Soldier fights for housing rights

[Satch]

On Radio 5 live

BBC - BBC Radio 5 live Programmes - Victoria Derbyshire, 30/04/2010

There were parts of this where I just wanted to break things, particularly those who have managed to create this state of affairs and done nothing about it for years

 

[swannymere]

Didn't Maggie (satan) sell off all the council accommodation? That's the primary reason why this happens.

 

[Chrishazle]

IIRC it was a case of giving tenants the right to buy their property, with a discount dependant on the number of years they had been renting it from the council. This got loads of people inot their own houses instead of rented, as well as giving them a nice little profit if they later sold. We noticed how much better kept properties became when ex council houses became privately owned - people take more care of something they own. So, your comment about it being the primary reason is pure unadulterated BS.

That does not change the basic reason for this thread though - it is disgraceful that our ex servicemen are not better treated in so many ways. It is especially galling when compared to the treatment of immigrant families, asylum seekers, young single mothers and all the others that "queue jump" council housing lists.

Hopefully next week sees the beginning of the changes needed, and we will begin to get rid of the "something for nothing", I want it now but someone else can pay, compensation culture, PC brigade, burocracy etc that has so blighted our society.

 

[corned]

Well said that man!

 

[ringway]

I try to steer clear of this sort of thread because I could be branded with the racist/right wing tag... or worse.

However, this once Great Britain IS now a complete disgrace.

A few years ago, someone in my former town someone was selling a car in the Auto Trader for £3650.00.

Some "people new to this country" came to view the car and asked if they could pay by cheque? "Not unless you are prepared to wait for the funds to clear before you take the car" was the polite answer.

The new to the country people came back with £150.00 deposit in cash and a cheque for £3500.00. Deal done.

When the seller had a closer look at the cheque, their suspicions were aroused because the cheque was from the Social Security Dept (or whatever they call it these days). The seller calls Social Security, they ask for the cheque number and confirm that all is OK and that the car is a welcoming gift from the UK to enable the newbie’s to go forth and prosper.

Around the same time an elderly couple I know were in a desperate situation.

Although aged he is 6’5” tall and she is 4’4” short and as thin as a lat.

The old man had the misfortune to have a stroke and could not climb the stairs. His wife could not help him up the stairs – she could barely lift a bag of sugar.

They are council tenants (small council property and they ARE poor) and applied to the local council for a stair-lift to help the old man upstairs.

They were refused the grant for the stair-lift because the old man received too much money to qualify for the grant.

The reason he was deemed to have too much money is because he fought for this country and received a war pension.

His war pension sent him over the limit for help by £11.25p per month. That’s £2.86p per week.

So now they have their bed downstairs in the tiny sitting room (very cramped) so they can be together.

The upshot:
People who defended our country and worked hard and contributed to the system get little help.

New arrivals to the UK who have not contributed in any way to the country’s wellbeing seem to get all the help they need… for free.

The above is just the sort of thing that the BNP thrive on.

Before anyone calls me a racist, why not take a look at the contacts in my mobile phone and emails… I share many friends from all religions/faiths/walks of life and have great times with all of them.

One family I know came to the UK in 1956 with nothing (and I mean nothing) and have built a fantastic thriving business (it can’t have been easy) and I really do admire them for this.

But for Gordon Brown & Co to leave a soldier and his wife stricken in their own home whilst handing out “freebies” to people from other countries…

There, you've made me say it now.

 

[ringway]

To add spice to the above!



Bankers splash out £30K at lap-dancing club


Earlier this week a group of bankers celebrated their bumper bonuses by splashing out almost £30,000 - in a lap-dancing club.
The suited City boys blew the astonishing sum in less than three hours.
They spent more than £13,000 on "VIP" dances, £11,500 on champagne, £2,000 on caviar, foie gras and lobster - and then left a £2,000 tip.

An onlooker at Secrets in East London said: "It was astonishing. Bankers are meant to be tightening their belts but they were spending money like it was going out of fashion.
"The men were joking about how much fun they were having spending their bonuses."


Secrets boss Stephen Less said: "It's one of the biggest bills we've had."



So that's were my tax goes then.

 

[Darrell]

I left the Uk because of items reported in post no 5.

