£53-a-week Iain Duncan Smith

[ciriuslea]

As almost 200,000 people signed an online petition urging Iain Duncan Smith to make good on his claim he could live on £53 a week, it has emerged that a petition on a government website on the same issue was rejected.

Work and pensions secretary Mr Duncan Smith made the claim following a discussion on the Today programme in which market trader David Bennett said he was left with only £53 a week after rent and bills following a cut to his housing benefit.

http://metro.co.uk/2...ebsite-3579207/

[TSS]

i'm not quite sure what they mean here..it says after bilsl and rent are paid, so is it 53quid a week just for food, cause I could live on that no problem, infact I probably spend less then that...

I think he should change the wording slightly, to "I could exist on 53quid a week", cause you can't do much else..but then benefits are meant to tide you over, not be a way of living..

Edited April 2, 2013 by Sky Scanner

[ciriuslea]

I could live on that no problem, infact I probably spend less then that...

Me too, yes it was after bills and rent, £53 wouldn't last too long in the capital though, but it would have been interesting to hear about his experience...if undertaken

[JC2]

As almost 200,000 people signed an online petition urging Iain Duncan Smith to make good on his claim he could live on £53 a week, it has emerged that a petition on a government website on the same issue was rejected.

http://metro.co.uk/2...ebsite-3579207/

Hi ciriuslea, thanks for the post, just signed the “change” petition, viva revolution....

Edited April 2, 2013 by JC2

[Mr.United_Nations]

Me too, yes it was after bills and rent, £53 wouldn't last too long in the capital though, but it would have been interesting to hear about his experience...if undertaken

If you saved it wisely and lets say lived in a tent, thats pretty much all you need, a few hot meals would be nice

[stillvoice]

The cuts to welfare which the government are enacting are ideologically driven and the rhetoric which they and the media use is designed to create resentment toward those on the lower end of the social scale. It really is a sign of the moral degradation of a society where the poor are penalised yet the corrupt banking system and its adherents who are chiefly responsible for the economic woe are conveniently forgotten about. The public find it easier to look down on those they consider to be below them rather than those above them which explains why the average person is all to ready to condemn those on benefits while they are indifferent to the corruptness that exists at the highest levels. The conservative party have always represented the interests of the wealthy and the privileged and it is testament to the current apathy of this country that they have been able to regain power.

It is the conservative government who are responsible for the long term unemployment trends and also the creation of the so called underclass by dismantling British industry which has subsequently led to a vacuum in the UK jobs market which has never been filled and won't be and their systematic attack on the lower classes continues.

[Eldorado]

You guys are forgetting travel costs, clothing, toiletries, stationery.... you'll only get the £53 if you are actively seeking work and to seek work you need all of the aforementioned. Unless your can find local work as a smelly tramp.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Eldorado

[Ashotep]

I have to admit I don't know much about British benefits but if they are fair now why do they need reformed?

[Ashotep]

The cuts to welfare which the government are enacting are ideologically driven and the rhetoric which they and the media use is designed to create resentment toward those on the lower end of the social scale. It really is a sign of the moral degradation of a society where the poor are penalised yet the corrupt banking system and its adherents who are chiefly responsible for the economic woe are conveniently forgotten about. The public find it easier to look down on those they consider to be below them rather than those above them which explains why the average person is all to ready to condemn those on benefits while they are indifferent to the corruptness that exists at the highest levels. The conservative party have always represented the interests of the wealthy and the privileged and it is testament to the current apathy of this country that they have been able to regain power.

It is the conservative government who are responsible for the long term unemployment trends and also the creation of the so called underclass by dismantling British industry which has subsequently led to a vacuum in the UK jobs market which has never been filled and won't be and their systematic attack on the lower classes continues.

That is what is going on here too. Protect the rich bankers/companies and punish the poor for being poor. Never mind the jobs aren't there anymore.

[ciriuslea]

The cuts to welfare which the government are enacting are ideologically driven and the rhetoric which they and the media use is designed to create resentment toward those on the lower end of the social scale. It really is a sign of the moral degradation of a society where the poor are penalised yet the corrupt banking system and its adherents who are chiefly responsible for the economic woe are conveniently forgotten about. The public find it easier to look down on those they consider to be below them rather than those above them which explains why the average person is all to ready to condemn those on benefits while they are indifferent to the corruptness that exists at the highest levels. The conservative party have always represented the interests of the wealthy and the privileged and it is testament to the current apathy of this country that they have been able to regain power.

It is the conservative government who are responsible for the long term unemployment trends and also the creation of the so called underclass by dismantling British industry which has subsequently led to a vacuum in the UK jobs market which has never been filled and won't be and their systematic attack on the lower classes continues.

