Fury at "get on bus" comment

[hitch_1980]

I think the point that Iain Duncan-Smith made would have been much more valid if he'd said that people from Myrthyr should look for work in the short-term in Cardiff, whilst his government (and the Welsh Assembly) worked hard to ensure that there would be a focus upon job creation and economic stimulus in Myrthyr (and mid-Wales) in the next few years.

 

Myrthyr (and other towns like it) have been horribly failed by recent successive governments and I don't blame the people who live there for feeling angry about such a flippant comment as 'get on a bus' while the politicians offer them nothing and allow their town to become even more run down.

 

However, if more people were able to find work in Cardiff and then spend their wages locally in Myrthyr, it might help boost the economy of the town and get it on its feet again. One option for them might be to club together to buy a bus and transport themselves collectively to and from Cardiff more cheaply- plus it would create one extra job with the bus driver. They could charge cheap fares to anyone that didn't stump up initially for the bus & insurance and even make some of their cash back.

 

So labour fail them....the cons tell it straight.....and the cons get a backlash

[mj.scuba]

The point that Duncan Smith was making is that people are not willing to take a job if it entails travelling for an hour.

They expect the job to be on their doorstep.

I moved 80 miles to get my last job and my s in law gets up at 4:30am to travel 70 miles to London each day for his work.

TOO MANY WANT IT EASY.

 

When we hired a new field engineer, the chap came to Sheffield for the interview from somewhere in Cumbria, then relocated with his family from Cumbria to Norfolk when he got the job. And lets not forget people travel here from places like Poland for all sorts of jobs.

[frank ryan]

I agree with IDS - the unemployed- lazy, feckless good for nothings who spend all day drinking champagne and watching blu rays on massive flat screensand laughing at hard working people who pass their state of the art homes on the way to the bus stop to go to work, should, instead, spend their days wandering round cardiff randomly entering factories and saying 'I could do that, gizza job' -that'd show the buggers -

 

That's ian duncan smith's view of life on the dole and so he must be right cos he's in charge

[Cavegirl]

So labour fail them....the cons tell it straight.....and the cons get a backlash

 

Maybe you're too young to remember who closed the coal mines and destroyed Myrthyr's main industry (first as a mining province , then as a light steel and iron manufacturer) in the first place Hitch? Look at your history more closely before you make any judgements- they're all as bad as each other.

[frank ryan]

Oh, there are jobs for them too, they just need to get the train to Bristol to get them

 

and the bristol dolies can go to pontefract and the pontefract dolies to newcastle and the geordie dolies to the isle man .............etc etc etc

[SnailyBoy]

So where do they get these cheap passes? I've never heard of them & I've claimed JSA before. If they exist the unemployed aren't made aware of them.

 

There's a travel to interview scheme, so if you get an interview for a job you can get a rail warrant for free travel to & from the interview, if it's more than an hour away, if you apply to the job centre for it. They don't tell you about anything else & you have to know about that to ask about it, they don't volunteer the information.

 

Isn't a state secret

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Jobseekers/programmesandservices/DG_173631

[warrior8]

It costs more than a third of an under 25's Jobseeker's Allowance to buy a weekly bus pass in Sheffield.

 

What bus pass are they using?! Mine costs £10 a week.

[foxydebs]

So where do they get these cheap passes? I've never heard of them & I've claimed JSA before. If they exist the unemployed aren't made aware of them.

 

There's a travel to interview scheme, so if you get an interview for a job you can get a rail warrant for free travel to & from the interview, if it's more than an hour away, if you apply to the job centre for it. They don't tell you about anything else & you have to know about that to ask about it, they don't volunteer the information.

 

They get them from the pte office in the bus station, if they are unemployed or on a low income, they could be entitled to a weekly off-peak travelmaster at a discounted rate.

 

Off-Peak TravelMaster currently costs £15.20 (per week)

 

It allows the user to travel by bus, train or tram throughout South Yorkshire after 0900 on weekdays and all day at weekends and on Bank Holidays.

 

You can qualify for an Off-Peak TravelMaster if you are:

 

Unemployed and available for work

 

Receiving Incapacity Benefit

 

Receiving Severe Disability Allowance

 

Receiving Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit and you qualify for free prescriptions and other NHS services because of your low income

 

Receiving Income Support

 

Your spouse claims Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disability Allowance on your behalf.

 

 

You need to take proof of your qualifying benefit, proof of address and a passport photo to the pte office in the bus station or at meadowhall interchange in order for them to issue the pass.

[foxydebs]

What bus pass are they using?! Mine costs £10 a week.

 

Probably a travelmaster, so they can use it on tram, train or bus, rather than a specific bus one.

[mediman]

Because they're claiming JSA.

 

They did have them 10 years ago, but they stopped them a while ago. I know because I asked last year.

 

Unless it's travel to an interview more than an hour away (and you have the appointment in writing, then go and apply for it at the job centre) you have to pay full price for public transport if you're unemployed.

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Good on ya anywebsite, the know all has finally been shown to know nowt.