A very simple fact which left leaning people don't seem able to accept. You cannot continuously spend money you don't have.
If you try to, you will run into serious trouble. The principal is true whether its our household finances or our national economy.
Every Labour Govt. has done it (as did Osborne) and it always ended in tears, but they keep doing it.
Einstein,s definition of madness comes to mind.
Enough money to 'bribe' the DUP with £1 billion?
Enough money to find £100 billion for our 'European chums'?
Is this money we have or don't have?
As a taxpayer, if £1 billion was the price of making sure Corbyn didn't get so much as asniff of power, then its the best spent £1 billion of my tax money, in living memory.
As for our "European chums" I wouldn't give them a brass farthing. In fact we could send them a bill for a couple of trillion or so, for rescuing them from Hitler. They certainly didn't have the balls to rescue themselves.
I do have some sympathy for people who have been on benefits long term and become virtually unemployable, because they were put in that position as part of a very cynical political game.
Brown basically made the welfare state a free for all, where anyone could tell a few porkies, or have a few kids, and get a monthly cheque bigger than the pay cheque of the average person in work.
Once in that system with little hope of escape, they were trapped in the classic Socialist trap, where the state takes care of you, the state controls everything, you have no ambition, genuine pride, no reason to want to better yourself etc. etc.
The only thing you need to do is vote Labour at every election and you don't have to worry about anything ever again.
I would like to see the Govt actually create jobs for disabled people where they could learn some skills and take some pride in earning their way in the world.
Istr there was some such scheme but Osborne withdrew funding ?
I'm mildly disabled but have worked all my life. Stephen Hawking is terribly physically disabled, but blessed with an IQ in 4 figures, he has worked all his life.
If the opportunities exist, most disabled people could do some kind of work.
To just assume they cant and pay them to sit at home, is an insult to them imo.
Of course, if people are very seriously disabled or in very poor health we as a society should take car of them. If someone who has worked for many years suddenly loses their job, they shouldn't starve. They should have food, heat, shelter and support to get back into employment.
However, when we have the usual suspects screaming from the rooftops because welfare is limited to less than £600 pw, per household, when the vast majority of working households don't have that amount coming in, then we really are in la la land.