[arista]

Yesterday SkyNewsHD found out the Benefits Cut
is going to be £8Million, Not £12Million, "in the first 2 years"




Starts first on SkyNewsHD at 11AM
Then is on BBC2HD from 11:30AM
Finally ITV1HD starts at 12:15PM


PMQ's first 12 mid day
then the Conservative Budget at 12:30PM

[the truth]

the greeks owe us 10 billion, but they owe the germans 85 billion. lucky were not in as deep

[joeysteele]

He may well have to tone this down from the rhetoric he has used before.
A good few Conservative MPs are concerned at the unfairness and cold policies that were being proposed.
Hence the slowing down of the welfare cuts,which he still may not have the guarantee of getting through parliament depending on exactly where he hits.

The realities of scraping an overall majority while having just about the whole of the rest of the house of commons against you.

[Kizzy]

White knuckle ride for anyone on welfare and/or a low income.

God he looks a smug simpering lizard ( on bbc2 now)

[the truth]

as long as he targets those who breed for benefits and avoid work and protects the disabled and genuinely sick I will be ok with it

[arista]

http://news.sky.com/story/1515178/li...-summer-budget

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...fare-cuts.html

[Livia]

Originally Posted by the truth

as long as he targets those who breed for benefits and avoid work and protects the disabled and genuinely sick I will be ok with it

Same.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by the truth

as long as he targets those who breed for benefits and avoid work and protects the disabled and genuinely sick I will be ok with it

Indeed.
People on unemployment benefits should not be getting more than workers either.

[LeatherTrumpet]

He is smashing it out the park

[MTVN]

IDS celebrating mentally at the rise in the living wage lol

[MTVN]

[LeatherTrumpet]

some woman is on now trying to bring the mood down

#typical

[smudgie]

Strewth, can she not even read a speech written down for her.

[arista]

Originally Posted by smudgie

Strewth, can she not even read a speech written down for her.

Good on ITV1NewsHD
ignored her
and debated it.


Joe Hills
said Tesco did not want the Living Wage

[MTVN]

It's interesting that a lot of things you would normally associate with Labour are being rebranded by Osborne as Conservative principles - the NHS, the non dom rules and this living wage which is going to be higher than Miliband was promising

Businesses won't like it though and won't be happy about it being imposed on them

[arista]

For Sure MTVN


Labour are no longer needed

[the truth]

plusses and minuses so far
1) lower the family benefits total to £23,000 in London and £20,000 elsewhere
2) growth is better
3) left disabled benefits alone
4) scrapping permanent non doms
5) frozen fuel duty

downside
a load of stealth taxes that will hit the working people
public spending up 83 billion overall?
promising a £9 minimum wage? ok in London but that will hurt small businesses and jobs in poorest areas

unsure about

this one stop shop universal credit benefit , this means the housing benefit part will be held by tenants, in many cases failing to pay the rent, creating landlord tenant disputes and damaged dangerous properties, this will only worsen enmasse and more landlords will refuse to rent to housing benefits will lead to homelessness

working tax credits? that was a useful stepping stone from benefits back to work IN POOR AREAS...for example if you were on say £200 a week and living in London you had to have working credits to survive.....what exactly is happening with these taxes now?

It really has to be remembered the enormity of difference between the economy in the north in Scotland and wales compared to the south. perhaps devolution will massage this budget to be tailored to the specifics of those economies

[Livia]

Of course businesses don't want to pay the living wage, they want the government to continue subsidising them so that they can pay their workers peanuts and pay their bosses ridiculously high salaries.

Great news about the Non-Dom decision. It's been a bloody disgrace for far too long. Here's Tory Richard Bacon MP having a bit of a rant about it in the Public Accounts Committee:

Youtube video

[Toy Soldier]

Don't think they've mentioned working tax credits really? It's child tax credits that have been targeted, limiting them to two children.

