James O'Brien's shocking call with a benefits officer | LBC
James O'Brien asked after this Universal Credit worker's wellbeing as he described the 'pitches of misery' he hears from people seeking advance payments.
#JamesOBrien #EnergyCrisis #LBC
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Having worked in the tax office for a number of years, I was disgusted at the leniency shown to corporation tax customers when compared to our ruthless nature with working customers, paying self-assessment or PAYE. This isn't the fault of the civil service, they can only act on policy; it is the fault of a government who have spent the last 12 years ****ing the people of this country to death and stealing our money to pay their mates with. It's time to start getting angry, and not at the asylum seekers down the street, but at the monsters who have corrupted the soul of this country.
@agt155
2 жыл бұрын
If we had a genuine tax system how would Tony Blair get away with his Billions?
@MrMaxLions
2 жыл бұрын
Fully agree it's heartbreaking. This call hit hard when I heard it live. I'm glad LBC put this online. We live in a world where Saville is knighted so anything is possible in the realm of tragic unfairness. Expect more of the same
@agt155
2 жыл бұрын
@@MrMaxLions ...if only Savile was prosecuted.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
Policy not being law.. so that must mean they are breaking the law then?
@MrMaxLions
2 жыл бұрын
@@agt155 if only Saville wasn't protected by the elites. Andrew got away with it. Tony Blair got knighted of the highest order. David Cameron's dad Ian rubbed shoulders with the drug cartels as they laundered money together as exposed by the Panama Papers. Tony Blair bought a multi million pound property in Mayfair without paying a penny of stamp duty. You miss a council tax payment watch what happens or ignore a parking fine see how well oiled the courts are when it comes to ruining your credit or even worse. All of this is a matter of public record
I'm glad this guy is doing that job - too often people needing help are talked down to an disrespected by the very system supposed to be helping them. I have total respect for this guy !!
@downscope3133
2 жыл бұрын
Unfortunately, even he will harden. These systems are designed to pit people against one another. Keep them fighting amongst themselves so they don't start looking up.
@canucanoe2861
2 жыл бұрын
The problem is that caring people like him get burned out fighting against the system and many end up quitting.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
@@canucanoe2861 LOL.. Are you really seroius? These people find reason to stop peoples money and leave them for dead destroying peoples lives with impuity...
@lukaszepesi
2 жыл бұрын
Yes for instance disability insurance are the worst.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
@@lukaszepesi There is no such thing as disability insurance in the UK... You make a claim for assistance if you are disabled with a so called element or extra support if you have disabilities.. but what the government is doing is they are forcing and categorising (in the governments opinion) what constitutes a disability and then rating you based on that.. Insurance means you have been paying for a private insurance policy that supports you if you have a disability.. Insurance means not publicly funded? However I get what you mean… They are destroying peoples lives by design...
Respect that man, he's doing a heartless job with a heart.
@factsgb8657
2 жыл бұрын
Agreed but we have made and designed people to have no heart. People with hearts get destroyed in the modern world.
@keithpanton7486
2 жыл бұрын
@@factsgb8657 More sociopaths high up the ranks of power than anywhere else. Sociopaths are useful to capitalism, as profit and success is far more important than wellbeing or human lives.
@johngalvin3124
2 жыл бұрын
That's choosing to let certain experiences dictate your values. People with strong moral fibre stick to their core values and beliefs whatever they experience.
@thetruth6417
2 жыл бұрын
It's more likely he's doing an idiots job with a brain ( that refuses to function normally ).
@johngalvin3124
2 жыл бұрын
@@thetruth6417 That's a bit of a strange thing to say
I’m also a benefit officer working for universal credit & the sad thing is if he gets identified from this he will be in trouble, possibly lose his job, we are forbidden from talking about our job to this degree & encouraged to back the government in power & their processes regarding benefits etc.
@H4M24UK
2 жыл бұрын
And we label other countries as being non democratic.
@amandajc2996
2 жыл бұрын
I was thinking the same thing Fairy
@doxxor7962
2 жыл бұрын
from my experience working in the public sector you're right, he would be seriously disciplined. anything like this has to go through the propaganda (press) office
@paulgibbons2320
2 жыл бұрын
So would you to be fair. There is considrible left wing bias within the department. Even a reluctance to work with Torys. If people have voted Tory then they are paying DWP to carry out their social program. It's a politically sensative job. It's true that he would get into trouble if it was a Tory or Labour government. Just to be clear that its not a Tory hush hush rule. It's to maintain an illusion of political neutrality within the department.
@Pommy1957
Жыл бұрын
You used to have to sign the official secrets act if you were a Civil Servant.
The lack of empathy with some of these comments, exhausts me. Let me tell you a story...A few years ago, being a lone parent of my 7 year old daughter, working full time on minimum wage (I have many qualifications but beggars can't be choosers if jobs are in short supply) I had to, yet again cobble something together for the evening meal and go without. The next day I got a flat tyre and had to use money that was supposed to be for shopping that week. The next day I didn't have enough money to put petrol in my car - not even £5 worth, so I rang in work sick because I was too embarrassed to explain why! My manager gave me grief on return of taking time off, I had no money, limited food and a daughter who had no idea this was the situation. This was not a "one off". My mental health declining and robbing my daughter of a mum. Now let me tell you, I worked hard! Hard! To get myself out of that. Harder than most of you who declare "just get a job", "you're scroungers", "get on with it". Poverty no longer means a workless household, it is a working household! I am not in that situation anymore but believe me, we are all a few pay cheques away from poverty if we hit the perfect storm of circumstances. I am unapologetic on this. Those who are quick to judge those who have not, keep it to yourself. You look foolish otherwise!
@marmitemel
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing your story, I’m sure that took blood, sweat and tears to get out of your situation. Even as comfortable as someone is, we are all a few paychecks away from a difficult situation or even poverty. And just because people are comfortable, it doesn’t always mean they’ve got there because they deserve it and they’ve worked hard, people have different chances in life and those on the poverty line might be working twice as hard and have not been afforded the same privileges. People could do with some empathy to understand it really is a bit of a lottery at times in life!
@louloug2008
2 жыл бұрын
👏👏👏 love this comment glad you managed to turn things around 😊
@matthewm5074
2 жыл бұрын
I couldn't find a single negative post or any lack of empathy from a single post,why are outraged at people who haven't said a bad word
@atomiccritter6492
2 жыл бұрын
@@matthewm5074 you obviously are not looking ---- MasterMirror 9 minutes ago Just don´t heat. 🤷♂ I receive benefits in Germany and do not heat. Just take a blanket if necessary. Lincoln D 50 minutes ago People need to take responsibility for their spending habits and their income. The welfare state in the UK is one of the reasons come far an wide looking for a free ride. Time to stop cash payments and have a food stamp system. Enough of throwing money at issues that will only get the system exploited. Jim Court 45 minutes ago (edited) Sick of hearing about the less well off. Get a job John Johnson 50 minutes ago Instead of scrounging why do these people get jobs, cancel their Sky TV, stop smoking and stop breeding Thankfully these posts are minimal and from known trolls
@billelder125
2 жыл бұрын
Well Said Jo Brave of You
Very brave to speak out against this moral corruption.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
LOL... You have no idea who that caller was.. he was probably a worker from tesco on his lunch break... Secondly you dont just call up some bloke and they decide what to pay you.. you have to fill in forms ect... i dobht very much that caller was real.. and if he was.. he should be sacked tomrrow...
