The Politics Thread

[Bijou Bob]

Must say I am surprised there are supposedly housing benefits available to someone earning £65k per year??

Seems daft for a top rate taxpayer to receive help with their rent, but I'm not sure how many people this actually refers to, probably very few.

I don't think it's that they are receiving benefits, but are living in a council house and paying the rent themselves? Does seem odd but I doubt there are a lot of instances of this.

the queen??

Bob Crowe for one. Committed Marxist union leader earning 140k plus enormous expenses, living in a council house.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Baroness Uddin another. Has a huge house in Pakistan too.

[thebish]

Must say I am surprised there are supposedly housing benefits available to someone earning £65k per year??

Seems daft for a top rate taxpayer to receive help with their rent, but I'm not sure how many people this actually refers to, probably very few.

I don't think it's that they are receiving benefits, but are living in a council house and paying the rent themselves? Does seem odd but I doubt there are a lot of instances of this.

the queen??

Bob Crowe for one. Committed Marxist union leader earning 140k plus enormous expenses, living in a council house.

is Bob Crowe getting housing benefit? really??

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Must say I am surprised there are supposedly housing benefits available to someone earning £65k per year??

Seems daft for a top rate taxpayer to receive help with their rent, but I'm not sure how many people this actually refers to, probably very few.

I don't think it's that they are receiving benefits, but are living in a council house and paying the rent themselves? Does seem odd but I doubt there are a lot of instances of this.

the queen??

Bob Crowe for one. Committed Marxist union leader earning 140k plus enormous expenses, living in a council house.

is Bob Crowe getting housing benefit? really??

Dunno about him, but it is a fact that Baroness Uddin lives in a council house at a reduced rent whilst having a 'palace' in Pakistan (and owning other property). Them's defo facts...

[bobo the clown]

is Bob Crowe getting housing benefit? really??

Of sorts

"The head of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) is believed to pay half the market rate for his taxpayer-subsidised house despite being paid £145,000 a year.

Mr Crow rents the three-bedroom home for an estimated £150 a week while estate agents say it would cost £300 a week in the private sector. He has benefited from a loophole in housing rules which do not consider an occupant’s income once the family has a tenancy".

[thebish]

is Bob Crowe getting housing benefit? really??

Of sorts

"The head of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) is believed to pay half the market rate for his taxpayer-subsidised house despite being paid £145,000 a year.

Mr Crow rents the three-bedroom home for an estimated £150 a week while estate agents say it would cost £300 a week in the private sector. He has benefited from a loophole in housing rules which do not consider an occupant’s income once the family has a tenancy".

isn't that the case for all council houses - that they are not rented out at private sector levels? that doesn't sound like a special rule for bob crowe - and it doesn't sound like housing benefit...

[Lord Kangana]

Hmm. But, you know, £150 pw seems to pale into insignificance compared to a yearly grant of £36.1m. If my maths hasn't let me down.

[thebish]

i'm no fan of Bob Crowe - I think his salary is obsene...

but - strikes me as odd that he is criticised for staying in his council house and not using his money to buy his own house in the private sector - YET, Billy Bragg is vilified for using his money to buy a private-sector house...

[Lord Kangana]

Probably people who read The Daily Mail would think like that.And they're probably too scared to leave their own houses since we were invaded by Bulgaria and Romania. They'll just satisfy themselves with watching Dad's Army whilst reciting Melanie Phillips incantations. We needn't worry too much about them.

[Zulus Thousand of em]

i'm no fan of Bob Crowe - I think his salary is obsene...

but - strikes me as odd that he is criticised for staying in his council house and not using his money to buy his own house in the private sector - YET, Billy Bragg is vilified for using his money to buy a private-sector house...

Are you sure? I thought that Billy Bragg was reviled because he's a gobshite.

[thebish]

i'm no fan of Bob Crowe - I think his salary is obsene...

but - strikes me as odd that he is criticised for staying in his council house and not using his money to buy his own house in the private sector - YET, Billy Bragg is vilified for using his money to buy a private-sector house...

Are you sure? I thought that Billy Bragg was reviled because he's a gobshite.

- well, that too - but pics of his house have appeared more than once on here linked to some kind of "boooo he lives in a house" comment...

[Zulus Thousand of em]

... and he's a West Ham fan. I can't say that I begrudge him living in a house though.

[Lord Kangana]

If he's a West Ham fan I think I could stretch to it.

[Zulus Thousand of em]

Definitely a Spammer.

Boo!

