chem1st Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 http://www.demos.co.uk/press_releases/majority-support-government-control-of-how-people-spend-benefit-payments Majority support government control of how people spend benefit payments. New polling released by the think tank Demos shows the majority of people believe the government should start controlling how welfare recipients spend their money. Whilst 6 in 10 people (59%) agreed the government should control what people spend universal credit on, the figure rises sharply for certain recipient groups and for the purchase of specific items. • An overwhelming 9 out of 10 people (87%) said at least one group of welfare recipients should have their benefits controlled. 77% said yes to monitoring people with a substance or gambling addiction and 69% for those with a criminal or anti-social history. These figures rose to 82% and 75% respectively among respondents aged over 65. • Over two-thirds of respondents (68%) agreed the government should stop all recipients from spending their benefits on gambling. • Over half (54%) agreed with the government stopping people spending their benefits on unhealthy items such as cigarettes or alcohol. • Just under half (46%) opposed benefits being spent on branded goods such as Nike trainers etc, • Approximately 4 in 10 people backed a ban on buying junk food (38%) and over a third (35%) on holidays. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19792066 Should benefit claimants be prevented from spending the money given to them by the state on alcohol, gambling, cigarettes and other "vices"? A poll commissioned by think tank Demos suggests most people would support such a move. It would appear that some people support forcing people to buy what the state wishes them to. Do you think the state should dictate how people spend monopoly currency one receives in the form of benefits? (The £). Benefits ARE; JSA ESA/Income support/Incapacity benefit DLA/PIP State pension Pension credit Working tax credit Child tax credit Child benefit etc. (Housing benefit and the oxymoronic council-tax-benefit are already benefits one is forced to spend on RENT and COUNCIL TAX.) Considering that a pack of £7 ciggies contains just 4 pence of tobacco and the majority of the price is tax, perhaps we should force people to spend their tax credits and pension dole on ciggies so we can recoup the benefits in the form of tax? Or perhaps we should introduce a tobacco benefit to boost GDP and tax revenue? What do you think? Or perhaps we should change the way we measure GDP and introduce IMPUTED SMOKING COSTS, that is to say, we should add to GDP the money that would have been spent by non smokers, if they smoked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Orange Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 If you can afford cigs with your dole money then clearly you are getting too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality van Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 If you can afford cigs with your dole money then clearly you are getting too much. If that person chooses fags over food then thats their choice isnt it? The same person may well have worked for many years and for a host of reasons my now be out of work through no fault of their own.I personnally think that they should decide what they wish to spend their entitled to money on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem1st Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 If you can afford cigs with your dole money then clearly you are getting too much. As they say in the USA; "It's free swipe yo EBT" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Orange Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 If that person chooses fags over food then thats their choice isnt it? The same person may well have worked for many years and for a host of reasons my now be out of work through no fault of their own.I personnally think that they should decide what they wish to spend their entitled to money on. Food token should be given out as opposed to money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bloke Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 ... Do you think the state should dictate how people spend monopoly currency one receives in the form of benefits? (The £)... Ah! The old reverse psychology technique. What better way is there to get the public to do what you want them to, than to tell them you want the complete opposite? So, watch out for the following announcements: - smoking is good for you - working for a living is bad for you - every family should have at least 4 kids.... I think you may be onto something here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regatta Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Food token should be given out as opposed to money. Can you pay on public transport with a food token, probably trying to get to an interview for a JOB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Orange Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Can you pay on public transport with a food token, probably trying to get to an interview for a JOB! A free bus pass would sort that problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem1st Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 A free bus pass would sort that problem. So basically you want to triple the dole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Orange Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 So basically you want to triple the dole? Dole dwellers would soon start looking for work if you removed the ability to buy their vices with their benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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