Benefits street

Has anyone been watching this?
There's been a lot written about it in the press from calls for benefits to be stopped to accusations of misrepresentation of a section of society.

Chanel 4 claim it's an insight into the daily life of the people of James Turner street and their tight knit community.
The title suggests otherwise.
Much like their other flagship shows, embarrassing bodies and Big fat gypsy thieving b*stards..... Or whatever it was called.

So is this a simple fly on the wall documentary highlighting the plight of the lower classes and their community spirit in the face of adversity or yet another way of poking fun at a minority group in order to chase ratings?

yea there so hard done by on that program my heart bleeds for them , and then them poor immigrants that are complaining about this country.




Gets my blood boiling, this country's a fecking pushover in my opinion.

I vote we all pay 90% income tax so these poor victims of this nasty, fascist state can have a better standard of living. How dare we selfish taxpayers enjoy a better quality of life? Who do we think we are?

I notice that horrible little gobsh*te Owen Jones is loving it - he'd hate to see a country where people were empowered to work and look after their own. Food vouchers for those on benefits. Long term reduction in payments. Let's give these people their lives back, and move them back into work, just like the street cleaner on the show suggested.

Makes my piss boil.

While sitting on the fence about this particular programme, I thought of this, and Wiltshire Builders has already got there,
any TV programme can be filmed and edited to show what the editors and programme makers would like to show the viewers, the ratings are what the programmes are aimed at, with a view to, was this project successful ?, in this case it would seem it was simply by how many people are talking about it after each edition has been shown, this in turn will go the majority of the way for the production team to have their next production/ project funded by an outside company thus reducing any financial risk to the production team should that project fail.
It's not what you see on the TV, it's what goes on behind the scenes that should be given some thought, and yes, I have had some experience of how some of the programmes that are shown on TV are put together.

Haven't watched tele for years, they are called programs for a reason ;)

We do have a benefit culture problem in this country though I doubt shows like this have much if any part in creating sensible debate to fix that issue. If anything they cause enough division and posturing they likely harm the chances of ever having any sensible debate.

Sadly, although the subject could be an interesting programme, it has been manhandled to the extreme to gain exactly what C4 wanted. Exposure.
As usual with this type of programme, selective presentation and some very clever editing has brought the residents of this show some degree of notoriety. Being filmed over the course of a year it becomes obvious that the scene selection is edited to the most damaging effect. Short hair, long hair then quickly back to short.! Getting a true reflection of a "social" group over the course of a year in 5 hours is a big ask! Having said that i guess the director had quite a say in explaining what he wanted the "stars" to say. I figure there was quite a lot of prompting going on. I.E, I would imaging that getting someone to say "I only have 6p to my name" whilst holding a pack of Benson & hedges and a can of Special Brew would have been deemed a beaut of a line to come out with ;)

Ive no doubt that C4 knew exactly what they wanted to achieve when making this programme.

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Originally Posted by Nelly

Sadly, although the subject could be an interesting programme, it has been manhandled to the extreme to gain exactly what C4 wanted. Exposure.
As usual with this type of programme, selective presentation and some very clever editing has brought the residents of this show some degree of notoriety. Being filmed over the course of a year it becomes obvious that the scene selection is edited to the most damaging effect. Short hair, long hair then quickly back to short.! Getting a true reflection of a "social" group over the course of a year in 5 hours is a big ask! Having said that i guess the director had quite a say in explaining what he wanted the "stars" to say. I figure there was quite a lot of prompting going on. I.E, I would imaging that getting someone to say "I only have 6p to my name" whilst holding a pack of Benson & hedges and a can of Special Brew would have been deemed a beaut of a line to come out with ;)

Ive no doubt that C4 knew exactly what they wanted to achieve when making this programme.

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what he said.

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Originally Posted by pilninggas

Let's give these people their lives back, and move them back into work, just like the street cleaner on the show suggested.

Makes my piss boil.