 

[andy_k]

I left the Uk because of items reported in post no 5.

and went to Greece because they have a government you can be proud of and really sound finances

I'm not sure on the soldiers story.

Do we (the state) have a duty to house every single person that volunteers to join the armed forces or is this just because he got injured whilst at work? In which case do we have a duty to rehome every single victim of an industrial accident?

He's 22 and by the looks of him is well on the way to recovery, why doesn't he just get a job and rent somewhere privately?

Probably because that wouldn't make a good story and because he is too busy doing charity work

Southwark News - Bermondsey - News

nothing wrong with a bit of self publicity is there?

He is not a priority case in Southwark, nor would he be in any other area in the country

If anybody/organisation has a duty of care to him it is the army but he left that of his own accord because he couldn't return to frontline duties even though they offered him other work after he was injured - it says on the news he receives an army pension.

 

[ringway]

Do we (the state) have a duty to house every single person that volunteers to join the armed forces

The old guy to whom I was referring in post #5 wouldn't have had much choice in the matter.

Imagine HAVING to go..

Leaving behind loved ones, living in torrid conditions and facing the prospect of dying at any given time... And having to kill another human being..

I'd be scared sh!tless and worried to death, and I wonder how all concerned actually get over such an awful experience. Nightmare!

 

[andy_k]

Hopefully next week sees the beginning of the changes needed, and we will begin to get rid of the "something for nothing", I want it now but someone else can pay, compensation culture, PC brigade, burocracy etc that has so blighted our society.

yes, that would probably be a good thing, let's start with Southwark (the borough in question here) becasue housing strategy/policy is a local government issue , not a national one.

right then, who's running Southwark council at the moment then? Oh, that would be a Lib Dem/Tory alliance

 

[andy_k]

The old guy to whom I was referring in post #5 wouldn't have had much choice in the matter.

Imagine HAVING to go..

Leaving behind loved ones, living in torrid conditions and facing the prospect of dying at any given time... And having to kill another human being..

I'd be scared sh!tless and worried to death, and I wonder how all concerned actually get over such an awful experience. Nightmare!

Completely different set of circumstances and I agree that we do owe people like that something butrather than a staircase, surely a move to a bungalow or a single level warden aided complex would have been more suitable for such elderly and frail people?

 

[ringway]

Completely different set of circumstances and I agree that we do owe people like that something butrather than a staircase, surely a move to a bungalow or a single level warden aided complex would have been more suitable for such elderly and frail people?

Agreed.

That would be ideal but more expensive than a stairlift. They're not asking for much, perhaps the equivalent of an hour's worth of Champagne drunk by the bankers using taxpayer's money.

 

[Oily Rag]

I am digusted and outraged at this sort of situation, and whoever/whatever party/council is to blame for this atrocity, should be brought to bear, before the COUNTRY and made to justify itself.
I believe we need to tell those who control all our tax revenue, that charity begins and should remain at home until our countrymen/women are catered for FIRST AND FOREMOST. case in point, I defy anyone to name another european country you can enter, and without a job or house or transport and with children and spouse in tow, to get Housed, Get Mobile, Helped into work, Educated, Free Hospitals/Doctors, Fed, Clothed AND get Benefits, etc,etc,etc, and get welcomed into the fold. Whilst our pensioners and Disabled people and Servicemen/women are having to grovel to get by, Go on NAME ONE. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Other than US.!

 

[andy_k]

every seemingly rich country will tell you they have the same problems.

How about the USA all the homeless war vets living on the streets because they can't get into community housing because of all the immigrants? Or the people of New Orleans abandoned by a government that continues to allow illegal immigrants to claim social security?


How about Germany? the people there are using the same arguments about immigrants getting benefits and so called preferential treatment

There are plenty more but you only asked for one

 

[CE230]

IIRC it was a case of giving tenants the right to buy their property, with a discount dependant on the number of years they had been renting it from the council. This got loads of people inot their own houses instead of rented, as well as giving them a nice little profit if they later sold. We noticed how much better kept properties became when ex council houses became privately owned - people take more care of something they own. So, your comment about it being the primary reason is pure unadulterated BS.

Not quite, Maggie also ensured that the council's couldn't reinvest the money in building more houses so now you have a situation where they are either built in partnership with a housing association and a mix of rented and owned. HA property rents are not cheap or affordable for a lot of people.