@andrewf7754
2 жыл бұрын
🤣🤣 That's what I love about the Internet, you can always tell when a troll pops up.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
@@andrewf7754 lol hehehe.. That comment is indeed funny on a you tube comments system.. You Tube is not a communication system that has any credbility at all.. its nothing more than paid advocates that prop up You Tube channels on behalf of failing mainstream radio garbage shows like this on LBC who has the same funders as GBnews ect... all garbage.. There is nothing of substance here.. Just content that should be routinely mocked ;) Love you andrew!!!!
@davetompkins7840
2 жыл бұрын
@@rfxtuber as a support worker for vulnerable people I can assure you that what the caller described is accurate because I've helped clients make that exact phone call. He's not talking about applying for benefits in the first place, he's talking about a budgeting advance. If you're deemed eligible you're given money that you have to pay back via deductions from your future benefit payments. So you're not actually getting any extra money, you're just getting money early that you would have been paid eventually anyway.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
@@davetompkins7840 Fair point, although i would suggest its the so called work coaches that are discussing that when your have made your claim in the first instance.. I.E when you claim is already up and running.. Anyway.. these people do not know what they are doing and they are harming the lives of thousands of people up and down the country.. they are administrative agents who don’t have any power apart from directing your life into destitution so they can steal assets, cause harm across the board, cause penury and get into family lives in order to smash them apart.. A grotesque system that is evil in intent using young inexperienced people to carry out tyranny and fraud on behalf of the DWP.
I’m a colleague of this gentleman, we’re destroyed every day by this and our mental health is constantly on the brink.
@steve00alt70
2 жыл бұрын
do you not talk to your employer about your mental health? as they have a legal duty and obligation to provide services for you and make reasonable work adustments.
@Spotlightgopz
2 жыл бұрын
@@steve00alt70 a lot of these places, often make out like they care about your well-being. But it’s always a tick box exercise. You can see right through their half arsed attempts to show they care.
@hellovicki6779
2 жыл бұрын
@@steve00alt70 Yes, work safety laws could be applied to stop such practices by the state. It is incredibly damaging to force people to cause harm to others, particularly the vulnerable. I do not understand why the world seems so cruel and unkind.
@steve00alt70
2 жыл бұрын
@@Spotlightgopz here is a leaflet wouldnt count as a tick. You could demand there be a counsellor in the workplace.
@sweetiepie1372
2 жыл бұрын
I work in the same department. And am already close to tears daily, listening to people sharing their real fears and worries about fuel and inflation worries hitting them already. It's heart breaking.
The real scroungers in this country can be found in Westminster. Ridiculous salaries that are in no way comparable to the people whom they claim to represent. Frankly disgusting expense claims tendered from almost every single politician. Flipping second homes. Back handing government contracts to their associates. Yet the media will attack the poorest within our society. Absolutely sickening that most of the population get wrapped up in the rhetoric from Fleet Street etc. Full credit to the gentleman on the line here. Bless u sir
@dean9235
10 ай бұрын
Not according to The Daily Fail.
@richardhowlett4097
7 ай бұрын
It must be great to be an mp and be on a salary with lots of things you're able to claim more money for doing very little and then tell the ordinary man on the street, who is unemployed to get a job, and to stop claiming benefits. The tory governments always hit the poor to help the rich and the gap widens every day. It's long past time when the 'elite few' were held to account and their salaries reduced, in order to pay real workers a proper living wage. They sit on thousands, and workers can't even afford to save a penny from their miserable wages.
I remember Cameron saying that if poor people are cold in their homes, they should wear hat's. It's hard to believe any of them have a moral compass.
@joperhop
2 жыл бұрын
classic tory reply to the needs of the poor.
@matthewhendy5785
2 жыл бұрын
I’m sure if the Tories could they’d bring back the poorhouse…and charge for the gruel.
@cheeseburgerexpress8624
2 жыл бұрын
To be fair Cameron is Right, the amount of folk that sit at home in shorts n T-shirts complaining of high energy bills is Pathetic! I now sit in my home wrapped up in a 15tog quilt without putting my heating on, so guess I'm now classed as Toasty and Green!!!
@stonehengemaca
2 жыл бұрын
You can sit in your house like you're camping with all your thermals on etc but your house will get damp and mouldy. It's not just about keeping warm.
@steveblog1
2 жыл бұрын
Tories are completely incapable of empathy. I think it must be in the DNA.
This guy underestimates how compassionate he is even. I've been on the phone to these guys and 90% of them are utter a_holes and this guy really gets it. More politicians from benefits backgrounds required.
@PeterHyder
2 жыл бұрын
That's an interesting idea. I wonder what politics would look like if there was some sort of social service barrier to entry. Working as a bin-man, taking benefits calls, support worker etc.
@Argrouk
2 жыл бұрын
Someone on benefits can't afford the deposit, let alone the money to leaflet and campaign etc to get elected.
@anxiousmindmusic
2 жыл бұрын
@@Argrouk benefits *background*.
@jjs3287
2 жыл бұрын
Was the same back in the 1980s I can tell you.
@ArtyAntics
2 жыл бұрын
I would like to see politicians volunteer to live on benefits for a month and have it documented how well they survive. Rishi can pay.
I think what often gets missed in the discussions about being on benefits (which I have been myself in the past) is anyone can cope with a month or two of scrimping, and going without the odd meal or nicety. What really gets to you is the existential dread of not knowing when it will end, and the mounting mental and fiscal pressures that are put upon you as a result. No one is under any obligation to give you a job in a free market, so you can spend a full-time working week looking and applying for work with no success or income - and most crucially, no end in sight - over and over again.
@Torthrodhel
2 жыл бұрын
This is precisely why it should never be a free market, and people SHOULD be under obligation to give you a job, or failing that, whatever a job would provide. Put the pressure on the side of the mechanism that's built to be able to withstand it, rather than the side of the mechanism that isn't. It would seem like a no-brainer, if you imagined those in charge actually wanted the country to work properly. But that's exactly the problem - they don't. They aren't fixing a machine, they're mining a corpse.
@Ocinneade345
2 жыл бұрын
This is why I hate the shows that have rich people be poor for a bit. The absolute existential dread of not knowing if it will end is paralyzing. And that comparison between the two thought processes while being yelled at from the other side.
@Torthrodhel
2 жыл бұрын
@@Ocinneade345 goodness me yes, those shows are terrible. There to push the disgusting message of "it's not so bad y'know" but... it's complete fiction. Entirely set up beginning to end, they all are. Just as contrived as the next drama show, but with the added insult of pretending not to be. I mean, can you see one documenting someone starving or freezing to death? Of course they'd never let it get anywhere near that - not even close. And that's the complete failure of the entire point of it, before they even begin.
@TiberiusWallace
2 жыл бұрын
The problem is is that theres nowhere near enough money to live on ans you just spiral further and further into debt.
@lestrem11
2 жыл бұрын
Benefits are designed for a short term period of unemployment. Nobody would stay on benefits for life surely. Or do you somehow think it is up to others to fund there peoples lack of interest in work?
That's the most thoughtful intelligent and compassionate benefits officer I've ever heard. A system can only be changed from the inside.
@JessicaMiller-pc4dj
2 жыл бұрын
But unfortunately it will be at the expense of this poor guys mental health. It's not enough to have a truckload of compassion and common sense - you will also need to be thick skinned AF to be able to deal with incredibly dim coworkers and horrific red tape 😩.
@MD-co2gc
2 жыл бұрын
I work in a simlar role to this guy and belive me there are plenty road blocks in place to ensure this guy never makes any of the policy decisions. That's not to say its impossible, just difficult and thankless,
@ryand141
2 жыл бұрын
All benefits need to be scrapped. You should not be essentially begging in the UK. People should not be freezing in their homes. The UK is a disgrace.