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Quite funny it took a guy from Africa to point out that our country couldn't afford to continue the structure and scale of the benefits system we have at the moment.

Having watched similar programs to this previously, they all seem to be geared the same way.

The thing that gets me the most is that a few individuals I have met who are on benefits complain that they don't receive enough to live by day to day. The expression on their face when I asked about them giving up their pay tv, games consoles or massive television was priceless.

The main issue with these individuals is that they have never worked at all! Therefore British taxpayers paying for their way for the entireity of their life is downright criminal. A now very good friend of mine was caught in the vicious trap of his parents had never worked a day in their lives and had always been on benefits. He was struggling, but could afford to drink at the pub on a weekly basis.

He is a switched on cookie and had plenty of qualifications, but just didn't have the inclination to work because of his parents attitude towards work. A little nudge and he is now working full time and really enjoying the pleasures of being able to do things that he never thought he could do.

Benefits street is not about balanced reporting to enable the viewer to make an informed judgement on the pros and cons of the welfare benefits system. If that were the case the programme makers would have interviewed benefit claimants who are desperately seeking work and/or have recently been made redundant after many years of employment, allowing them to give their accounts of the misery and despair they face living out of work. I accept that there is a small hardcore of unemployed people who are work-shy, but this Daily Mail style gutter journalism is hardly conducive to stimulating a constructive debate on this thorny issue with a view to finding a solution, as WR6133 rightly points out. Let’s not kid ourselves here - the programme makers had an agenda and knew full well that the content would fan the flames of division which already existed in our communities as a consequence of austerity. And they certainly succeeded in that regard. You don’t need to take my word for it – the statements from local residents/officials in and around James Turner Street on the fallout from the programme, are testimony to the fact. A representative of the local school, Oasis Academy Foundry said, “What form of media makes children scared to go to school? These children feel they are in a circus.”

Well, this is indeed a difficult subject area. As one who has earned an embarrassingly high salary for many years ( by some standards) and worked recently on the minimum wage (£6.08 per hour) of late, I feel that some of the residents of Benefits street should get a job. Full stop! ... OMG! have I said the wrong thing? Richard

Yes this is indeed a tough issue; Benefits Street itself; one of the worst examples of media exploitation of people/situation even though many of us must admit we watch and listen for various reasons. The point should be made though that if our benefits system was geared more towards getting people back to work rather than supporting a status that, provided they have a low enough drive and desire, encourages people to live on benefits then we would all be better off.

I have an example very, very close to me that I absolutely know the correct details off; two guys in the same profession which has plenty of work on offer where, within reason they could both earn a decent whack. One works 50+ hours a week, owns his own house and has saved several tens of thousands towards his next property investment. The other works two or three days a week and earns just enough to keep his (and his family's) head above water but not enough to lose the benefits of most of his rent paid, support for child minding and other benefits.

The difference between the two in terms of profession, age, family background and ability is very, very little. What makes them different is drive and desire, what allows them to be different is our benefits system. I am one of six kids brought up in a 3 bed council house who definitely benefitted from state support. My Dad worked full time, long hours and often took extra work at the weekend so that we could have our annual holiday, a colour TV an any other 'luxuries'. If he had decided to only work two or three days a week we literally would not have had enough to eat let alone spare cash for a mobile phone, booze and fags as many on benefits seem to be able to afford today.

I am 100% for state aid and support for those who, for whatever reason, are unable to support themselves and their families and very happy to pay a considerable sum in tax to this cause. What I am not happy to do is to pay one single penny to support people who don't want to work and our current system asks far too many to decide between working and losing benefits or staying at home. If we are all honest with ourselves, given the choice what would we decide if we could work less hours and have the same money? The system needs to be reformed.