I was surprised that they're making an exception for multiple births on that one though (second pregnancy being twins or first triplets, etc.), it wouldn't have been unusual for them to say "twins second time round? Well you'll just have to pick one and drown the other!"

[Toy Soldier]

Also whilst I like the idea of living wage in theory, I do think the inevitable result will be job losses and not even just for small companies. That said, the slave wages do have to come to an end at SOME point and it's never going to be an easy transition.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Don't think they've mentioned working tax credits really? It's child tax credits that have been targeted, limiting them to two children.

I was surprised that they're making an exception for multiple births on that one though (second pregnancy being twins or first triplets, etc.), it wouldn't have been unusual for them to say "twins second time round? Well you'll just have to pick one and drown the other!"

The limit doesn't come in till 2017 on new claimants. I think it's fair. Don't have more kids than you can afford.

I don't hold with drowning children. Although there are one or two adults for whom I'd make an exception...

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Don't think they've mentioned working tax credits really? It's child tax credits that have been targeted, limiting them to two children.

I was surprised that they're making an exception for multiple births on that one though (second pregnancy being twins or first triplets, etc.), it wouldn't have been unusual for them to say "twins second time round? Well you'll just have to pick one and drown the other!"

ahhh righto I hope that is the case , working tax credits in poorer areas are very useful in getting people into work....child tax credits and benefits limited to £23000 to households that breed for benefits is great. people who have lots of children should budget for them like everyone else.

they've taken a lot of benefits off under 21s too which is terrific news....the previous ambition of millions of kids to get pregnant at 18 to get a free council house and a lifetime of benefits is a national disgrace

[joeysteele]

Quite a bit of this budget is in line with Labours position in the election.

I am however rather concerned at the ESA wrag proposal.

I have found it to be the case that the DWP have placed a large number of claimants in the work related activity group, who should have been in the support group of ESA.
I have come across no less than 50+ cases of where in the last year someone has won an appeal or had the decision changed.

This is not, and should not, be acceptable,if someone really is unfit for work and their conditions upon claiming are as stated on any medical checks, then they should be automatically in the support group.
It concerns me as to who does these assessments as to who goes where,my firm represented someone with severe mental health issues,who had to change from incapacity benefit to ESA, they put them in the work related activity group.

They never saw the person just made a paper decision as to where they were placed.
When asked for info as to how they arrived at the decision, the form was signed by a named so called 'health professional'
Who stated that on the GP printout there was no record of mental health issues.

It turned out, no approach to their GP had even been made and also on their GP records it states very clearly treatment and poor prognosis for their severe mental health conditions for the last 12 years.

All that needs looking at before they set out to slash any payments for ESA and the wrag group.
This announcement today only I believe will apply to 'new' ESA claimants at present.
However, there again,I hope they make sure anyone put in that group who will be getting over £25 less now are actually in the right grouping.
The failure to get success from those in the wrag ESA group into work, in a big way stems from that fact, there are far too many in the wrag group who should be in the support group.
Something a lot of jobcentre advisors thankfully are very aware of.

Otherwise lets see what happens and also more to the point how much of this budget actually does manage to get through parliament without being amended.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Livia

I don't hold with drowning children. Although there are one or two adults for whom I'd make an exception...

We all know why you don't like drowning Livia.

... A Bloodless death.



Also from the chatter I'm hearing now, there apparently will be cuts to working tax credits, namely the lower limit for getting maximum (basically halved) and the rate at which it scales. Which is a bit of a mess, really, completely undermines the whole "making work pay" mantra. It depends how quickly they bring it in I suppose. If it's hand in hand with wage increases then it won't affect people too much (though will nullify the benefit of increased pay...) but if WTC is cut before wages increase, then full-time-low-pay families will be losing hundreds per month that they really can't afford.

[arista]

"Quite a bit of this budget is in line with Labours position in the election."

Yes some of it, Joey.
but Ed Miliband was a terrible leader
hated more than Michael Foot