[waterhog]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

Anybody been watching this excellent and informative series on Channel 5?

Did anyone see this week's episode where investigative reporter Paul Connolly goes undercover to expose Benefit Cheats?

I am so bored of people abusing benefits and these shows. yes it goes on but what about the other people doing wrong ? if you have allot of money does that make it less important if you commit fraud or any crime ? or is it just harder to investigate so these journalist go after the easy picking?

[Northern Monkey]

I don't actually think that C5 are that one sided.I've watched some of those benefit programmes which actually made me feel sorry for and gave me more understanding of the hardship some people on benefits face.I think it does actually show the good,bad and the ugly of benefits Britain.These shows do actually show the success stories too where people get jobs in the end.They are'nt as bad as people make out imo.
Not seen this one though Kirk.I'll have a look.

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Northern Monkey

I don't actually think that C5 are that one sided.I've watched some of those benefit programmes which actually made me feel sorry for and gave me more understanding of the hardship some people on benefits face.I think it does actually show the good,bad and the ugly of benefits Britain.These shows do actually show the success stories too where people get jobs in the end.They are'nt as bad as people make out imo.
Not seen this one though Kirk.I'll have a look.

I beg you to watch it. Then I will post my thoughts and see if you agree.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

I beg you to watch it. Then I will post my thoughts and see if you agree.

If it is the one I watched then I can tell you I was gobsmacked at how easy they made it look to get disability of whatever the heck if is called now..pip I thnk.
OMG at the woman that said she squeezed a bottle of water over her nether regions and the seat at the doctors and then said she had piddled her pants and had no control, and the lad that said his finger still hurt and couldn't work..he had broken it ages ago.
The buying of sick notes for a tenner as well..such a shame when there are many genuine people out there that get the knock back, yet the people who know how to work the system get away with it.

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by smudgie

If it is the one I watched then I can tell you I was gobsmacked at how easy they made it look to get disability of whatever the heck if is called now..pip I thnk.
OMG at the woman that said she squeezed a bottle of water over her nether regions and the seat at the doctors and then said she had piddled her pants and had no control, and the lad that said his finger still hurt and couldn't work..he had broken it ages ago.
The buying of sick notes for a tenner as well..such a shame when there are many genuine people out there that get the knock back, yet the people who know how to work the system get away with it.

I just watched one but it was different to that.It had a scouse toe rag who claimed for PTSD and anxiety whilst going out knicking cars and a load of foreigners claiming housing benefit and renting out rooms to like 15 people.

[empire]

the black market in the war was alot more bigger than it is now, my grand mother got alot of things that the shops never had because of shortages, today its sicknotes, mad world it is today,

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Northern Monkey

I just watched one but it was different to that.It had a scouse toe rag who claimed for PTSD and anxiety whilst going out knicking cars and a load of foreigners claiming housing benefit and renting out rooms to like 15 people.

That's the one Paul.

The Scouse in question brags of making thousands of pounds in illicit scams ranging from stealing cars to false insurance claims, whilst being on over Ł1,500 per month benefits, but admits that he is fit and could work. In fact at the end of the program when he is told he has been filmed and Paul Connolly identifies himself as an undercover reporter, Scouse sprints away faster than Hussein Bolt.

The program is peppered with the usual low-life scumbags who claim benefits whilst enjoying regular incomes from shoplifting - some of whom admit that they do not want work but could work if they wanted - but it is when the accent switches to Housing Benefit where the program confirms my own direct experiences and endorses what I have -- controversially -- said on these forums.

Every single case of Housing Benefit Fraud highlighted was being perpetrated by FOREIGNERS - IMMIGRANTS.

Council/Social Housing in London is - without a doubt - one of the scarcest, hardest to find commodities there is, but here we have examples of immigrants on benefits who are lucky enough to have secured such accommodation, letting out 15 bunk beds to other immigrants at Ł60.00 per week each (That's an illicit tax-free income of almost Ł50,000 per year - ON TOP OF THE BENEFITS WHICH THE BASTARDS OBVIOUSLY SHOULD NOT BE CLAIMING) and others on benefits illegally letting out single rooms in their council housing.

