The first point is that these tests are designed to establish which type of benefit a person should get.
Incapacity benefit is meant to be for those with genuine issues that prevent them from work, or make working more difficult. For various reasons it is paid at a higher rate than normal job seekers allowance, imagine someone who is incontinent...they will have higher clothing / laundry bills. Also, I understand that if you get incapacity it has a knock on, meaning you can get other benefits such as a mobility allowance for a car.
The problem is that in the past it has been very easy for someone to say they aren't fit enough to work, maybe they've got a bit of back ache, or feeling stressed, etc so they go on incapacity when really the problem is either made up, or very minor. Not only does this make it very expensive for the country, it mis-represents the unemployment figures because those on incapacity are not classed as unemployed, but worse of all, it is robbing the pot of money that is there for those people who genuinely need it.
There for, it is clearly right that the only people claiming IB are those who are incapacitated, the rest should be on jobseekers allowance.
The next point, as Dave as mentioned, is that often people these say they are better off on benefits than going to work. That is simply not acceptable, never ever, should we pay someone to NOT work, if there is a job which they refuse to do. Govts do what they can to help those on low pay, (minimum wage, tax credits, raising tax thresholds, etc) and we could argue that they could do more, I would agree with that, but we also have to look at the other side of the coin....if people feel better off on benefits, it suggests that benefits are too generous and ought to be cut.
And the next point about whether or not the jobs are there. Yes it is difficult at the moment, but not impossible, some businesses are expanding and growing. But the real problem with the jobs market is that many people, mainly the young, don't want to do the hard, dirty, menial jobs anymore. They have been brought up in a culture of being able to get whatever they want, right now. They think they can go on some talent show and fame will land on their doorstep, or they've fallen for the lie that if they go to Uni and get a degree they will get some highly paid job just like that. Ask a young person today to go and spend 6 hours carrot picking in a field and they would die of shock, so God help them if they had to spend a day down a coal mine or in a steelworks!
And this mentality was encouraged under Labour who spent years telling us that it was OK because immigrants could do the job so we saw massive growth in immigration, which is still happening, with people coming all over the world, but mainly Eastern Europe into our country, why if there's no jobs!. Labour told us they were not claiming benefits, they were doing jobs that other people won't do, and as a consequence, our public services and infrastructure are now facing unbelievable pressures.
Common sense tells you that if there's work to be done, then you stop the immigrants coming here and get those claiming benefits to do the work instead. But both immigrants and benefit dependants are typical Labour voters, hence their encouragement of the system.
If Labour had an ounce of integrity they would feel ashamed of the mess they have got this country into to satisfy their own egotistical and meglomaniac power trips, sadly though, they don't care.
Topic: Half of folk on benefit ‘fit to work’ (Read 6162 times)