Theresa "MAY" not build a better Britain.

[SammyAftershave]

They should be made to have it down the pit face, then fill the fucker in whilst they are playing at being toffs. 

 

You read my thoughts correctly.

[Bobby Hundreds]

The incompetence of this government has been unbelievable yet they have had a fairly easy ride of it considering. Ed got more shit for eating a bacon butty.

[dirk grout]

The incompetence of this government has been unbelievable yet they have had a fairly easy ride of it considering. Ed got more shit for eating a bacon butty.

Its almost as though the tories own all the papers...

[Jose Jones]

The incompetence of this government has been unbelievable yet they have had a fairly easy ride of it considering. Ed got more shit for eating a bacon butty.

It’s good proof of the Blair hypothesis. The last time the Tories were in this amount of disarray was the end of the Major years.

If he’d been Labour leader at this point, he’d have schmoozed Murdoch, shifted the general narrative and the press would be spending more time going at the Cons. Labour would have a landslide lead in the polls.

 

Now we get to see whether having an unassuming bloke with standard old Labour left of centre policies would ever have a chance of being elected.

[Gnasher]

Train fares up again, cue cloggydutch sending a nice picture of a train from cloggy land.

 

But people on here deride other people for wanting what's Cornyn is proposing and that's a state owned transport system.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Phillip Hammond appeared before a select committee today and suggested that the UK's productivity figures may be struggling because there are now a lot more disabled people in work.

 

Yikes!

[lifetime fan]

Phillip Hammond appeared before a select committee today and suggested that the UK's productivity figures may be struggling because there are now a lot more disabled people in work.

 

Yikes!

 

You couldn’t make this shit up.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Phillip Hammond appeared before a select committee today and suggested that the UK's productivity figures may be struggling because there are now a lot more disabled people in work.

 

Yikes!

 

Meanwhile.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ministry-defence-philip-hammond-raf-jets-helicopter-treasury-bill-chancellor-mod-gavin-williamson-a8094641.html

 

Ministry of Defence ‘bans Philip Hammond from using RAF jets and helicopters over unpaid Treasury bill’

A six-figure sum is said to be owed for previous flights taken by the Chancellor

 

The Ministry of Defence has reportedly banned Philip Hammond from using a fleet of RAF jets and helicopters used by senior members of the Government.

The Treasury has been accused of owing a six-figure sum over previous flights made with No 32 (The Royal) Squadron, and until that bill is settled Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials who take VIP bookings have allegedly been ordered to to refuse any more travel requests.

Mr Hammond has used BAe 146 jets and A109 helicopters from the squadron on more than 20 official business-trips this year. He has taken flights to Manchester, Brussels and Frankfurt. 

“At the same time as claiming our brave armed forces don’t need any more money and that the army only needs 50,000 troops, it is a huge double-standard to willingly use the armed forces’ facilities at the same time as refusing to pay for them,” an MoD source told The Times, which originally reported the story. 

The ban comes as Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is preparing to push back against potential financial cuts to the armed forces, after the Chancellor reportedly told Theresa May the army could cope with 50,000 troops, down from its present strength of 77,400. 

Some Conservative MPs have threatened to resign if the number goes below 70,000. Junior defence minister and former soldier Tobias Ellwood expressed “deep discomfort” at the cost-saving plans.

A source at the Treasury told The Independent any ban would be a “low-key administrative issue” and the two departments are working to resolve it. 

Mr Williamson, a former chief whip and close ally to Ms May was seen by some commentators as a controversial appointment to the Cabinet. 

The 41-year-old, who keeps a tarantula called Cronum on his desk, has been nicknamed the “baby-faced assassin” by some. 

As Chief Whip, he was said to have played a key role in the sacking of his predecessor Michael Fallon after claims from several female journalists that he had behaved inappropriately towards them. 

Mr Williamson himself is also facing pressure from his own party’s MPs to ensure the proposed cuts to the defence budget do not take place.

Mr Hammond used an RAF plane earlier this week and is expected to be allowed one on Friday if a planned trip to Europe goes ahead. It is thought the alleged ban would then come into effect until the bill is paid.

Some have blamed administrative delays for the lack of payment and the Treasury is said to be preparing to expedite the payment.     

The MoD told The Independent it was neither confirming or denying the reports.

[Anubis]

I see our new, and extremely inexperienced, defence secretary thinks he's the Punisher.

