The Politics Thread

[Lord Kangana]

They had a phone-in this morning (I suspect most of you weren't up) on 5Live. It appears that not only do my friends, family, work acquaintances and such think its all bollox, it would appear that coincidentally a large % of the people who take the time out to email in to a talk radio station also agree. Make of that what you will.

[Bruce Rioja]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

I'm neither better nor worse off really. Thanks for asking.

[thebish]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

I'm neither better nor worse off really. Thanks for asking.

really? your wages have kept pace with inflation? if so - congrats! i thought private sector pay was being squeezed...

[Enoch]

I'm neither better nor worse off really.

I'm feel much the same. My standard of living hasn't changed, but that's primarily down to not living at the edge of my means.

I've lived through a few recessions, each time the slack in my budget has protected me from pain. Subsequent recovery has then served to replenish the kitty, rather than fuel a consumer binge.

[thebish]

I'm neither better nor worse off really.

I'm feel much the same. My standard of living hasn't changed, but that's primarily down to not living at the edge of my means.

I've lived through a few recessions, each time the slack in my budget has protected me from pain. Subsequent recovery has then served to replenish the kitty, rather than fuel a consumer binge.

aye... my savings have dropped - so my standard of living (in one sense) has remained the same... but - as my wages have not kept pace with inflation - my standard of living (in the sense that government means it) has fallen... i have less now than I had before...

i'm not cross about this (as i said when I said that the labour mantra about increasing everyone's SoL irritates me) - i just don't think the gov. should claim summat that clearly isn't true because thy have blatantly invented a new way of measuring something that includes the stuff that supports their case and excludes the stuff that doesn't.

[Gooner Girl]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

Worse off here. And even more noticeable as the recession coincided with us having children and thus me dropping a fair few hours at work. However, the town near where I live - Haywards Heath, is a pretty middle class area yet a food bank which is increasingly used is operating out of our church. Some people are really struggling.

[thebish]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

Worse off here. And even more noticeable as the recession coincided with us having children and thus me dropping a fair few hours at work. However, the town near where I live - Haywards Heath, is a pretty middle class area yet a food bank which is increasingly used is operating out of our church. Some people are really struggling.

i'm involved in three foodbanks - one in dartmouth and (weirdly - due to the unhelpful falling out of two well-meaning individuals) two in Newton Abbot... both busier as the months pass - neither of them showing any signs of a slow-down in usage...

in fact - because of the steep rises in fuel costs - the dartmouth one now does some parcels that contain only items that don't need cooking - as for those people they may not have that facility... so they have cold ready-to-eat stuff and hot options - such as pot-noodles and cuppa-soup...

[Lost Leopard Spot]

The main problem with politics, and with voting, is the difficulty one faces trying to find a proper reputable party that espouses happiness and a return to subsistence farming for all. I know we can't achieve the aim in one parliament, turning London back into green belt will take many decades, but we could at least start on the rosy path to the future now (if only politics worked).

[Gooner Girl]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

Worse off here. And even more noticeable as the recession coincided with us having children and thus me dropping a fair few hours at work. However, the town near where I live - Haywards Heath, is a pretty middle class area yet a food bank which is increasingly used is operating out of our church. Some people are really struggling.

i'm involved in three foodbanks - one in dartmouth and (weirdly - due to the unhelpful falling out of two well-meaning individuals) two in Newton Abbot... both busier as the months pass - neither of them showing any signs of a slow-down in usage...

in fact - because of the steep rises in fuel costs - the dartmouth one now does some parcels that contain only items that don't need cooking - as for those people they may not have that facility... so they have cold ready-to-eat stuff and hot options - such as pot-noodles and cuppa-soup...

We don't, at the moment, have that facility either! Thankfully lovely friends bought round meals last week. Ate better then if we did have a working oven tbh...

[thebish]

you had a hob, though??

[Gooner Girl]

you had a hob, though??

We do - and the chickens are laying so we can live on fried eggs, we won't starve.

[William the White]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

Worse off here. And even more noticeable as the recession coincided with us having children and thus me dropping a fair few hours at work. However, the town near where I live - Haywards Heath, is a pretty middle class area yet a food bank which is increasingly used is operating out of our church. Some people are really struggling.

i'm involved in three foodbanks - one in dartmouth and (weirdly - due to the unhelpful falling out of two well-meaning individuals) two in Newton Abbot... both busier as the months pass - neither of them showing any signs of a slow-down in usage...

in fact - because of the steep rises in fuel costs - the dartmouth one now does some parcels that contain only items that don't need cooking - as for those people they may not have that facility... so they have cold ready-to-eat stuff and hot options - such as pot-noodles and cuppa-soup...

I was reading about that phenomenon the other day. The food banks call them 'kettle parcels' - at least in the article.

Maybe they should run trips to selected centres so that people can see the third world on their doorstep...

Cameron has now adopted the tactic of praising food banks. It could be the revival of the fatuous 'Big Society'.

[thebish]

I was reading about that phenomenon the other day. The food banks call them 'kettle parcels' - at least in the article.