A lot of the buyers of council properties defaulted on their mortgages too as they couldn't afford the 15% interest brought about by Maggie. Many councils lost tens of 1,000's and eventually sold all their mortgages rather than support those few costing local tax payers a lot of money.

 

[andy_k]

selling off council houses was not a way of 'empowering the poor', it was quite the opposite, it was making sure they couldn't strike like the miners did.

No longer could they go to the council and say they couldn't pay their rent because they weren't at work and have a sympathetic council allow them to run up arrears for the duration of the strike. Nope, they would be dealing with banks who would be a whole lot less sympathetic - no work = no house = no long strikes.

Sadly, taking away the safety net of council housing results in threads like these but it could never be Maggie's fault could it?

Just as an aside, did all the Falkland's 'heroes' get council accomodation on their return?

 

[para alpha]

I try to steer clear of this sort of thread because I could be branded with the racist/right wing tag... or worse.

However, this once Great Britain IS now a complete disgrace.

A few years ago, someone in my former town someone was selling a car in the Auto Trader for £3650.00.

Some "people new to this country" came to view the car and asked if they could pay by cheque? "Not unless you are prepared to wait for the funds to clear before you take the car" was the polite answer.

The new to the country people came back with £150.00 deposit in cash and a cheque for £3500.00. Deal done.

When the seller had a closer look at the cheque, their suspicions were aroused because the cheque was from the Social Security Dept (or whatever they call it these days). The seller calls Social Security, they ask for the cheque number and confirm that all is OK and that the car is a welcoming gift from the UK to enable the newbie’s to go forth and prosper.

Around the same time an elderly couple I know were in a desperate situation.

Although aged he is 6’5” tall and she is 4’4” short and as thin as a lat.

The old man had the misfortune to have a stroke and could not climb the stairs. His wife could not help him up the stairs – she could barely lift a bag of sugar.

They are council tenants (small council property and they ARE poor) and applied to the local council for a stair-lift to help the old man upstairs.

They were refused the grant for the stair-lift because the old man received too much money to qualify for the grant.

The reason he was deemed to have too much money is because he fought for this country and received a war pension.

His war pension sent him over the limit for help by £11.25p per month. That’s £2.86p per week.

So now they have their bed downstairs in the tiny sitting room (very cramped) so they can be together.

The upshot:
People who defended our country and worked hard and contributed to the system get little help.

New arrivals to the UK who have not contributed in any way to the country’s wellbeing seem to get all the help they need… for free.

The above is just the sort of thing that the BNP thrive on.

Before anyone calls me a racist, why not take a look at the contacts in my mobile phone and emails… I share many friends from all religions/faiths/walks of life and have great times with all of them.

One family I know came to the UK in 1956 with nothing (and I mean nothing) and have built a fantastic thriving business (it can’t have been easy) and I really do admire them for this.

But for Gordon Brown & Co to leave a soldier and his wife stricken in their own home whilst handing out “freebies” to people from other countries…

There, you've made me say it now.

Well I sort of agree with you there.... My mum who is now 69 was diagnosed with cancer last year. It's been quite bad at times... Her treatment involved aggressive radio therapy. Anyway, she needed a Stair lift because she couldn't climb the stairs as the radio therapy made her very weak. Long story short, She was knocked back on the stair lift by the DWP. SO, I had to use my British Legion ticket to get her one. But, 4 years ago when she had her 3 heart attack, she got a ground floor toilet fitted with funds from the British Legion under my fathers name... She moved from the house with the ground floor toilet as the housing association had sold the land to the company who own ASDA. There excuse was the properties where beyond improvement...

 

[swannymere]

So, your comment about it being the primary reason is pure unadulterated BS.

That was just my point of view, thanks for taking it so personally (the internet IS serious business )

 

[chiefski26]

if people cant afford stair lifts at the age they need them they should have done better in life and have earnt/saved enough for things like this and no one should get a council home,work and buy your own.simple.

 

[andy_k]

if people cant afford stair lifts at the age they need them they should have done better in life and have earnt/saved enough for things like this and no one should get a council home,work and buy your own.simple.

post election Tory policy leak