I ❤ JustinBieber

449 posts in a week :( scary Most of those were arguing with Tyron over the game so am sure will fall next week now I am out of the game :P

I am sure the government have lots of detail as to how the trial is going, the results seem to be very positive

Those who are not cheating the system, committing benefit fraud, working while claiming and lying about their circumstances would have nothing to fear and nothing to worry about Benefit fraud (the examples above) costs some £7.5bn a year The Sun said (admittedly not the most reliable source but even a broken clock is right twice a day) so it is right to take all necessary measures to reduce that, genuine claimants have nothing to fear

Don't see why he shouldn't be chosen Half the England cricket team over the last few years weren't born in this country and France seem to have cherry picked the best players from the African colonies so no reason why Artera shouldn't play for us

Just finished seeing it, if you mean that cock who "sung" Don't Stop Believing then I totally agree, never seen such arrogance accompanied by so little talent, he needs a good kicking

I can only think of 4 occasions where I would have bought an X Factor performance on iTunes if it was available Ruth - Purple Rain Lucie - Sweet Child Of Mine Rhydian - The Impossible Dream Mary - I Have Nothing

Just finished watching as I went out and all I can say is FUKKIN HELL :o @ Mary, that was one of the best auditions I have EVER seen, spine chilling Its gonna take something special to beat her

Maybe so but the 17k+ income tax I pay each year makes me productive member of society :teresa:

What is to say that 1-1-1 won't make an even bigger overall saving ? If 1-1-1 can be run at a lot less than NHS Direct and make an even bigger saving than NHS Direct then it is worth going for It is not like NHS Direct is being scrapped and no replacement being bought in

Everyone knows someone that has it though, just pop round to the friend or neighbour or phone them up asking them to have a quick look and so on If people took more advantage of online resources am sure NHS Direct could have run at less than half of the cost it did

There should be a dedicated NHS resource where those that have the net (the absolute majority of people) can get all the answers they need and a basic helpline where those without the net can get help. Surely an online resource is best for everybody ? if people like me that time were clogging up the helpline with simple questions about medication and causing 50 min waits thus very ill cases could have been inconvenienced too or people with breathing difficulties etc it makes sense for NHS Direct to be saved for emergencies or important cases and everyone else use the net if they have a PC

Everybody tries to get something for nothing in life, it's human nature but I have a higher tolerance of it when someone who is doing something productive in society does it than I do someone who is doing nothing

The time I phoned NHS Direct was because my net was down and I wanted some advice about whether I could take a particular tablet after having taken this other tablet previously, otherwise I would have just used Google, and then I use reputable sites, I have done that many times particularly about medication

Value for money is important thing though Like with the Swine Flu hotline All that was was some trained/untrained monkey (figure of speech before I am accused of racism Scott :rolleyes: ) reading from a script questions to ask and then determining whether someone had swine flu, biggest waste of money going as there were websites that did the very same questionairre

How essential is NHS Direct anyways ? Google can tell us just as much if not more than someone on a helpline can tell and if someone is in severe distress they should go to casualty anyways or make an appointment to see their doctor the next day

I have only used NHS Direct once before and I was less than impressed, spoke to some Indian bloke who didn't have a clue and was told to expect a call back in 40 mins :manson: I got a call back after 50 tbf but got told something I could have probably found out on Google in 5 or 10 mins The guy initially should have been trained to give me instant advice there and then not 50 mins later

As the article states on the BBC site GP's (the experts) considered it a waste of money and should be scrapped, GP's are the professionals. if they think it should be scrapped then that is good enough for me. 1-1-1 should be given a chance to work

There is going to be an alternative, doctors who are far more expert than us were very critical of NHS Direct and I trust the judgment of a doctor far more than I trust the judgement of anyone on here about NHS Direct. If a cheaper alternative can be found which produces probably better results then that is great. As the NHS budget is ringfenced from cuts then efficiency savings can be spent on frontline patient care

I don't think that EVERYONE on benefits is a lazy scrounger, have never implied that, never will imply that I would say that probably 30% are scroungers, defrauding the system, working on the side or whatever or have no intention of working Another 50% want to work but are not trying hard enough to look for work or are thumbing their noses up at low paid jobs or have set their sights too high and need to take a reality check in terms of what type of work they are going to get Another 20% are trying hard to get jobs but are having difficulty because they are say over 45 or have been in prison or whatever That is my OPINION, not backed up by facts or statistics but by gut instinct

Another thing that I would like to see but unfortunately the stupid Human Rights act would not allow it is electronic tagging of JSA claimants who have been claiming over 6 months and non physically and mentally handicapped incapacity benefit claimants, the start up costs and the costs of monitoring the tagging would be quite substantial but it would make working while claiming almost impossible as the tags would show regular patterns of behaviour such as being at a certain place several hours a day regularly for example or show a consistent pattern, also someone who claims to be unfit for work due to a bad back or unable to walk 50 yards disappearing for hours regularly would flag up suspicious behaviour and then this person can be watched. The amount of money that is lost by people cheating and defrauding and working on the side etc is a lot more than this scheme would cost.

