General Chat

Ann in Glos, my OH had an independent dr sent to see him when he applied for WAR pension, and he gave him a thorough examination. Took one look at OH' feet and back, and said'That must be painful, I dont know how you manage to walk like that' and he passed him as never likely to work again. He had tried before, but he was never examined and was refused. I was told that when you fill in a form, you should put how you are on your worst days, not how much you can do on your good ones.

Has your sister been medically re-assessed recently, Eddie? I'm glad she's getting help from the CAB, as I can't see how her benefits can just be taken away, with no re-assessment.

Of course, this is where people in rural areas are at a greater disadvantage - there will be a lot of people in a similar situation here, too, as the number of bus routes has been radically reduced in the last 4 months. As you say, Eddie, without money, no car; no car, no access to anyone that can help. I know it would jar a bit, but maybe your sister could contact her MP, if she/he may be sympathetic? A letter to the local paper may also get her some support.

Re the reply about Osborne and the rest of this Crew.At least they had their cash befor they were in the Government,not after.**M**.I know people who are supposedly disabled, getting everything they can from the taxpayer,yet go out laying Patios and drives.( Cash in Hand) and what happens when they are reported,Sod All.they never even get investigated,It seems to be too much trouble for the powers that be to get off their collective backsides to do so.**M**.

When my sister applied for DLA Joan she had to be seen by an independent doctor who visited her home.

She has had a letter saying her mobility allowance will be stopped from the end of this month. Also her blue (disabled parking) badge has to be returned. This is fine as she will no longer be able to afford to run a car, hence she will not be able to tavel to her work.
This is what is so ridiculous, she wants to work but cannot travel to her place of work without the car. With the help of the CAB she is appealing against the decision.

Ann, re my Mum's neighbour. She's not depressed - she's one of the bubbliest people I've met in a long time. No, her disability is no worse - her walk is awkward, as it has been since birth, apparently - but she takes herself off to Sainsbury to do her own (big) shop every week. She has a gentleman friend, who's been decorating the house, and they've just been on holiday to Turkey, taking the two teenage daughters with them. Don't get me wrong - I don't object in the slightest that she gets some benefits to make things easier for her, but it's the "I can't possibly work, because I'm disabled', that gets me. If she can go abroad for a holiday (and Turkey isn't one of the most disabled-friendly countries), and do a large weekly shop on her own, then there's absolutely no reason why she shouldn't be able to work in a desk job - if there was any work available, that is!

Eddie, has your sister had changes in her benefits already? I ask, because I didn't think the changes had started yet.

I wonder whether anyone can give me the name of possibly the most famous Tax (fiddling) Lawyer this country has known?

I can only give one clue it was a female!

William Russell Jones.

it's all relative isn't it? poverty and wealth...

the difference between two elderly ladies of my acquaintance, one owns her own home (paid for) and only recently has had to start "dipping into her savings" (unearned) to sustain a very comfortable lifestyle,good holidays etc...and the other lady who with disabilities, and a high rent manages to 'tick over' with no 'luxuries' ( and she worked as did her late husband ).

So much is down to circumstances and NOT down to being wasteful of money, or neglecting to save,or not being willing to work.

I must admit I have avoided paying much tax on my investments by buying gold. Years ago wifes granny told me to avoid the banks, they are interested only in making profits for themselves, buy gold and diamonds, she said. And boy was she right.

The 'rich' ARE shouldering more. Their tax rate has been increased to 50% and they also get reduced personal allowances. Problem is, even so, there are simply not enough so called "rich" around so even taxing them 100% would not bring in any significant amount of income, so we keep coming back the the average working man having to shoulder the burden every time.

e.g.
10,000 'rich' earning £200k pay £100k tax each. Revenue = £1billion
10,000,000 "mr average" earning £25k pay £5k each, Revenue = £50 billion

Incidentally, tax avoidance is not a crime in this country. I avoid tax by putting money into an ISA.

Think I read somewhere that we are paying 29 million pounds a day in interest on what we have borrowed.

Something has to give. Taxing fat cats will help but will only be a drop in the ocean.

Having lived too long and seen it all before, sadly it's no pain no gain. We have to mend our ways.

Happy days

Gerrybear, we don't know your Mum's neighbour of course but maybe having the children and the stress of her marriage breaking up has exacerbated her disability and/or added severe depression to her problem making it hard for her to make herself work.

Oh, and on Governments, surely it is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Those who vote against a party are always quick to lay blame when they get in and start to try and sort whatever current mess there is, without waiting to see if they actually manage to sort it.

