United Nations report on poverty in the U.K.

[meridian]

Risky posting this in General, but it’s a sobering read of the current state of the lives of many people.

OHCHR | Statement on Visit to the United Kingdom, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

[Hobosapien]

The government should initiate an expert assessment of the cumulative impact of tax and spending decisions since 2010 and prioritize the reversal of particularly regressive measures, including the benefit freeze, the two-child limit, the benefit cap, and the reduction of the housing benefit for under-occupied social rented housing.

Wrong.

The benefit system was designed to support those that genuinely needed it but over the decades has been manipulated by successive governments to allow abuse of the system by:

1. Benefit lifestylers. Exploiting the benefits given to families so as parents they don't have to work.

2. Business. By supporting low wages via working tax credits many choose to work part time and top up via tax credits than work full time.

3. Landlords. Housing benefit propping up rents allowing Borrow To Let to become an easy investment vehicle, further reducing the available first time buyer housing, forcing many into 'generation rent' and a vicious cycle.

Remove all the parasites and let the system support those that genuinely need it.

[tazdevil]

Remove all the parasites and let the system support those that genuinely need it.

Such as these:

1. Bed blocker 1
2. Bed blocker 2

[meridian]

Wrong.

The benefit system was designed to support those that genuinely needed it but over the decades has been manipulated by successive governments

That's what the UN report is saying - that it is a government-created problem.

Remove all the parasites and let the system support those that genuinely need it.

This contradicts the above. If the system has been manipulated by governments, then by definition "letting" the system support those that genuinely need it won't work. The systematic abuse by governments of the poor and underprivileged under the guise of "austerity" needs to change before we will see any progress.

Such as these:

1. Bed blocker 1
2. Bed blocker 2

Random dog-whistle Daily Mail edge cases? No thanks. Nothing to do with millions of people on or under the breadline.