I personally feel severe austerity is a silent admission of failure, sure some measures needed to be taken, but don't we have the 'Cream of the Crop' Oxford and Cambridge highly educated people in Gov, who intern employ professional lawyers and economists etc etc, I find it hard to understand how an economy is supposed to grow if you don't take measures for it to, and I don't mean tax breaks for the rich with no guarantee the rich will use them for investment...We don't have any serious industry in the UK, Gov has no means of revenue other than taxes....I fear its only going to get worse.

Edited April 2, 2013 by ciriuslea

[ciriuslea]

I have to admit I don't know much about British benefits but if they are fair now why do they need reformed?

I don't fully understand the situation myself, but one thing I keep coming back to is something I read a while back concerning tax avoidance....10% of the tax avoided by big corps would pay the benefit bill...but yet people on benefit are being demonised and its almost to the point that here in the UK , public opinion is being manipulated to somehow suggest benefit claimants are to blame for the mess we are in.

[Ashotep]

I don't fully understand the situation myself, but one thing I keep coming back to is something I read a while back concerning tax avoidance....10% of the tax avoided by big corps would pay the benefit bill...but yet people on benefit are being demonised and its almost to the point that here in the UK , public opinion is being manipulated to somehow suggest benefit claimants are to blame for the mess we are in.

I think that is what the rich want, blame the poor to take the scrutiny off of them and their propaganda is working. Its the same here, it seems like people would rather a child go hungry than make the rich pay their fair share of taxes.

EDIT: I know there are abuses of the welfare system but not to the point people are led to believe. There are far more abuses of the tax system by the rich.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Hilander

[Coffey]

You guys are forgetting travel costs, clothing, toiletries, stationery.... you'll only get the £53 if you are actively seeking work and to seek work you need all of the aforementioned. Unless your can find local work as a smelly tramp.

Exactly.

People think it's nothing, but it's a lot less than people think.

I think that is what the rich want, blame the poor to take the scrutiny off of them and their propaganda is working. Its the same here, it seems like people would rather a child go hungry than make the rich pay their fair share of taxes.

EDIT: I know there are abuses of the welfare system but not to the point people are led to believe. There are far more abuses of the tax system by the rich.

Exactly. More people should start realising this.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Coffey

[stevewinn]

When you have 29 million people working of which 26million are paying income tax and all this tax generated doesn't even cover the benefits bill, then at some point someone is going to have to take the tough action needed. benefit payments in this country are costing us £208 Billion pounds a year. how you go about resolving this problem is anyones guess, successive government have failed to grasp the nettle.

[Coffey]

When you have 29 million people working of which 26million are paying income tax and all this tax generated doesn't even cover the benefits bill, then at some point someone is going to have to take the tough action needed. benefit payments in this country are costing us £208 Billion pounds a year. how you go about resolving this problem is anyones guess, successive government have failed to grasp the nettle.

By making cuts you are not helping the system, it will just get worse over time until ther eis more unemployed etc. It will not help generate money into the system.

The only solution is creating more jobs and putting more money into the system.

The FACT is that msot of the taxes are going into paying our countries debt to a privately owned bank... That is the rela problem, the people should control the central bankign system through the goverment... You know how a countyr is supposed to be run.

Sadly it doesn't work like that because of what happened in 1815....

[ciriuslea]

When you have 29 million people working of which 26million are paying income tax and all this tax generated doesn't even cover the benefits bill, then at some point someone is going to have to take the tough action needed. benefit payments in this country are costing us £208 Billion pounds a year. how you go about resolving this problem is anyones guess, successive government have failed to grasp the nettle.

Income tax isn't the only tax revenue, the gov taxes everything they are able too, fresh air if they could, also included in those benefit payments were pensions what people had paid for in NI all their working lives

Its a very tricky subject as there are a lot of ways to view this,

We could take the view that many people pay tax and so are entitled to help if they become unemployed, or the fact that tax is sent as aid to other countries, spent on war, squandered on failed schemes, what about the bail out of the banks or the tax avoided of which 10% could pay the benefit bill, the millions claimed falsely by MPs.....

Sure we have lazy feckers but the demonisation of the benefit claimant is a diversionary tactic, its based around this concept of rewarding those who do work by reducing the amount of benefits people receive...very clever how the Gov have manipulated working people into agreeing.

I've been on benefits a few times in between jobs and its not an easy time I usually have to cut back on everything, sit in the cold during winter and go hungry I fail to see where this lavish lifestyle benefit claimers have is.

[ciriuslea]

Update on IDS and could he survive on £53 a week

http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2013/04/04/iain-duncan-smith-claimed-39-breakfast-on-expenses-thatd-leave-him-14-for-the-rest-of-the-week/

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

53quid? That's about a hundred aussie dollars.

