Tories donating cans to foodbanks that people must use because of Tory welfare cuts. Do me a favour.

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Me ranting in the Independent today about Tories tweeting photos of themselves donating to the foodbanks that people are forced to use BECAUSE THEY’RE PUSHED INTO POVERTY BY GODDAMNED TORY SOCIAL SECURITY CUTS.

For Christ’s sake. How much of this shit are we supposed to put up with.

From the article:

“This display of Tory MPs collecting for food banks and tweeting out photos to prove it is perverted. These fool MPs are actually prepared to highlight the fact that thousands of people can’t afford food on their watch.

“I can’t wait to find out whose brilliant PR idea this was. I also can’t wait to find out why the Trussell Trust thought that associating themselves with this deviant exercise would work in their favour. God has certainly left that building – along with irony.

“Let’s be very clear about the reasons that people visit food banks.

“People use food banks because they’re forced into poverty and insurmountable debt by the heinous damage that recent governments have visited on social security.”

Read the whole article here. 

54 thoughts on “Tories donating cans to foodbanks that people must use because of Tory welfare cuts. Do me a favour.”

  1. Of course their ‘poverty’ has nothing to do with having children they can’t afford or smoking/tattooing/xboxing etc. etc. Does it?
    My comment is just as slanted as yours is and whilst the current situation isn’t perfect nor can we afford to keep spending money we have to borrow to maintain benefits that makes it better not to work than find work.

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    • Kate comments from her experience, whilst you just regurgitate the crap you read in the Daily Mail, the Daily Express or see on the poverty porn broadcast by TV stations that should know better than to incite hatred against the poor.

      I suggest you go away and find out about the reality instead of spouting absolute nonsense.

      Most people will have had their children a long time before they were claimants. Do you have children? Because if you do then I’m definitely subsidising your kids’ education as well as their healthcare. I don’t begrudge them that, despite having no children of my own.

      However, I do begrudge having to share space on the planet with pillocks like you who spout ill informed nonsense. If you looked into things a bit and used your brain… Oh, wait!

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        • Why thank you Kate 🙂 I just couldn’t resist, though I doubt it’ll do any good, that person seems to be too far gone.

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          • It is true some can’t be retrieved from the cesspit no matter how we try. My main hope is that they die of old age before I do. Could be close, but even a couple of months would be good.

    • I am quite sure that the vast majority of people suffering the humiliation and degradation of having to ask for and accept charity in order to feed themselves and their children would very much appreciate the incisive, fact-strewn post you have just made. If you choose to ignore the endless information available which directly contradicts everything you have stated or implied in this post then we can only assume that you are either an ideologically committed Conservative or really stupid.

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    • @ Nonesenseparty

      I have no idea what “xboxing” is, I have no children or tattoos. I do smoke though, rollies, it’s the only bit of pleasure I have (don’t socialize, rarelyd drink), and I smoke Duty Free when available, I saveall my dog-ends and re-roll them, I have even picked up fag ends off the street( I often pick up other peoples’ rubbish too and put it in a bin). Don’t wealthy people smoke too? Don’t the rich drink & use drugs? What business is it of yours what I do with MY money? The money to which I am Rightfully ENTITLED having previously worked (damned hard) and paid Taxes & National Insurance, as did many generations of my family, working all their lives in factories,foundries, coal mines, when they weren’t fighting in wars for this country. So fuck you, Tory cunt.

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  2. Why are you blaming “Tory welfare cuts”? The tax take is the highest since the 1970’s. We have high levels of employment. I don;t see where there is a large sustainable supply of money to pay for this.

    The obvious issue is affordability of accommodation, and that is down to demand exceeding supply. As a nation we have been trying to build an economy on importing large numbers of low-wage workers from Europe and elsewhere, and not building enough houses. So what happens is the price of property goes from a price determined by a pair of average incomes paying for a whole house, to a price determined by rent from multiple occupancy with one family to a room. Upward pressure on housing costs, downward pressure on wages, and inevitably poverty for families in low-wage work.

    So how about blaming mass immigration for low wage jobs squeezing both wages and accommodation costs, rather than just trotting out easy lines about evil Tories?

    And for clarity, I’m not blaming immigrants. I’m blaming successive governments for encouraging mass immigration without considering the social consequences.

