The Estate

[HiMucker]

I don't follow you Ulick?  I have one child and pay (after consulting with my financial liaison officer/cook) £135 a week in child care, with no benefits.  You either have a troop of kids or your getting seriously ripped off.  Interestingly the girlfriend does a 35 hour week in 4 days.  She was asked could she do 5 days, however the extra days child care/tax would cost more money than the wage from the extra day.  I know its short term until they start school, and sometimes you have to take the hit to see the rewards later in your career.  But then again after school care ain't bloody cheap either!

Mucker my point is, that if you are in receipt of any kind of benefit such as Child Tax Credits, Working Tax Credit, or Childcare Vouchers then you are not really in a position to complain about other people getting benefits lest you are prepared for criticism from those who don't receive any of those benefits and haven't winged about it. I pay child care on two children, at £5 per hour each for 9 hours a day that's £90 and so each month that's my wife's whole wage and then some. We get no tax credits or assistance of any kind, I drive a 9 year old car, live in a nondescript semi, don't have an extravagant subscriptions to Sky, a gym or a fancy phone, my wife is due again at the end of the month and will have to leave work permanently to look after the children - and even after that we'll still not be eligible for child benefit. But you still don't see me coming on message boards complaining about some unfortunate, uneducated, alcoholics who need some help from the state to make their way in life. To each according to their need.

Like I said earlier, I receive no child benefit or tax credits, so I will whinge if I want thanks , despite numerous people saying to the girl to claim single parent benefit (which would make it nearly impossible to get married in the future, because most people who do this, couldn't withstand the drop in income if they did get married.)
To address your second point, I never made any reference to being against state help for alcoholic's or to others who NEED it.  But I find it hard to find any intelligent, sane person to agree that the majority of unemployed people need their child care paid for.  Is your argument just that you should accept that its not right, suck it up and get on with it, in some strange attempt to stay true to your socialist believes?  To me that doesn't make any sense.  That is not socialism, and a lot of politicians are afraid to point it out as it will cost them support.

[Santino]

My very right wing mate reckons the 'lifers' on benefits should be given food stamps rather than cash so they cant throw half of it at fegs and booze if they dont fancy working for any of it, and i'm inclined to agree.

[ziggysego]

I remember the day you used to be able to get milk and cheese at the Post Office, as part of your benefits. Santino, your mate maybe right, it may have to return to that, to some extend.

[Minder]

My very right wing mate reckons the 'lifers' on benefits should be given food stamps rather than cash so they cant throw half of it at fegs and booze if they dont fancy working for any of it, and i'm inclined to agree.

I think the winter fuel allowance should not be in the form of cash.

[HiMucker]

My very right wing mate reckons the 'lifers' on benefits should be given food stamps rather than cash so they cant throw half of it at fegs and booze if they dont fancy working for any of it, and i'm inclined to agree.

I think the winter fuel allowance should not be in the form of cash.

[/b]What!! FFS jaysus thats asking for bother.  Didnt know that one was easily manipulated

[Tony Baloney]

My very right wing mate reckons the 'lifers' on benefits should be given food stamps rather than cash so they cant throw half of it at fegs and booze if they dont fancy working for any of it, and i'm inclined to agree.

I think the winter fuel allowance should not be in the form of cash.

[/b]What!! FFS jaysus thats asking for bother.  Didnt know that one was easily manipulated

Aye did you not know the hoors burn it in their fires even though it has a low calorific value 

[tyroneStatto]

i saw this on last night - episode 2 i think it was.

my wife works in housing and she was saying that it must be bad there if they allocated a house to a young single male, as it means that there's not too many on the waiting list.

it would make you sick the amount of benefits they get.

In my opinion, anyone who is on benefits and isn't genuinely ill should be out picking rubbish of the street, cleaning grafitti, tidying flower beds, filling in pot holes, etc. to earn their benefits.  If they don't do it, they don't get paid...Simples...

would agree 100% with that

There was a marked difference in the couple that both worked and owned their house, he was getting £250 a week working in a warehouse so after paying mortgage etc they probably had less money in their pocket than the wasters on the estate yet their house wasn't like some squat.

people who work or own a house/car will always respect things more

[take_yer_points]

Front page of the Belfast Telegraph today - "Residents go to war over BBC fly-on-wall "stitch up"

The jist of the article is that residents are angry about how the estate is being portrayed

[glens abu]

I remember the day you used to be able to get milk and cheese at the Post Office, as part of your benefits. Santino, your mate maybe right, it may have to return to that, to some extend.