@JessicaMiller-pc4dj
2 жыл бұрын
@@ryand141 scrapping benefits would have a lot of vulnerable people freezing, starving, eventually homeless and finally dead. Do you have any suggestions of what we do instead?
@ryand141
2 жыл бұрын
@@JessicaMiller-pc4dj Yes, loads of ideas. Tax the rich what they should be paying, along with all corporation's like Amazon,; don't waste billions on PPE that now has to be thrown away. Not costly wars and no helping other nations financially until we (Inspect homes here and pay people a salary when unemployed, if they need help counseilling etc, then provide that, to get back to work. The whole system is mismanaged by government (wasting billions and billions and billions). Get people in gov that are qualified to do the job. Simple as that.
I totally understand this guys professional experience, it's heartbreaking working in public service. The benefits system is awful.
@jobbyomoron8478
2 жыл бұрын
He’s lying
@juliet7703
2 жыл бұрын
He's not I know of someone who was doing the same job. He said pretty much the same thing. I couldn't do that job
@rodgerq
2 жыл бұрын
@@jobbyomoron8478 why would you jump to that conclusion? Are you in the same job and have different experiences?
@jobbyomoron8478
2 жыл бұрын
@@rodgerq because jobby has tons of fake callers on his show.
@rodgerq
2 жыл бұрын
@@jobbyomoron8478 what's your proof of that?
that this is happening in a so-called 'advanced' economy is disgracefull...
@snoopy_peanuts_77
2 жыл бұрын
same in the u.s .....hyper capitalism
@monotech20.14
2 жыл бұрын
You should see the USA.
@stephanguitar9778
2 жыл бұрын
We have a 3rd world corrupt crony government driving a first world economy into the ground.
@stephanguitar9778
2 жыл бұрын
@@snoopy_peanuts_77 Corrupt crony capitalism. Has nothing to do with supplying competitive goods and services.
@quentinjalapeno1344
2 жыл бұрын
@@stephanguitar9778 Hyper capitalism just means unfettered capitalism. Commerce and capitalism aren’t the same thing either.
What a thoroughly decent, caring, young man. A real credit to himself, his family and the wider community!
@AJ-yw5zy
2 жыл бұрын
100% correct.
I worked in the DWP and I can tell you that doing the job has its affect on your mental health because of the fact that you're perpetually dealing with people who are utterly desperate. I left in 2005 (so 16 years ago) and it _still_ affects my mental health and, aside for a couple of years as a photographer, i havent worked since. It's also true that some, but by no means all, staff enjoy the sense of power that they have over claimants and demonise them, or should I say 'us'. These people are then the ones who then get promoted to management roles (I was never one of those), and then make life difficult for those they manage. It's the culture in the DWP to be strict on benefit claims and, even, their own staff.
@c_hortz8520
2 жыл бұрын
Agreed. I worked in the DWP for many years up until 2014 and all of the managers, if not promoted via nepotism, had all been poor agents with zero empathy for the people we served but ticked all the corporate boxes.
@aljones75
Жыл бұрын
I also worked at the DWP between 2009 and 2011, I also had to leave for my own mental health. One caller in particular will always stick in my mind, he was about to become homeless and there was nothing I could do. He’d been trying to get help for two days but hadn’t received a promised call back and he tried one last time but everyone had pretty much gone home (Friday about 5pm) so there was no chance. He was the most lovely and polite man and that made it so much worse on a purely selfish level to have to say sorry, I can’t do anything. Left the office in tears that day and left the DWP not long after.
@NeilCWCampbell
11 ай бұрын
The disabled don't care how much anyone in DWP suffers... suffer more.... quislings deserve no mercy
I don't know if it is just me but I feel a sense of shame that this country has been allowed to get to this point.
@keldsleepnot7961
2 жыл бұрын
No not just you
@Eyey_Ron
2 жыл бұрын
Definitely. I love this country but all the flag-waving faux patriots are dragging us down into nothingness
@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels
2 жыл бұрын
You're not alone. It disgusts me to the core.
@Argrouk
2 жыл бұрын
Species, not country
@bert454
2 жыл бұрын
@@Eyey_Ron I fully agree the pro EU flag wavers (faux patriots) are dragging the country down into nothingness!
Remember £8,000,000,000 + wasted on PPE alone yet the middle and lower class are expected to foot the bill just like the last financial crash.
@AuxesisHyperbole666
2 жыл бұрын
Let alone the £37 billion, yes BILLION, spent on a useless track and trace system.
@originalbadboy32
2 жыл бұрын
@@AuxesisHyperbole666 And add the £200bn that Brexit cost us.
@tompearce3610
2 жыл бұрын
@Lincoln D seems sensible
@joncurry9829
2 жыл бұрын
We need a revolution. Logic and reasoning are clearly not working.
@321backlip
2 жыл бұрын
@@joncurry9829 Logic works but it does'nt profit the right people.
I once spent two weeks calling the DWP five times a day to get paid something which they said they owed me, which they had failed to pay me. Out of those calls only two were like this gentleman you spoke with today. The rest were rude, implied I was ungrateful, passed me off to other incorrect departments within the DWP and some actually lied, stating I was not entitled to anything, even though I had the letters from them to prove otherwise. Prior to this, I had to take them to court in response to their contractors lies in their assessment report of my various health issues. I won, despite providing the exact same evidence from my support workers, health specialists (Cardiologist Reports etc), and GP letters as well as providing them with the written authority to obtain my medical records from the NHS, which they failed to do either at their contractors assessment or at the internal DWP assessors review. The court took one look at my claim and agreed I was indeed entitled to a backdated award. I am now also seeking a LEAP review into that former claim and it looks likely I will again have to take them to court for this award to be approved. Caring? They are not! Helpful? They most certainly are not. The department is not fit for purpose, now more than ever, especially with that poor excuse of a woman Therese Coffey in charge there, I simply cannot imagine anyone more inappropriate, well other than her predecessors, Iain Duncan Smith and Esther McVey. Lets not forget Therese has purposely withheld the publication of a report in to the effects of cost of living crisis on disabled people, which I now hear has been published by the public select committee looking into treatment of/and financial hardships to the most vulnerable groups in our society, apparently it is quite damning of the DWP and their efforts to further marginalise those vulnerable groups. It is high time the whole divisiveness of the DWP is torn down and replaced, so the kind of demonisations made by Tories in recent years about our vulnerable citizens, can never ever happen again! Too many have taken their own lives because of the DWP, this is not a mere suggestion or allegation, it is fact. One individual actually died with their face on a letter from the DWP saying they were not entitled, whilst sat at their dining table! Disgraceful! OK rant over! Sorry I waffled on for so long!
@MazzaEliLi7406
2 жыл бұрын
Dont apologise.
@tompearce3610
2 жыл бұрын
It needs saying. No actual it needs shouting!
@GG-ml3vr
2 жыл бұрын
Dont be sorry for being 100%correct,i dealt with them a few years ago unfortunetly.Never been spoken to with such distain before or since
@exbritishforcespatriotscha7723
2 жыл бұрын
John it's crazey,I am an educated guy who worked for big corporate companies in Aerospace industry,My wife passed away two years ago and left job in middle east.I worked on a farm as a fitter and heavy plant company,Being 58 soon could not carry on with the job and injured my back.Anyway I am currently on universal credit.I am actively looking for work.I needed fingerprints done by kent police to send to Oman to proof had no criminal record.They paid 97 pounds for it.I took receipt and they said they didn't need it.The payment system is skewed sometimes.
