Quite right! We were having a moan about our neighbours 2 doors away who don't work and have 4 kids and were having Sky installed! We had just cancelled our Virgin tv channels as we couldn't afford it and we both work!

Couldn't afford to smoke and drink like they do either!

I do shop at Waitrose though so perhaps if I sacrificed that and shopped at Aldi or Iceland we could afford to smoke and drink and have Sky tv? On second thoughts.....

Very good, 'real' post.

Only I would add; if you all think it's so great to be them, go ahead and do it, come back in a few years and then tell us all how wonderful you are doing!! How you lived a life of luxury in deficeit and have been left with poor records...no? How you cant just move house because you have 10 years on the council waiting list...How jobseekers allowance afforded you such luxury...thought not. Well, how about getting to the grass roots, speak to real people, work with real people, find out about their backgrounds, lifestyles, finances etc, research the issue from a social, medical and humanities angle...then comment. Perhaps people should actually learn about humanity, social health and poverty and then comment!

or of course you could all just go on the dole instead and life the life of luxury you grudge all these 'scroungers'

And how do you know they didnt get the 'free for a year' through a friend that works for Sky? Or that they have savings or a previous inheritance that affords them this, or that they wont have to cancel once the intro period ends...? And do they show their dogs? Do they do all the things you do AND have Sky and how dare they an addiction to nicotine and by the way how do you know what they drink and how much and what it costs? You can get drunk for about...well, less than a fiver anyway!

You obviously are a good owner. My friend who has the GSD x Irish Wolfhound sadly isn't as it is ill and she doesn't take it to the vets as she can't afford it and she doesn't walk the poor dog hardly at all. I think on a low income she should have been more realistic as to what type of dog she could afford as obviously the larger the dog the more it is going to cost for food, equipment and vet's bills.

I know they drink as they are seen at 8am in the mornings with cans in their hands!
I do know my neighbour's children get fed sometimes by another neighbour because they spend all their money on booze and fags. I do see that there are lots of genuine cases of people being helped by the benefit system but unfortunately with my husband's job as a worker in a hostel see the other side too. Some of his residents look up medical cases in a book to find something wrong with them so they can claim Disability Living Allowance and not have to look for work! For a lot of them that is their ambition in life-to be on sickness related benefits and not Job-Seeker's Allowance as they think my husband is a mug for working!

SB-it is not a myth that immigrants go to the top of the housing list-they do as this is part of my husband's job and they do get priority which is why the other residents in the hostel can be prejudiced against them.

I rather think that if they are living in a hostel they are doing that so they qualify for a flat somewhere

Nobody is disputing that there are people who want to 'work the system' but come on! This is not the majority of people in this country or on benefits. Further to this if someone thinks that living on a capped income in a hostel (or not) and limiting their opportunities in life is a better life than they have had...does that in itself not highlight a health issue?!!! cos it should!

EDIT; and you know why they cant afford to feed their children because 'someone told you' (but not the people in question) I don't think thats a a very reliable way to get information.

Also seeing them with a can in their hands does not tell you how much they spend or the proportion of their benefits spent on fags and drink!

The people living in hostels are by far the minority of people on benfefits do of course your husband will see this more and take a certain perspective...

EDIT AGAIN: just realised you wrote 'they are seen' not I have seen, so who seen them with cans?.....again, if its hear-say....

They only go to the top of the list if they fulfil other criteria they do not go to the top BECAUSE they immigrants per se.

I know this as one of my close mates is a housing officer and their are points allocated for various things, just being an immigrant aint one of em!

That's not what happens in Norwich SB!

but are you taking the difference between an aimmigrant and an immigrant seeking assylum into account here?

Well they must have very different rules from the rest of the country then because the calculators that are used to determine how many points you have are supposed to be nationwide eg how many people are in the family, if they are disabled, if they have current accommodation, if their current accommodation is secure or suitable, if they have children etc,

To favour immigrants above others solely because they are immigrants would be in breach of several acts........