This is only one of DOZENS of documentaries over the years made by different companies for different channels which expose the same facts; Housing Benefit fraud on the larger scale is almost exclusively being perpetrated by immigrants/foreign born nationals.

Far from being 'Tory Propaganda' as some on here childishly and ridiculously claim, these programs are factual, and as such, the results of these undercover investigations should be shocking and alarming to those viewers whose own direct experiences have not already educated them to the abuses being exposed, because they are the tip of a very large iceberg.

The program makers quote that 'Benefit fraudsters' cost the country more than 1 billion pounds per year, and because that figure stems from 'official' sources, we can comfortably DOUBLE it.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

That's the one Paul.

The Scouse in question brags of making thousands of pounds in illicit scams ranging from stealing cars to false insurance claims, whilst being on over Ł1,500 per month benefits, but admits that he is fit and could work. In fact at the end of the program when he is told he has been filmed and Paul Connolly identifies himself as an undercover reporter, Scouse sprints away faster than Hussein Bolt.

The program is peppered with the usual low-life scumbags who claim benefits whilst enjoying regular incomes from shoplifting - some of whom admit that they do not want work but could work if they wanted - but it is when the accent switches to Housing Benefit where the program confirms my own direct experiences and endorses what I have -- controversially -- said on these forums.

Every single case of Housing Benefit Fraud highlighted was being perpetrated by FOREIGNERS - IMMIGRANTS.

Council/Social Housing in London is - without a doubt - one of the scarcest, hardest to find commodities there is, but here we have examples of immigrants on benefits who are lucky enough to have secured such accommodation, letting out 15 bunk beds to other immigrants at Ł60.00 per week each (That's an illicit tax-free income of almost Ł50,000 per year - ON TOP OF THE BENEFITS WHICH THE BASTARDS OBVIOUSLY SHOULD NOT BE CLAIMING) and others on benefits illegally letting out single rooms in their council housing.

This is only one of DOZENS of documentaries over the years made by different companies for different channels which expose the same facts; Housing Benefit fraud on the larger scale is almost exclusively being perpetrated by immigrants/foreign born nationals.

Far from being 'Tory Propaganda' as some on here childishly and ridiculously claim, these programs are factual, and as such, the results of these undercover investigations should be shocking and alarming to those viewers whose own direct experiences have not already educated them to the abuses being exposed, because they are the tip of a very large iceberg.

The program makers quote that 'Benefit fraudsters' cost the country more than 1 billion pounds per year, and because that figure stems from 'official' sources, we can comfortably DOUBLE it.

I feel it's tory propaganda yes, I don't feel my concerns are childish either.
Where do the programme makers get their 'official' statistics? Why are only foreigners shown as being housing benefit fraudsters... would anyone in their right mind believe that or is is yet another way to set UK citizens against immigrants?

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

That's the one Paul.

The Scouse in question brags of making thousands of pounds in illicit scams ranging from stealing cars to false insurance claims, whilst being on over Ł1,500 per month benefits, but admits that he is fit and could work. In fact at the end of the program when he is told he has been filmed and Paul Connolly identifies himself as an undercover reporter, Scouse sprints away faster than Hussein Bolt.

The program is peppered with the usual low-life scumbags who claim benefits whilst enjoying regular incomes from shoplifting - some of whom admit that they do not want work but could work if they wanted - but it is when the accent switches to Housing Benefit where the program confirms my own direct experiences and endorses what I have -- controversially -- said on these forums.

Every single case of Housing Benefit Fraud highlighted was being perpetrated by FOREIGNERS - IMMIGRANTS.

