[Vicky.]

Its a ****ing joke to be quite honest. The Tories and the rags have done a fantastic job of demonizing benefit claimants..the amount of people going on about how Joe down the road currently gets 100k per year in benefit income for doing nothing (impossible) is truly bizarre.

I won't go into all of the reasons I think this is cruel and unneeded, but lets chose one. Most people hit by this will be those with high rents. Who cares, they can move?!?!?!?! But as TS said above, these expensive places couold not function without lower paid workers, so shift all the unemployed/low wages out of one place, its a bit ****ed. But even ignoring that..it costs a load of cash to move house. If you are on benefits you would need over a grand just for the deposit. A months rent in advance. And to be actually able to move your stuff, so lets say 200 quid there. On top of that 99 times out of 100 you will also need a guarantor, which is getting harder and harder to find given so few people own their houses these days and even if they do, they are unlikely to want to take the risk of your benefits being stopped for whatever reason the jobcentre makes up that month as if this happens your guarantor is responsible for paying your rent. So, we are expecting someone with no disposable income and facing having even less income to find maybe 2k from thin air to move house. Its just unrealistic.

This also hits disabled people. Even though its made out it does not. Those on ESA are included in this cap. Along with having their ESA slashed at the same time to bring it into line with JSA..as an 'incentive' to work. Those in the support group of ESA are not included. However those in the 'work focused' group are. Remember these are people who have already jumped through a ridiculous amount of hoops, no doubt been told they are liars, their doctors and consultants are liars, been cured by the miracle workers at ATOS, then gone through a grueling stressful tribunal before its finally acknowledged that ATOS workers do not actually have the healing hands of Jesus and they actually are ill enough to not work right now.

The lie that people are better off on benefits than in work is just that, a lie. If this has happened to you, I can guarantee that you are not claiming something you are entitled to. Especially given 13bn worth of benefits go unclaimed each year.

I could understand the cuts left right and centre if it was only able bodied working age people AND there were an abundance of jobs (real jobs, not commission only and 0 hour contracts...) that were going unfilled. But this isn't the case. Jobs (regardless of what the rags tell you) are so few and far between. A friend who works there told me a few days back that a 16 hr per week shelf filling job in Iceland here had over 100 applicants within 2 days of being advertised. You cannot 'incentivize' someone into work if there is no work for them. Along with DWPs own records showing cutting someones income makes it less likely they will get back into work.

And in the long run, none of these cuts even save ****ing money. The bedroom tax that some people still love...the benefit bill went up because of this and now we have a bunch of larger properties empty...while their previous occupants are living in B&Bs which cost the public purse even more. And why? Its not saving anything, its wasting more accommodation and its uprooting families.

The clear answer to this all is not more bloody cuts. It is investing money into more social housing. Yes it will cost more right now, but in the long run its best all round. While building these properties, so many more people will actually get work. Builders and such...so more tax payed along with more employment. Affordable rents for more people. More properties available...private landlords will have to lower their prices and the benefit bill will ACTUALLY go down..as you are looking to the future instead of just demonizing those on low incomes.

And stop the ridiculous right to buy scheme. I mean, I can benefit from this if I can save up 40k. I can buy my house for a lot less than its worth. But why is this an option for me? When we are short on affordable housing why the **** are we still selling it off? Its madness.