Does the programme '‎999 What's your emergency' reflect life today?

[Ms Macbeth]

This programme, set in Blackpool, is a depressing picture of what the emergency services have to cope with today. As one policeman said, they probably only ever come into contact with about 5% of the population, but it's the same 5% nearly all the time. The abuse given out to some of the officers from the fire service, police and ambulance was appalling.

 

The prog showed people turning out to the cash machines at midnight when benefits are due in, or as some put it 'when they get paid'. The police said that heralded lots of alcohol and drug related problems. People would spend nearly all of it on drink/drugs leaving very little to survive on til their next 'pay day'. Shoplifting was an all too common way of balancing the budget.

 

This week, there was a young woman from whose current home the police had been called around 140 times. Mainly because of her aggression and violence caused by too much drink. Pity her poor neighbours! Previously, the police picked up a small child who'd just walked out of his house, and no-one noticed, and the ambulance service was called to a baby who fell off a work surface whilst being baby sat by a young girl. Mum was clubbing.

 

Is there any way to educate and support the next generation of children from some of those homes into a different way of life? I know there have always been people on the edges of society, but are the numbers growing or merely more concentrated in certain areas?

[Happ Hazzard]

The numbers are growing. You can blame Labour for that.

[AdamSmith]

yes what a depressing picture of an english seaside town!! sadly not only here its like that in most towns and cities in the uk now, due to the benefit culture of something for nothing! as someone on the programme said last night "why work? when you get it all paid for you, new Labours big catch all safety net has come back to bite us..hard! lets hope the conservatives clamp down big time on this culture of benefits both for the indigenous population and also the immigrant one, a good start would be food and essential vouchers instead of money, money gets spent on booze and fags, instead of housing how about some sort of residential camp maybe like the old butlins camps but not as a hiliday camp, it might just straighten some up to sort themselves out.

[andyofborg]

yes what a depressing picture of an english seaside town!! sadly not only here its like that in most towns and cities in the uk now, due to the benefit culture of something for nothing! as someone on the programme said last night "why work? when you get it all paid for you, new Labours big catch all safety net has come back to bite us..hard! lets hope the conservatives clamp down big time on this culture of benefits both for the indigenous population and also the immigrant one, a good start would be food and essential vouchers instead of money, money gets spent on booze and fags, instead of housing how about some sort of residential camp maybe like the old butlins camps but not as a hiliday camp, it might just straighten some up to sort themselves out.

 

the safety net under new labour was no bigger than it was under previous administrations.

 

the problem is, and always has been, that successive governments since the 70's have used the welfare system to paper over the ever widening cracks created by the destruction of the old industries and the resulting vast transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.

 

new labour could and should have done something different they had the chance too, many of the people who voted for them wanted them too, but they decided to follow essentially the same policies as the previous conservative administrations.

 

the coalition is doing nothing different to what new labour and the thatcher/major governments have done.