Part 1: Hellos & Menu
Parts 2 & 3: Lotto Winners On Benefit
Mick O'Shea suffers with arthritis and a dodgy hip and has claimed more than £30grand in handouts since winning the Euromillions jackpot six years ago. He’s not doing anything illegal - if you’ve got the disability you’re entitled to the cash - but is he doing anything immoral? Is he any different from those middle class families trousering child benefit they don’t really need?
We’ll take plenty of calls on that before it’s over to Brooke for rest of today’s headlines.
Part 4: Today’s Papers
Part 5: Snowbound
And then we’ll get your thoughts on the weather. Britain is snowbound again. Flights and trains cancelled, roads blocked, thousands skiving off work and billions of pounds going down the drain. The weathermen warned us this might happen all last week but how many gritters did you see last week? Why does Britain grind to a half whenever it snows?
Part 6: Queen: Crazy To Carry On?
After that: as we celebrate queen Elizabeth’s 60 years today, her majesty will a little later this morning vow to keep going in the job even though she’s nearly 86. While no one can doubt her dedication to duty, surely Liz deserves some time off, a pleasant retirement after six decades of service? We don’t want her dying on the job do we?
Part 7: Keep Tv Judges Mean To Keep Viewers Keen
And finally: Do TV judges have to be mean to keep you viewers keen? As Kevin O’Sullivan noted on Friday, Dancing on Ice ain’t what it used to be since bitchy judge Jason Gardiner got the boot. The new line up of judges offer plenty of constructive criticism but who cares about that? Where’s the hate, spite and nastiness, that’s what I want to know.
Comments (12)
This comment was removed by a moderator
4 months ago
JOY
STOP BENNEFIT TO THOSE COMING INTO THE COUNTRY THAT HAVE NEVER,NEVER PAID A PENNY IN AND LEAVE THE LOTTERY WINNER ALONE.
4 months ago
mark
Whilst the elderly freeze and the disabled scrutinzied . we pay addicts for being addicted ,instead of helping them we fund their habits instead of rehab we continue to suport the addictions and the criminal undertone that they use to get there fix , Where is the sense in that
4 months ago
Lyn Waters
The Country is upside down, we have become the benefit state of the world. We don't look after the people that really need looking after i.e. the elderly and those who care for such people but we help those who are more than able to help themselves. Everything should be means tested included the NHS. We pay for 3 tiers of treatment at the dentist why shouldn't the same type of charge apply to the NHS? The NHS is abused and offers far more than it was designed to offer. We really need to turn this benefit system upside down and make people work for the money they receive. I think 20/30 hrs of voluntary work for benefit receipt for those deemed capable and fit to work to break the cycle of sitting at home and being paid for nothing.
4 months ago
Composer
I have been disabled from 5 months old, I receive DLA, BUT that in a manner of speaking is means tested. I feel that the Govt owe this to me because of the red tape about the polio vaccine, which caused delay and in turn my disability.
4 months ago
Thingy
There are immigrants, illegal or legal, arriving in UKand getting our disability benefits and these are also adding a burden on the welfare state. We see them every day around the towns and in the surgeries.
This comment was removed by a moderator
4 months ago
robert sykes
As ever, really enjoyed BUT... please stop saying that we dont have a constitution - we do not have a fully written constitution as america and other republics but most scholars accept that we have an uncodified constitution based on the statute books, conventions, royal perogatives and court judgements. I believe the initial founding document of our constitution was the document of parliamentary sovereignty. I agree that it would be great to have a single document BUT that too is subhject to imperfections such as amendments which water down the initial aims.
4 months ago
janis whiddett
the couple claiming disability payments despite winning the lottery are greedy beyond belief.The more I hear about massive payouts in this country the more I believe ALL payments should be means tested.Matthew Wright you may be a republican-who cares- but have respect for us who aren't and please stop saying "Queenie" in such a sneering way it is bad mannered and not clever dear!
4 months ago
LUPUSgal
If i won the lottery, i wouldnt need my DLA. I MUST point out though, that DLA is non means tested, thus you can earn money, have a job etc, AND get DLA, as it helps you get about, help etc in your life. Without DLA many disabled people would not be able to get to work or even work at all. God bless DLA.
4 months ago
michael
firstly if i had a lottery win i wouldnt claim dla but dla is often used to help people get about. i have to look after my elderly dad in terms of shopping, cooking, paying bills etc i also volunteer but get less than jsa, which is wrong. but i am not going to attack people on jsa. everybody is in different circumstances. i personally think though many who have mental and internal conditions are treated terribly as well as the elderly and physical disabled. many dont qualify for dla as their conditions are not seen. i have chronic fatigue, muscle and joint pain, anxiety, ibs and a host of other internal problems but i look fine. there are many unhelped people with problema like me. personally though instead of attacking people we dont know i would look at the jobs we are creating and the inequalities in access that means lots of people have to claim benefits. to me there is somthing wrong generally in employment. one caller said about the past people had to work hard, yes but people got decent money for a decent pay, and getting work was easier, you had to do less to get it. my mom remembers it was law they had to employ disabled people in her factory. plus she had to do less tasks as part of her job unlike today. people now do more tasks for a lot less money which is driving standards down, and actually this has not benefitted our lives. employers now can get away with employing one person to do combined reception work, data entry, office work, call centre work in one role to save money. yet nobody questions this and just accepts thats the way it is. i see people overworking, unable to fit all their work in, yet you'd think giving some tasks to disabled person would make it better. yet people moan and say 'get a job', yet you say well employ them to help out and they'd make an excuse like it is too expensive to employ/train them. yet they'd have to be employed somewhere. the jobs market has changed enormously since the 50s, my parents remember employers were on the street offering work out, yet no-one offers jobs out now, you have so many hoops to get it. benefits are slightly easier to get but many have to constantly fill forms out etc. most would rather councils and local employers had easy access basic jobs that people could walk into rather than benefits, although that wouldnt solve poor wages. most disabled can work and do want to work but you have to create jobs they can do. there are plenty of ways to reorganise work. ok there are a few so called work shy but what about those who can work but can only do certain types of work, what if communities were better that people don't feel separate from the local community, people who dont contribute in anyway actually probably feel not part of any community which is why they dont contribute. i personally feel nothing towards most shops as most shops and employers have not engaged with the local community. for me they make profit and thats it. my mom remembers personnel departments, employers cared for the workets, dentist/doctors on site, it was a family, now employers care little. if hard work really meant success we'd all be rich. the problem is this country has created the cult of the individual, the cult of the career, the cult of money and consumerism and gone away from the collective. if things were set up right and people thought right we wouldnt need benefits. we want perfect people to fit a perfect mould when we should just accept everyone is different and change things accordingly.
4 months ago
michael
voluntary work is much more flexible than paid work. as soon as money is involved, work suddenly changes. if only paid work was more like voluntary work, infact far from voluntary work being unproductive its very productive, people will do things for free and do productive work. simply throwing money at people doesnt mean they do work better or more productive. money is only a means to an end. most people work hard not to literally survive but for status.