Nailit, ////As far as I'm aware benefits are quite generous//
For an intelligent woman, that has got to be one of the most absurd statements that I have ever read.///
Really? Why? I know single mothers working 16 hours a week and collecting benefits who are doing well enough.
There is always something not quite right about the woeful tales people who moan about benefits tell. Theland’s story is not only inaccurate, it’s purposefully designed to tug at the heartstrings (as is Theland’s wont with his stories) with tales of a mother who’s paid all her bills, couldn’t afford to provide her child (who was entitled to free school lunches anyway) with a sandwich, but was too proud to tell anyone she was broke. Strangely though she had no shame in telling people she’s a shoplifter. I don’t believe that story for one moment.
Similarly, there has to be more to your story about your friend whose benefits were stopped because he was doing voluntary work. There is something you’re not telling us.
I travel a lot and have been to practically every city in the country - just weeks ago Manchester (again), Liverpool (again), and Birmingham (again) - which offers, in my opinion, the best shopping in the country - and the splendid city centre shops are always heaving. I can honestly say I don’t see the poverty you and Theland bang on about. I never see an old banger of a car on the roads, there are new houses sprouting up everywhere, and they’re all occupied so someone must be able to afford to buy them. I’d take an educated guess and say they’re people who take responsibility for themselves and work for a living.
Tell you what - why don't you and Theland try being a single mum working all the hours God sends at a job you hate, paying your mortgage, paying your bills, feeding your family, and still ending up stony broke every month with no prospect of a handy financial lifeline popping through the letter box to help you along. Then you’ll have something to complain about.