The Good News thread, local jobs, economy etc

[Webbo]

Possibly true ,but when the government tells us 2 million people are taken off benefits and told to look for work , that really must mean there a 2 million more people unemployed , or there needs to be 2 million plus extra jobs created  for the level of unemployment to come down .

 

These people can't just disappear (and maybe some aren't signing on) , but for whatever reason the figures aren't showing the true level of unemployment in the UK 

There are all sorts of reasons  to explain the statistics which are too many and boring to go into. If the even Labour party aren't claiming these figures are lies then we can assume that they are broadly correct.

[Rincewind]

They'll be claiming Income Support (as am I, waiting for my decision letter), so they won't be appearing on the unemployed stats as they're not unemployed. I can't see where they're not counting them though.

Because they can put out figures that will please the electorate.

[MooseBreath]

It is impossible that unemployment is going down. The truth is that it has almost doubled. Just recently according to gov figures 2 million disability claimants were deemed fit to work and taken off disability benefits and told to look for work OK ?

So unless 2 million plus jobs have been created it must be a lie

Link to those government figures showing 2m taken off benefits? I vaguely remember some stories about Atos rejecting lots of benefit claimants, buy I'm sure those stories were written in lefty and charity rags. Most likely scenario seems to be that the left were falsifying benefit rejection figures as part of their smear campaign against atos while the current government are reporting true unemployment stats. Edited 18 December 2013 by MooseBreath

[ADK]

I don't think employment is strong at all. It has probably stopped getting worse but is still poor.

[Zingari]

Watch Iain Duncan Smith SNEAK OUT of food banks debate as Tories LAUGH at stories of starving families
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/food-banks-debate-video-iain-2941100

 

Famillies having a dependency on food banks in the UK ? I  never thought i'd see the day, and to watch these pigs laughing and mocking  makes me feel ashamed and sickened . At least old style tories had the decency to pretend to sympathise .

[Webbo]

Watch Iain Duncan Smith SNEAK OUT of food banks debate as Tories LAUGH at stories of starving families

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/food-banks-debate-video-iain-2941100

 

Famillies having a dependency on food banks in the UK ? I  never thought i'd see the day, and to watch these pigs laughing and mocking  makes me feel ashamed and sickened . At least old style tories had the decency to pretend to sympathise .

I suspect they were laughing at the exaggerated claims rather than the families themselves.

[Zingari]

I suspect they were laughing at the exaggerated claims rather than the families themselves.

Possibly , but the fact remains that food banks are now becoming more a fact of life in the UK  and even if the claims are exaggerated ( i really have no idea if they are or not ) but it's still not really a matter for mirth in my book . They look like a bunch of witless callous  buffoons. 

[Webbo]

Possibly , but the fact remains that food banks are now becoming more a fact of life in the UK  and even if the claims are exaggerated ( i really have no idea if they are or not ) but it's still not really a matter for mirth in my book . They look like a bunch of witless callous  buffoons. 

Tory MPs laughed and jeered as they were told how some hard-up shoppers were so desperate they fought to snap up discounted items in supermarkets.

 

How do they know they were fighting because they were desperate and not just because they were arseholes?It's the sort of nonsense that Ken comes out with. The Mirror is a mirror image (no pun intended ) of the Mail, you might broadly sympathise with their politics and they have every right to put their slant on this, but you have to take articles like this with a pinch of salt.

 

[Zingari]

How do they know they were fighting because they were desperate and not just because they were arseholes?It's the sort of nonsense that Ken comes out with. The Mirror is a mirror image (no pun intended ) of the Mail, you might broadly sympathise with their politics and they have every right to put their slant on this, but you have to take articles like this with a pinch of salt.

 

yes i'm sure there are elements of that , but foodbanks are back in the UK and it's obvious they are being used.

. Why now , if were doing so well ? Why are families choosing to put themselves through the degradation of using them ? it can't all be spin and slanted reporting  

[Webbo]

yes i'm sure there are elements of that , but foodbanks are back in the UK and it's obvious they are being used.

. Why now , if were doing so well ? Why are families choosing to put themselves through the degradation of using them ? it can't all be spin and slanted reporting  

You're asking me why people accept free food rather than paying for it themselves? 

[MooseBreath]

You're asking me why people accept free food rather than paying for it themselves?

It's a tough one.

Meanwhile you can bet your life a good proportion of people taking food from food banks are sat at home eating in in front of a flat screen tv playing a movie streamed from their internet connection through netflix on their ps3 while they twiddle about on their smartphones tweeting about how bad it is that their energy bills are so high and how they're all "eat or heat".

In other news, GDP figures revised up, more growth than anyone expected. Boom time.

[Zingari]

You're asking me why people accept free food rather than paying for it themselves? 

I wouldn't if i didn't need to .

Is it really that difficult to grasp that most people want to buy food of their choice in the same way you and i probably do rather than the indignity of little more than begging ?

