Benefit Street

[giveup]

Have just watched it,dont know what to think.Do people really live and behave like that. I have not led a sheltered life but Oh dear, I can't believe it.

[Peter Pedant]

um Yeah

there is quite a lot of living it out in the street
whereas I think they would be doing it all inside....

[tamborine]

What about the 2 black men who pushed & threatened the old woman street inspector with a baseball bat - bleedin cowards, cops shudda artested them.

[anneasquith]

don't hear much from the decent people on the street, but then that wouldn't be ''good tv''. did anyone notice the lady with the beautiful front garden ?

[maggiebee]

Heard this programme discussed on the Jeremy Vine show today. As Anne says, there are many honest, hard working people living in this street, they just don't make good TV.

[yansee]

Bone idle drug taking alcoholics benefit scroungers slagging off Roma for earning their own cash,What a shower of s***

[DrFilth]

posted on the news section thread
>
Zeuhl
I don't know about burgers but it isn't unusual for production teams to hand out cigarettes or beers to interviewees.

It's usually done for good reason but does risk all sorts of issues arising:

e.g. you've just invested an hour setting up for a shot that the Director really wants when the subject says "I can't do it. I'm too nervous without a ciggie/beer".

So what do you do?
14:05 Mon 13th Jan 2014 <

so that is the cigs and beer sorted we just need to find out if they all know a nigel -)

[naomi24]

Maggie, With 90% of the residents claiming benefits, you can hardly say there are ‘many honest, hard-working people living in this street’. The purpose of the programme is to highlight that, so it would hardly focus on the 10% who aren’t claiming benefits.

Anne, that lady with her tubs and hanging baskets should have been given a special award.

[DrFilth]

naomi not all people who claim some form of benefit are out of work this is from the guardian

> Ask people where that money goes and the assumptions might be on unemployment or incapacity benefit. In fact, 47% of UK benefit spending goes on state pensions of £74.22bn a year, more than the £48.2bn the UK spends on servicing its debt.

[naomi24]

Interesting to note that those who complain about other people’s prejudice weren’t averse to displaying a little of their own.

[tamborine]

they keep quoting pensioners as being the most on Benefits; how many pensioners did you count on the program ? I counted one, the woman doing best garden.

[naomi24]

DrFilth, I don't consider state pensions to be 'benefits'.

[Mamyalynne]

Not all residents in the street agreed to take part Tambo , likely the pensioners were amongst those who didn't.

[Baby_Sham]

I felt a bit sorry for the older lady, the one doing the 'flowers in bloom' thing, who had lived there for twenty years. She was clearly trying to do her best at bringing the community together, but I couldn't help but think she was flogging a dead horse.

I also felt really sad for the Romanians. What a way to live, and they were doing it so they could provide for their children back home.
I got a bit emotional when we saw the Indian neighbour come and give them food. Kind of restores your faith in human nature.


Unfortunately, this program does nothing but further stigmatise people on benefits, and causes more divide.
It's a shame really, but I suppose it makes for good TV.

[DrFilth]

>naomi24
DrFilth, I don't consider state pensions to be 'benefits'. <

the thing is the old age state pension and lot of other things push up the figures

[DrFilth]

benefit welfare spending

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/jan/08/uk-benefit-welfare-spending

[Ken4155]

It had to happen, i suppose. IDS using the programme as an example of why benefits should be cut. Divide and rule.

[Baby_Sham]

Ken, couldn't agree me.
A complete set-sup.

Divide and conquer.

[Ken4155]

Yeah, that's it, conquer not rule:-(

[naomi24]

DrFilth, They may well push up the figures as they are currently produced, but in the main people in receipt of state pensions have paid premiums on an insurance policy, if you like, which upon reaching retirement age, matures.

[Baby_Sham]

Same thing Ken :-)