sadoldgit

Turkish? I might reference other posters but I don’t follow them around constantly.

We were getting by on both of our incomes. When we lost her income we had problems as we were reliant on both incomes. My wife left her job because of intolerable working conditions that seriously affected her mental health. Should she had stayed? We weren’t means tested. We didn’t qualify because of my income, which was barely enough to cover our basic outgoings. If the benefit was means tested we could have shown that we were struggling to cover our basic outgoings every month just on my income. Many people now rely heavily on two incomes, it is not unusual. If one person becomes employed for whatever reason, it puts an enormous strain on the family finances. My point was that everybody’s needs are different. There is no one size fits all and everyone seeking benefits should be treated on their own circumstances with the benefits being commensurate with their needs. She was given a caseworker who was based somewhere else other than the building she needed to report to. There was no direct contact with her caseworker, it was all done through the person she met at the time. She never met the same person twice, nor did I. There was no way of building a relationship with anyone. It was all clicks on a computer with someone somewhere else making a decision and informing you by post. It is not a very humane system. Because my wife had started an accountancy course, they eventually said that she qualified for a couple hundred loan as a “student.” We were never given any information about paying this loan back. About a year later some money disappeared from my account without any notification. After some digging I found out that it had been taken directly by the DWP without any prior contact with myself or my wife (who the loan was made to in the first place). No phone call. No letter. It is an inhuman process and if you have worked all your life it is humiliating. We have both paid NI contributions for years and just needed some financial support to tide us over until my wife got another job, which wasn’t going to take forever. No luxuries. No holidays for years because we had to pay back money we borrowed to pay the mortgage and bills. We went down from two cars to one which may not sound like a big deal but if you live out in the wilds with no decent public transport system it isn’t great. So no Egg, we didn’t seek help for luxuries. We sought help to pay our bills. Like many people, this is a second marriage for both of us. We both had to start again which meant a new, big mortgage at an age when you expect to have either paid it off or nearly paid it off. We don’t have an extravagant lifestyle. The cost of living crisis has affected us just as it has many other people at an age where you hope that you don’t have to worry too much about making ends meet. I don’t see paying the electric bill and the mortgage as a luxury but it felt like that for a time. We haven’t had a proper holiday since before Covid but I’m sure we aren’t alone there and it isn’t the end of the world and we managed to get through a difficult period without having to sell our home. Its very easy to be sniffy about benefits until you find yourself in a position when you need them.

Living rent free in your head still eh Baby Reindeer?

I never mention Nigel or Beats. Another poster on here was dead against Eckert because he is only 32 years old. The word is that Spors saw him as a potential first team manager/coach down the line which is why he was given the under 21 gig. He hasn’t suddenly become older or got 5 years experience managing the first team so is it unreasonable to bring someone else in with that experience for him to lean on? If that person also has German connections and knows the club…. One way or another he will need a coaching staff unless the under 21 staff join him, but that sounds like a “nod” idea doesn’t it?

It comes to something when you are too far right for Reform.

And still it goes on. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2025/11/27/israeli-troops-kill-two-palestinians-in-jenin-as-they-try-to-surrender

I find it very sad. There are plenty of proper flag posts with proper flags flying in areas that are appropriate. To see what now are no more than shredded dish cloths hanging off street furniture does nothing for “national pride.”

If there is still no “stand out candidate” I wouldn’t have a problem with him given the job for the rest of the season and then revue. Perhaps Ralph could be persuaded to come back to give him a bit of avuncular support but let’s be honest, things have changed massively in the last few weeks and there can only be one reason for that.

“Many others will abuse it.” Where is the evidence for this statement. Define “many.” Do you think that maybe the word “some” might be more accurate or are just doing the usual assumption that we are a nation of scroungers?

Not as bad as some would like to believe then … https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/sterling-uk-bond-prices-rise-whippy-trading-reeves-budget-soothes-some-nerves-2025-11-26/

In Trumpworld Zelensky and Ukraine are “losers” because they allowed themselves to be invaded. It clearly pisses him off that he is obligated to support a “loser” and if it weren’t for the European leaders putting pressure on him I’m sure he would have bailed on Ukraine a long time ago.

Pieces of rags hanging off the lampposts. I wish the people who are so proud of their country they felt the need to shin up them and tie flags to them would do something about the eyesore.

