Vultures Circle As Electronic Food Stamps Get Closer

vultureThe recent Demos think tank report – which suggests that smart cards could be used to prevent tenants falling into rent arrears when Universal Credit is launched –  is an astonishing piece of corporate blagging.

The report, which was funded by Mastercard, suggests that tenants worried about managing rent payments could have housing benefits loaded onto a smart card which they then use to pay their landlord.

This, they claim, will solve the problems that are likely to be caused by Direct Payments, which mean tenants can no longer have Housing Benefit sent to landlords.  Instead Demos suggest the money is given to someone like Mastercard, who then put it on a smartcard for the tenant, who then gives it to the landlord.  And Mastercard Demos then presumably want to charge either the tax payer, or the claimant, for the privilege of this completely unnecessary middle-man.

The obvious solution, which is to continue to allow tenants to have rent paid direct to landlords, wouldn’t make Mastercard any money and so is not considered.

It’s unsurprising that poverty pimps are salivating at the thought of the introduction of smart cards or food stamps for benefit claimants.  In Australia, where a similar system is being introduced, it has been estimated to cost a whopping $4,500 per claimant (none of which the claimant actually sees of course).

So far the results in Australia have been disastrous, with some stores operating separate queues for smart card customers further stigmatising the very poorest.  Complex regulations for retailers have meant only large companies have opted into the scheme which means claimants are only able to shop at large chain stores.  Economic apartheid and government approved shops are becoming the norm for the very poorest.

Mastercard aren’t the only ones desperate for a slice of lucrative government contracts should any compulsory income management  scheme be introduced.  Smart card firm allpay.net (@allpaylimited) have been cosying up to Alec Shelbrooke, the vile Tory MP who is furiously attention-seeking by trying to have smart cards introduced for claimants in the UK.

Iain Duncan Smith has not ruled out smart cards for some claimants, although the stated aim of Universal Credit is that claimants should manage their own money on a monthly basis.  It’s not unthinkable that the bungling Secretary of State could find himself hoodwinked into attempting to introduce two completely opposing policies at the same time.  He’s not very bright after all.

If one thing has defined welfare reform under both this and the last Government, it is the huge chunks of money being handed over to private companies.  £6 billion to Work Programme providers, several hundred million to Atos for their flawed and brutal assessments, a tidy £20 million to Monster Jobs for a bodged website and a whopping £2 billion a year handed over to IT companies to design and run Universal Credit.

Yet still the vultures want more.  As benefits are slashed and claimants queue at food banks, it’s full steam ahead for the rich on the welfare reform gravy train.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

86 responses to “Vultures Circle As Electronic Food Stamps Get Closer

  1. I keep putting this information when smartcards or vouchers are suggested for benefit claimants.
    Dfid, the department for International development recommends the use of cash transfers for beneficiaries, which increase choices and responsibilities. That another government department suggests otherwise shows that this government is driven by ideology, without consideration of costs, or efficiency.

  2. Let’s not forget the private health companies that lobbied the govt during the Phoney listening exercise and had competition written into the bill thus as ”customers’ we are offered choice which is private or nothing as opting for nhs treatment isn’t a choice.
    The corps are parasites

  3. Will these Smart cards be valid at the charity shops i frequent? Pat x

  4. I wonder if these cards will have magnetic strips. and could you “accidentally” wipe them every week ..just saying. In addition it is another layer of computerisation that can/would be hacked for all the personal details

  5. In the meantime, cheer yourselves up with the latest news that “high” benefits mean that food banks are unnecessary!

    Is there any end to this detached madness from the ruling elite?

  6. Not long after IDS mumbled something about him looking into the ‘scrounger’ card idea , some bod in torygraph quickly dismissed this notion he was interested, now we know that MSM are the pr of govts but clearly some games are being played out here.

  7. Not long after IDS mumbled something about him looking into the ‘scrounger’ card idea , some bod in torygraph quickly dismissed this notion he was interested, now we know that MSM are the pr of govts but clearly some games are being played out here. The question is what games and why…

  8. If you can manage to get ahead of your rent payments even though uc will be paid a month in arrears (a big ask I know), then you could do as I do with utility bill money, put it into a savings account for a month, then transfer it to your current account when it needs to be paid, thus earning a little bit of interest while it was in your savings account, eliminating the need for any smart cards.

