Raoul Moat

[Steve Crook]

Winston Churchill once famously (or reputedly) said "A dog looks up to you, a cat looks down on you but a pig looks you in the eye"



Steve

[Onedin]

name='Steve Crook' timestamp='1281138094' post='461298']

Winston Churchill once famously (or reputedly) said "A dog looks up to you, a cat looks down on you but a pig looks you in the eye"



Steve

What's genius about that..............it doesn't take a scientist to know that pigs can't look up at the sky...................................and downwards there's a nose blocking the view.

[wellendcanons]

name='Onedin' timestamp='1281137330' post='461295']

My cat and I came home at the same time today.



Cat said, "How was your day?"





And I said, "Feed me!"

Cool ! Love the CATchword! Imagine if that really did happen and the CAT was let out of the bag! Personally I think it would never CATch on, certainly not in my CATchment area. If it did it would have a CATalyst effect! it would go CATch-22 and would be CATastrophic!



Right well I'm off for a CATnap. What this all has to do with Moat I can't remotely begin to imagine.



Goodnight.



wec

[Onedin]

Bloody hell.........................................strok e a cat and you'll have a permanent job............................................... ....................

[Onedin]

name='wellendcanons' timestamp='1281138383' post='461301']

Cool ! Love the CATchword! Imagine if that really did happen and the CAT was let out of the bag! Personally I think it would never CATch on, certainly not in my CATchment area. If it did it would have a CATalyst effect! it would go CATch-22 and would be CATastrophic!



Right well I'm off for a CATnap. What this all has to do with Moat I can't remotely begin to imagine.



Goodnight.



wec

My cat and I aren't , never were, nor will ever be on speaking terms.......................

[wellendcanons]

name='Onedin' timestamp='1281138718' post='461305']

My cat and I aren't , never were, nor will ever be on speaking terms.......................

Now isn't that a bit catty?



wec

[Onedin]

name='wellendcanons' timestamp='1281139242' post='461311']

Now isn't that a bit catty?



wec

Ask my cat.

[wellendcanons]

name='Onedin' timestamp='1281138488' post='461303']

Bloody hell.........................................strok e a cat and you'll have a permanent job............................................... ....................

I'll resist the obvious comment. Needless to say I tried that and my case comes up in October! Only kidding! Enjoyed the banter, but now I'm really off to bed.



Goodnight. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz



wec

[paul kersey]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukp...wExfAvS1jbuHeA



How the hell can this be fair?

[zettel45]

As the article (just about) makes clear, he doesn't get £19 a week benefit. That's the mobility component of his allowance. It looks like he got the lowest band for that because he got a higher band for his care allowance. It doesn't mention anything he got by way of Police pension etc, but that'll also have been taken into account.



I'm not saying he'll be getting a fortune (he certainly won't be), but this looks like a journo trying to create outrage by highlighting the lowest component of his benefit as if that was all he was getting to live on.

[christoph404]

The maximum amount for the care component of the benefit is £71.40. The higher amount for the mobility component is £49.85, the fact that the DHSS have decided to award him the minimum amount of £18.95 is disgraceful but then the DHSS has been generally instructed nationwide to clamp down on benefits and save money where ever they can. Its quite shameful really, a blind man should have the full amount regardless of his police pension and even that wouldn't be enough to provide for his mobility needs.

[GoggleboxUK]

This is nothing to do with state benefit, its Disability Living Allowance as Zettel says. This money will continue to be paid whether he remains on state benefits or if he returns to work.



In fact, if he does return to work and eventually becomes the top ranking policeman in the country earning a six figure salary, he'll continue to receive this benefit no matter what his earnings are.



This is money paid to those in our society who struggle to walk, drive or even get out of bed. Lower rate mobility means he's most likely still capable of getting around by himself but not in the same way an able bodied person is.