@johnmoore562
2 жыл бұрын
Thankyou for sharing and I'm so glad where many people would of crumbled by all this you battled on and showed them up for who they are by standing firm and showing strength throughout there deceit and lie's
What a very genuine young man you could feel the compassion. What a contrast with the people who sit in the CABINET.
@janetmalcolm6191
3 ай бұрын
Anyone who has had the misfortune of being on benefits (for whatever reason and lots have) understand the problems linked with being on it. MP's say people should work hard but have have no understanding that people do work hard but it doesn't pay the bills now. Most peoples salary is one quarter of theirs and they say people can't budget properly yet I bet they could with an MP's salary! Plus all the extras they get yet moan about people on benefits. If you have had to use the system you see it's not what people think. Under £100 is not a lot of money when you are sick but have always usually worked. If part time working it was up until recent years £74 to live off whilst working. That is not much to cover basic things now. Most people would rather work anyway. It is not living just surviving on benefits and only just at that.
I often tune in simply to hear James take people to task on various subjects. But this absolutely stopped me in my tracks. Completely compelling radio, more power to this young man and also to James's call screener for allowing this call through the voiceless need a mouthpiece.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
So how much does the DWP pay you? Go on let us know... anthony... Oh sorry.. thats right you work for the latest government fintech start up dont you in partnership with tescos... hgahahahahahah🤣🤣🤣🤣
@anthonymichael5078
2 жыл бұрын
Wow your wasted on a KZread comments thread. 🙄
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
@@anthonymichael5078 Only kidding Anthony.. you know i luv you to bits really.. 😂
@russellchallinor3117
Жыл бұрын
Hopefully Retro has to make a claim at some point for Universal Credit. It may actually open his eyes to the way the system is administered. Also he would then understand the difference the caller could make - what he's doing isn't encouraged by his boses. SpeK from experience 10 years working in a London Dole office 1986 to 96. Grim and depressing then worse & harsher now.
@anthonymichael5078
Жыл бұрын
@Russell Challinor having lived on Benefits in both the UK and Europe I can tell you the European model works is much better. Also it must have been very tough working for the DWP I hope you came through the experience ok. There is no stigma to unemployment in the EU. You are paid between 80% of you last jobs salary for a period of time usually 6 months then this goes down in increments and its not just that, the unemployment services help you (I know right) to find training courses or educational opportunities and best of all there is no media calling you a scrounger and making society turn against you instead people here just see unemployment as an opportunity to retrain in something new. Happily I was only a claimant for 2 months after my last employer made me redundant during the first wave of covid! I ended up finding a great job and I've never looked back ( although you never say never) anyway it must be heart breaking working in the dole office at times.
This is killing the soul of the people.
@michaelleak3369
2 жыл бұрын
Yer like me I have no money no gas ore e,l no food and I have to pay bed room tax be coss I live in a to bed house I have nothing left by the time I get paid
@billyouka448
2 жыл бұрын
Every minute you are on edge, worrying your benefits will be taken away
@steveblog1
2 жыл бұрын
Ironically, being killed by people without a soul.
@marcc3514
2 жыл бұрын
Yes. This is the idea - they become pliable and less willing to see any way to resist. A supine population poor and powerless and it's not their fault.
@Believe-you-me-
2 жыл бұрын
Killing or moulding into something less caring?
Ian Duncan Smith was the architect behind the system that we have in place today .He overhauled the benefit system to make it extremely difficult / impossible to obtain welfare even for the vast majority of people who genuinely are experiencing real issues in their lives. This is 21st century Britain. Where there has been a huge increase in poverty food banks, debt and slide back into an almost Victorian way of life whilst the current government have blown billions of £s on PPE that wasn't fit for purpose and the track trace system which has also failed. Who's going to be held to account? Who's going to be picking up the bill .
@dean9235
10 ай бұрын
I loathe Iain Duncan Smith.
As somebody who tried to claim UC during a brief period of unemployment, going through the byzantine process of claiming, I am convinced the whole system is set up from discouraging you from claiming at all. The Tories will not be happy untill you are living on the verge of a road, eating grass.
@em_and_newt
2 жыл бұрын
They won’t let you even live on that verge soon with the new bill they’ve pushed through parliament
@starofdavid9919
2 жыл бұрын
More likely they dont want you living period.
@david2869
2 жыл бұрын
That's horrible, but not surprising. Over here in Florida, for example, the officials make the system to declare unemployment insurance needlessly complicated such that people won't take benefits.
Honestly, some of the comments on this thread are appalling. The biggest issue with society in the uk - and elsewhere- nowadays is a lack of empathy for other people. Also, to the people slating people for needing financial support, you need to count themselves lucky that you’ve never needed it. Let’s hope that if you do end up having to make a claim, that you are shown more respect and care than you have shown to others
@MrMaboboz
2 жыл бұрын
"A lack of empathy" sums it all up. Some of us are horrible human beings.
@stonehengemaca
2 жыл бұрын
@Prince Talleyrand Yes. We need jobs people can afford to have. Wages that resemble the cost of living. Kick start the economy by increasing disposable income to the poorest workers and get EVERYONE eating out, buying goods and paying taxes.
@adamturnbull6384
2 жыл бұрын
@Prince Talleyrand That's easier said than done
@charanjitsidhu4733
2 жыл бұрын
I BLAME THATCHER/REAGAN FOR THIER 80s POLICIES, ME ME ME ME ME ME ME F- -K ANYONE ELSE!!
@GG-ml3vr
2 жыл бұрын
@Prince Talleyrand Go away you silly little man,i hope your lucky enough to lose your job one day
There's no reason why Universal Credit claimants should wait weeks for their first payment. It achieves absolutely nothing. It saves absolutely nothing because the amount of money given is the same it's just given much later in one lump sum. All it does it needlessly punish people who are by definition short of money.
@susanplatt5331
2 жыл бұрын
That's why they do it. They try and do as much psychological damage as they can. Tories like the system to kick people when they're down.
@abcollier7006
2 жыл бұрын
The longer they hold the money in the bank the biggest amount the more interest it makes. So they hold it off as long as possible.
@nickssurplus
2 жыл бұрын
@@susanplatt5331 I had to wait 90 days to get some money when I got laid off. Labour Goverment at the time. So it is the same all over which ever idiot is in power
@nickssurplus
2 жыл бұрын
@@abcollier7006 Before covid the Country had 19 minutes of money left in the bank if everyone stopped paying their stamp etc Wonder how much interest that will get lol
@siversurfer3541
2 жыл бұрын
V Seven The Tories love punishing the poor, as they feel it's what they "deserve ".
Well done too that young man. I've worked with people in the past with Nothing and it's heartbreaking. Some people should not be in jobs like that!
Future generations will look back at this system and judge it in the same way we do workhouses and debtors jails today: barbaric, sanctimonious cruelty.
@SpeccyMan
2 жыл бұрын
Remember the scene in the musical "Oliver!" where all the fat cats were sat at the table eating a feast whilst poor Oliver was asking for more gruel? Make you realise that nothing has really changed.
@benjaminburns2564
2 жыл бұрын
@@SpeccyMan I wish I could find some insightful or profound words in reply to your comment. I can't. It sickens me to my stomach, and that is all I can say.
Poor have to scrounge for few hundred quid whilst the billions have been written off lining the pockets of the MPs and their friends companies on dodgy millions of pounds of contracts.
This is the essence of Tories and their voters: “Look at the scroungers. I work hard while they laze about. They don’t deserve our support”. Forgetting that so many people are trapped in a cycle of poverty. But it’s okay. Its of their own making, right? Disgraceful.
