But, Pretty P, a lot of people don't have luxuries and are still finding it hard to make ends meet. and I beg to differ with you. £7 a week IS A LOT to someone who lives this way

what luxury items if you've lost your job and living on 60 odd pound a week...heating and food you mean? I can't be ar$ed, I really can't be ar$ed!

But, Pretty P, a lot of people don't have luxuries and are still finding it hard to make ends meet. and I beg to differ with you. £7 a week IS A LOT to someone who lives this way

Now I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way and I am not claiming to know anything about peoples lives on here however there are plenty saying how this is going to hit them really hard and they don't even have luxuries yet they all have internet - that is a luxury!!  If that was me something like the internet would be the first thing to go!!  Like I say please don't take that the wrong way - I'm not judging anyone or climing to know any of your situation - this is purely an example.

For some though PP - the internet social life is the only social life people have got! - it costs just wot £20 a month and is a lot cheaper than going out to socialise - are we to begrudge folk this ?


Society is based on socialising is it not ?


(a whole heap of socialising in that there chat - but you get what I am saying)

For some though PP - the internet social life is the only social life people have got! - it costs just wot £20 a month and is a lot cheaper than going out to socialise - are we to begrudge folk this ?


Society is based on socialising is it not ?


(a whole heap of socialising

But surely if you are in a position where you don't know where your next meal is coming from socialising is the least of your problems.  £7 a week is roughly £28 a month - get rid of the internet and there is only another £8 left to find.  Plus you could always go to the library to use computer facilities there or even good old fashioned methods of meetin ppl face to face!

quote:

I'm not disputing that a minority of people will be hit hard but for the majority this is going to make little difference however it is the majority who are moaning.

Maybe cos the majority don't have an "I'm alright Jack" attitude

It is a luxury indeed .........................some people have very little social contact outside of the home. The internet is a lifeline .............I can't begrudge anyone that.

PP I've stood your corner on many an occasion but ...............I think you're well out of order here. I assume you're a single person who doesn't live in their own home with dependants.......................it's  admirable that you live within your means and don't have a credit card. Some people live very different lives ...........they are out of their depth financially simply in order to survive ..........................................I accept that there are some who max out their credit card for holidays and luxuries but many, many people are treading water simply to stay afloat.

PP......................it's insensitive to start a thread like this when you clearly have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. What do you know of people struggling to keep afloat ? Seven pounds a week is a lot to some people.

I have tried to refrain from commenting, but needed to say something. I've tried to put into words what I am thinking reading this thread, but I can't without being quite horrible. And I'm not like that.

Just rest assured that 2.5% on top of everything else that is constantly going up except income, is a bloody fortune. And who are you to judge what is a luxury, I may ask?

Compassion. That's what seems to be missing, here. May you never find yourself in a position where an extra 2.5% is a crippling amount.

I hear what you are saying PP - are you hearing me ?
For some the internet is the ONLY way to interact in this day & age! - we live in a computerised society now lets not forget.....
Asking folk to give up what they have become dependant on is imo a poor state of affair!

It is a luxury indeed .........................some people have very little social contact outside of the home. The internet is a lifeline .............I can't begrudge anyone that.

PP I've stood your corner on many an occasion but ...............I think you're well out of order here. I assume you're a single person who doesn't live in their own home with dependants.......................it's  admirable that you live within your means and don't have a credit card. Some people live very different lives ...........they are out of their depth financially simply in order to survive ..........................................I accept that there are some who max out their credit card for holidays and luxuries but many, many people are treading water simply to stay afloat.

PP......................it's insensitive to start a thread like this when you clearly have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. What do you know of people struggling to keep afloat ? Seven pounds a week is a lot to some people.


The fact that you disagree with me does not make me wrong - by all means offer your opinion but do not accuse me of "having no idea" in reality there is no right or wrong answer here just opinions.

And who are you to judge what is a luxury, I may ask?

A luxury is something which a person does not need rather something which a person desires.  A person does not need for example a holiday - they do however need food.

quote:

I hear what you are saying PP - are you hearing me ?
For some the internet is the ONLY way to interact in this day & age! - we live in a computerised society now lets not forget.....
Asking folk to give up what they have become dependant on is imo a poor state of affair!

Not to mention its much easier to look for jobs and apply for them online too

Well then you deffinately have different opinions to me, because my telly would be the first to go. I could live without my TV but not the net and I'm sure a lot of others feel this way too.

Ach away and boil yer head PP....

Yes I do hear what you are saying but all I am saying is people often perceive themselves to be worse off than they actually are.  It's not nice asking those dependent on such an item to give it up but people need to face facts - basic needs have to come before luxuries.  We are in this recession because of greed which has led in many cases people believing that luxury items are a necessity rather than a benefit.  No-one likes to see another suffer but we are all responsible for ourselves and stop blaming others all the time.

Nowadays a lot of employers will only take online applications. And schoolkids often have to do homework online too...,I know my son has to do some of his online.

PP ................you're doing yourself no favours. I think everyone has the right to complain about an increase in VAT .................it hits some much harder than others.

Do yourself a favour .....................don't come on here deliberately winding up. Why not join in other threads? You come in all guns blazing and only ever post in your own threads. Why not have a look around? Take time to get to know people on threads other than your own somewhat controversial ones. 

