MSE News: 'I'm on benefits but I'm no scrounger'

iamthedoctor77

Busy day today, but thought I would broaden some minds.... heres the word for today VERBIGERATE (vb) To repeat the same words or phrases obsessively. have a great weekend, more tomorrow ;o)

zagfles

krisskross wrote: »

Families with just £2K a year more and 1 child are losing child tax credits I believe.

And families with more than one child are currently being lied to by HMRC - who are telling them the income limit is £26,000!! There are a couple of threads in the benefits forum about this.

I thought I'd highlight this here to get to a wider readership - if you have more than 1 child and have had a letter off HMRC saying the income limit is £26,000, it is wrong. Do not believe. See the benefits forum.

Mrs_Arcanum

iamthedoctor77 wrote: »

<snipped>
Just to clear a few myths up:
1. I am bottom DLA after losing a Tribunal appeal. Therefore there is 0 entitlement to both the mobility component nor carers allowance.
2. My children are not for discussion here. They were mentioned in the article because they are relevant, not for some to appraise our parenting skills.
3. Our youngest is 2, I cannot change a nappy nor perform any tasks which require 2 hands. Hence why Mrs NotAScrounger is not working at the moment. We need her here. Incidentally my partner doesn't and never has claimed as she is not entitled to.

Back to the point. I wrote this article to highlight how differently treated people are if they are unlucky enough to end up in a situation where they have to claim through no fault of their own. The entire point of paying National Insurance is, as stated by OhDrat earlier, meant as an insurance you pay whilst your working for the hard times. What give a person the right to judge who is worthy and who isn't? Tarring with the same brush is such a narrow minded outlook on life. These types of people assume I don't know what hard work is. I suggest they have no idea of the feeling one has as Christmas approaches, no HP or credit cards here. Nor can they for an instant imagine battling the inner demons that surface once cabin fever has set in and you feel as though your lying on a scrap heap, as these judgemental types have already written you off. When I do get back in work, which I will, I hope I don't have to suffer an interview with someone as smug as the blinded few who didn't manage to open their minds to the article.

I am not just a National Insurance number, nor an NHS patient number, I am a person who hates the situation my family is in. It will end, I'll make sure of it. I will use my last breath to fight for people who are treated like this. Why is there such a culture at the moment for people to light the torches and grab the pitch forks and kick people when they are down? All because you fail to understand the maths? Or because you dis-believe the person in front of you?

I would urge anyone who is teetering side saddle on a high horse, think before you judge. It would appear that job security vanished about the same time as empathy. No one is guaranteed anything, I didn't ask for this, I am just trying to get my family through this in the best way possible. I am sure that others, many much worse off than us, would appreciate it if you eased up on your outward attitude to people. Wonder if you would treat ex servicemen, who now have to rely on disability, in the same manner? Point being, there is no difference, although the journey is different, the destination is the same.

</snipped>

Snipped to highlight the relevant information.

zigzigzag wrote: »

Please stop being rude to fellow posters - if you'd read the posts, you'd know that we've been waiting days.
If he'd rather not give a approximate figure that is in the context of the £26k cap, that's fine - but then we need to forget the £11k figure altogether, because there is no context for it which renders it meaningless (in comparison to the cap and to a full-time wage - note that these are comparisons that Ross raises, not me).
And I think it's very disappointing that some posters are telling others that they're not allowed to ask some pretty obvious and simple questions to put things in context, which could be cleared up very easily. If I'm not mistaken, Ross himself asked for questions.

Drilling down to figures misses the point. Judging by the comments Ross has made the £11K could well be the TOTAL income, but in all this it is how the whole process has made him feel. And, as he rightly points out in some respects this is no different to a service man who is injured and medically discharged. They at least do get sympathy and help from various military based sources. Compassion seems to have disappeared in this dog eat dog world.

All many can concentrate on & niggle about is the cost in money, rather than the cost in human dignity.

rellarips

scootw1 wrote: »

I do not consider that I was offensive or defensive, merely asking a question. And I do pay attention to what is going on around me, who wouldn't? (oh, you, obviously). An d I never said he wasn't entitled to the money having worked only that I don't think he is telling us all the facts.

Hello again scootw1; It's a real shame that you didn't seem to pay attention to yourself posting the comment which prompted me to address your rather attacking attitude in the first instance, in which you make a direct dig at the author of the article under discussion. Namely:

scootw1 wrote: »

I wonder why Ross has disappeared as soon as we have asked him to clarify his posting concerning the amount he gets?

I guess it would be better not to indulge in further discussion with you for the simple fact that you still seem to be unable to raise a point without packing it with unnecessary 'remarks'. I feel that you let the whole discussion thread down by comments such as that one, sorry.

There are a quite few others who are very capable of raising similar points to the ones I presume you have attempted to echo, only they have been able to do it more eloquently and without lowering themselves to attacking others. I respect their views, opinions and questions way more for that simple fact. Debate is healthy, as is sharing opinions. However, much as everyone has a right to a voice, nobody has the right to disrespect others by being any less than courteous in doing so, surely?

FBaby

iamthedoctor77 wrote: »

Busy day today, but thought I would broaden some minds.... heres the word for today VERBIGERATE (vb) To repeat the same words or phrases obsessively. have a great weekend, more tomorrow ;o)

Why the need to be patronizing?

Flyboy152

zigzigzag wrote: »

Please stop being rude to fellow posters - if you'd read the posts, you'd know that we've been waiting days.