@nickssurplus
2 жыл бұрын
I am old enough to remember this going on under Labour too. But that might not fit your narrative
@asyouwere553
2 жыл бұрын
Labour are worse and unelectable.
@johnrichardson544
2 жыл бұрын
@@nickssurplus The Tories have been in power for over a decade now. Have they improved things when they could have? No! Absolutely not! Things have got far far worse. The number of foodbanks has skyrocketted under THIS govt.
@asyouwere553
2 жыл бұрын
@@nickssurplus Exactly 💯
@nickssurplus
2 жыл бұрын
@@asyouwere553 The problem is a lot of the idiots have a short term memory problem or they just do not like tories. This problem has been going on for years and years and years. You could fix it but it would be unpalletable to some of the champagne socialists like Obrien. Why has he such a huge wage. Cut his wage to £40 grand a year and give the rest out to the needy. If you can not live on £40 grand you are doing something wrong Why does he need a massive house. Downsize his house and divide his house for people who need it. You could fit 2 or 3 families in his house Why does he need to send his kids to private education State school for his kids like the rest of us Why is he chauffered into work every morning. Get the bus into work or other public transport like the rest of us If you think he cares about us you have got to give your head a wobble
"essentially pitch their misery" is an exceptionally poignant and depressing notion. I imagine a great deal of people who need these advances choose not to in fear of having to confront and expose their own perceived inadequacies to total strangers.
@joeharry6820
2 жыл бұрын
Honestly Michael, I remember the old days when times were bad and you used to just look at a mate and say 'chicken bhuna?'
How wonderful to have a civil servant who has direct experience of the issues he has to deal with. I work at a food bank. The service users that come through our door are not just homeless or destitute, they are you and me! People with jobs, people with homes, people who have an income, people who we would pass on the street and not recognise that they are in need. The amount of elderly that now come through our doors is really worrying. As one service user told me, the food you give me means I can pay to heat a room. We are living in times where poverty stereotypes are a thing of the past. The solution is beyond me but ultimately it has to rest with our government. Who else?
Because of my parents situation, I was entitled to free school meals. I was given a laminated card to present to the dinner lady at the cash register. So embarrassing! My friends would say "get your starvers card ready".
@Minzalin
2 жыл бұрын
At my school, everyone had those cards so there was no stigma.
@dorkarama3135
2 жыл бұрын
@@Minzalin I'm probably older than you. It was either cash or, for the unlucky a nice shiny 'starvers' card with a limited amount of credit on it that was never enough
@seanw1962
2 жыл бұрын
You will leave school and be a far more productive, considerate, compassionate, positive member of your society. They are only words, yes they hurt, but embarrassment is a short lived experience. Head high young one, we the people think more of you than them.
@Minzalin
2 жыл бұрын
@@dorkarama3135 I'm 41, and the cards we had would have about £1 or £1.20 on them, enough to get chips and beans with. You could top it up with 50p cash to get something a bit more fancy.
@marcusott2973
2 жыл бұрын
How dare they do that to children! Here in Vienna it works like this. School meals, soup, choice of main courses and a dessert are provided for the kids at lunch. The parents who can afford it get a bill from the city at the end of the month, those that can't (measured by household income) the city picks up the tab. Giving kids a stigmatising card, with not enough on it for a proper lunch, how dare they.
What an amazing man
@colinward1007
2 жыл бұрын
@@rfxtuber why say that? All he said is the caller is an amazing man...
@Eyey_Ron
2 жыл бұрын
@@colinward1007 Because they're a bored troll that hates this country and it's people
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
@@Eyey_Ron Errr No correction... i hate the disgusting civil service that runs this country...
I wasn't too surprised until the line "they hire you off the dole for it", when I GASPED aloud. Utterly sick. Like appointing overseers. The deserving vs underserving poor. And there will be people who, once hired, will look down on the people they were among. What a sick, sick system.
@87eargasm
Жыл бұрын
@@charlesgates5267 no, I'm not suggesting that. Apology accepted.
I don't know how Rishi Sunak was able to keep a straight face when he told us yesterday that £350 is a lot of money
@casteretpollux
2 жыл бұрын
He said "It's a lot of money if your poor. It's not much if your rich". Rishi thinks that people on low incomes can/should live on pennies.
@1980oakley
2 жыл бұрын
He’s married to a family worth millions. Why would he care? Those that voted the tories in are the ones who have a lot to answer to!
@dcp3o
2 жыл бұрын
I don't think his wealth is a critical issue. It means he will be less able to get into the headspace of those on benefits, but hopefully he has a team of staff with diverse experience that can help with that. He also needs to be able to understand big business, so excluding people on the grounds that they haven't been in a certain situation would mean you would need a rich chancellor, a chancellor on benefits, a self employed chancellor, etc. I think out of all of the tories he has the most respect from me, although I dislike the others so much i won't vote for them any time soon.
@enochpowell8607
2 жыл бұрын
Why are people so envious of rishi sunak's wealth?
@casteretpollux
2 жыл бұрын
@@enochpowell8607 Not envious. Disgusted.
A long time ago I worked for a short time summer job for Santander's collections department. Calling people to collect payments on store cards they didn't even realise they'd opened. It was a rigged system where payments were processed on a delay to ensure that "late fees" were incurred and the debt these people didn't even realise they'd accrued when being mis-sold credit carts by teenage employees, then cold called by a company they didn't recognise. Most of the debt was never paid off and kept accruing debt in a vicious cycle. I quit after a few months partly because of the attitude described by this gentleman about seeing longer term employees viewing these people as "scroungers" or "idiots". It's amazing how quickly these evil institutions can brainwash people into believing they are doing the right thing. Stanford Prison 101.
There is a £200 million tax-payer funded party yacht being built. The government plane has had a new lick of paint. No.10 has been redecorated. Boris. A man of the people.
@passerby1011
2 жыл бұрын
Millions of I am alright Jack; no empathy for fellow human.
@spencerhardy8667
2 жыл бұрын
All that money goes to working people. It keeps boat yards and decorators and their suppliers employed. I don't get your point. I have more problem with the insane wages of football kickers.
@MrGrifft
2 жыл бұрын
@@spencerhardy8667 Public sector, private sector. Big difference little buddy.
@spencerhardy8667
2 жыл бұрын
@@MrGrifft Not a great deal of difference. A lot of football money comes off advertising, just like the MSM. Advertising costs are part of the cost of items purchased, thus, like a tax, you are paying them whether you like it or not.
@swalker40
2 жыл бұрын
@MrGrifft so it’s ok to leave people with no money, freezing and hungry so that his plane looks a bit nicer and businesses get more money? Ok we’ll if that’s what you believe….. And footballers? No person is worth that amount of money really but if they didn’t get those wages…the clubs and owners would just be richer….off the back of the players who deliver the success for them….so why shouldn’t they? At least we have people like Marcus Rashford who use that status to actually make a difference to peoples lives with what he has done for free school meals rather than another rich person getting even richer. And I do t really care for football myself but regardless the sport sells and therefore, the players should take their cut.
That guy absolutely hit the nail on the head when he said you have to essentially pitch your misery to the Jobcentre. Same goes for PIP
@susiefoxy8130
2 жыл бұрын
Its disgusting...not being disabled enough to be able to have a successful claim!
Shocking, I worked with a welfare officer who in the 1930's who had to insist on people selling frame of the wedding photograph. still traumatized 45 years later, nothing has changed. Truly shocking
@tonyhaitch8385
2 жыл бұрын
Thank heavens for the Beveridge report of 1942.
@jak6326
2 жыл бұрын
Remembering the Irish famine when they had the starving break stones and lay roads to nowhere for less than a penny a day - work sets you free . . .
