The economy needs a degree of unemployment to allow for the fluidity of capitalism – I was told 4% at school but that seems high. A life on the dole is no real life at all, and not to be envied. I think it comes back to basic poverty – it is not the ability to buy fags or go for a drink, it is the lack of a fallback when the refrigerator or cooker, or heating packs up.
So the government has decided to aim criticism at these people – of whom some may well be scroungers, but most will be unfortunate victims of health or the capitalist system – their 30 years experience is no longer required. Several firms have announced management redundancies recently – should we further humiliate these people by making them go to work in a abattoir, or picking cabbages, or even a care home where their skills are not appropriate.
Yet again the government are being callous, cruel and uncaring.
When I trained as a lawyer I was told one of the principles of the truly great British Legal system was ‘rather than 99 guilty go free than 1 innocent is convicted’. Regarding tax and benefits it seems to be ‘rather 99 tax avoiders go free than 1 benefit scrounger succeeds”?