Council/Social Housing in London is - without a doubt - one of the scarcest, hardest to find commodities there is, but here we have examples of immigrants on benefits who are lucky enough to have secured such accommodation, letting out 15 bunk beds to other immigrants at Ł60.00 per week each (That's an illicit tax-free income of almost Ł50,000 per year - ON TOP OF THE BENEFITS WHICH THE BASTARDS OBVIOUSLY SHOULD NOT BE CLAIMING) and others on benefits illegally letting out single rooms in their council housing.

This is only one of DOZENS of documentaries over the years made by different companies for different channels which expose the same facts; Housing Benefit fraud on the larger scale is almost exclusively being perpetrated by immigrants/foreign born nationals.

Far from being 'Tory Propaganda' as some on here childishly and ridiculously claim, these programs are factual, and as such, the results of these undercover investigations should be shocking and alarming to those viewers whose own direct experiences have not already educated them to the abuses being exposed, because they are the tip of a very large iceberg.

The program makers quote that 'Benefit fraudsters' cost the country more than 1 billion pounds per year, and because that figure stems from 'official' sources, we can comfortably DOUBLE it.

Yep that is true.There's another programme about bailiffs and every single one of these people renting rooms out to sometimes up to 30 plus immigrants is an immigrant themselves.Some of them charge Ł200 for a mattress in a hallway or to share a bedroom with 4 other people.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by Northern Monkey

I just watched one but it was different to that.It had a scouse toe rag who claimed for PTSD and anxiety whilst going out knicking cars and a load of foreigners claiming housing benefit and renting out rooms to like 15 people.

The show was repeated tonight.
A fair few people won't be quite so cocky now, the cheek of some people.
I had to laugh at the explanation for all those bUnk beds..what a charitable person he was..not.

[Toy Soldier]

Anyone who watches these shows and finds themselves getting wound up needs to stop tbh. You're knocking years off your life with such directionless, impotent prescribed rage. But hey, maybe that's part of the agenda too... Whip all the oldies into a frenzy over benefits and immigration so that they all have strokes and heart attacks, cut the burden in the pension pot.

[Ammi]

..you haven't watched it though...and yet you have judged not only the show but those watching it...

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..you haven't watched it though...and yet you have judged not only the show but those watching it...

Which speaks volumes for the validity of his often offensive comments about the intelligence of those of us who hold a differing and qualified viewpoint because we have watched it.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

Which speaks volumes for the validity of his often offensive comments about the intelligence of those of us who hold a differing and qualified viewpoint because we have watched it.

I watched it and my opinion was considered childish... damned if you do and damned if you don't it seems, but that's ok I'm used to letting the majority get on with their tub-thumping.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..you haven't watched it though...and yet you have judged not only the show but those watching it...

Yep. I judge them for taking the precious time out of their lives to watch it in the first place. Therefore, I simply can't watch it, or my entire argument becomes invalid.

The people I judge as being right and correct are those who look at their "now and next" guide, see that crap like this is coming up next, and make a desperate scrabble for the remote to watch something more relevant. Knight Rider, perhaps, or maybe a re-run of Countdown from the mid 90's (Good old Richard and Carol!).

Failing that, if they can't find the remote, the next response should be to leave the house, go to B&Q, buy a selection of common household materials that can be used to make explosives, return home, build a bomb, and simply blow the **** out of the television.

If these are not the reactions, if the reaction is "Oh yes, that looks good, I'll watch that and fap myself senseless with rage" then oooooh yes I judge. I am quite comfortable in my judgement. My horse has been getting baked on skunk for days.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Anyone who watches these shows and finds themselves getting wound up needs to stop tbh. You're knocking years off your life with such directionless, impotent prescribed rage. But hey, maybe that's part of the agenda too... Whip all the oldies into a frenzy over benefits and immigration so that they all have strokes and heart attacks, cut the burden in the pension pot.

