Fackers! all the Jeremy Kyle scrounges! It will make it worse with Romanians etc invading the country!
20 years time... No English left... No room in schools, everyone has an 'ski' at the end, and we will all be robbing off each other... Wonderful country!
I don't see why someone who has not contributed to the UK welfare system should benefit beyond absolute basic assistance at times of real emergency. Inisisting that all EU citizens should be entitled to the same benefits as a national denies that fact that benefits systems are not integrated. Nationals should be allowed to vote on what level of benefits they want and are prepared to pay for. For someone who has never contributed to then come along and benefit from those systems is not fair on those who have paid in. It is yet another example of creeping EU economic and political integration that I am firmly against.
I need a tiler & bathroom fitter... None of the dozen I have contacted have bothered returning my calls. Hopefully this new influx will bring a few in
my experience, shortly after starting up on my own, a Hungarian fella came in looking for work, a good guy i knew him well, he had been in the country for about a year. we got chatting and he started to bitch about how he only was only getting about £90 a week to keep him and his wife going after the rent was paid, now i had just come of the brew, been in constant employment all my life and only received £60 a week for me my wife and 2 kids (plus child benefit) no help with mortgage. its not the people its the system. i personally dont think there should be any benefits paid to non contributors.
Question is, could I quit my job and go live in rural france claiming benefits from them? Would my benefits , if available, be capped at £500 a week?
Here is a Romanian phrase that you may use as you see fit; Sue Shpoola. Spelt incorrectly, but read it how it sounds and you can offend any Romanian you come across.
As usual, John, you choose not to grasp the whole concept of reciprocity. There are millions (literally) of Brits who live and work in other member states, usually earning their living and paying their taxes. Occasionally they fall sick or lose their jobs. Under the single market, they can claim benefits for sickness or unemployment in the same way as the locals. People from those countries can do just the same in the UK on a mutual basis. The arrangement is reciprocal. It seems you disapprove of this. So if people from other member states were refused benefits in the UK, as you wish, do you want overseas Brits to be similarly abandoned without benefits? Or do you want Brits to become the spongers of Europe, without a quid pro quo? Don't worry, I don't expect you to accept the inevitable consequences of the policies you say you favour, just to ignore them as usual.
are the sick, unemployment disability child benefits the same amount and qualification in all EU member states?
But surely reciprocity only works if the rules are exactly the same everywhere and the quality of what is on offer is the same everywhere. Where would you sooner be treated, the UK or Greece, Romania or Poland? In fact, why do any migrants come to the UK if things are so much better, or as good, where they came from?
I know John (not his real name) is perfectly able to respond to your reply but surely Pete you are aware that what is available here in the UK is a more valuable package than what is available in many other member states so while at present there is , in theory anyway, what you delightfully call a quid pro quo, in reality our "quid" is the one to apply for.
The problems were obviously going to appear as soon as the EU was expanded beyond a core of countries with similar levels of wealth (UK, France, Germany, Italy plus a few more ), and out into much poorer areas. It's not as if there was not plenty of time to plan for this, but nothing has been done, so now panic measures will start to be taken. Another difficulty here (perhaps especially for the UK) is that many talk of "restricting benefits to those who have contributed" but much of the UK's welfare system is based on non-contributory benefits (NHS, Schools, Housing Benefit, Child Benefit etc) so it's pointless to complain that foreigners are in some way less entitled than locals, many of whom have never contributed anything significant anyway. Previous governments have quite deliberately created the concept of the welfare state as "fishing net" rather than "safety net" in this country. State pension and some unemployment and sickness benefits are affected by NI contribution record, but those are not the aspects of the UK system which are likely to attract foreigners to come here. If you come in from a poor country, work hard for a small wage, legally, then you may immediately, as far as I know, qualify for a number of benefits and tax credits, especially if you have children, even though you will be paying very little in income tax and NI, as well as having access to free education and healthcare. The reciprocal arragement may well be genuine, but that does not mean that it works so well in reverse (I doubt that many Brits will emigrate to Romania, attracted by the propoect of bringing their families up there).
^ Wot they said :wink: I have no problem with people coming here who have skills, can work and contribute to our system, I work with several eastern europeans who are, on the whole, great guys and gals, but economic migrants who come here to milk the system are a drain on that system, whether they are a trckle or a flood is neither here nor there. That some of them fill jobs that indiginous Brits don't have the nous to do themselves is a sad indictment on us and a separate issue.
The odd thing is that I'm staunchly pro Europe, but I completely agree with you in this. The only difference us that I don't think being born here should automatically entitle you to benefits either. Pay in before you can take out, whoever you are.
