So there's all this hoo-ha about the benefit cap of £26 000 and how it's absolutely essential for the nation's financial well-being that we implement this benefit cap as soon as possible to prevent these feckless scroungers bankrupting the country any further.
As I understand, they arrived at the figure of £26 grand as it is the national average salary for 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics. In order to take home £26k you would have to earn £35k gross. (Which is not the national average salary - £26k is.)
To listen to those in Government indignantly bang on about this you would think that people sign on and are given a big wad of cash that adds up to £26k! This is just not the case.
This is a huge deception being played on the British public and it is a pernicious lie, it is a disgraceful sleight of hand on the part of the Government. What they are trying to get us to believe is that "THESE PEOPLE" are taking your money. This is bollocks!
If you are in receipt of benefit this is money to which you are entitled. The Government will ensure that you prove that entitlement several times over before you get any benefit.
Housing is a right. Also, we have no right whatsoever to interfere with people's right to reproduce.
So to return to this benefit cap: First off it is a national cap and does not consider the vast differences in rental costs depending on what part of the country you are living in. The rental cost of housing in London is so much higher than almost anywhere else in the country. London is my part of the UK and that is where I concentrate on. It is also the place where most of the people who are going to be affected by this benefit cap live. It is estimated thet there are 67 000 households who receive this sum due to their circumstances.
A cursory look at two or three estate agent's websites in my part of London and I discover that three and four bedroom properties start at £15 grand a year, most were over £20 grand, so it's very easy to see how a couple with two or three children would hit the £26 grand benefit cap.
So the real problem with the benefit cap is the cost of renting adequate family housing yet with all the fuss this week there has been hardly anyone talking about rent controls. (One exception was David Lammy MP on Question Time last night on the telly.)
As far as I'm concerned the Government are looking at this in a really cock-eyed way and being deliberately disingenuous in the hope that they can play one section of society off against another - the working poor and the unemployed.
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Great work Grant. You are a very talented writer. Michelle
ReplyDeleteThe cap should be lower than 26 G.How is it that a benefit claimant can live in a property in an area and of value a hard working tax payer can only dream of.The rent of which is so high there is no chance of them getting a job and paying there rent.And we are paying for people to have more kids ,and get bigger properties.If you are out of work,you obviously cant afford to have kids - so they should be made to have an injection to stop them getting pregnant.And we need to put a stop to the people who think cos they take drugs and drink,they should be on the sick,on a higher rate of benefits,the like of DLA.If you are out of work for 4 weeks or more you should be made to work 30-40 hrs.Giving back to the comunity,for the receipt of your benefits.Very few of the unemployed are actively seeking employment.It has become a way of life for so many.There should be a stigma associated to signing on.And should be made to feel guilty for taking money paid by the hard working.And in most cases taken by people who want to do the minimum in life - while drinking tenants super and smoking canabia and class A drugs.Basicaly a drain on the system.The unemployed housing should consist of portacabins or metal containers.And if you want a proper place to live - get a job and rent somewhere like the tax payers do.Im only just getting started (more to come)
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