Housing benefit yarns and tears

Steve Ahearne 07/10/09

How I wish that I could change the subject matter of my blog since the last post but alas little, if anything, has changed.
The benefits system continues to help to the lazy and ignore those who actually need help (you know, those that actually see unemployment as a temporary set back rather than a vocation – or should that read vacation).
Brighton and Hove Council continue to keep me in the dark as to whether I can claim any money towards housing benefit; in fact they have proved their utter inability to keep time as I approach week eight of the six I was told to wait. Seriously, how can anyone be expected to find two months rent whilst waiting for the benefits they need to pay said rent? The good folks down at B&H council are clearly short staffed. So why not hire some of those unemployed people to get up to speed? Even creating some part time positions would help, not paying out benefits to these people because they are working would surely pay for itself in wages? Am I the only one who seems able to think clearly here? Maybe I should proffer my suggestions to the council and send them my proposal via a page posted every two months-ish.

The next organisation on my hit list are those strike-happy fellows at the Royal Mail. Initially there was some (luke)warm public support for their campaign of postal striking aimed at improving wages and conditions for staff. The current reality is this; the general public would quite like to actually get their mail on time for once. All the working portion of our population would also like a pay rise but apparently there is a bit of a financial squeeze on at the moment thus no pay rise for anyone, not even posties I'm afraid. Think on Royal Mail strikers, you need public support and the first thing you could do to win it is to actually get my mail here before the bills become overdue. Try it just once.
The organising of these strikes has made me wonder, how do they actually communicate with each other? They must have to use the telephone or send emails because by the time the strike organisers letters get to your average postie the whole affair is a year late. I hear that in the furthest recesses of the British Isles some posties have just received strike instructions for the 1970's.

Anyway moving on, the Conservative Party conference is currently in full swing up in Manchester, I can feel sympathy for those poor buggers who actually have to live there and put up with all the closed streets, police and disruption,if the Labour conference here in Brighton is anything to go by then it's a right pain in the proverbial.
The irony of the recent conferences can be found in the musical chairs game that Gord and Dave seem to be playing. Didn't Brighton used to be the traditional place for Tory conferences and isn't Manchester traditionally a strong Labour area?
“Quick Gord” says Hazel Blears “Cameron has forgotten to book Brighton for this years knees-up, um I mean this years conference, you know what would really p*** him off don't you?...”
By means of revenge the Conservatives then go and book their conference in a traditional Labour heartland. It's a bit like the German stereotype of waking up at the crack of dawn to lay claim to the best sun loungers with beach towels before the Brits wake up.
The Lib Dem's seem happy with Bournemouth but no-one really cares what they do anyway. Bless them, it's not like they are really offensive in the same way as the BNP or unelectable like the Greens, they just can't seem to find any spare political middle ground because those greedy Labour and Conservative policy makers have put their beach towels over the Lib Dem's favourite stomping ground in the centre. Labour under Blair moved right to centre left and now the Conservatives under Cameron have shifted left to centre right. If the political spectrum can be analogised as the North American land mass then the poor Lib Dem's are the Native Indians being pushed out of their heartlands due to having no sense of ownership.

Right now I'm off to confuse B&H council by drawing beach towels all over their diary's.