  9. Pingback: Vultures Circle As Electronic Food Stamps Get Closer | Welfare, Disability, Politics and People's Right's | Scoop.it

  10. Not long after IDS mumbled something about him looking into the ‘scrounger’ card idea , some bod in torygraph quickly dismissed this notion he was interested, now we know that MSM are the pr of govts but clearly some games are being played out here. The question is what games and why…obviously there is something strange going on could it be rivalry of some kind ?

  11. WordPress is going bonkers posting dupe comments and doing ‘server maintenance’ again and again all the time it says ..

  12. Tobanem

    Those who have their benefits sanctioned will go hungry.

    • Reply to guy fawkes

      Too right, Cameron forgot to mention the high-powered sanctions engine driving Welfare Reform in his inane comments about “high” benefits rendering food banks unnecessary!

  13. Many indigenous Aboriginal people are included among the poorest Australians. They have been stigmatised, mistreated and sidelined before in the not-too-distant past (since we arrived, looked at the lovely golden sands and declared it to be ‘Australia Day’ – also known as ‘Invasion Day’ by the many Australians interested in history who care about these things). Separate queues/shops is something many would have already had experience of – not forgetting their memories/stories passed down of the forced removal of many children, during their grandparents’ and great grandparents’ lifetimes. Quite some progress has been made in the intervening years but this has too many echoes of the past.

    ?Is this the best politicians here can come up with?

  14. Yup.
    Only second class minds are attracted to politics

    • Second class minds? Ulysses, you are toooooo generous in your assessment of our political class’ intellect…..personally? I doubt they developed further than toddler stage “I want”, “give me, NOW”, “mine, mine mine MINE”. Oh, and that old favourite “wasn’t me”.

  15. When are you going to take to the streets? This is how it worked in the past.
    Tear the streets up, take the bastards on. I urge you.
    I cannot do these things any more.
    I am extremely ill and unlikely to live much longer, but I still rage rage rage agaist the dying of the light.
    And this terrible terrible excuse for a government is killing the light and peoples spirits are being covered by the dark shadows emanating from The IDS Gang of Psychopaths.

    • It will not work with undirected madness though. People need to target the right places with their rage, but I think we are 6 to 12 months away from a “Perfect Storm” Everything will take time to bite but it’s effects will add up to one great big $hit storm. Just be ready to pint people in the right direction as more and more wake up.

    • “Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
      Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
      Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

      Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
      And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
      Do not go gentle into that good night.

      Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
      Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
      Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

      Dylan Thomas
      (lines 7-15;’Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night’)

  16. Pingback: Vultures Circle As Electronic Food Stamps Get Closer « Launchpad: By and for mental health service users

  17. Alec Shelbrooke claims (presumably for his London home) his TV License.

    Yet the poor must be kept from buying a Sky subscription (as if they can all afford one).

    • And also plenty of food expenses as this fat tory pig has put on at least 3 stone since the election. MPs living off the fat of the land as usual courtesy of the taxpayer.

      • Forgot to mention that he begrudges Sky TV for anybody not working, but guess what, he claims it on expenses from the good old taxpayer.

        More fetid bullshit from these hypocrites.

        • I must admit, I haven’t seen a claim directly for Sky though I wouldn’t be surprised. WIth his beerbelly and his sovereign rings, he’s probably got a subscription to the Murdoch machine.
          I do see a claim for a TV license under constituency office bills made 13/06/2011 for 70 odd quid on top of the above I mentioned.

      • With any luck the fat cunt will drop dead with a heart attack – cunt!

  18. These wholesale Tory policies being enacted through the connivance of a traitorous FibDem lying bastards are completely unmandated. A tiny minority of the populace actually voted for the scumbag Tories, but there they sit, ramming through a radial agenda undreamt of in Thatcher’s wettest of dreams.
    And there is no one, no one with the. gumption or the wherewithal to challenge them in court for acting illegally; because this is no democracy: ths s a dictatorship of the landowning aristo/toff/bankster/gangster class.
    And they’re getting away with it as they smirk, sneer and preen themselves all te way to the bank as the stock exchange booms like never before as the bastards cream off what little we have left.
    The fix is in.
    What are the most sumptious, well appointed, sleek upmarket corporate headquarters in London? ‘Wonga’.
    Says it all. A company whose practices are illegal in most countries and whose employees would be imprisoned for years for what they’re doing.
    DelBoy economics in the spiv ConDemNation.
    Doesn’t it make you sick?