    Reply ↓

    • Oh, so you think that by some sleight of hand you can blame governments for immigration, and not immigrants themselves? Sadly the semi-idiots who echo your sentiments are insensitive to the subtlety of what you say, and indeed, act in the way that you really intended. All you are doing is attempting to make respectable anti-immigrant rhetoric. All indications are that immigration is a positive force, as immigrants make a positive contribution to our society. Our NHS, our social care system would be in a state of total collapse were it not for immigrant workers, and at least part of the problems faced by our NHS is down to vital immigrant workers such as doctors and nurses leaving in droves due to the increasingly xenophobic nature of the UK. Housing costs are only part of the issue, and in and of themselves are not really the issue/ The issue is, if it weren’t blindingly obvious, is the market system itself, or if you are really dense and can’t work it out, capitalism. The housing crises is as artificial as austerity and could largely and very quickly be solved by radical government action. There are over 200,000 empty potential homes in the UK, and probably even more, if the empty property that exists above shops, for example, is taken into consideration. The government could appropriate land, especially agricultural land that has been bought up by the big developers and held in their land banks and build much needed social housing rented out at a genuinely affordable level.

      The only point you have that is in any way valid is that about low wages, and you still blame immigrants for that. It’s not immigrants who are to blame, but avaricious employers and compliant government that pegs minimum wages at an artificially low rate and then seeks to subsidise those wages at taxpayer expense. If you took a serious look at the situation, (Google is very useful) you would discover that, very often immigrant workers are at the forefront in fighting for better working conditions and pay. But of course, that doesn’t suit your narrative.

      By all means continue to believe what the government tells you. But be aware that the government is too often very economical with the truth, and the Daily Mail and it’s ilk blatantly lies. There may well be more people in with a job than ever before, but an increasing number of them may not actually get paid for that employment, because, if they don’t work any hours, they don’t get paid. It’s called the precariat, which is the fastest growing job category which includes people working as cleaners as well as people working as university lecturers.

      As far as the tax take is concerned, do you seriously expect us to believe that drivel? There has been a 50% cut in funding to local government spending alone over the past 8 years, and something like £33bn in cuts to the social security system since 2010, with yet more cuts to come. And yet you persist in spouting codswallop about taxation being higher than in the 1970s when most of us paid 25% of our incomes directly in tax and some even as high as 96%.

      There is huge wealth in the UK, and there are those who could afford to pay much more of a contribution than they currently do, and they’d still be fabulously wealthy. After all, it’s not as if they earned it, is it?

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      • Padi Phillips your reply is just nonsense. Immigration policy is the responsibility of the government. For you to insist that criticising the government policy on immigration is the same as criticising immigrants themselves is just clearly rubbish.

        All you folks moaning about the Tories – it is your attitudes and policies that have brought us here. The idea that money grows on trees, that we can just bring in millions of people and give them the full rolls-royce social services and this will have no consequences. The astonishing notion that massively increasing the supply of labour does not influence the price of labour. Just stupid idea after stupid idea, and we end up, inevitably, in a welfare crisis because you folks cannot add up and don’t understand the consequences of the policies you support. If you want to see who is responsible for this situation, go and look in the nearest mirror.

        Reply ↓

        • Dipper wtf are you talking about? Go look in the mirror? Bollocks. It’s the Tories to blame, no one else, their policies have destroyed Society, and it’s not just me saying that as an angry Yorkshireman and a bitter old Lefty, it’s the United Nations saying that too. As soonas you said “magic money tree” you lost all credibility, there is the same amount of money there always has been, the country isn’t skint, money doesn’t just disappear, it gets redistributed, and that’s what this vile Government has done, redistributed our money by giving it to the Rich. WAKE THE FUCK UP.

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        • Firstly, it is well established that migrant workers are the group least dependent in social services, and indeed are more likely to be net contributors in terms of taxes paid. The notion of the UK having anything like ‘Rolls Royce’ social services is just risible – try broken down old Lada and you might be somewhere close! Indeed, much of the UK’s social services depends on the hard work done by migrant labour. Many other, much less wealthy European countries have better social provision that the UK.