The whole welfare system has been a mess for years and as said is in urgent need of reform. I would have no problem in benefits being means tested. The trouble is that would involve a large increase in staff/expense/government spending. Labour are taking measures to get long term claimants (those who can) back into work. It takes time. Early days but let’s see how that develops.

No, a weird person is someone who reads what I wrote and interprets it as suggesting civilians should be targeted.

How do you know what level of abuse the system is facing? A bloke down the pub type of actually factual information? Everybody wants welfare form. No system is perfect, but I can tell you that getting Universal Credit and PIP is no walk in the park. My wife applied a few years ago when she left her job through bullying. She had to go in for several meetings and fill in countless forms. So did I, even though I wasn’t claiming benefit. In the end we were turned down because of my pension. The fact that we were relying on my pension and her wages to make ends meet didn’t come into it. They also said it was a pity that we had a mortgage as they could have helped us if we had been paying rent! You need to look beyond the rhetoric of Badenoch and Reform. The idea that thousands of people are living the life of Riley on benefits is no different from the myth that all of our problems are down to migrants. I was out of work for a period about 20 years ago so went sling to the job centre to see what they could do for me. It was so depressing that I never went back. They will always be people who play the system. That doesn’t mean that everybody is. Do you feel the same about very rich people who employ accountants to avoid paying tax? I don’t hear people of your ideology complain about the rich playing the system to get richer.

You seem to have a very warped view of human beings. Do you honestly believe that most people want to struggle to put food on the table? In my first marriage we had four children between us. My wife didn’t have to work. We had a lovely home and a good lifestyle. Out of the blue I was made redundant and everything changed. You go on about “lefties” as if people who care and have empathy for everyone in society is somehow a bad thing. I’ll tell you what is bad. Worshipping money for its own sake and assuming that people who struggle either deserve to or are fiddling the system. Here is something for you to put this into context - Capitalism = anyone can be rich Communism = nobody can be rich Socialism (lefties) = anyone can be rich but nobody should be poor. I think most people would be happy with the last one. Probably not you though.

No, not yet Whelk. But you will be the first to hear about if I do! That is assuming they are not all deported if Reform get in.

Nope. When I accused you of saying that Trump was a genius you corrected me and said that he surrounded himself with them, that is what made him a great President. 😂 Trump is an “asshole” because he sacked lots of competent people because they weren’t yes men and women and replaced them with ones that are. Exactly how many people has Starmer sacked? I think you will find that they resigned and not for being “useless.” For someone with such a huge intellect, you really aren’t very good at this are you? Got that question for me yet? 🥱

Is it really 2025? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/26/pete-hegseth-scouting-america-gender

It never ceases to amaze me that, despite knowing what he was like as a young man and is still like today, people still support this odious excuse of a human being. Like Trump, he is only out for himself and what is in it for him. He attracts similar people like flies to a dung heap meanwhile gullible people swallow his guff because he knows exactly what they want to hear. Fair play to the grifter though, after years of trying to get various scummy parties elected he has found a potential winning formula. The seeds that he has been sowing for years are finally coming to fruition. He can now say things that were unacceptable years ago and get rounds of applause and votes from the hard of thinking. Trump has opened the door, after all, if a (once) great country like the USA can elect a narcissistic, racist, sociopathic, misogynistic, money grabbing, lying, disingenuous, moronic, imbecilic grifter to the highest office, why can’t we?

A question for you Ralph re manifesto promises. How do you think it would have gone down if George Osbourne (a Tory by the way) had said in their manifesto that he would raise VAT to 20%? Still, those sly, lying lefties eh?

When he loses a few matches, how long before he gets slagged off for not having a Plan B?

If you like. But as you probably understand, most came from elsewhere, especially the EU. I bet those people who supported us when the army was there a few years ago and who have been stuck there under the Taliban would love to meet you. By the way, I went to my local hospital yesterday and the vast majority of the staff had brown skin. They were all very helpful and very professional, as were the staff with white skin. I didn’t bother to ask anybody where they came from.

What are “real working people?” No justification for spending more up public services? Well you don’t live here so the state of the NHS, schools, roads, the Criminal Justice System, local government, social housing etc., doesn’t worry you. It worries those of us real people who aren’t earning a fortune living real lives in the UK though. How many governments stick to their manifestos? When circumstances change wouldn’t you expect an appropriate reaction to deal with them regardless of what was promised?