[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Kazanne

Oh blimey,what a depressing place this has become, he has been voted in,all this doom and gloom wont change a thing and who knows he may make a very good PM now he has control, people aren't even giving him a chance, the protests are ridiculous are they from the kids who were never told no ? you cant always have what you want ? All I see on here lately is moan , moan , moan, cheer up and stop being so pessimistic , it could all turn out really good and if not he will be out next time we vote ,why worry about things that haven't even happened ? None of them will ever please everyone.

You're clearly speaking from a position of privilege where a hard right neoliberal Tory government making sweeping cuts to welfare and public services means "at worst we might have to tighten our belts a bit". Consider yourself very, very lucky that you DON'T have to worry about this. I count my lucky stars that this is happening NOW because at this point I have a household income that for the most part does mean that we can tighten belts and get by OK - if this was happening a couple of years ago it would have been another STORY. However, I have a daughter with a lifelong disability and the likelihood of a hard majority Tory government making cuts that affect her education, and her care and available services in the future is not a pleasant prospect.

Believing that a government like this "could all turn out really good" for the average working or middle class citizen is quite frankly believing in faeries, and the sort of pure fantasy that has lead people to vote us into this mess.

[Ammi]

...a Christmas picture that paints 1000 words...or just a few words of the imbalance in this country that we’ve all been becoming more and more aware of....

[Ammi]

...I don’t apologise for stretching the thread page...there are a lot of homeless people in that image...

[GoldHeart]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

You're clearly speaking from a position of privilege where a hard right neoliberal Tory government making sweeping cuts to welfare and public services means "at worst we might have to tighten our belts a bit". Consider yourself very, very lucky that you DON'T have to worry about this. I count my lucky stars that this is happening NOW because at this point I have a household income that for the most part does mean that we can tighten belts and get by OK - if this was happening a couple of years ago it would have been another STORY. However, I have a daughter with a lifelong disability and the likelihood of a hard majority Tory government making cuts that affect her education, and her care and available services in the future is not a pleasant prospect.

Believing that a government like this "could all turn out really good" for the average working or middle class citizen is quite frankly believing in faeries, and the sort of pure fantasy that has lead people to vote us into this mess.

It's like the Thatcher mindset, when the rich didn't give a damn about the poor or working class. The attitude was"ohhh it will be okay" .

There's towns to this day still shaken and affected by Thatcher's government,and we go backwards yet again to that .

I'd say a few of us are lucky if we have a roof over our heads and some kind of secure lifestyle. But many have it alot worse .

Even with the recent flooding that's been happening just to name as an example, they got very little help except from members of the community.

[LeatherTrumpet]

im pretty sure homeless people have always existed

and that we have many many homeless charities and services?

especially in London

and the last time i watched a 3 month long documentary about the homeless in our main cities virtually none were genuine

[Liam-]

Originally Posted by Ammi

...a Christmas picture that paints 1000 words...or just a few words of the imbalance in this country that we’ve all been becoming more and more aware of....

We should be ashamed as a country that this is happening, how many people have to freeze to death before people wake up and stop being so utterly selfish

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Liam-

We should be ashamed as a country that this is happening, how many people have to freeze to death before people wake up and stop being so utterly selfish

do you know a country that does not have a tiny proportion of its population homeless?

[GoldHeart]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

do you know a country that does not have a tiny proportion of its population homeless?

This ISN'T a tiny proportion though

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by GoldHeart

This ISN'T a tiny proportion though

The homeless proportion in the UK is approx 1/200, or 0.5%.

That's still too high, but pretty damn tiny.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

The homeless proportion in the UK is approx 1/200, or 0.5%.



That's still too high, but pretty damn tiny.

It's 5 homeless people for every small village with a population of 1000. That's not tiny at all, it's insane.

And also; it doesnt even work that way, there are rarely many (or any) in smaller places, they're clustered in cities which makes the scale even worse in those areas.

[Twosugars]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

im pretty sure homeless people have always existed

and that we have many many homeless charities and services?

especially in London

and the last time i watched a 3 month long documentary about the homeless in our main cities virtually none were genuine

When mayor bojo promised to eradicate homelessness in London
In fact it doubled by the time his 2nd term ended

[Livia]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

im pretty sure homeless people have always existed

and that we have many many homeless charities and services?

especially in London

and the last time i watched a 3 month long documentary about the homeless in our main cities virtually none were genuine

Homelessness shames our country. But it's not like it's only under the Conservatives that we have homeless people. And the fact that many of those homeless people are ex-forces who have been cast onto the scrapheap shames us more. Many of those ex-servicemen and women went to war under Blair... but that's another thread.

I'm looking forward to a time when the hysteria subsides a little and people give this government a chance to ******* up, before they condemn them.

And before I have to explain myself, again... I support both Crisis and the Salvation Army. And while I believe it should be the government's responsibility to end homelessness, until that happens I'm willing to put my hand in my pocket rather than simply complain about how terrible it all is.

