I am generalising greatly and basing it on the experience of one town/area.
Yes many immigrants are highly skilled and do jobs where we lack the supply of UK workers – Doctors or nurses for example and they are not what I am commenting on.
I was commenting on a largely manual unskilled workforce employed locally.
I have no knowledge as to the national picture generally and you are correct re the unemployment rate amongst immigrants.

AA maybe so, but I grew up in the Welsh Valleys whereby the the average distance to work was under 10 miles. I have also been made redundant 5 times but have never signed on. I know first hand what it is to be looking at a mortgage with no income, my decision……..do somehting about it.

I spend 80% of my working week in hotels all around the country, I travel approx 35k miles per year. I make massive family sacrifices, I choose to have no children, I pay lots of tax but have no state burden.

You still think I come across as an utter ****?

You make assumptions that you know nothing about, you have never met me nor know nothing about me.

The only saving grace is that it won’t affect u if you’re over 60.

What a surprise, not. Pandering to their voter base.

I don’t think for a second that most people on benefits are scroungers, in fact I think these people make up a small minority.

I do however think that there are many people who find themselves in a situation where its almost not worth them working, due to the minimal impact it would have on actual money in their pockets. And I can’t really blame them for that tbf.

Whether the solution is to cut benefits to get them off their arses, or increase minimum wage to make it worth their while, depends, I imagine, on which side of the highly polarised STW argument you are on.

But expecting them to all just relocate…well thats just daft really

I was made unemployed a while ago, and my experience was exactly the same as rudebwoy.

I was applying for jobs EVERYWHERE. All over the frikkin country. Each one usually involved some kind of aptitude/programming test, a phone interview, then at least a day of face-to-face interviews.

I’d then hear nothing… only for someone to ring up and apologise that they are now making people redundant too. One company even cancelled the interview whilst i was standing outside their office waiting to go in for the final interview (for three different possible roles). I just got a call from the recruitment agent, no reason given. One of them I had to do a 240 mile round trip, twice, then they never even bothered getting in touch, despite me ringing/emailing. Someone even made me a verbal offer in the interview room, but the contract never came.

It was a nightmare.

I have to say, i’d be LESS likely to relocate to start a risky job if there were no benefits at all, especially given employment rights may well get reduced as well.

spend 80% of my working week in hotels all around the country, I travel approx 35k miles per year. I make massive family sacrifices, I choose to have no children, I pay lots of tax but have no state burden.

You still think I come across as an utter ****?

Are you a rent boy ?

FWIW– i have thirty years experience of the construction industry, have worked on civils, house bashing, shopfitting, local authority maintenance, oh and eight years at sea– so i have some experience of work and travelling !

Right now jobs in london for skilled workers are offering £10 p/h– are you telling me that i should go there , pay for two rents(home and away) -travel costs etc — i think you live in some rarified place….

You still think I come across as an utter ****?

yes very much so

You make assumptions that you know nothing about, you have never met me nor know nothing about me.

Based on what you claim, you should have more understanding of poverty so the assumptions seem fair.

You still think I come across as an utter ****?

If the stars mean selfish,and ignorant(despite your claims to be some sort of self-made powerhouse) yes.

Sorry to rest of contributors on what is an interesting thread, but really.

AA maybe so, but I grew up in the Welsh Valleys whereby the the average distance to work was under 10 miles. I have also been made redundant 5 times (possible unionist, get rid of him)but have never signed on(couldnt undrstand the forms). I know first hand what it is to be looking at a mortgage with no income,(like looking in a steamed up mirror) my decision……..do somehting about it.

I spend 80% of my working week in hotels all around the country, (neighbours making your life hell then)I travel approx 35k miles per year(on my playstation). I make massive family sacrifices,(police havent caught up with me yet sacrificing my family on the alter of capitalism) I choose to have no children,(gay then) I pay lots of tax (on games and choclate bars, pies and dvds)but have no state burden.

You still think I come across as an utter ****?

You make assumptions that you know nothing about, you have never met me nor know nothing about me.

We know a lot more now.

I thought pies werent taxed?

