Paris is burning.

And another great Scottish initiative. The Pregnancy and Baby Payment will come into effect next week offering £600 payment for a first baby or £300 for another other baby.

Once again,  another reason why I love living in such a caring and giving country.

At least I can still take advantage of our free prescriptions and the free minor ailments service.

I'm just glad I live in Scotland. Next April, everyone in Scotland is eligible for medication on the Minor Ailments Formulary. There will no longer be eligibility requirements.  More free meds, for everyone!

Unless a Labour  government get in. They have already talked about endng the 15+ billion year and rising, that is given to Scotland every year by England and Wales,  just  to fill Scotland's ever growing financial black hole (spending more than they make).

Labour said they would distibute that 15 billion across all poor areas across Britain instead. e.g Glasgow would still get that extra money per head, but not richer places in Scotland like Edinburgh, Aberdeen etc (as happens now) and poor areas of England and Wales would then start to receive more per head from that 15 billion e.g.  Cornwall, Blackpool, North Wales, Lincolnshire etc  It's a vote winner

Yes, you do like to repeat yourself. 

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It the government who decide if a system is being abused; as has happenedd here with the welfare changes too. These Welfare Reforms actually started when there was a Labour government and have then carried on with all the following governments as they saw it as abuse too. New laws take years to go through.

I didn't say anything about whichever party did what.

You can call something what you like,

Well, yes, but you're wrong about what constitutes "abuse."

but if the system is being abused by too many, then it comes to the attention of the government and they shut it down.

You're getting the order wrong, and in doing so blaming the people who use the system rather than the government that created it.

The system is devised and put in place by the government, and THEN people use it. If the government is not happy with the manner in which the system is working, it is not the fault of the people who are playing by the rules.

Yes, you do like to repeat yourself. 

I cut and paste to your reply because you had already said the same thing before this week

Scotland has the worst GDP of any western country, even worse than Greece and you can see all the poverty in Greece. Or perhaps you don't know?

Even the SNP know they can't rely on England and Wales to continue giving them 15 billion a year, year after year, and rising, because they are spending more than Scotland makes.

The first of the tax rises in Scotland gave them just over 2 billion, but they then just  lost that money, so still 15 billion they needed to be given from England and Wales that year. Do they keep raising taxes in Scotland? Or make cuts in their spending on public services?

Sirius, I'm afraid your distinction between Abuse and Fraud is just pedantic.  Even your own examples don't make much sense as pointed out by Camoscato.

You still haven't given any sensible reply to the meat of what I said, that most members of the public vastly over-estimate the amount of Fraud/Abuse/whatever you want to call it as part of the overall amount of social spending.  And they also vastly overestimate the amount of the entire social spending budget as compared to everything else.  Low information voters typically think we spend as much on foreign aid as the NHS.  And the reason they can't get a same day doctor's appointment is because  of all those unmarried mother's claiming welfare.   This ignorance is exploited by right wingers to sow division and stop people from blaming the real culprits, Tories, who have underspent on the NHS for years in the name of austerity.   

The abuse you point out may be happening at some level and the government is making changes to adjust the rules.  Big Deal.  Why get so excited about it?  Why take such joy in the misfortune of others, even at Christmas?   Each of those families are a group of struggling people with kids, who are growing up in awful circumstances.   For you to gleefully post about things that make it harder for those people is a bit gross.   We can humiliate the crap out of everyone on "welfare" and it's not going to save enough money to save the NHS because the abuse that makes you so excited is just not that widespread.  And the Tories just aren't giving that much money away.   And quite a few people that receive the money are already working harder than you and I, they just aren't paid enough to survive because the government allows companies to dodge their responsibility to pay their employees a living wage.  That's the real "welfare" given to companies in this country and yet somehow we don't hear much ranting from you about that. 

You're getting the order wrong, and in doing so blaming the people who use the system rather than the government that created it.

Read the posts again, I have said the government are shutting down the abuse on their systems. Some abuse has already been shut down and others endcome with the Welfare Reform laws. We see it in all walks for life, where abuse on a system is ended.