Maybe they should run trips to selected centres so that people can see the third world on their doorstep...

Cameron has now adopted the tactic of praising food banks. It could be the revival of the fatuous 'Big Society'.

that'll put him at odds with Ian Duncan Smith who seems to have carved out a little niche for himself as a Trustle Trust attack dog - going on the offensive against them for "scaremongering" and creating a problem out of nothing by opening food banks in the first place merely to "further their political ends"...

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

Worse off here. And even more noticeable as the recession coincided with us having children and thus me dropping a fair few hours at work. However, the town near where I live - Haywards Heath, is a pretty middle class area yet a food bank which is increasingly used is operating out of our church. Some people are really struggling.

i'm involved in three foodbanks - one in dartmouth and (weirdly - due to the unhelpful falling out of two well-meaning individuals) two in Newton Abbot... both busier as the months pass - neither of them showing any signs of a slow-down in usage...

in fact - because of the steep rises in fuel costs - the dartmouth one now does some parcels that contain only items that don't need cooking - as for those people they may not have that facility... so they have cold ready-to-eat stuff and hot options - such as pot-noodles and cuppa-soup...

Do yours use the same voucher system that William described?

Where does the food come from?

[Harry Genshaw]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

I'm neither better nor worse off really. Thanks for asking.

Not trying to score any political points here Bruce, was a genuine question. MPs on all sides of the house are so wrapped up in spin it can be hard to know what's fact and what isn't. In this instance, I felt it was a bold claim for the Govt to say folk are better off because as I said, most folk I know (& many on here) have bemoaned no, or low pay rises, for a good few years, and don't feel better off.

Am glad for you, or anyone, who is no worse, or indeed better off, though

[thebish]

Do yours use the same voucher system that William described?

Where does the food come from?

yes - basically - though each is slightly different... (and only one of them is affiliated to the trustle trust)

the food is pretty much all donated by people who give stuff - half of a BOGOF deal etc... all the churches have donation boxes, for instance - and churchgoers bring stuff in week-by-week - also the supermarkets have donation bins. some is bought with the financial gifts that people also give - else you are entirely at the mercy of what people put in the donation bins - and a parcel made up entirely of tinned peaches wouldn't be that brilliant!

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Do yours use the same voucher system that William described?

Where does the food come from?

yes - basically - though each is slightly different... (and only one of them is affiliated to the trustle trust)

the food is pretty much all donated by people who give stuff - half of a BOGOF deal etc... all the churches have donation boxes, for instance - and churchgoers bring stuff in week-by-week - also the supermarkets have donation bins. some is bought with the financial gifts that people also give - else you are entirely at the mercy of what people put in the donation bins - and a parcel made up entirely of tinned peaches wouldn't be that brilliant!

It is a sad state of affairs.

Why do you think they are so much more prevalent now? Is social support less now than it was in the 80s, 90s and 00s?

[thebish]

people who use the foodbanks are quite a wide cross-section - so it is hard to generalise.. I think one factor is that there seem to be a whole lot more hurdles before people receive benefits nowadays - and HUGE delays.. if you take on a job for a few months and it falls through - then all the delays are repeated and it can be weeks before you receive the little you are entitled too - but the rent still needs to be paid.. also - a lot of the quick access benefits have gone - there are no longer emergency loans or payments for instances like a cooker blowing up... all of this leaves people with pretty much nothing - and whilst you may thunk that food comes first - the bailiffs don't call if you don't do your food shopping - but they do if you don't pay your rent or keep up your loan repayments... and the utility bills don;t stop coming...

[William the White]

people who use the foodbanks are quite a wide cross-section - so it is hard to generalise.. I think one factor is that there seem to be a whole lot more hurdles before people receive benefits nowadays - and HUGE delays.. if you take on a job for a few months and it falls through - then all the delays are repeated and it can be weeks before you receive the little you are entitled too - but the rent still needs to be paid.. also - a lot of the quick access benefits have gone - there are no longer emergency loans or payments for instances like a cooker blowing up... all of this leaves people with pretty much nothing - and whilst you may thunk that food comes first - the bailiffs don't call if you don't do your food shopping - but they do if you don't pay your rent or keep up your loan repayments... and the utility bills don;t stop coming...

I think this a really important factor. It takes weeks to sort out benefits people are entitled to. And this gives incredible problems.

That said - a rising number of foodbanks are supporting people in work - in the precarious way so many are. Zero hours contracts. Part time jobs. Minimum wage.

[William the White]

Amidst todays main debate - does anyone feel better off at the moment?. Most folk I know have had no pay increase or minimal at best for quite a few years. Are the majority of folk really better off? I know I'm not!

unless you are in the top 10% (like WtW!) - then you are - no end of govt spokesrobots have announced it to be so today! (and - no - they haven't come up with a totally new and artificially manufactured measure of standard-of-living to suit their case - no - not at all - never... errr...)

Like WTW was when working, I think you mean, the bish... Though I'm sure your scepticism is not misplaced...