Is there a Worker in the House?
You know when you are reading a blog post and a phrase jumps out at you, reforms in letters three foot high, and won’t leave your brain for days afterwards? Round and round it goes, giving you no peace. It’s happened to me.
About 27% children in need in Devon have disabilities, double the national average.
Over a quarter of the next generation are already disabled? How many of the remaining 73% of the next generation will become disabled due to industrial accidents, road traffic accidents, medical negligence, sports injuries?
Given that in Devon, in the latest figures, 25% of the present generation work for the state in one form or another, there is also a significant Traveller population, and both children and adult Travellers experience poorer health than any other group in England, at least a constant 20% of the population will be retired and receiving a State pension, and the main non-public employment in the area is the low paid agricultural sector, who exactly is going to support this lot?
Is there a private sector worker in the house? Would he make himself known please?
I was starting to wonder just how much this munificence was costing our lowly paid Devonian. I turned to the government on-line ‘Benefits Advisor’. Do try it, it’s an eye opener, I promise you. You will find you have along wait until your browser connects; must be the sheer weight of numbers trying it, eh?
I started with premise that I was, truthfully, a pensioner on basic state pension. So was my husband. Wallop, before I left the first page they had awarded me another £55 a week. And another £400 towards my winter fuel bills, indeed they were anxious that I applied…
Then they wanted to know about savings. Hmmn, well what if I sold up here and bought the most f***ing expensive house in the whole of Devon so that I had barely any savings left? No problem, they’d shoot me straight over to the ‘no savings page’. (I did have to make a quick detour to buy myself a Challon kitchen, have all my curtains made by Chelsea Textiles, and refurnish the house at Wesley Barrell, but Hell, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do – Mr G helped, he nipped into the nearest Range Rover dealer, ordered every extra he could think of, and then booked a cruise to the Caribbean – but between us we managed it, less than £16,000 in hard cash).
I was a bit worried about the council tax on this luxurious pile, but the government still had its hand in our private sector worker’s pocket – he could pay the council tax for me, all £60 a week of it.
They were concerned about my health of course. Did I have difficulty walking up the stairs because I’d lost one leg or two? Was I registered blind or partially sighted? Only had one good eye all my life, but it’s never occurred to me to ‘register’ as partially sighted, missed a trick there – but what is this? Am I suffering from a terminal disease? Well, yes I am, tick the box – and open Sesame…
All I have to do is give them a ‘letter’ from a ‘Doctor’ saying that I am; no medical, no means test – I just wandered into Utopia. My ‘benefits advisor’ is happy to tell me that I can continue to live in my beautifully furnished mega-expensive pile, drive round in my Range Rover, and our lowly private sector worker will support me to the tune of £277 a week, pay my council tax, give me another £77 Disability Benefit, pay my prescription charges, pay for my dental treatment, pay for my travel expenses to and fro hospital, (that Range Rover eats fuel) – well Good Golly Miss Molly!
What it is to have a British passport eh?
Now, could you explain to me, very slowly, why I shouldn’t be doing this? Surely one more on the gravy train won’t over-burden Devon?
Mr G is waiting avidly for your replies…
October 18, 2012 at 16:28
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1) Attendance Allowance is actually very difficult to get now.
2) If you spent all that dosh on fripperies, you’d be ineligible for
means-tested benefits due to deprivation of capital. Not only would you NOT
get the benefits, but you’d be treated as still having tariff income on the
capital, despite having spent it.
I like you, Anna, but this post is complete nonsense.
- October 11, 2012 at 05:37
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Is there a private sector worker in the house? Would he make himself
known please?
Interesting that only one person out of fifteen respondents identified
himself as a worker.
You are carrying a heavy load Yardarm and deserve our respect.
- October 9, 2012 at 22:24
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Every disabled child meets the definition of ‘child in need’. So Devon
mustn’t be very good at spotting other kinds of CINs. OR they treat every
disabled child AS a CIN, unlike the vast majority of LAs. Need more stats to
work out which way it goes.