Taking the decision to become a police officer and to be in the "firing line" as the nation's first line of defence against criminals was most likely one he weighed up carefully in the risk/ reward department. He'll have been paid well for the job he did and that job willl always be a risky one. The journalist who wrote this article is milking public outrage but I find it much more outrageous that there are all manner of previously employed disabled people in this country who are now having to live on meagre handouts due to accidents or employer neglect in their line of work.



A local man here in the North West recently won a ten year battle to gain a free bus pass after losing the use of his arm whilst working for the council. He is unable to drive but, because he can walk, he was refused even the lowest level of mobility. £19 a week doesn't go far when you need a £6 taxi ride to get more than 2 bags of shopping home from the supermarket.

[DB7]

name='christoph404' timestamp='1284653301' post='474813']

The maximum amount for the care component of the benefit is £71.40. The higher amount for the mobility component is £49.85, the fact that the DHSS have decided to award him the minimum amount of £18.95 is disgraceful but then the DHSS has been generally instructed nationwide to clamp down on benefits and save money where ever they can. Its quite shameful really, a blind man should have the full amount regardless of his police pension and even that wouldn't be enough to provide for his mobility needs.

Then a squaddie who survived a landmine explosion in Afghanistan and say lost both legs and sight (as was the case in a BBC doc) would feel he should be on a higher benefit as his needs would be greater. The DLA has a few components and there is also ILF (Independent Living Fund) and Income Support to aid those who fall into grey areas.

[bruiser15]

The law with regard to Blind and Partially sighted claiments and the mobility component is that you would only qualify for the higher rate if you have another disability other than being blind or partially sighted.



Section 73 of the SSCBA 1992 and Regulation 12 of the Social Security (DLA)

Regulations 1991 say you qualify for the higher rate mobility component if you:

 are unable to walk; or

 are virtually unable to walk; or

 find the exertion required to walk constitutes a serious danger to your life or it

could lead to a serious deterioration in your health; or

 have had both legs amputated; or

 are deaf and blind; or

 are severely mentally impaired with severe behavioural problems and you

qualify for the higher rate DLA care component.



I have made claims in the past for a number of blind clients with regard to the mobility component and a great many of those found it embarrassing that they got the mobility component at all considering they felt that with the aid of either their stick or guide dog and the alteration of the physical enviroment around them [sound aids at crossings, dimpled pavements etc] that they can get around as well as the next person, but the test is how well you would do in unfamiliar surroundings.



I notice no mention is made of the sterling work in campaigning against the decision to not allow higher rate mobility component be more accesible to the blind which has led to this breakthrough, we still have no idea how far reaching the changes will be but having meet Jill Allen-King M.B.E. I would be surprised if it is not across the board



http://www.disabled-world.com/news/u...d-benefits.php

[christoph404]

name='DB7' timestamp='1284658554' post='474836']

Then a squaddie who survived a landmine explosion in Afghanistan and say lost both legs and sight (as was the case in a BBC doc) would feel he should be on a higher benefit as his needs would be greater. The DLA has a few components and there is also ILF (Independent Living Fund) and Income Support to aid those who fall into grey areas.

Im sure,.... Im no expert on such matters but to me in all cases the amounts seem pitiful.

[GoggleboxUK]

name='christoph404' timestamp='1284659981' post='474848']

Im sure,.... Im no expert on such matters but to me in all cases the amounts seem pitiful.

Not really.



If you consider a partially sighted person who is willing to work in a position that they are able to cope with (often with the use of visual aids) is eligible for middle rate care, lower rate mobility, income based Jobseeker's Allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit then the amounts claimed are far from pitiful.



All of these benefits are untaxed and would amount to the equivalentof £1250 every 4 weeks (rather than per calendar month).



38 hours work at minimum wage is much more pitiful and this is why many disabled people fall into the benefit trap. How much more than £1250 every 4 weeks would you require to spur you to struggle into work and back 5 days a week? £400, £500, £600? There are very few jobs that will pay that sort of money to the able bodied, let alone those whose workrate may well be hampered by their condition.