We oldies in our house are safe then..we watch it for the comedic value.
Quite entertaining with some right jokers in them.
Hardly like.y to give us heart attacks as we have actually lived in the thick of these people in years gone by.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by smudgie

We oldies in our house are safe then..we watch it for the comedic value.
Quite entertaining with some right jokers in them.
Hardly like.y to give us heart attacks as we have actually lived in the thick of these people in years gone by.

Oh yuck, how did you manage to live in the thick of "these people"? I hope you sprayed yourself thoroughly with disinfectant afterwards, you might catch a nasty dose of their foreign, or worse, a terminal case of poor.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Oh yuck, how did you manage to live in the thick of "these people"? I hope you sprayed yourself thoroughly with disinfectant afterwards, you might catch a nasty dose of their foreign, or worse, a terminal case of poor.

Yeah, living up here there are whole estates with low employment and high crime rates, just something you get used to...so no problem living amongst it, especially as most of us were in the same boat in years gone by, apart from turning to crime.
So, when I say "these people" I am not looking down on them as you appear to be implying, these people are my people, we have family on benefits (who are entitled and not fiddling).
I feel no guilt for working my way out of the poverty I found myself in, and I never felt I needed fumigating just because I was poor at the time.

[Toy Soldier]

In that case, I have absolutely no idea how you can condone shows designed to ridicule, belittle and suppress "these people" purely for the purposes of entertainment...

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

In that case, I have absolutely no idea how you can condone shows designed to ridicule, belittle and suppress "these people" purely for the purposes of entertainment...

But 'these people' are the ones who are fiddling the benefits system and taking money out of the pot for the people that really need it.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

In that case, I have absolutely no idea how you can condone shows designed to ridicule, belittle and suppress "these people" purely for the purposes of entertainment...

Nah..the show shows them up for the fiddling and crime, they manage to ridicule themselves at times.
I watch documentaries covering most subjects, for entertainment and to keep me enlightened...maybe even a bit of nostalgia.

[Kizzy]

I can't be the only one who feels the programming is highlighting benefit fraud disproportionately?

[Northern Monkey]

One of the benefit shows showed a young mum who was living in a tiny room with her daughter and barely got enough to feed them both,She did'nt eat most days,Had to take her washing round to a neighbours house and relied on pay day loans for her daughters Christmas and Birthday presents.She and people like her who are struggling should be getting the share of benefits that the lad who makes his money from car theft and insurance scams and the immigrant landlords who take in 30 illegals in a 4 bedroom house which he claims benefit for and charges ridiculous rent for the corner of a room.So she can atleast feed and cloth herself and her kid.The money could go into stopping the need for food banks.There is an inbalance in who gets what.The dole scroungers who have ten kids for benefits and the cheats and fraudsters are getting what the genuine people struggling should get who are'nt getting enough in some cases.
And yes i saw this on a Channel 5 documentary.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

I can't be the only one who feels the programming is highlighting benefit fraud disproportionately?

The programme I was watching was called Benefit cheats..so that's what it showed.
The plight of people on benefits is also shown on some of the shows, as Northern Monkey stated above, people who should be getting more help get shown as well as people who fiddle.
I am all for a few more shows showing more of people that deserve benefit that have been kicked off it, the reasons for it etc.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by smudgie

The programme I was watching was called Benefit cheats..so that's what it showed.
The plight of people on benefits is also shown on some of the shows, as Northern Monkey stated above, people who should be getting more help get shown as well as people who fiddle.
I am all for a few more shows showing more of people that deserve benefit that have been kicked off it, the reasons for it etc.

I agree that would be proportional, but they don't want any sympathy for welfare claimants regardless of personal circumstances.
Reading between the lines you have to ask yourself why this isn't the case.

Look at tonights listings for C5 and tell me there isn't a political agenda...

9pm: The Great Big Benefits Wedding Live
10pm: 12 Years Old and on Benefits
11pm: Benefits and Bypasses – Billion Pound Patients
12am: Undercover Benefits Cheat