The Politics Thread

[MooseBreath]

Ostrich.

I live on the coast.

Blockhauses that used to be on the coast in the 40's are 60m out in the Ocean. 150m of dunes have been taken away in the sea, the Oceans have billions of extra litres of water in them. Those are things I've seen with my own eyes. Throughout the world you can see the climate changes unless you are blind. Of course we can't control it but we can plan for it. The UK have allowed their rivers to silt up, they have built on land that is needed as a natural flood defense, man has tried to control the elements or maybe just ignore them in their own vanity. Now is an ideal time to get the young unemployed and the long term unemployed in the UK working on a long term project to clear the rivers and natural flood plains. A minimum wage, a days work, an increased experience and some self respect replacing benefits with full employment whilst saving the costs of natural desolation.

lol

You're using coastal erosion as proof of climate change? That's unbelievably dumb even for you

[Thracian]

Ostrich.

 

I live on the coast.

 

Blockhauses that used to be on the coast in the 40's are 60m out in the Ocean. 150m of dunes have been taken away in the sea, the Oceans have billions of extra litres of water in them. Those are things I've seen with my own eyes. Throughout the world you can see the climate changes unless you are blind. Of course we can't control it but we can plan for it. The UK have allowed their rivers to silt up, they have built on land that is needed as a natural flood defense, man has tried to control the elements or maybe just ignore them in their own vanity. Now is an ideal time to get the young unemployed and the long term unemployed in the UK working on a long term project to clear the rivers and natural flood plains. A minimum wage, a days work, an increased experience and some self respect replacing benefits with full employment whilst saving the costs of natural desolation.

 

 

Seems positive enough to me. I did see a map not long ago that projected Uppingham as being a coastal town by the 2030s. I even bought a deckchair! 

[MooseBreath]

I don't really disagree that much with this. Climate changes, always has and always will, with or without our contribution. And there are some pretty sizeable changes occurring now.

However rather than throwing our arms up in the air and letting the Earth roll the dice with the long term future of civilisation perhaps we should instead be looking to undertake more preventative measures, rather than being purely responsive to what Mother Nature decides to throw at us?

Don't suppose you have an easy link do you? Can't find anything that says they're spending more than ever or any data past 2014/15 (which is pretty damn close to present, is it not?)

Undertaking preventative measures is the same as thinking we can control it. We can't.

Some figures in here, you'll see the figure for 2014/2015 us substantially higher than for previous years.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&rct=j&q=flood%20defence%20apending&ved=0ahUKEwienLX63YDKAhWKwBQKHY8zA1gQFggkMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F480527%2FFunding_for_Flood_and_Coastal_Erosion_in_England_Dec_2015.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHC1AN26tcNgSEnWuRv101_N62YwQ

[Rincewind]

A man who was forced to give up work with heart problems had his benefits axed for failing to complete a capability assessment - after suffering a heart attack during the examination.

During the appointment, he was told he was having a cardiac arrest, forcing the nurse to stop the test.

Two weeks later he got a letter from Jobcentre Plus saying he had withdrawn from the assessment and, as such, was being sanctioned.

The anonymous man took his case to to Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams.

A spokesman for the MP said: “No-one is saying people on benefits shouldn’t have to look for work when appropriate, but this government is going beyond the pale in using underhand tactics to force vulnerable people off benefits to massage the unemployment data.”

The man is just one of a string of people who have come forward to the MP.

An anonymous woman was sanctioned after missing an appointment despite phoning on the morning of her assessment to explain she suffers from widespread arthritis, needs two knee replacements, cannot use her thumbs and struggles to write.

But the Department of Work and Pensions wrote to her to say they ‘doubt the reasons she provided’ and asked her to write informing of her illness meaning she was sanctioned even though she followed the correct procedures.

A further example includes a man who began claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance in November, 2012, after living off redundancy payment and has been seeking employment ever since.

He received a letter from the Jobcentre Plus office in Preston saying his allowance had been stopped because he had failed to attend an interview the day before.

However, he had attended at noon and saw an adviser for a 30-minute appointment.

Other agencies have also been accused over their administration of benefits. Earlier this month we reported how Atos wrote to a woman in a coma asking her why she was not working.

Hit Channel 4 series Benefits Street has also put the benefits system in the spotlight.

[Strokes]

Lots of anonymous people are very upset, I wish more people in my life were anonymous.

[Buce]

Lots of anonymous people are very upset, I wish more people in my life were anonymous.

There are thousands on here - how many do you need?

[Rincewind]

There are thousands on here - how many do you need?

I like how the rest of the post was ignored. It does say some of the cases are going through the courts so maybe names are not disclosed for legal reasons. Or maybe they do not want their names going public  where the misinformed will call them liars and scroungers. I certainly would not want my name revealed given the attitude of some people against claimants. The MP does say she has people contacting her on a regular basis. she cannot give out names without permission.

[MooseBreath]

On face value they all sound like admin errors to me. I'm sure they will be sorted out if there's a genuine complaint.

[Strokes]

On face value they all sound like admin errors to me. I'm sure they will be sorted out if there's a genuine complaint.

Come on moose, we all know that its david cameron, george osbourne and ids being massive wankers. Its a well known fact that ids hates anyone who is in a coma.

[Rincewind]

It is easy to laugh it off as admin errors when you are not on the receiving end.

Rearrange these words 'stable shut the after horse door bolted the' 

[Thracian]

It is easy to laugh it off as admin errors when you are not on the receiving end.

