General Chat

Sue - one benefit particularly enrages me - e.g. a man arrives here from Romania (could be any country in E.U.) his wife and 8 children are still in Romania - then explain to me how he can claim child benefit for each of his children and get it. Talk about streets paved with gold.

That is wrong.

I suppose I am a migrant of sorts - am only second generation born English - roots are in the Isle of Man.

That is wrong.

It doesn't bother me at all to be called a 'migrant' although having arrived here as a child I consider myself to be Australian with British heritage - something I'm proud of. I certainly don't think of it as an insulting or rascist word.

It is the sweeping generalisations that annoy me. The idea that all migrants are sponging off the government. No Human Rights? Aren't we supposed to be a compassionate society? Do we deny migrants medical help, housing and other basic needs? The government of the time invited a number of Somalian refugees to settle in this country. Knowing the life they led in their country during the ongoing bloodbath I don't think I could tell them to get back to their own country to a certain death.

Sue

IGP

Yes we are talking about all the benefits the immigrants get that they haven't paid a penny into the system for..yet Pensioners that are on maybe a penny over the amount that the goverment say that they are allowed to live on DON'T get any help at all even though they have paid Nat Ins,Income Tax all their working lives and don't have any savings.
Like paying full rent and council tax and water rates and all the other bills the pensioners have to eke their pension out on including food.

We should certainly come out of the EU and the Human Rights system as thats what immigrants scream if they don't get the amount of money and all benefits they want.Yet the goverment are still letting them in and never mind the people that were born here who could do with a helping hand now and again.

I didn't think this debate was to do with pensions,

We are talking about Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance etc for which most recipients haven't paid a single penny for in the first place.

As I said, all agreed by the previous (Labour) government.

I think most people know what is going on IGP. What is upsetting to some is that the benefit to incomers is far greater than to our own people who have paid Tax and National Insurance all their working lives and although they are Pensioners are still paying Tax.
As I have said, the Old Age Pension is about £100, increasing by 25p per week at age 80.

There seems to be a lot of "Blood Boiling" going on from people who haven't got the faintest clue what is going on here.

What we are really talking about here is that there will be a (relatively) small number of additional people from Europe who will soon legally be entitled to receive additional benefits as was agreed by the previous government back in 2004.

Rita, Probably something to do with the anti-discrimination laws hat have appeared in the past ten years. Just as you can't call a person from Liverpool a Scouser, or one from Pakistan a shortened version of his country in case you might be called a racialist.

Rita, are you referring to Sue's post? I think she's bothered about generalisations about immigrants not about words itself

1. What is the change that is going to happen on 1 May 2011?

The Worker Registration Scheme (‘WRS’) will no longer exist.
Any A8 national will be able to access income-based Jobseeker’s
Allowance, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit by signing on as
a jobseeker at Jobcentre Plus and meeting the requirements imposed
on British Citizen jobseekers.
Any A8 worker in work will be able to access in-work benefits
regardless of whether she has registered with the WRS. Many A8
workers who are out of work who could not access benefits in the past
because they had not registered or had not completed enough time in
registered work will be able to access benefits.
In brief, the rights of A8 nationals will be brought in line with the
rights of other EEA nationals.
In theory, these changes could come in before 1 May 2011. However,
the Government cannot keep the current system in place after that date.
There are no exceptions to this.
This is the short answer. The questions below break this down in
detail and provide information on the rights of EEA nationals to access
benefits generally.

2. Who are A8 nationals?

These are citizens of the eight countries that acceded to the European Union on 1 May
2004: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and
Slovenia. This category does not include Bulgarian and Romanian nationals (‘A2
nationals’), who are discussed in further detail below (question 8).

3. What is the current situation of EU migrants in the UK (including, for
example, French or Portuguese nationals) accessing benefits?
Some benefits have a ‘right to reside’ test attached to them. These include Housing
Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance,

Hi Suemaid,

I also am a migrant (from Scotland to England) so I know what it is like to be an ethnic minority

Hi Leith Lassie,

My most humble apologies - it is more than 6 months since I was last in Edinburgh and that was to Mortonhall for the funeral of a friend from the Bonnyrigg area.
I had not heard about the hotel on Calton Hill.

I thought I remembered you passing a comment about not getting your snow cleared and I thought you said something about the Bonnyrigg area.

My apologies again -- old age has caught up.

What an eye opener this thread is. As some of you have said, let us come out of the EU, stop giving aid to China and Russia - I was unaware of that and get our own country back on track, without all the cheating which is going on.

Sue in Leeds - how much full benefit will these immigrants get for May 2011.

We have a special anniversary this weekend, and I have bought a small joint of beef (under seven pounds price), and a cream cake. That is our treat! But how we look forward to it, and the joint will hopefully last us between two and three days.

Ann - I do hope you can get your leaking roof fixed. Disgraceful that others are given so much, and you, having paid your insurance, etc., cannot claim.

Maggie I daren't get my blood pressure machine out of the cupboard.1

It's just been on "The Politics Show""that all imigrants will get full benefits from May 2011..

Bleddy Disgusting...

This has got my blood boiling too Chris.
We are pensioners on basic pension and have a leaking roof. As it is our own property and we do not have any savings at all we cannot get any help to repair it.Our house insurance said it was wear and tear so no luck there. If we were Asylum seekers we would get housed and money given to us for not doing anything.
Dont get me wrong I do feel sorry for the majority of these people but we have worked hard and made sacrifices all our lives but when we need help the doors are closed.
I'd better stop now before I really go into one. haha
Ann

I do understand your point Chris - however sometimes when discussing emotive issues like this generalisations creep in and people are seen to be intolerant of anyone who isn't of the same background, race or religion.

Believe me, it works both ways. How many of you have been called "whinging Poms" - me and my parents have on a number of occasions in the early days and yet my parents loved Australia the minute we arrived and settled very well.

Sue

Sue - only those who arrive here and who do not want to work or contribute to the country they have chosen.

There are - as I have already said - plenty here whose families probably go back a few hundred years - will neither work nor want.

We have MPs and civil servants abusing the system - contractors supplying goods to the civil service and armed forces and charging extortionate prices. We cannot afford new planes/ships, sacking soldiers - just pray no one attacks us for a few years.

Phyllis - I would be first in queue to vote - Labour refused us a reforendum - Cameron should give us one.

Don't you think it's time we had a 'no confidence vote in the Government'?
Get out of the Eu and get our Country back for us.

I'm a migrant:-( Is this thread against all migrants or just some?

Sue

In todays Daily mxxl - in one day in a court 23 persons (not migrants by their names and photos) charged with defrauding a total of £250,000 between them all - all separate cases.

Hi,
Lovely to read all your letters and kept up to date with the going on in GB. I too get a small pension from GB because I worked there until I was married. Nice to know I'll have a big rise next birthday - 80!
We also have an immigrant problem with immigrants being provided with a house fully furnished with NEW furniture, washing machine (could wash by hand as they have plenty of time!).
I had no washing machine until my third child was born!
Like Christ I could go on and on and on.
Syljo

Robert. Naw, a dinnae stey in dalkeith/bonnyrigg noo lol
It's on CALTON HILL !!!!

Hi Leith Lassie (fae Dalkeith/ Bonnyrigg area),

I didn't know about the Hotel on Calton Hill - even the asylum seekers allowance wouldn't pay for a night in the new hotel on George iv Bridge!!