[Hoboh]

i'm no fan of Bob Crowe - I think his salary is obsene...

but - strikes me as odd that he is criticised for staying in his council house and not using his money to buy his own house in the private sector - YET, Billy Bragg is vilified for using his money to buy a private-sector house...

I think that is an abuse of 'social housing' actually, I believe they are and were provided for those unable to afford 'a place of their own'.
Billy big balls is vilified for spouting one thing yet living the life he so despises, bit like former Soviet leaders with their out of town pads.

[Harry Genshaw]

i'm no fan of Bob Crowe - I think his salary is obsene...

but - strikes me as odd that he is criticised for staying in his council house and not using his money to buy his own house in the private sector - YET, Billy Bragg is vilified for using his money to buy a private-sector house...

I think that is an abuse of 'social housing' actually, I believe they are and were provided for those unable to afford 'a place of their own'.
Billy big balls is vilified for spouting one thing yet living the life he so despises, bit like former Soviet leaders with their out of town pads.

So once you start to do well for yourself (you know - go out to work and make a living) you have to uproot yourself & your family? How long before folk start whispering in A&E "What's he doing in here? He's working. He should be off to some Bupa joint"

And whilst he might not be every Londoners cup of tea, nobody could ever accuse Bob Crow of not looking after his members

[Hoboh]

i'm no fan of Bob Crowe - I think his salary is obsene...

but - strikes me as odd that he is criticised for staying in his council house and not using his money to buy his own house in the private sector - YET, Billy Bragg is vilified for using his money to buy a private-sector house...

I think that is an abuse of 'social housing' actually, I believe they are and were provided for those unable to afford 'a place of their own'.
Billy big balls is vilified for spouting one thing yet living the life he so despises, bit like former Soviet leaders with their out of town pads.

So once you start to do well for yourself (you know - go out to work and make a living) you have to uproot yourself & your family? How long before folk start whispering in A&E "What's he doing in here? He's working. He should be off to some Bupa joint"

And whilst he might not be every Londoners cup of tea, nobody could ever accuse his members of not looking after Bob Crow

Fixed some bits for you

Look hardly any fecker likes paying tax be it upfront or stealth taxes, some is necessary, but when you start to reach certain financial points in your life then you should exercise some financial prudence in maintaining your health etc, or risk the big nanny state.

[thebish]

i'm no fan of Bob Crowe - I think his salary is obsene...

but - strikes me as odd that he is criticised for staying in his council house and not using his money to buy his own house in the private sector - YET, Billy Bragg is vilified for using his money to buy a private-sector house...

I think that is an abuse of 'social housing' actually, I believe they are and were provided for those unable to afford 'a place of their own'.
Billy big balls is vilified for spouting one thing yet living the life he so despises, bit like former Soviet leaders with their out of town pads.

give me a couple of examples of the things he has spouted and what bit of life he is living that you know he despises...

I'm interested...

[Hoboh]

Bragg has been involved with grassroots, broadly leftist, political movements, and this is often reflected in his lyrics. Bragg has recorded and performed cover versions of famous socialist anthems The Internationale and The Red Flag. Bragg said in an interview: "My theory is this; I'm not a political songwriter. I'm an honest songwriter. I try and write honestly about what I see around me now." In another interview, Bragg said: "I don't mind being labelled a political songwriter. The thing that troubles me is being dismissed as a political songwriter." In an interview with Bullz-Eye, Bragg stated:

I would then say that I am Mr. Love and Justice, and to check out the love songs. That’s how I capture people. People do say to me, “I love your songs, but I just can’t stand your politics.” And I say, “Well, Republicans are always welcome. Come on over!” I would hate to stand at the door, saying to people, “Do you agree with these positions? If not, you can’t come in.”

Bragg acknowledges that the aesthetic quality of his voice is lacking and that not everyone appreciates his music, rather he utilizes his music as a mode of communication to those willing to listen and consider his statements.

Bragg expressed support for the 1984 miners' strike, and the following year he formed the musicians' alliance Red Wedge, which promoted the Labour Party and discouraged young people from voting for the Conservative Party in the 1987 general election. Following the defeat of the Labour Party and the repeated victory of Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative government, Bragg joined Charter88 to push for a reform of the British political system.

Also during the 1980s, Bragg travelled to the Soviet Union a few times, after Mikhail Gorbachev had started to promote the policies of perestroika and glasnost. During one trip, he was accompanied by MTV, and during another trip he was filmed for the 1998 mini-documentary Mr Bragg Goes to Moscow, by Hannu Puttonen.