The problem with the abusers is that that when they get the rules changed, they make it harder for the genuine people

You still haven't given any sensible reply to the meat of what I said, that most members of the public vastly over-estimate the amount of Fraud/Abuse/whatever you want to call it

Fraud and abuse are two different things.

Abuse is gets shut down in all walks of life. e.g. we have seen lots of immigration abuse shut down too.

The genuine people who are affected by the changes can thank the abusers for these: although I should imagine the abusers only care about themselves?

As I have already said, the Welfare Reforms laws are better for those who want to work, no cliff edge drop in benefits; better for those who lose their job and find another within the tax year as they now won't have to pay their benefit back when they get a job; better for those in debt who then go on sick benefits. etc.

I have said the government are shutting down the abuse on their systems. Some abuse has already been shut down and others endcome with the Welfare Reform laws. We see it in all walks for life, where abuse on a system is ended.

The problem with the abusers is that that when they get the rules changed, they make it harder for the genuine people

Abuse means something is being done improperly. If someone is getting benefits while abiding the rules, that cannot be classed as "abuse" just because you don't like the rules, or feel that the rules should be different. You can't just redefine words so they match your own prejudice.

Fraud and abuse are two different things.

They are, but your definition of abuse is wrong.

I cut and paste to your reply because you had already said the same thing before this week

Scotland has the worst GDP of any western country, even worse than Greece and you can see all the poverty in Greece. Or perhaps you don't know?

Even the SNP know they can't rely on England and Wales to continue giving them 15 billion a year, year after year, and rising, because they are spending more than Scotland makes.

The first of the tax rises in Scotland gave them just over 2 billion, but they then just  lost that money, so still 15 billion they needed to be given from England and Wales that year. Do they keep raising taxes in Scotland? Or make cuts in their spending on public services?

It is England's duty to keep its captives very well cared for. Or think of it as compensatory damages for all of the stolen land, murdered Scotsmen, raped Scotswomen and kidnapped/murdered/raped children.

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It is England's duty to keep its captives very well cared for. Or think of it as compensatory damages for all of the stolen land, murdered Scotsmen, raped Scotswomen and kidnapped/murdered/raped children.

Where do you get your ideas from? Scotland asked to join the Union of England and Wales, because they had bankrupt themselves when trying to become an empire as many other European countries were. They put all their money into an experiment that failed. They took lands where the Spanish were, but didn't use as there was no food and fresh water. Scotland took combs to trade with the local tribes as they heard they had long hair, but the tribes did not want their trinkets and what little food they did have, they did not know how to stop the flies laying eggs.  Sadly many Scots starved to death while others decided not to return to Scotland and used the ships to sail to other places. Therefore their second fleet did not know that the first had failed. For some unknown reason they decided to attack the Spanish ships, who they burned the Scots boats, so they starved.

Sounds like victim blaming to me.

It was Scotland who asked to join the Union of England and Wales, because they had bankrupt themselves.

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I think we  all know that fraud is when you do something against the rules.

Apparently, Abuse is when you do something that is not against the rules but Sirius doesn't approve.

I've got news for you Sirius, there's not any loopholes in the social system.  Nobody is getting a single penny without a fight and ritual humiliation except perhaps the bankers.  Every other possibility to game the system has been examined 100 times over by people with an even more cold and dark heart than you.   I know you think that all of the underclass is having a big party while watching flat screen TVs with your money, but it just doesn't happen that way in any significant amount.  See my graph from earlier, which is the closest thing to an actual fact that's been presented so far. 

I think we  all know that fraud is when you do something against the rules.

Apparently, Abuse is when you do something that is not against the rules but Sirius doesn't approve.

I've got news for you Sirius, there's not any loopholes in the social system.  Nobody is getting a single penny without a fight and ritual humiliation except perhaps the bankers.  Every other possibility to game the system has been examined 100 times over by people with an even more cold and dark heart than you.   I know you think that all of the underclass is having a big party while watching flat screen TVs with your money, but it just doesn't happen that way in any significant amount.  See my graph from earlier, which is the closest thing to an actual fact that's been presented so far.

I can present cat facts for you Jimbo.

Fact: This cat is amazing.

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THAT CAT IS A FRAUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT CAT IS A FRAUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe it's just being abused.

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