I have taken your POV on board in the past but ................you're being insensitive on this one.

Brilliant post Soozy 

Oh actually, I just remembered an article I was reading in the Standard on the way home.... the VAT rise plus the increase in train fares could affect families (in the SE particularly) to the tune of £1000 a year... now thats without taking into account rising costs of utilities, food etc and the freezing of many people's wages, child benefit and whatnot. I wonder if thats still considered a piffling amount to not moan about

and in true news forum tradition, source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/...pound-1000-a-year.do

PP are you a dependent or have you any dependents?

Ref: Saz
Maybe cos the majority don't have an "I'm alright Jack" attitude

That's exactly the phrase I was going to use. We'd be in a sorry state in the world if the only people who complained about injustice were people that were directly affected.


PP As for internet being a luxury: Sometimes the only contact I have all day with another human is via the internet. And no I can't just go and use the library as getting out of the door is a precision operation owing to my health problems. I struggle to survive on Incapacity benefit and will be hit hard by the price hikes, including VAT, that are going on now.

And before you lecture me on economising by getting rid of the internet, my son pays for it so I am not so isolated.

Now this I can agree with.

Not sure that we would agree on whose greed though! 

quote:

And before you lecture me on economising by getting rid of the internet, my son pays for it so I am not so isolated.

awww, he's a good son

Better get down there quick, before they close them all! 

I've got two great sons Saz, dunno what I did to deserve them

ITV News just had figures saying that the poorest 10% spend £1 in every £7 of income on VAT while the richest 10% spend £1 in every £25 of income on VAT ...figures which tally closely with those from Save the Children. The poorest will clearly be hit 3 times as hard as the richest.

Pah. Well the peasants will have to make sacrifices then. Why do they need shoes? If they stopped going out they wouldn't need shoes! Cutlery? Eat with their fingers! Washing up liquid? Bit of dirt never hurt anyone! Ha! I laugh in the face of the peasants and their complaining!

Meanwhile the chancelor is orff to posh ski resort Klosters ,haunt of prince Charles etc on his hols.Is he worried about VAT ?..is he feck!

I am in a similar situation to PP I am a graduate, I took out a 2year loan to buy myself a car and have paid it back with my part time wages. I have a job in a call centre in the minute, I don't earn the threshold of £15k yet to pay back my loan but I can't wait to get rid of it, I am not of the idea that out of sight is out of mind I want to get rid of it, seeminly unlike you pp. I live with my parents so the only outgoings I have are my car payments such as diesel, tax insurance etc. I play sport and go out once or twice a month.

I know I'm lucky, these increases and cuts won't directly affect me but I still know that they will affect people around me such as my aunt who is a single working parent, paying rent, and child expenses for her son.  My young cousins will  probably go to uni with extremely high tuition fees, many may just not go due to it, this may include potential doctors etc. 

However my situation doesn't mean Im that far removed from reality to chastise people for complaining about the increase,In no uncertain terms PP your head is up your behind if you think what you are saying makes sense. You are completely trampling over the feeling of everyone in this thread, and many have expressed previously that they are in financial difficulty or uncertainty. You harp on about 'luxury items' as if people are eating caviar and drinking cristel.  Big whoop, someone has the internet, if you had your way people would sleep and work (preferably sleep on a normal bed not a memory foam mattress in case its construed as a luxury)

How about you invest your time and rantings into women who deliberately get pregnant so theyget moved into a council house and are given child benefit, the dole etc among many other things while they claim to be single they have their partner cohabiting with them  but they don't declare it. You know your usual Jeremy Kyle guest. Then on the other hand, a man who was earning a respectable wage and paying National insurance and taxes all his life is made redundant with a family and wife, and has to may a mortgage and all his incomes on a mere £60 a week while someone who hasn't worked a day in their lives gets everything paid for and wants for nothing?

FGS please stop with all the "internet is all I have stories" as I said before I posted that point it was purely an example aimed at nobody in particular as unlike manny on here I  have never claimed to know about the personal circumstances of any single individual.  Merely an example - as was very clearly pointed out.

Nice one Erinp

There was a vid of Cleggy saying that uni fees are "actually wrong" as well

PP is doing a good job of winding folk up.....as I stated earlier "Go and bile yer head!"PP.

How much would the British Tax payer save if the bliddy Royals got off their ass and got a job.
How much do we pay for security? keeping bliddy Beatrice and Co "safe".
Its always the same ,if the peasants show unrest ,through a bliddy Royal wedding at them ,the fall for it every time .
Dont get me started on the Kents!! and how much they cost.

In no uncertain terms PP your head is up your behind

How can you expect me to take anything you say seriously when all you can do is resort to personal attacks????

But for some people, the internet is all they have! and while I consider myself lucky that I do have other options (now) because I got a job after two years of being redundant (after 30 years of service for the same company)  and having to live on £60 a week, I do sympathise with people who don't. I've been there and know what it's like!

How can you expect me to take anything you say seriously when all you can do is resort to personal attacks????

How about you reply to the rest of my post and prove me wrong, instead of playing the woe is me card.

?????!!!!!.That is all.