ARE YOU READY for yet another change to your benefits? More money is being taken from our pockets and being wasted in overhauling the benefit system. It seems all very confusing but it basically boils down to less money for the vulnerable, disabled, unemployed and elderly and more in the back pockets of the rich. You will also need a computer and the internet, two costly commodities for your home, which these categories are unlikely to be able to afford or be able to use (15 million people do not have a computer in the U.K., 8,000 of which have never used the internet!). It will mean more job losses for those who work for the benefit system, and cuts to pay and pensions. And for those of you who find it difficult to manage money, have bills coming out all over the month or do not have the time to sort it all out due to kids etc., your benefits will be coming to you in one lump sum! For most this will mean bouncing in and out of your overdraft, paying more money to the banks for the pleasure. You will now not be able to work up to 16 hours a week and claim J.S.A., and anything you work will be deducted from your benefits, so you will end up losing a lot more and having to work for it. The new scheme will be put into action between 2013 and 2017, but we in the southwest will be hit first, starting with the pilot study in Bath and and surrounds. So get ready with your complaint letters, e-mails and phone calls to council and local M.P.s. Go to the benefits office and council house, make a big fuss and egg on the staff to complain to their bosses too! And anything else you may think of to show your anger and stress; it’s time to nip this in the bud now.