Rearrange these words 'stable shut the after horse door bolted the' 

 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it's Labour activists within the workforce deliberately stirring trouble to make headlines through people like you. Because, otherwise, it's simply people in an overworked office making mistakes and I don't suppose the calibre of workers is either that brilliant or that committed given their likely rewards and the sort of recurring headaches they're having to deal with on a daily basis. .     

[MooseBreath]

It is easy to laugh it off as admin errors when you are not on the receiving end.

Rearrange these words 'stable shut the after horse door bolted the'

Shut the stable door after the horse bolted. To be fair the horse has probably been recaptured by now, given the article you posted is two years old.

No laughing anything off from me though rinceone, just pointing out that errors will happen when they're dealing with millions of claimants. Any respectable journalism would look at both sides of the story as well, but when you're reading the mirror you get what you get.

Happy holidays

[Rincewind]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's Labour activists within the workforce deliberately stirring trouble to make headlines through people like you. Because, otherwise, it's simply people in an overworked office making mistakes and I don't suppose the calibre of workers is either that brilliant or that committed given their likely rewards and the sort of recurring headaches they're having to deal with on a daily basis. .     

I don't think making people aware of flaws in the service is stirring it up. If the errors are not made public then they will continue to occur and at the moment there are too many. I do not think the families of those involved will want to shrug what has happened to them as one of those things if it has caused them distress and hardship when it could have been avoided by a little common sense.

 

There was another case of a man with MS who could only communicate by eye blinking being sent a letter to attend a work assessment interview. A look at his past records would show that he would be incapable of work. Yes things are reversed on appeals but appeals can take months to take place  and in the meantime the benefits they are entitled to are stopped and they are took off the unemployed disabled or sick list. This has nothing to do with politics, it is about doing what is fair and right.

 

Vulnerable people should not pay the price for the few lazy gits that play the system. It is not just the Labour party that are speaking out. Support groups charities and now ex-employees of jobcentres and DWP are highlighting flaws and unfairness. Even some Tory MP's are worried about the affect it has on some people in their constituencies..

If it was one or two cases it would not matter so much  but there is a high percentage success rate in  appeals. This is not only costly to the taxpayer it shows that something is not working  with the current system.

 

I am sure this has been going on for years so it is not just the present government at fault. It just seems to have got worse over the last few years or at least highlighted more with the rise in social media the average Joe able to have a voice.

Anyway I have said too much and already broken one NY resolution, to avoid the Politics thread and maybe  I should just delete this post as only one or two will agree and I will not change the minds of those that do not  so it will be a waste of 30 minutes of my life. I do not care which party is in power as long as there is fairness all around which is something that may never happen. But one can dream.

[Frank to be]

Having chosen to go to war 'for our safety' the elite are now recommending that we don't look at our phones or wear headphones while out and about because if we do we might just be partially to blame for getting ourselves murdered by terrorists.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35213879

Thanks for making me feel safer guys

[separator]

Having chosen to go to war 'for our safety' the elite are now recommending that we don't look at our phones or wear headphones while out and about because if we do we might just be partially to blame for getting ourselves murdered by terrorists.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35213879

Thanks for making me feel safer guys

There not saying don't use phones or headphones, just be aware of your surroundings

[Rincewind]

And don't  turn lights on in your house.  Be careful to keep your voices down when argueing with your spouse. Walls have ears.

They are also asking for volunteers for the Home  Guard.

And most of all DON'T PANIC.

[Webbo]

They also tell us to look both ways before we cross the roads. The evil bastards.

[Frank to be]

They also tell us to look both ways before we cross the roads. The evil bastards.

Which is common sense because roads are dangerous. Since when were the streets so dangerous that I have to be constantly worrying about whether or not a terrorist is about to kill me? I'll answer - it's since we started bombing other countries for political and financial reasons. 'To make us safe'? Biggest con of the 21st century so far.

[separator]

Which is common sense because roads are dangerous. Since when were the streets so dangerous that I have to be constantly worrying about whether or not a terrorist is about to kill me? I'll answer - it's since we started bombing other countries for political and financial reasons. 'To make us safe'? Biggest con of the 21st century so far.

You make it sound like you live in downtown Baghdad! The streets can be dangerous but we've had terrorism on our streets long before we started bombing Iraq / Syria / Afghanistan 

[Rincewind]

Well it gives people something else to worry about 

 

:)

[Webbo]

Which is common sense because roads are dangerous. Since when were the streets so dangerous that I have to be constantly worrying about whether or not a terrorist is about to kill me? I'll answer - it's since we started bombing other countries for political and financial reasons. 'To make us safe'? Biggest con of the 21st century so far.

If you don't want to do it nobody is going to throw you in prison for it.

 

What's the worse that could happen by paying a bit more attention?You seem desperate to be offended to me. 

[Frank to be]

You make it sound like you live in downtown Baghdad! The streets can be dangerous but we've had terrorism on our streets long before we started bombing Iraq / Syria / Afghanistan

I think the warning is over the top, I just found it ironic that the elite who have taken us to war for our safety are now saying that the country is so unsafe that we're at risk of being stabbed to death, shot dead or blown up if we dare check our phones or wear headphones while walking around town.

[Webbo]

Well it gives people something else to worry about 

Yes Ken, if the govt wasn't pretending that there are terrorists we'd all be marching on parliament with you as our leader.

[Rincewind]

I agree be more aware of your surroundings. That homeless guy you ignore while texting could be part of a terrorist cell.

 

I find it more amusing than anything else that some believe it.

 

:)

[Strokes]

I agreebe more aware of your surroundings. That homeless guy you ignore while texting could be part of a terrorist cell.

I ignore them when im not texting too.