And in real terms, the charts here show that benefits have largely fallen compared to the 1980s.
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06762/SN06762.pdf
Off Topic Politics Thread
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https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06762/SN06762.pdf
Maybe I am missing something but I don't see any "in work" benefits in there. Working tax credits and child tax credits are in effect top ups. I'm not sure that comparing out of work benefits to pensions is of much use. If people are out of work they have a choice of working. And most people getting pensions are owed that because of the money they paid in while working.
Also remember how bad a deal women had back then. Everything was geared towards the husband. Women not invited into private pensions. Not paid the same as men. No financial help when they started families. If you started a family before the 90s for most couples the only option was the wife to stay at home and be housewife and the household reduced to a single income.
I'm not saying that today's younger folks have it better than back then. I'm just countering this narrative that previous generations had it so much better because financially everything was a struggle with inflation/interests swinging massively and lets be honest pre mid nineties the UK was a worn out derelict filthy sh*thole! Life was not nice. Everything counts not just finances. Life itself is better now than back then even if you want to solely focus on the cost of housing and energy.
Other than families where the single income was way above the average life was a financial struggle. People cut their cloth massively. It is not as simple as "previous generations had it so good." They made a lot of sacrifices to have what they have now. In my parent's case they basically gave up any semblance of a social life for the best part of 20 years. We never ate out. My Dad (nor Mum) never went to the pub or anything like that. Everything went into the mortgage and paying blils.
Are house prices out of control today? Yes we agree. Did previous generations have it so much better? Only if you are looking at singular aspects of life and ignoring how sh*t general life was for most people.
This is such a small part of the story. Never before have people been forced to spend 60% of income just to afford a rent.
And that's the reality of the housing crisis, in many parts of the country. All so predictable when Margaret Thatcher initiated the sale of council houses, and prevented councils from replacing the lost stock.
This is my point, really. Yes, people have more stuff now but it is mainly a distraction from the fact that there is no access to a decent home. Private landlords fleecing people, no council houses, ridiculously inflated house prices. My dad was earning about £18,000 in 1995. He bought a house for £60k which is now worth maybe £450k. The average salary has gone up by about £10k - let’s say 30% - while house prices have gone up 500-600%. Meanwhile, like I said, we were in housing association for £50 per month up until 95. The same house would now cost about £1200 a month to rent. That is the truth that is destroying life for young people. And owning an iPhone doesn’t fix it.
I'm not disputing that. Just saying that there is more to it than just rent. food is cheaper now than back then (relatively) and more choice too. energy is cheaper still although it is now catching back up with the early 80s. Clothing and other stuff like that as well is cheaper these days than back then.
Of course I am not disputing that housing is off the scale atm. I have said for more than a decade (even back then it was ridiculous) that they should be looking at housing benefit being gauged to where you live rather than it be a blanket set amount. And they could also be doing things like tax credits gauged on postcode as well. Lower income tax in certain postcodes? The tech has been there for a long time now. The talk of it being too complicated is just the not wanting to do it same as "simplifying the tax rules." No need for extra admin bodies in the office. tech has long been capable of doing this sort of thing but they resist it
This has been needed in places like London for a long time now.
But then you also have to factor in the reason for housing prices. And that is the boom in the rental market and there is no way in the world that this country can build the amount of houses necessary to cater for immigration levels even in the 200k region of Blair let alone catch up with what we need if the borders were locked completely shut!
Its not just migration though. You also have to factor in the massive increase in University students in the past 20 years where a lot more houses have been scooped off the market and turned into HMOs for student accommodation.
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The first rent I paid, after marrying my wife, was £260……….. per annum.
£5 per week for a 1 bed flat, which was less than 25% of my income.
I feel so sorry for people these days.
I also remember seeing that at some point the government introduced a two tier interest rate for councils wanting to borrow money with the rate for building houses set at higher than the rate for loans used for other projects. Obviously designed to stop sold off council houses being replaced.
Looks like a good day for liberal politics in Europe with Romania and Poland looking to have elected liberal presidents. I think there is actually a bit of a backlash to Trump’s attacks on Europe here. Everywhere his regime has criticised has swung away from rightwing candidates and towards the left. Vive La Trumpf!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwywqg7lq1zo
Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, a statement from his office said on Sunday.
Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, a statement from his office said on Sunday.
If Saints haven’t had a bad enough season, one political writer has said the following.
Going down
Threadbare Tory ranks resulting in Alex “who?” Burghart doing Sunday political shows proved if Kemi Badenoch were to manage a football team it would be rock-bottom Southampton, relegated on a pitiful 12 points.
Going down
Threadbare Tory ranks resulting in Alex “who?” Burghart doing Sunday political shows proved if Kemi Badenoch were to manage a football team it would be rock-bottom Southampton, relegated on a pitiful 12 points.
Labour hoping to finalise some deals to improve EU relations and access, which will undoubtedly be called as a a sellout by the usual suspects.
On the downside, if the Brits are given access to the E gates at borders I will lose pretty much the only Brexit benefit I have been given, which is not queuing up with them because of my residency status in Spain.
On the downside, if the Brits are given access to the E gates at borders I will lose pretty much the only Brexit benefit I have been given, which is not queuing up with them because of my residency status in Spain.
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Can't wait to see our media trash any deal from all angles despite basically being a necessity, and for Reform to be given free reign to criticize everything with no accountability despite their leader being the cause of a lot of the issues.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq54wy9jzgdo
Look at the state of this article, the BBC are showing their true colours here...
Look at the state of this article, the BBC are showing their true colours here...
Sickening...If only they had as much to say about the killing and maiming of over 50k and the forced starvation of an entire nation as opposed to a questionable tweet. I despair of the world we live in, I really do.
As Shandy said above, watch them rip into this EU deal as well.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints/make-a-complaint/#/Complaint Summary
First time I've made a complaint!
It’s bad writing, but it’s an opinion piece from one of their online team, who is sharing her personal feeling. I don’t think it’s a good piece, I would question the point of the digital team running it, but it’s also worth pointing out that the BBC and BBC News are run as two separate organisations. The BBC is one of the very few organisations that can and will write observational or critical pieces about itself, including opinion pieces from their team, and for that they should be applauded.
As I say though, this is crap writing.
EDIT: what I’m saying is, this piece doesn’t, and isn’t meant to, be something reflecting the view of the corporation. It’s the personal view of Katie whatsherface, so I wouldn’t get too bothered by it.