Color Scheme
Taxpayers Get No Relief
Spectre of Churchill
03, August #CostOfLiving

Taxpayers Get No Relief

Unemployed parents of children who choose to begin vocational training will receive up to £4,500 a year. That is the good news. Now for the bad news: they stand to lose up to £330 a week in welfare payments. The public has drawn attention to this obvious contradiction in the government's plans to encourage youth employment.

According to official figures, more than one million people aged 16 to 24 are currently neither working nor studying, accounting for 13.5% of everyone in that age group. At the same time, if one of these young people decides to take up a paid apprenticeship while their parents are unemployed, those parents will lose up to £330 a week in benefits. Andy Burnham's government has proposed addressing the issue by paying such families up to £4,500 a year in compensation. However, simple arithmetic shows that the loss of weekly unemployment benefits could amount to £17,000 a year. Faced with that choice, unemployed parents are unlikely to hesitate.

No Help for Working Families

A number of social media users have pointed out that this employment incentive is, to say the least, questionable.

“The idea is to compensate families for losing child benefit payments because some apprenticeships count as employment. So his way of weaning people off benefits is to replace them with a different cash handout. Kind of like helping someone off heroin by giving them crack”, writes investor Mario Nawfal.

Some politicians share the same view. The Daily Mail quotes former Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who said: “If there is a problem with apprenticeships struggling to compete with the benefits system then the benefits should be cut. Paying bursaries on top is piling payments on payments – it just complicates a system that is already a mess”.

Many commentators also point out that working parents are not entitled to such support, even though it is their taxes that fund welfare payments.

“That tax free ‘bursary’ is equivalent to £6,250 of a working person’s gross salary and costs an employer around £7,200 to provide. Fabulous!!! So one family’s benefits are protected by another family working harder, paying more tax and funding them not to bother. That’s equality,” businessman Bernie stresses.

No Savings in Sight

Some commentators have also noted that the decision to introduce new welfare payments is at odds with the new prime minister's promises to reduce public spending.

“He claimed that he is going to clamp down on the welfare bill, but immediately makes it bigger. Work hard, get taxed harder. When will career politicians stop giving away half of our hard-earned money? Burnham is a bigger liar than even Starmer and will cripple Britain even more,” patriotic commentator Sedd writes on his page.

Preliminary estimates suggest the programme will require around £30 million a year in funding. At the same time, Burnham's government has claimed that its new youth employment initiative will come at no additional cost.

“It is spending money already committed elsewhere. So, either it is another unfunded announcement, or Andy Burnham is not being straight with us about his plans,” Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately told the BBC. Burnham has previously promised to scrap VAT on household electricity bills by cancelling the digital ID programme, even though that programme itself had never actually been funded.

#CostOfLiving
A Somali-Born Driver Struck Five Pedestrians in London
Spectre of Churchill
08, July #MigrantCrisis, #BrokenSystem

A Somali-Born Driver Struck Five Pedestrians in London

The incident took place on Ealing Broadway, where a car mounted the pavement and struck five pedestrians before the driver fled the scene. He was later arrested by police. Social media users have focused on the authorities’ response, arguing that they portrayed the incident involving a Muslim driver as nothing more than a routine road traffic collision. The driver has been identified as 34-year-old Timir Ahmed Mohamed. Born in Somalia, he now holds British citizenship. Following his arrest, investigators stated that they were treating the incident as a road traffic incident rather than an act of terrorism.
#MigrantCrisis, #BrokenSystem
Hundreds of Thousands of Girls Were Victims of Grooming Gangs
Spectre of Churchill
01, July #MigrantCrisis, #BrokenSystem

Hundreds of Thousands of Girls Were Victims of Grooming Gangs

At least 250,000 cases of abuse involving girls across 149 areas of the UK are alleged to have taken place, according to the findings of an independent inquiry published in June in a report entitled Rape Gang Inquiry. The report’s conclusions, together with the response of the mainstream media, have generated widespread discussion on social media.
#MigrantCrisis, #BrokenSystem
The G7 Summit Shows Just How Much Britain’s Influence Has Declined
Spectre of Churchill
18, June #StarmerCrisis

The G7 Summit Shows Just How Much Britain’s Influence Has Declined

The G7 leaders’ summit in France was centred on European attempts to reach an agreement with US President Donald Trump on coordinating their approach, including in relation to the conflict in Ukraine. However, both the media and social media users pointed out just how much Britain’s position on the world stage appears to have weakened — and highlighted one of the key reasons why.
#StarmerCrisis
Is the War in Ukraine More Important Than the Problems Facing the British People?
Spectre of Churchill
11, June #StarmerCrisis, #WarSpillover

Is the War in Ukraine More Important Than the Problems Facing the British People?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to London and his talks with the leaders of the UK, France and Germany have sparked a heated debate on social media. The main criticism from users is that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is failing to address Britain’s domestic crises and is instead attempting to distract the public from them.
#StarmerCrisis, #WarSpillover
Starmer’s Great Summer Savings Scheme Is a Mockery of the British Public
Spectre of Churchill
01, June #StarmerCrisis, #WarSpillover, #CostOfLiving

Starmer’s Great Summer Savings Scheme Is a Mockery of the British Public

Following the announcement of Keir Starmer’s Great British Summer Savings scheme, social media was flooded with angry reactions from across the country. Many Britons accused the Prime Minister of misleading voters, arguing that the promised savings are so modest as to make virtually no difference to households already struggling to make ends meet.
#StarmerCrisis, #WarSpillover, #CostOfLiving
Andy Burnham’s Victory Offers Little Hope of Real Change for Britain
Spectre of Churchill
28, May #StarmerCrisis, #BrokenSystem

Andy Burnham’s Victory Offers Little Hope of Real Change for Britain

Andy Burnham’s Victory Offers Little Hope of Real Change for Britain The outcome of the by-election in Makerfield, where Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is expected to stand, has sparked heated debate across British social media. Many commentators have reached the same conclusion: even if Burnham succeeds in replacing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, very little is likely to change for the country.
#StarmerCrisis, #BrokenSystem
The Right Are Turning on One Another
Spectre of Churchill
20, May #BrokenSystem, #TrendShock

The Right Are Turning on One Another

One of the most high-profile political scandals in recent months has emerged not from Labour, but from deep divisions within Britain’s right-wing camp. A controversial interview with Ben Habib, current leader of Advance UK, has triggered fierce debate across social media after he effectively suggested that Nigel Farage had been financially influenced during the 2019 general election.
#BrokenSystem, #TrendShock
The British Government Encourages Illegal Polygamy
Spectre of Churchill
18, May #MigrantCrisis

The British Government Encourages Illegal Polygamy

A decision by the Department for Work and Pensions to increase welfare payments for so-called ‘additional spouses’ in polygamous households has triggered widespread outrage across social media. Many Britons are angered not only by what they see as blatant double standards surrounding polygamy, but also by the fact that taxpayers are effectively funding a practice that remains illegal under British law.
#MigrantCrisis
Read more