Latvian Mother of 10 received £34k benefits

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu

homelessskilledworker wrote: »

And is yours just an internet platitude along with the "I really know what you mean when you say you have a black man as a friend"??

I have read and re-read this a few times and can't make head nor tale of it. I have no idea what you are talking about.

homelessskilledworker wrote: »

Cannot win with idiots like you on this board, those that say there is a problem with immigration are branded racists(maybe some are). Someone then defends themselves by saying "No!! I am not racist, but" and in no uncertain terms are then accused yet again of being racist on the strong evidence they have gone onto condem racism and to deny they are racist, they can't win with you really can they?

I don't have a problem with people talking about immigration, it's when they bring race into it, as though it's ok to have immigration from France or Germany, but not from Africa, India or indeed Eastern Europe. Your post would have been fine if it didn't have the caveat at the start.

homelessskilledworker wrote: »

As it goes I probably have more friends in different cultures than you have(oh no!! I have been racist again), and have some strong ties going back to my school days with some Hindus and Sikhs. Not had much time for Islam though, but either do I have any time for catholicism, am I being racist again?

Again, I have no idea what you are on about here, except to prove your own statement at the start with the hackneyed "I have a black mate, therefore I can't be a racist". Personally, I just have 'mates', I don't prefix them with the colour of their skin.

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu

kabayiri wrote: »

I don't know come to think. Ostensibly, the story is about a lady who is able to obtain a very generous amount of benefits, primarily through the ability to have plenty of children.

So where does the Latvian angle come in? Is it really a thinly veiled Racially motivated comment? Is it trying to illustrate a benefits system which appears out of control by demonstrating that it is widely accessible?

It's a mix of a bit of nationalism and lot of illustration about how mad the benefit system is. How people used to cope with raising children before the swingeing and overly generous tax credits came in, I have no idea. Somehow people managed.

The answer for EU nationals is to pay the equivalent of what they (or a Brit living over there) would receive in their own countries, though it could break us if a lot of Scandinavians start asking for benefits.

Edale

So with an average take home monthly wage in Latvia of $890 = £550 (link) and unemployment of over 15%, I think it is obvious why she is here and in the same position I would probably do the same. The bit about the house being used by Latvians coming to the country says it all, I think there is currently a massive influx of economic migrants coming in from all over Europe* and they are immediately entitled to the same benefits as someone having lived and worked in the UK all their lives, throw in a bit of free healthcare and good free education and it's a no brainer. No politician dare say anything about it but it is unsustainable and something will have to be done sooner or later. Ask yourself why we had a record budget deficit in August (£14.5billion) when unemployment is declining, benefits increased by 4.9% year on year despite a reduction in housing benefit, tax credits and, if you read the disability board, an apparent tightening of criteria to claim disability benefits. The problem is no politician will talk about this because it points to us needing to leave the EU or at least be able to control immigration from Europe. They will do what is best for them as politicians rather than what is in the country's best interest.

* We have just come back from our nearest town and I would say you hear as many eastern european accents as you do local.

kabayiri

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu wrote: »

It's a mix of a bit of nationalism and lot of illustration about how mad the benefit system is. How people used to cope with raising children before the swingeing and overly generous tax credits came in, I have no idea. Somehow people managed.

The answer for EU nationals is to pay the equivalent of what they (or a Brit living over there) would receive in their own countries, though it could break us if a lot of Scandinavians start asking for benefits.

A fair benefits system is one which is sustainable and underpins our values as a society.

We should ask ourselves why some seem to do pretty well living on benefits, whilst others are in serious financial strife. Is the balance right?

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu

kabayiri wrote: »

A fair benefits system is one which is sustainable and underpins our values as a society.

We should ask ourselves why some seem to do pretty well living on benefits, whilst others are in serious financial strife. Is the balance right?

Some people know how to play the system to their advantage and others don't. Tax credits have cost billions in fraud (remember the online system that had to be shut down because people were logging in from overseas with stolen national insurance numbers and making a bundle).

Instead of tax credits, we should have just raised the tax thresholds. That would allow people to keep more of their own incomes to raise their own children, instead of paying them to raise them. The admin costs of runnign it would have been almost nil.

A._Badger

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu wrote: »

Some people know how to play the system to their advantage and others don't. Tax credits have cost billions in fraud (remember the online system that had to be shut down because people were logging in from overseas with stolen national insurance numbers and making a bundle).

Instead of tax credits, we should have just raised the tax thresholds. That would allow people to keep more of their own incomes to raise their own children, instead of paying them to raise them. The admin costs of runnign it would have been almost nil.

Far too sensible!

Besides, if you let people keep their own money, you can't bribe them to vote for you so easily.

Loughton_Monkey

ruggedtoast wrote: »

You won't find a lot of sympathy for vulnerable children, or indeed vulnerable anybody on this board.

A lot of people here have made it quite clear that they would prefer the poor starved to death or were somehow genetically engineered out of existence.

That is your own inference.

To make the point, let me exaggerate.

There you are, standing on a bridge, holding a baby by its legs over the swirling river/rocks below, shouting "give me some money or I'll drop the baby".

Most of us here would have "sympathy" for this 'vulnerable' baby that goes off the scale. Equally, our "sympathy" to you would be absolute zero.

OK, the real world is nothing like that, but there are similarities. All this "child poverty" talked about is nothing of the kind. Many people on low incomes ensure more than adequate food/clothes to a child. Conversely, many adults on reasonable incomes spend it on beer, fags, and bingo while the child goes without decent food & clothes.

What most of us wish for, is that the payment of taxpayer's money on "benefits" is focussed entirely on those who genuinely need them.

You don't need to be Einstein to realise that these days, this is far from the case.

Instead of confusing this with a lack of sympathy, try to think of it as a complete intolerance of spending money on people who simply don't deserve it and are 'playing the system'.

CKhalvashi

kabayiri wrote: »

A fair benefits system is one which is sustainable and underpins our values as a society.

We should ask ourselves why some seem to do pretty well living on benefits, whilst others are in serious financial strife. Is the balance right?

It's mainly about lifestyle.

I have OH and 2 children, and I certainly couldn't live on the benefit levels.

CK

seven-day-weekend

Gracchus_Babeuf wrote: »

This is not an immigration issue. Latvia is in the EU so she is as entitled as any UK national to claim these benefits. Likewise, UK nationals are entitled to claim benefits from other EU nations that they may reside in.

You can quote as much as you like from the tabloids, but this is fact.

There is an immigration issue in the country, but it is a completely different one - I won't state the obvious.

Try going to Spain as a penniless immigrant and see what you can claim.

Nada. Zilch. Nothing.

Even Spaniards who have fallen on hard times don't get very much for very long.

Eellogofusciouhipoppokunu

A._Badger wrote: »

Far too sensible!

Besides, if you let people keep their own money, you can't bribe them to vote for you so easily.

Imagine, a country where people are allowed to raise their own kids with their own money, rather than having it taken off them, appraised by civil servants at great expense and then given back.