Poor people are rubbish at being poor, says Iain Duncan Smith and Conservative Baroness Jenkin of Kennington

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It’s truly remarkable that whenever we have a Conservative government, we suddenly witness media coverage of an unprecedented rise in the numbers of poor people who suddenly seem to develop a considerable range of baffling personal ineptitudes and immediately dysfunctional lives.

We see a proliferation of  “skivers” and “scroungers”, an uprising of “fecklessness”, a whole sneaky “culture of entitlement”, “drug addicts”, a riot of general all-round bad sorts, and apparently, the numbers of poor people who suddenly can’t cook a nutritious meal has climbed dramatically, too. We are told that starvation is not because of a lack of money and access to food, but rather, it’s because people don’t know how to budget and cook, that’s according to the Conservative Baroness Jenkin of Kennington.

She recommends that poor people stop avoiding porridge, since it only costs 4 pence a bowl.

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The alarming rise in numbers of adults who have suddenly forgotten how to cook and eat porridge since David Cameron took Office, up to last year.

The very fact that people suddenly and worryingly forget these crucial life-skills under every single Conservative government, but most particularly under this one, provides a darn good reason to vote them out on May 7th, 2015, I should say.

Iain Duncan Smith added: “People are going to food banks because they get divorced, ill or addicted to drugs,  it is “ridiculous” to blame the Government.

It is really rather ridiculous to assume that that every single reason that someone is going to a food bank is down to what the Department for Work and Pensions does.

The report itself today and other reports are also clear and they show there are often people with very dysfunctional lives, people who have been caught in drug addiction, family breakdown, people who have gone into serious illness that aren’t claiming benefits and come into difficulty.”

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Gosh, such a massive rise in “dysfunctional lives”, divorce, family breakdown, serious illness and drug addiction, and all since 2010 – even more reasons to vote them out. This Government has clearly created a tide of social problems, as very few people were incompetently hungry and desperately silly enough to need food banks under the last government. In fact I didn’t even know they existed back then. But that’s the “Big Society” for you. What a bright idea to replace welfare with charity. It’s just like the good old Victorian days. Hurrah!

I mean it’s not as if wealthy people ever suffer from messy divorce, serious illness, family breakdown and drug addiction. That must be why we never see them at food banks.

These people simply need to stop being seriously ill, divorced and all of that, that’s what I say.

A lot of people who specialise in studying poverty have said the welfare “reforms” are behind the rise in food bank use, as well as rising benefit sanctions, low pay and ever-rising living costs. But Iain Duncan Smith seems to know what he’s doing, especially when it comes to talking about “fairness”. Or statistics, for that matter.  You never hear about people starving who don’t have a messed-up life, after all. The man has solved that cause and effect dilemma conveniently and to his discredit, very cheaply. Bravo. We should give him a break, as the poor, inadequate vicious bully defensive man can’t even afford to buy his own underwear.

It’s just a coincidence that the Tory austerity measures have been targeted at the poorest, after all. Nothing to do with those draconian, punitive fair and much-needed cuts to people’s lifeline benefits.

Meanwhile, I’m delighted to see the rise in tax-avoiding, sanctimonious kindly wealthy people preaching Victorian values of thrift, self-help and morality, but only to the poor, of course. We really must learn to manage how to not have the basic requirements for survival better, after all. We’re just going about being paupers all wrong. We all know that increasing absolute poverty is an indulgent lifestyle choice. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to have such an easy time of it, languishing in all of that deprivation, a shorter life and constant cold and hunger? Not to mention such a special social status. It’s so important to know one’s place.

Yes. Poor people are just so incompetent at being impoverished. How utterly selfish. We really ought to make much better use of our absolute poverty. Perhaps we should learn how to announce a flounce from the country, like many of the tight-fisted, selfish, personality disordered,  socially irresponsible hard done by millionaires do, at the prospect of social policy not going quite their way. Some of them were very cross indeed about the very idea of contributing to our economy, and who can blame them. After all, it matters not that poor people starve, as the most important and useful thing for this country is the accumulation of more wealth by an already very wealthy minority. The destruction of our country’s economy, public services, welfare and so many lives is a sacrifice the wealthy are more than happy to pay.

Good thing that David Cameron has obliged their generosity. Phew. The alternative just wouldn’t bear thinking about for those poor millionaires, who are, after all, victims of terrible discrimination, and inequality. Someone has to be, apparently. It’s in the Tory social order rule book. Still, at least we are all better off than Iain Duncan Smith. Most of us are still capable of managing coherence, as money can’t buy that. So we can be cheap and cheerful.