[mattyq]

I see our new, and extremely inexperienced, defence secretary thinks he's the Punisher.

He's a fucking prick is what he is

And a nonce, probably

[Gnasher]

https://mobile.twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/938301986218405888

[Anubis]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/dec/15/homelessness-report-working-families-stable-jobs-local-government-ombudsman

 

 

Homelessness is now a serious risk for working families with stable jobs who cannot find somewhere affordable to live after being evicted by private-sector landlords seeking higher rents, the local government ombudsman has warned.

 

Michael King said nurses, taxi drivers, hospitality staff and council workers were among those assisted by his office after being made homeless and placed in often squalid and unsafe temporary accommodation by local authorities.

 

“People are coming to us not because they have a ‘life crisis’ or a drug and alcohol problem, but because they are losing what they thought was a stable private-sector tenancy, being evicted and then being priced out of the [rental] market,” he said.

 

King said the common perception that homelessness was about people with chaotic lives who slept rough no longer held true. “Increasingly, [homeless people] are normal families who would not have expected to be in this situation,” he said.

 

The ombudsman’s report came as the latest quarterly homelessness statistics showed another year-on-year rise in the number of households classed as homeless. There are 79,150 homeless households in temporary housing, including 6,400 in bed and breakfast accommodation.

 

Homelessness of all kinds has increased for six consecutive years in England, prompting a highly critical National Audit Office report in September that said social security cuts and ministers’ failure to get a grip on a “visibly growing problem” was costing the taxpayer £1bn a year.

 

The homelessness charity Crisis said: “As social housing declines, welfare cuts bite and private renting costs soar, people who were less likely to become homeless in the past are now being pushed further to the brink of losing their homes.”

 

The ombudsman investigates individual complaints about public services and registered social care providers, and fines councils thousands of pounds when complaints are upheld. In 2016-17, the ombudsman received 450 complaints about council homelessness services, with 70% of those investigated upheld.

 

King was particularly critical of local authorities he had investigated that rehoused homeless families in damp, filthy and dangerous temporary homes. “You do not have to look to Victorian fiction to see totally Dickensian housing conditions,” he said.

 

“Dreadful” cases of homeless families being put up in substandard accommodation landed on his desk every week, he said. Examples include:

 

• A couple with two young children who spent 26 weeks in a single room in a B&B. Although they reported that the shower did not work and the room was infested with cockroaches, the council failed to ensure repairs were made.

 

• A mother whose baby had type 1 diabetes was placed in a dirty and unhygienic B&B room without access to cooking facilities. The baby contracted an infection and ended up in hospital. The hospital blamed the housing, saying the mother was unable to properly feed her baby.

 

• A disabled single parent with four children was put up in B&B accommodation for nearly two and a half years after her benefits were capped. The council ignored letters from medical professionals outlining concerns that living in the property was affecting the family’s health.

 

Some councils routinely flouted homelessness law, with many placing homeless families with children in B&B rooms for longer than the legal six-week limit, a practice that had a “devastating impact” on many tenants’ lives, King said. The situation had deteriorated in the four years since the ombudsman last examined it.

 

“Sometimes it is an authority which has just made a mistake and does not understand the law. In other cases, it is a conscious attempt to manage a problem they are overwhelmed by. In some cases, they say they just do not have the staff to meet the number of applications,” he said.

 

Although some councils had changed their homelessness policies after being admonished by the ombudsman, King said, “we still see too many families left in situations which are simply unacceptable in modern society”.

 

Asked whether government cuts to council budgets had undermined homelessness provision, King said: “What local authorities tell us when we investigate is that they are working with increased pressures and fewer staff, fewer landlords are willing to take homeless tenants, there are increased evictions and less temporary accommodation available.”

 

One-third of cases analysed by the ombudsman’s team involved councils in south-east England, often in affluent areas with high housing costs such as Berkshire, Sussex and Kent.

 

Martin Tett, the Local Government Association housing spokesman, said: “Councils are facing immense pressures when it comes to temporary accommodation, having to house the equivalent of an extra secondary school’s worth of homeless children every month, and the cost of providing temporary accommodation has trebled in the last three years.”

 

A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesperson said councils had a duty to provide safe, secure and suitable temporary accommodation.

 

“Tackling homelessness is a complex issue with no single solution, but we are determined to help the most vulnerable in society,” they said.

