The unemployed are punished with hunger - unemployment the worst crime

[tinfoilhat]

I'll probably get flamed for this but where was this guy's family when he needed help?

 

Correctamundo. Or his neighbours. This is an old story and well covered on here. If memory serves he was ex-forces and they have charities he or his sister could have gone to. Could he have worked something out with the pharmacy? It's easy to pin this on the cuts and the big bad government but there's a whole bunch of options that could have been explored.

 

Arguably we as a society are to blame as we couldn't spare a shelf in a fridge.

[Happ Hazzard]

For too long people have been told to leave things to the professionals instead of relying on family and community. It's one of the main reasons why many white people are struggling while Asian communities that have not forgotten the value of family and community are generally doing a bit better.

[Mister M]

For too long people have been told to leave things to the professionals instead of relying on family and community. It's one of the main reasons why many white people are struggling while Asian communities that have not forgotten the value of family and community are generally doing a bit better.

 

Who are the community? What if the family are dead, or can't cope themselves, and the community doesn't give a damn? Remember Community Care? Do you throw your doors open to the vulnerable, needy and under privileged of Chesterfield?

This has been tried before in the days of the poor laws, and it was disastrous. One of the main reasons we (theoretically at least) have a welfare state.

[mafya]

For too long people have been told to leave things to the professionals instead of relying on family and community. It's one of the main reasons why many white people are struggling while Asian communities that have not forgotten the value of family and community are generally doing a bit better.

 

You are actually right, I would give up work to look after either of my parents whereas many non Asian people wouldn't even consider it as they have their own lives to lead as one of my non Asian friends told me when I told him he needs to be there for his mum who he was having put into a nursing home..

[Anna B]

There are hundreds of sanctions that should not be issused, these are a few of the consequences.... copied from the papers....

My brother David was found dead in his flat on 20th July 2013, he died alone, penniless and starving he was just 59. The coroner’s report stated there was no food in his stomach. His money had been stopped a month before he died for failing to attend an appointment and by 8 July he had just £3.44 in his bank (you need at least £5 to draw money out). His electric key had run out and could not chill his insulin and there was no food in the flat.

 

There used to be a time if you missed your jobcentre meeting and had a long-term illness like diabetes or were vulnerable there would be concern and outreach by jobcentre staff. Now they cut off your benefits. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were aware of David’s diabetes, yet as a result of their sanctions he could not chill his insulin or eat and as a result died of “fatal diabetic ketoacidosis”.

 

Even if he had been aware of claiming hardship his severe condition meant he would not have lived long enough to receive the money. As the Oakley Report states, the most vulnerable claimants struggle to understand which means that the people potentially most in need of the hardship system were the least likely to be able to access it.

 

Sanctions must be fair, timely and proportionate and not create excessive hardship. David was a vulnerable adult who struggled with correspondence (the jobseekers allowance sanction letters were found unopened in his flat). He should have been helped by the agencies that were there for the wellbeing of people like him, but they totally failed him.

 

Bernice June Gaze

 

I am so, so sorry to hear this. What a dreadful run of events.

 

---------- Post added 27-01-2015 at 21:54 ----------

 

I'll probably get flamed for this but where was this guy's family when he needed help?

 

Probably struggling with their own lives. What if he had no family? Or not in a position to help?

 

---------- Post added 27-01-2015 at 22:04 ----------

 

For too long people have been told to leave things to the professionals instead of relying on family and community. It's one of the main reasons why many white people are struggling while Asian communities that have not forgotten the value of family and community are generally doing a bit better.

 

Sorry, but we pay our taxes to protect vulnerable people. It is a contract we have with the government, to provide a safety net. In this case (and I suspect many others) the government failed in its duty. That's not to say families shouldn't help and they usually do, but the principal remains.

There is huge pressure on families coming from all directions these days, including providing for themselves and their immediate families, paying for a roof over there head, providing a pension for their future and so on, and often on dwindling resources.

 

---------- Post added 27-01-2015 at 22:18 ----------

 

You are actually right, I would give up work to look after either of my parents whereas many non Asian people wouldn't even consider it as they have their own lives to lead as one of my non Asian friends told me when I told him he needs to be there for his mum who he was having put into a nursing home..

 

See above.

 

If you were to give up work who would pay your rent / mortgage, provide you with food, electric etc. Carers allowance is about £60 a week, not even close to enough to live on. So you would be on benefits and in dire poverty and could well be another one ending up like the poor man in the case history, especially if they continue cutting benefits. You would also be harrassed by the DWP for not into getting a job, and sanctions would no doubt be forthcoming when you couldn't get to sign on because of care duties etc. (I know where this has happened.) You would also no longer be paying tax so that revenue would also cease. It's easy to make grand statements when the practicalities of the situation have not been thought through properly.

 

Looking after a loved one is a luxury many cannot afford.

[tinfoilhat]

You are actually right, I would give up work to look after either of my parents whereas many non Asian people wouldn't even consider it as they have their own lives to lead as one of my non Asian friends told me when I told him he needs to be there for his mum who he was having put into a nursing home..

 

Fully trained carer is he? And obviously an extended family to take the strain to cover the full 24 hours a day.

 

I don't doubt that some families chuck granny in care because they can't be bothered but I wouldn't suggest it's the majority. Try looking after a person with Alzheimer's for a number of years then get back to me.

[truman]

 

Probably struggling with their own lives. What if he had no family? .

 

But this particular guy did.....

[Mister M]

But this particular guy did.....

 

But he may have been too proud to accept help from his family, or didn't want to worry them.

I'm sure his family feel awful given the run of events that occured.

I hope we don't go down the road of blaming families, when the state has a statutory responsibility to intervene, but fails to do so..

[Stranza]

But he may have been too proud to accept help from his family, or didn't want to worry them.

I'm sure his family feel awful given the run of events that occured.

I hope we don't go down the road of blaming families, when the state has a statutory responsibility to intervene, but fails to do so..

 

I agree.

 

If it is the ex soldier then he has paid into the system to cover him self for such circumstances.

 

National Insurance.

 

That's why we have the welfare state.

[Anna B]

I agree.

 

If it is the ex soldier then he has paid into the system to cover him self for such circumstances.

 

National Insurance.

 

That's why we have the welfare state.

 

But will we have it much longer...?