Why have they just started doing it in recent years again ? what's caused the increase in popularity ? 

[Rincewind]

To use a foodbank you have to show proof and be referred to them by other parties such as the social services. You cannot just walk in and collect. They also give out other essentials. There is a link further up this page which explains it all. Information can also be found by contacting charities that deal with foodbanks.

As for 'The kind of thing Ken comes out with' I only post this kind of thing because noone else does and I think it is important that news not reported by the mainstream media is seen by the general public rather than the news that suits them and the people that they support.

 

I also think it disgusting of MP's who are supposed to represent ordinary working voters to mock and laugh at them as if they are worthless. They should go and visit foodbanks themselves if they do not believe they are being used instead of sitting on their arses. Let them do some work for their increased salary.

Edited 20 December 2013 by Rincewind

[Guest MattP]

You don't need ID in a food bank at all I went in a few weeks ago and got a loaf of bread no questions asked as I wanted to feed the ducks.

It's the daily mirror, as Webbo says the mirror image of the mail and even more extreme politically.

Non story.

[Guest MattP]

Ken you consistently report packs of lies that's why you don't see it in the mainstream media like the soldier you claimed was homeless who was actually working in a hotel.

If you keep doing that expect anything you post to be taken with a pinch of salt.

[Rincewind]

I'm going out soon and can't be bothered to argue on this. I know people who have seen the increase in the use of foodbanks themselves and spoken to the people that visit them and can confirm that they were genuine. unless anyone can prove otherwise I prefer to believe them than anyone who is speaking to support their political views rather than views they do not want to be true.

Edited 20 December 2013 by Rincewind

[Guest MattP]

I have also down to people who work in food banks and they have confirmed what I have been told.

I am going to ignore that though and instead believe the daily mirror and a motley crue from DNO.

I'm off as well, watching it's a wonderful life at the cinema tonight.

[Jon the Hat]

I'm going out soon and can't be bothered to argue on this. I know people who have seen the increase in the use of foodbanks themselves and spoken to the people that visit them and can confirm that they were genuine. unless anyone can prove otherwise I prefer to believe them than anyone who is speaking to support their political views rather than views they do not want to be true.

 

People who run food banks have a vested interest in them being more in demand.  They are therefore not a wholly reliable source of information.  And use of foodbanks doesn't necessarilly equal need for foodbanks. 

[Rincewind]

People who run food banks have a vested interest in them being more in demand.  They are therefore not a wholly reliable source of information.  And use of foodbanks doesn't necessarilly equal need for foodbanks. 

As I said to use a foodbank you need to be referred by a third party who issue vouchers.

 

Clients receive food

Foodbank clients bring their voucher to a foodbank centre where it can be redeemed for three days emergency food. Volunteers meet clients over a cup of tea or free hot meal and are able to signpost people to agencies able to solve the longer-term problem.

Some foodbanks also run a rural delivery service, which takes emergency foodboxes to clients living in rural areas who cannot afford to get to a foodbank.

 

7.      Robin Aitkin in the Telegraph claims that: “A new service is being offered to more and more communities, and naturally people are using it. The sustained media interest in food banks has acted as a giant advertising campaign.†This is simply untrue. People cannot simply turn up to a food bank and ask for help, they need to be identified as being in need by a healthcare professional or social services or similar, and referred with a form or a voucher.  It isn’t, as certain politicians would have you believe, an opportunist desire for free food.

 

Edited 20 December 2013 by Rincewind

[Jon the Hat]

 

As I said to use a foodbank you need to be referred by a third party who issue vouchers.

 

Clients receive food

Foodbank clients bring their voucher to a foodbank centre where it can be redeemed for three days emergency food. Volunteers meet clients over a cup of tea or free hot meal and are able to signpost people to agencies able to solve the longer-term problem.

Some foodbanks also run a rural delivery service, which takes emergency foodboxes to clients living in rural areas who cannot afford to get to a foodbank.

 

7.      Robin Aitkin in the Telegraph claims that: “A new service is being offered to more and more communities, and naturally people are using it. The sustained media interest in food banks has acted as a giant advertising campaign.†This is simply untrue. People cannot simply turn up to a food bank and ask for help, they need to be identified as being in need by a healthcare professional or social services or similar, and referred with a form or a voucher.  It isn’t, as certain politicians would have you believe, an opportunist desire for free food.

 

 

 

Unless someone is permanently eating from a foodbank, then they are victims of their inability to manage their money properly. 

[lavrentis]

Where the hell are these foodbanks? I have never seen one.

[Guest MattP]

Where the hell are these foodbanks? I have never seen one.

Called "Aldis" I think.

[purpleronnie]

I wonder if anyone has every tried and rob a food bank.  Plenty of dough in those places.

[davieG]

I wonder if anyone has every tried and rob a food bank.  Plenty of dough in those places.

Would it be porridge or jam tomorrow though?

[Zingari]

Would it be porridge or jam tomorrow though?

would they be held in custardy ?