@markjewell911
2 жыл бұрын
Before Brexit!
@NeilCWCampbell
11 ай бұрын
Why was he traumatized.? Imagine the poor people he abused by just following orders in the thirties??
What gets right up my whatever is that if we are working we pay national insurance, and if we are out of work we are claiming against the 'premiums' we have paid. Even the worst insurance companies pay out with less unpleasantness. And MPs - they all have pretty fancy salaries (and many try to earn more) so how can they understand, and what right do they have to make people grovel?
@bukketkid2567
2 жыл бұрын
Word!
@mediacenterman8583
2 жыл бұрын
100% agree. I mean there are people who have paid national insurance for years and then due to poor health, redundancy or a pandemic, they lose their job. They should not have to jump through hoops to use the welfare state and then be demonised.
@SpeccyMan
2 жыл бұрын
Spot on.
Much to my shame I worked for Serco on UC 'help line'. I lasted a couple of weeks. It was the most stressful heart breaking experience. I couldnt eat or sleep. All they are interested in is how long the call is and if you repeat the message they want to put out. Vile place.
Honestly this government and the people who vote for the Tories are heartless!!
@tommytaylor4139
2 жыл бұрын
No they aren't.
I know someone who used to work for the DWP until she was so depressed she became suicidal and left. I have great respect for those that can handle the job, I know I couldn't.
Being brought up on benefits and working in this type of job is absolutely reason 101 to never discuss politics in the workplace - you end up despising your colleagues for their views.
£200 is less than Johnsons weekly wine bill.
@randomname3109
2 жыл бұрын
daily*
@ca9968
2 жыл бұрын
Well he certainly isn`t shelling out any money on condoms...
@teddansonLA
2 жыл бұрын
It's cheaper when you buy by the suitcase.
@CynicalFish
2 жыл бұрын
Daily id say. Bozo parties and fattening himself up while the country starves and freezes
@TheBaconWizard
2 жыл бұрын
£200 is a single bottle....
I completely get where this guy comes from - working in the charitable sector the concept of pitching misery just resonated so strongly. It must be utterly heartbreaking for those with consciences having to work those sorts of lines day in, day out.
@meanwhileme4128
2 жыл бұрын
He won't last a nervous breakdown is an absolute certainty unfortunately you can bet your life he doesn't sleep well.
Great call, great guy! I hope he looks after his own metal wellbeing, dealing with misery full time for a living will erode at your character.
If politicians were on universal credit as their wages, the benefits system would be fixed very quickly. Respect to this man for having compassion in a job which must tear your heart up daily.
The officer is doing a great job 👏 👍
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
is he really you tube shill for LBC
I was on benefits a few years back. I am disabled but was forced to leave home and go out for a dwp assessment. When I got home I found my front door smashed in and I had been burgled. I phoned the helpline as I needed to get a new front door fitted. I was told having no front door was not an emergency and I could not get a loan to fix it.
@chrislaurenceleo
2 жыл бұрын
@@jackoh991 hi Jack are the emergency loan rules different for renters and owners?
@chrislaurenceleo
2 жыл бұрын
@@jackoh991 of course. No I had a mortgage on the property and there were supposed to be loans available that were repaid our of any benefits. The loans were supposed to be for emergencies. However, having no front door was not deemed an emergency so no loan was given and I had to live without a front door until my next benefit payment. I slept on the floor in my hallway for over a week for fear of a repeat burglary although most of my stuff had already been taken.
A sad but great call, it’s comforting to hear someone who is very compassionate about the people and family’s he’s trying to help. This government or any other government are overly skilled at wasting people’s money. There are just absolutely no consequences to these people who waste millions day after day. Would you run a business like it?
My mother worked for 15 years as a benefits officer, and loved the job under a Labour government. She really got to help people and make a difference to their lives in that job. When Cameron's lot got in, it was nothing but sanctions, putting people into hardship and dealing with suicide bereavements. She had to quit the job she once loved, because it was against every morale she stood for. It really affected her mental health badly.
@loveulez
2 жыл бұрын
This happened to so many people
@RobReignhell
2 жыл бұрын
And now with Boris, we have a government that is totally absent and asleep at the wheel.
People get mad at someone having 250 quid for benefits but not companies skimming millions of the tax payer a year or dodging tax
@user-dg6bl2ry2y
2 жыл бұрын
no but taxing the rich is just neo-marxism they'll tell you
On one hand I wish that guy could get a job which doesn’t slowly crush his soul, because he seems so decent. On the other hand, we should be glad he is there and doing his best to help. That’s particularly true when he describes other staff members talking about scroungers. The cost of living, NI rise and impending energy price hike will hit me hard, but I’ll survive. I won’t starve or be freezing, yet I won’t exactly be living the high life either. How many will suffer terribly though and in some cases become ill, or perhaps even decide that life is no longer worth living? I have a horrible feeling that we will see more death in 2022.
" pitch their misery"...hats off to the guy, I couldn't do his job for all the money in Rishi Sunaks bank account.
One of my chief reasons to not vote for the Tories. They mostly come from comfortable or very privileged backgrounds that they were born into and by that fact cannot possibly understand with any depth the problems of ordinary working people.
@jaysmith2858
2 жыл бұрын
Almost all politicians (no matter their affiliations) are self serving gits who are only interested in furthering their careers and lining the pockets of themselves and those they associate with e.g. family members and businesses who they will directly benefit from either during and/or after their political career has ended.
@OakApplegardens
2 жыл бұрын
@@jaysmith2858 not all like that in all parties. Some Tories even do care, most don't. Just laugh at them in Parliament
If some of the details of this conversation aren't making you emotional, angry or sad or whatever, then do you really understand? You'd have to be completely detached to not be depressed or infuriated.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
Thats the idea... Thats what LBC is all about... triggering and gas lighting.. There is no way that was a real benefits officer.. he told so many lies it was unreal... you dont just ring up some bloke and talk about what money he will give you...
@loodlebop
2 жыл бұрын
@@rfxtuber actually you do, you get through to the right person to speak about what you're entitled to. Just as I had to make negotiations to see you what I could get to help buy a suit for an interview. Not to mention the people I know that work in the benefits system, you crazy?
@steveblog1
2 жыл бұрын
Or a Tory.
@ObakuZenCenter
2 жыл бұрын
@@rfxtuber Time you were tracked down, outed, fired and end up on benefits yourself. You are an absolute ghoul.
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
@@ObakuZenCenter Nooo john Noooo 😆
My mum raised 4 of us on benefits. unfortunately she just wasn't capable of maintaining a job due to childcare issues, mental health etc BUT she pushed us for an education. Now as a result 2 of us a Doctors, 1 is a nurse and 1 is a teacher. Id like to think we have more than given back to the system
@skippertheeyechild6621
2 жыл бұрын
Your mum is a star. Cherish her.
@SpeccyMan
2 жыл бұрын
Your mother is quite clearly a remarkable and special lady.
@skippertheeyechild6621
2 жыл бұрын
@@SpeccyMan Totally agree with this.
@MantasNan
Жыл бұрын
imagine not having a job for 20 years and living off benefits your whole life. Welcome to the UK.
I was waiting in a job centre once and a young lady hobbled in with crutches and leg in plaster. She had an accident and was not able to work and needed to know how to sign on sick. The lady on the front desk told her that as she didn't know how to use a computer she would not be able to claim. The young lady was about to leave obviously very upset when I told her that there was a charity set up down the road that could help her with her claim and teach her to use a computer. She was really grateful for the information and as she left I was disgusted when the lady on the front desk thanked me for giving her the information ! I told her that it would have been more helpful if she had provided her the information which is what she was there for. A friend's son got sacked from his job as an advisor in the jobcentre for telling people exactly what they could claim for.