  19. 59% agreed the government should control what people spend universal credit on
    77% said yes to monitoring people with a substance or gambling addiction and 69% for those with a criminal or anti-social history
    68% agreed the government should stop all recipients from spending their benefits on gambling
    54% agreed with the government stopping people spending their benefits on unhealthy items such as cigarettes or alcohol
    46% opposed benefits being spent on branded goods such as Nike trainers
    38% backed a ban on buying junk food and 35% on holidays
    Poll was carried out by Populus Data Solutions, based on a survey of 2,052 adults and paid for, in part, by Mastercard http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19792066

  20. This cunt, aided by the equally vapid bullshit artist Delingpole, was on radio 5 this morning. Not sure if Delingpole is a step up from torture apolgist David Vance from the Big Questions on sunday. He was also briefly accompanying Claire woods from Demos on radio 4 this morning. So in total that’s at least an hour’s worth of free national media publicity provided by the state broadcaster.

    Disgusting. Fuck the BBC and fuck this fat cunt tory shit eater. Fuck James Delingpole, and fuck David Vance; a pair of lying scumcunts I hope fucking die.

    • Nicky (what 50-year-old still calls themselves “Nicky””? ) “for the sake of balance if complete and utter shite. I cannot listen to this cretinous cunt for more than a few seconds without smashing the radio to pieces. I really wish the BBC would show this useless cunt the door!

  21. Putting the moral arguments aside for a moment, the practical problem with loading benefits onto Smartcards is that some transactions do still require cash, even in the 21st Century. For example, my landlord has cash electricity meters in all his properties. And I need cash to use the local laundrette. (Of course, I doubt whether the likes of Lord Freud even know what a launderette is.I expect he has servants to wash his clothes for him.)

    Plus what about the potential loss of income for small local retailers who – judging from the Australian experience – might not be able to opt into the scheme and thus lose many of their regular customers? It’s hard enough for them to compete with the supermarkets as it is. And for that matter, on charity shops, as Pat above pointed out. (Incidentally, I’d be interested to know the annual value to charities of the purchases made in their stores by people on benefits. I expect it would be a significant figure, and one that many of them could ill afford to lose.)

    • Probably has ‘help’ with clothes washing and if the person doing this for him at any given time has a French accent (or isn’t PLU), he probably thinks that’s who that strange-sounding word ‘launderette’ is referring to …

      The moral problems and the practical problems are one and the same thing -either way it’s not okay.

    • Gas electric and clothes washing facilities? You don’t need those do you Cliff? On planet IDS, these things are not ‘considered’ essential. What about bus fares as well, or are we meant to steal a pushchahir,some firewood nails and string and knock up a trolley to get around on?The dipstick who thought this scheme up has been on the cooking sherry for far too long

  22. We all know the myriaid of reasons why this would not work and certainly the expense is inexcusable but we have to take back the narrative, stop them from using language that makes it all seem so reasonable and challenge them at every turn. this in my mind is the equivalent of having a star or triangle stitched onto my clothes as in Germany.. it is that horrific. This is the sort of l;anguage WE have to use to the public, all surveys can be made to say what the surveryer wishes to hear but if we starkly make the contrast the so called public support would drop away like a stone. Let us turn the tables on these bastards now.

  23. United StereoTypes of Unemployment (U.S.T.U.)

    United StereoTypes of Unemployment (U.S.T.U.)

  24. Pingback: Vultures Circle As Electronic Food Stamps Get Closer | Mental Health, Politics and LGBT issues | Scoop.it

  25. Lumpenproletarian

    Where I live, council tax benefit is being cut by 29% for those on JSA.

  26. On the news on bbc 2 this morning, they said that those subjected to under occupancy willj be worse off by £200 to £600 pa. That’s not true in my case as I have to find 25% which is £20pw that is £1000 pa and one of my bedrooms is too small to be classed as a bedroom, that’s before the withdrawal of council tax benefit kicks in.