But the rich have obviously forgotten the virtues of porridge and thrift, too.

Perhaps the poor could run budgeting classes for poor, needy millionaires. It seems not many people know that porridge provides the way out of grinding, long-term material deprivation and helps to prevent terrible social problems. Better safe than sorry, I say.

And David Cameron says rich people need looking after. They must be very vulnerable and fragile. I’m sure it will make the mansion tax more palatable, too, for the tax dodging unbearably tortured souls that may have to dip their hands in their vast vaults and pay their way for once endure it. They didn’t mind the bedroom tax, though, despite it being a breach of human rights, and they even managed to stay calm and silent at the destitution and deaths it has caused: they didn’t complain once, bless them. So perhaps they’ll cope with the mansion tax after all.

There’s no porridge on the House of Lord’s menu, either. I feel so sorry for them:

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See what I mean? An example of Baroness Jenkin’s “budgeting skills”, which are subsidised by UK tax-payers. The House of Lords’ 760 peers benefit from an £84 discount on their food every week. The generous cut is more than the weekly Jobseeker’s Allowance, which is just £71. And the subsidy comes on top of the £300-a-day “subsistence” given to peers for each day they attend the Lords, to cover food and accommodation. How do they endure it?

And thinking about it, isn’t it odd that whenever we see the curiously abrupt forgetfulness and sudden ineptitude on the rise amongst the poorest members of the public and their increasingly chaotic, difficult lives, it coincides every time with a significant increase in poverty, inequality, politically manufactured unemployment, a significant rise in the cost of living, poor working conditions and lower wages, and welfare “reforms”.

And a bunch of selfservatives in Office. There’s a correlation there somewhere, isn’t there?

Primary referral causes in 2013-14

Latest foodbank figures top 900,000: life has got worse not better for the poorest in 2013/14, and this is just the tip of the iceberg – The Trussell Trust.

Executive Summary of Emergency Use Only Report.

The just about surviving report

 

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Thanks to Robert Livingstone for his excellent memes

45 thoughts on “Poor people are rubbish at being poor, says Iain Duncan Smith and Conservative Baroness Jenkin of Kennington

  1. What the Fuck would.he know born with.a silver spoon in his mouth and a squadren of nanny’s to wipe his arse. This is England our country. Not yours. Havent you.heard. The meak shall inherit the Earth.

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  2. They could always eat thin gruel, but under no circumstances must they ask for more.
    These people are, as Aneurin Bevan once said, “No attempt at ethical or social seduction can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin”.

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  3. When have you ever heard a Conservative admit its their fault, it is always everyone elses fault but theirs. What they are doing to people is beyond disgusting, I hope we get them out GE2015, but I am afraid that we wont.

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    1. Poor people can still vote, I hope we use this wisely. If they get in again, my faith in the UK public will vanish forever. I will move to France, as I won’t survive another Tory term

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  4. What they mean is the poor don’t always stand tight at will, bow to their ‘masters’ and do as they’re instructed as much today, as required by these devil toffs in Edwardian/Victorian eras. ‘Know Your Place’. In ‘resect’, modern politicians are shit at being modern politicians, mm?

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  5. You probably find it tiresome that I unrelentingly praise your writings. But it is important to note that the Cameron government is finally succumbing to cross-party political pressure and has promised reforms to help stop people from ‘stumbling into’ the process of benefits sanctions.

    It is my belief that the Conservatives are now trying to rehabilitate or soften their image ahead of the next general election, and counter the public perception of themselves as the “nasty party” by offering a few crumbs to the poor.

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  6. What a bunch of rubbish. How many people go to food banks whilst smoking a cigarette? We need educated people running the country not low life. If these people had jobs in industry’s they would earn a fortune over what they get paid in government. Stop winging and make an effort. Conservatism rewards those that make the effort. Socialism rewards the lazy

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    1. No-one goes to a food bank smoking a cigarette – people aren’t allowed to smoke in food banks, but thanks for your speculative right-wing, spiteful horseshit. One has to wonder if they carry their plasma TVs to the food bank, too. Or book their undeserved holidays before their visit. How very dare poor people do anything at all except be poor. And all the gains they made before losing their jobs, well they no longer have any rights to those do they. Just like the Poor Law in 1836, which specifies that poor people must have nothing in order to qualify for support. That meant poor families had to sell the last of their belongings before they could be admitted to the workhouse.

