Express - Madness Of Britain's Handout Culture: Scroungers Rake In £85,000 A Year From Benefits

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/475772/Madness-of-Britain-s-handout-culture-Scroungers-rake-in-85-000-a-year-from-benefits

The worst scroungers were paid three times the average working wage by taxpayers.

Figures revealed in an answer to MPs laid bare the true extent of the handouts chaos during Labour’s time in power.

The scale of the payments was described as ludicrous ­yesterday by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and caused outrage among hard-working families.

The figures showed some claimants received £1,107 a week, or £57,564-a-year. A working person would need a salary of £85,000 to take that amount home – more than three times the average salary of £26,000.

As the data only relates to average payments, it is likely that some of the jobless got even more. Britain’s massive benefits bill caused Mr Duncan Smith to push through radical welfare reforms, including an annual cap of £26,000 or £500 a week to restore “fairness”.

MP's calling the workshy scroungers. They should fill in expense forms like upper class scroungers and get given a free house.

[okaycuckoo]

I used to get outraged at this too, but state subsidies to corporates put it in perspecive.

[shindigger]

I'm not biting anymore.

They can all ****** off.

Hey baldy!! Nobody's listening.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Surely this is a Mash article talking about MPs?

[1929crash]

The real handouts are to MPs and to the mega-corporations, banking and non-banking.

As someone has already said, "F*** off baldy!"

[@contradevian]

I read this and thought and saw IDS's mug and thought they were getting at farmers scrounging off the EU. Talk about putting 2+2 together and making five!

Edited May 14, 2014 by aSecureTenant

[R K]

Won't click obviously, but I'm guessing this isn't about Nigel Farage's expenses.

[katchytitle]

Its all a game. You can't tell the truth in politics, you must use rhetoric to sway public opinion. That's what these stories are...and that's why newspaper owners are powerful .The reality is austerity never happened and we need to stop pensions and healthcare growing faster than national income. That's the only way to start paying down our debt. Labour have no plan, the conservatives are crashing down on the welfare budget but at some point will have to address their majority voters (old people) and do something after the next election.

If you can imagine not really caring about anything else except getting into power then you can understand why politicians do and say the things they do. Otherwise, to the well meaning people of the country it must seem very odd.

[byron78]

The real handouts are to MPs and to the mega-corporations, banking and non-banking.

As someone has already said, "F*** off baldy!"

Baldy doesn't care.

He lives in his in-laws nice country pile we all subsidise to the tune of £3000 odd a week.

But in Ian Duncan Myth's world that's obviously different...

[1929crash]

Baldy doesn't care.

He lives in his in-laws nice country pile we all subsidise to the tune of £3000 odd a week.

But in Ian Duncan Myth's world that's obviously different...

In any event, the cap limits welfare payments to £500 per week, so the Express is either being historical or is hysterically making this up.

[wonderpup]

The joke is that Osborne's flagship housing policy-help to buy- is simply making things worse by inflating house prices which means more people renting which means more upward pressure on rents- rents that are then often subsidized via housing benefit.

[billybong]

The worst scroungers were paid three times the average working wage by taxpayers.

MPs.

Edited May 15, 2014 by billybong

[Billy soy]

IDS is may as well go and work for the express, sun and daily mail the rate I keep seeing this hypocrite releasing press statements about a few thousand fraudsters.

[Timak]

I was doing some database work at a council last week on their Housing Applications system.

Of the several hundred applications I looked at there wasn't a single person who wasn't in work yet at least 50% were getting housing benefit.

This is in a relatively expensive area of the country and the wages were nowhere near the cost of renting (let alone buying).

A generation ago these people could be buying a nice family home simply by the virtue they had full time work (although a lot of people only did around 20 hours a week if they worked in retail/food) now they are "scroungers" according to the express.

If you are working full time and have to have housing subsidised by other tax payers then the problem is the cost of housing not people wanting a hand out.

[wild card]

Scrounger prize goes to IDS whose family estate has had 1.5 million E in handouts in last 10 yrs

old article

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/01/farm-subsidies-blatant-transfer-of-cash-to-rich … …

[crashmonitor]

Always been a major current affairs issue.....Play for Today 1978...Spongers (it does get going after 11 seconds of blank)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9uM4oOJqWU&list=PLAIdPTqmTSAj_z5bEfLOVKcuLgu_FYT3W&safe=active

Edited May 17, 2014 by crashmonitor

[Ulfar]

This same old ploy again, demonize those on benefits to scare the rest into obeying the state.