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October 9, 2012 at 12:07
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a] You would have to cross The Channel.
b] All Shop Assistance will be
rude to you when not actually ignoring you completely.
c] You will have to
lock your car.
d] You will have to lock your house.
e] No complete
stranger will be nice to you for no reason.
f] No Retailer will get what
you want tomorrow, if they can’t actually get it today.
g] And you
certainly won’t sleep easy in your bed without a pack of ravening hounds
running loose around your large Estate.
h] You won’t get a Shot Gun Licence
at your age.
Sheesh, I was almost beguiled by the thought of all that dosh. But only for
a minute.
- October 9, 2012 at 12:43
- October 8, 2012 at 22:42
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Yes there is a worker in the house; I`ve worked, private sector in Devon
for 27 years. The private sector here is fucked and no political scum gives a
toss. I would suggest your computer excercise would shatter on contact with
reality. Here I`ve had the privilege of working, on the min, with some, I`d
ventue as good as anywhere else. Even France. If we were real parasites we
could pretend we were bankers and cash in on Osbum`s Quantative Easing like
the fucking bankers. I beg your pardon for the incoherence and profanity.
Sixty odd miles each day to do eight hours manual.
- October 8, 2012 at 18:25
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“About 27% children in need in Devon have disabilities, double the national
average”
All this means is that Devon teachers are better at getting children
classified as disabled; they get extra taxpayer’s money in the education
budget for disabled children. What fraction of those “disabled” children
actually have “learning disabilities” or “behavioural disabilities”?
- October 8, 2012 at 18:14
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Of course you should do this (unless you have the misfortune to be burdened
with certain moral values which died with the dodo). It’s your entitlement, as
promised by generations of honest politicians eager for your vote; and a
bargain eagerly accepted by a wise populace.
- October 8, 2012 at 17:03
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Now, could you explain to me, very slowly, why I shouldn’t be doing this?
Surely one more on the gravy train won’t over-burden Devon?
Indeed I can Anna. Personal pride and decency. Unfortunately along with
common sense and being provident, these qualities are less frequently found in
the surreal statist society we now have. If you are truthful as well I’m
afraid that you are setting yourself up for misery.
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October 8, 2012 at 23:05
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“If you are truthful as well I’m afraid that you are setting yourself up
for misery”
Depends on your point of view… If you’re of the ‘Gorbals Mick’ variety
(“I know what I’m entitled to” – allegedly), then yes, being truthful will
cause misery. If integrity & genuine patriotism (as opposed to the
‘useful idiot’ variety spouted by George Dubya) then misery isn’t an
issue.
- October 8, 2012 at 15:45
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Your headline missed out one very important little word. It should be
“About 27% of children in need in Devon have disabilities, double the national
average.” Note the “of”. It doesn’t say that 27% of children in Deveon have
disabilities,
Makes a nonsense of your assumption “Over a quarter of the
next generation are already disabled?”. You are usually much better than
that.
Mind you, the rest of your post is enlightening.
- October 8, 2012 at 14:38
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Personal integrity.
It’s a seemingly rare disease and one of the few for which you are entitled
to nothing.
- October 8, 2012 at 14:26
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You win! Benefits advisor gives me only get £165.78 a week. I should of
lied a bit more. Mind you, I missed the bit about only one functioning eye –
maybe that would have bumped it up a bit.
- October 8, 2012 at 13:02
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“About 27% children in need in Devon have disabilities, double the national
average.”
This is of course because there are far fewer children in need in the fine
county of Devon. And this is because there are fewer benefits claimants,
single mums and so forth. So the other main reason for need – disability – is
greater.
Statistics are wonderful things really!
- October 10, 2012 at 13:14
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It’s well known that 79.47% of statistics are made up on the spot.
- October 8, 2012 at 13:01
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The reason you shouldn’t be doing it is that you’ll give proper scroungers
a bad name.
Oh, wait a minute……..
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