howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
not even a sky package or smart phone included.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
COULD IAIN DUNCAN SMITH REALLY LIVE ON £53 A WEEK?
The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has claimed he could
live on £53 in benefits a week.........what an out of touch,not in the real world Plonker..........
Speaking on on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said:
"We are in an economic mess. We inherited a problem where we simply do not have
the money to spend on all the things people would like us to do. What I am trying to
do is get this so we don't spend money on things that are unfair."
A petition has already been set up, which has over 3,000 signatures, that challenges
Smith to live on the amount for a year: "This would mean a 97% reduction in his current income".
Though a whole year might be unrealistic to ask of the politician, do you think he
should put his money where his mouth is and attempt to live on the amount for a week or two?
Once again tory policies totally ignore the `Human Cost` to millions....
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Reg, you're beginning to sound like Keith.
I still haven't heard, despite asking countless times, what the alternative is.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
different threads for that david, this one is about the claim that 53 quid a week is enough to live on .
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Howard, I'll ask you the unanswerable question:
How much is enough to live on?
Reg and Keith don't want to answer, perhaps you can help me out.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
David, in reply to your question, the alternative is NOT TO TRUST IN THE GOVERNMENT.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
david,the average is £300 pound a week,twice that for a married couple with kids.i hope this answers your unanswerable question.
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Ah but Brian you said average, I assumed you knew the difference between averagfe and minimum.
So both you and Alex have failed to answer the question.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
david the figure i mentiond is the minimum.
Guest 1694- Registered: 24 Feb 2016
- Posts: 1,087
I'll regret this, but the chap who started the conversation on Radio 4 - turns out he gets more than £53 a week with rent and council tax benefits plus in work tax credits he gets something like £650 a month in benefit plus whatever he earns from his market stall.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Cherry picking contagion..............
Benefits cuts: what's it really like to live on £53 a week?
Iain Duncan Smith has claimed that he could live on £53 a week in benefits.
Two people with an income around 2% of the work and pensions secretary's
describe life on the edge
Connie, from north-west London, is just four years younger than Iain Duncan Smith,
but that's where the similarities end. Financially comfortable as an IT teacher
at a further education college until she was made redundant, she now gets by
on an income around 2% of the size of that received by the work and pensions secretary.
Connie, 54, and her husband, David, get £225.80 a fortnight in jobseeker's allowance
between them, or just over £56 a week each. Connie is scathing about Duncan Smith's
protestation that he could live on such an amount.
"It's almost impossible," she said. "He could maybe live like that briefly, but he couldn't
sustain living like that. He can't even imagine the things he'd need to budget for
. Nobody helps you with the stamps to apply for jobs. You have to carefully budget
for getting the bus. We get a card which gives us a 50% discount for the buses,
but you need to find the money for the photograph on the discount card."
Connie and her husband, a former driver and warehouseman, are actively looking for work.
She hands out her CV at conferences and is studying at the Open University to acquire
new skills. In the meantime, like many on minimum benefits, they find the sums don't
quite add up. "At the moment we have about £3 a week left for food after all the bills
are paid. We only survive because of family. My mother-in-law pays for all our food
. If it wasn't for that we'd be destitute."
When the boiler in their flat stopped working before Christmas Connie sold
her guitar to pay for the repair and tracked down a plumber who would agree
to tell them what parts they needed to buy and then return to fit them, to minimise
the bill. She said: "I haven't got many more things I can sell. We can't keep on
living like this for much longer."
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Brian, so a married couple need £600pw net, which grosses to approx £900pw or £45,000pa, according to your figures.
Neil, so often the voice of common sense has pointed out the reality of the situation
Guest 1694- Registered: 24 Feb 2016
- Posts: 1,087
Brian, I'm married and have 5 kids, a mortgage, etc. etc. £306 a week is what we needed when they were all at home (mortgage, food, water, heat and electricity). We are fortunate in that we do not have to live this close to the bone these days, but I have had to do so in the past and can do without TV, Car, new clothes, evenings out, electronic games, etc. if the need should arise.
Guest 715- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 2,438
David I imagine you need one penny more than it takes to pay your essential bills and live on the absolute minimum of basic food, reduced if there is a food bank in the area.Nothing for entertainment or transport costs of course, does that satisfy you?
Audere est facere.
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Martin, this isn't about satisfying me I simply find it interesting discussing what different people view as "the minimum".
Brian is confusing the minimum with the average, others don't seem to know.
I just want to see what people consider to be their entitlement.
Guest 715- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 2,438
Surely the amount required will depend on your circumstances? Rent cost Council Tax band how many in the house size of house how efficient the heating is etc etc it is not a one size fits all. I would add that if you have any pre conceived ideas about me I have worked all my life and other than family allowance I have never been unlucky enough to be on benefits.
Audere est facere.
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
I have no pre conceived ideas about anybody on here, I've only met 4 or 5 members.
My stance is straightforward Martin, the outgoing minister Liam Byrne said we'd run out of money, why is anyone surprised that most of us are feeling the pinch. If somebody, anybody, can wave a magic wand I'd be delighted
Incidentally, good win on saturday
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
David,
in reply, you realy should look at some of your own postings, when you were critical/moaning at Roger and all politicians, so please dont go on about my moaning.
I think Martin is correct when he says everyone's circumstances are different, so what would be enough for some, it wouldn't for another family, so maybe an avarage is a way of looking at it.
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
But Keith, you still don't give an alternative.
Re Roger and Cllr Nicholas, who its alleged I give a hard time to, have you noticed whih party they represent? Or Paul Watkins, who was kind enough to invite me to meet him.
The point is Keith, the country is on the verge of bankruptcy, I moan at councillors because they waste money that could be better spent elsewhere, you just moan in your tribal way.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
David,
Your missing the point, so it's all okay for you to bleat/moan but not for me? thats fair lol
Yes of course i recognise you are sometimes critical of conservatives as well.
But on the thread, I.D.S. probably doesn't know, or have to worry about any struggles to find enough money to heat the home, or find food.
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS