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Wednesday 3rd December 2008 Make us your HOME PAGE  What is RSS?
 
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ARTICLE SUMMARY

Should we crackdown on sicknote scroungers?

THE number of jobless claiming handouts for being “too stressed” to work has soared by 800 per cent under Labour.

I DISAGREE

30.06.08, 5:48pm

The sad thing about sicknote scroungers, is that most of them are a result of, & have been created by conditioning, I think it's what is known as "learned helplessness", after a certain period of time, say 6-12 months of being on benefit, some people become uncomfortably comfortable with being there, & feel that attempting to achieve anything better would be a threat to their comfort zone, & even pointless, because of say what the teacher told them at school ie "you will never mount to anything, or how easy it is to get a criminal record, & that you cant get a job flipping even burgers, with a criminal record. the system puts people in a situation where they are torn between biological needs of having children, & living an existence to pay tax, no wonder people are growing up without a direction, but the system will help you with that, talk about fullfilling one's potential.... It's well known that the system needs a certain level of unemployed people to enable facets of the system, such as work agencies, the job centre, & work based training facilities; also the system needs a level of sick unemployed, to enable categorisation. The problem needs to be there, to enable the system, without it there would be uncontrolled mass unemployment, if every person in this country was cultured & conditioned the same, who would be leader? This isn't about the blame game, the fact is, there are those who are genuinly unable to work, through health related matters; & there are those who are & have been on sick benefitss, through say drug / alcohol dependancy, which is another facet of the system, so many drug agencies ready to help & treatment centres, in this country charging astronomical prices for services that are free ie 12steps. the amount of money wasted in this country, & all that can be done to justify it is to blame the poor, blame the ones in the system,, have to be seen to be moaning, cause it looks like im doing something about it then.

• Posted by: strutter • Report Comment

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WE ARE ALL SICK OF THIS GOVERNMENT!

28.06.08, 11:52am

When did we cure the sick and the dying? Are they really all scroungers? Wow!

They are all on the sick with stress because they live next door to the local family from hell who you are not allowed to comment on because they are foreign, young, old whatever and can commit crime day and night with little interest from the police. We live in a society where we are now more at risk on our own shores than at any time when we were officially at war.

• Posted by: lisaj • Report Comment

THE SCROUNGERS PARADISE.

23.06.08, 1:06pm

I've just got back Macer Hall's article. Anyone who reads the news based on known facts, not the type of salad dressing of left wing propaganda machines, knows that labour throws our money around like confetti - always aimed at either the people who are liable to vote labour, or the sort of lost cause that grabs headlines for the wrong reasons. There are many scroungers in our society, many quite professional. Including the said "depressed" types. Did'nt anyone tell them that having a labour government which has a habit of bankrupting the U.K. quite regularly, leading to the old begging bowlbeing trotted out is depressing in itself?.We do not have a born right to having a life of constant laughter and fun. Depression is as natural as joy, and both bring a value to the middle ground. Working is an ethic of responsibility, not for people who may either wallow in self pity for others to pay for, but to be a useful and valued member of this country. Of course there are genuine cases where help is a godsend, and the best of luck to the social conscience behind that system. But the article is simply pointing out the constant abusers, causing one hell of a drain on our diminishing amount of labour reduced cash

• Posted by: bluenote • Report Comment

MACER HALL POLITICAL EDITOR - ARE YOU REALLY QUALIFIED?

21.06.08, 1:19pm

Macer Hall,

You seem to have "had your say" and found the answer to your own question on "sicknote scroungers" your words not mine. Why bother asking for the public opinion?, the "leading" context used in this article and the way it has been phrased is absolute drivel, a pathetic attempt to use "spin" and misinterpretation on what is a very important subject of which you obviously no nothing about, articles like this damage your News Papers reputation and journalism as a whole, if i was your Manager you would be finding out "first hand" what the welfare state has to offer.

Express "Have Your Say - article? on "Sicknote Scroungers" Monday June 9,2008 By Macer Hall Political Editor


• Posted by: Chris_Hickman • Report Comment

"SCROUNGERS NO = POLITICAL FOOTBALL YES".

20.06.08, 12:23pm

Britain seems to have changed for the worst, i can't help but feel that the majority of people have lost their way and need to take a long hard look at what the important things in life are about. The vunerable in our society have become an easy target for the "gutter press" i.e(sleazy Red Tops, etc) who rely on this kind of issue to sell papers and too generate discontent in order to "unite the brainless" ("dey ar livin like kings aint dey") under the banner of a noble cause? these kind of people do not posess the ability to think for themselves and are "easily whipped into a frenzy" of hate and disgust towards anything put in front of them, especially the unemployed and vunerable who they are unreliably informed are "stealing their hard earned money", this form of contagion leads the spineless labour goverment to react true to form - inadequately, to "be seen to be doing something" in order to quell the enraged "brainless" who have been led like sheep to reach only one conclusion from media sources who tend to "make the news and not tell it".

As we know the press are powerful and have the potential to destroy goverments, therefore hightened media attention on any subject brings about "knee jerk reactions from self serving spineless politicians" who use the opportunity to score points with the voting public by using the welfare state as a "political football" to reasure the "Brainless sheep" that their ("penny is not being used in vein to support the ammount of undeserving unemployed and vunerable in our society") this reasurance comes at the expense of the genuine and vunerable
"majority not minority" through continual victimisation to appease the "brainless".

I accept fraud does occur and it needs to be dealt with, but not at the expense of genuine claiments, and not to appease the "brainless Sheep".

(Q) If the unemployed are continually branded by the "media and society" as scroungers, lazy, useless etc, do you think this false portrayal as social inepts will make them more attractive as potential candidates by employers or will it make their unemployment situation reciprocal?

In todays day and age nobody has a job for life, your contribution to the welfare state should be seen as your insurance policy so if you do unfortunately become unemployed or fall ill (No one knows what future holds) you and your familly will be supported, do you want to give politicians the ability to erode that safety net when you might be next in the unemployment line?

This is the "over-egged" Headline for this story:

"A record 51,790 claimants pick up stress-related in­capacity benefit and cost hard-hit taxpayers £122million every year in Britain’s sicknote culture".

In my opinion this is the type of spending culture that needs addressing....

1st Example:

Gordon Brown went on American TV to boost his profile and gave 100 million pounds of "hard hit tax payers money" to an asian country for Mosquito nets".

2nd Example:

The goverment spent 175 million pounds of "hard hit tax payers money" getting 17 drug addicts of heroin".

These examples are not at all exhaustive.


British society, its values and principles are being slowly diluted to a point were people are becoming disposable and were materialism and self aggrandisement is king, familly values take a back seat and were people seem to be losing track of the really important things in life, the things that make you truly happy.

• Posted by: Chris_Hickman • Report Comment

SCROUNGERS

16.06.08, 5:58pm

This government needs to get its own house in order before they attack the public over sick notes. What is more important someone having a sickie or someone who is claiming thousands and thousands for second homes, taxis, food, tv licences and anything else these greedy M.P.s can drum up.

• Posted by: Tip • Report Comment

THE REAL SCROUNGERS

13.06.08, 9:32pm

are the traitors in the house of commoms. Lets crack down on them

• Posted by: redwhiteandblue • Report Comment

LOADED QUESTIONS

13.06.08, 7:24am

Macer Hall, that is an excellent example of a loaded question. A question that is so unbelievably twisted to bring back a desired answer that it looses all meaning. New Labor are great at this but the people are beginning to see through it. Let me balance this argument by giving you another loaded question;

Should we force ill people back to work while ignoring medical advice?

or here's another one;

should British sick people be threatened with starvation if they don't work?

• Posted by: cor • Report Comment

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IS IT ANY WONDER

12.06.08, 1:50pm

That the mental stress has gone up so high under Nu Labour? I am surprised the whole country has not had a nervous breakdown the way we have been taxed, taxed on tax's and then taxed again. This government will not stop until we are all skint and in debt.

• Posted by: snaredrum • Report Comment

DON'T BE SO QUICK TO JUDGE PEOPLE......

12.06.08, 10:48am

I know that there might be some people out there who are feigning illness but please don't tar everyone with the same brush!

• Posted by: jasmindavies • Report Comment

SHOULD WE CRACKDOWN ON SICKNOTE SCROUNGERS?

12.06.08, 12:54am

defenetly too many just to lazy&to try other occupations if they can't get their previouse one why should the ()TAX PAYER PAY ...SOME have never paid a stamp in their lives and want all the benifit's they can get..

• Posted by: lornalou • Report Comment

KEEP OUR EYE ON THE BALL....

10.06.08, 8:13pm

Who dreams up these "Red Herrings", and is it simply todistrct us from the real problems of the day.

I dont doubt for a minute that there are people "swinging the lead" and playing the stress card.

They are no different from the "sore back" "sore head" etc etc etc, but dont lets tar everyone with the same brush.

I have had a family member off work due to stress caused by workplace bullying, its not nice to experience it.

Dont lets get distracted by the smoke screens, there are much more important issues to concern us......

• Posted by: Eltorro • Report Comment

GOVERNMENT SCROUNGERS

10.06.08, 3:14pm

When the present government cracks down on their own scroungers and are more open about their so called expenses then they can criticize the populace. All this nonsense is taking the heat off the biggest scroungers in the country - M.Ps'.

• Posted by: Tip • Report Comment

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DON'T FALL FOR IT PEOPLE

10.06.08, 2:30pm



I said in one of my threads about two weeks ago regarding, "Divide and conquer". The Government propaganda machine? They know what buttons to press to get you annoyed and the Daily Express does the same.
However, if you look at it logically, the Government are in the "Kak", and to take pressure of them, they pick on soft targets to take your eye of the ball, regarding their failures.

The average man/woman want to work, its what humans do. The majority of people on incapasity benefit would also like to work, but can't for various reasons. I am not naive in thinking that an element of those on benefit, are scroungers and do jobs as well as claim. In my mind those are the ones that should be severly punished.

A certain amount of claimants are suffering mental problems, caused by stress at work.
If we go back to the eighties/Ninties, the workforce were put under immense pressure to meet targets or else. So that caused a feeling of dispair if the targets were not met, and had a ripple effect into the home. Divorces were high during that period. You can push people so far and then something gives.

If this or any Government of this Country manages to get the sick into work by what ever drastic means, do you think the £12 billion saved is going on tax cuts? Think again!

The ones on here that tar the majority with the same brush as the minority should be ashamed. Its like that nurse said, if you have ever experienced real stress and depression, you would know it. Its not feeling fed up for a day, its a total breakdown and you lose interest in everything, even sex.

• Posted by: fireowl • Report Comment

SHOULD WE CRACKDOWN ON SICKNOTE SCROUNGERS?

10.06.08, 10:54am

I am writing in response to yesteredays headlines regarding people who are signed off sick with stress. The article was obviously written by somebody who has never experienced this serious illness! I have been a qualified nurse for 23 years and 7 years ago I collapsed in the city centre and was taken to hospital via ambulance. I was told I had experienced a stress induced panic attack!! I had never had a panic attack before. It was a terrifying experience and I thought I was having a heart attack and going to die! This panic attack was the start of a 16 month period of sickness during which time I was unable to work! I had no control over my symptoms and can honestly say this was a horrendous time in my life.
I certainly "did NOT want to be off sick" !
I was very angry yesterday to read your article incinuating that anybody who is signed off with stress is a malingerer! I can assure you I would rather have never experienced this illness which I am now more vunerable to!!
Unless you have experienced this horrendous illness I do not feel you can comment!

Please DO Not write my name if this article is published.

• Posted by: dianad • Report Comment

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