Not necessarily, if you are prepared to move about there are good, well paid jobs all over the country

Ah yes the good old Norman Tebbit argument. All very well if you’re a single hermit with no family or dependents, with some savings to pay for the relocation costs, or where the new job pays enough to afford hotels/a second home.

In reality life is far more complex than that. What if you have kids settled in school? A partner who is employed (do they give up their job so you can move)? A mortgage? I’ll admit that sometimes a job opportunity comes along which is so good that relocation is justified, but it’s the exception rather than the rule. Or are you seriously suggesting that entire families should be uprooted so that the unemployed can accept any job going anywhere in the country?

Konastoner – are you a politician? Arrogance is a prerequisite and you’re certainly displaying that.

anagallis_arvensis – Member

“You still think I come across as an utter ****?”

yes very much so

Even more after that rantette.

Not necessarily, if you are prepared to move about there are good, well paid jobs all over the country

I’m headin’ out Californee way, they gots a whole mess a jobs out there.

Well it all seems to be going really well so far. Everyone taking advantage of moving out of their existing cavernous mansions into the readily available smaller, downsized accommodation….

How to turn a housing crisis into a homeless catastrophe

Westminster expects 5,000 families to be evicted by housing benefit cuts – and it’s happening almost everywhere. Councils have no choice as they frantically search for cheap housing, often hundreds of miles away. In Hull the bedroom tax hits 4,700 families with a spare room, and only 73 small properties free.

Mission accomplished then. Hurray for Dave! Its a win/win as the homeless have now got a greatly increased number of Soup kitchens and food banks to choose from. Big Society, innit? 🙄

Edit: What happened to the thread Resurrection post? All very mysterious….

And they’re actually bringing this tax in FFS?!?! When they are saying that the mansion-tax is too much hassle?!?!?!

Absolutely radged. 😡

of course we punish the poor and revere the risk takers and acumulaters of wealth for they are awesome and will trickle it all down to us all for our great benefit

What gets me is this lot have done this to save money and it will cost us money – we will still have to house those made homeless by this

They are so crap they cannot even achieve their goal of making everything cheaper/saving money
Heartless muppets

i m not saying all but a significant number will have no need to move home to save the 14 quid a week. a quick look at the housing assoc. homes opposite and theres a sky dish on every one..

when i was a kid.. we shared bedrooms till we left home.. the mrs and her sister were in bunk beds at 19.

perhaps in the improved living standards we all now enjoy we ve lost sight of whats nice and whats necessary..

Well done for playing the lazy sterotype card , can you get fags and booze in your next reply?

its a benefit cut– and there are more on the way….its a wacky idea that shows how inept this administration is….the opposition party has been silent on this and many other issues …..

Crickey, wasn’t there enough arguing about this first time round. Why resurrect? I guess one possible answer is the insight it gives into modern political debate. Both sides like to bandy about three key words in this debate:

Tax
Strivers
Shirkers

All three have several things in common in this context: they are inaccurate; they are misnomers; they are unhelpful and since they inappropriately frame the subject under debate, they are perfectly suited to modern political debate and headline-driven journalism. 😉

Hmmmmm, I think I’ll knock two bedrooms into one, just in case.

In my town I think that if twenty or so people tried to sell and move it would probably leave the house market borked.

A (now deleted) spammer posted to resurrect the thread and binners et al couldn’t help themselves 😉

Only just noticed this topic……..Bedroom tax eh, Iv’e been paying it for years 😆

If the moral argument is you have to cut your cloth accordingly if you can afford a duck pond you can have one if you can only afford a little home then thats it .There are people working from dawn to dusk and some havent even got a single room to sleep cook and watch tv in ,with a shared bath room, some have .So surly the tax should go for people with more than one room in total and a shared bathroom .If you would consider a single room with a shared bath room as a minimum standard for living .There are people who would love to have a kitchen, front room, bed room and a bathroom .Maybe we could have a work camp type thing going like they had back in germany in 1940s.I dont think IDS is thinking progressively enough .Tents tents some people live in boxes they would love a tent .What if you have a massive bed room and your neighbour has two tiny rooms. window tax that has to be the way forward .