      We do indeed need educated people running the country, and not low life: that is why I won’t be voting for this particularly corrupt, lying, robbing, elitist authoritarian bunch of utter bastards.

      I will make an intelligent choice and vote for the educated and intelligent party – Labour.

      The blog was in fact satire, and not ‘winging’. The comments from Jenkins and IDS thoroughly deserved some lampooning. And you are irritated because that said lampooning exposed how much incoherent drivel these morons pour out to excuse their theft of money from people who paid tax for support when they need it. So much for your comment about rewarding those who try. Most people claiming benefits have worked and paid their taxes. And those who haven’t – very few – pay extortionate VAT rates, which is pretty much the bulk of the treasuries’ income, since the Tories trashed the economy with stupid policies that have seen a massive fall in income tax from the wealthiest.

      Many in the govt have second jobs, and make a fortune investing in private companies, then selling off our public services to profit said companies…see NHS contracts for example. Internationally, the Tories are officially regarded as corrupt, too. Do keep up.

      I guess your understanding limitations excludes you from running for government by your own standards. Good job, since the Conservative party have a full quota of knuckle-dragging thugs.

      Socialism is about recognising the equal worth of every human life, Conservativism is about exploiting the poorest to ensure that the minority of very wealthy people – usually Tory donors and chums – continue to profit at everyone elses’ expense. Tories have fucked up an economy that was in recovery in 2010, by using austerity as a front to steal public tax money, and hand it out to millionaires and big business. Bravo. I know who is lazy, and it ain’t the poor. I know who has the real ‘culture of entitlement’, and it ain’t the poor. I also know you talk shit.

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  7. They have just stopped caring. They are so caught up in the minutiae of being powerful and in government that they have forgotten why they are there. It happened last time they were in power. I think that they consider the House of Commons and the House of Lords as just two very good clubs.  This was demonstrated by the tawdry behaviour of the Portsmouth North MP who inserted certain words into her speech in a debate. She might have been at a meeting of a rugby club or a wardroom on her ship – why go for the Reserve anyway if you are mandated to serve the people who have elected you???? – but it’s all a jape isn’t it, jolly good fun and no regrets: She tweeted that people are free to ‘beat her up’ over it. I don’t think she meant that literally and I don’t think she cares what anyone thinks. Portsmouth is awash with ‘pawnbrokers’ since the dockyards closed and there are probably more than a few hungry people. What is she good for?  Opening events, trying to gatecrash others’ achievements, turning on lights, twittering, making light of the serious job of mismanagement that she has a ministerial salary for?  The slogan should be ‘Good people deserve better’. It is more inclusive than the ‘hard working people’ mantra churned out by that excuse for a PM as many would like to be working but have been scrapped and others are past working age so their hard-working days are over.

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  8. David Cameron and the rest of the Government make me sick I will not be voting for them at all they don’t care how they are recking peoples lifes, the worst thing they did was join the EU and open the gates to everyone then we wonder why the country is in the state it is with paying benefits to people who don’t even live in this country all the money is been claimed here and taken out if the country then theres the NHS Education Police, crime on the increase, but it won’t bother the Government because they maybe able to afford to go private and their not going to get attacked etc cause their protected
    there out for themselves and to make the working class poorest I don’t believe a word he says any more I would mind having their budget to buy food for my family for a week they shouldn’t be such things like food banks in this country this will be a 3rd world country before Cameron and his cronies have done their smug looks iritate me so much.
    I feel like I could say lots more but I won’t.

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    1. The country is in the state it is because of tory policies, not migrants. It’s the tories that introduced austerity cuts, and destroyed our public services. It’s ideological. It’s what tories do. Thatcher did similar destruction to our country, though Cameron’s bunch of thugs are much worse and have gone further.

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      1. I know Thatcher started it all of and I think Cameron will finish it I’m not totally blaming the migrants and know that its our Government fault for bringing in these policies it just gets on my nerves when I also have a disabled son and we are having to fight to try and keep it open and I will keep fighting . It always seems to be the more needy and the poorest that are a target all the time.

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      2. I know. I’m disabled myself, and agree that we are the target all the time. There’s been times I have been very angry that it is those of us least able to fight that are doing so. Lost a little faith in my fellow countrymen and women this past 4 years.

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  9. Another eternity of snobbery with violence by Duncan ” arbeit macht frei ” smith.
    Even the bloody army couldn’t stomach him.
    How much is he trousering in agricultural subsidies for his estate again ?

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