Benefits for separated Polish wife and 2 kids in the UK

What can you do BUT whine? I know a scouser. He's on disability benefits yet he works part time at a pub and get's pi*sed EVERYNIGHT.

So did I and I'm not "picking" on her, I'm just reacting to what's being said.


What would you suggest ? Write to my MP ? Tried that, more than once and they're not interested.


In this case, she didn't. She came over without work, two kids and an estranged husband.

If she had been working here a few years, then things would be different, but she isn't.

If he bothers you that much, report him. It's all anonymous and if he's drinking in a pub it could be anyone that has reported him. Google "benefit cheats" and you'll get all the info about reporting him. The government is serious about these people and they do make an effort to catch them. If all the people who moaned about benefit cheats reported one person...well what a difference it would make.

No, people are afraid of being labelled a "grass" so they won't do it...even anonymously.

It should bother him. Something like that should bother any right thinking "normal" person. You're right that he should report him.

They'll be an 0800 number in the phone book with the job centre, benefits agency listings.

Couch grass, I suppose. Elytrigia repens

Excellent point, nicely articulated. Please accept my appologies - You're right, I do throw the "racist" card around WAY too much and I do get on my high horse a lot. But similarly, you're playing the "all immigrants are bad and should f*ck off" card equally as callously.

Point is this isn't something any of us can do a f*cking thing about, besides vote BNP or start burning crucifixes. What we should have done here is maybe try to offer Natasia advice into helping steer her friend towards getting a job, learning our language and contributing to our economy.

Instead what we did was get out our pitchforks and nooses and demand this heathen and her two young children be removed forthwith from our beautiful nation. This lass was just asking for advice and we all just ganged up on her with our "f*ck off back home" attitude. It didn't help and it ain't changed our country for the better now, has it?

If we don't like the concept we're very free to f*ck off out of this thread. That's all I'm sayin', man.

Apology accepted and I'm not saying all immigration is bad at all. If you look back through my posts on this thread, you'll see it's the timing of it all that is getting my back up. This lady seems to be coming here BECAUSE we offer benefits from day 1 because all you need is an NI number and a few months contributions. If she had lived her 4 or 5 years, had been holding down a job and then her marriage fell apart and ended up in this situation, it's a different kettle of fish.


I agree that this isn't anything we can do much about. It will be a hot topic around the next election and then everything will carry on as before. Even the opposition parties accept that the EU will stay the way it is or get worse. Despite being a life-long Labour voter, I'll probably vote Tory next time just to get rid of the current lot, but it will be a cold day in Hell before I even think about voting BNP.

I don't think people were "ganging up" as with the exception of the usual suspects, most others are just being honest.

Don't shoot the messenger, just because the news is bad.

The biggest disservice this lady is doing is to other Polish people as she is just adding to the stereotype of "foreigners on benefits who came for the cash". Plus I don't think her kids should have to go through all this. They should be in familiar surroundings and with their mates at school, not having to learn another language in another country, while their mother looks for cleaning jobs.

She needs to go to the local One-Stop shop.
She can then ask for an interpreter if she doesnt speak English.
They will then sort her with all the necessary benefits.
Regarding housing she will be given priority 1 status and go to top of the list more or less.
If she is desperate for housing they will sort her out.
If her husband/partner is still in UK he will have to donate.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I hope you're joking.

How much money gets spent/wasted on supplying interpreters at the benefits office ?

Priority 1, top of the list !!??

Are you trying to wind people up ?

Mister H,
Not winding people up.
Have 1st hand experience of this situation where I have helped Polish women in such situations. Councils vary throughout UK. You just have to be in the right town.

Its no use us Brits crying about it.
The system is what it is.
New Labour screwed it up for us Brits.
I do remember when the Tories were in you needed 10 years contributions to qualify. Maybe we will return to such a situation when they get back in.

By that do you mean inner-city hell hole ?

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but this whole "I don't speak the language" situation is becoming silly. I know it's not just Polish people, there are people who have lived here long enough to have grown up children that don't speak English all that well. It's a daft situation that should never have happened.

It's just another example of how the British are just expected to bend over backwards for everyone else, fuelling the notion that we're a soft-touch.

Interpreters belong in places like major airports and not at the dole office.

And people in the same or similar situation to the one we've been discussing shouldn't be "given priority 1 status and go to top of the list more or less" with regards to housing.

That's a right kick in the spuds to the rest of us. For every foreigner that gets help, how many British people don't ?

By "British" I mean people that are born here, regardless of ethnic background, before anyone starts accusing me of whatever.

No!I dont mean inner-city hell hole.

I see your point about 'translation' services.
Ok, then all literature from councils etc should be in English and only English.

Do you see that happening ? Will the Tories really be any different now ?

We've had 10+ years of New Labour and what will probably follow is 10+ years of New Conservative.


Then what kind of places do you mean ?

Yes, all literature from councils etc should be in English and not as a way of excluding people, but as an encouragement for people to have to learn the language to be included.

If you make it too easy for people, they have no reason to change.

