Star’s front row seat for sporting history
- Local newspaper week
Letter: Why work?
Thursday 11th March 2010, 8:27AM GMT.
Letter: New Labour’s recycled mantra of “a future fair for all” merely translates into robbing Peter to pay Paul, and has undermined the incentive to work hard to provide for one’s own needs. Far easier to sit back and reap the rewards of others.
Of course, this is quite unsustainable, but from a political point of view this virtually guarantees the votes of the recipients.
Take for example the glut of non-means tested services enjoyed by those living in devolved parts of the UK as opposed to those residing in England.
But is this “fair” on the diminishing number of net contributors? Surely endeavour should be rewarded?
We need to regain a genuine sense of fairness.
Short-term political incentives have created a benefits-led culture where those who are prepared to work or save or take responsibility for there own welfare are increasingly penalised.
This is neither fair or democratic. I converse frequently with my eastern European neighbours, ambitious and industrious people, whose work ethic is such that at first they simply can’t understand why the British are reluctant to work for a living. But they’re learning fast.
Ironically, although they relish the fact that EU membership has allowed them admission to the relative freedoms and affluence of our country, one of their main fears seems to be that having just escaped from generations of communist oppression, Britain is about to fall into the same trap.
A J Willetts
Craven Arms
Sponsored Links
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
LIVE traffic updates
Road, rail and airport - latest
Our new, live traffic and travel updates service - check before you set out.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
Quite. Work hard and save and the government will reward you by taking your house and savings off you when you eventually need expensive residential nursing care. Sponge off the state and contribute nothing and society when happily pick up the tab for everything. Who are the fools? I think I know!
Report abuse
speaking as an unemployed ne’er do well relaxing on my £9 per day benefit and watching elderly relatives living on the lowest pension in europe,i must agree.if the eastern europeans like to work for peanuts and live 6 to a room why not the rest of the great unwashed.In fact the great pool of child labour should be brought back into service, what a waste!
Hohum wonder which party mr willets will be voting for come the election?
Report abuse
By the time I’ve paid my income tax, NI contributions, student loan, pension, car loan to get to work plus road tax, insurance, wear and tear, and then my poll tax, prescriptions, eye tests and all other bills I’m left with about £9 a day too.
Report abuse
An odd and ill-researched letter, which fails to take account of the complexities of the issues.
Firstly, benefit levels are not high – many of those who have sadly lost their jobs in the banker’s recession will have found themselves with £60-odd quid a week for 6 months – whilst unemployed they may also have qualified for certain ‘fringe’ benefits – e.g. free prescriptions, eye tests and dental treatment, but that’s about it for many people.
With resepct to the long-term unemployed, I think we need to look back further than the current government to the major changes made to our economy as markets being opend up globalisation ensured that much of our manufacturing industry and the unskilled/low-skilled jobs that went with it (and sadly many of the skilled jobs too!) went abroad.
As a result a generation grew up in the 80′s and early nineties with no working role models, and we now have a second-generation of such individuals. Sadly the great service-industry boom was never going to provide jobs for these people.
I’ve often said in these pages that we need to shift the value of secondary benefits (e.g. housing benefit) to those in low-paid employment, in order to establish a better advantage to being in work, as opposed to being out of it.
We also need to keep increasing the minimum wage – too many employers are simply using this as a means of boosing profits by the use of cheap labour. I fear that under any incoming Tory government we would see this frozen in the long-term – don’t forget that the Tories never supported the idea of a minimum in the first place.
As for the suggestion that Britain is about to ‘fall into a trap of oommunist oppression’ – what a wild and paranoid exaggeration! We haven’t even had a mildly socialist government in this country for decades now – let alone anything approaching communism
Report abuse
When will we accept that useless career politicians not bankers started the ball rolling and the New Labour disaster years of tax and waste, spin and lies have completed the job! The Country is finished.I’m sick of the taxation and dreadful services. A sad little dirty island in north west Eurozone.
Report abuse
Couldn’t agree more
Report abuse
What annoys me is how much child care costs. My nursery fee for a normal (far from posh) nursery is between £700 and £900 a month. Ouch you might say. Yes I get a tax incentive by getting £243 in a voucher from my wages before my tax is taken out, but this leaves our family with very little a month. The only benefit we get is £80 a month child benefit. I really wanted to come back to work and I am sure there are many other people struggling like me or not going to work because of the cost of childcare. I know we get free sessions when the child is 3years old but so do those poeple that dont work and dont want to work. Surely they could help us out. Charge us a nominal fee or give us half price nursery aslong as we can prove we work full time. This would encourage more people to work. And why do you only get benefits when you earn up to £15,999. If you earn that much you can make your wages up to £30k without lifting a finger all you have to do is fill in a form once or twice a year. You might have guessed but benefits really annoy me!
Report abuse
Anyone who has been in work and lost their job would find the benefits a bare minimum and certainly not generous, but far too many people who are work shy seem to prefer to be on benefits and have managed to adapt to living on them. The minimum wage doesn’t really come into it, I have to pay for everything and as someone else said, I’ve got no spare cash to show for my efforts. What we’re missing in this country is any standardized work ethic. Some work themselves stupid by choice, others by necessity and some can’t be bothered to get out of bed to do any work at all, never mind whether it’s hard, dirty or uncomfortable. The government’s answer to that was immigration, hence the country has been flooded with hard working, uncomplaining, eastern europeans. Our country is filthy, there’s plenty of street sweeping and the like, to be done. Make the work shy get out of bed to earn their money if nothing else, as for the recently unemployed, it might boost their confidence and self esteem to be pro active in their community and doubtless, they would be keen to earn extra rewards for productivity or completion of community projects. The work ethic in this country needs to be restructured, taught and balanced.
Report abuse
Yes ‘A future fair for all’ is an abhorrent concept. Come on let’s march on Westminster – “What do we want – Not fairness ! Who do we want it for – Not Everyone ! When do we want it – Not in the Future!”
Report abuse
Okay. I’m thick. That’s gone right over my head. What is the point which your irritation prevented you from making clearly?
Report abuse
you keep on working, smoking, drinking and paying taxes. i am doing very well out of new labour with my pension. people with long memories and the grey vote will ensure a labour victory of 18
Report abuse
A J Willetts states “Ironically, although they relish the fact that EU membership has allowed them admission to the relative freedoms and affluence of our country, one of their main fears seems to be that having just escaped from generations of communist oppression, Britain is about to fall into the same trap”…and your evidence is?
Peter, articulate an reasoned as ever. Nistagmus, your lack of subtlety is succinct, to the point and spot on!
Report abuse