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e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

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  • e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

    We the people challenge Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week for one year.

    Responsible department: Department for Work and Pensions
    Mr Duncan Smith, insisted he could live on £53 a week - the amount given to a benefits claimant interviewed on the radio.
    "If I had to, I would," he said. "The reality is what we are trying to make certain is that the amount of money that taxpayers pay sees some value at the end of it in terms of people being supported.
    "There’s been a huge amount of money which, in the course of the welfare system now, has absolutely been wasted.”
    Writing in today's Daily Telegraph, Mr Duncan Smith and George Osborne, the Chancellor, said the Coalition is “restoring the original values of the welfare state”.
    He has stated, in the public domain, that he could do it. Let us see him do it.

    I don't know if I can post a link, but if you Google e-petitions it will come up with the direct.gov site. It's on the front page.

    This to me seems like a massively arrogant and ridiculous statement from someone who I doubt would bat an eyelid at spending £53 on wine when he goes out for a meal. It costs me over £50 a month just to take my children to school - that's nearly a quarter of your money right there Mr Smith. It would be considerably more if I used public transport!

    Personally I think all MP's should have to live for 6 months on benefits before being allowed to enter government just to give them a taste of what many people have to do to exist! That would help to scrub out the Eton boys' club mentality, at least for a while.
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

    Signed this on FB and passed it on

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

      Signed earlier via email link through change.org and shared on FB.
      Life is a journey on which we all travel, sometimes together, but never alone.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

        Originally posted by lexis200 View Post
        We the people challenge Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week for one year.

        He has stated, in the public domain, that he could do it. Let us see him do it.

        I don't know if I can post a link, but if you Google e-petitions it will come up with the direct.gov site. It's on the front page.

        This to me seems like
        a massively arrogant and ridiculous statement from someone who I doubt would bat an eyelid at spending £53 on wine when he goes out for a meal. It costs me over £50 a month just to take my children to school - that's nearly a quarter of your money right there Mr Smith. It would be considerably more if I used public transport!
        This is the link, it's for a good cause and there's been a whopping 383 402 petitioners so far!
        http://www.change.org/en-GB/petition...e-on-53-a-week

        I suspect he could live on that for a short time, and so could most of us, when we have other money such as savings or help from family. Once these sources are depleted, the real test begins.
        Originally posted by lexis200 View Post
        Personally I think all MP's should have to live for 6 months on benefits before being allowed to enter government just to give them a taste of what many people have to do to exist! That would help to scrub out the Eton boys' club mentality, at least for a while.
        I agree, but with no recourse to any other funds.
        Originally posted by enaid View Post
        Signed this on FB and passed it on
        :clap2::clap2::clap2:

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

          As FP says it's when the elec bill arrives on te day you run out of washing powder and toothpaste and food. Then the phone bill arrives..even though you never make outgoing calls. Oh and the DWP bugger up your payments so you either have to use the phone or walk 10 miles to the local jobcentre.This idiot probably spends more than that on his underwear (harrowing thought) and I bet you he doesn't do his own hair with clippers..I'll do it for him with a cut throat razor

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

            Got an email saying the petition had attracted 400,000 signatures, when I went to check, it's up to 420,000! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

            We want to see him in the Big Brother house, living on £53 a week with no extra help! :grin:

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

              And to think he was the leader of that party. It beggars belief

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

                Such a pleasant snollygoster - not! (link)

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: e-petition to ask Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week - please have a look

                  UPDATE:

                  460,000 people is a lot of people!
                  On Monday the Department of Work and Pensions found out just what that looks like when I delivered the petition calling on Iain Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week right to their doorstep.
                  Share the photos of the delivery with your friends on Facebook here.
                  Iain Duncan Smith still refuses to respond to the petition but I have no doubt he felt its impact. In fact his department was so surprised by how many journalists turned up at the delivery they went into lockdown for 15 minutes before they conceded they had to open the doors and let us in!
                  When I started the petition I didn't think that he would actually take up the challenge, although there is nothing to prevent him from doing it. The point was to highlight the hypocrisy of our politicians living lives of real privilege while lecturing others on what poverty feels like.
                  This petition was about taking back the control of the debate -- and we did that!
                  Last week the petition was reported over 250 times in national media. Press from every major outlet turned out to report the delivery.
                  We gave a platform for people affected by the welfare changes to tell their stories. I want to say a special thank you to Heather Simpson, Eileen Short and Ian Mortimer Jones who accompanied me at the delivery. Eileen and Heather campaign with the anti-bedroom tax group and Ian campaigns for the WOW petition - please check out their campaigns.
                  And finally I want to thank you and everyone who supported this petition. We brought the debate back to the doorstep of power, and even though they attempted to drag it into the gutter, their actions lacked conviction and confidence, reflecting an establishment rattled by a very modern form of democracy -- people power online.

                  Ten days ago I was at home getting frustrated about another out of touch politician saying something dismissive on the radio. A week later I was stood in front of five TV cameras getting a chance to tell a different side of the story -- all because I started a petition on Change.org. I sincerely hope this has inspired you as much as it has inspired me.

                  I am leaving the petition open so people can still sign it. Iain Duncan Smith will be returning to Parliament next week -- it would be good to clock up even more signers before then!
                  Thank you for your support,
                  Dominic

                  P.S. I have written more about my experience of starting the petition on theHuffington Post here.

                  Comment

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