[arista]

Get away from Politics Actor Hugh
you are Poison

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Liam-

Why worry about things that haven’t happened? You’re joking right? People have the right to be worried about what will happen to them under an increasingly right wing government with a history of cruelty towards minorities and the disadvantaged, you might be kushty, but jfc, people are genuinely scared about what might happen, you have no right to tell those people to ‘stop being so pessimistic’ people are pessimistic because if they follow form from the past 9 years of hell, then a lot of people won’t survive it, sorry if that is too real and ‘moany’ for you.

tbf they would be right to be worried if Johnson wasn't making all the right noises so far, Labour City London voted him Mayor twice because of his liberal and international stance, so maybe lets give him some time before making the judgement call

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

The only good thing to come out of all of this is the thought that I'm gonna be telling Tory voters 'I told you so' so much over these next few years.

It's going to be fun to watch these people suffer for their mistakes and remind them that they only have themselves to blame, after all, they have no minor or hung governments to blame. They got what they wanted, a Tory majority, and they will get everything they deserve for it.

Yes stick it to the Labour voters who deserted the party in their droves and for some reason couldn't find anyone on the ballot paper other than Tory to vote for

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

It's 5 homeless people for every small village with a population of 1000. That's not tiny at all, it's insane.

And also; it doesnt even work that way, there are rarely many (or any) in smaller places, they're clustered in cities which makes the scale even worse in those areas.

5/1000 is the same proportion as as 1/200...

I guess the "small village" thing is used as an illustrative example to make it more shocking, because as you seem to have realised... They're mostlt in cities, not villages.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Liam-

We should be ashamed as a country that this is happening, how many people have to freeze to death before people wake up and stop being so utterly selfish

Look Liam
they are out of the Rain
under that Store Front,


We had Homeless under Blair's New Labour
it a Worldwide problem
Terrible in San Francisco

[Toy Soldier]

I just can't fathom how far in denial someone has to be to try to insist that a decade of Tories hasn't made things substantially worse for the homeless, unemployed, disabled and working poor in the UK.

Blaming the "prrrevious Labour governmentttt" worked OK for the first couple of years but its surely going to be a hard sell now!

"Why are things so bad in 2021 Boris?"
"Cos of Labour in 2008"

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I just can't fathom how far in denial someone has to be to try to insist that a decade of Tories hasn't made things substantially worse for the homeless, unemployed, disabled and working poor in the UK.

Blaming the "prrrevious Labour governmentttt" worked OK for the first couple of years but its surely going to be a hard sell now!

"Why are things so bad in 2021 Boris?"
"Cos of Labour in 2008"

Unemployment is at record lows

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

5/1000 is the same proportion as as 1/200...



I guess the "small village" thing is used as an illustrative example to make it more shocking, because as you seem to have realised... They're mostlt in cities, not villages.

Yes that's why I said it - to point out that most people would find a village of 1000 people having 5 people on the streets a pretty shocking statistic. We're just comfortable ignoring it because it's "hidden" in urban areas, not in the doorway of a suburban co-op, so the average Tory voter can pretend the scale is smaller than it is.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Unemployment is at record lows

Meaningless when a months full time minimum wage barely covers rent and utilities and millions of employed people rely on Universal Credit to buy food and clothes.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I just can't fathom how far in denial someone has to be to try to insist that a decade of Tories hasn't made things substantially worse for the homeless, unemployed, disabled and working poor in the UK.

Blaming the "prrrevious Labour governmentttt" worked OK for the first couple of years but its surely going to be a hard sell now!

"Why are things so bad in 2021 Boris?"
"Cos of Labour in 2008"

Many of the London homeless/beggars are not from this country, many are old and disabled, they work the junction near where I live, its hard not to be stopped at the lights, and and not give them cash, but a taxi driver told me there are loads on other junctions as well and if he gave to them all he would be begging himself.

There are no UK beggars at all where I live and when I go to London many of those people in tents are not British, same on the tube, the people playing instruments etc are not British. I think many were sold a dream unfortunately, I give food rather than money because I think many are exploited by gangs and sent out to beg, although I was at the junction recently and had no change so gave the guy a fiver, he nearly fell off his stick which he probably doesn't need but I am a sucker at times

[Liam-]

Originally Posted by arista

Look Liam
they are out of the Rain
under that Store Front,


We had Homeless under Blair's New Labour
it a Worldwide problem
Terrible in San Francisco

Ah, as long as they’re not wet that’s alright then, they definitely won’t freeze to death now!

Yes we’ve always had homelessness and it’s always been a stain on our country, no matter who is in charge, as long as homelessness is allowed to rise like it has done, every leader who does nothing about t should be ashamed, no matter which party they’re from

[arista]

Originally Posted by Liam-

Ah, as long as they’re not wet that’s alright then, they definitely won’t freeze to death now!

Yes we’ve always had homelessness and it’s always been a stain on our country, no matter who is in charge, as long as homelessness is allowed to rise like it has done, every leader who does nothing about t should be ashamed, no matter which party they’re from

Thats Fair.

It is a tangled group on the streets
they will have a local council case worker
looking into them.

Its a Hard life on the streets
but its all over the World

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Yes that's why I said it - to point out that most people would find a village of 1000 people having 5 people on the streets a pretty shocking statistic. We're just comfortable ignoring it because it's "hidden" in urban areas, not in the doorway of a suburban co-op, so the average Tory voter can pretend the scale is smaller than it is.

I'm not saying it's smaller than it is. It's 0.5% and I'd do nothing to act like it's smaller or bigger.