There are loads of people - some of the most vulnerable in our society - who will lose out greatly by the governments cuts. I know a number of adults with severe learning disabilities whose day centres are being, or have been, closed. The excuse made is constantly that it's is to give them more choice, but what choice do they have now? There's nowhere for them to work or socialise.
On the other hand, my Mum's neighbour is disabled, but worked fulltime commuting to London every day, before she got married. Since having children and her marriage breaking up, she's been claiming benefits, including a car and a grant to have improvements in her house. Her disability is no worse than it was before, but she claims she can't possibly work. Sadly, people like her give everyone with a disability a bad name!

Any alleged overspending bfore the banking crises was miniscule compared with what was spent then.

I do strongly suggest that Cameron and Osborne are with their dogma of "rolling back the frontiers of the state" relishing what they are doing now.

Whilst some may see welfare payments as a symptom of the countries decline,its worth noting that welfare recipients don't have accountants to fiddle their tax like the rich,people who many of us think should be shouldering both the blame for the current crisis and the pain.


William Russell Jones.

Brown may be genuine as a person, but he was out of his depth as both Chancellor and PM and virtually bankrupted the country with his policies.

The bank problem was not the real issue, although it came at the wrong time. The government has effectually lent to the banks and in return has become major shareholders. As a result (a good idea from Brown as it happens) the government will eventually get its money back and with interest to boot.

No, the real problem is that Brown failed to manage the current account, and even before the bank crisis, was spending more money than he was bringing in and borrowing left right and centre to make the books balance.

The money goes out in order as follows:-

1. Welfare
2. NHS
3.Education

Everything else pales into insignificance, by comparison.

So top of the list is welfare. Working tax payers are becoming increasingly annoyed (mild description) at seeing money poured away in welfare payment which result in some (note some) families being far better of than they are. That is one of the main reasons that the last government were not re-elected.

So, what has to give?

I felt I should reply to the misplaced magic about Blair and Brown.lol

Whilst there was no one more critical of Blair as an individual than myself,but of course for the right reasons.Oh yes I disagreed with the wars but again for the right reasons.Of course we can look for others such as immigrants for our own shortcomings,but again the facts suggest otherwise.

As far as Gordon Brown is concerned,during the last week of the last election campaign I went to see him adress a meeting in Wrexham North Wales.I have to say I was truly shocked too find him to be so genuine and sincere.Of course entirely different from how he was painted in the Tory press.

I didn't hope to talk about millionaires but as its been raised,its perhaps worth pointing out the millions of someone like George Osborne,the very man who will shape the furture of lesser mortals like myself.

William Russell Jones.

There is no doubt Bliar and Brown are partially to blame, no doubt at all. And every other thieving, coniving, two-faced s**t-bag in our government, present and past. I can count the truly "honourable" members on one hand.
Just to throw another banger into the fire, England is the only net tax paying country in the (so-called) united kingdom.
Scotland has its own government. So does Wales. And Ulster. Perhaps it is time for independence for England, which is the only country in the EU without it own elected government. English taxes used for English people....

And I suppose none of the problems were caused by Blair and Brown,Such as selling off our Gold reserves for Peanuts,and robbing blind the Pensions which people had paid into for years,Or entering Wars which we had no need to.Then of course there are the Blair Millions,he like thothers in the Labour Party Feathered there nests quite nicely while allowing all and sundry into this Country to plunder our benifit systems.Methinks some people are in Denial of what went on over the last 12 years.**M**.

This is all getting off the point.
The fact is my Sis is happy to continue her little job, pay her taxes and be useful to society.
However if she loses her mobility benefit she cannot get to work, so she loses her job. Therefore she cannot pay her rent and could lose her home.
This is absurd, because
A) if she loses her job she can get unemployment benefits instead, except she will not be able to travel into town to sign on without a car. There are no buses off the main roads here in Devon.
B) She will get all of her rent paid and
C) If she came to live with me, I may be able to get carers allowance for looking after her, being her transport etc, (plus the rent will be paid to me).
And Osborne said on Andrew Marr this morning that it will benefit every one if they work!
It seems to me he wants to make a pauper of a very sick 58 year old woman. There is no way society would benefit from making her unemployed and unemployable.

Lets not have opinion dressed up as fact please.I'll tell you what the last government spent the money on.

They spent the money on making sure that the banks in this country did not collapse.If any of them had gone under you would have seen calamotous scenes of people scrambling to get their money out of the banks that remained.

Why were the banks in trouble,not because of the policies of the government but because of the actions of spivs and speculators,oh yes the very people that are the leading backers of the Conservative Party.

William Russell Jones