 

“That’s why we are providing over £1bn up to 2020 to prevent and reduce all forms of homelessness and rough sleeping. We are also bringing in the Homelessness Reduction Act – the most ambitious legislation in decades that will mean people get the support they need earlier.”

[Pureblood]

Still thinking of becoming a buy-to-let Landlord?  If yes, you're a twat. 

[moof]

Ace country.

[magicrat]

Still thinking of becoming a buy-to-let Landlord?  If yes, you're a twat. 

Poor bastards. stamp duty is killing them

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Christ...

 

Claiming disability benefit? Don’t ever dare shake hands

 

Peter Bradshaw

 

Bethen Thorpe greeted her assessor the traditional way and promptly had her support axed. It seems people with disabilities now have to kiss cheeks instead

 

Contact author

 

Wednesday 13 December 2017 18.26 GMTLast modified on Wednesday 13 December 2017 22.00 GMT

 

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Do you shake hands? I do – with people I’m meeting for the first time, and often meeting up with people I already know really well. But the classic handshake is now not the single accepted greeting, and even with strangers you must awkwardly negotiate the possibility of the kiss on one or both cheeks, or bro shake with optional shoulder bump.

 

But I’ve been trained to think of the unhesitating handshake as simple good manners. The same, I suspect, is true of former pub landlady Bethen Thorpe from north London, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in October 2014. She had to apply for disability benefit, filled in a 35-page application form, and then travelled to Chelmsford, Essex, for an assessment meeting. She was turned down because she shook the DWP assessor’s hand, which was taken as evidence of her fitness for work.

 

Play Video

 

Donald Trump: awkward handshake moments compilation

 

The handshake, that historic gesture of good faith, was turned against her. Since then, Thorpe has had the handshake-dismissal overturned on appeal. But what lessons are to be drawn? Only this. If you’re disabled and meeting your DWP assessor for the first time – or any time – just offer up your cheek for a delicate, feather-light kiss.

[Anubis]

I could use 'Britain 2017' as an opening line, but let's face it, I'm using it for virtually every other story I link to now that this shit is so commonplace.

 

 

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/a-police-officer-woke-up-14055035.amp?__twitter_impression=true

 

This morning Wayne Joyce was woken up by a police officer on the streets of Manchester checking if he had frozen to death.

 

“He said he thought I might have gone,” says Wayne, who sits in a doorway near Piccadilly.

 

“It’s been so cold over the last nights. I’ve not been able to feel my toes in about three days now.

 

“It’s been unbearable, I do a lot of walking around but I can’t warm up.”

 

Wayne, 39, who suffers from liver disease and other medical issues, has been sleeping rough for 11 months.

 

He’s just one of a number of men and women huddled in shivering bundles at the feet of bag-laden Christmas shoppers.

 

Many passers-by glance as they pass. A few stop to buy them a hot drink. Some don’t seem to notice at all.

 

It’s cold and foggy - around 3C. But on Sunday night it was much, much colder.

 

Official government guidance states that when the temperature officially drops below zero for three consecutive nights, a rough sleeper qualifies for emergency housing.

 

This is when council buildings, such as libraries, are opened up as shelters.

 

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has worked with town halls to reduce the threshold to one night.

 

So far in December, there have been 11 such nights. Manchester council bosses say they have not had to turn anyone away.

 

But many are struggling through unbearably cold nights on the streets when it’s not officially freezing and the emergency rule doesn’t apply.

 

Margaret Smith, 23, sits near the Travel Lodge. Homeless after a divorce around a year ago, she says she was pushed from the top of Tib Street car park where she was sleeping rough.

 

She suffered a broken pelvis and was given housing while she recuperated, but is now back on the streets.

 

Margaret has worked for John Lewis in the past. She sings and plays the piano.

 

“It’s been so cold my socks have gone hard,” Margaret says.

 

“There’s a church nearby that was completely full when I tried to get space, they said go to Salford, but I couldn’t afford to travel there.

 

“I never ever thought I would find myself in this position. All I ever wanted to do was sing.

 

“If I could have anything for Christmas it would be my family.”

 

Nicola Ryder, 27, is lying on the street wrapped in a duvet, her eyes and nose barely visible. She says she’s too cold to sit up.

 

“I’ve been homeless two years on and off,” she says.

 

“My landlord went bankrupt, I was pregnant so I got a hotel place for a while.

