• Hi, If you cannot get into the site, be sure to Contact Us. Please be advised that the app is no longer in use!

Obesity: Fat People Could Face Benefit Cuts

BlueDiamond

BlueDiamond

New Member
I am hardly ever speechless, but I just read in sky news that Obese people could face cuts to their benefits if they do not attend exercise sessions, under new plans being outlined by a local council.

The government has published a report looking at how councils can link benefit payments to claimants' lifestyles.

What are peoples views on this??? tyvm BD x
 
Yeah I heard it on the news aswell!!! Think its just an idea at this stage you know what they are like for ideas......
 
Hi Fat people are portrayed as being the underclass by the press. You rarely see a positive role model, sucessful and working obese person on TV or in the news. People think fat people are lazy and dont work. Well I am fat and have always worked! When things are tight (recession) people look at others to blame. I am all for cutting benefits and encouraging people to work, as a tax payer I want value for money. But dont section off one part of the general public, as everyone can be categorised somewhere (race, religion, smokers, drinkers, disabled etc). Rant over x
 
It was recommended in the Heseltine review that Local Authorities are given alot more powers to control things at a local level.

Its not yet clear which of his 89 recommendations will be implemented but noises are being made around this and Birmingham being a pilot for some of them.

I don't know how I feel about this proposal really, except if only it was that simple! Its not the case that everyone on benefits can work and that exercise will make those that can't able to.
 
Didnt know I could get benefits for being obese.... silly me, working for well over 24 years, paying taxes and all the while being obese (morbidy at that!) for all this time and not claiming for it...
 
You just need to look at how fat people are portrayed on TV these days, now wonder the general public are quick to point the finger and ridicule. Take 'Strictly Come Dancing' for example; John Sergeant, Russell Grant, Lisa Riley and Anne Widdecombe. All paraded as the 'comedy relief' on the show. They had Fatima Whitbread on 'This Morning' with a group of large people - having them stepping on scales and then exercising in a shopping centre. Almost like exhibiting a freak show. Just about every ethnic minority group is now protected under the PC banner, all except fat people.
Just needed to vent out some steam....
 
Too True Joe... and we can't do right for doing wrong, look at all the uproar when we finally go to the NHS for help through surgery when all else has failed.
 
I can't imagine this being remotely workable. You are not given benefits for being fat, you're given them for being unfit for work. How can someone unfit for work be fit for exercise? I'm all for giving people more routes into the workplace - I know so many who want to work, but this is ridiculous.
 
As some one who has claimed benefits due to being unfit for work I whole heartedly agree with Yvessa. They are very strict about claims, they put you through hard interviews to prove what you are saying is true. I think the whole fat people scamming benefits thing is another sensation the papers love to print. 99.9 percent people I've ever met who are on benefits are desperate to work. I know I spent 2 years dragging myself into a volunteer job even though I was so depressed I could barely breath and couldn't walk just in the hope it would give me the chance of a job in the future. Most of the time they just humoured me because they knew how much I wanted it. Lucky for me it did work with the help of the bypass and sheer determination. Unfortunately not everyone is lucky enough to find a way back to it. When people moan about paying taxes I can't tell you how glad now I can. This idea is ridiculous and would never work for genuine claims. If you can exercise, you can work and if you can work then you be claiming for jobseekers and jobseekers has nothing to do with weight.
 
BlueDiamond said:
I am hardly ever speechless, but I just read in sky news that Obese people could face cuts to their benefits if they do not attend exercise sessions, under new plans being outlined by a local council.

The government has published a report looking at how councils can link benefit payments to claimants' lifestyles.

What are peoples views on this??? tyvm BD x
Click to expand...

I got to the stage where I ached so much to move but I still worked, I couldn't walk further than my door to my car and still worked. I hated myself and was so scared to be seen but I still never ever thought about not working. So these kinda of reports make me angry. Some people have to claim because there is no other way! But as usual it's portrayed that over weight people have to be bribed to get fit!!

I read the article and moved on, it's annoying but boring too. Just trying to provoke people.

xx.

Sent from my iPhone using WLSurgery
 
I wish the government would pay for me to tale exercise classes To me this just sounded like another benefit.
 
The trouble is it makes good headlines, I have always worked and never saw my weight as an issue. I do think that fat people are at the bottom of a list of candidates when it comes to jobs generally so in a recession its even worse.

How would the councils drive to send people to exercise classes work with what their GP's might say about levels of fitness and safety of doing so??

Its a bit like our local tory Police and Crime Commissioner saying that people who have been arrested should pay a 'hotel' fee for staying in custody. People generally commit the low level crimes such as shoplifting because they don't have enough money to live on, how exactly does he expect them to pay a hotel fee ?? Its another idea fraught with problems!! Would it mean people could rate their stay in custody on trip advisor??
 
more wasted money :rolleyes:
 
Being obese is the last socially acceptable prejudice in this country (and others). It's been said time and again, if society really think that being overweight is done by choice, they should try living with it for 1 day. Benefits are there to help those who are unfit for work, and it's those who should claim it. If the government are looking at cutting benefits maybe they should look at those who are able to work but don't as its easy to claim benefits. I have always been overweight, I have also worked all of my life which is why I had no compunction in asking for the NHS help when I needed the surgery to help me lose weight. I was a fortunate one, there are 100's out there who aren't as lucky.
 
Amazing! Being fat is no reason to not work and do they really think fat people claim benefits rather than work? Never heard such rubbish in all my life.

Maybe if some of these large companies who pay out big dividends on profits they make to wealthy shareholders were made to pay a living wage a few more people would be able to get away from claiming benefits just to survive.

I have been obese since I was 14 and always worked full time. Even at my largest 30 stone I managed to go to work. Makes me so angry to hear or read rubbish like this. One thing I will say is if you are obese you have to work harder than others because the perception is you are lazy. I even had an MD tell me I would have a better career if I lost weight? Lunatic like my weight affected my ability ffs
 
Sadly I am forced to agree that losing weight has improved my productivity. I am a better worker - like you I was working at 30 stone, but I was barely coping. Now I am so much more capable.
 
I think its disgusting that people have the mindset that people on benefits should have less human rights than those that work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top