You still get coupons for childrens milk and I know of a shop in Ardoyne that pays half the value for them and some parents but cigs with the money.Crazy

[tyroneStatto]

would any of these people be getting money from the bbc to appear on this show.

i just cant think why anybody in their right mind would want to appear on a show like that unless there was money involved.

[screenmachine]

Front page of the Belfast Telegraph today - "Residents go to war over BBC fly-on-wall "stitch up"

The jist of the article is that residents are angry about how the estate is being portrayed

As the saying goes, you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear.  I wonder how these characters expected themselves to be portrayed? 

One of them has five children, has never worked and lives off benefits and probably will do for the rest of her life.  The children wreck the house and the eldest refuses to go to school.

The next is an alcoholic and while he seems to realise the situation he is in is wrong, he can't get off the booze.  He did go off it for a while but it seems that when he realised he had to go to his medical checkup there was a chance he would lose his benefits for being an alcoholic so conveniently he goes back on the sauce a few days before his medical examination.

Next up is a young lad who doesn't work yet gets handed a new home which he openly admits will be used as a party house stating the reason for moving out was that he fell out with his da and he wanted somewhere to have a quiet drink.

Then you have a family who have a child with severe disabilities who struggle to get by with both parents working different shifts.  They are trying to get a new house to facilitate their daughters needs but can't get out of there current house.  Then it turns out that they could get out in an instant if they didn't work and were on benefits.

Now, in my reckoning the only people who you can have sympathy with is the family with the daughter with a disability.  The other families/losers can go an jump if they're looking the sympathy vote, they get enough handed to them without seeking sympathy from a newspaper and the public about how they are being portrayed...

would any of these people be getting money from the bbc to appear on this show.

i just cant think why anybody in their right mind would want to appear on a show like that unless there was money involved.

I think they got £50 in vouchers for Asda at Christmas and the hairy lipped c**t still had the cheek to complain about that.

[fitzroyalty]

I'd agree with much of that screenmachine. I'd maybe have a bit more sympathy than you for the alcoholic.

[Magicsponge]

Next up is a young lad who doesn't work yet gets handed a new home which he openly admits will be used as a party house stating the reason for moving out was that he fell out with his da and he wanted somewhere to have a quiet drink.

This would be the same da who came over and cleaned up his house for him and helped him move in, looked like it was a massive fall out. I think he just wanted a place to drink without his parents telling him off for it

Then you have a family who have a child with severe disabilities who struggle to get by with both parents working different shifts.  They are trying to get a new house to facilitate their daughters needs but can't get out of there current house.  Then it turns out that they could get out in an instant if they didn't work and were on benefits.

Now, in my reckoning the only people who you can have sympathy with is the family with the daughter with a disability.  The other families/losers can go an jump if they're looking the sympathy vote, they get enough handed to them without seeking sympathy from a newspaper and the public about how they are being portrayed...

Really did feel bad for that family as they work and own their own homes but get feck all help whereas if they had been just lying around all day doing nothing they could have been in a Bungalow already. Also their house was pretty well kept and look quite clean compared to some of the other houses. It looked like they took a bit of care with their house and looked after it unlike some of the others who just had it handed to them.

And that one girl who wanted a job but only one that was for like 4 hours a week

[Ulick]

In my opinion, anyone who is on benefits and isn't genuinely ill should be out picking rubbish of the street, cleaning grafitti, tidying flower beds, filling in pot holes, etc. to earn their benefits.  If they don't do it, they don't get paid...Simples...

would agree 100% with that

Catch yourselves on, both of you.

[Minder]

In my opinion, anyone who is on benefits and isn't genuinely ill should be out picking rubbish of the street, cleaning grafitti, tidying flower beds, filling in pot holes, etc. to earn their benefits.  If they don't do it, they don't get paid...Simples...

would agree 100% with that

Catch yourselves on, both of you.

We are having three people into our work that have been on the dole (long term I think), they will be here for 26 weeks. I take it this has been thrust upon them by the Social Security Agency.