I could easily live on that a week for food.

[ciriuslea]

53quid? I could easily live on that a week.

Apologies for the edit

That's what I,D,Smith said, only now he refuses to put his money where his mouth is.

[Jackofalltrades]

When you have 29 million people working of which 26million are paying income tax and all this tax generated doesn't even cover the benefits bill, then at some point someone is going to have to take the tough action needed. benefit payments in this country are costing us £208 Billion pounds a year. how you go about resolving this problem is anyones guess, successive government have failed to grasp the nettle.

"Someone is going to have to take the tough action needed" ? How about the politician's lead by example ?

Politician's are the people that are milking the system in their extortionate expense account's for various luxury item's and help with their second home mortage payment's etc etc etc

Anyone else would have to pay for out of their own wage's/benefit's, so why dont they pay for what they want or need out of their own paypacket instead of sponging off the tax payer, like they blame the benefit claimant's of doing....... (Pot calling the kettle black ?)

Show's how selfish and greedy the politician's are when they even try claiming such thng's like £39.00 for a breakfast (like Ian Duncan Smith has supposedly done) on ther expense account while there is a lot of people in this country that are homeless, hungry etc etc

Seem's to me the average joe/taxpayer/benefit claimant's are suffering these cut backs etc just to keep the politician's in their luxurious lifestyle, which they have grown accustomed to.......

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Apologies for the edit

That's what I,D,Smith said, only now he refuses to put his money where his mouth is.

Assuming it's only on food and luxuries like the odd book, yeah.

I.D. Smith is a politician, and we all know how to "properly appreciate" them.

[zebra99]

Any fool can eat well on £53 a week.As was mentioned earlier what about toiletries to stay clean so as to attend job interviews.Shoes,clothes,haircuts.Other household bills not covered by welfare...water,gas,electricity,Insurances,TV licence (Or do we spend nights staring at the wallpaper?) Stationery,stamps,phone calls...maintenance of home,paint,cleaning materials etc.Replacement of worn out appliances and household goods.The list goes on,there's more to living than three meals a day.

[spud the mackem]

How about him living on £124 per week = £496 per month..and then having to pay bills.A lot of pensioners are in that position,and they are too old to find work. I.D.Smith is an idiot for coming up with that statement. £53 per week is a luxury after the bills are paid.

Council Tax £109,

Electric £94

Water £51

T.V. licence £13

= £267 per month.

£496 - £267 =£229, per month £ 57 per week. It cannot be done unless you dont eat.When you retire the Gov't is hoping you will die soon to avoid paying you a pension.

[Wyrdlight]

If it was merely a case of food then I could easily live on £53 a week, hell I could feed a small family on £53 a week even.

The below assumes I have access to salt and pepper and butter already. This assumes cooking for two and a child.

As an example.

Small Chicken - £3

Potatoes - £1

Carrots - £1

Onions - £1

Four Pints of Milk - £1

Bag of Oats - £1

Bag of Pearl Barley - £1

Bag of Apples - £1

Thats £10, for that I get a roast chicken dinner with glazed carrots, roast potatoes and onions. I boil up the carcass to make a rich chicken soup for lunch/dinner the following day using the vegetables and pearl barley, i should have at least half of the veg remaining after these two meals.

I have enough oats for at least 4 days breakfast for the whole family and enough milk for tea/coffee for a several days (I make porridge with mostly water to save on milk)

The apples will be snack food for everyone and should last a couple of days with an apple or two per person per day.

The Pearl Barley will add bulk to any stews or soups I make and will last for several weeks as a little goes a long way.

So, £10 gets me.

2 Main Meals. (could stretch it to 3... even 4 for somone living alone with ease)

Up for a weeks worth of breakfasts for 2-3 people, nigh on two weeks+ for a single person.

Enough fruit for several days.

Milk for several days.

That leaves me £43 pounds to provide main meals for.... 5 days, assuming £10 for two days as demonstrated above thats £30 for the rest of the week leaving me £13 to buy toilet paper, household sundries and long shelf life goods used in the kitchen.

[ciriuslea]

Update

The petition has grown to over 350k and still he refuses to make good on his claim,

As for the fact that many of us could live on £53 a week, I guess depending on which part of the country you live in also makes some degree of difference, living in London I assume it would be harder than living in a city up north where the cost of living is slightly cheaper, but I also think many of us are well used to having to live on such amounts so are well used to being thrifty and sensible, IDS orders £30 breakfasts so I would actually like him to take up his claim even if he is able to live on £53 I dont think that is the actual lesson I would hope that he sees just how difficult it can be, and that it isn't a bed of roses being on benefits