  27. Landless Peasant

    We will eat the rich.

  28. rainbowwarriorlizzie
  29. They may be doing this with rent because they know people will be fighting the bedroom tax by withholding part of it, where tenants are paid the HB into their accounts, enabling them to pay the landlord themselves.

    But of course, wider-ranging smart cards are on the agenda anyway, and why? — not just to make money for private companies. Money is only a fringe benefit for the psychopathic section of the ruling class who are running the country. They hate the poor and come up with some new punishment for us every day. They would be quite willing to do this even if it not only damaged ‘the economy’ but decreased their personal wealth as well (though it would take a lot to make a dent in that).

    The problem is getting enough people to resist, by whatever means, all these varied attacks, on varied subgroups, at the same time. They shot themselves in the foot with the Poll Tax, which people could resist just by not paying, and which affected absolutely everyone. I only hope that our efforts to come up with an effective strategy against the present onslaught will bear fruit quickly.

    Whatever it takes!

  30. There are many reasons why this would be a disaster, but I could imagine them trying to bring it in. Their justifications would be ‘those feckless scoungers, spending their money on booze, drugs and fags’. They would attempt to persuade people that it would only be targetted at such people, but along with everything else they have done, it will hit everyone. They have no interest in taking the effort to avoid the vulnerable, the innocent etc.

  31. Anyone listen to this joker Shelbrooke on BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday from 9.00AM? I call him a joker, but his is about as amusing as a terminal illness.

    He was promoting his ideologically crackpot idea of a benefit cash card. He claimed it would reduce the stigma of claiming benefits and that benefits were not originally designed for people to buy cigarettes and alcohol.

    I really wanted to get on air to ask Shelbrooke just how much his crazy idea would cost. Such idiocy naturally creates more questions than answers. Such as:

    1) Which shops will participate in such a scheme?

    2) How can the government make sure that such cards cannot be sold on for 2/3 or 1/2 its value for raw cash?

    3) If used as a ‘poor man’s’ debit card, what happens when wanting to use an outlet such as the local Costcutter round the corner from me or Poundworld in the city centre which both have a MINIMUM £5 spend using debit cards? This inevitably means the poor would be being penalised for being poor yet again.

    4) What does Shelbrooke intend to do about local transport? I very much First Bus, Arriva, Stage Coach etc will take such payment.

    5) And what about internet access? Many European countries such as France, Estonia and Finland consider broadband internet access as a basic human right. Four out of five people worldwide agree with this. Not to mention the fact that applying for many jobs these days requires doing so on-line. Would Shelbrooke’s card cover this? And if it did, would there be restrictions as to the sites a jobseeker could access?

    His idiotic scheme certainly generates more questions than answers!

    One simpleton who phoned in , a newsagent thought it was a “fantastic idea”, even though he said he’d be “potentially cutting his own throat”. He came out with the usual “All benefit claimants who came into his shop all smoked and bought cheap booze and cigs”. As such, he was sick of his taxes paying for these luxuries. Let’s assume for five minutes his stereotype is true. He could very easily stop selling such items if he is offended by people buying them!

    Another fool swore blind that jobseekers had in his very words “56” flat screen TV’s and Sky subs”! Had I managed to get on air (I tried in vain, twice), I’d have called him a liar! I looked up on Argos’ website. Within 2 mins, I found a 55″ Bush (not a premium brand) TV for £600! And that’s with a £100 sales reduction! Apart from the fact that the vast majority of jobseekers would not be able to afford such a device, a 55″ TV would be too damn big for most houses and flats!

    With far too many people being hoodwinked like those two callers, it’s little wonder that a third rate politician, nay an ideological sociopath such as Shelbrooke can propose such a stupid idea.

  32. well said imatt, it’s a pity we don’t have the airwaves, as you said it’s almost impossible to get in on the phone to contradict them- that’s if they would let you anyway once they knew your question or criticism.

  33. ‘Tis a pity then that It’s the psychopathic class who gravitate to politics and business where they can wreak as much damage as possible, legally.
    Revolution required.
    Soon.

