Cyprus-Forum.com

[cyprusgrump]

It is not your problem with relative poverty definitions in the UK that is the issue here.

It is your denial that there is any absolute poverty in the UK, with that being defined as not having to struggle in order to provide the basic things like food, shelter and warmth.

The idea that no one in the UK has to struggle daily to meet these basic needs, that no one lives in or under constant threat of this kind of poverty in the UK, that this kind of poverty just does not exist at all in the UK, is what I am challenging here.

No, the problem is the ridiculous black/white nature of your posts...

the black and white nature of MY posts ? This whole thread stated in response to your black and white assertion that there was no absolute poverty in the UK at all and that there only was 'relative poverty' of those who had less than average but were still able to meet basic necessities like food, shelter and warmth. It was this black and white denial that there was ANY such poverty in the UK today that I was not willing to let go without challenge.

Okay, I'll concede that there may be a small number of people that (for whatever reason*) struggle...

And kudos for you for conceding that , however grudgingly and however hedged around with caveats.

...But to suggest that there is a large problem in the UK is simply untrue.

I have little interest personally in arguing / discussing with you here what the degree of this poverty is in the UK. I merely was not prepared to accept your original black and white binary claim that it did not exist at all.

So you agree it is a minor problem yet you could not let is pass...?

Amazing that you agree that but couldn't bring yourself to correct posters that claimed it was a bigger problem eh? Pathetic.

Please get a life...

[Pyrpolizer]

You don't need to think about it too much to realise that as society gets richer more people end up in 'poverty'...

You mean "relative poverty" of course which is what you actually voted for.
How about the absolute poverty in which people don't have enough to eat, which you denied it's existence?

https://fareshare.org.uk/what-we-do/hunger-food-waste/

[erolz66]

Tell me how many children in the UK are constantly feeling hungry because their parents are unable to feed them enough, are unable to concentrate properly at school because of hunger, are getting illnesses like rickets because their parents could not provide the right balance of food, have illness brought on by having to live in damp and mouldy housing because their parents could not afford anything else and are getting ill because your parents can not afford to heat the house sufficiently...?

How many? Tens of millions? Millions? Hundreds of thousands...?

I do not have such figures to hand. Maybe in time if I have the time and the inclination I will start digging out some data and evidence on these kinds of issues and present that here for consideration. Or maybe not. Either way my position is that for anyone to suffer such poverty today in 2019 in a country as nationally wealthy as the UK is relative to other nations is undesirable. Which is why, for me, the government spending our taxpayers money on things like topping up 'donations' to 'charities' like Bedford School to help them build a new swimming pool complex for that school is not the right priority for the use of such money. Why I support political parties with different priorities than these.

[erolz66]

So you agree it is a minor problem yet you could not let is pass...?

No I do NOT agree that it is a 'minor problem' at all. Nor will I let it pass when you try and make out the problem does not exist at all, which was the starting point for this thread.

Please get a life...

I have a life. I am very content with my life. Please stop telling me I should have the life YOU think I should have.

[Pyrpolizer]

How many? Tens of millions? Millions? Hundreds of thousands...?

8.4 million:

https://fareshare.org.uk/what-we-do/hunger-food-waste/

8.4 million people in the UK are struggling to afford to eat

This is equivalent to the entire population of London
Hunger in the UK

4.7 million of these people live in severely food insecure homes. This means that their food intake is greatly reduced and children regularly experience physical sensations of hunger.

UN figures also show that 5.6% of people aged 15 or over struggle to get enough food. A further 4.5% report that they have been a full day without anything to eat.

Our own research shows that 46% of people accessing the services of our charity partners have gone a whole day without a proper meal in the last month.

[erolz66]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/heal ... 95686.html

Huge increase in ‘Victorian diseases’ including rickets, scurvy and scarlet fever, NHS data reveals.

Rickets, scarlet fever and other diseases more commonly seen in the Victorian era are sending increasing numbers to hospital, NHS data for England has revealed. In 2017-18 there were 284,901 admissions for scurvy, vitamin D deficiency, gout and other maladies familiar to the pages of a Dickens novel – up 24 per cent on the year before. Many of the conditions on the rise go hand in hand with economic inequalities and child food poverty has been linked to the UK’s rising rates of malnutrition and obesity. There were 101,136 admissions last year where vitamin D deficiency was a primary or secondary factor in the admission, a rise of 34 per cent in a year, analysis of NHS Digital data shows.