How on Earth is that being rude to other posters? The post was in response to a question asked a few minutes earlier, not days. Please review the thread.

If he'd rather not give a approximate figure that is in the context of the £26k cap, that's fine - but then we need to forget the £11k figure altogether, because there is no context for it which renders it meaningless (in comparison to the cap and to a full-time wage - note that these are comparisons that Ross raises, not me).
And I think it's very disappointing that some posters are telling others that they're not allowed to ask some pretty obvious and simple questions to put things in context, which could be cleared up very easily. If I'm not mistaken, Ross himself asked for questions.

You have had your answwer, please read the protocol advice given in this thread.

Just in case you missed it:

MSE_Martin wrote: »

I must say Im a little surpised some of the comments above. The whole point of Ross's article (as it clearly states - it is his article not ours - this is a guest comment) is to give a voice to someone who you wouldn't normally hear from.

It isn't about the pounds and the pence its about the attitude and prejudice he has felt about claiming benefit. As for checking through his benefits - this isnt about auditing the man's life - its about a platform to give him his say, in his words, with his view - talking about what it feels like.

We have tried to minimise any editorial influence (the same courtesy we give to other guest contributers including the Prime Minister, or Ed Balls, Ray Boulger) and let him have his say.

He had bravely stuck his head above the parapet - he is a real person - please remember that when you comment.

zigzigzag

Flyboy152 wrote: »

How on Earth is that being rude to other posters? The post was in response to a question asked a few minutes earlier, not days. Please review the thread.

You have had your answwer

It's rude because you know very well that the question has been posed since very early on in the thread.

And where is the answer you refer to?

scootw1

rellarips wrote: »

Hello again scootw1; It's a real shame that you didn't seem to pay attention to yourself posting the comment which prompted me to address your rather attacking attitude in the first instance, in which you make a direct dig at the author of the article under discussion. Namely:



I guess it would be better not to indulge in further discussion with you for the simple fact that you still seem to be unable to raise a point without packing it with unnecessary 'remarks'. I feel that you let the whole discussion thread down by comments such as that one, sorry.
There are a quite few others who are very capable of raising similar points to the ones I presume you have attempted to echo, only they have been able to do it more eloquently and without lowering themselves to attacking others. I respect their views, opinions and questions way more for that simple fact. Debate is healthy, as is sharing opinions. However, much as everyone has a right to a voice, nobody has the right to disrespect others by being any less than courteous in doing so, surely?

And he still hasn't answered the question I asked even though he has been back on here today. I and others have merely asked him to clarify some points which he hasnot done. I think Ross himself has let himself down by posting an article about the stigma of benefits and obviously wanting sympathy and then not being bothered to answer some very simple questions. I'm sure people would warn to Ross a lot more if he could do this. Me, and others, are not attacking him as I'm sure we would not like t be in the same position but I don't think some clarification is a lot to ask do you?

zigzigzag

iamthedoctor77 wrote: »

Busy day today, but thought I would broaden some minds.... heres the word for today VERBIGERATE (vb) To repeat the same words or phrases obsessively. have a great weekend, more tomorrow ;o)

Well I find this to be a disappointing and uncalled-for dig at those of us who have, in good faith, asked a simple and obvious question. If you won't answer it, just say so. It’s your lack of response that causes repetition of the question. If you’ve answered it somewhere and I’ve missed it, I apologise.

You're the one who wrote the article, raised the issue of your £11k being less than the £26k cap, raised the issue that it was harder to live on £11k than on a full-time wage, complained that people wrongly think you receive £26k, and asked readers for questions. If you don't want to engage with the issues you raised, I'm not sure why you wrote the article. If we're not allowed to ask questions, and are expected to be completely passive and unenquiring- well to me that goes against the principles of journalism, forums and social media.

I take your silence to mean that housing benefit and council tax are not included in the £11k (but we don't know for sure, because you won't tell us one way or another). So to say that you and your family are receiving and living off £11k is possibly not true. I think it's more likely that the government is providing around £17k (but this is just a guess, because you won’t say). So you could probably *still* make your point that you're receiving less than the £26k cap, and less than the national average wage (even after tax) – so I can't understand why you’re being so mysterious about this.

There’s no shame in receiving housing benefit and council tax benefit, so we should be able to discuss it openly. For example, in this BBC article on benefits, housing benefit is included in the total, which gives a full picture: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16812185. No one’s asking you for a detailed breakdown like this, but surely a ballpark total is not too much to ask.

Certainly I understand that a large part of your article was to talk about discrimination against benefits recipients, which is a terrible thing to have to face, and everyone here agrees with you and feels for you on that. However, your article also talks money, so that’s why we’re asking a question about money, we’re not pulling this issue out of thin air. But we’re on your side, so I don’t understand why we’re being treated like this just for asking for simple clarification and context.

Good luck with everything.

Flyboy152

zigzigzag wrote: »

It's rude because you know very well that the question has been posed since very early on in the thread.

No, it was in response to a post that was referring to another that posted some miniutes before. :wall:

Millionaire wrote: »

So does the £11,000 include Housing Benefit and Council Tax or not?

krisskross wrote: »

I assume by the silence that the answer is no. This could add minimally £6000 a year to the £11K+ and would therefore give an income equivalent to a £24K per annum wage.

And where is the answer you refer to?

Here:

iamthedoctor77 wrote: »

Busy day today, but thought I would broaden some minds.... heres the word for today VERBIGERATE (vb) To repeat the same words or phrases obsessively. have a great weekend, more tomorrow ;o)

The latest in a line of them.