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Originally Posted by Vulcanboy

Well, this is indeed a difficult subject area. As one who has earned an embarrassingly high salary for many years ( by some standards) and worked recently on the minimum wage (£6.08 per hour) of late, I feel that some of the residents of Benefits street should get a job. Full stop! ... OMG! have I said the wrong thing? Richard

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A really interesting comment - "an embarrassingly high salary". I'm really interested in this - I agree that we now have a social stigma attached to earning higher amounts. Possibly because the fallout of the thatcher years?

I know we are wandering away slightly from the subject matter on this thread, but I think there are a couple of important points we need to consider when discussing the welfare system and particularly benefit payments. Firstly, IMHO I think meaningful full employment (jobs where employees feel valued, not zero hours contracts) in the UK under a global free market system is a pipe dream. Secondly, two of the biggest drains on the benefits expenditure are Working Tax Credit (WTC) and Housing Benefit (HB). Approx 20 per cent of housing benefit claimants are in work and of course 100 per cent of WTC claimants are in employment. HB is not paid to the claimants, but to their landlords who set the rents and in many cases are wealthy owners of numerous properties exploiting the system. WTC is paid to the employees of some of the richest international companies in the world and awards are made irrespective of the Employers/businesses’ profits, in effect we as taxpayers are subsidising their wages. Damn right there is a benefits culture. As I have said already, I accept that there is a hardcore of unemployed work-shy, but the stick without the carrot approach will simply not work. Previous governments failed and so will this one in my opinion. Interestingly, we are told that many of the measures introduced under the welfare cuts will ‘make work pay’ yet employed claimants of HB are not exempt from ‘bedroom tax’ penalties, to highlight one disincentive example.

Well said Redken1,
it's widely acknowledged and beyond argument that more benefits are paid to people IN work and claiming than to people out of work and claiming.
There has to be something drastically wrong with a system where an employee's wages, like you say, employed by some of the richest international companys in the world are allowed to get away with not only government subsidised wages in the way of benefits but also massive tax avoidance, the rot goes from bottom to top and as always, those at the bottom are far more likely to be shafted than those at the top, it's always been that way and I can't ever see it changing.

Get them filling potholes. It will probably only take four to fill an average hole or maybe two regular and a fat one. Probably last longer than the so called tarmac they are using

The trouble with this tv show (I refuse to call is a documentary) is that they're not just reporting the facts and allowing us to make up our own minds.
They're telling us what to think and giving a face to what the media and the government are telling us are the cause of all the countries problems.

Think about every time the rightwing press runs a story about illegal immigrants, it's always acompanied by a stock photo of some swarthy looking foreigners congregating on the street.
You then associate foreign faces with illegal activity and are naturally wary.

Not everyone on benifits has a roll up hanging out of their mouths and a can of special brew in their hand but this is the image that springs to mind due to years of brainwashing.

I've deliberately not watched it - I know the one-sided journalism would just piss me off

Well said Ken.

I do not watch this program as it is just media sensationalism

The sad thing it there are two welfare systems in this country, corporate and social.

I believe there are around 5 million people getting help from the government to pay their mortgages and rent in various forms of tax credits etc. Things have gone terribly wrong over time, the welfare system was not designed for this. We are now subsidising more mortgage and rental payments than people on the dole.

I know there is no easy answer to this but blaming people on the dole for Britons financial problems is barking up the wrong tree in my books. I wish I bookmarked the item I read last month, the figures showed it was only 0.2% to 0.4% of people on the dole were actually fiddling the system.

I won't watch it, it almost makes it acceptable to be a parasite upon society by giving these people "celebrity scumbag" status.

FJ, the reason we're in the state we're in is bcos the world is run by the people who own the banks and in turn own our politicians - in my humble opinion of course!

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Originally Posted by 81-Nomad

FJ, the reason we're in the state we're in is bcos the world is run by the people who own the banks and in turn own our politicians - in my humble opinion of course!

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The majority of the population being sheep has led to that and will make it worse those at the top know they can get away with anything as those they govern are in the main too timid to do anything, those that complain are easily labelled as crazy/fanatics/ on the fringe of society/etc.