Time limiting benefits would be a start, give everyone on JSA 1 year to find a job, if they do not find a job after 1 year then their JSA stops and they can go to charities for assistance, there is no real excuse in an advanced western society why an able bodied person could not find a job of some sort within a year, if they haven't then quite frankly they haven't been trying hard enough. That will not weed out the scroungers on incapacity benefit but I would bring in severe restrictions in terms of entitlement to that, really raise the bar in terms of who is entitled to it, instead of a letter from a GP for people with bad backs/bad legs etc there would have to be a note from an orthapaedic surgeon plus x rays that verify this person has a physical condition that makes them unfit for any type of work, hoodwinking and conning GP's is a lot easier than doing the same to an orthapaedic consultant surgeon. Depressives would instead of going to a GP have to provide hard evidence of a history of seeing a psychiatrist and a note from the psychiatrist that this person is unfit for work. On top of that I would bring in regular spot checks, a visit without warning to the claimants home, if they are doing the gardening when the inspector turns up and they are claiming incapacity benefit for a bad back then bye bye benefit etc

That is all the well and good but where will the money come from to fund all these huge benefit increases that are proposed in that article ? there is not a money tree at the bottom of the garden or a money fairy the tens of billions that this would cost has to come from somewhere so taxes would have to rise which then punishes hard working middle income families. Do explain without the usual "soak the bankers" mantra where the money to increase all these benefits massively will come from

When the kids go to school there is no reason why she can't get on a college course and get some skills or learn a trade, she could do an office course for a couple of years while the kids are at school and get NVQ or whatever which would help her get a job in an office, she could get a job waitressing, I bet all these poles and afhgans who are working in cafes and restaurants didn't have any degrees to flash about at the interview. Looking in her living room I can see several nice gadgets, she has a nice expensive tv, I can see a DVD player, I can see a Sky TV box (can't make out whether it is HD or normal Sky but I can see it), I can see a games console too, why does she have those things ? if she did not buy gadgets she would have more money to feed the kids, I am sure she will say "the kids get bored without the gadgets" but there were no gadgets when I was a kid we made our own entertainment. She should sell all the gadgets, cancel the Sky, replace the 36" tv with a 14" portable. In terms of your circumstances Tyron you and your family were not remotely what I was referring to in my original post. And going to the 7m that are on the "poverty line" again there are so many variables and everyone is lumped in together, a single bloke making £250 a week in a warehouse or factory and lives at home with his parents is raking it in given he has to only spend his money on himself and has no commitments but because he is earning 60% of median wage he is lumped in as "poor", very few young single blokes or single girls are earning the £500 a week national average but they are all lumped intothis 7m and are doing very nicely as they have no dependents so can spend their money on clothing make up and binge drinking. Someone with kids is in a different situation but they have child benefit and tax credits to help them out too

Difference being I have completed 50 hrs work at the end of the week, they have done 0 between them. I have earned the right to enjoy any money I have left over, they haven't. People need to cut their coat according to their cloth, I would love an Aston Martin but instead get by on a Hyundai i30 as that is what I can afford within my budget so if a "poor" person is struggling then they need to find economies within their existing lifestyle rather than desire more state handouts. There is no such thing as equality, the idea people are born equal and are entitled to the same as everyone else is a myth, the poor are poor because either they didn't try hard at school or because they are thick or because they are too lazy to haul themselves up by the bootstraps and make something of their lives, I have little sympathy for those people. I have sympathy for the physically and mentally handicapped but I don't have sympathy for bone idle wasters who don't want to make something of their lives or thought it smart to not get an education, the rich are largely rich because they studied hard, worked hard etc.

The poor (well the poor on benefits I don't know about the working poor) have free housing benefit whereas my rent comes out of my own pocket Broadband and mobile phone in my case are essential working tools, I cannot carry out my work without either likewise my car as I have to travel to meetings in areas where there is no rail links so again I don't consider those things a luxury to me they are all essential for me to carry out my every day business effectively. After I have paid out my tax, NI, rent, food, phone, broadband, car expenses etc etc etc, I have about £130 a week left which is really not that far away from what the couple on benefits are on