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        <title><![CDATA[Michael Dean : Weblog items tagged with benefits]]></title>
        <description><![CDATA[The weblog for Michael Dean, hosted on Poll Booth.]]></description>
        <link>http://www.pollbooth.com/itsmyview/weblog/</link>        
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Banks win overdraft charges court case]]></title>
            <link>http://www.pollbooth.com/itsmyview/weblog/banks-win-overdraft-charges-court-case</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.pollbooth.com/itsmyview/weblog/banks-win-overdraft-charges-court-case</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:49:48 GMT</pubDate>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[Brown]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[Cameron]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[Conservatives]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[Labour]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[UK Economy]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[benefits]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[charges]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[council tax]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[credit crunch]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[energy bills]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[financial]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[greed]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[labour]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[overdraft]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[overdrawn]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[recession]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[bank]]></dc:subject>
            <description><![CDATA[<span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: #2a2a2a"><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px">This court case was never addressing the main issue.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px"><strong>It is not the principle of having penalties for going overdrawn, it is the AMOUNT of penalty that these greedy and grasping banks are taking.</strong></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px">The very concept of a&nbsp;<strong>FIXED&nbsp;</strong>penalty is the problem. These penalties are set up to penalise the poorest and weakest in our society.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px">This&nbsp;incompetent&nbsp;Labour government did a huge amount of damage by closing post offices and forcing many people to have benefits, pensions etc paid into bank accounts. They did not understand the consequences of this action, all they could see were cost saving!</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px">People on low incomes should NOT be forced to have a bank account. They are the least able to manage bank accounts and the ones who suffer the most when things go wrong.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px">Many elderly, sick and low paid workers only have &pound;50 a week available to pay&nbsp;<strong>ALL&nbsp;</strong>their bills. The moment they get charged &pound;30 plus, their accounts go out of control and they end up owing the banks hundreds of pounds.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px">Penalty charges MUST be PROPORTIONAL to income.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px">We cannot have a situation where the money paid to the poorest people in our society and which they need to live on is taken by the banks to increase their profits and add to the bonuses paid to the senior staff!!</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px">Our prime minister did not bother listening to those who forecast exactly what would happen if the government persisted in forcing people to open bank accounts. Gordon Brown made the wrong decision, as usual, and the poorest people in the UK are the ones who are hit the hardest!</p></span>]]></description>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Labour plans to scrap Daily Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance]]></title>
            <link>http://www.pollbooth.com/itsmyview/weblog/labour-plans-to-scrap-daily-living-allowance-and-attendance-allowance</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.pollbooth.com/itsmyview/weblog/labour-plans-to-scrap-daily-living-allowance-and-attendance-allowance</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:28:45 GMT</pubDate>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[aa]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[care]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[carers]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[dla]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[labour]]></dc:subject>
		<dc:subject><![CDATA[benefits]]></dc:subject>
            <description><![CDATA[<div><span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px"><div style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: #ffffff; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; padding: 0.6em; margin: 0px"><div><span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal"><div style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: #ffffff; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; padding: 0.6em; margin: 0px"><div>The government is about to announce plans to scrap Daily Living Allowance (DLA) &nbsp;and attendance allowance (AA) according to a report in the Guardian.</div><div>The newspaper claims that a green paper was due out in June which proposes to convert DLA and AA into means tested &lsquo;social care grants&rsquo;&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-weight: bold">which would be spent by social services</span>. &nbsp;However, the incoming DWP minister Yvette Cooper wanted some breathing space before launching the controversial new proposal.</div><div>Under the plans, DLA and AA would be scrapped,&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-weight: bold">with the money saved being handed over to local authorities to administer as discretionary grants to provide care for the sick and disabled</span>.</div><div>The grants would be means-tested and t<span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-weight: bold">he local authority would decide what they could be spent on</span>. &nbsp;This would be likely to be for services such as a personal assistant to help with getting out of bed, washing and dressing.</div><div>The government has claimed that any changes to DLA and AA will&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-weight: bold">not&nbsp;</span>affect current claimants.</div><div>But how could it be otherwise? &nbsp;At the moment many people on DLA and AA are cared for by their relatives. Some of the carers are able to claim Carers Allowance for more that 30 hours caring during a week. But most carers are relatives who do not get paid for caring.</div><div>Under the new system it would seem that paid council employees (or employees of sub-contracted companies) will now care for&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-weight: bold">all</span>&nbsp;people who need care.</div><div>This alone would surely cost more than the country can afford (which in reality is not much because the UK is as good as bankrupt under Labour!).</div><div>With thinking like this, it is a short step to stop anyone getting&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span"  style="font-weight: bold">all</span>&nbsp;kinds of benefits. After all who needs to give claimants money? The state could deliver the food that they want those on benefits to eat. The state could buy the clothes that those on benefits are to wear!</div><div style="text-align: center"><strong>Or is the whole issue that the UK cannot afford to support disabled and sick people any more?</strong></div></div></span></div></div></span></div>]]></description>
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