@gbhxu
2 жыл бұрын
The thing is that the DWP is a delivery service and not an advice service. It's up to you to know what you can claim.
@mattylamb9194
2 жыл бұрын
@@gbhxu - human nature should be better than that. Big thumbs down for such an appalling comment.
@gbhxu
2 жыл бұрын
@@mattylamb9194 - If you ready OPs comment, you will see that "A friend's son got sacked from his job as an advisor in the jobcentre for telling people exactly what they could claim for." The DWP have farmed out information giving to Citizens Advice
Worked in the Social Fund dept in the DWP for 4 years in the early 2000s. I see it's not changed.
@tommytaylor4139
2 жыл бұрын
Exactly,and Labour would of been in power at that time.
Poole MP, Sir Robert Syms was surprised about food bank use because of falling unemployment. He is an MP and should know what is affecting the people in his area but as you have said here they are out of touch and have no idea what life is like for the average person.
@meanwhileme4128
2 жыл бұрын
Spherical he knows ang he's delighted the system is working and destroying her majesty's SUBJECTS
@SpeccyMan
2 жыл бұрын
@@meanwhileme4128 ... whilst lining his own pockets. (Just wanted to complete the sentence for you.) 😉
I worked over last 4 years as a Change Coach with unemployed. I have found that many people on UC already choose between food or utilities. I gave out numerous food vouchers. The energy rise will mean more people being kicked when they are down. I would think that the suicide rate will rise.
@enochpowell8607
2 жыл бұрын
Instead of sitting on their backsides expecting the tax payer to fund their bills they should work... plenty of job vacancy at the moment.
@PORRRIDGE_GUN
2 жыл бұрын
@@enochpowell8607 Troll is gonna troll. Plenty of vacancy inbetween your ears. There are vacancies in places where nobody can afford to live on poverty wages. And no vacancies where the unemployed are. Many of the EU workers are now leaving, and there are no locals to replace them in the areas they leave since inward immigration is drying up and the retired cohort are enlarging steadily.
@enochpowell8607
2 жыл бұрын
@@PORRRIDGE_GUN yet the immigrants who can't string a sentence together are working 18hrs a day earnings a fortune..... If you can't feed em don't breed em ..... They are not the tax payers responsibility.... The benefit system should be a safety net not a way of life ..
This caller is exactly the calibre of person we need running the country.
Respect to this guy (and all the others doing some job like this) it does make you rethink your personal situation if you listen to this! Christ sake UK is a highly developed country how is it even possible that such a hotline is needed? Maybe the government should try to support the poorest instead of supporting party donors… :(
When the UK Christmas number one is a 'charity single' to raise money to feed hungry people in the UK it's time for all, regardless of party alignment, to acknowledge the colossal failures of government. For domestic poverty to be accepted and normalised at such levels is a global embarrassment for 'Great' Britain.
I'm not surprised , I'm old enough to have witnessed quite a few Tory governments and this is the exact same scenario with every one of those governments .
@steveblog1
2 жыл бұрын
Spot on! Heartless, corrupt and devoid of morality. It’s in the blood.
@spencerhardy8667
2 жыл бұрын
The last Labour government got us involved in twenty year endless wars, started the immigration cascade, are culprits in the woke insanity and improved nothing. Tories only exist to prevent further insanity, a fraying rope stopping the plunge into the abyss.
If I had the power, I would switch off the gas to every politicians house for the winter and introduce damp with fungus spores.
Agree with some of the comments saying no one has empathy....and there are plenty of people in these comments now who need to look at themselves. Stop judging every person who is on benefits like they choose to be. Like they choose to get into crippling debt. Pull your heads out of your arses and start to think about the other reasons this could be. Despicable people. Not so long ago we were locked down and had no idea what our futures were to be. And you still continue to be cruel.
@alexgravelle164
2 жыл бұрын
👏
@brynleytalbot778
2 жыл бұрын
Odd that a middle class businessman can fold into bankruptcy after milking loans for a limited liability enterprise but a private individual is stuck with their loans. The businessman can then run another enterprise, with loans, in another persons name, such as their wives, repeating it all again. The genuinely corrupt know how to play the system in a major way and protect their assets, legally. Those people have access to the government and have ensured they never lose. No wonder they can’t empathise.
@bubba842
2 жыл бұрын
Just proof of how selfish and self-centred our society has become.
@mattylamb9194
2 жыл бұрын
Lockdowns brought out the worst in society, (cowardice, envy, petty small-mindedness and hypocrisy chief amongst them). No surprise to me - my faith in humans now is far lower than three years go. Lockdowns were an utter disgrace
@hugoagogo4324
2 жыл бұрын
Well said 👏
The general tenor of these comments is utterly unacceptable. There is no humanity, no compassion, no empathy. If people earned living wages they would not need help. They could save. Then they could manage reverses. Universal Credit is simply an invention of right wing politicians. Basically, employers are allowed not to pay living wages. The burden of making up people's incomes to non-starvation levels is put on fellow workers. Can these amoral cretins not see the inherent unfairness of this? The problem isn't people not working. The problem is workers being paid such low wages.
@TheAudaciousAdventurer
2 жыл бұрын
Skill up and get a better job then. Opportunities are abound... go grab one and quit moaning.
@ObakuZenCenter
2 жыл бұрын
@@TheAudaciousAdventurer It would be poetic justice if those like you were tracked down, outed, fired and ended up on benefits yourself.
@gregoryperks929
2 жыл бұрын
@@TheAudaciousAdventurer so what happens if everyone decides to "skill up and get a better job"? It's really not difficult, if you are in full time employment you should be able to afford the essentials, people on minimum wage cannot
@Conflictofinterest902
2 жыл бұрын
@@TheAudaciousAdventurer how do you suggest "skilling up" when youre working every hour available, running a family and not having enough hours in the day ? you really have no idea about other peoples struggles and before you assume im not working. im a crane operator and im doing ok
WHY do so few have so much while so many have so little. This is not the UK I left 52 years ago; and it was bad enough back then.
This man's voice sounds so familiar...like the gent who finally helped me after being homeless for three years. I have now been rehomed and my pension sorted..yes having to go through my trauma time after time has affected my life..my nightmares are back .I do not have enough to buy shoes food or do any kind of social life.still I am eternally grateful that I have received help..and hats off to every call center worker that helped me...
"Pitching their misery" this is the perfect description
This reminds me of the mid80s, when my then wife , who worked in a day centre for the disabled, went on a course run by, I think it was called RADAR, where she was trained to make claims on behalf of disabled clients. She was taught to quote from the Benefits own internal guide book , chapter and verse of how her client was entitled to all the benefits that they could claim. I seem to remember ( or was it wishful thinking) that a later government tried to turn their helpdesks into places where claimants were positively helped to get all their entitlements. The current system seems to have reverted to making it as hard as possible to get any entitlements. Certainly the Universal Benefit System, as defined by Ian Duncan Smith, and continued by all of his successors in the DWP , has gone a long way down that route.
The current benefit system is designed to punish people not help them. Housing benefit is inadequate and just enriches private landlords. You are always at the back of the queue as a single man: you will starve before they give you an emergency payment/loan. The government still reckons you get 5% interest on any savings and cut your benefit accordingly.
It wouldn’t surprise me, if they found out who this guy was and fired him for speaking publicly…
Carers allowance £66 a week. You have to care for someone for 35 hours a week. Not even £2 an hour. My parents were divorced and lived 2 miles apart, you can't claim for two people. If savings go past £12,000 threshold they take away the jobseekers top up in England. Scotland don't do that. You also lose free prescriptions, dental treatment, eye tests.