  34. These cunts in Parliament should just curl up and die.

  35. Benefit cards? Empty them. Report them lost/stolen with a police crime number. They have to be replaced in full every time.
    CAN’T PAY, DON’T PAY.
    fuck them back as hard as they fuck you.

  36. Council benefit punishment payments? If everyone refuses to pay up, how can they enforce it?
    CAN’T PAY. WON’T PAY.
    fuck ’em. fuck ’em hard.

  37. Hi piano man

    How are you? I wish you would put a moniker up instead of symbols I never know what to call you.
    People gravitate toward politics for all sorts of reasons, the working class idealists delude themselves that they can make a difference within party politics, then they find that those running their parties are corrupt from top to bottom. Do they stay and say nothing, leave the profession altogether, or are they forced out? Once you have corruption at the top just like a virus it infects everything it touches and big business are it’s paymasters.

  38. 💀piano anarchico

    The poll tax? Never paid a penny due to above tactics.
    Millionaires in their multitudinal mansions get approx. £107,000 tax cut in April while the poor get punished for being poor. Why are the streets not in total turmoil?
    Apathy….it’s a killer.

  39. BROKEN BRITAIN UNDER TORIES –BORN PRIVILEGED
    We as a Human Race are all born and die the same there is a beginning and an end .Those born of Privilege and being educated at Eton or another of the University’s should know better than anyone of their past .Privilege was granted through rape ,pillage ,murder and unfavourable alliances .
    We the General Public accepted privileged people and allowed them to continue to lead their lives as such .
    Born with more money than the average person and better educated ,we would expect you to behave in a rational and moral way when in positions of power ,instead we are treated with contempt .It is we the working public that have helped line your pockets even more .We are deemed scroungers by people whom feel they are our betters .But the truth of the matter is that Parasites like Smith and Grayling and other cohorts have attached themselves to the Privileged circle and do your dirty work .The position of an MP is to represent the Public and its concerns – to aim for a more cohesive society .The vast majority of us have respected your positions but your ever increasing LIES ,PUBLIC PURSE THEFTS and ARROGANCE has now gone beyond the pale .
    It is you that have decimated our society and you have the audacity to look down upon us – you a bunch of thieves liars and cheats .Your greed is beyond comprehension .Sleep well PARASITES .
    Brokenbritainundertories.com

  40. There should be no such thing as privileged ruling class – anyone from any class should be able to attain and be part of a collective power, but should be independent in mind and body, not belong or affiliated to political parties and their whips,lobbyists and other forms of corruption. The state apparatus that runs the public services should have people elected every couple of years to work within, so all know how the system operates and there is less chance for corruption, nepotism or toadyism.
    Our electoral system should not be subjected to constant boundary changes for any reason other than the sake of increase or decrease of population, not as a ruse to obtain more seats or votes.
    Anyone found by law to be corrupt should be sacked immediately to prevent it permeating throughout parliament, applying the same justice as that applied to those from other classes, but laws should not be petty i.e. arrested for swearing at a police officer etc., it didn’t happen to Andrew Mitchell and should not happen to other citizens.

    • I know this is going to be a daft question’ with an ‘obvious’ answer but –
      Isn’t the agreed cost of a flat/house (as in the tenancy agreement) what it’s worth and therefore what’s due to cover the cost of renting it?

      How has this Bedroom Farce been legalised and if it is legally do-able (somehow it’s being advertised as legal) couldn’t there then theoretically be no end to arbitrary (house-style) taxes. Maybe even outside-space-related taxes: on the numbers of flowers people grow, or if their tulips reach beyond a certain height? Even on the numbers of condiments kept in a fridge – or per fridge if anyone happens to have more than one fridge, for whatever reason; The amount of storage cupboards they have … why not just skip all of this and go back to a tax on windows? Tax the doors, windows, spiders and number of cobwebs both internal and external to the property.

      If setting up ‘transitional funds’ is being considered by some housing associations for cases like the one where a deceased child’s room is being kept by her parents as a shrine, with her ashes being stored in her room – doesn’t this highlight that there will be many, many exceptions (more ‘exceptions’ than not exceptions), where the so-called ‘spare’ room is needed/used for all kinds of valid reasons – and this is what tenants agreed to pay for when they didn’t originally look for a one-bedroomed flat/house?

