British Workers Wanted - Channel 4

You have the whole day/week/month to wash your cloths by hand in the bath if you are unemployed.

Whatever :-)

How many? And why should people who are genuinely seeking work be punished for those few?

If it ever works.....

I doubt it. And, even if there were, how many would be capable of doing them? I've said this before and I will repeat it; I have worked with people who are so useless, that it would be better to pay them to do nothing rather than to screw up in a job.

That's a catch-22. Many employers don't want to train people and it is risk for people to pay for training if they have little money.

That's a false assertion. Many employers prefer to employ EU migrants than UK citizens.

In cold water, I assume you mean.

Not these days in London. It has been capped to below market value.

Great, but I must assume he had a decent pension which enabled him to go to college.

That's not proof. It's an assertion.

But the notion that cutting benefits will force everyone into taking a job is standard Tory mantra. Doesn't matter if it works or not. Or who it hurts.

Many have private pensions too.

I get council tax discount as a single person. What heating discount are you talking about?

Depends how much you make use of it. Morally, it would make sense to give free travel to the unemployed, to make it easier to go looking for work.

It depends on lots of things. Some existing OAPs will be contracted out of SERPS. Self employed can get a lower pension unless entitled to more for various reasons.

I'm talking about the basic pension that all will be getting.

That will wake them up properly...

Err, all summer we have had endless strikes on Southern and Thameslink because ASLEF had joined the RMT in a dispute that was about 'safety'.

Lo and behold, by accepting the chance to earn up to £72,000 a year, the safety issue seems to have been quietly dumped.

In other words it was a dispute about money all along.

They're going to have a shock. Driverless trains and tubes are going to be a much easier implemented reality than driverless cars and HGV's.

Watch this space.

You will find that you can go to college for free if you are unemployed.

So they should move.

Many people would like to live in London, but cannot afford to.

Just fine to have to get into debt during that period, then? Or to need help from family and friends?

Thing is lots of out of touch MPs etc say they could easily live on the basic state unemployment benefit until they find a job, which would be easy too. Until actually put to the test.

That is total bollocks.

And they pay no NI. Nor do their employers (13.8% and no upper limit).

NI is just tax with a cuddly name. The link to benefits vanished years ago.

Hopefully Spreadsheet Phil will shut this loophole because it is a blatant subsidy that benefits one section of society.

You can buy a pass that gives unlimited travel in London - similar to the Freedom pass.

No retired person lives on £119 a week. Pension credits make it up to £8000 per year and then opens the doors to other juicy benefits.