          By all means carry on believing the crap fed to you by the Daily Mail or whatever other semi-racist rag you read. Carry on voting UKIP or Tory, as it seems you’re fool enough to buy into their xenophobic rhetoric. By all means believe the lies you’re told, but don’t expect me or anyone else here to have anything other than contempt for your words – it’s all they deserve.

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          • The issue is immigrants are taking up housing often multiple occupancy and pushing rents up. I’ve seen it. there isn’t one market for multiple-occupancy immigrants and one for “residents”. So you have to either build lots of new housing, which takes time, or stop the flow.

            It is not xenophobic to point out that mass immigration has consequences. Is it your case that we should have absolutely open immigration? And that social services should extend to everyone here? Or are you one of those xenophobes who believes in having some kind of immigration control?

        • Not only did Philip Alston, the UN Rapporteur condemn the Tory government for what he called ‘cruel and unhuman’ treatment of the poor in the UK, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has echoed that report in its own about the way that the political choice of austerity has been used to punish the poor. The UK is not short of money, as you seem to believe. Carry on being a ‘useful idiot’ ‘if you like, just don’t expect us to follow suit. Since 2010 the Tory government has been heavily criticisde by four UN reports, and still morons like you pop up and spew bilge.

          If you’re going to make an argument, present evidence to back it up.

          Reply ↓

          • People like that Philip Alstom, dropping in and making a few easy comments and then scooting out again really piss me off. “Austerity blah blah” We have nearly full employment, and as a state are still borrowing money. Where is the extra money going to come from? It isn’t his job to criticise domestic political governments. And all this stuff about “the rich”. The stuff that isn’t fleeing the country at the prospect of Corbyn is not going to amount to much in the grand stream of things. Once you’ve taken it and spent it, what then?

            Perhaps Alstom could drop into Venezuela and let us know how Corbyn’s favourite government is getting on?

          • It’s exactly the job of people like Philip Alston to criticise national governments when they are imposing cruel and inhuman conditions on people.

            Employment levels are far from full. The true unemployment rate is three or four times the official rate. If there were truly full employment, wages would be increasing, they aren’t. Indeed,wages are falling in real terms.

            All governments borrow and the notion of a balanced economy is a fiction, believed by economic illiterates.

            People like you, who, despite much evidence to the contrary, still believe the shite put out by the Tory party and their cheer leaders in the media piss me off. If you suspect that you are stupid, please desist from writing/saying anything and removing all doubt.

            Who is Philip Alstom?

          • @ Dipper

            “People like that Philip Alstom….. really piss me off.”

            Yes I bet they do. The publication of a well-researched, in-depth, official report based upon indisputable facts must be a very inconvenient truth for someone like you.

    • Really muddled thinking. Yes immigration has contributed to both the rise in housing costs and the suppression of wage costs. It is now no longer possible for ordinary people to purchase their own home in many parts of the country or to comfortably afford the rent. Full-time employment at the minimum wage can be insufficient to maintain a decent standard of living.
      In the past 8 years the Tories have attempted to alleviate the considerable stress pressed upon ordinary people, the disabled, the poor by these unregulated market forces – as any decent competent government would do?

      Actually no. They have gutted and destroyed everything they could get their hands on with a reckless disregard for the social consequences. A corrupt and despicable government of incompetent chancers. A national disgrace.

      Reply ↓

      • I think housing costs were rising despite immigration. As in the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s as now, little has been done by government to plan and cater for immigration, which hasn’t helped, but immigrants themselves should not be blamed – the fault should always be laid at the government’s door.

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    • Dipper, there is no large amount of money because the Rich have it all, the Tories have seen to that, and it is that situation that is unsustainable; a privileged minority wealthy elite in possession of the majority of our wealth. Blaming foreigners for the mess is what the Tories want you to do , it serves their purpose; divide & rule. Immigrants are not to blame, follow the money. This is Class War and the Rich are our enemy!

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  3. Tories wouldn’t be welcome at my local (independent) foodbank. If any Tory politician did dare to turn up they would certainly get a mouthful. I think I would have to be physically restrained. It’s an utter disgrace what they have done to the people of this country with their completely unnecessary and wholly ideological ‘Austerity’ agenda, taking vast amounts of public money and redirecting upwards to the Rich. They have run this country into the ground. It’s a fucking scandal what they have done and the bastards deserve to be hung for it.

