London Riots

[Guest Guest]

How about people who are on the dole, in jail, etc, doing some public construction work like Germany did before the war? We are in desperate need of infrastructure, both communications and transport. Get them building roads, rail links, new coms pipes between and in cities...

 

Obviously it would cost money for the materials, tools, and specialists, but then that is injecting money into the country and keeping those people in jobs while keeping costs down to a minimum as all the labouring is free.

[TechMonkey]

How about people who are on the dole, in jail, etc, doing some public construction work like Germany did before the war? We are in desperate need of infrastructure, both communications and transport. Get them building roads, rail links, new coms pipes between and in cities...

 

Obviously it would cost money for the materials, tools, and specialists, but then that is injecting money into the country and keeping those people in jobs while keeping costs down to a minimum as all the labouring is free.

 

I've said this, or do something along the lines of the US New Deal during the Great Depression. But the huggy feelies say this is slave labour and against human rights. Also that it takes jobs from others, isn't cost effective etc etc.

[mac_shinobi]

Irish rioter.... smashed up his laptop trying to get into ebay...

 

Dwarf Rioter... tried getting into a butcher shop... after 10 mins gives up as "the steaks are too high".

 

Rioter running down the street with a naan bread and a vindaloo.... his mates says "that isnt what i meant when I said lets rob currys"

[localzuk]

How about people who are on the dole, in jail, etc, doing some public construction work like Germany did before the war? We are in desperate need of infrastructure, both communications and transport. Get them building roads, rail links, new coms pipes between and in cities...

 

Obviously it would cost money for the materials, tools, and specialists, but then that is injecting money into the country and keeping those people in jobs while keeping costs down to a minimum as all the labouring is free.

 

I've yet to actually meet anyone who disagrees with the idea of getting people on the dole to do work for their money. I just wonder why the government doesn't actually discuss it.

[GrumbleDook]

I've yet to actually meet anyone who disagrees with the idea of getting people on the dole to do work for their money. I just wonder why the government doesn't actually discuss it.

 

Give an employer a choice between cheap labour from those on benefits and paying for staff on minimum wage with full rights ... most will take the former ... putting the latter out of work, who subsequently become people on benefits working for less than minimum wage ... and so the cycle continues.

 

It does get looked at every so often, usually as an attempt to make going to work more cost effective for those on benefits (so they don't lose out) whilst stopping employers extracting the urine for cheap staff. Working tax credits were an attempt at this ...

 

I am all for people completing voluntary work to get a slightly higher level of benefits but where is the work and where do the funds come from. If Job seekers' allowance was converted into a state employment fund where you have to attend a number of areas of 'work' (ranging from clearance of community land through to working on the country's infrastructure) but still allowed sufficient time for them to look for work ... you would get a few problems.

 

1 - The idea of community sentencing, where convicted criminals work in the community, would that still be possible or do we force criminals into a form of slavery, getting them to do even more menial work? Not very good for rehabilitation IME (studies in the states on this vary ... some say the more menial the better, others show the more menial the higher the rate of re-offending ... but this is from studies about 8-10 years old)

 

2 - What happens when a job needs to be done, such as clearing and re-lining of canals, which could be important to the country but the people managing the work (and held accountable) have to rely on the 'benefit labour force' who could make disastrous mistakes and cost the company a lot of money. It would mean that it would be hard to justify highly skilled unemployed people would end up having to do increasingly menial work with little or no responsibility ... and that really helps them get back into their true field of employment again (which could simply be having a downturn).

 

3 - This is a little too close to the idea of National Service for some people ... and how long could you do it for? Is it actually not National Service but conscription? Would we end up with more people claiming physical or mental issues which stop them from taking part on what would end up being menial, physical labour?

 

Remember that we are not just asking about the unemployed who rioted, but those in employment, those still in education or training, those who do not seek benefits because they have alternative (usually illegal) incomes.

[Chris_Cook]

Unemployment isn't a valid reason for rioting and arson, but it still needs an overhaul. Being on the dole for long periods is really depressing, I've done it. You can get a horrible feeling that your worthless, and will never get a job. Many of the people on jsa (like myself 5 years ago) need some practical help to get through the application process, and to get over issues of low self-esteem and low self-worth/ability.

 

There are jobs out there, I've got a number of friends who have found jobs over the past two years. I can't see why, if the government and the job centers took unemployment seriously, people should be on jsa for more than a few months at a time. When I was on it, all I had to do was go in every 2 weeks and say what I had done to look for work, little evidence of what I'd actually done was needed. I was offered help with cv writing and interview skills, but this wasn't conditional like I think it should have been. If you got someone working with the unemployed person for a couple of weeks, help them apply for jobs, and make them actually go through the process, these people could get jobs, and I reckon fairly easily too. I think at the moment, if an unemployed person can do a job that they are offered they should take it, there is no reason why they can't move on if something better comes along. In most of the world, if you refuse to work, you starve & die. I can't see why in England that people feel they can wait for the ideal job to come along, although having said that that was sort of how I felt at the time. The job centers just need to be a bit firmer.

 

Maybe we need fewer people doing degrees, and more doing apprenticeships and vocational training. Perhaps businesses and organisations need to take more of a lead in providing apprenticeships, and not wait for the government to dictate what they do.

[nicholab]

We need Gene Hunt style policing. Some people are Fletcher types and they will not reform.

[tech_guy]

I've just come back from Israel. The police there don't go for the softly softly approach I can assure you.