Freinds without Benefits (C4)

[fatguyranting]

Anyone watch this? Soul destroying stuff.

I work with people going through new UC claims and fucking despair at the moment. Trying to evidence job searches with no computer access. Local libraries with free internet access closed the majority of days in the week due to council funding cuts. Assessors with just a few weeks training over turning the decisions of GP's with decades of medical experience. Two hours waits on the phone. Benefits cut for arriving ten minutes late to appointments. People expected to commute 90 mins each way to do a few hours work on zero hours contracts.

'They're still smoking fags though', says Mumsnet and the daily Mail comments section.

Wankers.

[Icehaven]

I saw the trailer for this and honestly thought it was a spoof documentary. At the last public library I worked in over 4 years ago we used to help people who came in who had to print out lists of jobs they'd applied for on the jobmatch website, and it was a right palaver, and they had to do that every week, week in week out, total waste of their, and our, and everyone's time. Unbelievable it's actually got worse.

I saw an ad on a bus shelter the other day that had a picture of a nice smartly dressed woman standing in a clean, brightly lit office, and the wording was something like ''Universal Credit makes sure you're better off in work'', because it's that simple, just make benefits less than minimum wage and everyone will magically get a job and be better off. Really betrays their attitude that they think most people on benefits are doing it by choice.