      It’s as if the ‘people’ who are exercising their power to play around with the lives of those trying to get on with their lives in adversity, have now decided that trying to move us around like pawns on a chessboard will create a diversion. They seem to have been reading ‘Alice In Wonderland’ and taking their ideas from there. It’s almost as if they are trying to see how far people can be pushed – or as if they think they can continue to act with impunity. We will be so busy moving house, or hiding our condiments, that we won’t have the time or energy to say ‘No’ (clearly and loudly enough) to the next impossible demand ….

      All the people who are spending vast amounts of their time/energy fighting the DWP/Atos are being forced to take ‘time out’ from whatever they’d usually be doing (community work/time with their families, or whatever). Unemployed people are feeling their every move is being monitored and this could be about to get far worse. So in a way the ‘perfect’ conditions have been engineered (or this is what’s hoped) to have everyone running around in a panic, chasing their tails/helping their friends/fighting their corner/trying to cling on to their jobs/local hospital departments.

      Relatively, the Poll Tax was easier to focus on and the not paying was the obvious and effective way to make clear that it wasn’t going to be accepted. I do think that Mrs Thatcher was also easier to dislike as a figurehead (which is saying something) and she also helped to focus people’s anger – it was the way she told ’em. (It was a very different time – both in a good and in a bad way – there’s been so much ‘progress’ in between the 80s and now that (at least some of) those being badly-affected don’t have enough information to work with and don’t know about the power of being part of an organised response – some are looking into moving, some are bewildered and some just don’t know what to think/do, and who can blame them/us.

      • What about a “flat-screen TV” tax, shirleynott?

        • TV Licensing "Authority"

          We already have that mate… its called the TV LICENCE. As an “authority” if we even so much as suspect that you do not possess a valid TV Licence we have the “power” to send “enforcement officers” round to your home to kick your door in and drag you and your family out off your beds kicking and screaming. We will shoot your family at gunpoint right in front of you and drag you out into the street and hang you from the nearest lamppost to serve as a warning to your neighbours of what to expect if they so much as even consider not renewing their TV Licence. Happy and LEGAL Viewing! TVL Enforcement Division

          • Calm down dear it’s only a commercial.

          • Very Frightened TV Viewer

            We used to have gigantic TVL posters on our streets: “No 1 Acacia Avenue does not have a TV Licence”, but bleeding heck, since when did TVL take it upon themselves to go around shooting and hanging suspected “evaders”? We are not due for renewal until June, but after reading the comment by TVL we are hot-footing it down to the Post Office!

          • TV License Free

            “Authority” lol TVL have no more “authority” than a doorstep salesperson.

            NO CONTACT – NEVER FAILS! 🙂

      • May I suggest a Window Tax 🙂 levied on the number of windows on one’s dwelling-house 🙂

  41. Just a quick heads up. BBC Radio 5 Live are doing an investigation into the WP. Specifically those receiving self employment advice from their providers. From 11.00 AM this Sunday.

  42. Meanwhile CallMeDave is in Liberia making grandiose statements about eradicating poverty there. When told that kids there want to be doctors & suchlike he sneeringly responded with that kids in the UK only want to be footballers or popstars. . Maybe if he got his finger out of his arse & created those things called JOBS, jobs that pay a decent living wage instead of handing out dosh left, right & centre to every basket-case state that sticks it’s begging-bowl under his nose, kids in this country might have something to live for instead the only future is the dole queue, food stamps & workfare. Now which one’s the third world country, again?

    • United StereoTypes of Unemployment (U.S.T.U.)

      Scameron told the Libyans that the people of Great Britain is wishing Libya well, and will provide long-term support to Libya in it’s post Gadaffi transition.

      There’s a film, Keanu Reeves (alien) is talking to Kathy Bates (u.s. decision maker). Somewhere along it he says something like “do you speak for the whole of Mankind?”

      Change of topic, imagine there was a race of Earth-born terrestials that we have never met. Forget why we haven’t met, that’s not important at the moment.

      What’s important is their impression of us.

      So, we have tv soaps, news, lyrical content in music, films and other popular stuff 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, 10 years a decade, and so on.

      The content of what’s being produced never show’s ‘Mankind’ in a positive and righteous light. There fore it doesn’t exist in Mankind. Positive and righteous light.