 

“Now the council says I’m not a priority. It’s so, so cold. Someone robbed my blankets last night.

 

“It feels like ice, my fingers are frozen, my toes are frozen, I just feel like giving up.

 

“I’ll be out here on Christmas Day, I have no family to go to.”

 

On Market Street, Sam Wright, 54, is wrapped in a sleeping bag - which are like gold dust when they’re the only thing stopping people from catching hypothermia.

 

“It’s hard, but I get through it by praying to my mother,” he says.

 

Originally from London, David Jackson, 63, has been homeless around Piccadilly for 21 months.

 

He said: “It’s very, very cold. I’ve been given a child’s sleeping bag this morning, but apart from that I’ve had no blankets or gloves.

 

“Most of the time I go to the railway station and sleep in the toilets.

 

“There should be emergency housing when it’s like this.

 

“This is the coldest I’ve ever been. This Christmas I’d like a place to stay, not a hostel. I’d be happy then.”

 

Paul Crook, 45, says he lost his home after spending his rent money drugs. He blames the Universal Credits sytem.

 

Originally from Runcorn, he added: “I’ve always struggled to find work. I’ve never really achieved anything, so I never really imagined what I’d be in the future.

 

“I go to the town hall every morning to see if they can offer me anywhere to stay, but they say it’s first come first served and there’s never anything for me.

 

“I’d love a home.

 

“When it’s this cold you can’t think, you can’t do anything. Sometimes you can’t even sleep.”

 

Rough sleeping has risen more than tenfold in Manchester sine 2010.

 

Homeless charities in Greater Manchester are doing their best to help, with a number of drop-ins being held on Christmas Day. Among them is Lifeshare.

 

Julie Boyle, a support worker at the organisation, says the rules need to change on emergency accommodation.

 

She told the M.E.N: “I’d like the people who decide on these measurements to spend a night on the streets and see if it’s cold enough.

 

“The problem this Christmas is the worst I’ve ever seen it in Manchester.”

 

The answer, Julie argues, lies in landlords opening up vacant properties across the city.

 

“We’re seeing young people just being left abandoned on the streets,” she added.

 

“We have to pick up the pieces. In this weather it’s awful knowing they are sleeping out at night and not being able to get them in anywhere because all the hostels are full.”

 

A Manchester council spokesman said the town hall provides emergency shelter, with a capacity for 80 people, when the temperature drops below zero, but there were exemptions including, for example, when there are severe storms or heavy snowfall.

 

He said the council’s rough sleeper outreach team ensures people are made aware of the offer, and other temporary shelter is available all-year-round, including 73 beds in supported accommodation. An extra 20-bed shelter for rough sleepers with complex needs is due to open.

 

Deputy council leader Bernard Priest added: “Homelessness is a challenging issue which we are working day and night to tackle, along with a wide range of voluntary sector organisations and other partners.

 

“We have invested an extra £1.5m in services for homeless people this year alone and continue to work hard to improve the accommodation and support available to people who find themselves homeless.”

 

He said temporary accommodation was key to helping rough sleepers address issues which have led to homelessness.

 

“People are being helped off the streets and forwards in their lives, although this progress isn’t always immediately apparent because unfortunately other people are becoming homeless all the time,” he added.

 

“We need to keep chipping away together and do even more to help prevent problems, supporting people before they reach crisis point, as well as demanding national action to reduce some of the causes of homelessness such as welfare changes and the impact of austerity.”

 

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: “We know things are very tough for people and we are keeping all the work we do under close review.

 

“We are doing everything we feel we can, but we are always asking ourselves how we can go further and faster.

 

“Earlier this year all 10 Greater Manchester agreed to ensure emergency support is given as soon as temperatures drop to freezing, rather than the legally-required three days.

 

“My homelessness fund is giving donations to organisations and charities that will support rough sleepers.

 

“We’ve also commissioned a £1.8m project that will help to provide accommodation, intensive health support and improve the way homeless people are encouraged into education or work.

 

“These changes will make a real difference to people. We are giving hope that people can break out of the circumstances they are in. The partnership work being done across Greater Manchester will save lives.

 

“There is no quick fix to this problem, but we will not stop until we have ensured everyone has a safe and secure place to stay across Greater Manchester by 2020.”