As others have said IDS can ****** off, his family are raking in subsidies for nothing more than owning land.

[Executive Sadman]

This same old ploy again, demonize those on benefits to scare the rest into obeying the state.

As others have said IDS can ****** off, his family are raking in subsidies for nothing more than owning land.

So do you dislike IDS for being a hypocrite, or a sponger?

You make it sound like you'd be just fine with it if he kept schtum about others...

[byron78]

I was doing some database work at a council last week on their Housing Applications system.

Of the several hundred applications I looked at there wasn't a single person who wasn't in work yet at least 50% were getting housing benefit.

This is in a relatively expensive area of the country and the wages were nowhere near the cost of renting (let alone buying).

A generation ago these people could be buying a nice family home simply by the virtue they had full time work (although a lot of people only did around 20 hours a week if they worked in retail/food) now they are "scroungers" according to the express.

If you are working full time and have to have housing subsidised by other tax payers then the problem is the cost of housing not people wanting a hand out.

Nailed it.

And to be fair, people are slowly waking up to this.

I know a lot of very rightwing anti-benefit families who have now seen their kids forced to claim benefits to afford housing despite working.

[Executive Sadman]

Nailed it.

And to be fair, people are slowly waking up to this.

I know a lot of very rightwing anti-benefit families who have now seen their kids forced to claim benefits to afford housing despite working.

So are they moderating their views on planning and banking?!

[doomed]

Nailed it.

And to be fair, people are slowly waking up to this.

I know a lot of very rightwing anti-benefit families who have now seen their kids forced to claim benefits to afford housing despite working

Housing benefit is the problem not the solution. If anything this should make them even more anti benefits.

[awaytogo]

I was doing some database work at a council last week on their Housing Applications system.

Of the several hundred applications I looked at there wasn't a single person who wasn't in work yet at least 50% were getting housing benefit.

This is in a relatively expensive area of the country and the wages were nowhere near the cost of renting (let alone buying).

A generation ago these people could be buying a nice family home simply by the virtue they had full time work (although a lot of people only did around 20 hours a week if they worked in retail/food) now they are "scroungers" according to the express.

If you are working full time and have to have housing subsidised by other tax payers then the problem is the cost of housing not people wanting a hand out.

Yes but surely if these handouts were not available the price of property would not be so high, its an ever increasing spiral being fed by the Government taxpayer and needs breaking.

[Timak]

So are they moderating their views on planning and banking?!

No. Oppose every development everywhere.

I also do lots of work with Planning systems and every development attracts the most over the top and even quite vicious opposition from the grey haired mafia. And before the boomers rightly complain about stereotyping it isn't all of them but I'd say 90% of complainants are retired professional people.

[Timak]

Yes but surely if these handouts were not available the price of property would not be so high, its an ever increasing spiral being fed by the Government taxpayer and needs breaking.

True. So the answer is to build lots of council owned houses never available for sale.

[winkie]

I was doing some database work at a council last week on their Housing Applications system.

Of the several hundred applications I looked at there wasn't a single person who wasn't in work yet at least 50% were getting housing benefit.

This is in a relatively expensive area of the country and the wages were nowhere near the cost of renting (let alone buying).

A generation ago these people could be buying a nice family home simply by the virtue they had full time work (although a lot of people only did around 20 hours a week if they worked in retail/food) now they are "scroungers" according to the express.

If you are working full time and have to have housing subsidised by other tax payers then the problem is the cost of housing not people wanting a hand out.

This^........Owners got the benefits of lower repayment costs and higher capital growth using borrowed money, the better paid jobs also benefited from nominal higher pay rises and better pensions and tax relief....whilst many low paid renters get, less money in their pockets from the work they do in the way of any pay rise, insecure zero hour contracts and higher rents..........how can it be that only housing debtors have been given the chance to get richer using borrowed money, whilst rents have been allowed to increase and hard worked for savings stolen via inflation greater than credit interest paid.....an unbalanced unfair system.

In the next breath being told you are scrounging because your employer does not pay a living wage.....doesn't make sense, it costs more to house and look after prisioners.