This guy is in a difficult situation but understanding how it's happening. Fair play to him for speaking out.
I was a couple of months from retiring when I had to sign on. I did wonder when I attended on signing day if some of the advisers got a kick out of 'lording it over the scroungers'; about 3 weeks before my retirement, having religiously made lists of all the things I'd done to find a job - and submitted them each time I signed on, my 'adviser' insisted that I either, attend a classroom course on how to better find a job, or help at a local government run 'cafe' one day a week, 'and if I refused?'? - 'they'd sanction me!' , said with a semi smirking attitude. I toyed with the idea of telling them where to stick it, but didn't. No wonder they have 'security' at the entrance.
This was chilling- the part about folks who had been on the dole a few weeks before were talking about "scroungers' just chilling- a few steps away from pushing folks onto cattle trucks
@ObakuZenCenter
2 жыл бұрын
That's the idea with right wingers sadly.
If your landlord is not fixing the boiler your local council housing team can carry out emergency works and then charge the landlord. Shelter has great advice for tenants.
Wow, as others have said, huge respect for that man for coming forward. Well done mate.
This is why we need universal basic income. The fact that you have to beg for money from the government in order to pay bills & not starve is inhumane.
Universal Basic Income. From one public servant to another. Thank you for your service!
To this caller I thank you for your kind heart and understanding of what people are suffering.
Excellent that James asked about his own mental health
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
Was it? You tube paid shill..
@stevendurrant1724
2 жыл бұрын
@@rfxtuber You learned to say "shill". That's very impressive, but nothing to do with my point. Thanks for playing, I hope the mental health of you and loved ones is permanently stable, given that talking about it seems to trigger you.
@scotthart2
2 жыл бұрын
He followed it up in under 5 minutes with a 'Brexit Britain' comment, the guy is a W⚓....
@rfxtuber
2 жыл бұрын
@@stevendurrant1724 hahahaha hello steven!! No, you give away who and what you are when you make a coment like that.. that is all hahahaha 😀
@stevendurrant1724
2 жыл бұрын
@@scotthart2 If you research stuff like geography and news, you can soon learn that we live in Britain and that we have left the EU. If "Brexit Britain" is used far more commonly with negative connotations than positive ones - figuring out why require a slightly more advanced level of analysis, but I have faith you can get there.
As a person who spent a number of years on benefits due to mental health issues. I want to send this man my deepest sympathy. I have felt humiliated by the benefits system but never by the people who have to administer it. The majority have been caring people doing their best to remain empathetic humans and I want to thank them for any assistance they gave. I'm now happily employed but still have nightmares about my time in this system so my heart goes out to the people who have to work within it. Thank you all.
Not Brexit Britain James its been this way my whole life. I was one of 'maggies millions' and also had to fall back on social housing too and I can tell you that the poor were conveniently blamed for everything even in the 1980s and A lot further back than that. It didnt suddenly change because we (lets face it) partly left the EU. In the 1980s I came up against some awful people who worked in the dole office and job centres who simply resented having to get up in the morning to do a job they hated enabling money for people who didnt.
Vote Tory, this is what you get. You were warned multiple times.
@agt155
2 жыл бұрын
The reason we live in a 2 tier country is because of the last Labour government.
@Iybraesil
2 жыл бұрын
@@agt155 Bruh, Labour haven't been in power for 11 years.
@agt155
2 жыл бұрын
@@Iybraesil Yes, and why do you think that is?
@agt155
2 жыл бұрын
@1996freddie Financial deregulation is the reason we live in a 2 tier country - Tony Blair's first act as PM. You obviously don't remember the banker crash of 2008.
i rang a number given to me by my jsa coach to contact the benefit office today, so after been passed around for almost 2hours the last person said i cant help you but ill give you a number to get help...... he gave me the same number i dialled 2 hours earlier to get in this current position ...... i was totally shocked
@SpeccyMan
2 жыл бұрын
"Here we go round the mulberry bush on a cold and frosty morning." Yes. Had that same experience.
There are amazing people in the DWP who really want to help people as much as they can. What most people fail to realise is that they are blocked from doing this because they are constantly forced into hitting arbitrary targets. It's essentially a tick box exercise these days, and everybody now loses. P.S. don't forget that a lot of those DWP staff you talk to will also be on UC themselves, because they are not paid enough to survive on.
I started a new job last month after years of being on the sick. I had to wait 5 weeks to get any UC tax credits, my wages went on rent. Tonight I just got back from the supermarket finally having money to buy enough shopping to last another month. I although it has been hard and really scary working 40 hours a week and being left with £50 for the month after bills but before food, i would rather live like this than being on full benefits. That feeling that one day the brown envelope telling me I must go to a building to tell a stranger why I have PTSD, and what happened to me. The years of wondering if this week will be my last payment, and knowing full well that after the pandemic its going to be the poor the filty Tories will pick on. I am so happy I got brave, studied and did a huge jump to get out of the benefit trap. The worst thing is the neo libralist Tory properganda telling people to hate all on benefits and making people who fall on hard times or have awful things happen to them feel like they are worthless. I am a single mum, with little support I suffer with mental health issues, I am brave and strong and hardworking and for years I have been left behind and not experienced career movement, holidays, or any feeling of security. I have pulled myself out of that hole, but there are so many that will not be able to and I fear for them. I fear what is coming and what the Tories will do to the poor and alone again, on top of rising fuel and food costs. I feel like I had a lucky escape, my life is hard but its nothing compared to what pople without options go through.
That young man deserves a far higher job with the remit of changing policy. His intelligence rings through from his ability to articulate so well.
@StickyBud9395
2 жыл бұрын
I think the reason he hasn't got a higher job is because he has empathy, this country needs a revolution to kick out these greedy Tories.
I work 10 hours a day, 4 days a week, I’m on my feet from 8 till 6, I’m on a okay wage; I have no finance debt, yet all my wages go on bills… if it wasn’t for my daughter and her partner, I wouldn’t have food in the house. With energy prices going up am dreading it.
Sorry about this but can anyone tell me are MPs getting 3.500 energy payments for there homes and the ones they rent out and don’t have to pay it back not like the £200 we will get
I work for Universal Credit and if somebody needs help I will release the funds no matter what the penalty may be.
12 years of playing economic roulette with peoples lives making people endure Austerity and "trickle Down" sabatage all backed up by a Barmy Benefit system that actually tops peoples wages up ! while the Foodbank Queues continue soaring out of control. yet they continue plowing through with their insane crusade. it isnt hard to understand the look of misery, stress and anxiety on peoples faces as you pass on by
@spencerhardy8667
2 жыл бұрын
"Austerity" was caused by the 2008 crash. The people who engineered that "crash" and walked off with billions are amongst those behind the curtain who tell the puppets called politicians what to do. But the people behind the curtain also control the media, and tell the masses how to think and what to believe. Hence we're in a closed feedback loop. I have lost all sympathy with those who think we can vote ourselves out of this situation.
This caller is an amazingly compassionate caller! What a stunningly accurate and personable reflection of our current situation!
the biggest scroungers are those at the top
@meanwhileme4128
2 жыл бұрын
Yep led by the Von Windsors Charles Jimmy Savilles mate lives the life of a Billionaire and Brothet Andrew is selling his £14 million Ski Chalet!
The reason there will be no change is the reason why the comments sections are full. Society has been broken down to the point that your anger fills the comment sections and not the streets.
@ObakuZenCenter
2 жыл бұрын
It will.