[erolz66]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 11298.html

Britain’s rental crisis: 61% of renters have suffered damp, mould or leaking roofs.
It cites a recent survey of 4,500 private renters, which revealed 61 per cent have suffered from either damp, mould, leaking roofs or windows, “electrical hazards, animal infestations and gas leaks” in the past year. At least 360,000 people have had a gas leak or suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning. More than one in seven have lived with “electrical hazards” such as exposed wiring. Leaking roofs or windows have affected one in four tenants. And 38 per cent of renters have had damp problems – this equates to more than 3.4 milion people.

[cyprusgrump]

Tell me how many children in the UK are constantly feeling hungry because their parents are unable to feed them enough, are unable to concentrate properly at school because of hunger, are getting illnesses like rickets because their parents could not provide the right balance of food, have illness brought on by having to live in damp and mouldy housing because their parents could not afford anything else and are getting ill because your parents can not afford to heat the house sufficiently...?

How many? Tens of millions? Millions? Hundreds of thousands...?

I do not have such figures to hand. Maybe in time if I have the time and the inclination I will start digging out some data and evidence on these kinds of issues and present that here for consideration. Or maybe not. Either way my position is that for anyone to suffer such poverty today in 2019 in a country as nationally wealthy as the UK is relative to other nations is undesirable. Which is why, for me, the government spending our taxpayers money on things like topping up 'donations' to 'charities' like Bedford School to help them build a new swimming pool complex for that school is not the right priority for the use of such money. Why I support political parties with different priorities than these.

Yarp...

You won't because you realise that the cases of real poverty in the UK are tiny...

I mean people really unable to find shelter, food, etc. You know, the Maslow Triangle stuff, not the food, booze and WiFi stuff...

And that is largely due to the vast amount that the government spends on welfare to alleviate such things happening...

[cyprusgrump]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-s-rental-crisis-61-of-renters-have-suffered-damp-mould-or-leaking-roofs-9911298.html

Britain’s rental crisis: 61% of renters have suffered damp, mould or leaking roofs.
It cites a recent survey of 4,500 private renters, which revealed 61 per cent have suffered from either damp, mould, leaking roofs or windows, “electrical hazards, animal infestations and gas leaks” in the past year. At least 360,000 people have had a gas leak or suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning. More than one in seven have lived with “electrical hazards” such as exposed wiring. Leaking roofs or windows have affected one in four tenants. And 38 per cent of renters have had damp problems – this equates to more than 3.4 milion people.

That is your proof of poverty is it???

I suspect there are people that are living on a few Dollars a day around the world that would think you are a lunatic... As do I...

[Lordo]

a few dollars a week in country is not the same as a few dolars in another. it is how much things cost that matters.

this is reality.

Case studyTracy lives in Ilford, Essex with her partner and baby daughter. Her partner is a teaching assistant; Tracy has been in and out of low-paid work since leaving school at 16. She also suffers from long-term depression and is currently on ESA (Employment Support Allowance). Tracy and her baby daughter came to Tower Hamlets Food Bank after being referred by her daughter’s social worker. Tracy’s partner is only paid during term-time, but their social security payments are paid at the same rate throughout the year.

This means that during school holidays the couple receive just £6 insocial security payments, which is their total weekly income. ‘You don’t manage on £6 a week. We have had to borrow off friends and family.’In addition, budget cuts have meant that her partner’s hours were slashed from 13 to seven a week. ‘Before my maternity pay we used to have just half a meal a day. We’d shop at Iceland. We don’t get frozen ready meals as they’re expensive but they do have like eight chicken breasts for £2.

We’d have one of them each and maybe some chips and that would be all we’d eat for the day. And we’d just drink water, and occasionally have tea or coffee.’Tracy was concerned about the quality of their food, but felt she had no choice. ‘Meat is so expensive these days. When I was growing up we’d only have fish fingers or something once or twice a week, and proper food the rest of the time, now it’s the other way around. We only have proper meat once a month now.’‘I’m disappointed I’ve had to use a food bank as you want to be able to survive on your own, but at least there are people out there who help, that is nice.’