Cue howls of Righteous indignation at the news that pregnant women have used NHS fruit and vegetable vouchers to buy cigarettes and alcohol. I can’t say it remotely surprises me that, given a near-cash equivalent, people will seek to turn it into the most readily saleable commodities. And it shows that ordinary people remain very resourceful at evading the tentacles of political correctness.
Gawd bless er!
ReplyDeleteTell her I'll have a pack of Lucky's and a pint of Directors!
There'll always be a minority who abuse such welfare schemes. Frankly, the busybodies' champion, the Taxpayers Alliance which is quoted in the article, should highlight the issue of tax fiddling, compared to which all benefit fiddling is small beer.
ReplyDeleteRedNev: "the busybodies' champion"?
ReplyDeleteSorry, but that's going to take some explaining about the TPA.
Seems blindingly obvious to me!
ReplyDeleteThe TPA spend a lot of their time campaigning against busybodies and prodnoses. The whole idea of this scheme was cash from the government to make people eat healthier, and as PC mentions, it's a pretty stupid idea as it's always going to be abused as much as any other state handout. The TPA are pointing this out quite well IMO, and telling the nanny state to stop pointlessly spending money on schemes to make themselves feel they are 'doing something'.
ReplyDeleteThere's more than one way to skin a cat. ;)
I'm sorry but no abuse of the system is occurring. Free trade in a free country is not abuse, and the women are free to trade their vouchers if they choose.
ReplyDeleteIt's an abuse of the system in the sense that people are not spending it on what they're supposed to, but it's a scheme wide open to abuse. If you're getting £25 a month in vouchers you have to spend on fruit and veg, the offer of a used £20 note for it must be very tempting - and then the buyer can convert it into readily saleable commodities such as booze and fags.
ReplyDeletePossibly some of it ends up being spent on drugs, given the target population...
The TPA do not point out anything well - all they do is whinge about public expenditure which they regard as automatically wrong. I don't, so to me they are busybodies making comments about things they don't and claim they are speaking for taxpayers like me - they're not, so can they please keep their noses out of things I regard as important. And as for the vouchers, I'm not in favour of scrapping a system because a minority abuse it. The fat cats of the TPA have no idea of what it is like living on benefits. And, in case you're wondering, I have.
ReplyDeleteSo you have no interest in getting value for money for the taxes you pay (for example every time you buy a pint of beer)? Hmm, you must be richer than me, then...
ReplyDelete