spin doctors are leaking information on the hour every hour.
Add in the pre-conference interviews with our illustrious leader and I would suspect that by the time he takes to the stage to preach to the perverted that we could all claim truthfully that we have heard it all before.
It's extremely doubtful that he will utter one unexpected sentence to the assembled throng.
In fact most of us could probably write his script for him.
Cut out all the rousing 'we are all in this together' diatribe and to sum it up he will say that Labour left us in a more dire financial state than any of us could ever have imagined, and therefore to put the great back into Great Britain we will all have to tighten our belts even more, and count ourselves lucky that we aren't the Greeks, Irish or anyone else whose economy has tanked.
That some of us have tightened our belts to the extent that two size zero models could neatly fit inside and do a synchronized hula hoop display is neither here nor there apparently.
Of course the money that will be required will have to come from somewhere, so we can fully expect 'Call me Dave' to announce that it isn't going to be found from the deep pocketed, and equally short armed wealthy, or the continually profit making conglomerates who can well afford to pay their tax, but instead from those who can least afford it.
We have heard the song often enough now that we all know the words.

In fact he has already said that it will 'have' to come from the benefits pot.

Now today his partner in crime, the arch villain Mr Osborne who is presiding over financial genocide, is reiterating his masters 'cut and slash the finances of the poor' comments like a ventriloquists dummy.
Only this time there's some more nuggets of misery to think about as he has let it be known that the cuts are to the tune of £10 billion, and that they will be coming from housing benefit for the young and from child support benefits

It's the usually broad brush strokes announcement that relies on the manipulation of peoples perceptions to make them sound reasonable.

The unemployed young are shiftless.
Basically verging on feral.
So why should we assume any financial responsibility for them as they are undeserving of it?
Who wants one of these kids as their neighbour from hell?
The easy solution is to withdraw their ability to claim housing benefit and then they will have to stay at home with their parents.
Sounds fine and dandy when put like that doesn't it?
It saves us some hassle and cash.
Brilliant.

Only let's look at some of the things that are never mentioned as it doesn't suit their final solution.

First, where are all these golden opportunities for the young?
How can anyone apply for a non existent job?
Why should they be demonised for not working when there is scant work available.

How about if you are a young man or woman who has sorted out a good job for yourself.
Moved out and grabbed some independence with two hands and are aspiring to get your foot on the property ladder.
Then find yourself out of work, or if you were lucky enough to hang onto employment found that your hours had been cut to the point that you have more going out than going in financially.
Your option to remain where you reside is to claim housing benefit, but no, not now.
You've been excluded.
Guess you will just have to move back in with your parents.
Unfortunately once you left the nest they decided that their home was too large for them to rattle about in and downsized.
So where are you going?
Don't look at me for an answer. I don't know either.

Then there's the harsh reality that some young people need to leave the parental home as it's a dysfunctional and abusive environment.
Their only hope for a happy future lies in leaving and severing ties with their past, but under the new housing benefit rules that option has been swept away from below their feet.
That's great, and goes a long way towards encouraging anyone to be a solid citizen.

Or how about if you were in a relationship and were enjoying the little house and the 2.4 kids life.
That is until your partner lost his or her job, or buggered off with someone they worked with, or sadly died.
The safety net for you is partially housing benefit.
Not for long though.
What happens if you also fall under the new rules for child benefit and are excluded from some of them depending on how many kids you have.
It never rains, but it pours eh?
There you were living the life one day, and the next you're plunging from the tightrope and plummeting headlong to the cold hard ground as a statistically acceptable loss in the deficit war.
Bit shit really, but don't worry. Everyone knows the young are resilient and you will bounce back.

Of course we are all in this together though.

Unless of course if you are under a certain age, or have too many kids.

It's not sounding so good now is it?
None of the scenarios laid out there fit in with how we should be perceiving those targeted.

Similarly the reduction in child support benefits that they claim will be aimed at those who have large families, and are unemployed, is mired in a skewed perception of the recipients.
Are they all the largely stereotypical benefit sponging families that are depicted in the press and so perfectly portrayed in the television show 'Shameless'?

Or as we are all aware, are many of them just victims of circumstances.
Should the family whose main breadwinner has just been made redundant with no pay out be treated the same as the habitually unemployed baby making machines that a very small minority are?
Should the recently widowed be targeted?

Many of us have had to deal with changes in circumstances that have necessitated a reliance of the state through no fault of our own.
Should a portion of us be left out in the cold now?

Apparently so.

In the next few days read what has been getting promoted as solutions from the Conservatives, and then consider what they really mean.
Put yourself in the shows of those who are about to lose out and try and think about how you would feel if you were to find yourself struggling and no lifeline was available to you.

It really is time for a change.
Time for people to start questioning who is really benefiting from the solutions to the global financial woes that are being broached.
It's not me, and I doubt it's many of you.


6 comments:

  1. You know about as much about politics as you do about music. Both could be fitted on a pinhead.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yet you are here reading and commenting.
    However you are entitled to your opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like to keep up to date with what shite you are spouting Mainy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good for you 'X'.
    You know who I am.
    My identity is no secret.
    Over there on your right is even a list of places I'll be and on what dates.

    Yet you post your comments in anonymity.

    Interestingly signing off with an x is what the illiterate and ill educated used to do when they couldn't manage their full name on a document.
    I wonder if that is relevant.
    Answers on a pinhead please.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very funny.
    Maybe we will see each other one day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'll look forward to it.
    Wear a carnation and carry a copy of the Beano so I know it's you.

    ReplyDelete