We're all going to hell in a hand cart

Aye.



Well – the fourth estate pretty much has.

A guy on radio said that as things stand he is left with around £16 a week for food, the bus fares to the job centre will be about £4.20 a day (£21 a week), which means after about a week he will collapse from starvation, or sooner if he has to physically work for 30 hours with no money for food left.



Well at least it gets the blue rinse brigade clapping and cheering.

I don't know why as they'll be next. Hasn't one numpty tory already said somewhere that pensioners should work for their pensions?

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20044862Community work, dear: community work[/url.

I can see how that is, on the face of it, a tempting idea.

Why should anyone be paid for doing nothing?

But when you look deeper, if someone is doing work, shouldn't they at least be paid the minimum wage?



Either way, this government is keener on sacking public employees than creating new public sector jobs, so we won't see that kind of community work for the unemployed.

Gideon and IDS would far rather donate that workfare time to some already highly-profitable conglomerate who probably shifts their profits overseas.

I can't decide whether they are very stupid or very shifty.

Because they are not in work. They are doing it to earn a handout. We can't have people choosing this as a career path, it should always less favourable than actually working. For a lot of people it would be a good thing, it would give them the discipline to hold down a working routine, which is why a lot of people end up in and out of work. It would also give a sense of purpose for those who are indefinitely trapped in the cycle of unemployment. It could also be put into place that all council vacancies were sourced from this pool, the highest achievers being given proper jobs. If they want proper pay, they can try to get a proper job or just not do it(See below).



Having read further into this, it's all a non-issue anyway, as there is apparently a choice between doing the work, attending an education programme (Easier to sit in a classroom than do manual labour) or attend the job centre daily. Most of the drop outs they are trying to target would naturally choose option 2 or 3.



As everyone on here is against this, what would your suggestion be to stop it happening? Do we just let people who choose life on benefits do that indefinitely? Really? The Government here is clearly trying to target those who choose not to work, rather than those who are just cannot find work. For all the claims on here that those people don't exist, they clearly do and in great numbers.

How many jobs are available for all these nasty unemployed?

Significantly more than many are led to believe - the immigrants from eastern europe don't seem to have an issues!! You go to any casual labour agency and see who is knocking their doors down to get some work?



No one objects to the genuine unemployed but it those who have no intention of ever trying to find work that man find frustrating.

The even bigger irony came from Theresa May who apparently wants to put an end to people being exploited so I heard on the news on the way home. She will be having Gideon and IDS arrested then?

Okay. Please provide evidence that the official unemployed v jobs available figure is wrong.



Then you can consider the issue of pay for the job – and please remember that research suggests that the government's fantasy over the long-term unemployed not wanting a job doesn't hold up.

Good post.