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  6. I was talking to a man at the foodbank on Thurs. Another volunteer who hasn’t been for a while. He’s 60 yrs old and has been on ESA for a while, originally for Vertigo which meant he can no longer climb ladders, & more recently diagnosed with COPD and also now an enlarged Prostate, he also has a Hiatus Hernia (stomach). He’s just undergone a WCA and they’ve declared him fit for work, so his ESA has been stopped. He has no money or other source of Income at the moment and lives on a dilapidated boat moored on the canal. Obviously he plans to Appeal against the decision but that isn’t easy and takes ages as we know. He doesn’t look well at all, you don’t have to be a Doctor to tell this man is ill. It’s very wrong that this is happening to people and it’s only the Tories to blame.

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  7. so who would be in favour of cutting foreign aid and spending it on welfare then? Because if you don’t want to make decisions like that then this is just all pointless moaning.

    Reply ↓

    • How about electing a Socialist government and reversing the policies that are deliberately designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Redistribute the wealth and restore a functioning Social Security system. Increase Benefits and Wages (or introduce an Unconditional Basic Income). Properly fund the Councils andthe NHS. Tax the rich. Tax the big companies. Abolish Benefit Sanctions and abolish obscene bonuses paid to Bankers & Executives. Build more houses and cap Rents.

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    • P.S.

      Where does your hatred of foreigners stem from Dipper? Have you always been a Racist Xenophobe? Perhaps you haven’t travelled enough and experienced other cultures. Or perhaps you’re just very small-minded and selfish. If it wasn’t for the gross inequality of wealth caused by greed, corruption, exploitation and Capitalism, there would be no need for foreign aid.

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      • P.P.S.

        We only spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid, around £13 Billion. Bear in mind that the Tories have so far wasted £16 Billion on Universal Credit. Bear in mind also that Billionaires like Lord Ashcroft pay no UK Tax (though that doesnt prevent him from collecting his £300 per day expenses just for turning up at the House of Lords.) Now, what was it you were moaning about?

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      • luv you trev. Just so much entertainment in one comment.

        You’ve constructed a world of goodies, baddies, and easy solutions, where you’re a good person and everyone who disagrees with you is a bad person, if people don’t agree with your solutions that’s because they are selfish and evil. It isn’t that simple, as the people of Venezuela are finding out, as did the citizens of every other country that implemented your “solutions”.

        Reply ↓

        • So you prefer to continue with the current unsustainable situation whereby1% of the population possess80% of the wealth, and mass poverty for the rest of us. You prefer to have governments whose policies are designed to perpetuate such gross inequality.

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        • P.S.

          People who begrudge helping the poor most probably are selfish. People who deliberately design policies with the intent toperpetuate poverty are most probably evil, as are those whose policies have lead to the deaths of over 50,000 people,

          Reply ↓

        • It is that fucking simple you dimwit. Why is it that rightist trolls automatically trot out Venezuela as their pet example of why socialism doesn’t work. It doesn’t work there for a myriad reasons, but probably mostly because of CIA sabotage and US propoganda being propogated through the media in Venezuela.

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          • @ Padi Phillips – the reasons why rightist trolls automatically trot out Venezuela as our pet example of why socialism doesn’t work is because so many people round Corbyn trotted out Venezuela as their example of what socialism can achieve, e.g. Diane Abbott “I think the importance of Venezuela is it shows another way is possible. Obviously it’s got oil wealth which makes a difference, but nonetheless, they’ve sought to invest in the country and they’ve sought to continue to fight poverty.” But look, if you’re not happy with me going on about Venezuela perhaps you’d like to nominate a country which shows a socialist way of tackling poverty?

  10. “Austerity policies are ‘social murder’, say experts who’ll be ignored by the Tories”

    New research by Lancaster University has shown that austerity policies, beloved by the Conservative government, amount to “social murder”.

    https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2018/12/29/austerity-policies-are-social-murder-say-experts-wholl-be-ignored-by-the-tories/

    Violent proletarianisation: Social murder, the reserve army of labour and social security ‘austerity’ in Britain

    https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0261018318816932?journalCode=cspa

    Reply ↓

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