We have an immigrant under-class living in ghettos caused by DECADES of bad Government from BOTH main parties.

smug immigrants like the girl who started this discussion, pee me off completley. if i was to immigrate to poland, i wd get nothing why shd she turn up here and expect anything

The girl who started this discussion... IS British!


I absolutely agree here. If she and her children came here to be with their husband/father and he has left them anyway, surely that irradicates the dilemna? The focus, as the mother, should be on providing the optimum standard of life that she can for her kids... which she absolutely will not get trying to live off of benefits in a foreign country.

She SHOULD return to Poland for the simple reason that THAT is where they, as a family, would be happiest.

nasia why dont you tell your friend to get into prostitution, if she cant speak english very well she has almost no chance of getting a job. And hopefully she will be denied benefits.

LOUIS: THANK YOU. AND DANNY.


thanks, nomo - good idea on the prostitution front. i'll suggest it to her. have thought of it myself not once, but the problem is, someone like you might walk through the door ... ; ) (only joking)

I'm glad you can see the funny side of noimmi's posts. I think he needs to change his medication or something.

I know you think I'm a "bonkers idiot" and I apologise if you think I've been unhelpful or nasty.

I'm a decent guy, it's just a very emotive subject.

Has your friend made any decisions ?

Benefits help redress inequities in society. They are also practical in alleviating burdens. We, as consumers, don't directly control economic forces. Why, through the mismanagement of others and the unpredictability of market forces, should we fork out hand over fist for things which are overpriced? Benefits help the very real reality that life costs are spiralling out of control for many.

I see what noimmi is saying tho. The British government, moving towards recession, has dug its own grave.

The conclusion? It's a complicated issue!!

Complicated ? I should coco :-)

The thing is that it has been MADE complicated. The Government could pretty easily make it less complicated and fairer, but they would need to bite the bullet and get rid of the blatant scroungers (and hack a lot of people off in the process), which would lose them votes.

But they would also win votes by being seen to be tougher and fairer. The other issue I have with benefits is that the Government have no strategy for getting people off them. Yes there are some people who will probably always need them (the disabled for example), but there are loads of others for whom it has just become a way of life.

Have they scrapped JSA?

I don't think anything has been scrapped, but I think that they should keep a much closer eye on the people who claim

Eg. People who park their chunky 4x4s outside the dole office while they sign-on.

In Scotland, the process is quite thorough. I was on JSA for a couple of months and I was interviewed as to the active steps I was taking to get work. I had to furnish them with newspaper clippings and outline my action plan. Hmm...a hullaballoo just to get pocket change. It may be a more arduous process for those who need the money more.

I don't think it is so thorough in England, although I'm very happy to say it's been a very long time since I've had to sign-on.

I know people who sign-on by phone and by text, so I think it's a system that's easy to get around. They want to sign you on and get you out and deal with the next person. I don't think they care much what you have done to look for work

Through my job, we came across some people (they were foreign, sadly) who were using their JSA to buy stolen credit cards. We reported them to the benefits office and the police and they weren't interested.

I work next to a benefits office and the motley collection of English chavs, loud arguing homeless people with cans of Tenants super together with their dogs, foreigners with kids in push chairs and various other stereotypes is a very depressing sight.

I read somewhere once that such places were for "long term alcoholics and those who were fresh off the boat." It certainly wasn't set up to be that way, but I think that's what it has become.

Avoid at all costs.

That's one thing I don't miss, the hostile atmosphere in job centres and benefits agencies. Everything is done begrudgingly, on both sides. Organised crime syndicates are another huge problem.

I will never revert to a life where they spell it out 2 u in crystal clear terms that u r only a statistic, a tick in a box.

I actually laughed coming out of the agency at the ridiculous nature of the situation I was in. Had an LLM from one of the best universities in Europe for Law and 2 years international teaching experience in one of the world's most advanced countries, Japan. And there I was trying to haggle for a measly sum of money. Thankfully, I'm not a paltry man of earnings now. I have enough for what I need and that will always be good enough for me.

I see everyone is doing a bit of a turn around and some are using the race card...what a load of bollox!

i am not racist, but I am a realist. As much as I hate spongers like this, we cannot blame this Polish woman for wanting to abuse our system as unfortunately we Brits live in a society where the government does give priority to people like her, over and above their own citizens. Until this changes, all manner of people will continue to use and abuse it, while us taxpayers foot the bill and get sod all it terms of benefits or housing when we do need it. If only all countries were as open to such abuse Im sure many of us would have gone abroad and done the same.

Ur tax goes to many things tho. U have access to a wide range of social services in so paying. I pay a lot of tax here and I don't have any need to use libraries or public transport. Still, that doesn't preclude the possibility of me using these services. The key word is access.

Don't blame the people, blame the government.

thats exactly what I was trying to say

I know that, but u also made reference to tax. Let the relevant authorities weed out the spongers. Let the police and commissions crack down on illegal undercutting and cheating. The problem is being tackled and it's just unfortunate that it needs to exist at all.