The Big Benefit Row:live

[anneasquith]

last night Monday 9pm, hosted by Mathew wright channel 5...........what a mess the channel and the presenter made of this ( what could have been an interesting debate )

[Ric.ror]

I agree about "white dee" being glammed up but Silk purse sows ear comes to mind

[DrFilth]

> White Dee was quite subdued <

maybe just maybe it was the tablets she takes that kept her calm

[Caribeing]

Yes Dee Mc Mutton!!

[ummmm]

Because posh model ended up on benefits.

[sherrardk]

I suspect white Dee may well have been quite overwhelmed by the whole experience (didn't actually watch it though). The others are all seasoned ''professionals' whereas white Dee has been filmed in her own environment talking with and about her noeghbours.

[silliemillie]

Posh model was in the Jungle with the host Matthew Wright so they are either friends now or have the same agent.

[ummmm]

But she was also on benefits...

[silliemillie]

Hope she's declared her 'I'm a Celeb' earning & any fee she got for this show to the DSS if she's still on any benefits.

[ladybirder]

White Dee didn't look overwhelmed to me sherr, in fact she seemed very relaxed and enjoying herself.

[anneasquith]

I agree lb. she was the only female who appeared in control !

[factor-fiction]

I think Dee came out of the programme rather well. She seems to be more able at dealing with problems, organising things and helping people then many people in work. But of course with her record of theft and her reliance on benefits it's unlikely she will ever get a job that makes working worthwhile.
Some came out of the programme badly- the woman on the panel who kept interrupting, Edwina Currie who kept interrupting, the woman from On Benefits and Proud who kept shouting, the rentamob crowd who chanted sound bites ( e.g. "make the bankers pay", "pay mums to stay at home") and Matthew Wright who kept making irrelevant comments.
When someone commented about it's time the super rich paid something I wanted someone to point out the much overlooked statistic that the top 1% of earners already pay 29% of the nation's income tax revenue.

[Ric.ror]

Ummmm well portillo and Paris were "on benefits" once but I doubt their experience was a general "no benefits" experience

[Hypognosis]

@factor

//I wanted someone to point out the much overlooked statistic that the top 1% of earners already pay 29% of the nation's income tax revenue. //

If anything good has come from the newspapers' collective attack on benefits claimants it's that the debates it has generated has shaken everyone out of their complacency and, rather than just looking after their own corner they're now more aware of how much other people earn, how much people value their own job type versus other job types and, as you pointed out, how much each income sector contributes to society. After a period of adjustment, maybe people will stop being angry at the sectors of society that don't deserve it.

Just out of interest, where did that statistic (the 1% paying 29%) come from? HMRC?

[Hypognosis]

@Ric.ror

next time an MP or a celeb tries the 'Benefits Challenge', I would like to see them made addicted to nicotine beforehand. Adds to the challenge of balancing that weekly budget, I'm sure. };-)

[factor-fiction]

From the world's best radio programme, Hypognosis. Listen to this excellent episode

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03sb3x8

[Hypognosis]

Thanks factor. Can't listen to it immediately but bookmarked it in my reading list

If you don't mind it being USA-based, there's endless fascination to be had from : -

http://xkcd.com/980/huge/#x=-6416&amp;y=-7728&;z=2

(Use the zoom function and pan around to your heart's content)

It's odd how easily words like 'millions', 'billions' and 'trillions' trip off the tongue so easily but it takes a graphical representation, such as this, to (literally) put various things into perspective.

Such as the price of one B2 bomber, for example. (!)