      If the closest that a race of Earth-born terrestials can get to knowing ‘Mankind’ in general is tele, radio, literature (twits included) – they are going to absolutely despise us and not bless us with enlightenment, nor improve our knowledge on what life and living IS.

      Inside me, I feel life should be fun. Enjoyable. Hard work at times. Happiness with gain. Sadness with loss.
      A complete interaction with my environment and the environment around it.

      I am not a cancer. But some how I’m stereotyped as one.

      The race of Earth-born terrestials get on with the righteous enforcers of order. The ‘State’.

      Notice how the ‘State’ portrays themselves in a different light? Not in ‘common’ productions, but in actual ‘State’ productions, like Coast on Beeb. The ‘State’ listens to different music, dances a different way. The ‘State’ is friendly. The ‘Commoners’ aren’t.

      The ‘State’ is the Cancer. Somehow they appear to be the Cancer Treatment.

      That’s how I feel. Why would I consider a race of Earth-born terrestials as a possibility?

      If the ‘State’ was being straightforward I’d never think what I wrote above.

      If this is reality, and I’m psychotic, why does it seem like the ‘State’ is doing everything it can to look pure. Why be like that & who is the appearance for?

      Let’s not be dumb. Scameron is not concerned with what we think of him. None of them are.

      But they’re desperate to appear like saviours of the righteous and positive non-cancerous beings.

      We think for votes. But it doesn’t matter if they have a job or not. That’s how much cash the ‘State’ has.

      So why keep up appearances?

      It’s being a ‘good’ middleman and keeping itself in existence.

      We are customers and the race of Earth-born terrestials are the manufacturers.

      The ‘State’ is pure. As they never cause loss, harm or take a life directly.

      People choose to listen to them, and they choose to follow order. That person, the one who obeys, they are the one who becomes impure.

      The ‘State’ knows the truth, the ‘State’ is mentally-free, and able to simply LIVE. Health-willing of course.

      I could make a film of this plot.

      Benefit claimant copyrighting, done on The Void, for free. Johnny can claim a fee in cash from the Coalition. Under the WP Initiative.

      So.. Scameron.. Did he speak for you in Libya?

      Ask any child of any age. Go do it! Not sure my Son cares for Libya. He’s more concerned about the sadness that I try to hide when I think about the virtual-world-of-reality that is being built around him.

    • Not much point in him creating jobs really Kitty, the pay is so poor they have to be subsidised by tax credits – a rug which can be pulled at any time it suits Ian Duncan Goebbels and Adolf Cameron. He likes to round the world giving out billions so other dictators can have a luxury life style. It does the common people abroad no good and we have to tighten our belts to pay for it. The main thing is though, it looks good and that’s all that matters. It’s keeping up the fascist facade while he treats his own people like something he’s found stuck to his shoe.

  43. It’s the march of the third Reich, but instead of Jewish people it’s the poor.

    • Yeah and if this card scheme goes ahead, any poor sod unfortunate enough to need to claim the benefits they are entitled to, may as well call in at the nearest tattoo shop and get SCROUNGER inked on their forehead as everyone everywhere will know the work status of the card holder.
      This is the equivalent of what the nazis did to the Jews by making them wear a star. Make no mistake people – this is all about marking the poor, making ordinary people too ashamed to claim what they and their parents have paid into as a safety net for a rainy day. It’s disgusting and revolting – LETS BOOT THIS GOVERNMENT OUT!

      • Just as a sneak preview – I have for three weeks in January being forced to explain to a possibly listening bus-full of passengers up to 4x/day that MY BUS PASS IS FROM THE JOB CENTRE and was for free travel during January. It runs til the end end of this week (as usually they work as a discount half-fare card) and so now switched to explaining this. I’ve held up bus queues across town and felt it would have been easier to have “From the Job Centre” across my forehead.

        The saddest thing about this has been that I’ve come across one other person (at an employment-related event I was at last week) who has one of these passes (available to offer help with job search throughout January) after three separate visits to JCP as he was a persistent and experienced job seeker. Not a single bus, in a city of thousands of people, has admitted to having seen these before – which indicates how regularly any adviser decides that someone might ‘deserve/qualify’ for one (ie. not ever).