 

For more information about the services available for homeless people in Manchester, including how you can help, visit streetsupport.net.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

I'd say there is a quick fix to this problem, but as everything else it all boils down to money, something which Govt's around the World would rather spunk on shit than the actual lives of those they are supposed to serve. 

[Anubis]

And in a similar vein...

 

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/almost-100000-youngsters-region-could-14053415.amp?__twitter_impression=true

 

Around 98,000 children living in poverty in Yorkshire and the Humber will miss out on free school meals under universal credit proposals, new estimates from The Children’s Society reveal today.

 

As universal credit has been rolling out, all families in receipt of the new benefit have been automatically entitled to free school meals. However, the government is planning to introduce means testing for free school meals under universal credit, which The Children’s Society warns will fail to reach close to 98,000 children in poverty in Yorkshire and the Humber and will create a ‘cliff-edge’ where many families would be better off taking a pay cut.

 

Figures from The Children’s Society show that once a family with one child passes the £7,400 threshold, they would need to earn £1,124 a year more, the equivalent of working 2.4 hours more each week at national living wage, to make up for the loss in free school meals.

 

Matthew Reed, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society said: “The government has a golden opportunity to ensure that almost every child in poverty in England does not go hungry at school. There are significant, proven benefits for children’s health, education and their futures in making sure they have a healthy lunch every day, but at least one million children will miss out if this change is introduced.

 

“Continuing to provide free school meals for all children on universal credit would not only help vulnerable children, it would also prevent low income parents being left worse off if they take on more hours or get a pay rise. Universal credit was designed to always make work pay, but these plans will undermine that very principle.

 

“If the government wants to show it is truly committed to tackling the growing crises of inequality and child poverty, delivering free school meals for children in low-income working families is a crucial step.”

 

If the government continued to offer free school meals to all children whose families claim universal credit, around two million children from poor and low-income families in England would benefit once roll out is completed. Under the benefits system that universal credit is replacing, only families where parents are working too few hours to claim working tax credits are entitled to free school meals. The government proposals will mean that just 700,000 of the 1,700,000 school children in poverty who could be helped, will receive free school meals.

 

The consultation on free school meals entitlement under universal credit closes on January 11. The Children’s Society is asking supporters to submit responses to the consultation via its website at: www.childrenssociety.org.uk/fsm

[Strontium]

Paul Crook, 45, says he lost his home after spending his rent money on drugs. He blames the Universal Credits system.

 

Extraordinary.

[magicrat]

I'd say there is a quick fix to this problem, but as everything else it all boils down to money, something which Govt's around the World would rather spunk on shit than the actual lives of those they are supposed to serve. 

 

I would argue it costs more to have thousands sleeping rough .  This situation has deteriorated so rapidly that even the most rabid Tory dog cant fail to join the dots . Withdrawing housing benefits for those under 25, reducing funding for community mental help teams, ( a huge amount of rough sleepers have mental health issues), closure of hostels right left and centre and its now impossible to get admitted to mental health wards with being sectioned , Under the last Labour government virtually everyone out in the streets could get shelter if they wanted it, Now its virtually impossible, A billion quid to the cunts in Belfast is not a problem however,

[Stickman]

I see that cunt Chris Grayling was on Newsnight last night blaming Labour and Momentum for the death threats to Tory brexit rebel MP's....

But  nope he didn't stop there he also said their families were threatened as well, and no doubt they were lining up to murder their children's first born too.

And like Toby Young calling momentum members Neo Nazis the other week this went unchallenged by the BBC , this time from Emily Maitlis

[Anubis]

The attacks on Momentum merely demonstrate how effective they've been at organising and campaigning. The Tories have tried, and failed, to emulate them, so now they are resorting to the or standard fallback tactic of smearing them.

[Scooby Dudek]

It is at least good to see some Tories call out the Daily Mail, I wonder how long it will last however.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Paul Crook, 45, says he lost his home after spending his rent money on drugs. He blames the Universal Credits system.

 

Extraordinary.

Is a he an addict? How long has he suffered with addiction?

 

It’s not always as black and white as you are making out here.

 

It was pointed out on this very forum that giving people the money for their rent, people with addictions to heroin and other substances would be getting them to sign their own eviction notice.

 

To make it work it needs to have all other factors added in. You know like developing peoples skills to manage money properly, budgeting etc. Also, get people in to rehab to get them clean and live a better life for themselves. Not just give them money and expect them to not feed heir addiction.