No wonder this country is skint...................

[BadFish]

So true. The 'sheeple' need to wake up and realise that we are being screwed by the elite. The elite is politicians/business leaders. Why don't the Western Governments stamp out the use of tax havens (ban companies from trading in their country if they use them) and standardise the rates/rules for corporation tax? It's because the super-rich control the politicians. Also, on the other side; too many feel that they are owed a certain standard of living by the government/society.

You can bet your bottom dollar that their austerity measure will hardly affect themselves or their mates.

 

[East Preston Gull]

We are skint because tony Blair,Gordon Brown,Peter Mandelson and Ed Balls!..........ends conversation!!!

 

[pork pie]

We are skint because tony Blair,Gordon Brown,Peter Mandelson and Ed Balls!..........ends conversation!!!

Agreed. And where are our Gold Reserves?

 

[BadFish]

We are skint because tony Blair,Gordon Brown,Peter Mandelson and Ed Balls!..........ends conversation!!!

Or was it something to do with a Global Financial Crisis? Blaming either UK political persuasion is futile this crash was global on scale and neither party could do much about it and both were complicit it its causes.

 

[pork pie]

Or was it something to do with a Global Financial Crisis? Blaming either UK political persuasion is futile this crash was global on scale and neither party could do much about it and both were complicit it its causes.

It is all down to the overspending by Labour, and Browns relaxation of controls on the financial sector, and selling our gold reserves for peanuts. Why do you think others like Germany and the USA are in nowere near as much shit as us? Don't believe every excuse Labour trot out!

 

[BadFish]

It is all down to the overspending by Labour, and Browns relaxation of controls on the financial sector, and selling our gold reserves for peanuts. Why do you think others like Germany and the USA are in nowere near as much shit as us? Don't believe every excuse Labour trot out!

i don't believe anything any of them trot out.

I find it laughable that you think the US is better of than the UK at the moment.

You can't look at the current situation purely from a UK perspective their was a massive collapse of the worlds economy , some countries handled it better than other but everyone suffered. to blame one government is folly.

 

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

In Australia I got benefits as soon as I landed. I am not a citizen just perm resident. It was all explained to me by centerlink. I now pay taxes and contribute towards this fund. What is the difference? It was certainly as easy if not easier to claim here than in the UK. The only one I didn't get was job seekers...

 

[Beach Hut]

A banker, a Sun reader and an unemployed person are given a plate with 12 bars of chocolate on it. The banker eats 10 of the bars, puts one in his pocket, then says to the Sun reader: ' Look at the headline in your paper! It says that scrounger wants to eat your bar!' The Sun reader grabs the bar and sneers at the unemployed person, who storms off to beat up an asylum seeker. The banker gives the remaining bar to the Sun 'journalist' who wrote the story.
Attila the Stockbroker Songs | ReverbNation

Thanks Billy Bragg, why hijack this thread to publicise your career ?

 

[Titus]

why hijack this thread

Well you've done it over 50,000 times, why shouldn't he

 

[Gordon the Gopher]

Errr! The country is not skint!!!!!!

NOTEWORTHY FACTS ABOUT UK SOCIETY - the state we are in

UK Wealth distribution

The top 1% own 25% of national wealth

The top 10% own 52% of total wealth

The top 50% own 94% of total wealth

Income distribution

GINI Index : 0= perfect equality, 100 = perfect inequality (One person owns all the wealth)

UK Denmark France Sweden Finland Germany US
34 24 27 23 25 25 43

In Europe, only Greece has more unequal income distribution than Britain. The US stands out as having the highest level of inequality in the developed world.

 

[Ernest]

Thanks Billy Bragg, why hijack this thread to publicise your career ?

What career ?

 

[Hamilton]

It is all down to the overspending by Labour, and Browns relaxation of controls on the financial sector, and selling our gold reserves for peanuts. Why do you think others like Germany and the USA are in nowere near as much shit as us? Don't believe every excuse Labour trot out!

Too simplistic.

We have to get away from polar extremes. It's not down to these factors alone, and every politician worth their salt knows this.

The deregulated financial sector contributed massively towards a global recession. Now let's look at pretty much every political party's attitude towards that deregulation during the mid-2000s. Pretty similar across the board.

 

[Eggmundo]

I work with a 'european' who is married with children. He brought his wife and kids over with him. Got the benefits sorted then the wife and kids went back 'on holiday' and he sends the money back to them. He know's it is wrong but say's if we are 'stupid enough then they'll take advantage'...simples.

What can you say to that? Yes we are stupid enough but you are taking advantage of a fair, equality driven system that is there to help the oppressed and need..

Yeah...that'll work.

And you can't 'shop' him because he plays within the rules. the wife and kids come back every now and then.

 

[trueblue]

I am also in the building game and agree with you completly, they do work hard and dont seem to be so obsessed with tea drinking as us brits.

Might not be exactly true in your case but along similar lines... a lot of immigration hasn't taken jobs away from native Brits, it's seen them move up the ladder, with the immigrant workers taking the low wage jobs and the British workers moving into management. Of course, some people will lose out because of the work ethic that seems to be instilled in many of the Eastern Europeans who've come here.. but, hey, if they want to put the xBox controller down, they could always go and work in Poland.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

I work with a 'european' who is married with children. He brought his wife and kids over with him. Got the benefits sorted then the wife and kids went back 'on holiday' and he sends the money back to them. He know's it is wrong but say's if we are 'stupid enough then they'll take advantage'...simples.

What can you say to that? Yes we are stupid enough but you are taking advantage of a fair, equality driven system that is there to help the oppressed and need..

Yeah...that'll work.

And you can't 'shop' him because he plays within the rules. the wife and kids come back every now and then.

You can do that in any country in the EU though (providing you're from the EU). How does that make us a soft touch exactly?

 

[rool]

You can do that in any country in the EU though (providing you're from the EU). How does that make us a soft touch exactly?

Not in Ireland it seems. For child benefit we had to complete a form every three months, counter signed by the school to prove our children were at school in Ireland.
Two years before we left the Irish welfare suspended child benefit for ALL non Irish national children.
Counter that with the Irish travellers who spend six months in Ireland and six months in the UK claiming benefits in both countries.

 

[User removed 4]

Not in Ireland it seems. For child benefit we had to complete a form every three months, counter signed by the school to prove our children were at school in Ireland.
Two years before we left the Irish welfare suspended child benefit for ALL non Irish national children.
Counter that with the Irish travellers who spend six months in Ireland and six months in the UK claiming benefits in both countries.

You're not supposed to give facts that contradict the myth that we aren't one of the world's biggest mugs.

 

[rool]

You're not supposed to give facts that contradict the myth that we aren't one of the world's biggest mugs.

I think Ireland appear to be allowed to get away with a lot more of that sort of stuff unchallenged than the UK would.
It also appeared quite hard for us, as returning UK nationals, to re qualify for certain entitlements and benefits because we had been away from the country for eight years. I was unable to reconcile that in my head with benefits made instantly available to new immigrants.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

You're not supposed to give facts that contradict the myth that we aren't one of the world's biggest mugs.

I think people often assume we're the biggest mugs without knowing the first thing about how it works in other countries though.

 

[clippedgull]

what I would do is make sure no household claiming benefits can transfer money overseas for 5 years.

Effective? Not! All that would happen is that a relative would fly over with the cash!! Or one would arrive here for a holiday and go back loaded up.