        It’s not been great fun having to say out loud “I’m not working at the moment – please can you let me on the bus for free … ” but at least I’m still queuing up with everyone else – not in a separate ‘line’ for basic ‘value’ goods where people can point and laugh … (yet).

        • should say ‘bus driver’ – sorry.

        • Ex-school dinner lady

          This sickening scheme reminds me of the time I worked as a school dinner lady. I used to watch the poor kids stood in the queue shamed-faced with their bright red ticket and couldn’t help but notice the shame and embarrassment in their sad faces and their trembling hands as they furtively handed the ticket over. They were then shepherded over to the FREE school dinner table to eat separated and ostracised from the rest of the kids. Oh, how did the other kids point and laugh at them. It used to break my heart when I thought of the damaging consequences this daily humiliating ritual must be having on them. Now this evil government wants to bring in a similar demeaning scheme for adults! Awful, just awful!

          • Don’t knock it until you (or your ‘kids’) have tried it.

            • The point about the ‘helpful’ free travel for one month scheme is that it’s potentially a good idea – unlike an electronic food stamps system. But the way it’s administered (not) means that any short-term relief gained from having the pass quite soon goes away in the face of bus drivers being variously condescending; disbelieving; aggressive; belligerent or just confused and then begrudging …

              If these were meant in any way be a real offer of support towards job searching costs, at least one or two (older) bus drivers would be vaguely familiar with them. It’s well known that this ‘benefit’ is in the realm of Greek myth amongst job seekers (applying for and managing to finally get one was a herculean task in itself). So even someone who is generally confident in the ways of bus travel and who has been able to prize this ‘help’ from their adviser could end up having to get back off a bus and find another one in the face of either complete embarrassment or just feeling they are getting nowhere (worst case scenario)- and could well end up having to spend time having various conversations with ‘head office bus people’ who might be sympathetic but say (quite reasonably) that they don’t come across the job centre pass often enough for most drivers to recognise it.

              Unlike with free school meals (I understand how these work – my son currently has them for reasons which kind of go with the whole ‘job centre’/difficulties with travel costs’ thing) there’s an all-too-real sense of stigma attached to something that’s ‘not recognised’. This starts to be felt on around day 3/4 (for me anyway) as even someone who thinks they are fairly confident person on repeatedly having to explain and seem to be ‘justifying’ getting a discount probably starts to feel a little ‘is it me?’. After 3/4 weeks of having the same conversations over and over, the result (surprise) is that were it ever to be ‘offered’ again (not statistically likely) probably quite a few people would think twice and need to balance up the potential loss to their dignity and sense of self-confidence against 4 weeks of half fare travel, even thought this is a significant benefit to anyone on a minimum income. If someone gave many ordinary people something like this (at no cost) and it proved to be as difficult as this is to use (ie. doesn’t really work well as per it’s stated purpose) they would probably feel demoralised and a second class citizen at some level, after a while).

              This is just my experience and opinion. It’s pretty much what I expected would happen having gone through the process of asking about and then being granted this (not) widely publicised ‘offer’ but the level of ‘being separate’ was an insight into the message behind the free pass/lunch scenario, which can be clearly understood depending on the way it’s set up . Thankfully school meals don’t do this to children.

  44. We need organised physical action against the government.

    In order to get support for this I suggest you do what I am trying to do and that is match the government/media propaganda, wherever you can on the internet.

    Mentioning things like expenses and the cut in the top rate of tax is a way to turn the anger upwards rather than downwards.

  45. That’s what most of us have been trying to do, with little effect it seems tikib.
    U. turns of everything but welfare reform.

  46. I have a few questions. Is it going to be possible to withdraw cash from these smart cards?

    If yes, why have them in the first place?

    If no, how are people going to be able to load pre-pay meter cards? Only cash is accepted for these payments.
    Or does the buffoon who thought this evil scheme up, ‘consider’ that light and heating are not essential items?

    Our parents,grand parents and great -grand parents fought two world wars to prevent a dictatorship taking over the UK and the world. Are we now going to let this new band of nazis by stealth get away with this?

  47. The thought of ids and co. suffering the same fate as hitler or mussolini brightens my day.

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