On 12 June 1987, the night after the UK General Election, he appeared on an edition of After Dark. In 1999, he appeared before a commission that debated possible reform of the House of Lords.

During the 2001 UK general election, Bragg promoted tactical voting in an attempt to unseat Conservative Party candidates in Dorset, particularly in South Dorset and West Dorset.

Bragg has developed an interest in English national identity, apparent in his 2002 album England, Half English and his 2006 book The Progressive Patriot. The book expressed his view that English socialists can reclaim patriotism from the right wing. He draws on Victorian poet Rudyard Kipling for an inclusive sense of Englishness. Bragg has participated in a series of debates with members of the Socialist Workers Party who disagree with his argument. Bragg supports Scottish independence and Welsh independence.

Supporting a demonstration against police misuse of anti-terrorism legislation; Trafalgar Square, London, 23 January 2010
Bragg has been an outspoken opponent of fascism, racism, bigotry, sexism and homophobia, and is a supporter of a multi-racial Britain. As a result, Bragg has come under attack from far right groups such as the British National Party. In a 2004 The Guardian article, Bragg was quoted as saying:

The British National Party would probably make it into a parliament elected by proportional representation, too. It would shine a torch into the dirty little corner where the BNP defecate on our democracy, and that would be much more powerful than duffing them up in the street – which I'm also in favour of.

During the 2005 general election campaign in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, Bragg supported Oona King, the Labour Party's pro-Iraq war candidate, over George Galloway, the anti-war Respect Party's candidate, due to a belief that splitting the left-wing vote would allow the Conservatives to win the seat. Galloway overturned King's 10,000-strong majority to become his party's only MP.

In March 2006, journalist Garry Bushell (a former Trotskyist who ran as a candidate for the English Democrats in 2005) accused Bragg of "pontificating on a South London council estate when we all know he lives in a lovely big house in West Dorset".

In January 2010, Bragg announced that he would withhold his income tax as a protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland's plan to pay bonuses of approximately of £1.5 billion to staff in its investment banking business. Bragg set up a Facebook group, made appearances on radio and television news programmes, and made a speech at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park saying, "Millions are already facing stark choices: are they willing to work longer hours for less money, or would they rather be unemployed? I don’t see why the bankers at RBS shouldn’t be asked the same."

On the eve of the 2010 general election, Bragg announced that he would be voting for the Liberal Democrats because "they've got the best manifesto". He also backed the Lib Dems for tactical voting reasons. Bragg later expressed disappointment with the party, stating that "the Lib Dems had failed democracy".

Bragg was also very active in his hometown of Barking as part of Searchlight's magazine's Hope not Hate campaign, where the BNP's leader Nick Griffin was standing for election. At one point during the campaign Bragg squared up to BNP London Assembly Member Richard Barnbrook, calling him a "Fascist racist" and saying "when you're gone from this borough, we will rebuild this community". The BNP came third on election day.

Bragg is a board director and key spokesman for the Featured Artists Coalition, a body representing the rights of recording artists. Bragg founded the organisation Jail Guitar Doors (taking its name from the song by The Clash), which supplies instruments to prisoners to encourage them to address problems in a non-confrontational way.

Bragg is a regular at the Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival, an annual event celebrating the memory of those transported to Australia for founding a union in the 1830s.

In January 2011, news sources reported that 20 to 30 residents of Bragg's Dorset hometown, Burton Bradstock, had received anonymous letters viciously attacking Bragg and his politics, and urging residents to oppose him in the village. Bragg claimed that a BNP supporter was behind the letters, which argued that Bragg is a hypocrite for advocating socialism while living a wealthy lifestyle, and referred to him as anti-British and pro-immigration.

In July 2011 Billy joined the growing protests over the News of the World phone hacking affair with the recording of "Never Buy the Sun" which references many of the scandals key points including the Milly Dowler case, police bribes and associated political fallout. It also draws on the 22 year Liverpool boycott of The Sun for their coverage of the Hillsborough Disaster.

In 2011 Bragg joined the Occupy Movement protests.

[thebish]

well done with the cut and paste...
but where does he say anything even vaguely related to people living in big houses and that being a bad thing? what is he spouting there that you disagree with?

is it his anti-racist campaigning?
his protests over phone-hacking?
his campaigning against the BNP?
his support of multi racial britain?
his opposing the misuse of anti-terror laws by the police?

what is it that you object to - and what does any of what he "spouts" have to do with what house he lives in?