Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

cynic
It is still at 45p. Labour lifted it from 40p. So there is still scope to drop it a bit more.

Fred
You mention targets. Those targets set by Labour are now regarded as the cause of the scandals revealed in care at many hospitals recently.

Took two children to the pictures this afternoon:-

2 childs tickets £11.30
1 Senior citizen £ 5.65
2 pop corns- bought out and taken in £ 3.00
2 small sticks of rock £ 1.00
3 fish and chips eaten in car £15.00

Total- £35.95

No drinks included or petrol for a round 32 mile trip so how one can live without even a small luxury on a pittance of £53 per week I haven't got a clue cynic. One could perhaps eat off £20 per week but I would not like to try it these days. If anybody was honest neither would they. We had all struggled and no how to struggle, our days are hopefully over on that one. I would like to say I don't envy anybody who had to do it these days.

Your paying the share holders 3m. :-))

Money is like water 3m. You need £50 to take the family out. I should think a lot of folk simply don't go out . They need the money to heat the house and eat.

I for one dc do not go out at all very much these days in fact I can count on one hand how many times since Oct. 30th last year. I was amazed that the picture house was absolutely full, not one spare seat. There must be money but people must be doing out without so much to be able to have a small treat. My neice and her husband hardly ever go out as they have 3 boys - the boys are good and don't ask or expect much so today was my treat to two of them. They won't let me buy them a drink when we go out so we always take our own and they have their special drinks bottles. They spend their time on their Dads day off going on bike rides etc. Their Mum has had to learn to be a good economic cook which many these days are not prepared to do. 2 of them have got paper rounds, the youngest is old enough to start one next year, sometimes he shares his brothers and he gives him £3 half of what he gets, bless.

3m & dreamcatcher,

With respect, why should the taxpayer be paying for benefit claimants to be going out to the cinema or down the pub? Welfare benefits are intended to do just that - provide welfare by way of food and heat. They aren't intended to provide luxuries.

Goldfinger,

Not that you'll be able to read this of course, but for a taxpayer to be better off to the tune of £100k as a result of a 5% cut in the uppermost tax rate, I calculate they'd need to be earning £2.15m pa. As a multi-millionaire accountant yourself, I would have thought you'd have realised that?

Hilary,I was talking about the general public.

Thanks for the account 3m.

The picture of the monkey with its hands over its ears springs to mind dc. May as well bash ones head against a brick wall. Ah well, the joys, going to my volunteering job tomorrow should be interesting not, now the dam changes in DLA have changed to PIP, I help on that side of it so it should be a night mare from hell. Being tutored again on the computer system (oh! the stress of a volunteers) day at work. I think I am so far the only one the rest get paid.

Hmmmm 3m . Why not all volunteers ?

Cynic talking -hite again, whats insurance, whats ground rent he asks.

Cynic , a lot of people being whacked are workers, part time a lot of them.

These people have a motgaged house, never heard of home and contents insurance, never heard of ground rent or lease rent for a garage attached to the family home.

Anway your using stalling tactics, I D Smith could put together an idealogical LIST.

No youve said you can do it, live on £53 for a year or more, PUT UP OR SHUT UP.

No way can you live on £50 a week. Just put £115 in fuel in my car.

I thought they were but not so - all paid in the office. Quite staggering. A huge concern all over the Country. They are obviously funded, by whom not quite sure - probably government. There are volunteers but not in my dept., as yet. All the managers of charity shops are salaried and all helpers in the shops are volunteers.

Volunteers in a different sense of the word. You will have to put in for the managers job.

3 monkies yes I give 10 hours per week aswel online on the http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/
site.

You should see some of the appaling situations I have to counsel/advise in my volountary position.

On average just over 20 suicides per week since this government came to power.

Would open the eyes of the right wing loons here.

These are disabled sick people who are being backed into a corner by an extreme cruel government who should be balancing the books by looking and acting on the other side of the equation ie, TAX COLLECTION which they make certain claims but have done nothing.

I am not in a shop and don't want a shop job. I don't want a salary as pay enough Income Tax and an not going to loose my works pension at my age. I was enjoying what I have been doing but things are getting rather complicated, will soon learn the changes etc. I hope. I have faith hahaha!!!

How many suicides under Labour? If you don't know then your comment 'under this government' is totally meaningless as most of your other comments. Once again the application of logic has escaped you.

An interesting statistic is that nearly a million people claiming disabled benefit have withdrawen their claims rather than be tested. That sounds like people who knew they should not be getting the benefit at all.

GF - I come home pretty destroyed some times myself and am certain there are going to more suicides as sure as eggs are eggs. The government does need to be looking in different areas. I am as aware as you that there are people swinging the system but a majority are desparate needy people who have very little and need the extra help to be cared for at home. A lot of our people are elderly and too proud to claim and have worked all their lives. We have a lot of good results but a lot of knock backs - i.e. a lady 90 yrs of aged was refused help. Makes my blood crawl.

The suicide rate is about normal for the UK. It is up and down each year. The previous highest rate was in 2002 when Labour were in power.